Trip Report for Apex Iceland Cruise 7/723

kwokpot · July 11, 2023

11 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Can they do the drinks decaf at al Bacio? For late afternoon/evening?

It's funny you should ask this. Usually at home we drink decaf after dinner since we try to buy decaf coffees that are still full bodied. Many times decaf is an inferior blend when you order it in most restaurants. I'll check for you tonight, and if they do maybe I'll try it.

Poconolady · July 11, 2023

Kwokpot, if you happen to wander by the Apple Store, could you ask what generation IPads they have, and how much? Thinking of how I’m going to spend all my obc! Thanks in advance

WrittenOnYourHeart · July 11, 2023

39 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

It's funny you should ask this. Usually at home we drink decaf after dinner since we try to buy decaf coffees that are still full bodied. Many times decaf is an inferior blend when you order it in most restaurants. I'll check for you tonight, and if they do maybe I'll try it.

Thanks. I’ve just learned that caffeine at night tends to keep me up and make me not able to sleep.

Ciaranaman · July 11, 2023

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Can they do the drinks decaf at al Bacio? For late afternoon/evening?

I only drink decaf and, yes, Cafe al Bacio makes all my lattes, caps, whatever, decaf. They are simply the best!

WrittenOnYourHeart · July 11, 2023

46 minutes ago, Ciaranaman said:

I only drink decaf and, yes, Cafe al Bacio makes all my lattes, caps, whatever, decaf. They are simply the best!

Thank you!!

JackE · July 11, 2023

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Day 4 - Akureyri port day, Afternoon

I would like to preface this section by saying that my husband and I are less is more kind of people, so we don't have to be out touring the minute the gangway goes down and be the last ones back on. The same goes for onboard activities. As we all know part of the allure of a cruise vacation is the ability to do as much OR as little as you want, and you can switch that up at a moments notice. Try doing that on a fully escorted land tour!

With that said we left the ship about 11:30 to walk around the town on our own. Having never done this itinerary before but having done a Norwegian Fjords cruise last summer we came prepared with rain jackets, puffy coats, knit caps, gloves, etc. The great thing was today's forecast was sunny with highs in the mid 60s! It was in the high 50's when we left the ship and immediately in the shadow of the ship it was a little breezy so we put on our coats. Five minutes later in the bright sunshine we took them off. We did have long sleeve pullovers and they were just five walking around. Parked perpendicular to the Apex was the MSC Preziosa, about the same size as the Apex. The buildings in town had a simple and clean designs and reminded me of Norwegian or Finnish architecture. We walked to the town square and through the main street which was lined with shops, restaurants, and bars.

Our destination was the church and botanical garden. The main staircase to the church was under reconstruction so you had to walk around it via one of the main streets. We took pictures of the exterior but didn't go in because of an entrance fee (yes, sometimes were cheap like that). We then made our way to the botanical garden. On Google maps it doesn't seem much of anything but it was a major surprise and I give it a big thumbs up as a do not miss attraction(and it's FREE). What's nice about it is the various shaded pathways through large trees and varied elevations which made for interesting walks among beautiful plantings, flowers, shrubbery, fountains, and ponds. Some unique flowers of beautiful colors. Loved it!

Along the way to and from the botanical gardens are beautiful historic homes built in the 1910's, church's and other public buildings. It was enjoyable just to meander around enjoying the sights. We spent about 2 hours out and then made it back to the ship for lunch at the buffet. Today there was roast chicken and it was excellent! Juicy and full of flavor! A takeaway coffee from Segundo Bacio and back to our cabin to enjoy coffee while looking out our IV window and take in the scenery. Then a nap before dinner.

Fantastic photos! Thank you for taking us along!

kwokpot · July 11, 2023

10 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Thanks. I’ve just learned that caffeine at night tends to keep me up and make me not able to sleep.

I requested a decaf Americano tonight and it was excellent! Full bodied and strong, not bitter nor watered down. Perfect ratio of espresso to water.

WrittenOnYourHeart · July 11, 2023

Just now, kwokpot said:

I requested a decaf Americano tonight and it was excellent! Full bodied and strong, not bitter nor watered down. Perfect ratio of espresso to water.

Thank you for experimenting for me!!

Ex-Airbalancer · July 11, 2023

No photos of the traffic lights 😁

kwokpot · July 11, 2023

Day 5 Isafjordur port day, Morning and Afternoon

Today is a tender port and we were already in position when I woke up at 8:00am. We have a short afternoon tour so there was no need to rush off early in the morning. We went up to breakfast at the buffet and thankfully it wasn't a madhouse like it was for the Akureyri port day. We must be one lucky cruiseship, another outstanding sunny day, no rain, and in the upper 50s.

I missed my gym workout yesterday so after a short post breakfast rest I made my way to the gym for a workout before lunch and our tour. The gym was mostly empty so it was a joy working out without a crowd. Back to the room for a quick shower and then to the buffet for lunch.

I've been enjoying the Indian selections for lunch in the Oceanview Cafe. The food quality has been consistently good and there's always a varied selection. There's a daily Indian and Mexican section along with a pasta bar and an area with two daily vegan choices. I haven't tried the pizza yet so that will have to on the menu.

Our tour is scheduled for 1:30pm so we made our way to the tenders just before 1:00 so we wouldn't be late. The E-Class ships have really rethought the whole tendering process from the ship's lower decks to the Magic Carpet platform used to transfer from ship to tender boats to the tender boats themselves. They are the most luxurious tender boats you will ever ride on with individual padded seats and AC inside.

Via Cruise Critic we're joining a private tour organized by a guest to see the Dynjandi Falls. There's 18 of us in a private 19 person extended van. The falls are an hour away and the tour is basically going to the falls, seeing them and walking around, and coming back to the ship.

Having said that this tour is a must see. The falls are spectacular but equally beautiful is the ride going and returning from the falls. In other words the journey is part of the tour. The vistas are just breathtaking as you see how tall the mountains are. We actually cross several fjords via long tunnels, one of them only one lane for two way traffic in the tunnel (don't ask me how that works, I was in the back seat and I didn't want to know; it was on pitch dark from the van windows!)

You also drive past farms and there are sheep grazing for miles and miles. When you arrive at the falls there's toilet facilities but that's about it. There's a short paved walkway to the smaller lower falls but to access the main falls pathways they're unpaved and very rocky. Those that have problems walking and are unsteady on their feet should stay in the paved lower walkways. You can clearly see the main falls so you won't be missing a thing.

You would need 90 minutes to really enjoy all the views of the falls and have a leisurely hike to the top, appreciate the views, and hike back down. Having said that we had 45 minutes and I made it 2/3 ways up the paths. Someone in our tour bus made it to the top, but I didn't feel the need to rush up just to say I made it. After the falls we made it back to catch a 4:30pm tender back on the boat.

FYI, as we drove back to the Port we basically went through the town of Isafjordur and unlike Akureyri there's really nothing to see in this town.

Edited July 12, 2023 by kwokpot

kwokpot · July 12, 2023

Day 5 Isafjordur port day, Morning and Afternoon

We had dinner reservations at Tuscan today for 7:30pm which gave us some time after returning from our tour to relax a bit in our room. Tuscan was not crowded at all and we were seated right away. For starters l had the pumpkin salad and my husband had the mesculn greens.

our entrees were the Beef Bourguignon and salmon. We both enjoyed our entrees. Our most recent Celebrity cruise was last February on the Solstice from LA. We both agree that overall the MDR food quality on the Apex exceeded that on the solstice. Dinner pacing was perfect with the two courses taking 40 minutes in total from sitting down. We were going to see about dessert but I wanted to see if we could make the 8:30pm show at The Club so we hurried out and made way to The Club.

I've seen other shows in The Club before but never Caravan. The setup for the shows here resembles a cabaret environment. We were able to to get two easy chair seats in the 2nd row on the bar side of the stage/dance floor. Overall the show, which lasted about 30 minutes, was just OK. I felt the sound system was way too loud and distorted the voices. I've seen a Jazz revue show on another E-Class ship that was much better. This particular show was a bit frantic.

After the show we went to our usual coffee place, Cafe Al Bacio, for after show coffee and dessert. Someone here on Cruise Critic asked about getting decaf coffee at Bacio which I wasn't sure about so I ordered a decaf Americano. It was excellent! Strong, full bodied without being bitter and just the right ratio of espresso and hot water for a satisfying decaf coffee. Tonight Deck 4cwas less hectic than on Chic night. We stayed a little while to enjoy our coffee and then went to our room to prepare for bed and a early morning for our next port stop, Reykjavik.

vickykay · July 12, 2023

Amazing photos!

penzance30 · July 12, 2023

May I ask, is it warm on the ship in the evening? Just wondering if people are dressing up after all weather wear in the daytime? TIA

kwokpot · July 12, 2023

Day 6 Reykjavik port day, Morning

OH NO, OUR TOUR BUS DIDN'T WAIT FOR US😥

It's 10:50am and we're back on the ship for a late brunch before the buffet closes. Then back to the room to freshen up before meeting our REVISED Golden Circle tour.

Let's backtrack to 6:00am. We wake up for some room service coffee and breakfast before our 8:00am Golden Circle tour ( booked on our own ). To be honest, I try to eat healthy for all meals and it's hard to do that with a standard continental breakfast offerings. While the ship does offer hot breakfast via room service it's for a fee and I'm not interested in paying for oatmeal and a hard boiled egg because I don't want to walk to to the buffet.

We get ready and proceed to deck 4 to the disembarkation area. Its too early to queue up to disembark so we just wait lingering around. At 7:50am they allowed a line to form to disembark. It's 8:10 and no movement. I receive a call on my mobile phone and it's the tour company asking where we are. I alert them that our ship hasn't released passengers yet. They ask us when we will be there and we say we're not sure. They said ok. Not a good sign. It's 8:20 and we're disembarking the ship. I receive a phone call and it's the tour company alerting is that they tour bus couldn't wait any longer and has left. It seems that we were the only ones on this small group tour from the Apex and there was the Queen Victoria that was already docked and this tour must have picked people up from that ship and were only waiting for us (we explicitly stated in multiple emails that we were on the Apex). They said they can offer us a full refund with no penalty or can accommodate us on a shorter afternoon tour that leaves at 12 noon. We took the latter option.

Since we were literally walking off the ship we decided to take the free city center shuttle and go to the cathedral. I'll detail that on the next post.

Edited July 12, 2023 by kwokpot

ecslady · July 12, 2023

Really enjoying your review. Sorry to hear you have a shortened revised Golden Circle Tour. But walking around the city is nice as well as there is lots to see.

kwokpot · July 12, 2023

Day 6 Reykjavik port day, Afternoon

Quick update, more disaster. Our 12 noon tour guide never showed up. Luckily another driver from the same company who was picking up passengers for the same tour, stayed with us for 15 minutes while on the phone with his company trying to help us (there's another couple from the Apex that's having the same issue with this tour company both with the same morning tour and the rebooked afternoon tour. ). We're on his van now. We'll see how it goes.

Edit: Do not book with Your Day tours or Artic Adventures, who is the company actually doing the tour. They are both incompetent.

Edited July 12, 2023 by kwokpot

horseymike · July 12, 2023

Hi Kwokpot,

Thanks for the detailed review and spectacular photos.

Hope your cruise continues to go well in spite of the tour glitch.

👍🍀🚢

scrapcreator · July 12, 2023

How disappointing! 😞

I think there are a few of us booked with them for upcoming cruises. 😞

jwlane · July 12, 2023

28 minutes ago, scrapcreator said:

booked with them for upcoming cruises.

Excellent experience with Gateway to Iceland tours a few years ago (https://www.gtice.is/).

Jim_Iain · July 12, 2023

On 7/8/2023 at 3:43 PM, soozles said:

I’m on that cruise as well, and I keep trying to find other people who were in Iceland that time of year and looking at what they wore… even the weather forecast isn’t super helpful because sometimes 50 feels cool, and sometimes it feels warmer depending if it’s sunny, windy, humidity, etc.

Reminds me of a Summer in San Francisco - Layered Clothing is best choice.

BTW when we were there we were very comfortable with a Sweatshirt and a Puffer. Usually the Puffer ended up in the day pack.

kwokpot · July 12, 2023

Day 5 Isafjordur port day, Afternoon

As we make our way back to the ship from our last tour stop, the Geyser, I'm glad we were able to salvage this tour. The tour drivers aren't the issue, it's the company dispatcher and scheduler who doesn't know how to properly schedule cruise ship passengers with non-cruiseship customers. The company website states to be patient with the tour pickup and it can take up to 30 minutes after the scheduled pickup. Yet the tour company didn't give it's customers the same courtesy and left waiting only about 17 minutes. To make matters worse we came to realize that the company abandoned another couple from the Apex on the morning tour, so they left 4 passengers stranded who were late only by 20 minutes. They then separately scheduled the 4 of us to the noontime tour but neglected to tell any of their tour drivers. The Artic Adventures tour company actually came by at 12:50 but to pickup a separate group of 4 from the Apex. We had been waiting since 11:40. I can only assume we were SUPPOSED to be with this driver but the company never informed him. It then took another 15 minutes for this driver to speak with his company in which they evidently couldn't figure out within 30 seconds that the 4 of us should just go with this driver. It was incompetencey at it's highest.

Of the three stops on the Golden Circle tour the Gullfoss waterfalls are the most impressive. Thingvellir National Park is beautiful and fascinating but you really need 90 minutes to walk more of the paths to get a sense of that these are tectonic plates of two continents you're walking around and in-between. The Geyser is a geyser, like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park in the States. The following photos are from all three stops.

Oh and we had an ice cream stop at a family owned farm that's 7 generations old! You order ice cream and the cows are 50 feet away in their barn.

Edited July 12, 2023 by kwokpot

kwokpot · July 13, 2023

Day 6 Reykjavik port day, Evening

Error correction, previous post should be Day 6, Reykjavik port stop.

We arrived back from our Reykjavik Golden Circle tour At 7:30pm and decided buffet dinner over MDR. The good news is unlike the beginning of the year when there were reports of severely curtailed buffet dinner offerings the buffet is now back to full station availability. All stations except one were opened and available. The buffet was actually quite crowded but we had no problems finding a seat. The food was hot and tasty, albeit some of the same types of stations open as during lunchtime (Mexican, Indian, Asian Stir fry). Afterwards we went to our usual spot at Cafe Al Bacio for a decaf Americano and to relax and people watch. After a long day of waking up very early for a missed tour and then getting on an afternoon one we didn't have the energy to doing anything else so after coffee it was back to the room to relax and to bed. I planned to go back into Reykjavik City Center the next day to do some quick sightseeing before all aboard at 12:30pm.

toronto guys · July 13, 2023

On 7/11/2023 at 7:56 PM, kwokpot said:

Day 5 Isafjordur port day, Morning and Afternoon

Today is a tender port and we were already in position when I woke up at 8:00am. We have a short afternoon tour so there was no need to rush off early in the morning. We went up to breakfast at the buffet and thankfully it wasn't a madhouse like it was for the Akureyri port day. We must be one lucky cruiseship, another outstanding sunny day, no rain, and in the upper 50s.

I missed my gym workout yesterday so after a short post breakfast rest I made my way to the gym for a workout before lunch and our tour. The gym was mostly empty so it was a joy working out without a crowd. Back to the room for a quick shower and then to the buffet for lunch.

I've been enjoying the Indian selections for lunch in the Oceanview Cafe. The food quality has been consistently good and there's always a varied selection. There's a daily Indian and Mexican section along with a pasta bar and an area with two daily vegan choices. I haven't tried the pizza yet so that will have to on the menu.

Our tour is scheduled for 1:30pm so we made our way to the tenders just before 1:00 so we wouldn't be late. The E-Class ships have really rethought the whole tendering process from the ship's lower decks to the Magic Carpet platform used to transfer from ship to tender boats to the tender boats themselves. They are the most luxurious tender boats you will ever ride on with individual padded seats and AC inside.

Via Cruise Critic we're joining a private tour organized by a guest to see the Dynjandi Falls. There's 18 of us in a private 19 person extended van. The falls are an hour away and the tour is basically going to the falls, seeing them and walking around, and coming back to the ship.

Having said that this tour is a must see. The falls are spectacular but equally beautiful is the ride going and returning from the falls. In other words the journey is part of the tour. The vistas are just breathtaking as you see how tall the mountains are. We actually cross several fjords via long tunnels, one of them only one lane for two way traffic in the tunnel (don't ask me how that works, I was in the back seat and I didn't want to know; it was on pitch dark from the van windows!)

You also drive past farms and there are sheep grazing for miles and miles. When you arrive at the falls there's toilet facilities but that's about it. There's a short paved walkway to the smaller lower falls but to access the main falls pathways they're unpaved and very rocky. Those that have problems walking and are unsteady on their feet should stay in the paved lower walkways. You can clearly see the main falls so you won't be missing a thing.

You would need 90 minutes to really enjoy all the views of the falls and have a leisurely hike to the top, appreciate the views, and hike back down. Having said that we had 45 minutes and I made it 2/3 ways up the paths. Someone in our tour bus made it to the top, but I didn't feel the need to rush up just to say I made it. After the falls we made it back to catch a 4:30pm tender back on the boat.

FYI, as we drove back to the Port we basically went through the town of Isafjordur and unlike Akureyri there's really nothing to see in this town.

Great photos and notes. Please let me know the tour company you used as there does not seem to be any availability. Do you recall seeing any locals in the port offering this tour as you disembarked as you tend to see in other ports? Thank you

Kmangel · July 13, 2023

I am enjoying your cruise report. My husband and I are booked on an Iceland cruise next summer in July out of Rotterdam on the Silhouette. Lots of good info to help me make our plans. Thanks!

kwokpot · July 13, 2023

Day 7 Reykjavik port day - Morning & afternoon

After a buffet breakfast I utilized the free city shuttle provided by Reykjavik to do a little more sightseeing before all aboard at 12:30pm. Ging alone today, husband is staying on the ship. We have another sunny rainless day at 50 degrees but extremely windy. It's nippy when the wind blows.

Reykjavik City Center is extremely picturesque and one can spend hours waking around and checking out the shops, cafes, restaurants, museums. The streets are spotless and the atmosphere is calm and serene. Here's all the photos I took. Full disclosure, the cathedral photos are from yesterday after we missed our more Golden Circle tour but before the replacement afternoon tour. It was a long day yesterday!