PhillyTravelBug

As said a million times, the one with Glacier Bay. Both have the observation lounge.. recommend the thermal spa pass. Sitting on those heated loungers watching whales and how small we are in the world, is memorable. 

Nice! Can’t wait to follow along. We were looking at this sailing for 2025, but went with Celebrity Ascent for Rome to Barcelona. 
 

enjoy your sailing!!!’

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just out of curiosity, did you wear helmets for your bike tour? It seemed to me observing all the bicycle riders in Amsterdam that basically no one wore a helmet, but wondering if US residents would wear a helmet out of habit (or for safety) or follow what seems to be the local custom.

We had to wear helmets. 

I believe we used the “V” one for our golden circle tour. Whichever one we did choose, we had a great tour guide. We had a pre-booked bike tour for Amsterdam and had plenty of time to explore on our own afterwards.

We did Onda (which was great) and teppanyaki (which was good, but done with it). Our last specialty one we chose was Los lobos and was extremely surprised at how good it was. So glad we did it.

There's lots to consider.  If a closed looped sailing is a must, I would recommend sailing out of Boston over NYC.  In my opinion, Boston is a much better city with history and is quaint (love NYC as well, not a diss).  

If you are open to flying into one port and ending in a different, Quebec City is a must. I was just there this year and it really is a lovely city.  Spend the extra day in the Frontenac and really live up the experience.  If you did a full day and a half, it really is plenty of time to explore and get the feel. It's a small city.  Sailing the saint Lawrence river is probably a pretty cool experience.  I would opt for the Joy( larger ship) out of NYC or the Gem (older small)out of Boston.

If you are free with time, I would recommend the longer sailing with the Sky; however, its the oldest ship I believe.

Late September into October is prime season for New England/ Canada.  The weather is usually perfect.  

So sorry you had to deal with this nightmare of an experience. I can’t imagine the hopelessness and frustration you must have felt. We used the air promo last year on our Iceland sailing and had no issues besides a short delay. You definitely have me second guessing doing that again.

again, sorry. After saving, spending, and looking forward to a big getaway, only to have several issues.

We did this sailing last August and the outdoors were closed on most of the sea day from Iceland to Norway. 

Last month I finally rebooked our Mediterranean cruise we originally had for 2020. We are sailing on the Ascent next year for our first Celebrity cruise.

I received an alert through the app for a flash sale on excursions, internet, etc.  Does this frequently occur or a once in a while offer? Thanks for any guidance. We are taking a break from NCL to go for a little more upscale with Celebrity.

9 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We ended up with an extra sea day. I think it depended on which direction the ship was traveling. We were headed toward Reykjavik, was your cruise in the opposite direction? 

Yes. I was happy we hit Iceland first. It was gorgeous, but then we got to Norway and was even better!

I’m glad to see the Prima finally docked there. We had 2 days in Akureyri, which ended up being enjoyable.

Loving this so far! Leaning towards the Flora, but definitely want insight on the Xploration 

I am debating this for 2026 or the Africa cruise. It's just a thought, but it would be nice to have one of the away plus ships to do this route with their observation lounge.  The horror stories I hear about the Star are my concern for this trip.

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report. It's so hard and hard not to compare Norway and Alaska, but I think Norway is my favorite place on Earth.  We sailed Prima last year and Geiranger was my favorite stop.  We lucked out with beautiful weather there  and in Alesund.  Wishing you a wonderful sailing! pictures or words do not do Norway any justice.

On 5/2/2024 at 4:00 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

NCLH had a good quarter.  Problem is it came on the heels of RCL reporting an even stronger one.  RCL had a 107% load factor vs NCLH's 105%.  RCL also had better cash flow, paying down a bunch of debt and refinancing another $1B from 11% to 6%.  Street bid up NCLH expecting similar results and were disappointed when they didn't match.  Covid put them in a deep hole and it's going to take a while to recover.

I'm pretty loyal to NCL, but put my investment in RCL and some in VIK this week.  I am wondering how much higher RCL can go, but their outlook for the next year seems to be optimistic with another ship and Celebrity coming out with Xcel.

2 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

 

I was planning this one in Covid and there were lots of safari-like excursions available then. I've just done the Santiago to Buenos Aires trip on the Star and that's well worth doing in its own right(although I saw the antarctica issues on the previous one and thought they handled it badly.) 

any of the two you prefer more?

Debating this sailing for 2026, Baltic on the Dawn as well, or the South America / Antartica sailing.  After the horror stories from the Star and its sailing, or lack of to Antartica this past season, I'm conflicted.  Hoping the Africa sailing offers some safari like excursions.  I like the idea of going back to the boat, but definitely want to experience that wildlife if its going to be my only visit to Africa.

Just want to add how lovely Geiranger is. One of the best days of my life. Beauty everywhere!

This trip looks spectacular so far and the Flora looks so sleek. Do you find enough time for rest and relaxation? I love excursions, but appreciate some down time to sit and enjoy the scenery and watch the world go by.

This is exactly the Galapagos / flora report I’ve been waiting for. I have been eying this exact itinerary for 2026 or 2027. Thank you!

On 4/26/2024 at 3:00 PM, Magnificentmillie1 said:

I noted the changes of arrival port in Holland to Ijmuiden. Does anyone know how to get from the dock to Amsterdam?

Somewhere this week I heard that Amsterdam is making a similar fuss as Venice with the volume of cruise ship passengers and the burden it puts on.  Can’t imagine changes would be implemented this quickly.

I hope you have a wonderful time. Iceland was a bucket list and a beautiful country. However, Norway puts Iceland and Alaska (barely) to shame.

1 hour ago, Magnificentmillie1 said:

  We’re taking the same cruise as Philly in August and booking our tours now, found your blog fascinating, thank you so much, so much useful information and beautiful photos.   We’ve booked a canal/walk tour in Bruges that starts at 1300 and is 3 hours so was wondering if we’d get back to the ship in time. 

Thabk you so much. I’m so happy to hear it helped future travelers of this itinerary.

you are really going to have to rush back to the ship and with the bus you have to take from outside the port, it’s going to be close.   The canal tour was such a highlight for us!

10 hours ago, Magnificentmillie1 said:

What times did you have to get back to the ship after your day onshore?

I believe it was 4:30 (16:30).

We arrive around 8:30 in the morning and have a hotel near Waterloo so we have easy access to the train to Southampton.