Semi live report/review - Apex Scandanavian cruise 21 August 2023

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, scottie920 said:

Are Craft Social Drinks/Food included in the Retreat Premium Beverage Package? 
 

 

If the price of the drink or glass of wine is less than the PDP cap of $17 they are included anywhere on the ship. The food is another issue outside of the PDP.

[Jim_Iain]

18 hours ago, irvington said:

Based on Jim's recommendation, I signed us up for Eden tonight (around 6 pm I was able to get a reservation for 3 at 8:30) and we had a blast. We didn't get along as a family yesterday in Berlin, but we were all on our best behavior and had a delicious dinner. I will post some pictures, but despite having been in the Eden bar last cruise and this one I hadn't been down in the restaurant itself. Without asking, they moved us to a windowside table with a view of the wake when it became available, our food was the best we've had (we all had either the mulligatawny soup or the crab cake appetizer, and the filet/wellington or lobster casserole as a main, wonderful desserts) and the service was nice but not so intrusive we couldn't talk. The lighting and live music was special too. 

Glad you enjoyed.    Iain always gets the Mulligatawny Soup and really enjoys.

[ian441672]

19 hours ago, irvington said:

I know some folks want to know about the ship. It has been interesting since Philip and I were on Apex 2 summers ago to Greece and of course it is a different scene now with more people. Observations:

 

1. Like before, I am now at 11:15 pm the only person in the Retreat Lounge, but it is a nice place to "work" on my computer.

 

2. We are enjoying Craft Social a lot, but we like sports bars at home, and we are getting into Premier League and Championship League football.

 

3. Luminae was bumpy the first night, but Pearce and I have continued to go. We think the coffee is the best on the ship and it has a great breakfast. We think the food is great most of the time. Philip sort of insists on going to Oceanview; he likes getting Indian food for 3 meals a day (or more, I think he eats like 6 meals a day) and being able to jet in and out. My sons really like the burgers and chicken sandwiches at the Retreat Pool Bar (whatever it is called). We miss our server at Luminae Indu - apparently he is now on the Beyond (we are social media friends).

 

4. This might be more with retreat/Luminae, but I'm struck this time how hovering and deferential the service is. It seems kind of over the top - we are always super nice to everyone - but it makes me think that other folks may demand more fawning service than we do. 

 

5. My sons have tried all the pools. I know there was some controversy about the Solarium family hours for younger children (may be on a different ship). The family hours are 4 to 7pm I think, keep meaning to get a picture. 

 

6. I think I like the ship with more people. I don't think we have ever had to wait for anything. We found the Eden decor really freaky before (we had not long before seen Annihilation) but now it seems diluted with all the people watching. 

Hi - great trip report so far, we were on the last cruise before you in a SS to Iceland (amazing country and scenery!), also dining at Luminae.

 

We too found the service patchy throughout. When it was good it was very good, but very often they either forgot my wife's breakfast, they brought up entrees with the mains, wine was promised but never materialised (several times), bread never turned up, juice was forgotten about, long delays between service and sometimes I jest felt overlooked and forgotten. Tresi was fantastic, as was Sonny, Raf the sommelier was good but the other gentleman didn't seem to care much in his service.

 

The food was OK, sometimes really good, sometimes average but overall compared to 2 years ago when we were last there, it had deteriorated quite considerably which was a shame. We felt Luminae has lost its shine. We had one night in Tuscany as we didn't like the Luminae menu, and it was a breath of fresh air - attentive service, wine 'on tap', and some decent choices for the menu. We had a great evening!

 

Eden amazing, we ate there twice and it was a great menu and atmosphere. Fine Cut also.

 

I agree though, the coffee is by far the best on the ship, I loved the Americano, side of milk, and Marcus always referred to it as my 'standing order'! He was very good too.

 

Enjoy rest of cruise and have fun!

[irvington]

11 hours ago, scottie920 said:

Are Craft Social Drinks/Food included in the Retreat Premium Beverage Package? 
 

 

yes, seem to be.

[irvington]

6 hours ago, ian441672 said:

Hi - great trip report so far, we were on the last cruise before you in a SS to Iceland (amazing country and scenery!), also dining at Luminae.

 

We too found the service patchy throughout. When it was good it was very good, but very often they either forgot my wife's breakfast, they brought up entrees with the mains, wine was promised but never materialised (several times), bread never turned up, juice was forgotten about, long delays between service and sometimes I jest felt overlooked and forgotten. Tresi was fantastic, as was Sonny, Raf the sommelier was good but the other gentleman didn't seem to care much in his service.

 

The food was OK, sometimes really good, sometimes average but overall compared to 2 years ago when we were last there, it had deteriorated quite considerably which was a shame. We felt Luminae has lost its shine. We had one night in Tuscany as we didn't like the Luminae menu, and it was a breath of fresh air - attentive service, wine 'on tap', and some decent choices for the menu. We had a great evening!

 

Eden amazing, we ate there twice and it was a great menu and atmosphere. Fine Cut also.

 

I agree though, the coffee is by far the best on the ship, I loved the Americano, side of milk, and Marcus always referred to it as my 'standing order'! He was very good too.

 

Enjoy rest of cruise and have fun!

That's really interesting, I too feel like the food in Luminae is not as special as I remembered. Perhaps I'm not losing my mind!

[irvington]

Some positive observations:

- Not sure I commented on Oceanview, but it is great. Philip eats there all the time and says there is a lot more choice than there was 2 years ago. The times I have accompanied him I have been positively impressed for lunch and dinner. I think breakfast is not the best.

- The Retreat has a really nice continental breakfast that I wouldn't have known about except for Jim and other posters here.

- The Wifi has been great. I've twice had Teams calls with the office and the folks on the other line have said "this is like you were down the hall". Of course, we are never far from land in the Baltic, so this may not be a true test of Starlink but I'm impressed.

[irvington]

One observation for any night owls: I spent the day in Stockholm and thought I might be ready for bed, but I'm not. Various places on the planner say "late" for their closing time but everything I've found from 12:30 am is conspicuously closing, with lots of vacuuming and cleaning the bar area. I don't have enough nerve to ask the staff to tell me if anyplace is still serving (and honestly, I don't need another drink; I have already had one) but it is interesting. The Retreat Lounge is empty when I have gone there from 10 pm on. This was all true during the pandemic exit 2 years ago, but I'm surprised I can't get a glass of wine at midnight now.

[ian441672]

13 hours ago, irvington said:

That's really interesting, I too feel like the food in Luminae is not as special as I remembered. Perhaps I'm not losing my mind!

No, definitely not!  Enjoy rest of cruise.

[abbydancer2003]

We're on the Apex for the first time in December, and then again in August in the Scandinavia, so thanks and following.

[poffles]

On 8/22/2023 at 7:41 PM, Jim_Iain said:

It is Live Nova Scotia Lobster.    The MD indicated that everything at Eden is Fresh and that if supply chain issue arise they do not substitute.   

 

Love our NS lobster ... so good cooked fresh then straight from the boiling pot to my plate!  Jim you are making me rethink my supper tonight 🙂

 

[poffles]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:08 PM, irvington said:

Some positive observations:

- Not sure I commented on Oceanview, but it is great. Philip eats there all the time and says there is a lot more choice than there was 2 years ago. The times I have accompanied him I have been positively impressed for lunch and dinner. I think breakfast is not the best.

 

Interesting the differing experiences.  Recognizing that each ship might be different, I was on the Edge in April and in Oceanview I thought breakfast and lunch were good but dinner was extremely lacking with so many empty stations; those that were available were very repetitious dishes which is pretty much what others had been reporting but I was hopeful. I do hope that things are going back to prior times with more selection in this venue, I really missed the station where you could select quick cook protein they were grilling fresh (chicken, port, steak?).