How much do you really see?

[lorif]

As others have said, some of stops, like LeHavre, are quite a distance from the city they link to.

You can choose what you want to do at those stops, planning ahead is key.

 

In 2019, we had a stop there and felt Paris was too far, but we were really interested in a D-Day tour. We booked a private tour with a few other couples from our cruise using NST - Normandy Sightseeing.  They were able to customize it so we could visit Juno Beach, they also included the path one specific regiment followed as it was specific to one of the people in our group. It was one of the best days on our cruise.  Saying that, the ship did offer D-Day tours as well, but we appreciated our customized itinerary. 

So, look at where the port is, and choose what is doable for you. 

[insidecabin]

41 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

We are on the Getaway in a week.  We will be stopping at Zeebrugge and Le Harve as part of that itinerary.  

Zeebrugges is a simple 20 minute train or shuttle bus to Bruges which is a great historic town with beautiful sites, breweries and chocolate shops.   The ship offers several excursions for Bruges and Brussels.

Le Harve is quite a distance from Paris (about 2-1/2hr drive).  The ship offered a bunch of excursion to Paris (the ship is in port from 8am to 8pm, so there is a ton of time, but it is still a quick trip.  There are also excursions to the D-day beaches.  (Le Harve is in Normandy).  We are actually taking a train to Rouen, a Medieval town where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. 

 

There is a bunch you can do at most of those stops...But, as all have mentioned, these visits are all different than a land trip where you immerse yourself in a culture for a bunch of days.  

 

Zeebrugge 15-20mins for the ride.

 

To use public transport you need the shuttle to the terminal, depends on the line for the shuttle.

 

Train is a 20min walk if the Zeebrugge-dorp are running, longer walk  to Zeebrugge-strand.

 

7min walk to the Spa shop to get all day tickets for tram & bus|train via Blankenburg.

Needs an hour total.

 

Shuttle never done expensive.

 

You then have a 10-15min walk to the centre of Bruges from the train/bus stations.

 

 

 

[Pitzel]

Edinburgh is a tender port, so account for some time needed to get from the ship to the town and A LOT of time needed to get back onboard. I recall the lines to get back on the tender were at least an hour long. We had been to Edinburg before, so we didn't feel like we had to cram in all of the sights in one day. We took public transportation around, visited the castle, met up with friends who live in the area, did a bit of shopping, and then returned back to the port to catch a tender back to the ship.

[ontheweb]

7 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

Edinburgh is a tender port, so account for some time needed to get from the ship to the town and A LOT of time needed to get back onboard. I recall the lines to get back on the tender were at least an hour long. We had been to Edinburg before, so we didn't feel like we had to cram in all of the sights in one day. We took public transportation around, visited the castle, met up with friends who live in the area, did a bit of shopping, and then returned back to the port to catch a tender back to the ship.

When we went by cruise ship to Edinburgh, the port we docked in was Rosyth. We did not need a tender, but of course transportation too and from Edinburgh. BTW, we had an overnight.

[insidecabin]

13 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

When we went by cruise ship to Edinburgh, the port we docked in was Rosyth. We did not need a tender, but of course transportation too and from Edinburgh. BTW, we had an overnight.

A lot of ships can't get under the bridges to get to Rosyth.

 

Most would tender into South Queensferry.

 

Newhaven harbor  is now available for tendering and it's handy as there is tram and bus to the city very close.

 

Coming back is not a big issue as long as you are in the line before last tender, they keep running till everyone is back on board.

 

They often have a support vessel that can do 200 at a time(not raining) they stop the ships tenders to get them back into the davits then as soon as they clear the last run they can leave quickly.

 

 

[Ellen495]

Thank you everyone. We will cancel this cruise. It doesn't sound right for us.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

A lot of ships can't get under the bridges to get to Rosyth.

 

Most would tender into South Queensferry.

 

Newhaven harbor  is now available for tendering and it's handy as there is tram and bus to the city very close.

 

Coming back is not a big issue as long as you are in the line before last tender, they keep running till everyone is back on board.

 

They often have a support vessel that can do 200 at a time(not raining) they stop the ships tenders to get them back into the davits then as soon as they clear the last run they can leave quickly.

 

 

Our ship that let us off in Rosyth was definitely not too big. It was the former Ocean Princess, with a capacity of under 700 passengers. What a wonderful ship and cruise that was. 😊

[Ajnp]

5 hours ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

 

We're going on the Viva cruise in September 2023 which starts in Athens and ends in Rome, so that gives us the chance to do a few days before/after in each city.  The rest is "sampling."  Would I like to spend more time in some of these areas?  Yes.  But since we're getting up there in years, we figured we'd take the plunge on this itinerary.  Otherwise, we'd never even get to have the sample!  

 

And, of course, YMMV.  

Great way of looking at things. A sample of something is better than not seeing it at all! Life is about taking the opportunities that we get, even just to "see" a city is better than never seeing IMO

[dexddd]

IMO, great ports.  We did trip that had Berlin.  Yes it is two hours.  Did private trip which was not cheap but worth every penny.  Saw tons, very efficient.  Went to place only read about in books yet first hand will never forget.

[Ellen495]

I should add, I think a small ship that cruises the Rhine might suit us better - but they're all booked for 2024 summer - we will book for 2025 unless we find a small one that suits us (Viking is sold out , but perhaps there are others?)

[DCGuy64]

21 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

I should add, I think a small ship that cruises the Rhine might suit us better - but they're all booked for 2024 summer - we will book for 2025 unless we find a small one that suits us (Viking is sold out , but perhaps there are others?)

Yes, definitely. Have you ever used the "find a cruise" search button at the top of the page? I occasionally use that to look up cruises, and there's a filter for "river cruises" when you do the search. There are definitely lots of options out there. A European river cruise is something we've still not done, but want to. I read good reviews of Croiseurope, Ama Waterways, and Tauck, if that helps.

[Ellen495]

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

Yes, definitely. Have you ever used the "find a cruise" search button at the top of the page? I occasionally use that to look up cruises, and there's a filter for "river cruises" when you do the search. There are definitely lots of options out there. A European river cruise is something we've still not done, but want to. I read good reviews of Croiseurope, Ama Waterways, and Tauck, if that helps.

Yes that helps and THANK YOU!

[lorif]

57 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

I should add, I think a small ship that cruises the Rhine might suit us better - but they're all booked for 2024 summer - we will book for 2025 unless we find a small one that suits us (Viking is sold out , but perhaps there are others?)

There is a river cruise board on here that might be helpful.  We went with Avalon last year and had a fantastic trip.  Their rooms are a bit of a different layout that we really enjoyed while on the ship, but the whole trip was great!

 

[Ellen495]

10 minutes ago, lorif said:

There is a river cruise board on here that might be helpful.  We went with Avalon last year and had a fantastic trip.  Their rooms are a bit of a different layout that we really enjoyed while on the ship, but the whole trip was great!

 

Okay thank you so much!

[Turtles06]

On 7/24/2023 at 9:14 AM, hallux said:

OK, but the ship still isn't going to Amsterdam as noted on the itinerary...

If you read the posts from the locals in the Western Europe forum, you’ll learn that nothing is changing anytime soon. 

[SoloAlaska]

1 hour ago, Ellen495 said:

I should add, I think a small ship that cruises the Rhine might suit us better - but they're all booked for 2024 summer - we will book for 2025 unless we find a small one that suits us (Viking is sold out , but perhaps there are others?)

There are several companies. I go to Cologne yearly and if I remember there are 3 river cruise companies with docks there. Absolutely incredible city and the Dome is an absolute must see even if your not religious.

[Ellen495]

6 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

There are several companies. I go to Cologne yearly and if I remember there are 3 river cruise companies with docks there. Absolutely incredible city and the Dome is an absolute must see even if your not religious.

We want to start in Amsterdam and end in Switzerland. I was wrong - Viking isn't sold out - I was confused by their website at first.  Thank you - this is very helpful. On these river cruises...... you actually go right into the ports so it's easier to get to places than the large ocean cruise lines, correct?

We tend to just do one country all land and do love that type of vacation - but this cruising sounds fun!

[lorif]

19 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

We want to start in Amsterdam and end in Switzerland. I was wrong - Viking isn't sold out - I was confused by their website at first.  Thank you - this is very helpful. On these river cruises...... you actually go right into the ports so it's easier to get to places than the large ocean cruise lines, correct?

We tend to just do one country all land and do love that type of vacation - but this cruising sounds fun!

Yes, you are docked right at the town/city, some more tourist or commercial than others. We did Danube, so different itinerary, but logistics would be similar.

The other difference are the included tours.  Each  day we did a minimum of 1 included tour, sometimes 2.  There were also options for some tours that had a fee attached, which we did a couple of.

Viking has the biggest advertising budget, but their payment policies are not as good as other lines from what I saw.  Also, check cabin sizes and number of passengers onboard.  The ships are all basically the same size and shape, but configurations in the ships can vary.

 

[ldubs]

On 7/24/2023 at 5:13 AM, Ellen495 said:

So these ports - are many of them too far to see "the best?" like Paris? I would have loved to go into Paris. And thank you so much.

 

As already said, Paris and Berlin are pretty far (2+hours travel).  London too, but you are likely going there anyway to catch a flight.   We opted to skip the Paris and Berlin day trips and do other things.  

 

There are pretty easy to access shuttles for Brugge (must see), Copenhagen (walk they Stroget), & Gothenburg.  

 

For Oslo, you are right there (tram to Vigeland park or walk to Karl Johans street).  

 

Can't help with Newhaven for Edinburgh.   We easily accessed Edinburgh by train from Queensferry but the hike up the stairs is something I would try to avoid now.  Good news is I think they run shuttles fight from the tender docks now   But again, no help to your itinerary.  

 

Seems we did a couple things in Amsterdam.   First was a small boat tour of the canals, which if memory serves, we picked up right near the cruise ship.  Then an afternoon group walking tour.  I can't remember how long the bus ride was for this tour.  

 

Have not been to Kristiansand or Newcastle so can't help you there.  

 

I think I may have been very repetitive of previous posts.  If so, sorry about that.  

 

 

[SoloAlaska]

1 hour ago, Ellen495 said:

We want to start in Amsterdam and end in Switzerland. I was wrong - Viking isn't sold out - I was confused by their website at first.  Thank you - this is very helpful. On these river cruises...... you actually go right into the ports so it's easier to get to places than the large ocean cruise lines, correct?

We tend to just do one country all land and do love that type of vacation - but this cruising sounds fun!

I’ve only been to cologne but it is right in the middle of the city. Across the street from beautiful area of restaurants and walking distance to everything you’ll want/have time to see. The only time we took a taxi was when we wanted to go to the chocolate museum after the cathedral and that was to give our feet a break and not waste our energy.

[donaldsc]

Let me throw a question back to you and I am not being flippant.  You live in Philadelphia.  If you had 7 hours to "see" Philadelphia how much of Philadelphia would you see.  Worse yet if you got on a bus that took you to Washington with a 2 1/2  hour bus trip each way and had to be back in Philadelphia by 6 PM how much of Washington would you see especially as you have to allow time for souvenir  shopping, bathroom stops for 30 or 40 people and lunch at a touristy restaurant.

 

Cruise ship stops are best for smaller towns with a small town center.  Much less so for larger spread out cities.  In a large city you need to pick pick out 1 or 2 places that are important for you (not the cruise company but you) to visit and forget the rest of the city.  As an example of the "what is important to me" issue - I am not into art or visiting art museums so even if the most important site in a city might be an art museum I will skip it for something that I am interested in.  The problem is that the cruise company tours usually will not do that.

 

I would usually suggest that you do private tours because they are more efficient use of time and you see what you want to see but I would guess that as a 1st timer you would not be comfortable with that.  Go onto the CC Roll Call for your cruise and see if you can find some private tours that others have set up that you can join.

 

DON

Edited July 25, 2023 by donaldsc

[shipgeeks]

The other general consideration/question I had, in reading through this, is whether there are any "rest" days.  I know we would not have the stamina to be out in a port for 8 hours or more, day after day, without a break of more than just our overnight sleep.  As well as the physical effort, things can begin to blur into a mosaic of cathedrals, streets, markets, museums, ports.

You are right that a river cruise might be a better option.

[DarrenM]

On 7/24/2023 at 12:58 PM, Ellen495 said:

Hi I'm new to cruising (did Alaska - other than that - always just go to countries) but my daughter is interested in a cruise so I'm open. I booked (fully refundable) this cruise and am curious as to your thoughts. Obviously I'm on a cruise board so most like cruises, but how much do you really see at each port? 

This is July 2024 Norwegian Dawn.  We tend to choose a country and explore it, but it does sound exciting to see many - if you really see it. Thanks for any thoughts.

Cheers,

Ellen

 

11 PORTS OF CALL

• Copenhagen,Denmark
• Berlin (Warnemünde),Germany
• Gothenburg,Sweden
• Oslo,Norway
• Kristiansand,Norway
• Edinburgh (Newhaven),Scotland
• Newcastle (Tyne),England
• Amsterdam,Netherlands
• Brussels / Bruges (Zeebrugge),Belgium
• Paris (Le Havre),France
• London (Southampton),United Kingdom

You are coming to my part of the world. Newcastle Upon Tyne. Fabulous City

 

The ship will dock at North Shields I would imagine.

 

Its about a ten minute taxi ride to the city centre. Thats all.

 

No doubt some excursions will take you to more far flung places, like Alnwick Castle (Ponounced Annick) home of the Harry potter Broom stick flying scenes, but I would try and go to Newcastle City Centre. Its a brilliant vibrant and bustling City.

 

And the locals, Geordies, are renowned for being very very friendly.

 

And of course they Have the river tyne... and its 5? bridges within yards of each other.

[DarrenM]

and when in Edinburgh dont have around Newhaven. Its not great. The royal yacht Brittania is vastly over rated.

 

Edinburgh city centre is about 15 minutes away is not to be missed. Especially Rose street for its pubs, and Underground City of the Dead Tour. Edinburghs lost city. Amazing.

[DarrenM]

Amsterdam is another gem. Again the cruise ship will dock a little way away but its not that far.