Rosebery

50 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

Thank you for that update on QE. My parents are due on her tomorrow, so I will be watching closely. They haven't been informed that she will be late though, so we are still under the assumption she will be in on time.

Southampton docks now list Iona as arriving on 28th

We fly from Leeds Bradford or Manchester and get excellent prices similar to those Border Reiver reports. If the whole trip is 'next to free' on Tesco vouchers, that's some serious shopping!

Well, it is two years worth of collecting points and the trip is actually costing us a total of about £500 in real money (without excursions). You get 3 times the face value if you swap them for holiday vouchers.

Another thanks for the Hammerfest info.

It would be interesting to know where you have got the prices for your flights from. Each time we have paid a little over 50% of what Hurtigruten ask.

I have to say I didn't research too much for a couple of reasons -we live in Cornwall so flying from Bristol was good for us, and the alternative from Bristol was KLM with a stop in Amsterdam and expensive. I am sure that it would be much cheaper from London.

Also, now I think about it, we used a shed load of Tesco points so the whole trip is next to 'free' anyway, so booking the direct flights from Bristol with Hurtigruten (who now accept Tesco vouchers) was a no brainer.

We found that a Hurtigruten 'with flights' package from our local uk airport was cheaper than booking them separately, but it just happened that the one date they offered was convenient as there was only one date for Bristol this winter. We go on Friday!

Sounds good, thank you.

Hi, Just wondering if all you experienced Hurtigruten passengers could tell me about the wifi facility - we are going on Nordkapp on Friday and I am wondering about staying in contact with both our business and two little boys who like reports from travellers. Is it likely to be efficient and is it really free?

Sue

Just finished Christmas shopping, might get the suitcases out tomorrow but I also have to go into work and do some paperwork first thing. It's all go. We will probably be at the airport early on Friday as we will leave early in case of hiccups on the motorway. Shall we arrange to meet and say hello somewhere?

Sue

Hello again - no, not long now, just booked our airport parking, rather manic getting everything done for work and Christmas shopping organised before we go off. Sue

That sounds quite mean, especially when I saw a 96 year old on the tv the other night who was planning a parachute jump!

Not sure how anyone's age could make flying in a helicopter more dangerous? Oh dear, I hope you find plenty that you are allowed to do, it seems like it will be an exciting trip.

Sue

This is a jolly useful thread, thanks everyone. Sue

Is that not covered by your travel insurance or something to do with Hurtigruten?

I started a roll call here http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1911414

but there is no one else so far.

Sue

Gosh 501 looks swish!

I have pinned him down this afternoon and we have decided to do the Viking Feast, the Wilderness Adventure Camp, (I'm doing sledging Charlie's doing snowmobiling) the North Cape, and we are debating over a Taste of Vesteralen, which we also quite fancy.

We have some cold weather clothing and plan to do a bit of walking around other towns as far as possible, probably hoping to see the Cathedral in Trondheim and the Museum of Reconstruction in Hammerfest.

Not quite sure how to characterise us in terms of poultry but we are certainly not spring chickens either, just counting down to retiring in the next couple of years hopefully!

I don't think there is a roll call, I might start one and see if anyone else makes contact.

Sue

Hi Pauladora

No we haven't booked any excursions yet, I keep trying to get my husband to think about it so we can choose, but we have a lot going on at the moment.

Have you made any decisions?

And thank you to everyone who has commented on the cabin choice, I am sure it will be fine! We went to the Baltic this summer and experienced the twilight at midnight, so we are looking forward to comparing the artic daylight with that.

Sue

Hi Danish Viking, even though I have not asked many questions I have found your comments useful, so thank you! I have one further question if you don't mind? Our ship will be at Orientkaj and we are meeting our private tour boat at Amerikakaj - it seems to me that we may as well walk there - Google seems to think it would take 26 minutes. I don't think there are any buses that go right there, so I think we would have to walk part of it anyway. Am I right or do you have a better suggestion?

Rosebery

Yeah I did the Brunch cruise with Strömma Kanalbolag's S/S Stockholm two years ago and i really liked it.

The food was great (especially the deserts) and the ships interior was very stylish.

Thanks for the reply, we think we will do this, it sounds like fun.

I have never heard about them but they are owned by Netto Bådene (the cheaper canal tour company) so it should be good but I must say that I have honestly never heard about them before.

 

But I can't see what you get extra for your money compared to a regular canal tour.

 

You will of course get a small private boat for your companions and added flexibility to the lenght of the tour and route (at an extra cost) but else they offer the same experience as the larger boats does.

Thanks for the reply, I think those are the advantages, we shall see what we decide to do, it is tricky finding out what 12 people want to do. Sue

Does anyone have any comment on the Stockholm brunch cruise? We are in Stockholm for two days and thought this would be a good thing to do on one of them.

Sue

Here is a Copenhagen question, I am organising a group of 12 of us who will be there for one day on a cruise. We are all UK canal enthusiasts and I am planning to hire one of the Flyvefiske water taxis for a harbour and waterways tour. Has anyone done this and does anyone have any advice/knowledge about this kind of tour?

Thank you so much for your replies, I shall stop worrying. This is only the second cruise I have booked and I got all twitchy about the cabin choice last time as well.

Hi, I have just booked for December for the round trip on Nordkapp - We are taking the with flights option from Bristol and this is the only choice of ship and dates, but the airport and dates are good for us as we live in Cornwall. My question is this: I have booked cabin 356 and am wondering if I have done the right thing. It is a cabin with portholes in a whole run of outside cabins with windows, and I am just beginning to wonder why, and whether I should spend a bit more and have a window. Anyway, does anyone know about this cabin or have any comment on deck 3 of Nordkapp, or any tips about Nordkapp in general?

Sue