2023 cruise options advice

[NYAS]

My husband and I want to take a cruise next year for our 50th anniversary, and have narrowed our choices to two very different options—from Lisbon to Amsterdam, with visits to Bilbao and Bordeaux and days afterward in Amsterdam; or Reykjavik to London, with stops at several Iceland ports as well as several UK and Ireland stops.  We have previously visited some of the ports on both cruises, but most will be new to us. We’d appreciate hearing from those who have done one or the other or both of these itineraries regarding highlights of those trips and and advice or recommendations to help in our decision making. We want to book by Thursday, to avoid the coming fare increases.

 

Most of our travels abroad have been land trips, but we have taken about 9 cruises, including the Marina to the Baltics and Russia in 2013, when we were celebrating our 40th.(Coincidently, the above cruises are also on Marina.)

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

We have done both (multiple times) and they are so completely different (in terms of ports and even the normal weather) that it is difficult to recommend one over the other.   Are you looking for cities (which provide many things to do and see) or more scenic places (i.e. Iceland)?  If you are a wine lover than visiting Bordeaux can be satisfying.  If the Marina actually docks in downtown Bordeaux (I am not sure if this is the case) that is a convenient way to visit the Bordeaux area.  Ships that go to other ports (but say "Bordeaux" on the itinerary) are a somewhat different story.  Having been to London a few times it is a city I prefer to avoid forever (although we do enjoy visiting England and the UK).  Besides the amazing British Museum that city no longer holds anything that would make me want to spend the big bucks to visit.

 

Hank

[NYAS]

Thanks for your rapid response, Hank. I know what you mean about London; we’ve been there often, especially during the 9 years our son lived there. But we do enjoy other parts of the UK.

[mauibabes]

NYAS,

First, you would enjoy both itineraries so flip a coin.  We did a Southampton to Reykjavik to NYC itinerary in 2019 for our 50th. My DW declared the day after our 49th thru the day before our 51st to be our 50th Anniversary cruise window.  Indecisive, book them both 🤪👍 Maybe time of year/weather could help be a decider. 
If I were to choose, I think I would start in Reykjavik with at least three days of land touring because it is an amazing country. We had a bunch of friends on our cruise start their trip there and it was outstanding and they continue to rave about it. 
 

The Lisbon to Amsterdam cruise has a great itinerary so you can not go wrong. We love starting or ending a cruise/EU vacation in London. Love the accent and the fact that we can finally understand the people and also touring around GB.  
When O increases prices, it is not a percentage across the board so don’t totally panic on your decision. There will also be a 4th of July Sale released in a day or so, so keep watching. If you have any On Board Booking credits, that might help you pick the cruise that can save you more money. 

Whatever you do, any cruise on Marina will be great. 
Mauibabes

[NYAS]

Thanks, Mauibabes. Hope to see the July 4th sale in a day or so!

[Pvbgirl]

If you have the opportunity see the Normandy landing beaches and have not, it is an unforgettable experience.  
if you have already been to Bilbao, an excursion into Basque Country is really beautiful.  La Coruna is a very pretty and authentic feeling town.  

[NYAS]

Thank you, Pvbgirl, I agree. We spent two weeks in Normandy in 2019 by land and loved every minute of it. Wish we could spend more time in Basque Country, but one day in Bilbao would have to do it for us this time.

[Hawaiidan]

"If you have the opportunity see the Normandy landing beaches and have not, it is an unforgettable experience."     

That is an understatment     every American needs to visit Normandy, Gettysburgh, Pearl Harbor and Arlington      also worth of consideration is the  costs of the cruise.      Remember ships burn a lot of fuel... and the price of that   fuel is going through the roof     Iceland  requires  a lot of travel  and  3 times the fuel of the Lisbon to AMS. fares will be vastly more expensive which can limit your travel budget. severely.

  Too   LIS-AMS is going to have better weather and vastly more on shore enrichment options than primitive Iceland/ Greenland.      

[NYAS]

Thanks, Hawaiidan. All good points. 

[LGW59]

16 hours ago, Pvbgirl said:

If you have the opportunity see the Normandy landing beaches and have not, it is an unforgettable experience.  
if you have already been to Bilbao, an excursion into Basque Country is really beautiful.  La Coruna is a very pretty and authentic feeling town.  

If you have the opportunity see the Normandy landing beaches and have not, it is an unforgettable experience.  Could not more highly recommend doing this as well.  Truly amazing and emotion filled, and if you can spend time at the American cemetery, add that to your time.  I hired a private driver for the day when I did this and he was a walking history encyclopedia.  

[Hawaiidan]

23 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

If you have the opportunity see the Normandy landing beaches and have not, it is an unforgettable experience.  Could not more highly recommend doing this as well.  Truly amazing and emotion filled, and if you can spend time at the American cemetery, add that to your time.  I hired a private driver for the day when I did this and he was a walking history encyclopedia.  

Normandy  requires a small group  of 6 or less and a custom tour......you owe it to yourself...... and THEM.

[NYAS]

Couldn’t agree more. We visited the landing beaches and cemeteries in on a 2-week land trip through Normandy in 2019, the 75th anniversary of D-Day. We used Overlord Tours for the WWII sites and Bayeux Shuttle for Mont St Michel and other sites. Both excellent.

[EasyGoingGuy]

My 2 cents... having been to many of the stops (non-cruise) I would say Lisbon to Amsterdam.  I went looking for the Iceland to London itinerary in 2023 and only found it in 2024?  So, are you certain it's offered 2023?  In any case, while the Iceland-London trip looks good, I still stick with my recommendation. On the other hand, come with us on the Oct. 2023 Barcelona-Venice (Trieste) cruise. It will be our 47th anniversary and we can celebrate together. Whatever you choose I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[NYAS]

Appreciate your more-than-2-cents-worth of comments! We are leaning to the Lisbon-Amsterdam choice at this point. The Reykjavik-London is 8/22-9/5/23 on Marina. I believe this might have been a reconstructed itinerary from a cancelled one that included St. Petersburg. It doesn’t appear in the earlier print line-up for 2023, but it’s been online for a while now.

 

Enjoy your Barcelona-Trieste sailing. Love those port stops. Happy Anniversary!

[the more ports the better]

The 2023 is for sure reconstructed from a Baltic St Petersburg sailing.  We are on the sailing prior to the one you are looking at ending in Reykjavik.  It goes up the coast of Norway to Longyearbyen then to Greenland and Iceland.  New ports for O.  I’m hoping to see polar bears as we are in Svalbard two days.  Those sailings are nature, hiking, boat trips etc where Lisbon to Amsterdam is culture.

 

Usually we prefer culture but every once in awhile, we just need to chill out enjoy nature for a while.

 

When going to Normandy, take a day in Caen to visit the WW2 museum.  It is beyond amazing!!  Also, I agree with Dan, every American citizen should visit Normandy, it is an emotional experience.  Visit Point Du Hoc and imagine those boys scaling the cliffs while the Germans shot at them and landing on the beaches dodging machine guns knowing they probably were not going to make it.  They were truly the “greatest generation.”

 

 

[NYAS]

Thanks to all who responded on this thread. After lots of back-and -forth, we’re now booked on the Lisbon-Amsterdam cruise. Now on to planning excursions and post-cruise travel. Not much Roll Call for this yet, so maybe will be using O excursions heavily. We were told only 140 bookings so far on this sailing.

 

Thanks again for your input. Happy 4th — and happy sailing —to all.

Edited June 30, 2022 by NYAS

[ORV]

We were real pleased with our Normandy tour with Overlord. We did this cruise in reverse, AMS to Lisbon. You might check out Mike Preisman's blog on this cruise for good tour ideas. Here is the link to it. 

 

Marina Page 1 (thepreismans.com)

Edited June 30, 2022 by ORV

[NYAS]

Thank you so much for the link to the Preisman cruise blog for this itinerary. It will be a great resource for us. I’ve read the Preismans’ blogs for several other cruises and always learned so much. Sorry to learn that Carol has passed away. As I recall, she always spent time upon first arriving in their stateroom engaged in “nesting” activities—a lovely concept.