CCJack

We will be spending 2 nights pre cruise in QC in September. I have had mixed results with HOHO buses in various cities, really don't like waiting only to have a completely booked bus show up and you wait some more.... Anyone with experience in QC with this and availability of buses, are they usually full? The link above is very helpful, thanks.... I am wondering what this means, however: Available May 13th to October 29th Schedule may 13th, 2023 to june 22th, 2023 09h25, 10h10, 10h50, 11h25, 12h10, 12h50, 13h25, 14h10, 14h50, 15h25, 16h10 june 23th, 2023 to june 30th, 2023 09h25 july 1st, 2023 to october 31th, 2023 09h15 Does this mean there is only one bus running after June 22, while there are many buses running from May 13 to June 22, it is confusing..... thanks.

I can only give you a partial answer... we hired a private guide to give us a tour of Genoa, S. Margareta, and Portofino using public transportation. I loved all 3 stops including Genoa, which is an interesting city. She (our guide) took us up on the Funicular and at the top was a residential area with a small park and the views over the city were quite nice. I think without the guide telling us what we were looking at it would have been less interesting, however.

We walked from the ship to the bus station and took the National Express bus to London. It stops at a couple of metro stops in London. If your hotel is close to one of those stops, that might be a doable option and inexpensive. If your hotel is not close to one of those stops then you would be looking at another london taxi or metro to get to your hotel. The walk from ship to bus in Southampton is not short, but doable. In nice weather, it is not a bad walk. Maybe 30 min. You do have to go over some cobblestone streets with your luggage however.

Yes, our ship docked in a bit of an industrial area which was fenced off. Nothing within walking distance. There was a lineup of taxi's right outside of the ship, but I don't know if those taxi's would be interested in a day tour type of trip. We just took a taxi to Titanic museum, then we walked from there to downtown area.....

Dunmore East is not a bad little village to take a stroll through either before or after your trip to Waterford. There are good ocean views, etc from the town. We took a ship excursion to Waterford, I do not remember seeing any waiting taxis in Dunmore East. I think you would want to have transportation arranged. Our ship (Celebrity Apex) did not have a shuttle, perhaps Oceana will.

You may want to reach out to the whale watching vendor (if you booked directly with them) or the cruiseline if it is a cruise excursion. My guess is it would be no problem on either the bus or the boat. On our whale watching boat there would have been plenty of room.

Thanks so much.

Probably pros and cons to both. Cruising Southbound and doing the land portion first has the advantage of doing the busiest / taxing portion first then relax on the cruise. Cruising Northbound and doing land portion last has the advantage of the cruise leaving from Vancouver which is a great departure city. Spending 1 or 2 nights there is perfect pre-cruise, the ships dock right downtown, etc....

It sounds like fun,,,,, Could you tell a little more about the hike? Is there a parking lot at the national park? Trailheads and marked trails to the Statue? Restrooms? From the map, I don't see any parking available. Thanks..

Check 2024 wimbeldon schedule, you may be able to catch a day of tennis. We did that one time before a Southampton cruise. It was a fun day.

I like the 12, just because it is 12! Both have flam. With the 12 you give up geiranger, but gain those northern ports. I have not been to those northern ports but they really look appealing to me.

I like the idea of having 3rd party travel insurance to cover this problem. Just make sure you price the trip insurance to include any non refundable excursions. The premium may not be much more (if at all) since sometimes the premium only goes up at certain price points (ie, $5900 coverage is the same premium as $5200 coverage - premium goes up a $6k - just as an example.) I have filed a couple of travel insurance claims and both went rather smoothly and I was paid what I claimed, but there is some paperwork involved and you have to prove that these costs were not refunded to you. These T&C on the excursion websites may come in handy in this case. For a trip to Norway I would have everything pre booked. I would book the excursions you want no matter the refund policy, and then count on the insurance if you need it. Also, I have found that ship's excursions are still more $ than independent but not as much difference as they used to be - the costs are getting closer from my viewpoint. I used to be 100% independent but lately have been booking more ship's excursions especially if involves long distance from the ship. I loved the Lysefijord day cruise. It rained for us but it was still enjoyable, would have been that much better if sunny ! Have fun....

Yes, you may want to be first off the ship, in the first bus, etc.... in case there are more than one excursion bus going there.....

We took a ship's excursion and I was pleasantly surprised with the excursion. The grounds around the castle are beautiful. (Also, The clothing store on site was really nice, with high quality clothing at reasonable prices, I thought.....) We did kiss the stone, but I would not be too disappointed if you don't. We made a bee-line to the castle from the bus and beat the crowd. We waited only 15 min or so. On our way down, however, the line had grown to 2+hours if the signs were correct. So the answer is... it is hard to tell but the wait could be significant. I would not wait 2 hours. You not only have to lie on your back but you need to slide down a bit head first. You are safe from falling, but it can be quit uncomfortable. If you have any back issues, I would not recommend.

I think smaller boat is better for whale watching for many reasons..(except if you are prone to sea sickness, then larger may be better.) Our ISP whale watching trip was fantastic.... one of our most memorable excursions ever.... I loved it. We used Icy Strait Whale Adventures and our boat held about 12 if I recall correctly.

We are in a similar situation, I really wanted to spend a couple nights in QC before our cruise, so we are booked on the 9/13/23 NCL Joy, which visits the stops you list, plus Halifax and ends in NYC. I have not been to the 3 you list, although I have visited PEI and NS on previous land trips. I am thinking (hoping) that the sail in to Saqueney will be very beautiful along the Sagueney river. This is another reason I chose this itinerary. In Corner Brook we are taking an excursion to Gros Morne N.P. I would be surprised if that is a disappointment, I understand it is a beautiful park. I do think the # of excursions that NCL is offering is somewhat limited, but that may say more about NCL than it does about the ports. There are independent excursion options at each port from what I can tell.

When we biked down, we booked a rountrip train ticket. In case of rain, we would have a ride back on the train. It turned out to be beautiful weather so we rode bikes, but it was worth the extra cost to have a backup plan...

We are in the same situation as OP, on the Sept 13 NCL Joy... this stop is confusing for a newbie, understanding the towns, etc. This brochure link is really good, thanks. am I correct in that: Ship ports near the small village part of LaBaie, but that part of LaBaie is not walkable to the museum area of Labaie, which is 2.5 miles away? Chicoutimi is another town 11 miles away but would be a better town to spend the afternoon on our own as it is larger than LaBaie? You can get to Chicoutimi on the Ho Ho bus, taxi, city bus, or ship's excursion (NCL Saguenay Highlights, $65, 2.5 hours, not sure if you get free time on your own.) ? thanks for the help here.

I have reserved and paid for (via credit card) for a couple of NCL excursions before our upcoming cruise. However, we are going to end up with some OBC that may exceed what we plan to spend onboard. Does anyone know if it is possible to cancel an excursion while on board (get refund to cc), then rebook same excursion using OBC? I have tried this on other cruiselines and they said there is no guarantee you can rebook, as the spots could be taken, or they could be overbooked, etc. So on other cruiselines, the answer was no. How about NCL, is this an option? thanks.

I do not think a ship of that size would be a problem in the Norwegian Fjords.. The Fjords are deep. Note that there are only a couple of long Fjords that the mainstream cruiselines go to (Flam and Gerangier- I think, you can confirm by looking at map.) I would make sure you choose a cruise that goes to at least one of these. We were on Cunard QE, which is a big ship and had no problem docking in Flam. There was a HAL ship that was larger than ours in Flam as well. The sail into Flam through the Fjord (about 2 hours) was the highlight of our trip, I thought. We took that Cunard cruise to Norway and a separate Celebrity cruise to Iceland. Both are great trips, but very different. The Norway cruise was my favorite cruise ever (of about 20), so I would vote for a Norway cruise only. Iceland is unique in itself, with all of geothermal springs, lava relics, etc. However, there are few trees in Iceland and very few mammals, so it is very different than Norway. Norway is a great cruise destination with viewing the Fjords from the ship, while Iceland is mostly land based excursions. Many people say land vacations are better than cruises in Iceland. We were only on the cruise to Iceland and so I can't compare to a land vacation. It was a great cruise as well, but I liked Norway better....

I believe there are no mosquitos in Iceland. While on a Lake Myvatn excursion we did notice the very small flying bugs (gnats?). There were places were they were pretty numerous and flying around your head. However, that was really only down by the water. No one had any bug spray or head nets and I think everyone was fine since it was a short stay. I would say don't worry about it. However, if you are camping or something like that, likely you need protection.

We are on the Sept 13 Joy cruise. I plan to make dining reservations soon, but was wondering if there are nightly shows (besides Footloose) that I should plan around. We typically like to eat early (6:30 or so), and then attend the shows in the theatre.... Would these shows typically be at 8:30 or 9:00 start. ? thanks.

Our cruise out of Southampton to Norway was probably our best vacation ever.. Have fun... We loved Norway. Only drawback was the trek across the North Sea was pretty rough waters !! Note that Wimbeldon starts July 3, if that is something that interests you. Our trip must have been very similar dates as yours, as we went to day 1 of Wimbledon a couple days before our cruise....We loved that experience..

Agree with euro cruiser.... Our last visit we stayed right next to the Pantheon... excellent location. We walked to the Vatican no problem. It is a safe and enjoyable walk. We also walked to the colosseum (different day). I just think you will get to both places faster on foot rather than any other options... The Pantheon is beautiful and very historic, but you don't need to really plan any time for that. It can be a quick trip as time allows especially since you are staying close by, you can hopefully avoid the busy times (visiting in the morning or later in the evening.) . You need a lot of time at the Vatican. Colosseum could be short or medium visit depending on what you want. Jet lag rules say try to stay awake as much as you can on arrival day. Colosseum may not be out of the question on arrival day depending on how you feel. Then you could pick up Pantheon after Vatican on day 2 or even the morning of the cruise...

I would not drop the Portofino and St. Margherita excursion. Also, do not ignore Genoa itself. We hired a private guide (from Genoa) to visit all 3 places (Genoa, Portofino, and S.M.) and all 3 were great in my opinion.... I have never been to Luberon. However, we did take a ship's excursion to Cinque Terre and I was a bit underwhelmed. Maybe a couple days there and hiking would be different. As others have said it is crowded for a one afternoon visit. Also, keep in mind the photos you see of Cinque Terre villages are likely taken from helicopters or drones, you really don't get to see that view of the village(s). You see from the street looking out over the ocean rather than the other way around. At Portofino, on the other hand, you can easily walk to the other side of the bay and see the exact view that most of the beautiful photos were taken that you are probably familiar with. Have fun.....