milolii

You can try international friends. It’s not private, though.

https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/london-heathrow-to-southampton-via-stonehenge.html

Not sure  what costs you consider astronomically expensive,  but I’m sure something private will be very expensive due to-the stop over.  You can email Blackberry Cars and ask.  We’ve used them several times. 
  
 

https://www.blackberrycars.com/southampton-airport/

21 hours ago, Globaler said:

I just looked back and I had already booked the Best of the Golden Circle at $510 it’s now $640 so if I had purchased on 50% offer it would have been 480. Still less but not the large savings you would hope for.

Try Iceland Everywhre.  https://www.icelandeverywhere.is

Hopefully it will arrive soon.  We cruised end of May, Southampton -QE 2, Sky Princess.  We had ours, but a couple we shared a cab with from London to the port, did not. They actually beat us to the lounge. 

We use tripinsurancestore.com.  I always ask many questions. 
 

Pre existing waiver: Most insurance companies require you at least put down a small amount to ensure you get the preexisting waiver-Usually within 21 days of your first deposit.  We request a quote right after we book, and then insure for $500.00 each. Then add more coverage as we pay.
 

CFAR: this usually must be purchased in the same time frame, 21 days or so. 
 

AARP Rewards gift card:  we insure the cost of the cards, not the full value.  My agent tells me if you have a claim, then you inform the cruise line, you don’t want  any money refunded to gift cards.  Never done this, though. 
 

Filing  a claim: I had one for Covid in 2022(not a crusie), processing was about three weeks.  Trip insurance store and the insurance company(IMG? I think) were very helpful. They do it try to sell you more insurance than needed. 
 

Try the insurance forum.  Steve, the owner answers questions, as do a few more folks. 
 

I might  try the Princess Insurance on our Antarctica cruise, but still keep additional medical coverage.  

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

A bit more planning, but you can take a ferry over to Jack London Square from the Ferry Building; then catch an Uber to OAK.  The sidewalk on the Embarcadero is  broad and flat, just under a mile. 
 

https://sanfranciscobayferry.com/oakland-alameda-ferry-route

edit: We posted at the same time.  I see you  don’t want to walk. Got it. 0930-1000 you should be good.

32 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Thanks, so the ban would also apply to other cruise lines with smaller ships.

Yes, I think Hurtigruden has Zero emissions  ships. Most of the ferries in Norway already meet the standards.

The scenery from both Flam and  Geiranger is spectacular.  You can also visit the port of call boards for more information.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-baltic-sea/

Look at this thread.  

Here is an article 

https://www.marinelink.com/news/catching-cruise-offguard-norways-466482#:~:text=Norway on Jan. 1%2C 2026%2C will begin a,with that kind of electro-chemical fuel on board.

Agree with @ExploringTheGlobe the Norwegian government will place restrictions on Flam and Geiranger:   January 1, 2026.  Both are stunning.  Go now.  When is that 7 days cruise?  

Thanks for the information. Is there anyway to connect headphones?  Thanks 

32 minutes ago, jaycruising said:

Thursday, July 11 - Travel & London day

 

Our flight was quite good, we had economy seats, but we did have preferred seats which have extra legroom and are at the front of economy. They fed us dinner (had pasta and it was pretty good) and finally managed to sleep a bit at midnight, I didn’t get much sleep though

 

We shall see how long we last, but really trying to stay awake as long as possible!

 

Thanks to a great tailwind we made it into Heathrow early, even got to circle over the city before we landed

 

From the time I took this photo until we were in a black cab on our way to the hotel was about 45 minutes, pretty impressed since I had heard nightmare stories about Heathrow. 
 

Side note, there was a Princess rep waiting directly after you came out of baggage claim. 
 

If I haven’t already mentioned it, this is our first trip to Europe, so I am excited about quite a few things, including the first ride in a black cab!

 

When booking the hotel we did look at staying right in London, but the prices were crazy, and with our terrible exchange rate even worse. I had originally looked at a Best Western at Paddington station and it was going to be £500, which was outside our budget. Instead we are staying at the Courtyard Marriott Heathrow for £270 for 2 nights. And it includes breakfast. 
 

We arrived just before 1pm and they were able to check us in right away!  Our room is very much like the cabins on the ship, so far we are very happy with it!

 

 

 

Now to stay awake and figure out what to do for the afternoon!

We’ve stayed here a few times, including when I had Covid in 2022.  It’s a great place and 5 minutes back to LHR. You can pre  order a cab from the large monitor next to guest services. We found pre booked Ubers to be crazy expensive. The front desk agreed. 
 

You are going to have a great time. We just returned from a similar cruise on the Sky. 

Aloha,  Yes, you should get up and go out on deck.  Check the ships timing though. Sometimes they arrive later in the day so may not enter the fjord until later.  Those two trips should be wonderful. I’d look at the crusie @Eno mentioned.  

We tagged along with another couple who rented the car through Sixt in Haugesund.  The car was waiting as soon as we got off the ship. We drove along the fjord to the Langfoss Waterfall.  It was a lovely day. 

You can use this site to “try” and  figure out if a ship may go to the ports you want  It looks like Viking and maybe P&O have some ships.  But you would need to verify this. It does appear the larger cruise lines are absent from the lists.  At least for now. 
 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/flam-port-1361?month=2026-08#schedule

Norway in a Nutshell
 

https://www.fjordtravel.no/tours-cruises-norway/norway-in-a-nutshell-tours/?hsa_acc=4667154394&hsa_cam=16463343065&hsa_grp=1324913169241595&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=o&hsa_tgt=kwd-82808160770026:loc-190&hsa_kw=Norway in a nutshell tour&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&msclkid=f589dfff9e991a225385b97244db71d9&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=[SØK] | EN | Fjordcruise&utm_term=Norway in a nutshell tour&utm_content=Norway in a nutshell

We just returned from cruise that included Geiranger and Olden, so we added Norway in a  Nutshell, Oslo to Bergen. You could also do Bergen to Oslo.  NIN includes the Flam Railway and a cruise in the fjord. We flew to Oslo, arriving on the 17th of May to one big party, Constitution Day.  I believe you can also take a ferry or catch a day tour to Geiranger from Berge, Viator offers several.  After a few days in Bergen we flew to London and boarded the Sky Princess.  That cruise included Geiranger and Olden. 

I’d suggest doing something like that.  Combo of a cruise with NIN and maybe a day trip from  Bergen.    Cruise  line schedules will be out soon (if not already), so even if there is a delay, the itineraries will be set.  Princess seems to have already dropped Geiranger and Flam from their 2025 itineraries.

6 hours ago, uvadover said:

 

Good to see The Weather Channel airing anything other than pre-recorded reality shows.  They used to be a very legit source of coverage/information.  Really kinda sucks how far they have fallen.

I think it just because of the storm.  That programming was still on at night and will probably return to its schedule after the storm.  I think the 24 reporting moved to their app, and now has a charge.

Nothing concrete yet, but The Weather Channel reported that there could be an issue the Mariner on Monday.  The reporter also stated he had spoken with port officials. 

We boarded in late May, there was a separate area with a few light snacks.  No time to grab any as boarding began.  This was the QE2 terminal 

16 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Once you get the email with the GC information, you can forward that email to anyone you wish.

Exactly, that’s what I suggested in my post, it’s in the next sentence. Or you can print it out and hand it to them as well.  

Thanks for the pics.  If the Sea Life Park location revels the Monterey Bay Aquarium, then I think that it’s a must see, thank you. I’ve been looking for new adventures for Ålesund, thanks.  We’ve also eaten at Jafs, it’s good, not sure about the best in the world. Nice views, though. 
 

For those who have upcoming trips: 

The Tollistigen Road is closed though 2024. About a month ago, there was another rock slide with rocks hitting a car. There is disagreement among government agencies on who will pay for the repairs and construction of necessary safety measures. Some think the local agency should absorb more of the costs. So certainly not encouraging for 2025.  

https://www.lifeinnorway.net/famous-norway-road-trollstigen-closed-for-2024/

28 minutes ago, mtfasls said:

Can an AARP gift card (Princess) be purchased by me for someone else or am I the only one who can use it?

 

Yes, you will need the card number and PIN number to enter it into your payment page.  I just put one in my basket and I didn’t see an option to email it to someone else. So they could foreword it to you or  print it out and give it to you.  Always keep the card information until after your cruise is over or you’ve completed any insurance claim. 

 Beautiful ,pictures, Ty for sharing. 

22 minutes ago, danny8826 said:

 

Yes, according to another company that we contacted, they said you will not through the troll wall.  You will see it though, but you won't go through it.  That's absolutely fine with us.  

 

You should have a great day ashore.

Ty @karatemom2 for the review.  We just returned from a Sky Norwegian Fjords cruise and are going back to see the Northern Lights in the fall. Interested in the reviews of the northern ports and enjoying your posts from the southern ports.  

We also did Norway in a Nutshell, Oslo to Bergen- Pre cruise.  Train to Myrdal, the Flam Railway, cruise and bus to Voss, then train to Bergen.  I can appreciate the travel times and five hours probably wasn’t enough time. 
 

We also had an excursion out of Bergen and the AC wasn’t working.  Ok for us as we were by the second door, but some folks were uncomfortable.  We got a 15% credit. 
 

Looking forward to more wondeful pictures and informative posts. Ty 

We used Mila with https://uniktur.com

She is wondeful!  Amazing day, lots of fun!  Our trip was out of Olden, but she lives in Alesund.
 

I also travel with local trips last year, Great comonay.

Yes, the road is closed for the rest of the year at least.  Ther was a rock slide a few weeks ago and now there is disagreement as to who will pay for the cleanup and needed safety measures. I saw the revised itinerary, it looks fine, you just don’t go down the road.