Fire and Ice 2020

[smithsheff]

Hi

I am looking to book our next trip, even though we promised we were going to have a year off 😁,  and interested in the Fire and Ice next August.

 

Has any one been , is it worth it and what was the sea like around there. 

 

It's a choice between that and another that does Venice etc

 

Cheers 

[dronnygirl]

We did this cruise on Discovery early July 2018 and it was the best cruise we have done!  We thought long and hard before booking as we are really warm weather people and knew there was a risk of mixed weather but decided we should bite the bullet and book.  We went prepared for whatever the weather threw at us, taking waterproof shoes, jackets, trousers, hats and gloves and hoped we wouldn't need them.  And we didn't!

Sailing from Newcastle was great, really easy.  The cabin was not ready but we could drop our bags there while we had lunch.  We had 2 sea days and the 2nd afternoon was a little rough, the only time we took pills and the only time we had 2nd thoughts as there was no-one on deck due to the wind, it looked deserted.  However from then on everything was great. 

We arrived at Reykyavik to cloud and 4 degrees but it was dry and bright.  Did a full day trip which was brilliant.  The next day was Isafjord, decided to have a DIY day.  On the way out of the fjord we were advised there were whales portside, they were ony small minkies but they made our day!  That evening they held a crossing the Arctic Circle party, this is where the hats and gloves came into their own.  We sailed very near to an iceburg but unfortunately it was shrouded in mist. The light was amazing, still daylight past midnight.   Next day was Akureyri and the sun shone.  Again did a full day trip and this was definitely the best, the scenery is wonderful and you experience some very strange sites. 

Then 2 days at sea and arrived at Norway.  They were having the hottest summer on record and the sun shone every day.  Sunbathing on board and even had a paddle in the fjord at Flam.  Fabulouse scenery and such friendly people.

Then on to Lerwick, again a beautiful day. We hired a car and tried to see as much as possible.  Absolutely loved the island, we saw loads of guillimots and puffins and walked on the beach as St Ninians Isle.  Last day was Invergordon and again we hired a car and drove right across the highlands to Gairloch and back, another great day.

Pretty action packed, the sun shone and we met some lovely people on board. The entertainment was really good, we had Braximusic on board and they were amazing.

I'd definitely recommend this but we were so lucky with the weather, you need to be prepared if it's not so good.

 

[Sumdumgi]

16 hours ago, dronnygirl said:

We did this cruise on Discovery early July 2018 

 

We did this too. It was our 4th time in the last 10 years as we’ve done it with P&O twice and Princess albeit each time has been slightly different ports in Norway.

 

We’ve never had any really poor weather other than once on a sea day, the sun very often shines in Norway during the summer. It’s a fantastic itinerary, highly recommended, take something for showers, something warmer for sea days - it will be great !

 

And as said above  Fire and Ice on Discovery in 2018 was brilliant. We considered it this year too but opted for the Baltic trip on Explorer in June.