TMLAalum

Just wondering if there are new thoughts on Icelandair. We are looking at them for EWR-AMS for next July. The prices are $500 pp cheaper than any other airline, either nonstop or with a stop. TripAdvisor reviews aren't great, but is that because it's a no-frills airline?

 

Thoughts?

Only 1 leg of our 4 Icelandair flights last May was uncomfortable due to well-worn seats with thin padding. In addition to the $$ savings, checking 2 bags free was another plus. I wouldn't put Icelandair in the "no-frills" category- to me those are Ryanair, Allegiant and Spirit- we were provided blankets and pillows. Meals are extra in economy, but then again they cost extra on most US flights too.

That $1000 savings could get you a couple nights in Paris, a luxury Amsterdam hotel, or a downpayment on a future cruise!

Thank you for all the valuable information!!! :)

 

My parents and I will be sailing on Celebrity Solstice Dec 16~Dec 28, 2015. I am overwhelmed at work and did not do much trip planning yet, your posts really helps.

 

We'll arrive Auckland on Dec 12 evening. My parents are in their early 70's and both in fairly good physical condition, I like to check out Hobbiton and Waitomo cave but don't want to do it within one day to avoid long drive. Here is what I am thinking:

 

12.12 flight land AKL around 6:30pm, take taxi or airport bus to Auckland CBD. Stay two nights in Auckland.

12.13 city tour, maybe take ferry to Waiheke Island

12.14 rent a car from Auckland downtown Avis, drive south to Waitomo, Waitomo Cave tour, then head to Rotorua Gondola, stay over night in Rotorua

12.15 visit Agrodome farm for the sheep show and tour, and take the Hobbiton tour in the afternoon, return to Auckland this evening.

12.16 return car back to Avis and take a taxi to cruise terminal. (can I drop off luggage to cruise terminal early? Like maybe 10am? I am thinking to keep the car till afternoon to drive to Auckland North.)

 

Any suggest to add or modify the route? Any scenic route I should take or attractions on the way I should check out?

 

Thanks in advance!!

We are spending 9 nights on the North Island pre-cruise and I've done lots of research.

If I were you I would stay all 4 nights in Auckland, keep your plan for day 1, head to the Waitomo Caves and return to Auckland on Day 2. On day 3 drive to the Coromandel peninsula with a visit to http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz/Index.cfm being a highlight. Return the rental car that night. For embarkation day, have the hotel store your bags until you depart by taxi to the cruise terminal.

For your visit to Hobbiton and a sheep-shearing demo, wait to do this via a ship or private excursion from Rotorua!

Please join your sailing"s roll call so that you can learn what your fellow cruisers have planned and possibly join them for private tours they've arranged. Here is the link to your roll call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2028569

Good Luck with your planning and how nice to be traveling with your parents!

Using AA miles, schedule-wise the best flights home (AMS-HEL-ORD-CLE) post-cruise are on Finnair. If we are lucky we might be able to book them in Business class but most likely it will be economy.

Reviews I've found for Finnair are quite negative- even for business! Any CC members have Finnair experiences to share?

Thanks!

Our United Explorer card is going by the wayside since flight miles are now based on fare paid vs. mileage flown. It's going to take longer to amass miles because I look for low fares domestically and UA is often more expensive than most carriers.

We are now using AAdvantage Citicard and AAdvantage Barclay Aviator cards and getting more bang for our bucks. For example, our Business class flights home from SYD using UA miles were 80k apiece at the saver level vs. only 62.5 Business apiece over to AKL using AA saver miles.

We used to use our Capitol One card for our European travels- the 20k points I'd collected with them bought me one r/t to/from Baltimore:rolleyes:! As I see it 80k points with Cap1 wouldn't even get me one way coach from down under to home. We are keeping that card since it will be accepted at Costco next year.

We've been very fortunate to have been able to use combined flight/cc miles for every cruise listed in my signature (+ many domestic trips) including upcoming cruises except for our Norway cruise when we used Icelandair.

The important thing is for each person to research and determine what methodology gets them the benefits they value most.

We are booked on this Celebrity excursion in the opposite direction. I searched this forum and found several threads including TLCOhio's summary with photos!

There are some cons in that we will miss cruising the sounds, but the chance to experience the interior of the South Island, and the generally positive reviews from those who've done this tour, convinced us it will be worth the cost!

BTW, where did you get your Elite logo?

Having the closet close to the bed doesn't impact us. I move the coffee table to the space between the sofa and the slider to give more floor room. If it's a cold rainy day, it's great to sit on the sofa and look out at the sea.

That being said, we do have an angled bed by veranda booked for our next cruise. Hope we have sunshine and warm temps to enjoy the 3x balcony, so as I don't need to laze on the bed midday to get a view of the ocean when cruising!

On our last cruise, the OBC from Celebrity for booking it aboard didn't come through. So a caveat to others is monitor your shipboard credits/charges, bring all relevant paperwork with you, and go to Guest Relations as soon as you notice a discrepancy armed with your documentation. We were credited with the missing OBC within a day after contacting Guest Relations.

Thanks again Terry for another helpful post! We decided to fly to Berlin instead of Amsterdam so as to avoid the hefty AA ff fee for flying through London prior to our British Isles cruise next year. We also plan to head to Prague between Berlin & Amsterdam- we have a week from landing in Berlin to sailing from Amsterdam.

Seeking insights, thanks!

Thanks for the foto. Those last 8 2C cabins on both sides of the S-class ships have large verandas without lifeboats below. We have been in a Sky Suite on Deck 6 and the restaurant roof below didn't bother us and the walk was equally long as those 2Cs. Will have to consider booking one on a future cruise- with the Capt Club one category upgrade they can be had at the price of a 2D!

Silhouette will be docked in Amsterdam on 8/11/2017 and 8/23/2017. If she's scheduled for Lerwick on 8/17/2017 that would mean that Silhouette will do a 12-Night British Isles cruise starting on 8/11/2017 out of Amsterdam. But that's two nights shorter than your 2016 itinerary.

With Lerwick so far north I'm wondering what ports might be eliminated as compared to the 2016 August 6 sailing which has the following itinerary:

Depart Amsterdam/Sea Day/Guernsey/Cobh/Dublin/Liverpool/Belfast/Sea Day/Lerwick/Inverness/Edinburgh/Edinburgh/Sea Day/Bruges/Return Amsterdam.

I know other 12-day British Isles Celebrity cruises visit LeHavre, Holyhead and Greenock via a loop that doesn't go round Scotland. We have booked the 2016 just in case the 2017 8/11 cruise doesn't include Edinburgh overnight.

We did book the 6th August 2016 Silhouette sailing, but really want to postpone this trip until 2017.

I contacted the port authority in Lerwick, Shetland Islands and received a reply that the Silhouette is scheduled there for 8/17/2017....

DH is now on the 6pm flight in business! We will use luggage storage for our heavy carryons,e.g. his CPAP, take the train to the Southbank and see how we feel. No Lone Pine for us- DD and family were in Brisbane last year and she felt that while it was a great experience for her sons, it was something we could pass on.

If we are energetic, maybe the bridge climb? But the idea of a ferry boat definitely appeals. Must confess that when we arrived in Reykjavik following a short flight from Toronto we used one full circuit of the HoHo bus to catch some zzz's.

Appreciate all the suggestions...I am hoping that we won't see our checked bags til we arrive in AKL since our flights will all be on one ticket. If Qantas doesn't come through with a seat for my DH (and I even suggested that they could put him in economy if no Business seat was available:rolleyes:), we will likely book Air New Zealand to get us from BNE-AKL. But one would think that since Q made our original itinerary impossible they will come through...fingers X'd!

Glad to know Lone Pine is going to be too much. Train into the city with maybe a river cruise could be relaxing. A day room at the Novotel is a possibility, but I'd like to make lemonade out of lemons to spend time in Brisbane since we may never be there again.

The 3 most forward sweet sixteens on both sides of the M-class ships are partially obstructed by pillars.

For me, I love a veranda, BUT will happily book an OV....

*when the price differential yields a savings of $500 or more

*if there aren't many sea days

*the cruise is to cold climes, e.g. Norway or British Isles

Insides are out of the question.

Qantas moved the departure time for our BNE-AKL flight ahead by 45 minutes which leaves us with an impossible 15 minute connect time when we arrive from LAX:mad:. We booked using AAdvantage miles and American was able to procure ONE seat on the 6 pm flight and is working with Qantas to obtain another. If it comes through, we now have @7 to 8 hours to explore Brisbane:D!

I was thinking about the 10 am Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Boat trip with Miramar, if we can get there in time with a 7:55 am arrival at BNE. Is this doable? Train or taxi? If not, what might you experts suggest? Low key, because we are likely to be pretty jet-lagged;), thanks!!

We have a reverse itinerary from you. Ace is a NZ rental car company that may be willing to pick you up from the ship terminal and take you to their Parnell location. We are picking up our rental car from Ace at AKL, spending our first night at the Holiday Inn airport hotel (there are others to choose from), driving to various North Island locations, and then returning it to Ace's city center location, which provides a dropoff to any city centre location...ours is Sky City Grand.

https://www.acerentalcars.co.nz/

Ace is listed in NZ guidebooks. I feel we got a great price for our rental and love that we aren't paying an extra fee for picking up in one place and returning to another.

Since they provide a dropoff service, hopefully a pickup service is offered as well. Do check them out. If you decide to go with them, I found a discount code worth 10% on my confirmation good through 12/15/15 that if you email me at beejaybeeohio at netscape dot net with Ace Code as the subject I'd be happy to share.

Plus they do wait around for people with bookings.

 

Although we had no issue making the time, there were some others who had bookings with the operator and we hung around for them to make it.

Let nobody underestimate the importance to the local economy of cruise ship visits. If a tour needs to wait a short period to allow a number of cruise ship passengers to join the tour then they will wait.

This is the email reply I received from Fuller's:

Thanks for your email

As far as we know at this stage the ship will tender to Waitangi Wharf and free shuttle buses will bring passengers to our departure point at Paihia Wharf

Whilst this is only a 5 minute ride, in our experience, your challenge will be getting onto an early tender. Checkin for our morning cruise is 8:45 am and as the ship generally reserves early tenders for excursions booked by them, you may not make that

You may be best to wait and see what time you actually get off the ship, as if you prebook and do not make it in time, our terms and conditions are such that no refund could be made. We often schedule extra short, cruises that suit the ship's schedules. The shuttles drop you at the front of our building so just pop into our office to check what is available on the day.

Regards and Safe Cruising

Geoff

I had a similar reply from Explore...both companies didn't seem too excited about getting our business:(.

Love the overnight in Edinborough for the Tattoo on the Silhouette for 2016. Really hope this itinerary is repeated in 2017- it is wonderful. Next year's cruise is selling extremely well and I would hope Celebrity takes note an offers it again.

In preparation for our 7am-6pm visit to Bay of Islands, I've been in contact with Fuller's, Explore and Paihia's i-SITE. Based on all their responses, we've opted NOT to pre-book an islands cruise due to the strong possibility that we won't make either company's 9am departure from Paihia.

Della from i-SITE emailed me that they are authorized brokers for both Fuller's and Explore as well as other attractions, so our plan is to head there as soon as we arrive in Paihia- hopefully there will be spaces available on one of the boats if we are there by 8:30. She also mentioned that extra cruises may be added when ships are scheduled.

Bay of Islands is our first port-of-call leaving from Auckland, so there is likely to be a rush for early tenders. Plan on taking advantage of our Elite status to get a spot on one of them.

You'd have to fly out/in Orlando, but current r/t fare in economy is $1035.83 for your dates.

But...with a sale (usually October) or booking with a stopover in Reykjavik you could fly for much less. We were looking at fares in the high 900s for our YYZ-KEF (2 nights in Iceland)-CDG with a return from MAN-YYZ and, during last fall's sale, booked for $700 total each!

Thanks to everyone for the help. We actually are planning to get to the MAN airport car rentals to pick up a car for two weeks then return to MAN and fly to Amsterdam.

It sounds as though we will be repeating your trip TMLAalum...... notice you are from the south shore of Lake Erie. We live in Sandusky, where are you located?

We will continue with our plans..........thanks

We are 4 towns east after Sandusky and 3 towns west from Cleveland! I think I figured it right to get you to where we are- just past the Cuyahoga County borderline.

Globaliser has a point, but for us, rather than pick up a rental near Picadilly which would entail DH navigating through a major metropolis while becoming re-acquainted with driving on the left, we opted for the airport location with quick access to the motorway.

I would be concerned about taking a commitment for a private tour from someone who's not a member of the roll call or maybe even Cruise Critic! (Note that this is the OP's 1st post).

When the tour operator asks for a lump sum payment, the organizer needs to collect the money from participants ahead of time- for me, it's the morning of the tour when all parties gather aboard prior to disembarking as a group so we are on time for our tour. Cabin #s and last names of participants are mandatory for me!

Like maryann ns, I share all email correspondence from the guide and as many details as possible with those interested in the tour so that they can make an informed decision as to whether to sign on. I love companies that ask for and accept separate deposits from participants because it's a bit of insurance against last minute back-outs.

As a participant, a red flag for me would be if payment was required by the organizer(not the tour company) prior to sailing. That isn't the case here.

Great job, Texasgirl. Looking forward to the next installment! I also want to know the name of the car hire company to warn others away from them.

We took the train from Southampton Central to Manchester Airport via Picadilly at the end of our Eclipse cruise in May. We had a leisurely disembarkation that morning and a relaxing train ride. For most of the journey there was room to spread out except from Oxford to Birmingham when our car was full. It was easy to transfer to the airport line in Picadilly.

It was a bit more challenging navigating our way to the car rental bus stop at MAN. We picked up a rental car from Enterprise at the central car hire hub and then had two lovely weeks in Yorkshire and the Lakes district before returning to MAN for our flight back to the US via Reykjavik.

We opted against renting a car out of Southampton and driving direct to Thirsk to save wear and tear on my DH as the sole driver.