Not allowed off Royal Princess?

[DougYWG]

We were thinking of Royal Princess in July - Norwegian Fjords out of Southampton. We have heard that if you don't sign up for the Princess shore excursion, you are not allowed off the boat. That seems awful hard to believe. What's the point of a cruise ship? What do the Norwegians think of that? Can anybody confirm?

[srphnx]

Where did you hear this "information"?... Certainly sounds fishy to me.

 

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[JCH]

DougYWG,

The only time I have heard of that is in the middle of the RT Panama Canal cruise.

 

JCH

 

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[usavvy2]

I was on this cruise in '03. The first stop was just for pax on the all day train ride (I think it was Gellyst). The pax were tendered ashore for their train ride. The rest of us continued on to Geiranger. Folks tendered there - regardless if they had an excursion or if they just walked the 1 block town. Then again when the ship was in Vik - it was ONLY to retrieve pax that took the train from Flaam (where everyone could get off and walk the 2 block town). We took that excursion - which was spectacular (see my review for more info on the entire trip). We took a train from Flaam thru the valley and then up to Voss where we ate lunch & boarded a bus. After stopping at a Stave church near Vik, the Royal had tenders waiting to bring us back to the ship. I did see other pax at the dock but can't say for sure if they got off the ship in Vik or if they were on an earlier bus - as we almost had a full train so it would mean more than 1 bus full of pax. There didn't seem to be anything in Vik except homes and maybe 3 commercial type bldgs so I doubt folks even bothered coming ashore, there. So, in a way, you're right with your question but it does need to be taken in context. Here's my review...

Norwegian Fjords Cruise July 22 - Aug 3, 2003 - Review

 

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[DougYWG]

Many thanks folks, appreciate your input. I think the story must have related to the ship simply offloading passengers for the train trip then continuing up the fjord to another spot where everybody can get off and the train passengers re-join. Something like that.

[Guest Snorkelbunny]

The only time I have heard of passengers not being allowed off a ship is in Russia where you need a visa unless you are taking a Princess shore excusion. If you want to do things on your own you must have a visa or they won't let you disembark.

 

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[Lynda90]

If you don't have a Visa will MasterCard or American Express Work?

 

Lynda

[usavvy2]

yes DougYWG you said in many less words than me and that's exactly it - there's nothing on dry land except the bus / train waiting to pick you up or bring you back....

 

not taking vacations but collecting experiences - usavvy2

 

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