LIVE from Celebrity Apex: Best of Scandinavia May 25, 2023

[love2crews.]

21 hours ago, hcat said:

Did  APEX live up to your expectations....? Hits, misses?

 

Will be posting final thoughts as soon as I can find the time to do so! 🙂 

[love2crews.]

15 hours ago, SN3725 said:

Really enjoyed reading about your trip and your excursions. I will be traveling on Apex in July, starting in Rotterdam with stops in Iceland, Ireland, and Scotland. While you were onboard the ship, what was the temperature like and did you feel like you needed warmer clothes, based on the cooler climate? Thanks- I am in the southern part of the US where it is broiling all summer and not sure what to pack. 

 

 

Hmmm, hard to say.  I'm almost always in a sweater or long sleeve shirt-that's just me.  I never needed a jacket around the ship.  Outside or on the rooftop, it was definitely windy so you'll need a jacket.  But otherwise, we didn't need one.

 

Maybe others can chime with their experiences.

 

Have a wonderful sailing!  Iceland is on my bucket list as well.  Would LOVE to see the aurora borealis one day!!! 

[love2crews.]

We made it back to Amsterdam!  What a long day.  Finally have a few minutes to catch up on here.

 

For dinner after Copenhagen day 2, we went to Luminae as we had arranged for the special chocolate globe dessert which I thought was on the menu for evening chic nights.  Turns out it's not, but we had told them in advance that we wanted to try it.  They had enough notice and were able to create the dessert.  It's the one where they pour the flaming alcohol over the top and when it melts, it reveals the dessert inside.  I would upload the video, but last time I tried uploading a video it took forever and I gave up, lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister was feeling lazy and wanted to stay in the room, so she didn't join my mom and I in Luminae.  However, a few days earlier, she had asked Eli if she could have Ethiopian food.  He put in the request to the chef and it took a couple days since they had to ferment the injera (bread).  The chef also created two other dishes for her (not sure the names), but she was a happy camper.  🙂 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by love2crews.

[love2crews.]

June 5: Sea Day

 

Last day on the ship, so we spent most of the day packing.

 

We thought it'd be best to have Andy clean the room before we started packing and everything was all over the place.  So we headed to the casino since Luminae wasn't open yet.  We played for a little over an hour and then headed to lunch.  We got distracted by the pastry case at Le Grand Bistro (oops, hate when that happens!) so stopped by one last time.  We said bye to Igor who was always there to give us our daily pastries. 🙂 

 

 

I really wanted to try the Luminae burger and this was my last chance! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there, we headed back to the room and spent a good while packing.  I don't know how, but we managed to fit everything in our suitcases, including all our candies, cookie tins, jams, and other random snacks!

 

Eli brought us some virgin piña coladas as an afternoon pick-me-up.  

 

 

Dinner was room service from Fine Cut and Eli did a wonderful job setting the table as always.

 

 

 

Then I had to make one last stop to Cafe al Bacio for a hot chocolate to end the night.  Love the heart in the latte art. 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by love2crews.

[love2crews.]

Today was a long day, but tomorrow should be a little shorter.  Hoping to post today's activities then.

 

To those who embarked on the Apex today, have a FANTASTIC time!!! 🤩

[JYGNYC]

Thank you for this incredibly informative thread!  We will be doing this exact cruise in August  - just booked it last week! These three months cannot go by fast enough!

 

[scrapcreator]

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise and Amsterdam experiences! Thoroughly enjoyed your thread.

[love2crews.]

June 6: Disembark in Rotterdam

 

We got an early start and headed to Luminae for a quick breakfast once we were all packed.  This was our first and last breakfast there, lol!  Our original plan was to head back to the room and hang for a little before it was time to get off the ship.  We decided we'd just get off right after breakfast so Andy and Eli would have that extra time to clean the room for the next guests.

 

 

We were off the ship around 8:05 and quickly grabbed our luggage and then headed to Hotel New York to wait for Steve (Private Day Tours Amsterdam) to pick us up around 10am.  There was a nice bench area outside the hotel and we could still see the Apex. 🙂  My sister and I walked down to a cafe and grabbed some croissants and hot chocolate to help pass the time.

 

When Steve picked us up, we loaded all our luggage into the car and we were off for our first of 3 more days with Steve.  We did the city tour with him prior to the cruise and then we had 3 more days planned with him.  He is such a KNOWLEDGABLE person-no matter what it is, he knows about it.  He even knew more about the US than us, lol.

 

Anyways, we headed to Delft to tour the Royal Delft Factory.  I also told him in advance we wanted to paint our own Delft plate, so he arranged a private painting session for us.  You can also choose to paint a tile and for an added fee, they will ship the final product to you after it's done in 2-3 weeks.  If you don't want to wait, you can do a DIY tile and take it home on the spot.  Not as traditional, but still a unique experience and wonderful souvenir.

 

 

 

 

While we were painting, Steve coordinated a table for us in the cafe at the factory.  It is such a quaint place and everything is served on Delft blue plates.  The flowers are in theme, as are the umbrellas.  A fun place to eat at with a really nice atmosphere in the outdoor area.

 

 

 

From there, we toured the city of Delft and then headed to the Mauritshuis museum.  Admission was included in the tour.  Let me say, Steve knows EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE he goes.  No matter where we are or what time of day it is, every employee knows him.  He is well respected by everyone and it's very nice to see.  So as we were walking through the Mauritshuis, everyone said hi to Steve, lol.  The main highlight here is the Girl with a Pearl Earring.

 

 

 

 

Our tour ended at our hotel, which I will post pics and info for once we are checked out. 

 

My sister was in the mood for another rice table, so we found a place with good reviews.  It was called Aneka Rasa and it was delicious.  Much more casual than Long Pura and not as many options, but we all really enjoyed it.  Also in a MUCH different type of area than Long Pura. 😬

 

 

We passed a well-known french fry place called "Mannekenpis" and the line wasn't too long, so we ordered a small frites with fritessaus.

 

 

Tour Provider Info:

Private Day Tours Amsterdam

Steve

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by love2crews.

[love2crews.]

1 hour ago, JYGNYC said:

Thank you for this incredibly informative thread!  We will be doing this exact cruise in August  - just booked it last week! These three months cannot go by fast enough!

 

 

I know how it feels!  We waited nearly 4 years, lol!  

 

Enjoy your sailing! 🙂 

[wendyam76]

Love Aneka Rasa - have gone there a number of times! Enjoy your last few days.

Wendy

[love2crews.]

June 7: Giethoorn, Netherlands

 

For the first time this trip, we had McDonald's, lol!  It was pretty similar to at home.  They did serve french fries for breakfast (no hash browns) and no iced coffee. 😞 

 

We started at 10am when Steve picked us up at our hotel.  He emailed me the night before saying he had a surprise, but we had no idea what to expect.  Well, when he showed up, he wasn't in the same vehicle as yesterday, he was in a Bentley!  He said when he has guests who book with him for several days, he will sometimes surprise them with this special ride.  Not a guarantee, but it was very cool and comfortable.

 

 

The plan for the day was to go to the beautiful fairytale village of Giethoorn.  It's about an hour and a half drive with no traffic, but well worth the trip.  When we got there, we thought it'd be best to do our boat ride immediately before it got crowded later in the afternoon.  This turned out to be a very smart choice-take note!  Early is better!  It's a picturesque village with no streets, only canals.  It's a lovely place to visit and is known as the Venice of the North.

 

 

 

Steve knows how much we love animals, so he brought along some bread for us to feed the birds and swans while on our boat ride.  We saw some ducklings and also had a very close swan encounter.  This was definitely a highlight for us and something we will always remember.  If you rent your own boat in Giethoorn, bring bread!  

 

 

After our canal cruise, we stopped for a traditional Dutch lunch of "brown food."  We enjoyed bitterballen, frikandel, bami, nasi, and of course frites.  We ordered an ice cream too that was probably one of the best ice creams I've ever had.  This was at "Recreatiebedrijf Geythorn."

 

 

 

 

When we made it back to Amsterdam, we asked Steve to drop us off at Van Stapele instead of our hotel.  He kindly obliged.  We wanted to try the internet-famous cookie.  They only sell one type of cookie here and the line is always wrapped around the building.  PRO TIP:  You can order online and bypass the entire line.  Very few people know about this, but it saves a TON of time.  You have to order on your phone though.  The web version did not allow me to pay with a US credit card, but the mobile version did.  I expected the cookie to be overhyped, but it was DELICIOUS!  Highly recommend. 

 

 

 

Next on the list, was Tony's Chocolonely Superstore to customize our own chocolate bar.  The customizing ends at 5:30, but they close at 7pm.  They say it takes 2 hours, but we showed up earlier since we didn't get a text and ours were ready.  You can customize the chocolate (dark, milk, light) the ingredients (caramel, sea salt, pop rocks, etc) and also the colors on the wrapper.  You can add a special message to the bar, too.  A great thank you gift for someone watching your house while you're away. 😉

 

 

 

There were a ton of doner places nearby Tony's so we grabbed dinner at "The Kebab Show" and took it back to our hotel.  We ordered wraps, fries and baklava and everything was soooo good.  Please go here and try their baklava.  It's amazing.

 

 

 

 

Tour Provider Info:

Private Day Tours Amsterdam

Steve

Edited June 7, 2023 by love2crews.

[love2crews.]

12 minutes ago, wendyam76 said:

Love Aneka Rasa - have gone there a number of times! Enjoy your last few days.

Wendy

 

Thank you!

 

We definitely are! 🙂 

[love2crews.]

Laundry Info:

 

These are the laundry bags on the Apex.

 

They are 17.5" by 19".  The daily planner in the photo is a standard 8.5" by 11" paper.

 

 

 

Also including the prices for individual items.

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by love2crews.

[vickykay]

The best French fries are in the Netherlands!

[Kelownadon]

2 hours ago, vickykay said:

The best French fries are in the Netherlands!

Appears you haven’t tried the French fries in Quebec,

Canada. 

[nikel]

51 minutes ago, Kelownadon said:

Appears you haven’t tried the French fries in Quebec,

Canada. 

Poutine !!

[Kelownadon]

22 minutes ago, nikel said:

Poutine !!

A Montrealer. You know what I’m talking about. The originator of poutine. Montreal has the best poutine, the best French fries, the best steamed hot dogs, the best smoked meat. The list goes on and on. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Kelownadon

[librarylady19]

3 hours ago, Kelownadon said:

Appears you haven’t tried the French fries in Quebec,

Canada. 

Or Belgium (with curry sauce!)

[love2crews.]

3 hours ago, Kelownadon said:

A Montrealer. You know what I’m talking about. The originator of poutine. Montreal has the best poutine, the best French fries, the best steamed hot dogs, the best smoked meat. The list goes on and on. 

 

YUM!  Never been, but sounds delicious!  Have had poutine in the states, but I'm sure not as good as in Montreal. 

 

 

[vickykay]

Will be on the Summit to Canada this coming September and very much looking forward to trying poutine!

Edited June 8, 2023 by vickykay
Spelling

[librarylady19]

For anyone needing to fly Southwest after the TA, the new flight schedule just opened up today. Was able to get a NS from FLL to MDW. Hopefully price comes down a bit, but they are still less expensive than AA or United, and we can avoid O’Hare!

Edited June 8, 2023 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

27 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

For anyone needing to fly Southwest after the TA, the new flight schedule just opened up today. Was able to get a NS from FLL to MDW. Hopefully price comes down a bit, but they are still less expensive than AA or United, and we can avoid O’Hare!

Oops sorry - meant to post this on my Apex TA roll call🙄

[love2crews.]

I haven’t forgotten about this thread!  Just walked in the door from a long travel day.

 

Will post tomorrow, so sorry about the delay. 

[love2crews.]

June 8: Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

 

We started the day with a quick breakfast at our hotel's restaurant, Celia.  It's a buffet and you have the choice of ordering an omelette or 2 eggs cooked to your liking.  The buffet options were better at here, but nothing beats the eggs benedict from Jansz. at the Pulitzer!!

 

 

 

This was our last day of our trip and we headed to Zaanse Schans, which was about a 30 min drive from Amsterdam.  Steve picked us up at 10am, and we were there around 10:30.  First we went to the clog making demonstration and then we all got a pair of "stylish" clogs.  Not actually stylish, but more so than the souvenir ones, lol.  

 

 

 

 

Then we walked around and went into a working windmill which was cutting wood.  It was really interesting to see how the wood cut so much faster when the wind picked up.  The whole floor started shaking when it was windy. 

 

 

They have some really cool shops in the village, including the first Albert Heijn where you can buy dutch cocoa.  YUM.  There's also a spice shop that sells peanut oil made from one of the windmills in the area.

 

 

 

From there, we headed about 30 mins away to a cheese farm in Vreeland.  I didn't catch the name of it and to be honest I'm not sure it has one.  It's not a tourist attraction so there were only a handful of people there and we were the only ones playing with the cows!  Steve showed us around the farm and we even got to pet the calves, some of them only 5 days old!  They were so cute, wagging their tails and sucking on our thumbs.  We washed up and went into the shop, sampled some cheese and it was sooo good.  We got a couple wheels of the truffle cheese to take home and enjoyed some fresh ice cream while we were there.  We were shocked with how inexpensive everything in the shop was, especially since it was so high quality.

 

 

 

 

After 2.5 weeks of travel, we were exhausted and had to try to fit everything back in our suitcases, so we ended our tour with Steve a little early.  We had a great time exploring the Netherlands with him and I think he enjoyed it as well. 

 

My sister was covered in cow slobber and wanted to shower immediately once we made it back to the room, lol.  In the meantime, my mom and I went out and grabbed the Kebab Show again.  It was sooo good the night before and it was close to our hotel.  We had extra baklava from the night before too and it was still delicious!!!  I wish I brought some home!

 

Tour Provider Info:

Private Day Tours Amsterdam 

Steve

Edited June 10, 2023 by love2crews.

[love2crews.]

June 9: Travel Day

 

Our last morning in the Netherlands!  Right around the corner of our hotel was a McDonald's, so we grabbed some bacon McMuffins just to have something in our stomachs until we got to the airport.

 

Around 9:15, our driver Mesut of VIP Travel Services was waiting outside to pick us up.  It was kind of nice because he picked us up from the airport when we arrived so we started and ended the trip with him. 🙂

 

Regina was waiting for us at the airport, too.  Again, she first greeted us when we arrived in Amsterdam and sent us off on our way, too.  The customs line was very short and I don't think the Meet & Assist service was as beneficial for departing as it was for arriving, but it was still nice to have her with us.  She brought us to the KLM lounge and picked us up about 15 minutes before our flight boarded.  It was a 10 min walk to our gate and she took us to the front of the line when it was time to board.  If you only book Meet & Assist one way, I recommend for arriving.

 

The lounge was pretty crowded, but the food offerings were decent.  Lots of healthy snack options like hummus and vegetables, cous cous salad, etc.  It was all good, though and not too heavy.

 

 

 

The Schipol airport is all under one roof, so there are tons of shops and food options.  We grabbed Starbucks and Joe & the Juice for the plane ride.  You can also buy all your cheese there and they sell insulated bags to keep it cool on the plane ride home.  We also passed by a mini Rijksmusuem and Regina told us they have 5 works from the museum in there.  If you like art, it could be a good way to pass the time while waiting for your flight.

 

 

 

 

We had a great flight home and a phenomenal trip! 🙂

 

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by love2crews.