edinburgher

As this is an NCL specific question, you might want to cross post on the NCL forum where pax who took NCL excursions would be more likely to see your question and reply. And it would probably be helpful to members if you were to ask about your specific ports, rather than simply "Greenland" excursions as not all ships visit the same ports every time. Generally in Greenland, shorex are few and far between. You might want to look at this recent thread which does mention one or two, but you could search CC for all your ports and decide which of the results to read. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2990832-greenland-tours/#comment-66956316

Think you might want to try online research for answers, or maybe contact the official Tourist Information Offices of both to ask. You would also need to check if such items would be allowed into the US or banned due to any C.I.T.E.S. violation. Do bear in mind that both places are very small towns, more like settlements really, and you won't find many outlets selling only tourist items as presumably there would not be enough trade to sustain such a business. The main town is Nuuk, if you are porting there also, and they did have many stores there. it was the only town where we saw regular stores. The tiny number of shopping outlets in smaller towns/settlements sell mostly everyday items, think supermarkets.We didn't notice anywhere like that in Nanortalik, but in Qaqortoq there is the "Great Greenland Tannery" near the tender dock which could be worth a try so try googling that one. And in Greenland, many of the "skins" are sealskin, another item you might want to check for C.I.T.E.S inclusion. And check too which taxes you might need to pay to import allowable items such as fur or sealskin.

Thanks for achnowledging as not everyone does. should you dock at Altona you will be good to go, if at one of the others you need to do some pre-trip homework, although the u-boat info will still be relevant.

BON VOYAGE to both!😀😀

shmabbies, should you find any relevant info by whatever means, perhaps you would consider adding it to this thread at some point as it could be helpful to others travelling there in the future.😀

Description of the recreation of it (it was a Roman jigsaw with multiple fragments)and images online.😀

Even should you not want to book one, look at the shorex on offer as these will give you some ideas of the highlights. And check the usual official Tourist Information Helsingborg website, also Tripadvisor and any others which appear when you google something like "Helsingborg sightseeing"

If you are definitely docking in Amsterdam itself and not one of the other locations, the docking area is well positioned for easy independent sightseeing of the city and a tour isn't essential, and even if you are wanting to tour outside the city, public transport is generally excellent. And coaches are not always able to enter some of the central area which is better explored on foot.

To be honest, one bathroom for 5 sounds horrific, especially at times when all five will be trying to get off the ship in port or to go for meals, or for anything really. but there is another element to take into account, and I think it is an important one. If a cabin for 5 involves any kind of fold down or pull out bed, that will take up some of the already quite small floor space, meaning it will be difficult (if not impossible) for anyone to move around within that cabin. Price any suite which can accommodate five comfortably, or go for two cabins, reducing costs by opting for inside and/or interconnecting and divide the group between them.

Thank you for all that information. It is always worth spending time researching the Ts and Cs of different policies to find the most suitable/best one, and paying for it too, as the best or most suitable usually is the most expensive, but for peace of mind alone, IMHO in the event of something going wrong, it is usually money well spent.

And if Ketchikan is also on your itinerary, are you aware that NCL do not dock or tender into downtown, instead using out-of-town Ward Cove and using shuttle buses between there and Downtown. if you can cancel without penalty, you could consider one of the more experienced cruiselines such as Princess or HAL, as both lines appear to have more permits for GB, although I would still check as it cannot be assumed that each and every one of their Alaskan sailings cruises GB as there may be an occasional one which does not.

We did this from Haines. it was fabulous, and having cruised GB twice, flying above and looking down on it gave a completely different perspective.

and a small piece of that Roman history will be displayed in Edinburgh following its loan to the British Museum in London. It is a brass arm guard dating from the 2nd C AD, one of only three known in the world and incredibly rare. (Thought you might be interested in this very recent announcement.😀)

And it really isn't necessary to sightsee in every port using only shorex. Some pre trip time reasearching online and on the CC forums would inform you how sightseeing independently in some (not necessarily all) ports can be very worthwhile as your day is tailored to suit your own personal interests, and worhwhile savings can be made.

We have never sailed NCL, in part due to their supersized ships, so cannot comment on that line, but we were happy enough with Celebrity.

I was thinking about pax who had booked flights independent of the cruiseline.

and are we to also stop using MDR instead of Main Dining Room?😀 and Roll Call instead of RC?

and less stressful! I hope you get the Altona berth as the ferry dock is right next to the ship and there is a bus stop outside on the roadway which travels close to a number of sights. We found Altona very convenient and used trains, buses and ferries across our two days. Bus route 111, search online for the route description which shows a sightseeing map of Hamburg where not only the route is shown, but it also marks each stop closest to a particular sight/attraction so you know where to get off/on. We printed off the image and took it with us. And search online for day passes for public transport. After 0900 on weekdays, no 0900 restriction at weekends, it is actually cheaper to buy one "9-Uhr-Tageskarte“ which covers public transit in the central area for up to 5 persons, than it is to buy 2 regular day tickets. We used it on the ferries, public buses, and the suburban trains. info online.

Absolutely.😀

All of the above info was correct at the time, but I do not know if there have been any changes since, as post pandemic there have been many changes in many sectors.

Sorry, no, but with Leknes being a port,and ferries used quite extensively in Norway for A to B and longer journeys, I would check these before checking public buses. I had the impression that I had to plan ahead for this port. Definitely. and your new best friend is probably Google.😀(or the Leknes Tourist Information Office)

This was widely reported here, also reported that the illness was noro, but whether correct or not I do not know. Most countries in "Africa" have some horrible diseases, and the more we read about them the more we wanted to avoid catching them. As some of them are fairly easy to catch we took a conscious decision many years ago to avoid S, W and E African countries either on cruises or land trips due to the risks. We did though, venture to countries in N Africa several times and were "vacced to the max" Does anyone know what happened with flights that were missed, any reimbursement for rebooking these, or were additional flight expenses covered by travel insurance?

Should the car rental option not be taken for any reason,, and you are still keen to visit inside a U-Boat, just mentioning that there is also a U-Boat Museum in Hamburg itself. Not a German U-boat though, it is a Russian one. Docked in front of the Fishmarket on the waterfront in Hamburg. Should you be docked at the ALTONA cruise terminal, it would be super easy to reach it by ferry. as these leave from next to the Altona cruise terminal and the U-Boat museum is only a short distance from there, i cannot remember exactly but possibly only one or two ferry stops from Altona to Fishmarket. You could check that online.

May or may not be worth it to you, but worthy of consideration before dismissing the idea.

If the car rental idea falls through for whatever reason, you could perhaps consider using a public ferry or a bus, and it could we worth exploring either or both ideas.