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

[dsa181920]

This morning t was about 54 degrees F.   My husband said he saw three people swimming laps in the outdoor pool.  The Solarium is very busy and its hard to find a place to sit.  My husband and I have passes to the Thermal Suite.  Yesterday we went in the morning and it was very busy.  Today we went around lunch time and it was not crowded and very relaxing.  We waited to buy our Thermal Suite passes until we boarded the ship.  Our last two cruises we have found they will give a substantial discount on embarkation day when they give you a tour of the spa.  We saved about $100 on each pass this year.  Last year we got the pass for about 50% of the price that had been showing online.

 

Outdoor Pool this morning

[Sleepybluegiraffe]

Great live review so far and the mention of the thermal suite passes is so helpful - thank you! I’ve been watching the price as going to Norway soon and had decided to hold out for an embarkation day discount so I will stick with that tactic knowing you saved quite a bit 

[Lena11033]

9 minutes ago, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

Great live review so far and the mention of the thermal suite passes is so helpful - thank you! I’ve been watching the price as going to Norway soon and had decided to hold out for an embarkation day discount so I will stick with that tactic knowing you saved quite a bit 

 

Same I don't like the current price especially with the amount of ports but if there is a deal for it then it may be worth getting

[peanut head]

4 hours ago, dsa181920 said:

This morning t was about 54 degrees F.   My husband said he saw three people swimming laps in the outdoor pool.  The Solarium is very busy and its hard to find a place to sit.  My husband and I have passes to the Thermal Suite.  Yesterday we went in the morning and it was very busy.  Today we went around lunch time and it was not crowded and very relaxing.  We waited to buy our Thermal Suite passes until we boarded the ship.  Our last two cruises we have found they will give a substantial discount on embarkation day when they give you a tour of the spa.  We saved about $100 on each pass this year.  Last year we got the pass for about 50% of the price that had been showing online.

 

Outdoor Pool this morning

Do you know if the pool is heated?

[dsa181920]

I want a give a shout out to Elmer, the head bar tender, at Craft Social. This has been our favorite bar and 

Elmer has gone above and beyond.  Eden Bat has been serving the Belle Glos Pinot Noir for $20. Craft Social does not have this wine on their menu,. When I asked Elmer about it, he went to Eden and got a bottle. He said it was a 10 dollar up charge. I told him it was on the Eden menu for $20 which is covered under the premium menu. Elmer went back to Eden and took a picture of the Eden menu in case his supervisor questioned it.  Elmer is wonderful!

[flora_76]

21 hours ago, dsa181920 said:

This morning t was about 54 degrees F.   My husband said he saw three people swimming laps in the outdoor pool.  The Solarium is very busy and its hard to find a place to sit.  My husband and I have passes to the Thermal Suite.  Yesterday we went in the morning and it was very busy.  Today we went around lunch time and it was not crowded and very relaxing.  We waited to buy our Thermal Suite passes until we boarded the ship.  Our last two cruises we have found they will give a substantial discount on embarkation day when they give you a tour of the spa.  We saved about $100 on each pass this year.  Last year we got the pass for about 50% of the price that had been showing online.

 

Outdoor Pool this morning

Do you know if the outdoor pool is heated? I'll be in the Apex on 3 weeks time. Thanks! I am really enjoying reading your review.

[dsa181920]

21 hours ago, flora_76 said:

Do you know if the outdoor pool is heated? I'll be in the Apex on 3 weeks time. 

I will try to find out. I haven’t spent any time around the outdoor pool because it’s been too cold and windy for me.

[dsa181920]

Yesterday, we were in Rejkavik, Iceland.  It was in the 50's and rained lightly all day.  We had a food tour booked for 11:30, so we explored the town for a couple of hours before the tour.  It's about 1.8 miles from the port to the city center. Celebrity provides a complimentary shuttle bus from the port to the Harpa Concert Hall.  We enjoyed visiting the Hallgrimskirkja.  It's a beautiful modern church at the top of the hill.  There was an organist playing the pipe organ.  This organ has more than 5, 000 pipes.  We purchased tickets to go to the bell tower.  Tickets were about $10 a piece.  The elevator goes to the 8th floor and then you walk up 3 flights of stairs.  Beautiful views from this tower.  The bells ring every 15 minutes.  

 

 

  

 

 

Found this sign while walking around and thought it was amusing.

 

Statue of Leif Erickson

[dsa181920]

We enjoyed our Food Tour.  We met in the Center Hotel Plaza.  Our guide took us to four places.  The first one had lobster soup and pickled herring.  The soup was really good and made from whey protein which is separated from the Icelandic yogurt instead of using a cream base.  Our next stop was for the famous lamb hotdogs.  Most of our group tried it with all of the condiments.  I wasn't sure I would like it but it was very good.  Next we went to a place which had lamb soup with a brown bread. Our last stop was a place where you could try the fermented shark and salted codfish.  I did not try the fermented shark but many people in our group did.  The guide gave instructions on the best way to eat it and then you take a shot of the liquor they serve with it.  I chose to have a glass of Icelandic beer. We ended this stop with a dessert made from the Icelandic yogurt.  The yogurt was on the bottom, then a layer similar to cheesecake but made from yogurt, and topped with blueberry sauce.  The guide provided a lot of information about the history and culture of the city.

 

Our guide at the hot dog stand.

 

Lamb Soup

 

Cod

 

Dessert

[dsa181920]

Here are some more pictures of Reykjavik:

 

Pipe Organ at the Church

    

 

Views from the Church Tower

 

[dsa181920]

Today we were in Isafjordur, Iceland.  It was 46 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, and windy.  No rain!  We walked around this fishing port and then stopped at the Dokkan Burgghus to try some beer flights.  This was a very small town with five cruise ships in port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jimbri]

Great photos.  Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[swjumbo]

Great blog, thank you.

We’re on the Apex in a few weeks. Can you tell us who the Captain, Hotel Director and Cruise Director are please?