Norwegian Jade to Iceland - Sort of live report

[lettienets]

Keith, is there a Hop on Hop off bus on Iceland?

 

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[KeithJenner]

Keith, is there a Hop on Hop off bus on Iceland?

 

 

I didn't notice any, but wasn't looking for them. The only one I saw was in Bergan.

[All-ready2cruise]

Here you go: https://www.re.is/day-tours/hop-on-hop-off

[Luckynana]

Great job, Connie with the Hop on Hop off info😊

 

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[hawkeyetlse]

We just got back from this cruise yesterday (fantastic itinerary!), so I just wanted to say that this thread was very helpful for us. Thanks, Keith!

[Zeno]

Lovely report Keith!

We LOVED this cruise and I intend to do my own report shortly. Unfortunately the day after we got back, I managed to trip in my own backyard !!! and hurt some ribs and so I have not been feeling up to organizing my thoughts in a reasonably lucid way! This after wandering all over the place with no major problems on the cruise - it figures....

[littlelulu01]

I also want to thank you. Returned yesterday as well. Can't say I'm rested from the trip but we sure saw a lot. Just in case anyone is researching for next year here's a few observations. Car rental was just as you described. We found driving in Iceland extremely easy. We rented the car in Reykjavik Europe car at the dock for 3pm-3pm. This essentially gave us two days for one day price. We did the golden circle route leaving quite early on day two and had no traffic once out of town. They let us park the car right at the ship so 7:30 am start time for day two golden circle and Easily made it back by sail away. I was shocked at pricing of everything in Iceland.

 

We decided against car rental for invergordon and in hindsight am thankful. Too much stress with unknown roads and opposite side. We had a, "test" driving day in Kirkwall after which we canceled our invergordon rental. We took the first city bus of the day to Inverness and did the Jacobite boat/bus tour. It worked out fine IF you are able to get off first thing but we cut it very close getting back to the ship. Our sailing had a large percentage of Chinese passengers and lines for busses etc were not for the faint of heart. Friends who did the ships tours had a wonderful time. I'm not for ship excursions and didn't sign up for any but would recommend just for a no hassle factor and in hindsight would have gone on a few of the more expensive ones offered, especially for invergordon. It worked out fine for us with Jacobite tour but we got lucky.

 

On Edinburgh day NCL had a large ferry hired for morning tender. Only took 15 minutes but we got on after the boat was almost loaded. They also provided a free shuttle to Leith where you could take a hop on bus. the city bus right at tender drop off was only 3.80 for two. Took us right to Princess street. Return taxi fare was only 10 pounds from hollyrood house to ship tender. tender back to ship was 30 minutes but they ran continuously. Lines for the castle were too long for our taste but there were zero lines for Holyrood house and we enjoyed that.

 

Found the speciality dining very good. Also really enjoyed O'Sheahans and jasmine garden if timed right. Service and staff were excellent in all venues but we didn't have much luck with the food and experience in mdr and buffet.

 

I think we had better weather than you guys did. Seas were a little rough until we reached Iceland but we didn't get seasick or need to take any medicine. We seemed to skirt rain just in time for various ports. The only day we got soaked was in Southampton day before we got on the ship. Thanks again for your extremely helpful review. It made our vacation much easier.

[Regguy]

On Edinburgh day NCL had a large ferry hired for morning tender. Only took 15 minutes but we got on after the boat was almost loaded. They also provided a free shuttle to Leith where you could take a hop on bus. the city bus right at tender drop off was only 3.80 for two. Took us right to Princess street. Return taxi fare was only 10 pounds from hollyrood house to ship tender. tender back to ship was 30 minutes but they ran continuously. Lines for the castle were too long for our taste but there were zero lines for Holyrood house and we enjoyed that.

 

It's nice to see they sorted this out. Newhaven was the one downside of our Iceland/Norway cruise. I guess we were the test case, being the first to do the cruise in July. It was really quite bad, but it's good to know that NCL is responsive to these sorts of things.

[littlelulu01]

It's nice to see they sorted this out. Newhaven was the one downside of our Iceland/Norway cruise. I guess we were the test case, being the first to do the cruise in July. It was really quite bad, but it's good to know that NCL is responsive to these sorts of things.

Yes! The day before they distributed tender tickets. Some People waiting hours for this in spiniker. We didn't bother with the tender ticket process because we had a suite but listened to a little grumbling about the process. Then the next morning first tender was scheduled for 8am. Our instructions for suites was to meet concierge at 7:45-8:15. At about 7:30 they announced that anyone who wanted to could get off. We were just eating so didn't try to get off till 7:45 and the big hired boat was just about full and took a very quick narrated trip ashore. They reportedly had long lines in the afternoon to get back onboard but we got back on prior to any lines or waits. They did have a separate line for suites to get back onboard so those people didn't have the long wait either. First I've seen a Haven reboard process. In the end, although there was a little grumbling about the tender ticket process that was essentially not necessary, I think everyone really enjoyed the Edinburgh day. It was excellent weather and everyone was talking about what a fabulous day they had. The city is stunning and we loved it. The return ship tenders were running back and forth later than all aboard. I think I saw three additional runs past the last announced time. Really the only snafu I noticed was that some had waited for tickets needlessly the day prior. MUCH easier day than reports from your sailing.

[KeithJenner]

I’m not sure whether I mentioned it above, but when we had dinner with an officer on our cruise, I asked about the tendering process in Edinburgh.

 

He said that they had more tenders being used, and the process did seem to be better than previously. He also mentioned that they had tried to borrow a bigger boat, but it wasn’t available. I assume that was the one you guys had.

 

I’m glad the recent cruise went well. I haven’t had chance to finish off my report properly, and it’s probably not all the relevant now as the last cruise on this itinerary has now been done for the year.