Norway itinerary advice

[JanDay]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

While I haven't looked at these 2 sailings specifically - I can say that HAL lists more fiords but when I was Princess, we saw some more fiords than listed on Princess's itinerary and also have access to fiords. For example - I took a a fjord boat ride in Alesund to some fjords that someone says "is only done by itineraries on Azamara".

 

I will try to look at these itineraries.

 

I do have to say that I don't like Princess's large ships (even though I am going this summer on the Regal). I hated the Crown Princess - I thought it was too crowded. Some agree with me, some who are new to cruising have no clue what I am talking about. I did my cruise on the Sapphire Princess which is the same size as Crown but has 500 less passengers and a covered pool.

Coral, this is really helpful. We have chosen HAL smaller ships and love the ability to get to know people. A more personal experience. We did one cruise on the bigger Koningsdam and, although we enjoyed the ship, we missed the more intimate experience of the ships with half the number of passengers. We were both hesitant to look at a 3000 passenger experience, and your comments confirm that reluctance. Itinerary seems great, but being in a herd of 3000 versus 1400 is a major difference.

With your help we are down to Veendam or Nieuw Statendam for our Norway cruise.

Thank you! 

Jan

[Coral]

1 minute ago, JanDay said:

Coral, this is really helpful. We have chosen HAL smaller ships and love the ability to get to know people. A more personal experience. We did one cruise on the bigger Koningsdam and, although we enjoyed the ship, we missed the more intimate experience of the ships with half the number of passengers. We were both hesitant to look at a 3000 passenger experience, and your comments confirm that reluctance. Itinerary seems great, but being in a herd of 3000 versus 1400 is a major difference.

With your help we are down to Veendam or Nieuw Statendam for our Norway cruise.

Thank you! 

Jan

I did the Crown on a Canada NE cruise. We started out in Quebec City with snow and bad weather. I have to say the Crown Princess was the worst cruise experience I have had ship wise. I have avoided her sister ships since then. It was crowded everywhere. I am going on the Regal Princess this summer which is larger but has a better space ratio. Princess just took their Grand Class ships and added another deck to them (500 more passengers) and took away the covered pool. I thought it was a huge mistake for cruises outside of the Caribbean. 

[Coral]

5 minutes ago, JanDay said:

Coral, this is really helpful. We have chosen HAL smaller ships and love the ability to get to know people. A more personal experience. We did one cruise on the bigger Koningsdam and, although we enjoyed the ship, we missed the more intimate experience of the ships with half the number of passengers. We were both hesitant to look at a 3000 passenger experience, and your comments confirm that reluctance. Itinerary seems great, but being in a herd of 3000 versus 1400 is a major difference.

With your help we are down to Veendam or Nieuw Statendam for our Norway cruise.

Thank you! 

Jan

Small ships are unique these days!

[JanDay]

Just now, Coral said:

Small ships are unique these days!

And a lovely experience. One of our surprising disappointments on the larger Koningsdam was the almost non-existent library...Maybe four shelves, with very limited choices. We missed the ambience of the library quiet spaces, Explorer’s lounge feeling with books all around, games, people doing shared puzzles, etc. We also noticed there were days when we didn’t see any of the people we had previously met. On the smaller ships we run into our new friends daily, a total delight!

[just_dont]

Small ships are unique these days!

Viking's 930-pax ships are small, and their Midnight Sun cruise would check all the boxes for a western Norway, fjords plus Nordkapp cruise.

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[JanDay]

23 hours ago, just_dont said:

Viking's 930-pax ships are small, and their Midnight Sun cruise would check all the boxes for a western Norway, fjords plus Nordkapp cruise.

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Thanks for the suggestion, but $$$$$. Otherwise Viking might be ideal. 

[Coral]

On 2/15/2020 at 12:36 PM, just_dont said:

Viking's 930-pax ships are small, and their Midnight Sun cruise would check all the boxes for a western Norway, fjords plus Nordkapp cruise.

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Yes - right now I am not sailing them due to their payment policies.

[just_dont]

Yes - right now I am not sailing them due to their payment policies.

That's understandable. It's definitely a hit to your free cash flow. For us it was worth it for the small ships and no kids, combined with an excellent itinerary and all of their inclusions. But yes, it was more $$$ and farther in advance.
It seems they're backing off their 12 mo. advance payment policy, advertising it back to the 6 mo. that it used to be. Still farther out than other lines.

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[Coral]

4 minutes ago, just_dont said:

That's understandable. It's definitely a hit to your free cash flow. For us it was worth it for the small ships and no kids, combined with an excellent itinerary and all of their inclusions. But yes, it was more $$$ and farther in advance.
It seems they're backing off their 12 mo. advance payment policy, advertising it back to the 6 mo. that it used to be. Still farther out than other lines.

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That is good to know (6 months). Thanks.

 

[just_dont]

That is good to know (6 months). Thanks.
 

They're calling it "book now, pay later". They're advertising it as a promotion. Hopefully they will make it permanent.

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