Funkat Posted June 20, 2018 #1 Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) Last minute decision to take a cruise this fall. We are trying to decide on either the 15 night Norway & Atlantic Passage on the Royal Princess or the 14 night British Isles & Norway Passage on the Regal. Itinerary on the Norway & Atlantic Passage 9/10/18 Rotterham, Netherlands Hambuirg, Germany Bergen, Norway Belfast, Northern Ireland St. Johns Newfoundland New York Itinerary on the Norway & British Isles 9/8/18 Aartus, Denmark Kristiansand, Norway Greenock (Glasgow), Scotland Dublin, Ireland Dobh (Cobb), Ireland Halifax, Nova Scotia New York Would appreciate any input from those that have been to these areas. Thanks. Edited June 20, 2018 by Funkat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted June 20, 2018 #2 Share Posted June 20, 2018 As much as I enjoy having a few pre-cruise days in London, the Regal Princess sailing from Copenhagen has far better ports overall. Though the potential for some rough seas sailing from Glasgow to Dublin to Cobh and then south through the Irish Sea. The more northerly arc on the TA section of the Royal cruise (Belfast to Newfoundland) actually may have better weather than the Cobh-to-Halifax on Regal. But what's a TA without some rocking and rolling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkat Posted June 20, 2018 Author #3 Share Posted June 20, 2018 As much as I enjoy having a few pre-cruise days in London, the Regal Princess sailing from Copenhagen has far better ports overall. Though the potential for some rough seas sailing from Glasgow to Dublin to Cobh and then south through the Irish Sea. The more northerly arc on the TA section of the Royal cruise (Belfast to Newfoundland) actually may have better weather than the Cobh-to-Halifax on Regal. But what's a TA without some rocking and rolling? Thanks. I was leaning towards this cruise, but they both looked pretty good. Were looking to book something for next spring, but these caught our eye. We'll just be sure to pack the patches. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammu2 Posted June 20, 2018 #4 Share Posted June 20, 2018 We're looking at the 9/8 Regal. There are better Voyage of the Vikings type TAs out there than Royal this year. Sent from my LG-US998 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbinMich Posted June 21, 2018 #5 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Last minute decision to take a cruise this fall.. . . Itinerary on the Norway & Atlantic Passage 9/10/18 Rotterham, Netherlands Hambuirg, Germany Bergen, Norway Belfast, Northern Ireland St. Johns Newfoundland New York Itinerary on the Norway & British Isles 9/8/18 Aarhus, Denmark Kristiansand, Norway Greenock (Glasgow), Scotland Dublin, Ireland Cobh (Cobb), Ireland Halifax, Nova Scotia New York Would appreciate any input from those that have been to these areas. Thanks. We've done a number of WB TAs and have visited all these ports except Aarhus and Belfast (scheduled, but ship didn't make it there). Either way you can't lose IMHO. But there are some things to consider: the second one departs from Copenhagen, which is expensive (and may involve 2 flights, depending on where you live) to fly to and expensive to stay in while Southampton, closer and less expensive on both counts. Also, longer flight(s) to Copenhagen. One mitigating factor is closeness of airport to port: about 30 min in Copenhagen, several hours from Heathrow to Southampton (course you may decide to spend a day or two in London, which many do). Personally, I love Copenhagen and we always spend a few days there; Southampton is ok, but mostly a way station for us. Most of these ports are easy (and worthwhile) to do on your own. I think I've walked around nearly all of them and we've done cruise critic member-arranged private tours in some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InAlabama Posted June 21, 2018 #6 Share Posted June 21, 2018 We are booked on the Royal this year. The big draw for us is St John's, DW was born there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkat Posted June 22, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted June 22, 2018 We've done a number of WB TAs and have visited all these ports except Aarhus and Belfast (scheduled, but ship didn't make it there). Either way you can't lose IMHO. But there are some things to consider: the second one departs from Copenhagen, which is expensive (and may involve 2 flights, depending on where you live) to fly to and expensive to stay in while Southampton, closer and less expensive on both counts. Also, longer flight(s) to Copenhagen. One mitigating factor is closeness of airport to port: about 30 min in Copenhagen, several hours from Heathrow to Southampton (course you may decide to spend a day or two in London, which many do). Personally, I love Copenhagen and we always spend a few days there; Southampton is ok, but mostly a way station for us. Most of these ports are easy (and worthwhile) to do on your own. I think I've walked around nearly all of them and we've done cruise critic member-arranged private tours in some. Thanks for the reply. We actually booked the Royal today. I sat down and looked at possible excursions at each port on both cruises. Bottom line, the Royal (embarking in Southampton) won out. It seemed more suited to our interests, especially when I discovered that we could take a fast train to Paris (2hr6m) from London. So we added an extra day to the 2 full days that we had allotted to see London so that we could also see Paris. Our flight gets into London on Sept 6 (early morning) and we don't sail out until late evening Sept 10, so I'm hoping we will have enough time to take in most of what we want to see. We plan to stay in London those 4 nights and wait until the morning of embarkation to head towards Southampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkat Posted June 22, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted June 22, 2018 We are booked on the Royal this year. The big draw for us is St John's, DW was born there. We are now booked on her too. Now to confirm our excursions. :):):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbinMich Posted June 22, 2018 #9 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks for the reply. We actually booked the Royal today. I sat down and looked at possible excursions at each port on both cruises. Bottom line, the Royal (embarking in Southampton) won out. It seemed more suited to our interests, especially when I discovered that we could take a fast train to Paris (2hr6m) from London. So we added an extra day to the 2 full days that we had allotted to see London so that we could also see Paris. Our flight gets into London on Sept 6 (early morning) and we don't sail out until late evening Sept 10, so I'm hoping we will have enough time to take in most of what we want to see. We plan to stay in London those 4 nights and wait until the morning of embarkation to head towards Southampton. Sounds like a good plan! We spent a week in London in 2000 so we haven't felt the need to return. We have done a number of "land" trips in and cruises around Europe, but unfortunately none included Paris. We're avid fans of the Tour de France on TV so the finale in Paris is probably the closest we'll get, ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbinMich Posted June 22, 2018 #10 Share Posted June 22, 2018 We are booked on the Royal this year. The big draw for us is St John's, DW was born there. That's a very good reason to choose the Royal itinerary! SJ, NF doesn't look like the easiest place to get to, except by plane or cruise ship. We've been there once, also on a WB TA (Crown P, 2010). Enjoyed it very much. The ship navigating the narrow channel, flanked by tall cliffs, into and out of the harbor was something. And the Royal is even bigger! Went out of the city on a tour in the a.m. and walked around the downtown area in the afternoon. The tour went to Quidi Vidi and then down to Petty Harbor. Beautiful areas! I enjoyed a blogger's posts from the SJ area about the same time; he wrote mainly about nature as he hiked a lot. But then he moved cross-country to Vancouver Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InAlabama Posted June 22, 2018 #11 Share Posted June 22, 2018 We are now booked on her too. Now to confirm our excursions. :):):) Welcome aboard. The roll call seams to be in a weird place but you can find it here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2497799&page=18 Hoping for good weather in St John's. We made into port four years ago on the Ruby, but the Royal had to pass by the following day due to rough seas. The channel in to port is beautiful but narrow. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkat Posted June 23, 2018 Author #12 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Welcome aboard. The roll call seams to be in a weird place but you can find it here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2497799&page=18 Hoping for good weather in St John's. We made into port four years ago on the Ruby, but the Royal had to pass by the following day due to rough seas. The channel in to port is beautiful but narrow. Tim Thanks Tim! I'm also hoping that we are able to make St John's. DH & I made a motorcycle trip up to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI in the Fall of 2016 but did not spend the time to take the ferry to Newfoundland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingisall Posted July 10, 2018 #13 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Going on the Royal TA departing 9/10/18. Wondering whether Hamburg is walkable from the dock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbinMich Posted July 10, 2018 #14 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Going on the Royal TA departing 9/10/18. Wondering whether Hamburg is walkable from the dock? Definitely! We were there on the CB in spring 2016 and I walked from the ship to a lovely lake downtown (Binnenalster). It was about 2 km one way, although I meandered coming and going so covered more ground. Their city hall (not far from the lake) is quite ornate. There are swans on the lake and in the nearby canals. We were there on VE day so all the businesses were closed and hardly any traffic so I don't know how it would be with lots of traffic. Also, we sailed up the river to the city in the afternoon--a change from the scheduled arrival the next morning. Anyway it's a scenic sail; first it's bucolic and then eventually you'll see the newish opera house on a point of land near the dock. Hence the building is supposed to remind one of a ship. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingisall Posted July 10, 2018 #15 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Thanks! That is very helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riclop Posted July 11, 2018 #16 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Do 1 this year and 1 next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted July 11, 2018 #17 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Going on the Royal TA departing 9/10/18. Wondering whether Hamburg is walkable from the dock? Alsop was on the CB in 2016. I had a very good Princess tour that ended near city hall. Instead of going back to the ship with the tour bus I stayed downtown and walked back to the ship. So yes, very walkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritzG Posted July 11, 2018 #18 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Definitely! We were there on the CB in spring 2016 and I walked from the ship to a lovely lake downtown (Binnenalster). It was about 2 km one way, although I meandered coming and going so covered more ground. Their city hall (not far from the lake) is quite ornate. There are swans on the lake and in the nearby canals. We were there on VE day so all the businesses were closed and hardly any traffic so I don't know how it would be with lots of traffic. Also, we sailed up the river to the city in the afternoon--a change from the scheduled arrival the next morning. Anyway it's a scenic sail; first it's bucolic and then eventually you'll see the newish opera house on a point of land near the dock. Hence the building is supposed to remind one of a ship. Enjoy! Thanks for the info. We're on this cruise, too, and Hamburg is the only new port for us. I'm looking forward to sailing up the river into the city, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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