JVNYC

Does Norwegian provide shuttle service for some of the Baltic ports? Most of the Baltic ports are walk-off, but there are a few that may not be depending on where they dock. I'm sailing on the Spirit next year. Would anyone know if the below ports provide shuttles?

Helsinki

Tallinn

Klaipeda

Gdynia

Copenhagen

Zeebrugge

Ijmuiden (Amsterdam)

Me too. We've done so many areas of France on land trips, but haven't done the Westcoast or Northern Spain. Time to start planning ;)

Will you be keeping your Oceania cruise in this area in April?

The same cruise for 2019 is currently being offered with the $2,000 off but even then, it's crazy for that part of the world. It's so easy to do it yourself and such gorgeous towns in Brittany, Bordeaux, etc. I'll continue booking my land trip in amazing chateaus for a fraction of that cost :)

The 2019 one is pricing out at $481 pp per day for a V2. Better but you're right, I do think this area would be better for a land trip....especially because the tender ports could get cancelled due to rough seas. I've been eyeing this itinerary for so long but never seem to book it. Crystal has a great 14 day itinerary next year as well....and it's pricing out roughly the same.

I just priced a 9 day Southampton to Lisbon cruise. A route I'm currently planning a land trip to. I almost fell out of my chair that a bottom of the line 173 sq ft balcony comes in at $1,408 Cdn per day for two.

Yikes, that's high! I'm guessing it's best to wait then?! By the way I'm seeing 2 great back to back itineraries....they are pricing out around $540-570 pp per day for a V2. I'm thinking I can get better if I wait....

Already jumped on this one, looks incredible. Twelve ports in one cruise!

I booked the 15 day Stockholm to Southampton on Aug 17, 2019 too. This is the best Baltic itinerary I have seen! No other cruise line has this comprehensive of an itinerary. Truly perfect....well Hamburg would be a great addition....

I’m fairly unobservant about this sort of thing, but I thought the Spirit was in pretty good nick when we were onboard at Easter.

 

As goes the dry dock, I’m a bit sceptical about how much they can really do with the fairly limited space they have. I don’t expect anything too major to happen to the layout and selection of bars/restaurants even if it does have a big refit. In fact, I’d rather it didn’t because I bet Henry’s Pub would go :(

 

As for whether anything will happen before next Summer (and I agree, that’s a fantastic Baltics itinerary, we are booked already), I understand that at least one cruise has been cancelled in late March/early April. I haven’t looked to see if anything new has been added, but when I last looked there was a gap between the Canary’s cruises ending and heading to the U.K. that’s the only option I have seen for a dry dock happening, and maybe that isn’t even still there now.

 

Just book it anyway. :)

 

 

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Haha, thanks for this info. I'm not seeing any sailing between March 28 - April 7, 2019. Either a 10 day charter or maybe reburb. Hoping for refurb.

Yes, I am thinking about just booking that Baltic....it just hits every port that I want!

I just hope the food is ok!!

Wanted to move this thread up to see if anyone is aware of when the Spirit will be refurbished to Norwegian Edge or is that not happening?

The reviews of Spirit are all over the place. I haven't sailed NCL since 2011 and the Spirit has an amazing Baltic itinerary in summer, 2019.

Do you think the Spirit will remain dated? I know Spirit was partially redone in 2017 but not to Norwegian Edge standards.

Does anyone have any info? Thanks!

We did this exact cruise, Vineyards & Castles, on almost the same dates last year - well a week later - September 24- October 6, 2017.

Loved this cruise!! We aren't drinkers (so why were we on a wine-focused cruise? lol) but we are walkers, and found much of interest to see and do. Great itinerary. We had traveled in France and Spain on land trips, but these ports for the most part (except for Honfleur, Porto and Lisbon), were places we had not visited. Most of the time we had good weather.

 

Amsterdam: We did 4 days pre-cruise, taking some day trips - we only had a few light showers one afternoon. Otherwise it was sunny. Sailaway was a sunny day/clear evening.

Dover: some clouds, no rain. We took the train to Canterbury for the day.

Honfleur: clear, partly sunny, then very sunny. Rented a car and drove to Giverny, then wandered Honfleur on return. (Note: your itinerary shows port of LeHavre which is across the river from Honfleur making it much further from the WWII battlefields if that is your interest)

Saint-Malo: Did private tour to Mont St. Michel and Dinan - rained only when we arrived in Dinan. Since we were not on an O excursion, even though we got tender tickets within the first 30 seconds of distribution, we weren't called for an hour and 15 minutes).

Brest: Sunny and glorious. Did O excursion to Morlaix and Chateau de Kerjean. Charming guide.

La Rochelle: Sunny, mild. Did a DIY walking tour of town.

Bordeaux (overnight in the heart of the city)- was raining when we arrived, but by the time we disembarked (11am) it was stopping, and then was partly sunny/partly cloudy. We don't drink so weren't going to City du Vin or the chateau wineries - we did a DIY of the city and went off to see the Base Sous-Marine (old German U-boat pens).

Day 2 was some on and off light drizzle with clouds. Did more of our DIY of the city.

Biarritz (Saint Jean-de-Luz) - OK, I admit, I knew nothing about the Bay of Biscay until I just read these posts. That would explain why we missed this port. The swells were too rough for us to tender. I was looking forward to our O excursion to Medieval Bayonne - not happening. So we went directly to Bilbao, arriving at noon. The only replacement excursion offered was to San Sebastian, which we took, since we had tours booked for all remaining days. It was a long bus ride, and not enough time to do San Sebastian justice, but the rain let up by the time we got there. Decent guide, some free time. We made lemonade, but it was a tiring day.

Bilbao: this was now day 2 here. Cloudy but no rain. Took the O excursion to Torre de Loizaga with its fabulous Rolls Royce collection. Then had a walking tour in the Casco Viejo quarter of Bilbao. Another good guide. We opted to remain in the city and made our way to the Guggenheim before getting the shuttle back to the ship.

Ferrol: Gloriously sunny. Did a private excursion to Santiago de Compostela.

Oporto: Gloriously sunny and warm. Did a private excursion to the Douro Valley (we had been in Porto 2 years earlier - delightful city).

Lisbon: Sunny once again. Having been in Lisbon for 5 days 2 years prior, we flew directly home, but we are staying 2 days this November at the end of our Canary Islands cruise. Great city - so much to see and do.

 

You will be spoiled for choice of things to do. Our only complaint? It was our first time on Oceania, and the cruise was port intensive, so we never got to fully enjoy the ship. But the food was wonderful - we tried and enjoyed all the venues. Never did get to the fitness center....why go there when you can go to High Tea, or Baristas? :D:D

 

Oh, there was also a sale for Memorial Day, with a nice price drop. So be on the lookout since that's 2 weeks away.

WOW, thank you for this fantastic detailed post! This is great info and helps a great deal!

We could be doing pretty sweet land trips for the price of that cruise ;) I definitely want to try Oceania though.

 

We had an apartment in Honfleur a couple of years back that was beautiful and I think we paid about 1,000 Euro for 5 nights and did all kinds of touring. Mont St. Michel, Rouen, Giverney, Normandy Beaches, etc. One day I was looking at a river cruise from Paris which included everywhere we had visited and almost choked on the price. Pretty sure our food was better too ;)

Now you're talking. This cruise is one of the more pricey ones and you can definitely do an amazing land trip for half the price and have more authentic food. Ok....now I'm rethinking this whole thread lol. :)

I'm debating between a similar itinerary and a land trip to really get to explore more. Any advice? Did you find you had enough time in port?

I agree with you. You can get to Bordeaux easily now on the high speed train from Paris. And you can get to Rouen easily from Paris as well. Hmmm, maybe a land trip would be better.

Before you do anything, Google "Bay of Biscay".

I read it's notoriously unpredictable and can be rough....is that what you're referring to?

We did Rouen to Lisbon last June on Silversea, with most of these same ports. We had cold and rain the whole time and one port ( St Jean de Luz) was cancelled. So book whatever date or ship works best for you, as weather is never guaranteed. Regardless, it's a fantastic itinerary!

 

 

Michael

Thanks Michael. Wow, I'm sorry to hear that you had such bad weather. You're right, can't guarantee weather....unless it's the summer in the Med which is usually safe! Would you do this itinerary again if you could?

We seriously looked at this one but ended up booking the April 19th, Marina cruise instead. London to Barcelona. We liked the fact that we could get more southern spain ports as well as the northern ones. I definitely like your itinerary though, it was a tough choice. I am thinking our timing might be a touch early for the northern ports though.

I looked at your itinerary as well....another great one. Yes, you're right it is a tough choice. I've never seen this itinerary in April....usually May and then Sept/Oct. Do you think April will be too cool?

I am considering the Marina sailing from Amsterdam to Lisbon on Sept 17, 2019. This is the one itinerary that I haven't done yet and has always interested me. I would prefer this itinerary in the summer....but I prefer the O ships.

Wanted to see what you think of this itinerary given this is later in the warm season in September and if the tender ports are usually cancelled due to rough seas.

Crystal has a very similar itinerary in late July, 2019 that I'm looking at as well and comparing.

Look forward to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

The French Polynesia photos look gorgeous!! The Marquesas don't look appealing at all. Seems like an awfully long way to travel to see nothing.

It is behind the couch. I suppose they replace the couch with a chair when door is in use.

Thank you!

Can anyone tell me where the door is located in the verandah staterooms? Thank you.

I definitely agree with the award for itineraries! Some amazing itineraries on Pursuit in 2019....having a hard time deciding!!

I have a 2019 Pursuit cruise on hold. I'm not sure about confirming yet because the per day rate is so high....in Crystal territory. Is it safe to assume that if there is a future sale on these 2019 cruises that they will roughly be the same price as today? I will not book at this price for Azamara.

7028 has the bed on the right as you walk in the cabin. I’m not sure of 7026, but it follows it’ll be on the left. So 7028 is the one for you.

 

Phil

Fantastic! Thank you Phil!

Good afternoon all! I'm looking at staterooms 7026 and 7028 and not seeing them listed on the spreadsheet and thread above. Does anyone know which side of the room the bed is on...the right side or left?

I prefer the bed on the right side so I'm wondering which room has the right hand side configuration: 7026 or 7028.

Many thanks!!

Good afternoon! I'm looking at staterooms 7026 and 7028 and not seeing them listed on the spreadsheet. Does anyone know which side of the room the bed is on...the right side or left?

I prefer the bed on the right side so I'm wondering which room has the right hand side configuration: 7026 or 7028.

Many thanks!!

You will because you're in the US

With a fee? Would I really have to cancel and rebook and be charged a fee?

If I book now at current (high) pricing, will I be able to take advantage of promotions when they come out to get a reduced rate? Forgive me if this has been asked before. Thanks!

I'm loving the 2019 Pursuit Med itineraries....I want to book! But whoa prices are high!!!