HAL viking or Princess Iceland explorer

[Blessedforever]

We are looking at an itinerary that begins in London and ends in NYC and goes by way of Iceland for Sept. 2015, in a balcony cabin. These 2 cruises are very similar, but the HAL is $4000 and the Princess is around $2200. The HAL is a day longer, and visits the coast of Greenland. Would that account for the huge difference in price? I can't figure out what I'm missing.

 

Thanks.

[sppunk]

We are looking at an itinerary that begins in London and ends in NYC and goes by way of Iceland for Sept. 2015, in a balcony cabin. These 2 cruises are very similar, but the HAL is $4000 and the Princess is around $2200. The HAL is a day longer, and visits the coast of Greenland. Would that account for the huge difference in price? I can't figure out what I'm missing.

 

Thanks.

What ships and which cabin categories specifically?

[Aruba]

I can't find any HAL cruise that goes from London to NYC in Sept 2015. What ship and which itinerary are you talking about? :confused:

[jtl513]

I can't find any HAL cruise that goes from London to NYC in Sept 2015. What ship and which itinerary are you talking about? :confused:

Eurodam does the Viking Passage in Sep 2015, but you're correct that it doesn't leave from London.

.

Edited May 6, 2014 by jtl513

[jtl513]

What ships and which cabin categories specifically?

It looks to me like a balcony on these two:

 

Arriving Sat 12 Sep 2015

16 Days Iceland & Norway Explorer

Ship Caribbean Princess

 

More details at

Cruise Prices Interior $1,449.00 Oceanview $1,949.00 Balcony $2,149.00 Mini-Suite $2,749.00 Suite $5,549.00

 

Cruise Schedule: Southampton, England (05 Sep d1600); Bergen, Norway (07 Sep 1000-1800); Lerwick, Shetland Isles (08 Sep 0700-1700); Akureyri, Iceland (10 Sep 0900-1800); Isafjord, Iceland (11 Sep 0700-1800); Reykjavik, Iceland (12 Sep 0700-1800); St Johns, Newfoundland (17 Sep 0800-1700); Halifax, Nova Scotia (19 Sep 0800-1700); New York City, New York (21 Sep a0715)

=============================================

Arriving Sun 13 Sep 2015

17 Day Viking Passage

Ship ms Eurodam

 

More details at

Cruise Prices Interior $2,899 Ocean-view $3,399 Verandah $3,999 Signature Suite $6,199

 

Cruise Schedule: Copenhagen, Denmark (07 Sep d1600); Bergen, Norway (09 Sep 0800-1700); Lerwick, Shetland Isles (10 Sep 0800-1900); Thorshavn, Faroe Islands (11 Sep 1000-1700); Reykjavik, Iceland (13 Sep 0800-1800); Qaqortoq, Greenland (16 Sep 0800-1700); Paamiut, Greenland (17 Sep 0800-1700); Nanortalik, Greenland (18 Sep 0700-1300); St Johns, Newfoundland (20 Sep 1200-2000); Halifax, Nova Scotia (22 Sep 0800-1600); New York City, New York (24 Sep a0700)

Edited May 6, 2014 by jtl513

[Blessedforever]

Yes, those are the 2. Sorry, the HAL cruise leaves from Copenhagen and the Princess from Southampton. C703 comes in at around $2260 on Princess.

[Kamloops50]

We are looking at an itinerary that begins in London and ends in NYC and goes by way of Iceland for Sept. 2015, in a balcony cabin. These 2 cruises are very similar, but the HAL is $4000 and the Princess is around $2200. The HAL is a day longer, and visits the coast of Greenland. Would that account for the huge difference in price? I can't figure out what I'm missing.

 

Thanks.

 

Princess has dropped Greenland because the last three years they couldn't get into Greenland due to ice and weather . For the difference in cost I would Princess and use the saving for exciursions.

[Bluwater7]

Princess has dropped Greenland because the last three years they couldn't get into Greenland due to ice and weather . For the difference in cost I would Princess and use the saving for exciursions.

 

 

Our stops and cruising in Greenland - the highlight of our voyage of the vikings a few years ago ... the fjords fantastic. for that reason alone I would go with HAL

[travelinjones]

We did a similar itinerary on Holland America on the Veendam.

 

We really enjoyed Thorshavn, in the Faroe Islands (which isn't on the Princess itin.) as well as Qaqortoq, Greenland. And the other Greenland stops are likely a bonus. Here's pictures and details from our day in Qaqortoq (yes, those are icebergs in the harbor): http://www.travelingwiththejones.com/2010/09/16/destination-discovery-qaqortoq-greenland/

 

One note on both sailings - they are a week to 10 days later in September than ours was -- and it was very cold and rainy when we were making the crossing.

[cruisemom42]

On the one hand, I'd prefer the itinerary with Greenland.

 

On the other hand, I've read of many ships with Greenland on the itinerary that never made it to Greenland. The weather is notoriously unpredictable. (And I'd hate to pay that much more for Greenland and then miss it.)

[Katie333]

We did this itinerary on Princess and we were lucky enough to be able to land in Greenland (it was touch and go for a bit). Oddly the stop we could not make was St Johns Newfoundland.

 

Absolutely loved the cruise and am looking forward to another TA once we cross some other destinations off our list. :)

[1of4]

This itinerary is on my bucket list so the items I would also take into consider on top of price is:

 

8 ports vs 11 ports (HAL has 11)

 

ship size

 

shower size (this is a consideration for me booking on Princess so to get comporable size I would have to book mini-suite on Princess so I can help, if needed, in the shower.

 

But price almost double.....make one stop and think about those extra ports and how much you want to see them. If "just" being on the cruise is the vacation then no, it is not worth it. But if you are going to "see" then I would pay the extra and see more.

[ICUQT]

Yes, those are the 2. Sorry, the HAL cruise leaves from Copenhagen and the Princess from Southampton. C703 comes in at around $2260 on Princess.

 

I have booked a Veranda "A" cabin for the Viking Passage for September 2015 cruise. The cost was $4179 and my TA put in for any upgrade or upsell. I booked the cabin I wanted and expect nothing from the upgrade fairy. I like the itinerary for this cruise and have been reading the roll call for the same cruise for this year. Huge roll call of over 100 so far. IMO heading for a full ship of passengers. I am monitoring price on another web site and have been able to compare the two cruises. The one for this year and for next year. The only difference is one sailing day less. I can tell you that most of the fares for this years cruise are up $1000 in almost all cabin categories since they were first offered. Most rose sharply after the first of the year. There has been no increase yet for September 2015. A lot of information on the roll call site for this years cruise including a spread sheet and private excursion information. I think there may be a lot of interest in the cruise for next year as there is for this year.

 

 

bob