Norwegian Jade to Iceland - Sort of live report

Some pictures from Bergen:

Time for another catch up, whilst travelling between places on our tour of Shetland.

Moderno was excellent as usual on Monday night. We then went to the magician show in the theatre. If you don't want to see how the tricks are done then don't sit at the front of the side balcony. :)

Alesund was a real treat. We hired a car from Avis which is easy to find, about half a mile from the port. I also noticed a Europcar depot close to the port.

We drove to the Trolls Path. I would recommend taking the 650 road on the way there. It's a slightly longer drive, but the scenery is spectacular, as you follow the Fjord that leads to Geiranger for much of the route. It really is the loveliest scenery that I have ever seen. I'm looking forward even more now to doing a Fjords cruise in the future.

The Trolls Path itself is a fun drive and we took a short detour to the Trolls Wall on the way back to Alesund.

In total we had the car for about 6 hours, which gave us plenty of

Time to stop whenever we wanted.

Unfortunately, most of the photos are on our main camera, so aren't on the internet yet, but here are some from my phone:

Yesterday evening we had an invite to dinner with an officer. It was very nice. We got one of the guest services staff, who was very nice. He is on a short transfer for a couple of months from the Pride of America, which was handy as we are booked on that ship next summer, so he gave us some tips for Hawaii.

A very enjoyable evening, rounded off at Spinnaker where, I must admit, I rather overdid things and am paying the price a little now. :)

I had booked an independent boat tour today to see some seabirds, but got a notification a couple of days ago that it was cancelled as the forecast for the sea conditions was bad. I've just heard that the NCL boat tours have also been cancelled for the same reason, so it sounds like he called that one well.

The operator offered us an alternative of a land tour instead, and we are doing that now. A very good tour so far. I can recommend Shetland seabird tours, even though we haven't been able to do the boat part.

I hope you have an amazing cruise! That itinerary looks fantastic!!

I see ship is rocking from the wind, Is it still like that. Also during your research for this cruise Is it usually a rocky cruise to Norway.

I am interested in the sea crossing to Iceland, wondering how rough the ride is.

Thanks

Kerri

I hope you have an amazing cruise! That itinerary looks fantastic!!

 

I see ship is rocking from the wind, Is it still like that. Also during your research for this cruise Is it usually a rocky cruise to Norway.

 

I am interested in the sea crossing to Iceland, wondering how rough the ride is.

Thanks

Kerri

We are currently about half way between the Shetland and Faroe Islands and it's been really calm so far. Just a very gentle rocking.

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.

Still really calm seas heading out to Iceland.

Still really calm seas heading out to Iceland.

I just now jumped on board this review! I'm always glad to see you back on a ship. I'm looking forward to your Iceland experience. I'd love to cruise there. I visited there on my way to UK for our Escape Transatlantic. (By visited, I mean my plane touched down in pouring rain in the middle of the night, and I left again an hour later.)

One question (maybe for others?): When you say the bar at O'Sheehan's is small, is it the same situation on the other Jewel class ships?

One question (maybe for others?): When you say the bar at O'Sheehan's is small, is it the same situation on the other Jewel class ships?

Yes, someone else would have to confirm that as this is the first time I've been on a post refurb Jewel ship.

I will say that the o'Sheehans bar area was much nicer on the Star. There was a decent space to sit at the bar as well as some seats other seats in that area as well.

I'll try to take a picture at some point when it is less busy.

Just a few general thoughts.

The staff are excellent. I often hear people with concerns about how easy it will be to get a drink, and whether the bar staff will be reluctant to serve people quickly with the beverage package. That has never been my experience, and certainly isn't on this ship. In fact, on occasion they have been too quick to serve us, with another drink turning up even when we didn't necessarily want one.

There are some things which are quite specific to itineraries like this one. Firstly, the situation with restaurant bookings seems to be effected by the length of the cruise, and perhaps the mix of passengers. I have a theory that many people either don't have a dining package, or have just the three meal package. That means that the speciality restaurants are very quiet and the free venues are very busy.

We went to Cagneys last night and at about 8.30 it was almost deserted, with about 5 or 6 tables being used. The electric boards around the ship are showing availability almost everywhere, even Teppenyaki at times.

The weather is also having an effect. There are a lot less people using the pool deck, so the bars have been quite busy on todays sea day. We struggled to find somewhere to sit down to play cards this morning, even though the bars were closed.

I have to say that I generally find these smaller ships to appear busier than the large ones (despite what many expect). There are less people onboard, but also less places for them to go. Getting a seat in the buffet can be a problem and for two days in a row we have gone to the buffet for lunch rather than o'Sheehans due to there being a queue for seats in o'Sheehans. I have never experienced that on the newer ships.

Anyway, off to Teppenyaki soon, so I'll sign off for now.

Just a few general thoughts.

 

The staff are excellent. I often hear people with concerns about how easy it will be to get a drink, and whether the bar staff will be reluctant to serve people quickly with the beverage package. That has never been my experience, and certainly isn't on this ship. In fact, on occasion they have been too quick to serve us, with another drink turning up even when we didn't necessarily want one.

 

There are some things which are quite specific to itineraries like this one. Firstly, the situation with restaurant bookings seems to be effected by the length of the cruise, and perhaps the mix of passengers. I have a theory that many people either don't have a dining package, or have just the three meal package. That means that the speciality restaurants are very quiet and the free venues are very busy.

 

Getting a seat in the buffet can be a problem and for two days in a row we have gone to the buffet for lunch rather than o'Sheehans due to there being a queue for seats in o'Sheehans. I have never experienced that on the newer ships.

 

.

Having been on the cruise before this one I agree about the drinks and staff....we even got served before busy shows because waiters were like hawks looking if people needed drinks. O Sheehans was always busy and so were the buffet areas...we pretty much always went to the great outdoors to sit.

Who is the captain now btw (the Norwegian one left)? Also, is Sin still the cruise director or has Roberto returned?

We had a different experience with the dining though to say our itinerary was a bit similar. From day 2 pretty much everything was booked up except Cagneys and Cucina. Is your ship mainly full of Brits? If so that could be the reason for less dining packages as from May Brits were offered premium all inclusive instead of free at sea. This meant everyone got UBP, grats and water and coffee for free.

Happy to hear the seas are smooth for you!!

I am posting a review of my POA trip, I think you mentioned you are sailing her next year. It is a great itinerary and I had a great cruise.

Kerri

Having been on the cruise before this one I agree about the drinks and staff....we even got served before busy shows because waiters were like hawks looking if people needed drinks. O Sheehans was always busy and so were the buffet areas...we pretty much always went to the great outdoors to sit.

 

Who is the captain now btw (the Norwegian one left)? Also, is Sin still the cruise director or has Roberto returned?

 

Capt is Kim . Cruise director is back to Roberto with Sin as assistant.

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Just posting some pictures from day 1 in Reykjavik. We were off the ship for almost 12 hours and saw so much. Hopefully we will be Whale watching tomorrow, weather permitting.

I'll write up about all this when I get chance, probably in the sea day once we leave Iceland. I've got lots of info about car hire etc.

Thanks for the pics. Interested to read about your specifics with car rental... enjoy!

And the good news is that despite the NCL published docs saying tomorrow is a tender port it looks like we will dock in Akureryi [emoji3]

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Are people able to view the photos ok? I don't think I've shared Instagram folders on here before, so I'm not sure how they show up.

I don't have high hopes for the whale watching this morning. It's raining quite a lot and we've been warned of rough seas. Sounds like it will be an experience anyway. :)

Are people able to view the photos ok? I don't think I've shared Instagram folders on here before, so I'm not sure how they show up.

 

I don't have high hopes for the whale watching this morning. It's raining quite a lot and we've been warned of rough seas. Sounds like it will be an experience anyway. :)

I can see them [emoji854]

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Not wanting to hijack Keith's thread. Here are some of mine. I went on the 4x4 shore ex.

It was definitely a different type of experience, weather was better so glad I did that day 1.

Despite the brochure saying Akureyi is a tender port we will dock tomorrow. Looking at the port info it has one pier just about long enough and I think if two Jade type ships were in then one would tender.

Some useful notes on Iceland. 1) the ship doesn't stock or exchange local currency but they do convert in the adjacent terminal. 2) icewear the port shop offers free wifi

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We cross briefly the arctic circle tonight and again tomorrow night so wonder if anyone will do the traditional pool swim

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We cross briefly the arctic circle tonight and again tomorrow night so wonder if anyone will do the traditional pool swim.

Don't dare suggest that to Robert.

Don't dare suggest that to Robert.

Until you said that I'd never considered it.

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No whales spotted today, but it was a fun experience. Quite rough at times and we did see a lot of seabirds.

Whale watching is always hit and miss, so no great surprise, especially given the weather.

Until you said that I'd never considered it.

 

 

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https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/hurtigruten365.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/a-chilly-arctic-tradition-crossing-the-arctic-circle/amp/

The other one is salt water washed down with vodka

http://polarocean.co.uk/sailing-across-arctic-circle-tradition/

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I'll make use of the coach ride back to Reykjavik and try to catch up with yesterday.

We had hired a car from Europcar as they have a depot at the port. It is literally the first thing you see as you walk out. Not exactly a depot, but a hut. The cars are parked in the car park behind it.

A few things about hiring cars here. Firstly, if you want one then prebook it. Whilst we were picking up our keys a few groups came in to try to hire something. Europcar had no cars available in any of the Reykjavik depots yesterday and a lot of people were going away disappointed.

Also, make sure you book from the correct depot. Some people had reservations at the city depot. They had to find their way there to collect the car, although I believe they were able to drop off back at the port.

The cars are not in as good condition as usual for car hires, as in lots of minor chips and scratches. Some people were also complaining about them not having been washed. They seem very relaxed about the condition of the cars, but that did seem to disconcert some people. They are fine to drive though, and clean inside. I assume that there is a lot of minor damage from stone chips, and there are no car washing facilities at the port.

It is fine (and free) to park overnight at the area just outside the port where the cars are collected and dropped off.