PhillyTravelBug

I’m glad to see the Prima finally docked there. We had 2 days in Akureyri, which ended up being enjoyable.

Loving this so far! Leaning towards the Flora, but definitely want insight on the Xploration 

I am debating this for 2026 or the Africa cruise. It's just a thought, but it would be nice to have one of the away plus ships to do this route with their observation lounge.  The horror stories I hear about the Star are my concern for this trip.

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report. It's so hard and hard not to compare Norway and Alaska, but I think Norway is my favorite place on Earth.  We sailed Prima last year and Geiranger was my favorite stop.  We lucked out with beautiful weather there  and in Alesund.  Wishing you a wonderful sailing! pictures or words do not do Norway any justice.

On 5/2/2024 at 4:00 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

NCLH had a good quarter.  Problem is it came on the heels of RCL reporting an even stronger one.  RCL had a 107% load factor vs NCLH's 105%.  RCL also had better cash flow, paying down a bunch of debt and refinancing another $1B from 11% to 6%.  Street bid up NCLH expecting similar results and were disappointed when they didn't match.  Covid put them in a deep hole and it's going to take a while to recover.

I'm pretty loyal to NCL, but put my investment in RCL and some in VIK this week.  I am wondering how much higher RCL can go, but their outlook for the next year seems to be optimistic with another ship and Celebrity coming out with Xcel.

2 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

 

I was planning this one in Covid and there were lots of safari-like excursions available then. I've just done the Santiago to Buenos Aires trip on the Star and that's well worth doing in its own right(although I saw the antarctica issues on the previous one and thought they handled it badly.) 

any of the two you prefer more?

Debating this sailing for 2026, Baltic on the Dawn as well, or the South America / Antartica sailing.  After the horror stories from the Star and its sailing, or lack of to Antartica this past season, I'm conflicted.  Hoping the Africa sailing offers some safari like excursions.  I like the idea of going back to the boat, but definitely want to experience that wildlife if its going to be my only visit to Africa.

Just want to add how lovely Geiranger is. One of the best days of my life. Beauty everywhere!

This trip looks spectacular so far and the Flora looks so sleek. Do you find enough time for rest and relaxation? I love excursions, but appreciate some down time to sit and enjoy the scenery and watch the world go by.

This is exactly the Galapagos / flora report I’ve been waiting for. I have been eying this exact itinerary for 2026 or 2027. Thank you!

On 4/26/2024 at 3:00 PM, Magnificentmillie1 said:

I noted the changes of arrival port in Holland to Ijmuiden. Does anyone know how to get from the dock to Amsterdam?

Somewhere this week I heard that Amsterdam is making a similar fuss as Venice with the volume of cruise ship passengers and the burden it puts on.  Can’t imagine changes would be implemented this quickly.

I hope you have a wonderful time. Iceland was a bucket list and a beautiful country. However, Norway puts Iceland and Alaska (barely) to shame.

1 hour ago, Magnificentmillie1 said:

  We’re taking the same cruise as Philly in August and booking our tours now, found your blog fascinating, thank you so much, so much useful information and beautiful photos.   We’ve booked a canal/walk tour in Bruges that starts at 1300 and is 3 hours so was wondering if we’d get back to the ship in time. 

Thabk you so much. I’m so happy to hear it helped future travelers of this itinerary.

you are really going to have to rush back to the ship and with the bus you have to take from outside the port, it’s going to be close.   The canal tour was such a highlight for us!

10 hours ago, Magnificentmillie1 said:

What times did you have to get back to the ship after your day onshore?

I believe it was 4:30 (16:30).

We arrive around 8:30 in the morning and have a hotel near Waterloo so we have easy access to the train to Southampton.

It’s starting to sound like it may just be easier to take the tube to London and drop the bags off at our hotel and then head to Windsor.

Thank you for taking the time for that response. We will most likely take a taxi to the castle. Open to all suggestions.

My mom and I were hoping to visit Windsor after we land at LHR instead of dropping the luggage off at our hotel in London and heading back.  Any suggestions for luggage storage? I am sure this has been brought up in the past, but haven't seen anything on it looking a little back.  Appreciate any guidance.

Not at all. Our tour was scheduled 15 minutes after we docked. Geiranger is my favorite place on Earth.

Just booked one on the Ascent for our 2025 Mediterranean sailing. Very happy!

Just booked next years cruise with Celebrity and already booked an excursion with them. Only two more months for disneys to open. Getting excited for both sailings now!

I was just looking at this packing for our 8 night sailing on the Ascent. It was around $740! Are there ever deals on this package? That seems absurd.

Bruges was such a memorable day. I would love to go back there some day.

Thank you for the reply. I went ahead and booked the Ascent for next year.  Hope we have a good turn out. Definitely don’t want an Atlantis type of cruise, but want to have a few more of our gays than usual.

I believe that is in line.  A week is usually around $299 if I am not mistaken.