Apex - Live June 27-July 8- Ireland, Iceland, and Scotland –

[dsa181920]

We explored Southampton while waiting for our room to be ready.  We walked the old city walls and toured the Tudor House and Gardens.  We ate lunch at the Dancing Man Brewery.  We ordered beer flights and appetizers.  The server let us try the different beers before choosing the ones for our flights.    It was a nice way to cool down after our walk around the old part of the city. We met a group of people who were sailing on the Norwegian Dawn around the British Isles.  They ship was leaving on Wednesday.  They were very nice people and were from the same state as my sister.  We had dinner at the White Star Tavern.  After dinner, we walked around again and then enjoyed wine on the patio at our hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch at the Dancing Man Brewery.

[Beachlover1989]

Nice to see all of these pictures.  I look forward to following along on your cruise!  Why didn't the four of you stay at the same hotel?

[cricketgirl]

What a great itinerary, I'm looking forward to following along! Keep the pics coming and have a wonderful time!

[dsa181920]

5 hours ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Nice to see all of these pictures.  I look forward to following along on your cruise!  Why didn't the four of you stay at the same hotel?

My husband and I had planned to stay at This hotel back in 2020 but never made it here due to the pandemic. We booked it for this vacation as soon as we booked our cruise. My sister waited too long and it was booked up.

[dsa181920]

We met up with three couples tonight from our roll call group.. One of the couples made the arrangements at the HarBar at the Harbour Hotel. It was rooftop bar. Everyone was very nice. We plan to meet up at Eden on the second day.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Enjoy!!! Loved Iceland.  Any excursions booked?

[dsa181920]

On 6/27/2024 at 12:05 AM, PhillyTravelBug said:

Enjoy!!! Loved Iceland.  Any excursions booked?

We are planning to do a food tasting tour in Reykjavik. We also have boos the Diamond Circle tour in Akureyei.

[dsa181920]

Obviously I am not doing a good job of keeping up with this “live report” I will post pictures from Southampton and the ship later.

 

We had a short taxi ride from our hotel to the port. Boarding was very organized.  Port employees directed us where to sit . They filled each row of seats instead of letting people to choose where to sit.  Suite passengers had an area to the side. Suite passengers were taken aboard first and then the went row by row to board the rest of the passengers.  They had several boarding ramps. It seemed more organized and efficient than some of our boardings in south Florida.

[dsa181920]

We were able to drop off our carry- on luggage in our room and pick up our sea passes. We completed our muster drill and the used some of our OBC to have lunch at Le  Grand Bistro. We try to avoid crowds in the buffet on embarkation day.  Lunch was good. Service was great.

[dsa181920]

We went to the Craft Social bar. Excellent service. Elmer is the bar tender. He is great at remembering names and preferences for drinks. My husband drinks bourbon and they have a decent selection at this bar. There are some not covered by the premium package but he has been satisfied with the ones that are covered. Elmer will make the smoked old fashioned drinks. This has also been the best bar for red wine. They do have a Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon that is not on the menu.  It is covered under the premium package. The Celebrity Elegance is no longer covered on the package. This bar also has two ports that are covered on the premium package.   We had the classic package with our booking. We kept our eye on prices and were able to upgrade for $6.99 a day about six months before the cruise.

[dsa181920]

Pictures from Southampton

 

St. Michael's Church

 

Solent Sky Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dsa181920]

Sea City Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memorial to Titanic Engineers

[dsa181920]

Breakfast at the Pig-in-the-Wall Hotel

 

Replica of 14th Century Ships Near Our Hotel

 

[cinnamon]

As a Brit I’m looking forward to your impressions of this cruise. I’ve cruised to Iceland and around the U.K. in the past. 
Wishing you Blue Skies and Calm Seas. 

[cruisetonowhere10]

Following along…given other threads the info on options covered under the premium package should alleviate some concerns.

[MMMCruiser]

Great start!  Following along as I have a planned cruise on the Apex next month, plus I love your itinerary.  I hope you have a fantastic trip!

[dsa181920]

15 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Following along…given other threads the info on options covered under the premium package should alleviate some concerns.

Several of the bars have other options than the items listed on the menu. Same thing with MDR. There are no Cabernets listed on MDR menu that are 20 or under. However, when I asked the sommelier if he had one that was covered by the premium package, he brought out Decoy.

[dsa181920]

Today we are in Cobh, Ireland. It is 59 degrees Fahrenheit. It was raining when we arrived but has stopped for the moment. My sister and brother-in-law are going to the Blarney Castle. I’ve been there before so we are going to Cork to tour Jameson Distillery. Hoping to have some time to explore Cobh when we return.

[bluwes]

On 6/23/2024 at 4:44 PM, JackE said:

Following along as we will be on the Apex in August going to Norway. Would love to cruise this itinerary! Have a wonderful time.

If it’s the 16th we will be onboard. 

[JackE]

4 hours ago, bluwes said:

If it’s the 16th we will be onboard. 

It is! See you there! 

[dsa181920]

We enjoyed our tour of the Midleton Distillery.  Quite a few people chose this tour.  We had three buses.  The tour started with an overview of Cork.  We arrived at Midleton Distillery around 11:00.  Our tour of the distillery started at 12:20 so we had time to shop, have a drink, or grab a bite in the cafe.  There was mist as we walked through the grounds of the distillery.  Our guide called it "wet air".  The walking tour took about an hour. After learning about the history of the distillery and the process used to make the product, we were given three types of whiskey to try and compare.  The tour ended with a complimentary drink make with one of the whiskeys.  We returned to Cobh and met my sister and brother-in-law at a pub. There is a Titanic Museum in Cobh; however, the first available ticket was for 5:30 which was too late for us.  

 

Midleton Distillery - Copper Pot

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Great way to start a cruise  -- a Jumbo Wine Flight to start your journey and a nice beer flight to settle in.

 

Followed by a Whiskey tasting. 

 

Edited yesterday at 04:26 PM by Jim_Iain

[dsa181920]

Cobh - Deck of Cards Houses

 

Service for dinner has gotten better as the cruise continues.  We had Anytime Dining and the first night we ate in Tuscan.  It seemed to be a new crew trying to work together and service was not good.  The second night we went to Cosmopolitan and had a wonderful serving team.  We were able to change our dining to the fixed Early Dining so we could keep this table.  Dinner pictures for Day 3:

 

Smoked Ham and Split Pea Soup

 

French Onion Soup

 

Shrimp Cocktail

 

Salmon

 

Pappardelle Con Fungi

 

Beef Sirloin En Croute

[heatherb1958]

Following as we have Apex booked for September doing the same itinerary but swap Cork for Glasgow. None of the ports are new to us but the ship is and we love to cruise . 

Great start to your live report .

[dsa181920]

Yesterday it was windy and rainy. You really notice how many people are on the ship when everyone stays indoors.  There was a big soccer game yesterday so they decided to open the theatre and show the game in there along with other places like Craft Social.  The 7:30  show was moved to 2:00 to allow for this venue to be used.  My sister and I tried to see the 2:00 show; however, every seat was taken.  People were even trying to sit on the stairs of the theatre.  We went back later to the 9:30 show.  It was Take 3 Trio.  They were three ladies who played the piano, violin, and cello.  Lots of energy and talent.  

 

Last night the sun came out long enough for us to get a picture of sunset which was around 11:00 p.m.