Simon-t

51 minutes ago, milolii said:

Ty.  Some in our group is asking if they can book a NL tour once they get off with vendors at the dock?  I think this is  risky as it’s a tender port and a small town.  

51 minutes ago, milolii said:

Ty.  Some in our group is asking if they can book a NL tour once they get off with vendors at the dock?  I think this is  risky as it’s a tender port and a small town.  

I think that’s very risky. Alta is a small town and I don’t remember any tours being sold at the quayside. We took the view that we were only likely to be there once, and it was worth paying for the tour to maximise our chances of seeing the lights.

Having said that, we have since seen the lights from the ship in Greenland, so as I said earlier, there is an element of luck!

We booked it through the ship, although the tour provider was this company based in Alta  - https://www.glodexplorer.no/activities/. They came on to the ship during the afternoon to give a briefing on what to expect, forecast etc. I cannot remember exactly where they took us but probably no more than 20-30 minutes from the ship.

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved. We know people who went on the same tour a week or two later, but saw nothing.

We took an Alta Northern Lights shore excursion when we were in Alta with P&O back in March 2017. The excursion took us away from built up areas into an area with very little light pollution. The tours claim to be able to maximise the chances of seeing the lights by using cloud forecasts etc. We were extremely lucky and saw an amazing display of the lights (Photos below). That having been said, we know people who went on an identical excursion the following night who saw nothing due to cloud cover. There is always an element of luck.

One top tip is that wherever you are, try to get out of direct light. On several occassions the lights were visible from dark areas on deck but not from well lit areas. We were amazed at how much difference this makes. Don't expect to see them from bars or dining rooms as the lighting is simply too bright. We have seen the lights on a couple of other trips from the ship (most recently in Greenland last year), but never as intense as when we went on the excursion out of town and away from the lights of the port.

Personally, I would recommend the excursions, as you are unlikely to get many opportunities to see the lights so may as well maximise your chances. The excursion we went on in Alta had rest rooms on site as well as a tent where they were serving hot chocolate and coffee which was welcome given the bitter cold in Northern Norway in March!

We have visited twice - once in winter with P&O and once in summer with Princess.

We didn't have to tender on either occasion. The ship docked alongside the small airport at the end of the fjord. There was then a shuttle transfer into town which from memory was 15 minutes or so.

Alta is an excellent winter stop. We were there early March and the fjord and town were very pretty with lots of snow. The main reason for visiting Alta in winter is the northern lights - this is one of the best places for seeing them. We were there over night and saw spectacular displays from both the ship and ashore after dark.

To be honest, visiting in summer was a bit underwhelming. The town is small. you can visit the Northern Lights cathedral which is interesting and there is an old church and graveyard which are picturesque, and the Alta museum is also interesting (although a little way out of town). Otherwise it is a pretty mundane small town with modern buildings. There are places to eat and drink, but in truth this is not  really a tourist town, northern lights aside.

We have done whale watching from both Isafjordur (by Rib boat) and from Akureyri (standard tourist boat). We saw humpbacks on both occasions, so I would say both are worth doing. Rib boat is great as you are lower to the water and can get some great photos, like the one below (taken in Isafjodur in 2017). Also tends to be a smaller group, of course.

When we were in Nanortalik and Qaqortoq last summer, local vendors seemed happy to accept $US, Euros or Danish Krona. 

On our first trip to Iceland we did both Lake Myvatn from Akureyri and the Golden Circle from Reykjavik. Lake Myvatn is a fantastic day trip with some spectacular and surreal scenery. Definitely not to be missed.

Golden circle is also worth doing but when we were there (August) it was exceptionally crowded  which did rather spoil the experience. For us the highlight of the Golden Circle was Thingvellir National Park rather than Geysir. The scenery at Thingvellir is incredible and the history fascinating.

On 7/8/2024 at 7:20 PM, edgee said:

So if we taxi from cruise port to our hotel, no problem paying with a credit card...correct? Also, are taxis readily available at the port?

No problem at using card. As others have said, Iceland is pretty much cash free, and merchants expect card payment rather than cash in our experience.

9 hours ago, Agathabumble said:

Hi, this sounds like a great option.  Do you remember what time the earliest tender to New Port was please?  Many thanks 

For the  outward journey we had to book a time slot - ours was 10.30, but I think they had been running from at least 9.00am. Return journey no booking was required and return ran (I think every 15 minutes) between 4.00 and 6.00pm.

1 hour ago, pinkhatlady said:

So you took a bus back to the new port and tendered back to the ship? Or did you walk down or take the cable car. We are sailing on Voyager in October. 

Both options were available. Bus and tender back from the new port ran from 4.00pm to 6.00pm. We decided to walk down to the old port and take the standard tender back.

Honfleur is certainly worth a trip.
 

Have you thought about hiring a car? Last time we were in Le Havre we hired a car for the day and drove to Etretat, with its famous cliffs. The seaside town of Deauville is also less than an hours drive and could be combined with Honfleur.

6 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

This is incorrect.  

Err, it’s not incorrect - I did it on Saturday before getting off Voyager in Athens this morning! I am not talking about the Fira on your own shore excursion, which I agree is really bad value for money. This was a transfer which was not available before the cruise but appeared on the app while we were on board.

Cost was $13 per person (not euros as a I said in my first post). We transferred to Fira at 10.30. Return shuttle/tenders ran from 4.00pm to 6.00pm (although we decided to walk down the donkey path to the Old Port and get the standard tender back from there).

I assume it was not available pre cruise, as frankly nobody would book the Fira on your Own excursion.

9 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Santorini is always a tender port.  Please also note that Santorini is a spectacularly beautiful port, but the disembarkment process there from all cruise ships across all cruise lines is a very challenging one.  First, you need to take a tender (and there's a huge fight to get it) and then your options are a cable car up, riding donkeys up or walking up the donkey path.  Depending on how many ships are in port, it could take hours to clear the cable car line.  Some people sign up for cruise ship tours that let you explore Oia independently to get priority disembarkation in Santorini.  

We’ve just finished seven days in the Aegean on Voyager. In Santorini we had the option of a tender to the New Port, then a bus transfer to Fira, booked on board through shore excursions. This avoided the very long walk up the donkey path or the lines for the cable car. The charge was €13 from memory, but a useful option. We got the transfer in the morning, and transfers then ran back to about 6.00pm. 

St Petersburgh (back when you could still cruise to Russia)?

19 hours ago, mkam2821 said:

 I'm not referring to the drink packages I'm referring to the bar prices

The menus and prices are available in the App for some (although not all) of the bars. The bars showing menus will give an idea of the range of prices.

There is really no expectation to tip at all in Iceland (as in the rest of Scandinavia). You're not going to offend anyone by doing so, but in reality it is pretty much only American tourists who tip!

There are any number of good hotels in that budget, so it really depends where you want to be based. My own recommendation would be the Trafalgar St James (now part of the Hilton Group) which is right on Trafalgar Square and easily walk-able to Westminster, Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace and the West End Theatres. The location is first rate and the rooms a decent size (for London...).

The suggestions in the previous post are all good ones. I would just add that the Tube is by far the quickest and cheapest way to get around London and is very simple to use. Just avoid peak times when it can get very busy. You can get cabs pretty much anywhere by hailing in the street, but traffic is a major challenge in London and short distances can take longer than you would think looking at the map. I tend to use a cab only if I have a lot of luggage and can't face taking it on the tube.

Is this on the Spectrum of the Seas? We looked at a similar itinerary in November but decided against as the timings make it hard to have any meaningful time in either Kyoto or Tokyo. 

I think the cruise lines block book a significant numer of tickets for their own excursions, which explains why tickets get sold out so quickly the days that ships are in port.

Whilst it is annoying that the ship excursions are so much more expensive, I would definitely advise paying the extra if that is the only option. I have ridden the Flam railway twice and it is absolutely spectacular.

We also try to fly Premium Economy on longer flights  - the extra leg room and seat width makes a big difference.

I've also tried one of those meditation apps through noise cancelling head phones, but in truth I always struggle to get any sleep on a plane. 

I'm not aware of any public transport (although there may be a bus service). It is pretty remote.

We hired a car for the day in Kirkwall and drove to Skara Brae. Well worth the trip and there are a couple of impressive stone circles en route as well.

20 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

 

Taxis are usually pretty scarce first thing. 

We found Uber coverage pretty good when we were in Edinburgh last year if there were no taxis around.

10 hours ago, nklpikl said:

 

Yes, from the tourist information where the tenders dock. It is possible to book via Sagaland tours in advance, which might be best to ensure a place of the port is busy

Fantastic resource thanks! Very useful for planning our cruise in November.