Vov 2016

[rkorchid]

I just looked at the itinerary for the Voyage of the Vikings for 2016.

 

Ship is the Rotterdam.

 

Ports don't seem to be as interesting as 2015 that I am booked for.

 

Fewer ports in Iceland.

 

No Geiranger in Norway.

 

No Amsterdam or Belgium - just Rotterdam.

 

No Faroes.

 

I am looking forward to the 2015 cruise and would have considered it again in 2016, but now am not so sure.

[sail7seas]

Sorry for your disappointment.

Concentrate on enjoying 2015 and worry about 2016 after. :D

 

When we booked VOV years ago, Rotterdam was the ship that was doing that itinerary. Then Maasdam, then Veendam. It's come full circle back to Rotterdam. :)

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sure are a lot of changes happening with HAL ships.

At least you booked the 2015 VOV and can look forward to that cruise.

[rkorchid]

I am not disappointed so much as just observing the changes in ports.

 

I am not sure the 2016 itinerary would have appealed to me so much as the 2015. This year's somehow seems edgier, more adventurous.

 

At least that's what led me to book it. I am not sure if I would repeat the same cruise anyway. But I suppose HAL needs to make changes to encourage repeat cruisers.

 

I am sure we will consider it if we enjoy this summer's cruise. One day in a port is hardly enough to fully appreciate most destinations.

[RuthC]

I am not sure if I would repeat the same cruise anyway. But I suppose HAL needs to make changes to encourage repeat cruisers.

I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head here.

 

I took what morphed into the Voyage of the Vikings for three consecutive years, '03, '04, '05, and have paid attention to the itineraries every year since. Every year there is at least a few minor, and once in a while major, change. It keeps the cruise familiar, yet interesting. A comfortable fit for those of us who like to repeat areas of the world to cruise in.

[sail7seas]

Ruth,

Off topic but I just noticed this: "CCASE/LSSE" in your signature.

Try as I did, I cannot figure out what it means. :o

Help, please??? :D

 

[RuthC]

Ruth,

Off topic but I just noticed this: "CCASE/LSSE" in your signature.

Try as I did, I cannot figure out what it means. :o

Help, please??? :D

I'll e-mail you. ;)

[Jade13]

I would not want to repeat the same exact itinerary. Some ports they always do such as a stop in Greenland which is the half way point. They typically do not have any organized tours in Qaqortoq but need the stop just in case any repair work is needed.

 

We did VOV in 2011 on Maasdam and it is still our favorite HAL cruise even though the weather was bad and it rained most days. There was no Norway, but we did stop in Scotland and went to the Military Tattoo (in pouring rain) and it was fabulous.

[Dave in NJ]

Personally I found Qaqortoq in Greenland an extremely interesting port of call, plenty to see on your own w/o organized tours and easily walkable from end to end, most especially it's a fascinating window into what life is like in such places. If history interests you, Charles & Ann Morrow Lindberg spent a night there while mapping out transatlantic route for Pan Am (or was it TWA). And the sole artifact (a life ring) is there from another ship that sank on it's maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg, the Hans Hedtoft on it's return leg from Greenland back to Denmark. And there is little that can compare to the scenic cruise thru Prince Christian Sound in terms of majestic scenery.

 

Here's an excerpt from my visit in 2001:

 

Qaqortoq (Krah kraw tock), (Julianehaab) Greenland. While easily the least developed and smallest port of call and one with just the very minimum tourist infrastructure, in many ways this was the most interesting stop of the trip. But first, before reaching Qaqortoq, our itinerary listed “scenic cruising of Prince Christian Sound”. I expected this to mean viewing the coast of Greenland from 3-4 miles offshore and I couldn’t have been more incorrect. Prince Christian Sound might more properly be called a straight and is a 60 mile long passage across the tip of Greenland from the West to the Southeast; rock walls rise dramatically and nearly vertically from the side of a channel varying in width from between 450 feet and 1 mile with water depth of about 1200 feet. Glaciers with their runoff into lovely cascading falls and icebergs were common; less common was an occasional “village”, two or three small wooden houses in a cluster. Survival in these places overworks the mind. Qaqortoq itself is a “city” of 3500 inhabitants, mostly Inuit with an occasional person of European (probably Danish) extract. The most profound thing that occurred to me when scanning the town from one end to the other (which is only an eye-full) is that this town represents about 1/18th of the entire population of the country of Greenland which has only about 55,000 inhabitants. Of course there was no suitable pier so we anchored in the bay and were taken into town by tender. There were no planned tours so I just walked the town from one end to the other. The town actually had a bus system, half-a-dozen taxis, mostly colorful concrete houses, a tourist center (more correctly a gift shop), stores of course, a single Port-a-Jon, and most surprisingly a very nice but small museum which of itself was worth the stop. Anne & Charles Lindbergh had stayed in a small bedroom on the third floor of the museum on one of their trips to plot the North Atlantic airline routes. Although most folks missed the significance of it, the museum also had a life preserver from the passenger/freighter ship Hans Hedtoft which shares with Titanic the fame of being the only other passenger ship to hit an iceberg and sink on it’s maiden voyage, but in this case with the loss of all lives. The sinking occurred just 30 miles from Cape Farewell in 1958. Qaqortoq was previously known as Juliennehaab prior to the changing of most location names from Danish to Inuit. The capital of Greenland, which is considered part of North America, is Nuuk, slightly to the North on the West coast. Nearly all the development is on the southern tip, with the west coast more populated. Of course fishing is the primary occupation of most Greenlanders.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Dave in NJ

[rkorchid]

I would not want to repeat the same exact itinerary. Some ports they always do such as a stop in Greenland which is the half way point. They typically do not have any organized tours in Qaqortoq but need the stop just in case any repair work is needed.

 

We did VOV in 2011 on Maasdam and it is still our favorite HAL cruise even though the weather was bad and it rained most days. There was no Norway, but we did stop in Scotland and went to the Military Tattoo (in pouring rain) and it was fabulous.

 

A group of us has booked two boats in Qaqortoq to go to a glacier where we drink scotch with 10,00-year-old ice.

 

The pictures on the website and blogs look spectacular.

[RuthC]

The town actually had ... most surprisingly a very nice but small museum which of itself was worth the stop. Anne & Charles Lindbergh had stayed in a small bedroom on the third floor of the museum on one of their trips to plot the North Atlantic airline routes.

I found that museum quite by accident my first time in that port. Very worthwhile stopping in to see the exhibits. Going in the sod house out back was an experience that made me glad I never had to live that way! The burning turf inside created such bad air that I could not breathe. I imagine that people who lived under those conditions had lung problems from an early age.

 

Different trip, but another interesting spot I came across by accident was the stone carvings on the wall just beyond the tender dock. Amazing.

 

If you ever get to go there, do go ashore and walk around. It's really an interesting little stop.

[serendipity1499]

I am not disappointed so much as just observing the changes in ports.

 

I am not sure the 2016 itinerary would have appealed to me so much as the 2015. This year's somehow seems edgier, more adventurous.

 

At least that's what led me to book it. I am not sure if I would repeat the same cruise anyway. But I suppose HAL needs to make changes to encourage repeat cruisers.

 

I am sure we will consider it if we enjoy this summer's cruise. One day in a port is hardly enough to fully appreciate most destinations.

 

I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head here.

 

I took what morphed into the Voyage of the Vikings for three consecutive years, '03, '04, '05, and have paid attention to the itineraries every year since. Every year there is at least a few minor, and once in a while major, change. It keeps the cruise familiar, yet interesting. A comfortable fit for those of us who like to repeat areas of the world to cruise in.

 

Like Ruth I've been watching the VOV for several years & HAL seems to make changes in that itinerary every year.. IMO it would be boring to do the same itinerary year after year.. We would love to visit Rotterdam as have seen most of Belgium & Holland when I worked in the Airline field.. Also several of DH's cousins live close to Rotterdam & would love to meet them..

 

I looked at the 2016 VOV & if DH is still able to cruise & our Friends are willing I would love to do this itinerary on the Rotterdam, which we've never been on.. Must wait until the end of the year to make our decision..

[NYteacher]

We did the westbound VoV in 2014 and I noticed that this year's westbound leg had almost entirely different stops than ours had. I think it's a lovely way to do an unusual cruise without repeating the exact ports.