styme123

4 hours ago, gunnywife said:

So far I've booked several tours.  But I need help on some of these ports

Portland   -   Is there any thing to do there or should we book a tour?

Dublin  --  Is the port near the city center?  Is it walkable or can we take a cab?

Invergordon  -   Same question as above

Edinburgh  -   Seems like quite a distance from port to town.  What is the best way to get to town?

For Edinburgh we did the X99 bus. It was super easy and right outside the dock. We also did the HOHO with it. We spent a lot of time at the Castle so we didn't have that much time to use the HOHO but it was a way to quickly see some the sites before going back to the ship. 

On 11/7/2022 at 4:08 PM, bebe08 said:

Yikes this is impossible to read! Here are the ports:

• Amsterdam
• Eidfjord
• Scenic cruising Hardangerfjord
• Alesund
• Geiranger
• Scenic cruising Geirangerfjord
• Bergen
• Amsterdam
• Scenic cruising Oslofjord
• Oslo
• Kristiansand
• Stavanger
• Scenic cruising Sognefjord
• Flam
• Amsterdam

Sorry if you mentioned already, which cruise line/ship is this with?

9 hours ago, shiner6 said:

Thanks, where did you find that phone number?   

The one on the contact us page. Customer Centre: +1 800 862 8621

I used Virgin this summer flying JFK to LHR. I needed to contact them a few times about the flight and they were very helpful and accommodating. Much more so then when I was dealing with Delta as well since it was a co-share RT. I never use the bot system and always call them directly. I also called late at night 12:00/1:00 NY time and got connected very quickly.

8 hours ago, Nitemare said:

Private guides run about $1000/day and up in Iceland.  It really is easy to drive there.

Wow! That's pretty pricey!

8 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

Plan a route and find places to stay. We booked accommodations too late and ended up having to plan our route around where we stayed. Luckily there are a lot of small farms that offer AirBnB style lodging, but it’s better to book early.

 

The south coast is the most visited, and has a lot to see/do. We did plan a few days around activities (Into the Volcano, a glacier walk near Eyjafjallajökull, and a zodiac boat ride on Jökulsárlón). Then we drove part of the ring road and returned via the Kjölur route (our 4WD rental contract allowed this), ending with the Golden Circle and snorkeling at Silfra. The Blue Lagoon was our last stop to relax before flying out.

 

There are so many great places to visit, and the Golden Circle is well worth visiting (though much busier than the rest of the country). My favorite spot was Jökulsárlón (especially with the RIB boat tour), because it reminded me so much of Antarctica. Probably second for me was Hverir in the north, because I love volcanoes and it’s been years since I’ve visited someplace like Yellowstone with hot springs and boiling mud pits.

It sounds like once I start looking it'll be hard to pick which stops to go to.

6 hours ago, Nitemare said:

Above recommendations are great!  I'd go to the Iceland forum at TripAdvisor and check out topics with "Ring Road" in the title.

 

I started looking on TripAdisor and watching YouTube videos also. Not sure how I feel about renting a car to get around though. I would maybe think about doing that if I was very familiar with everything. I would probably spend the extra money and do a multi day/week tour where you have a guide/driver.

 

10 hours ago, Nitemare said:

If I was recommending the best way to do Norway and Iceland to a friend I'd tell them to DRIVE Iceland.  10 days is an Awesome trip around the mainland, and to do a cruise to Norway up to the North Cape (and beyond if possible).  Iceland from a ship is not the real Iceland.  You don't get into the 'middle parts' and you are going to be sharing all the quiet places with a busload or even a minibusload of other folks. 

 

Iceland is so easy to drive and you have lots of opportunities to just be alone with your loved one(s) in complete solitude with nature.  You won't get that on a cruise unless you do a day car rental and you still won't see as much that way

If I were to do a land tour what's the best way to get started in the planning process?

1 hour ago, hallasm said:

If you consider Hurtigruten my proposal is to fly into Oslo - take the train from Oslo to Bergen with a detour to Flåm - stay one or two nights in the Flåm area with boat tours at the fjords.

Then few nights before Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes. FROM Kirkenes flight back to Oslo. I would only arrange for two excursions - one at Lofoten Islands and one to North Cape - in June July you’ll have midnight sun from Lofoten Islands to Kirkenes.

And also the option to explore Oslo.

Another thought. If flying Iceland Air to Oslo you might also stay few days in Reykjavik.

Thank you so much for the feedback. For the two excursions you suggested, did you mean take only those the ones while onboard the ship?

13 hours ago, hallasm said:

An alternative to the ‘mainstream cruise lines’ is Hurtigruten - this is a coastal ferry service from Bergen to Kirkenes  - 34 port stops in six days. One longer stop each day - and back to Bergen.

 

The deep fjords are in southern Norway - north of the Polar circle is the main attraction midnight sun in June and July.

Started to look into Hurtigruten and do some mock bookings. With the add-ons of excursions the price really jumps a bit.

13 hours ago, hallasm said:

 

Loving this thread and just read through all the posts. I'm looking into a Norway, Iceland or Greenland cruise. After reading the posts I should probably just focus on one place at a time. I know nothing about any of the ports or places so starting my research now for July/Aug 23 possibly maybe July/Aug 24.

A few questions:

When I'm looking at itineraries how do I tell if it's a port that we are docking and getting off at or just sailing through?

On "stops" that are fjords, are the times listed the time you enter and leave that area? Do you just kind of float around the whole time? 

If it's raining does that hamper a lot of what you can see?

Can you see everything from your balcony or do you need to be on top of the ship?

Is cruising the best way to see the Fjords? Meaning if I flew in and did a land tour would other small boats do trips there as well?

Sorry if these seem like silly questions I've just never taken a cruise where you don't get off in a port.

1 hour ago, CCJack said:

I agree.   Fjords in Norway are very beautiful, but a couple of  Fjords is likely enough, if you are on a cruise.   The coastal cities like Bergen are very interesting in there own right for different reasons.  

 

I think your situation comes down to if you want to do 2 countries with one trip and and thus have fewer stops at each, or you want to just concentrate on one country.   I really enjoyed our Norway only cruise .    Also enjoyed our Iceland / Ireland cruise a couple years later.   I would give Norway the edge, however.  

Following along, I'm in the same boat as OP. I don't know much about Norway or Iceland and am a bit of a researcher so I'm not sure if this summer is too soon to get it figured out. I'm probably overthinking things. Did British Isles this summer with Princess and that was a lot of ports and planning.

Interested in hearing about the Glider. We are looking for some things to see on our half day in Cork.

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Nothing to do with unions. Just insufficient staff. 

During covid, airports throughout the world laid off staff.  Suddenly the world opened up, and it became impossible to re-hire sufficient staff at short notice. So the issues will still be around for the rest of the summer.

Oh Okay, I guess I might have lumped it all together in my head with the train strikes I was hearing about,lol.

53 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

I'm glad you had a good experience, but people should pay attention to the news because LHR has restricted passengers to 100,000 departing per day, causing cancelation of many, many flights.  They have halted sales on short-haul domestic flights.  Luggage is still a problem.  We are not allowed pass travel through/to LHR right now because it's so bad.  I would avoid if possible.

Do these types of union disagreements typically take long to resolve? We fly home at end of Aug from LHR so just curious if it will still be an issue then. 

@Jersey42 Unfortunately we are cruising in a few weeks and all deposits were paid awhile back. So no waiver. We also have 2 more cruises coming up in Feb and June that I need to insure but I already paid them off as well.

@Jersey42 - Thank you so much for your response and taking the time to look it over. I might give them a call and ask them to send me their actual policy so I can read the details. I'm not apposed to hving the trip cancellation coverage from TIS, Just way more concerned about an overwhelming medical bill if something major would to happen.    

I was speaking to my health ins rep about medical benefits covered on our upcoming BI cruise and they mentioned Safe Trip plans. Has anyone tried them or needed to get reimbursement? I did just purchase a plan with IMG  through TIS with 500,000 medical/1,000,000evac. But Safe Trip had what looked like the same coverage for about half the price? I didn't look through all their fine print but a lot seemed the same. In a plan, I'm mostly concerned about medical not trip cancellation. 

On 6/27/2022 at 9:36 AM, Retirement2016 said:

 

No, I would not take the chance.

 

We recently missed our cruise out of Southampton due to TWO airline delay/cancellations.  We were to leave LAX on 6/22, flight delayed due to mechanical problem, then cancellation due to no crew.  Rebooked on another airline, spent the night in a hotel.  Next day (22 hours later) our flight coming from LHR diverted to Canada for medical emergency.  Second flight delayed 28 hours, leaving LAX 9 pm.  Now it's 6/24 and our ship is due to leave on 6/25.  Needless to say, there was no way we could make it on board.   What are the chances of missing two flights in a row?

 

This cruise was planned for two years, delayed graduation present for my son.

 

At least you are traveling in the U.S.  I would still give yourself two days.  Lot easier on your nerves.

We're leaving out of Southampton as well in Aug. concerned for flights now was well.

1 minute ago, Globaliser said:

 

OK, it was your references to Heathrow, in a thread about problems at European airports, that made us think that you were concerned about what would happen when you reach the UK.

I was worried that my flight from JFK would be delayed or canceled due to Heathrow not being able to receive the flight so to speak. Are the delays only for flights leaving not coming in? 

5 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Is LHR you final destination.? If yes you should have plenty of time. 

Yes we are sailing out of Southampton. It's a non-stop flight. I was thinking the 11:00pm flight would be less busy as well. But it might be worse if there is only a late night skeleton crew at that time.

5 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Do some yoga and learn some meditative techniques.

 

That's actually only half in jest. You need to be prepared for the possibility that you may be standing in long queues for a long time, and that nothing you do (either in advance or at the time) will change anything about them or about the length of time that you will have to wait in them. After all, you are no different from most of the tens of thousands of other people arriving at Heathrow on the same morning as you, so you have no claim to special or expedited treatment. So you have two choices: get really stressed and make yourself unhappy, or just mentally relax and go with the flow.

 

Using the e-gates for passport control is one thing that may help on the day, if you qualify to use them.

 

I believe that there is in theory an option for expediting your way through Heathrow arrivals. However, from a recent tweet by Boy George (who didn't avail himself of this service), it seems that the price tag is £3,000 per person.

I don't mind waiting on the lines so to speak, I just am nervous I will miss my flight all together and can't make my cruise. We are leaving on a late night flight on a Thurs landing on Fri at 11:00am for our cruise on Saturday. I would have liked to leave on an earlier day but it's a problem for my husband to get an extra day off.

6 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Global Entry is a program to expedite immigration procedures INTO the United States.

 

TSA is a USA government agency that is responsible for airline security screening IN the United States.

 

Neither is applicable at LHR.

Oh okay I thought that the TSA precheck would help me with lines leaving JFK to LHR and getting on the plane faster.

Thank you so much for the information! I'm flying into Heathrow on Delta in mid Aug. How can we prepare or will we need to if we will be flying in with a different carrier? Should I think about getting the TSA precheck or Global Entry to elevate yet another line delay. I'm not sure the Heathrow utilizes Global Entry, but the TSA pass might help.   

2 hours ago, ROWSE said:

Oh my goodness!  That is such a compliment, thank you!  Hope you have as wonderful a time as we did!

I hope so too 😁 A lot of planning with a lot of moving parts.