North Cape - Cunard Queen Victoria or HAL Rotterdam??

[carolina_yankee]

There are family reasons I want to take a northern cape cruise next year along with some scenic fjord cruising. Trondheim is essential for family history.  Hurtigruten would be the most fun but is out of budget. 

 

I’m currently booked on HAL Rotterdam, but Cunard is less expensive (go figure!) and, as a ship, more interesting to me. Both have my must-do ports for the family history portion of the cruise, but differ on other ports. I welcome advice on which itinerary in terms of scenery, photography opportunities, and any other wisdom.. 

 

Holland America (July 1 - 15): Five sea days from Amsterdam, Eidfjord, Skjolden, Andalsnes, Trondheim, Hammerfest, Honningsvag, Bergen, Stavanger.

 

Cunard from Southampton:  (June 6 - 18): Five sea days with Haugesund, Leknes, Tromsø, Honningsvag, Trondheim, Geiranger 

 

Logistically and price wise, Cunard is better for me but both can work. I like Trondheim, Leknes, Tromsø and Geiranger. I’m not excited about both Skjolden, Eidfjord, and Andalsnes on HAL but I can make them work (I am a good self-explorer). I like Bergen on HAL so it’s kind of a trade-off between Bergen and Geiranger to me. Anyway, I welcome thoughts!

 

 

[hallasm]

Neither route is optimal, but generally not much difference.  
Personally, in this case I would prioritize dates and cruise company.  I think the beginning of June is better than July as there is more snow on the mountains and water in the rivers.  
I have no views on Cunard versus HAL.

[CruiserBruce]

Could HAL be more expensive because its a couple days longer?

 

You might do some reading on the Cunard board. I am not an expert, but it seems to me Cunard might be more formal than HAL.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

You might do some reading on the Cunard board. I am not an expert, but it seems to me Cunard might be more formal than HAL.

 

I've sailed HAL, and investigated Cunard enough to know that is has a more restrictive dress code, and one that is enforced.   True formal nights, and things you can't wear on the ship after 6pm.  I can't imagine taking the necessary clothes, especially for what I would consider to be a more "casual" destination like a Norway cruise (or Alaska). 

[Turtles06]

16 hours ago, carolina_yankee said:

Holland America (July 1 - 15): Five sea days from Amsterdam, Eidfjord, Skjolden, Andalsnes, Trondheim, Hammerfest, Honningsvag, Bergen, Stavanger.

 

We're booked on that cruise, as well as the following 7 nights, which among other things includes Geiranger and Alesund.  (Come along!)

[carolina_yankee]

36 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

We're booked on that cruise, as well as the following 7 nights, which among other things includes Geiranger and Alesund.  (Come along!)

I wish! But I don’t have the time. Although, I think Queen Victoria may be doing similar. (7 night focusing on southwest fjords)

[Turtles06]

7 minutes ago, carolina_yankee said:

I wish! But I don’t have the time.

 

Understood!  If you do stick with HAL July 1-15, 2023, please come over and  join the Roll Call!

 

 

[carolina_yankee]

3 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Understood!  If you do stick with HAL July 1-15, 2023, please come over and  join the Roll Call!

 

 

Will do! I looked earlier and some how missed it. Glad it’s there. I have a feeling it may be a situation in which I can’t go wrong with either choice. They will just be different, and with different price points. I will have to bear that in mind.

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

We're booked on that cruise, as well as the following 7 nights, which among other things includes Geiranger and Alesund.  (Come along!)

The problem with that (for me at least) is that you cross to Amsterdam twice, giving you 2 extra sea days.

[edinburgher]

We never sailed Cunard  in part because we are Scotland based and  their Southampton base is too long and tricky for us, but that aside,

 

we do not care for their dress code, nor their dining policy-

 

but above all, their ships are too big for us.as we prefer a smaller ship experience.

 

Despite enjoying formal evenings and always dressing nicely for dinner each evening, we find their dress codes way too fussy.

 

Also do not like that as far as the MDRs are  concerned, (unless things have changed) you would be allocated an MDR based on your cabin/stateroom grade.

 

You could browse the Cunard Board and/or ask what other onboard estrictions are imposed.

[ladyariadne]

My friend and I are booked on the North Cape Queen Victoria.  We have cruised on many lines and are just tired of the chaos, noise, and abundance of heavy drinking on so many other ships.  We are looking forward to a more sedate time on Cunard.  I have only sailed once before on Cunard, a transatlantic on the Queen Elizabeth.  I remember particularly enjoying the dressing up, and even formal evenings on other cruises are not adhered to by most passengers.  We also are very interested in culture and educational talks, which I am expecting will be more in depth and perhaps more abundant on the QV.  If you book on this cruise, I have created a Roll Call.  So far no one has joined it, but I think that might be an indication of the more sedate style of Cunard.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

The problem with that (for me at least) is that you cross to Amsterdam twice, giving you 2 extra sea days.

 

I totally understand that.  But we love sea says and the chance to just relax on the ship, especially since this trip for us involves a flight across the pond, pre-cruise time in Amsterdam, and plenty of ports.   (And the turnaround day in Amsterdam will give us a chance to see something we perhaps didn't have time for before the cruise, and/or go back and have a meal in a restaurant we fell in love with.)

[carolina_yankee]

I’m a lover of sea days, too, because I like to enjoy the ship. This is why I’m happy to now start taking longer cruises!!  

 

I’m a big fan of the classic style that Cunard, HAL, and Disney all use in their ship designs. That most of our sailings have been on Disney lets you know that I don’t take things too seriously, but we also liked Disney because the ships were designed to keep the kids away from the adults!  

 

I don’t think I would want to cruise Cunard in the Caribbean or a summer Mediterranean itinerary, but since this is a northern climate (cool) and a longer cruise, I think we can get into some of the customs. I’ll be honest, I’m also a bit put-off that HAL is limiting non-alcoholic beverages to 15 a day on their drinks package. While I’m not sure we could ever go over that, I do like bottled (canned) water and do need to drink a fair amount because of Kidney stone potential.

 

I’ve about decided that Cunard is a go, but I will keep looking into future Pinnacle class sailings so we can try HAL out. Lincoln Center Stage and the enrichment talks seem interesting to me. I’m glad to hear that Cunard should also some good enrichment talks.

 

If budget would allow, I would definitely go for a smaller ship, but these days, QV is quite a comfortable size for us -not too different than the Disney Magic.

[carolina_yankee]

18 hours ago, hallasm said:

Neither route is optimal, but generally not much difference.  
Personally, in this case I would prioritize dates and cruise company.  I think the beginning of June is better than July as there is more snow on the mountains and water in the rivers.  
I have no views on Cunard versus HAL.

 

I’m sorry I missed your post earlier. I was glad to see your thoughts. Indeed - I could think of some ports I would like to see on either itinerary, but I also look some of what each has.  It’s likely we would do a fjord-specific cruise in the future so could get to Bergen, Ålesund, and other places then. I really like that Cunard has Tromsø and Leknes, plus Geiranger of course.

 

Good point about the snowy mountains. Somebody else brought that up to, for photo backdrops. I like that! This will be my first trip to Norway so I will enjoy it regardless, and will surely figure out how to come back!

[carolina_yankee]

9 hours ago, ladyariadne said:

My friend and I are booked on the North Cape Queen Victoria.  We have cruised on many lines and are just tired of the chaos, noise, and abundance of heavy drinking on so many other ships.  We are looking forward to a more sedate time on Cunard.  I have only sailed once before on Cunard, a transatlantic on the Queen Elizabeth.  I remember particularly enjoying the dressing up, and even formal evenings on other cruises are not adhered to by most passengers.  We also are very interested in culture and educational talks, which I am expecting will be more in depth and perhaps more abundant on the QV.  If you book on this cruise, I have created a Roll Call.  So far no one has joined it, but I think that might be an indication of the more sedate style of Cunard.

 

I’ll join the roll call!  I’m not heavy into mixing and mingling on vacation, but I do like to get to know some other people if we share excursions or other events, and also to share planning tips.

 

I honestly wouldn’t expect HAL or Cunard to have a disruptive clientele! We’re taking a Celebrity cruise on Apex in November and while it will be more casual, modern, and lively, I’m not expecting anything to pose on “cruisers behaving badly” threads!

 

 

[ladyariadne]

We are not the super mingling type either but do enjoy meeting new friends.  See you on the roll call.

[kaisatsu]

I feel like somehow people are overlooking Leknes! To me that is a huge difference. The Lofoten Islands are actually considered by many Norwegians to be the most beautiful place in the country. Tourism has increased there significantly since it started making the rounds on Instagram, so cruise traffic has been more restricted in recent years.

 

I would hands-down choose the Cunard itinerary for Geiranger and Leknes. Losing Bergen is a disappointment, but it’s also fairly easy to visit Bergen on a non-cruise trip. Whereas Geiranger and Lofoten are much more logistically difficult to get to.

 

I have actually done a Cunard cruise to northern Norway in early June (on the QE2), and I didn’t really notice the snow on the mountains. Traveling in mid-May I see an increase, and traveling in August I notice the decrease, but I feel the noticeable difference is May vs June rather than June vs July. Those few weeks probably won’t make a noticeable difference, especially since year-to-year variations will have a much bigger impact. Additionally, in early June it can be hit or miss getting to some places like Mt Dalsnibba near Geiranger where the roads may not open until later in the month.

 

As for the Cunard experience, it’s still formal but slightly more relaxed than is typical on a trans-Atlantic. There were a lot of people cruising for the ports and the scenery, so some people from our Roll Call were even opting out of the MDR altogether. We enjoy dressing up a bit so we stuck with the MDR. Our first evening, a man assigned to our table actually showed up without a jacket, but the maître d’ just came and offered him a loaner to hang on his chair. There were probably some long-time Cunard customers who were aghast, but generally everyone took it in stride.

 

One of my favorite memories of that cruise was when we stopped in Geiranger, because we opted to hike up into the hills from the ship. We had planned one hike and then decided to tack on a second to visit another overlook, but we were short on time and the trail was very muddy (early June). We were rushing and ended up in ankle-deep mud! When we got back to the ship, it was surreal to be getting onto this former ocean liner in such a state! We did go straight to our cabin, where we proceeded to rinse ourselves off in the shower!

 

We were on a 2-week sailing, so we had a handful of formal nights. I was actually expecting full black-tie, but there were several women in long dresses, rather than gowns. And while there were a lot of tuxedos, many men were just in black suits and tie. The black suit-and-bowtie seemed most common. I did opt for a ball-gown one evening for fun, but I was among a very few. Ethnic formal wear was also very well received (perhaps more so than on less formal lines where it can garner strange looks and staring).

 

I will admit that the class-based system felt a bit weird being in Scandinavia, but the only time we even noticed it was when a Queen’s Grill passenger loudly and haughtily cut to the front of a tender queue. Most people just rolled their eyes a little.

[carolina_yankee]

Thank you @kaisatsu for your comments on Leknes!  I’m really looking forward to that stop. Would you know if it is easy to rent a car on your own there for the day?

 

Also, thank you for the Cunard experience. We are comfortable in black suits and ties, though we are usually much more relaxed on vacation. I’m actually looking forward to th experience. Loaning the guest a jacket to hang on the back of the chair is a classy touch, IMO. No calling out or embarrassment needed.

 

I can imagine us trying to do another cruise at some point that gets us to Bergen, Ålesund, and a few other places we’ll miss this time. 

 

We did decide on Cunard and we are definitely looking forward to visiting Norway!!

[kaisatsu]

We wanted to rent a car in Leknes, but the port is a bit far outside of town. I know that some people have done it, and I’ve seen posts about it since, but when we visited, I couldn’t find a lot of information. Since we weren’t sure we’d be able to sort it out efficiently, we ended up opting for our only ship’s excursion of the cruise. We joined a bus tour down to Å i Lofoten that also visited Nusfjord and passed through Reine, since those were the places we most wanted to visit.
 

And from a YouTube video I stumbled on randomly recently, I guess Cunard have relaxed the dress code a lot since my trip! So I would really expect that to come into play on an itinerary like that one. (I think they may have dropped the jacket requirement altogether?)

[Capt_BJ]

psssssss ....

 

did you consider Viking Ocean??????

[carolina_yankee]

On 9/3/2022 at 7:07 AM, kaisatsu said:

We wanted to rent a car in Leknes, but the port is a bit far outside of town. I know that some people have done it, and I’ve seen posts about it since, but when we visited, I couldn’t find a lot of information. Since we weren’t sure we’d be able to sort it out efficiently, we ended up opting for our only ship’s excursion of the cruise. We joined a bus tour down to Å i Lofoten that also visited Nusfjord and passed through Reine, since those were the places we most wanted to visit.
 

And from a YouTube video I stumbled on randomly recently, I guess Cunard have relaxed the dress code a lot since my trip! So I would really expect that to come into play on an itinerary like that one. (I think they may have dropped the jacket requirement altogether?)

I’ll reach out to Hertz or Avis at the airport to see if the offer port drop off and can arrange it over email. Online, it’s certainly not an option. If not, we’ll see what we can do with a ship excursion or possibly a private tour if we can find one.

[carolina_yankee]

On 9/3/2022 at 5:52 PM, Capt_BJ said:

psssssss ....

 

did you consider Viking Ocean??????

 

I did, actually! Unfortunately, they don’t have the itinerary I need, though they do have a fantastic one. This particular cruise is linked with some family history, so there must be stops in Trondheim and Honningsvaag, Hammerfest or similar. 

 

We did choose Cunard, which matches our goals nicely with some better ports for the other stops than Rotterdam, and a Labor Day sale made the price less than 1/2. We will definitely be back at some point to a more traditional fjord cruise or something like a Viking itinerary that touches Norway, Longyearbyen and Iceland. 

[jrmende63]

On 8/27/2022 at 5:57 AM, kaisatsu said:

I feel like somehow people are overlooking Leknes! To me that is a huge difference. The Lofoten Islands are actually considered by many Norwegians to be the most beautiful place in the country. Tourism has increased there significantly since it started making the rounds on Instagram, so cruise traffic has been more restricted in recent years.

 

I would hands-down choose the Cunard itinerary for Geiranger and Leknes. Losing Bergen is a disappointment, but it’s also fairly easy to visit Bergen on a non-cruise trip. Whereas Geiranger and Lofoten are much more logistically difficult to get to.

 

I have actually done a Cunard cruise to northern Norway in early June (on the QE2), and I didn’t really notice the snow on the mountains. Traveling in mid-May I see an increase, and traveling in August I notice the decrease, but I feel the noticeable difference is May vs June rather than June vs July. Those few weeks probably won’t make a noticeable difference, especially since year-to-year variations will have a much bigger impact. Additionally, in early June it can be hit or miss getting to some places like Mt Dalsnibba near Geiranger where the roads may not open until later in the month.

 

As for the Cunard experience, it’s still formal but slightly more relaxed than is typical on a trans-Atlantic. There were a lot of people cruising for the ports and the scenery, so some people from our Roll Call were even opting out of the MDR altogether. We enjoy dressing up a bit so we stuck with the MDR. Our first evening, a man assigned to our table actually showed up without a jacket, but the maître d’ just came and offered him a loaner to hang on his chair. There were probably some long-time Cunard customers who were aghast, but generally everyone took it in stride.

 

One of my favorite memories of that cruise was when we stopped in Geiranger, because we opted to hike up into the hills from the ship. We had planned one hike and then decided to tack on a second to visit another overlook, but we were short on time and the trail was very muddy (early June). We were rushing and ended up in ankle-deep mud! When we got back to the ship, it was surreal to be getting onto this former ocean liner in such a state! We did go straight to our cabin, where we proceeded to rinse ourselves off in the shower!

 

We were on a 2-week sailing, so we had a handful of formal nights. I was actually expecting full black-tie, but there were several women in long dresses, rather than gowns. And while there were a lot of tuxedos, many men were just in black suits and tie. The black suit-and-bowtie seemed most common. I did opt for a ball-gown one evening for fun, but I was among a very few. Ethnic formal wear was also very well received (perhaps more so than on less formal lines where it can garner strange looks and staring).

 

I will admit that the class-based system felt a bit weird being in Scandinavia, but the only time we even noticed it was when a Queen’s Grill passenger loudly and haughtily cut to the front of a tender queue. Most people just rolled their eyes a little.

Thank you for the Cunard experience description. We are sailing on Queen Anne October of 2024. That will be our first Cunard experience. We like to dress up, so it will not be a problem.

[janetcbl]

On 9/3/2022 at 4:52 PM, Capt_BJ said:

psssssss ....

 

did you consider Viking Ocean??????

 Viking is the go-to cruise line for this area!