Snate Posted September 18, 2022 #1 Share Posted September 18, 2022 I was looking at this cruise for next summer on NCL. Never been on NCL so no idea what to compare it to (have done Princess and Celebrity mostly). This is on the ship, Prima. Any advice on if this itinerary is any good or what I should expect in each port? It would be in early July so hopefully it would be cool weather in most of these ports but I really have no idea. I have done Alaska 3 times so was worried the Norwegian Fjord only type cruises would be kind of similar to that scenery and thought this would be something different. Itinerary Day 1 Reykjavik Iceland 6:00pm Day 2 Isafjordur Iceland 8:00am — 6:00pm Day 3 Akureyri Iceland 6:00am — 4:00pm Day 4 At Sea Day 5 Aalesund Norway 11:00am — 10:00pm Day 6 Geiranger (Geirangerfjord) Norway 6:00am — 5:00pm Day 7 Bergen Norway 8:00am — 5:00pm Day 8 At Sea Day 9 Amsterdam Netherlands 7:00am — 5:00pm Day 10 Zeebrugge Belgium 7:00am — 5:00pm Day 11 Southampton United Kingdom 6:00am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmende63 Posted September 19, 2022 #2 Share Posted September 19, 2022 I have not sailed on NCL so I can't compare it. But I have been to Alaska twice and Norway once. Norway is Alaska on steroids. Norway is gorgeous. We loved Alaska, but we LOVED Norway. This looks like a good itinerary. I don't think you can go wrong even if you didn't like the ship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveling Library Posted September 19, 2022 #3 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Only sailed NCL once but this is a really nice itinerary. You will see more than just the Norwegian fjords which are beautiful! Iceland is interesting and Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snate Posted September 19, 2022 Author #4 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Will that itinerary be the fjords or just those coastal towns. I really don’t know where the route takes you and what you see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCJack Posted September 19, 2022 #5 Share Posted September 19, 2022 We have been on a Norway only cruise, an Alaska cruise and an Iceland (+ Ireland) cruise. I agree with jrmende63 in that I really enjoyed our Norway only cruise (more than Alaska). I would not shy away from Norway only cruise just because you have been to Alaska, it is quite different. That said, your suggested itinerary looks fine. My only concern would be it tackles a lot of countries / ports for one cruise. Our Iceland cruise as an example spend 2 days in Akureyri and 2 days in Reykjavik. Your suggested trip might be a bit of a whirlwind trip. Only one afternoon in Amsterdam is quite short for a city like that. As for cruiselines, we love Celebrity. We have only been on one NCL, and I thought it was a step down from Celebrity, but it was only one so I hate to make a generalization on NCL but that was our experience. I would prefer to leave from Amsterdam for a Northern Europe cruise rather than Southampton or Reykjavik and spend a few days in Amsterdam. Have fun planning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PhillyTravelBug Posted September 19, 2022 #6 Share Posted September 19, 2022 I am on this itinerary for August 2023. My last cruise was Alaska on NCL. I would like a Norway only cruise, but Iceland is a must do for me and this seemed like the best bang for the itinerary. plus with NCL from Alaska… they have an absolute awesome observation lounge that made the trip for gazing out into the scenery. We also had thermal spa passes which was the best. They have the awesome glass views while lounging on heated tile loungers. It was heaven!!! Really looking forward to this itinerary on the Prima. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted September 19, 2022 #7 Share Posted September 19, 2022 We are booked to do that itinerary in reverse (the only difference is an overnight at the end in Reykjavik). We booked it because the itinerary looked so great to us. (we previously missed Norwegian fjords in 2020 as the cruise we had booked of course never sailed.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljandgb Posted September 20, 2022 #8 Share Posted September 20, 2022 I'm a firm believer that Iceland needs a land trip. One thing to consider is that IcelandAir will let you do up to 7 days as a stopover in Iceland either inbound or outbound. As far as the itinerary, it looks a bit like a taste of each country, which some people prefer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Scottishclover Posted September 20, 2022 #9 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Agree with the above. The best trip we have ever done was a land trip to Iceland. Scenery is other worldly. We did a fjord cruise in 2016 and Norway is beautiful from the water. Added bonus you don’t need to eat out much at exorbitant prices. Norway prices were eye watering. If you were to have a week in South Iceland before this itinerary, that would be the perfect trip. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted September 20, 2022 #10 Share Posted September 20, 2022 14 hours ago, ljandgb said: I'm a firm believer that Iceland needs a land trip. One thing to consider is that IcelandAir will let you do up to 7 days as a stopover in Iceland either inbound or outbound. As far as the itinerary, it looks a bit like a taste of each country, which some people prefer. They also have deals bundling the airfare with the hotels that they own. That is what we did when we did a land trip to Iceland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PhillyTravelBug Posted September 20, 2022 #11 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Since we have our air booked with NCL, we can extend the beginning and end of our trip by 2 days each. I’m thinking about doing the golden circle and then blue or sky lagoon the other day. I’m hoping this gives us enough of a taste of Iceland, along with our other two port stops in Iceland. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snate Posted September 20, 2022 Author #12 Share Posted September 20, 2022 It seems my biggest problem is the airfare to Iceland from Dallas. It’s not an easy place to get to apparently. Dallas is a American Airlines hub and all the flights to Iceland go to London first making it a 30 hour travel day which won’t work. I can try and fly to New York and then spend the night but that doesn’t have great flight times either for some reason. I am afraid to do the NCL airfare because I have no desire to be put on a flight that leaves at 6am and has 4 stops taking 30 hours or something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitemare Posted September 21, 2022 #13 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Look into flights to Boston and from there to Iceland. It seems to be a pretty good portal to Reykjavik. It's also quite worth getting to Iceland a day or two early and seeing some things on your own or on a tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehowlingroad Posted September 21, 2022 #14 Share Posted September 21, 2022 (edited) We did Norway/Iceland earlier in the summer on the Enchanted Princess and just got back from Alaska for the 2nd time. The Norwegian fjords alone blow Alaska out of the water completely. You won’t regret going. Our itinerary had 4 Icelandic ports— it sounds like you’re okay with tacking on extra days in Reykjavik before the cruise, but I would have chosen something that stays longer in Akureyri, since it gives you a chance to do the Diamond Circle loop as opposed to the “standard” Myvatn one. But otherwise, this is a solid choice— the typical recommendation for Norwegian ports is that at least one of them should be a “fjord port,” which you’ll get with Geiranger. It’s worth waking up every day at 5:30 am on these cruises because the sail-in scenery is unmatched. Edited September 21, 2022 by thehowlingroad 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShopperfiendTO Posted September 21, 2022 #15 Share Posted September 21, 2022 On 9/20/2022 at 3:16 AM, Scottishclover said: Agree with the above. The best trip we have ever done was a land trip to Iceland. Scenery is other worldly. We did a fjord cruise in 2016 and Norway is beautiful from the water. Added bonus you don’t need to eat out much at exorbitant prices. Norway prices were eye watering. If you were to have a week in South Iceland before this itinerary, that would be the perfect trip. Iceland's prices this past August were not that far off eye-watering either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracer Posted September 21, 2022 #16 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Looking at this cruise on Prima as well as the 14 day one that goes a month later. We are wanting to see "hopefully " the northern lights. Yes it is dependent on weather and such, but the later one has a better chance. The fjords are the other reason. I was hoping that during the evening on either of these cruises that after midnight you could just sit on the top deck and witness the northern lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snate Posted September 22, 2022 Author #17 Share Posted September 22, 2022 6 hours ago, oracer said: Looking at this cruise on Prima as well as the 14 day one that goes a month later. We are wanting to see "hopefully " the northern lights. Yes it is dependent on weather and such, but the later one has a better chance. The fjords are the other reason. I was hoping that during the evening on either of these cruises that after midnight you could just sit on the top deck and witness the northern lights. My wife’s bucket list item is seeing the northern lights but we still have a kid in school so we can’t go that late in the summer unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted September 22, 2022 #18 Share Posted September 22, 2022 14 hours ago, Snate said: My wife’s bucket list item is seeing the northern lights but we still have a kid in school so we can’t go that late in the summer unfortunately. My DW just retired as a teacher. We did a land trip to Iceland and saw the Northern Lights while she was on their Easter vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senga Posted September 22, 2022 #19 Share Posted September 22, 2022 Northern Lights September 3rd in Alberta, CANADA. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anjuan Posted September 25, 2022 #20 Share Posted September 25, 2022 We're doing this itinerary at the end of May 2023 on the Prima as well for my daughter's high school graduation. We are using NCL's flights. I know that some people have complained about them but I priced flights out and we'll be saving about $1,800 from Chicago. We're flying in a few days before the cruise and staying a few days after as well. Really looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPT Trips Posted September 25, 2022 #21 Share Posted September 25, 2022 On 9/20/2022 at 6:43 PM, Snate said: It seems my biggest problem is the airfare to Iceland from Dallas. It’s not an easy place to get to apparently. Dallas is a American Airlines hub and all the flights to Iceland go to London first making it a 30 hour travel day which won’t work. I can try and fly to New York and then spend the night but that doesn’t have great flight times either for some reason. I am afraid to do the NCL airfare because I have no desire to be put on a flight that leaves at 6am and has 4 stops taking 30 hours or something. Are you committed to flying AA? If not, there are a number of more direct, one stop options from Dallas to Iceland (Chicago, Boston, or Newark) using other airlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoopslover Posted November 5, 2022 #22 Share Posted November 5, 2022 On 9/25/2022 at 11:00 AM, anjuan said: We're doing this itinerary at the end of May 2023 on the Prima as well for my daughter's high school graduation. We are using NCL's flights. I know that some people have complained about them but I priced flights out and we'll be saving about $1,800 from Chicago. We're flying in a few days before the cruise and staying a few days after as well. Really looking forward to it! Is NCL allowing the 2 day deviation again? Our TA told us that it was not being offered. Our friends used NCL air in September to fly to Copenhagen and the 2 day deviation was not honored and their flight was booked to arrive at 11:30 am on cruise day. They had to have NCL rebook and it cost $670 pp to arrive 2 days early. What did you have to do to get the 2 day deviation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PhillyTravelBug Posted November 6, 2022 #23 Share Posted November 6, 2022 On 11/5/2022 at 3:46 PM, hoopslover said: Is NCL allowing the 2 day deviation again? Our TA told us that it was not being offered. Our friends used NCL air in September to fly to Copenhagen and the 2 day deviation was not honored and their flight was booked to arrive at 11:30 am on cruise day. They had to have NCL rebook and it cost $670 pp to arrive 2 days early. What did you have to do to get the 2 day deviation? Not true. I just recently extended my 2023 booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cc-riderslc Posted December 22, 2022 #24 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Just yesterday I was able to add an air deviation, going 1 day early into Southampton, England. There was no problem. Cost stayed the same for air plus they gave me a credit of $25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted December 23, 2022 #25 Share Posted December 23, 2022 18 hours ago, cc-riderslc said: Just yesterday I was able to add an air deviation, going 1 day early into Southampton, England. There was no problem. Cost stayed the same for air plus they gave me a credit of $25. Yes, we were also able to get the deviation and were rewarded with a $25 credit each. I see you just today joined our roll call. Welcome, it has been really dead for a while. I just decided to check it out, and was pleasantly surprised to see a new post. Maybe we will get to meet. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now