UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 #1 Share Posted July 11 I am keeping my eye out for some last minute cruises on either the Star to Iceland and Greenland or Prima to Iceland and Norway (Alesund, Bergen, and Geiranger), however I'm hearing that Princess's Island Princess is cancelling all their Greenland ports (Qaqortoq and Nanortalik) this week due to ice so I imagine NCL will do the same. For someone who is knowledgeable about both countries' port stops, which tends to be more canceled than the other? I'm primarily into port stops on cruises...not the food, balcony, shows, etc. And yes I know that sometime due to weather and sea conditions that ports sometimes do get canceled. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v3cruiser Posted July 11 #2 Share Posted July 11 Did a cruise to iceland and greenland last year this time. Had one iceland port, djupvogir cancelled, and two greenland ports canceled - paamut and nuuk. It was a above average price cruise so it was disappointing so many cancellations. When paamut and nuuk where canceled we were supposed to cruise a fjord one day and go to quaatorq the next waking up the next morning the captain said those plans were canceled as well due to ice to we headed back to rekjavik. Greenland is more likely canceled. Be prepared for cancellations and being stuck inside ship due to cold/incliment weather. Unfortunately the star does not have spinnaker lounge which would have helped spread out people since outside was mostly closed. It would be great to do a thorough analysis on when the sweet spots are on the calendar for regular cruise ships to make their port of calls in greenland. The smaller ships like hurtgrudden didnt seem to have a problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 Author #3 Share Posted July 11 Thank you V3 for such a helpful and informative post! I think you just gave me my answer! I've been lucky with NCL for the most part not canceling cruises until I was on POA in January when they canceled both Hilo and Kona (both these ports were the ones I was looking forward to the most since I lived on the Big Island). They ended up making Hilo a sea day and replaced Kona with a 3rd day on Kauai. I don't want to sound like a brat but had I known the cruise was just going to be 2 days Maui and 3 days Kauai, I would have just skipped it altogether. I'm not more mindful about booking cruises based on likeliness of ports getting canceled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LottieET Posted July 11 #4 Share Posted July 11 26 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said: I am keeping my eye out for some last minute cruises on either the Star to Iceland and Greenland or Prima to Iceland and Norway (Alesund, Bergen, and Geiranger), however I'm hearing that Princess's Island Princess is cancelling all their Greenland ports (Qaqortoq and Nanortalik) this week due to ice so I imagine NCL will do the same. For someone who is knowledgeable about both countries' port stops, which tends to be more canceled than the other? I'm primarily into port stops on cruises...not the food, balcony, shows, etc. And yes I know that sometime due to weather and sea conditions that ports sometimes do get canceled. Thank you. No cancellations on Prima a couple of weeks ago. No tenders either. It was great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 Author #5 Share Posted July 11 23 minutes ago, LottieET said: No cancellations on Prima a couple of weeks ago. No tenders either. It was great. This is an related question but when you went did your sailing have mainly elderly people on it? I'm in my 30s and going solo. I know longer sailings typically yield older cruisers but I wonder for these trips if it's not the case since it's in the summer? I always go to the solo meets where the ages tend to be 20s-50s but when I went last on POA (only 1 week cruise), it was more 50s-70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Turtles06 Posted July 11 #6 Share Posted July 11 I have cruised to both Iceland and Greenland. While weather can have an impact on port calls anywhere, there is definitely a risk in Iceland and Greenland of missing ports because of storms, winds, ice, etc. I don't think you can quantify it or try to figure out which is a better bet. Pick the cruise you would most like to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 Author #7 Share Posted July 11 2 minutes ago, Turtles06 said: I have cruised to both Iceland and Greenland. While weather can have an impact on port calls anywhere, there is definitely a risk in Iceland and Greenland of missing ports because of storms, winds, ice, etc. I don't think you can quantify it or try to figure out which is a better bet. Pick the cruise you would most like to do. Did you have any missing ports though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Turtles06 Posted July 11 #8 Share Posted July 11 4 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said: Did you have any missing ports though? Yes, absolutely. In Iceland, as we left one of our ports, the Captain announced the day before we were to call at Seydisfjordur that the winds would be too great and so we were proceeding to Akureyri early. Once in Akureyri, which was supposed to be a two day stay (one overnight), we wound up being unable to leave for an extra day because of a very fierce storm that was blowing across Iceland. It was so strong that ships that had not been scheduled for Akureyri were sailing down into the fjord to take shelter from the storm. As a result of being delayed in Akureyri, our remaining ports in Iceland were pushed back a day (kudos to the fabulous private tour operator many of us were using for being able to turn on a dime and switch our tours around). We also had to skip one of our three scheduled ports in Greenland. This stuff happens. And, on the same cruise, when we were just a few hours away from docking in St. Johns, Newfoundland, the Canadian Coast Guard called on us to turn around and assist in the search for a passenger who had gone overboard from an AIDA ship. We spent the day sailing back and forth doing a grid search along with the AIDA ship, until the Canadian Coast Guard could take over. The passenger was never found. It was one of the saddest days I've ever spent at sea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LottieET Posted July 11 #9 Share Posted July 11 26 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said: This is an related question but when you went did your sailing have mainly elderly people on it? I'm in my 30s and going solo. I know longer sailings typically yield older cruisers but I wonder for these trips if it's not the case since it's in the summer? I always go to the solo meets where the ages tend to be 20s-50s but when I went last on POA (only 1 week cruise), it was more 50s-70s. I’m in my late 40’s and it was a real mix of ages. Not as many kids as I thought there would be. Lots of adults from 30’s-80’s I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 Author #10 Share Posted July 11 8 minutes ago, LottieET said: I’m in my late 40’s and it was a real mix of ages. Not as many kids as I thought there would be. Lots of adults from 30’s-80’s I think. Did you have more than 1 comedian at night by any chance? I find European itineraries interesting. I went on the Gem last summer for a 10 night cruise and there wasn't a single comedian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted July 11 #11 Share Posted July 11 16 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said: Did you have more than 1 comedian at night by any chance? I find European itineraries interesting. I went on the Gem last summer for a 10 night cruise and there wasn't a single comedian. That question was addressed at a staff q&a on one cruise I was on. European cruises tend to have a fair number of passengers where English is not their first language. So between language issues and context, comedians do not fare well on those cruises. Note, I just came back from a Norway/Iceland cruise on the Star - there was a comedian onboard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 Author #12 Share Posted July 11 1 minute ago, julig22 said: That question was addressed at a staff q&a on one cruise I was on. European cruises tend to have a fair number of passengers where English is not their first language. So between language issues and context, comedians do not fare well on those cruises. Note, I just came back from a Norway/Iceland cruise on the Star - there was a comedian onboard. That makes sense. How many comedy shows did you have on your sailing? 2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted July 11 #13 Share Posted July 11 5 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said: That makes sense. How many comedy shows did you have on your sailing? 2? There was a 9pm show the first night - I'm guessing it was probably a short contract, possibly leaving at the next port. Then there was a comedy/juggling show on day 5, also just 1 performance. He could have easily been a local, as it was an overnight port stop. I didn't go, so can't comment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level six Posted July 11 #14 Share Posted July 11 We have been lucky to sail to both Iceland and Greenland......no ports were cancelled, thankfully. It just depends on the weather, so it cannot be predicted. Iceland is the better cruise IMO. Have fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelling2Some Posted July 11 #15 Share Posted July 11 We had comedians on our recent Med cruise on the Viva. Surprised me (pleasantly) as it has not been the norm on European sailings for the reasons that Julig22 explained. I think it was because the cruise lines are leaning into less expensive entertainers now. We also had a couple of main theater shows that were just one vocalist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnbridledEnthusiasm Posted July 11 Author #16 Share Posted July 11 6 minutes ago, Level six said: We have been lucky to sail to both Iceland and Greenland......no ports were cancelled, thankfully. It just depends on the weather, so it cannot be predicted. Iceland is the better cruise IMO. Have fun. Do you remember what months you went on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LottieET Posted July 11 #17 Share Posted July 11 Prima a couple of weeks ago had a magician and a comedian. Each did two shows I believe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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