Spectacular Scenery

[DaisyUK]

For spectacular scenery, which (Oceania) itinerary would you select? Alaska, or one of the Scandinavian cruises? Or maybe somewhere else?

[tropicalkerry2002]

I haven't done an Alaska cruise yet(see enough snow and ice where we live!),

but sailing out of Stockholm was amazing! Kiel Canal on the same cruise was so peaceful and pretty too.

[Floridiana]

Both are excellent. Then the sounds on the Southern Island of New Zealand. A trip around the southern tip of South America. South Pacific: Moorea, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Nuku Hiva. A cruise that gives access to Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

 

Hong Kong and the new bullet train to Guilin for a Li River one day cruise. Don't know whether this side trip has appeared on the radar of cruise ship excursion planners. If not, it should as soon as the bullet train track has been finished, supposed to happen in 2015.

[PaulMCO]

Oceania no longer does a drive by of Antarctica. That was great.

 

I would recommend the Viking Odyssey -- Scotland - Faroe Islands - Iceland Greenland.

 

Check out the video/photos--

 

[bitob]

The Iceland cruise

[tanny18]

Definitely, the Iceland cruise!! We did Alaska, and this was so much more spectacular!!

[RetiredFL]

+1 for Iceland/Greenland

[Hambagahle]

Alaska! Beyond a doubt. Far better than Patagonia and the Stockholm archipelago. In Alaska the scenery is "grandiose"... majestic I suppose in English.

[TrulyBlonde]

We will be on Regatta Alaska this May....so many beautiful places to choose and so fortunate.

[LHT28]

Land of the Midnight Sun

[DaisyUK]

Oh my goodness. This was supposed to make the decision easier, not more difficult!! Thank you all. I narrowed the selection down to Alaska or Scandinavia partly because Oceania do both itineraries and partly because we are back and forth to the USA regularly so Alaska would be relatively easy for us, and of course Scandinavia would be a doddle - with some cruises even starting in the UK.

 

I have been hankering after an Alaskan cruise for a long time, but have been put off by the fact that we wouldn't be able to do it on either Riviera or Marina and I'm not sure whether the smaller ships would be our cup of tea. I keep reading reviews from Oceania fans who do actually prefer the smaller ships, so maybe we would be converted if we tried it. Who knows..

[mtiffany24]

Tough call. The most spectacular scenery I have seen was definitely Antarctica but you need to go there on an expedition cruise. 100 passengers. However, I live in Seattle so Alaska is a a close favorite for me.

[Paulchili]

If you want something different and unique - take a look at this (not with Oceania):

http://en.ponant.com/Cruises/All-Cruises/The-Northwest-passage2/Itinerary

With O I would choose between Alaska and Norwegian fjords (with Spitzbergen).

OTOH, the lagoons of FP are some of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see.

Do them all - one at a time :D

Edited February 16, 2015 by Paulchili

[LHT28]

http://en.ponant.com/Cruises/All-Cruises/The-Northwest-passage2/Itinerary

With O I would choose between Alaska and Norwegian fjords (with Spitzbergen).

 

there is a program on our local TV called the Polar Sea

the sailboat they are doing the cruise in breaks down & 1 guy gets on Le Boreal doing that route

Looks very interesting

When are you going ?? :D

[Paulchili]

there is a program on our local TV called the Polar Sea

the sailboat they are doing the cruise in breaks down & 1 guy gets on Le Boreal doing that route

Looks very interesting

When are you going ?? :D

 

When I win the lottery.

Hard to do when you don't play :D

[Caroldoll]

Alaska is MAGNIFICENT, but you need to take some of the tours...go out on the ice fields and mush dogs, go to a glacier, go to the bear viewing station, water raft down the river with a guide. Don't just do the little stops.

 

I would love to do more of the Norwegian and up there things. We went some of the way and it was nice, but Alaska was Magnificent.

 

I prefer the Marina and Riviera as I like to sun on the balcony, but we have also done the Regatta. The R ships are very intimate and clubby. You can see the sights on them, but getting a suntan doesn't work well. You would like them as well as the Marina and Riviera for this type of cruise. This is my opinion.

[Mura]

I'm with Lyn -- prefer the Norway cruise to all others. We've been to just about every fjord area and still prefer Norway. Alaska comes close ...

 

Mura

[digby]

The coast of Chile was the BEST!

[MVPinBoynton]

I love Alaska, especially the Kenai Peninsula area and Denali; but some parts of Norway are much better. I don't think it should be an either or; you should do both. Besides the scenery, the different things to experience like whale watching, helicopters landing on glaciers and bear watching that can be easily done in Alaska make it a must do vacation.

[DaisyUK]

Thank you all. I haven't decided yet - but then that's half the fun!

[Mura]

Daisy, as you can see there's no consensus! Lots of votes for lots of different places. You'll just have to plan on going everywhere ... But no choice is a wrong choice.

 

 

:D

 

Mura

[CintiPam]

We signed up for the Azamara Quest RT Amsterdam Norwegian Fjords/North Cape cruise in August 2016. No stops in Russian ports, and Amsterdam is a fabulous place to spend extra vacation days with excellent train connections. Any similar Oceania itinerary stopped at Russian ports which "political traveler" spouse will not do at this time.

Edited February 17, 2015 by CintiPam

[DaisyUK]

Yes, my DH is less than thrilled at the prospect of the Russian stops also at this time, so perhaps that answers the questions for us.

[Minoushka]

Re scenery it really depends on you

We went on a Btb in Alaska in the inside passage and it was Majestic .The coast of BC was breathtaking and as mucgh as mountains in BC and Alaka are snow topped I loved the yukon and its green mountains and emerald coloured lakes ...both were amazing

But .French Polynesia and its turquoise waters are a wow wow

So ...what do you like mountains or Oceans

I was flabbergasted by Icebergs in Greenland ....huge and impressive ..always think of Titanic when I see one ....

fjords in Norway were lovely with perched houses everywhere ..but very green in. Summer

In South America we never really saw the Andes because of some really stormy weather ...everything was cloud covered ..day after day ..we missed a lot of ports which people here say are awesome

So de ide your priority ,time of travel winter ...south of the equator and ..Alaska and such in our summer

Whatever you choose have a great time

Do not forget to spend time in Vancouver ...great city ..loved it and in Yukon

 

Bon Voyage

 

Michele