Princess 2014 Iceland & Norway Explorer Advice

[SCjason]

Hey Everyone!,

 

For several years now my wife and I have been wanting to take the Princess Icelandic repositioning cruise from Europe to New York. It seems that in the past the transatlantics hit Greenland, but not in 2014.

 

Has anyone done this similar voyage? It will be on the Ruby which we have sailed before. If you have, can you answer some questions for us?

 

1. Inside or Balcony? I think a balcony would be nice since it looks like the ship travels close to land but at the same time the weather looks cold and rainy so we are not sure if a balcony would be a wise investment?

 

2. Is this voyage "worth it." It's definitely not cheap for 14 days and there are several other voyages leaving Rome, Venice,Southampton, Etc that are even longer and much less expensive so our biggest question is, is going through Iceland, Scotland, and Norway worth the extra money?

 

3. Any additional input would be great. This will be our first cruise after hitting "Elite" so we wanted to choose one to celebrate that milestone and this one is definitely unique.

 

 

Here is the itinerary:

 

 

Day Port / Date

 

1 London (Southampton), England Monday, September 8

 

 

2 At Sea

Tuesday, September 9

 

 

3 Bergen, Norway

Wednesday, September 10

 

 

4 Shetland Islands (Lerwick), Scotland

Thursday, September 11

 

 

5 At Sea

Friday, September 12

 

 

6 Akureyri, Iceland

Saturday, September 13

 

 

7 Isafjordur, Iceland

Sunday, September 14

 

 

8 Reykjavik, Iceland

Monday, September 15

 

 

9 At Sea

Tuesday, September 16

 

 

10 At Sea

Wednesday, September 17

 

 

11 At Sea

Thursday, September 18

 

 

12 St. Johns, Newfoundland

Friday, September 19

 

 

13 At Sea

Saturday, September 20

 

 

14 At Sea

Sunday, September 21

 

 

15 New York City (Manhattan or Brooklyn), New York

Monday, September 22

 

 

 

 

Thanks everyone!!

[caribill]

This looks like a typical northern route repositioning from Europe to the USA.

 

Although these repositioning cruises tend to have a lower cost per day than regular sailings, this route has become popular lately and thus, at least initially, the prices are higher.

 

Keep an eye on the pricing for a similar cruise this fall. The pricing as the ship approaches embarkation day (or at least final payment date) may be a good predictor of what may happen next year.

 

We did take this cruise several years ago and it was worth it to us (have not compared what we paid with what next year's pricing is).

 

Be aware that at that time of year weather may not be favorable along the way. We missed four of the scheduled ports:

 

o Lerwick -- big storm there. The ship stayed far away

 

o Akureyri -- beautiful day, but too windy to dock and too windy to tender

 

o A port in Greenland (not on your itinerary) -- beautiful day again, but an iceberg was sitting just where the ship had to anchor ... and the iceberg refused to move out of the way

 

o St.Johns -- big storm. The ship stayed far away, but substituted Halifax where we had a fantastically beautiful day.

 

Still, we had a great cruise.

 

As far as balcony or not, except when coming into or out of a port, the ship will be too far from land to see it. Yes, it will be chilly. We had an oceanview cabin and that suited us just fine.

[LeeW]

We did a similar route a couple of years ago and it was one if the best cruises ever. Only had about 4 kids onboard, but the one little girl went to all the parties, participated in the polar bear plunge, was in front for ice carving, ...

 

NOTHING like waking up off Greenland and having wife ask if I could see anything and saying "just a couple of icebergs" Captain came on at around 6:30 and appologized for announcement but pointed out the same thing.

 

Bergen is a neat town to walk around with a ton of shops right next to the pier. Lerwick is a tiny town on a hill surrounded by pastures. Lots of cobbled streets. Buy a "Burra Bear." Great Akureyri all-day tours to THE "Geysir", thermal features and waterfalls. Had a couple of small whales in port next to the ship while there. In our case they moved the buses overnight from there to Reykjavic because they didn't have enough up there to handle our tours. Great circle tour in Reykjavic with waterfalls and the Garden of Eden. Food was good on the Princess tours in both.

 

You will get a certificate stating you crossed the Arctic Circle.

 

Note - taking pictures near Greenland is COLD. Bundle up. Didn't even need a jacket in most ports on our trip but Greenland stop was 40 degrees and 40 mph winds. Did not get into St Johns due to winds across the port entrance. Also, you change clocks a lot - be aware that St Johns is 1/2 a time zone!

 

Too bad you don't stop in Greenland - we had more people on the ship than the port did and the local folks pulled out all the stops to greet us.

[23ros]

We too are looking at the Northern Europe Cruises also. Just emailed TA for prices for the Ruby Princess, and the Ocean Princess.

 

As much as I love a Balcony Cabin, when we did Alaska, It was too cold and wet to go outside, so thinking maybe we might do Outside cabin this time. That might help the budget a bit...;)

I just don't want the bed under the window. I like to be able to see outside, and let the natural light in.

 

The ports look amazing, and I have a friend who did the World Cruise last year, and when I asked her, where was her favourite place, she said Norway. She loved the place, and by the photos it was truly beautiful.

 

It's looking like a winner for us, just waiting for final pricing.

 

Good Luck.

[dorisis]

We did a similar cruise several years ago on the Ocean Princess. It went from England to New York and was a wonderful cruise. well worth the price we paid. However, I would not take a balcony again. it was much too cold and windy while at sea and when in port we spent the time in the ports.

 

~Doris~

[cruisingfreak]

We're booked on this cruise, & very excited, as it's our first TA, & have never been to any of these ports before.

 

Sorry to see that Princess decided to take away Greenland, & also the Faroe Islands from this itinerary.

 

Minette

[Ronnieslady]

We're booked on this cruise, & very excited, as it's our first TA, & have never been to any of these ports before.

 

Sorry to see that Princess decided to take away Greenland, & also the Faroe Islands from this itinerary.

 

Minette

We are really considering this cruise our, 1st transatlantic on the 8th Sept. . That is always a good time to travel for us. Will it not be worth an aft VS.??? because of the cold weather. I love the suites. And the aft. ones get less wind.

We did the Canada New England end of Sept. a couple years ago & found St John New Foundland, the weather to be fine. We like to get out of the heat in So. Cal in September. I'm expecting the air fare to be @least $1000.00 each, even thru Princess.. So we have to add that cost to our cruise:eek:

 

What does anyone think??????

[cruisingfreak]

We are really considering this cruise our, 1st transatlantic on the 8th Sept. . That is always a good time to travel for us. Will it not be worth an aft VS.??? because of the cold weather. I love the suites. And the aft. ones get less wind.

We did the Canada New England end of Sept. a couple years ago & found St John New Foundland, the weather to be fine. We like to get out of the heat in So. Cal in September. I'm expecting the air fare to be @least $1000.00 each, even thru Princess.. So we have to add that cost to our cruise:eek:

 

What does anyone think??????

 

We booked an Aft Balcony for this cruise. We'll get to use it, even if it's cold. Couldn't get any colder then Alaska, & we had the same type of aft cabin on that cruise too.

 

The decision is up to you, on what cabin you should book. For us we love an aft cabin.

 

Minette

[1965]

Are you firm on cruising in 2014? We're taking the Iceland,Greenland and Norway Explorer on the Emerald this Sept. 9-26.You might take a look at it if you're able to travel this Sept. The itinerary is fantastic. It's been a while since we've been on a cruise where all ports are new to us. We always book an inside so there's more money available for another cruise.:)

[1965]

We are really considering this cruise our, 1st transatlantic on the 8th Sept. . That is always a good time to travel for us. Will it not be worth an aft VS.??? because of the cold weather. I love the suites. And the aft. ones get less wind.

We did the Canada New England end of Sept. a couple years ago & found St John New Foundland, the weather to be fine. We like to get out of the heat in So. Cal in September. I'm expecting the air fare to be @least $1000.00 each, even thru Princess.. So we have to add that cost to our cruise:eek:

 

What does anyone think??????

Our air from Dallas to Copenhagen, then NY back to Dallas, was $836 pp thru Princess EZAir.Not great, but not horrible.

[SCjason]

I think we are changing course. With so many stops contingent upon the weather in Iceland, we are opting for the TA on the Royal on Sept 10th. It still touches Iceland, but spends more time in Scotland, Ireland, Norway where it looks safer from the weather. Don't get me wrong, we don't mind a good storm at sea, but we would hate to lose 3 or 4 ports since there are not many to begin with. We would LOVE to sail on the Ocean Princess as we have always wanted to try a small ship but we aren't too impressed with the itinerary. Actually, after this cruise I believe we are going to start sailing Oceania, they seem really nice.

 

We are already on the Royal preview and Maiden in June of 2013 so taking this ship again in Sept of 2014 will be like a reunion :)

 

Here is actual itinerary:

 

1 Copenhagen, Denmark

Wednesday, September 10

 

 

2 Kristiansand, Norway

Thursday, September 11

 

 

3 At Sea

Friday, September 12

 

 

4 At Sea

Saturday, September 13

 

 

5 Reykjavik, Iceland

Sunday, September 14

 

 

6 At Sea

Monday, September 15

 

 

7 At Sea

Tuesday, September 16

 

 

8 Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland

Wednesday, September 17

 

 

9 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Thursday, September 18

 

 

10 Cork, Ireland (Cobh - For Blarney Castle)

Friday, September 19

 

 

11 At Sea

Saturday, September 20

 

 

12 At Sea

Sunday, September 21

 

 

13 At Sea

Monday, September 22

 

 

14 St. Johns, Newfoundland

Tuesday, September 23

 

 

15 At Sea

Wednesday, September 24

 

 

16 Halifax, Nova Scotia

Thursday, September 25

 

 

17 At Sea

Friday, September 26

 

 

18 New York City (Manhattan or Brooklyn), New York

Saturday, September 27

7

[LeeW]

We had two stops in Iceland and you are trading three Iceland stops for stops in Scotland and Ireland... quite a different experience. That said, Copenhagen is a great place to start a cruise. Easy to get around (get the Copenhagen Card) and easy to get to the pier even on public transportation. Good hotels near Tivoli (although can't really recommend Radison Blu - kind of like staying in an Ikea).

 

Our route on Sea Princess was better with fewer consecutive sea days - Bergen, Shetlands, Faroe, Akurayri, Reykjavik, Nanortalik, St Johns, NYC. Side balcony really wasn't that cold and several aft areas were quite good for outside berg watching, but if you got out on one of the wings it was REALLY cold (two jackets and wind-breaker pants).