edhopper

We looking at a Hurtigruten 12 Day Antarctic expedition either next winter (2022-23) or the one after (2023-24). It seems to have the most bang for the buck for a true Antarctic trip. As many have pointed out here. It has been suggested here also that we could get a better price on the Norway site than the .com site. Am I right that I merely use the .no site and I get that price? I can use my American bank card? Right now it is about $8000 on the US site, but 55000 krone ($6,200) on the Norwegian site.

I knoe this has been rehashed before, I am just trying to make sure I have it right.

Thanks.

I was suppose to teach art on that cruise. Damn! Was looking forward to it.

Thanks Bella, I only looked at Hurtigruten 

Can't see anything with Hurtigruten under close to $9,000.

Posted this in another thread, but it is more appropriate here. Thanks.

We are thinking of a Antarctic Cruise in 2023 or 2024. We can't afford the $10,000 + cruises but could do something in the $4,000-$5,000 range. What would be companies to look at, and do you think the new Polar Code will allow less expensive cruises.

I want to add a question to this. We are thinking of a Antarctic Cruise in 2023 or 2024. We can't afford the $10,000 + cruises but could do something in the $4,000-$5,000 range. What would be companies to look at, and do you think the new Polar Code will allow less expensive cruises.

Hi, I may have the opportunity to teach art on an American Cruise next year. The description for the classes that I was given was a bit vague.  If any American alumni here have taken art classes on board, I would love to hear what it entailed. Thanks so much.

Edhopper

Thanks for all this info. 😀

13 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

Ideally you need Zloty for Poland, lots of shops and cafes will take cards but not all. Gdansk is a beautiful city, I am assuming you are docking at Gdynia? we got an early train into Gdansk which is about 20 min ride, we quite liked walking around Gdynia which has a lot of history too.

Yes, we are in Gdynia and will take the train. So we will need Zloty for that too.

We are on the QV to the Baltic this month. Ports are Oslo, Visby, Tallinn, Gdansk, Klaipeda and St. Petersberg.

So I have a question for Baltic veterans. What currencies to take. From our reading it looks like a credit card will be fine in Oslo and Visby. But might need cash for some of the other ports. (mainly for small shops or eats) We have read that we can use Euros in Tallinn and Klaipeda, but need zloty for Poland. (Russia will be all tours and we don't plan on buying anything).

Any and all advice and experiences is appreciated.

Thanks

Norway is so beautiful! I hope you have a wonderful time!

Thank you, we are looking forward to it.

We’ve done that cruise as the cruise by portion is definitely something you don’t want to miss. Get yourself outside or by a nice large window, it is spectacular.

Thanks, looking forward to it.

Thank you bluemarble.

I am an idiot. For some reason I didn't look at the dates of the cruise by days.

It's all one day!! facepalm.

Thanks,

I'll prepare for a couple extra classes beyond the two sea days.

Hi,

A question for those who have taken the Norwegian Fjord cruise.

I will be teaching on the May 25th cruise on the Queen Victoria. There are 2 "at sea" days and 3 "cruise by" days.

For anyone who has been on this cruise, do you know if there were art classes on the "cruise by" days or just the "at sea" days?

I am trying not to bug the cruise line or enhancement service about this.

Thanks,

Ed

Since we are taking the 11:05 bus, we might just let them handle the luggage and disembark at a more leisurely pace.

We just did the same thing a month or so ago. We did not self embark, but had breakfast then waited our turn and it went fine. No issues getting our luggage from dockside, it was well organized.

 

We chose to walk (with luggage) to the central bus station. We just enjoy walking rather than a taxi. I think we had 11 am tickets and arrived for the earlier bus (maybe 10 am, I don't remember the times exactly) and the earlier bus was full so we waited for our originally scheduled bus.

 

There is very little room or seats in the waiting area of the station. However, there is a very nice shopping mall a couple blocks away - there were lot so coffee shops, nice areas in the mall if you need to kill some time.

 

At Victoria station we got a taxi to take us to the hotel. I did not want to deal with luggage on the underground.

 

Have fun... !

Thanks CC. How long is the walk? In time and distance?

Thanks Hattie.

I checked the bus timetable. Looks like the 11:05 bus let's us do it at a leisurely pace. The tickets are non-changeable, so no fear of missing the earlier bus.

We are staying in London a few days, near the Tate. So Victoria works better for us.

Thanks. We are going to self disembark. We were hoping to grab a quick breakfast onboard before we leave (do they serve that morning?)

Anyway, sounds like 10:00 would work hassle free.

Yes, some old threads about this, but they are closed, and I have a question.

On the QM2 to England Sept. 7-14. We plan to take the National Express Coach to London when we arrive in Southampton.

I have read that we should get advanced tickets to ensure a seat. My question is what would be a good time to book the bus?

We want it late enough so we don't have any stress trying to get to the coach station on time, but not so late we are just waiting around for the bus at the station. I think the QM2 docks at 6:30am, but what is a realistic time for us (2 people) to disembark and get a taxi to the coach station?

Thanks

I want to add that outside the pool music, we enjoyed what Ken, Balto and Estafano gave us for entertainment. They tried very hard to keep things fun.

Thanks for the review. We were on that cruise as well, though in an Ocean view cabin.

You experience was good overall with one or to exceptions.

The food was good and food staf excellent. I very much enjoyed the Pizza and Pasta bars and the Buffet was better than expected.

Our Stateroom Stewart Emylou, was great, our room was always clean and stocked.

Our problems were;

The pool seemed a bit overwhelmed at times. This just might be because of the sea days in great weather. I could never find a lounge in the shade.

The main problem I had at the pool was the insistent "dance music". This isn't Carnival and I don't need to Party like a Fun commercial. When I look around the pool I saw people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and up trying to relax, read and sleep. Why play music appropriate for the last night party in the middle of the day, music geared at teens and 20 somethings? And why play so loud that you hear it everywhere.? The live musicians were nice, but DJ-JT was in the wrong place. But loved the pool itself and especially the Solarium..

We also would have liked the entertainment after dinner (8:30 sitting) than the 7 and 9 they had. But maybe the rest of the passengers liked it this way?

These didn't stop us from having a great time.

I have a question about the first day. The boat embarks at 4, we would like to get there and get settled and have lunch onboard before it leaves.

What time should we try to arrive at Port Liberty, we are parking in the port lot?

Thanks. It may not be Cozumel or Hawaii, but we live in NYC, so just being in warm water and looking at fishes is a good thing. :D

Will be on the Summit for July 12. We went to Alaska on the Millennium and loved the thalassotherapy pool in the solarium. So please tell me it is fully open on the Summit.