grayjay

I fully understand you - we too loved the Prinsendam and sailed on her several times even though during the last few cruises renovations/dry dock became really urgent in some spaces . One of my fondest memories is the last cruise which was really special before she was sold. Now , being German and thus having no language problems, we sailed on her a few weeks ago - she is called Amera now. Some of her best features are still there, of course the space on her decks, the comfortable cabins with lots of space ( one minus is that the bathrooms have not been renovated yet and you have to choose between a clingy curtain or a bathtub to stumble in...) , a lot of the original furniture is still there, the lounges and bars, the Lido buffet partly with new furniture, the restaurants unchanged. In that Phoenixreisen, the new owner, has done a good job. Internet and TV is working fast and efficiently, but not even Sky news or another English-speaking programme on sight - sigh... And the service is still fantastic - most of them come from the Philippines and Indonesia and quite a lot have sailed on one of the HAL ship before. That was a lovely experience! But to be honest - in some other aspects we found the ship too "German" - the food was really good but not at all with an international touch, the lecturers spoke only German of course as there were only a handful of international guests, the shows - let's not talk about them... . Most of them we found really awful in regard to professionalism. We enjoyed the experience on Amera, though, and to bekind of re-aquainted with Prinsendam but won't go again. We're very much looking forward to sailing HAL again in February!

@Host Hattie: I'd like to add to the " thank you"s as we haven't been on a Cunard ship since 2019 ( Oh yes, CoVID of course kept us away from cruise ships for a while) but will board Queen Victoria at the end of November, looking very much forward to it and especially being hopeful to see the Christmas decorations popping up around the ship at that time. It's one of my fondest memories - we did a similar cruise on QE a few years ago and loved it. So enjoy your holiday and we'll all be glad of more news you can send.

Thank you all again for all these lovely answers. We're very much looking forward to April even if it's only a bit more than 2 days we'll have in Glasgow before visiting the beautiful islands in the Scottish seas. The Art Galleries,the University building, the Cathedral, the Botanic garden are luring as well as a scrumptious Afternoon tea. We'll use the HoHobus and taxis to get around as I can't walk long distances.

I'm afraid there won't be a big chance - too much daylight. We had northern lights in September after midnight, but were lucky. Better to come back in winter, especially to the north or west of Iceland or even go to Norway or Svalbard in February or March.

Thank you all for your answers. As our November cruise is inching closer I have thought again about whether or not to buy a beverage package. I'll try to buy a non-alcoholic premium on board to use up onboard credit and a coffee package for my husband - he's a diabetic and neither drinks mocktails or many juices but LOTS of coffee. I'll report if I have been successful to do that as we'd both choose and drink what we'd like to have. If not allowed we'll just pay as it comes each day.

We decided on the VoCo Grand Central in Glasgow - rooms looked nice, affordable even with the "better" room categories, a special offer including breakfast and dinner and not far from the airport bus and Grand Central station - what I meant was that we decided to take the train to GREENOCK out of Glasgow and have a taxi then from the station to the port. Will have to decide on the ride back to Glasgow airport but that will probably be a taxi awaiting us at the port - as Hurtigruten's prices are steep anyway it will be the least of the costs... Yes, we're very much looking forward to Glasgow which is new for us to visit in Scotland!

Just wanted to say thank you again - it helped a lot to go through our options! We decided on two days in Glasgow to see some of the sights; found a good hotel near HoHoBus, airport bus stop and train station. So it's the airport bus to get from the airport to the city of Glasgow, the sightseeing bus with a 2-day ticket to get around and we decided on trying the train from Glasgow Central to Greenock in the hope of getting a taxi to take us from the station to the port. Then our Hurtigruten ship will be taking us around the Scottish Isles!! Looking forward to April!

Where does your river cruise start from? It might influence choices where to go to. And how much time do you have for your stopover? It also depends which airport you'll land coming from the US - probably Frankfurt? Both Hamburg and Munich are easily reachable by plane or train. All of the cities you mention have lots of sights to see - the weather in mid-October might be better in Munich whereas Hamburg can be very wet and cool at this time - something to take into consideration as well. So ask away and we'll try to answer your questions!

@Edinburger: That was fantastic! Thank you for your help! We have now decided on staying two nights in a nice Glasgow Hotel and either use the airport bus or train from Glasgow airport into the city - the bus seems to be the easier choice in regard to walking with luggage? We haven't decided on a hotel, yet, we thought maybe the Radisson Blu, Double Tree by Hilton or the Maldron Hotel might be a good choice - do you perhaps know which one of the three might be closest to the Airport Bus stations? To get to the ship and back to the airport we'll probably take a taxi which is not the cheapest but the most comfortable way. And as Hurtigruten is not the cheapest cruiseline either, we'll just splurge this time! Thank you all again for your help. It's always a splendid idea to ask in a CruiseCritic forum!

No answers as yet - and I was so hopeful when posting! Are my questions too specific or is it because I forgot the second "m" in accommodation in the title? We're still dithering whether to stay in Glasgow and or Greenock or fly directly but expensively to hop on to our ship with flight and transfer made safe by the cruise line. One is the safe way but for the amount we'd save if we'd organize the trip ourselves we could have more hassle but one day or two in Glasgow, too. So anybody out there with ideas so it's easier for us to decide?

We have been to the port of Greenock before, but unfortunately I still lack the information I need now and I'm hoping for help. We're booked on a cruise around the Scottish islands on a Hurtigruten ship - we're sure to have a great experience visiting all those small islands of the Hebrides.The tour starts and ends in Greenock. 1. We're planning to fly independently to Glasgow Airport. ( Hurtigruten charges outrageous prices of double the regular price...) a) the most important information is how to arrange private transport to Greenock - taxi etc.? I'd prefer to arrange something in advance. Is there a reliable company somebody can recommend? b) We're also thinking of staying a day or so in Greenock itself to avoid the rush to port on our day of sailing. Is there a decent hotel to recommend and can we spend a nice day or two in Greenock itself? (It's a weekend, so many sights, restaurants etc. might be closed.) The alternative is to find transport from the airport to Glasgow city, stay a day or two or even three in a comfortable hotel and then find transport to Greenock to pick us up at the hotel. Again: Any recommendations for hotel and/ or transport? A hotel near to the HoHobus would be best in that case. I can't walk longish distances any more, so I try to be prepared as best as possible. Thank for all your answers.

I hope this question has not been asked a zillion times, but I'm not sure yet when to buy the beverage package ( non-alcoholic premium) we're thinking of buying. Is it possible to buy it on board? b) on embarkation day only or on the first/second day of cruising , too? c) Is it possible to buy different packages, for example premium non-alcoholic for me, coffee package for husband? Thank you for your answers, I'm still trying to decide if a package is worth buying as we have lots of sea days. On the other hand we don't drink really much, anyway, and with CoVid19 still raging, we might avoid public spaces more than we would normally. But still your answers will help in our decision.