Advice requested on Noble Caledonia

[irvington]

I've been looking at their itineraries for 2024 and am getting close to deciding to take one of their trips. But it is a bit of a flyer since I don't know anyone who has traveled with them. So a variety of questions (some quite dumb) in case anyone sees this:

- Although personally I'm super intrigued by their cruises to ancient sites, the itinerary that first caught my eye and may get the most traction with the group is of the Scottish and Faroe Islands. My husband and I, separately and together, have been trying to get to some of these places since the 80s! The excuse to splash out to a more expensive trip than we usually take (but can afford) is my 60th birthday, but I am thinking it could be good to compromise. 

- I think if we do the island trip it will be more wildlife related but hoping we could do some hikes and also culture/history aspects since that's my passion.

- I read somewhere that the atmosphere is more country hotel, which will suit us - my husband is not a mass market cruise fan, but we had a lovely trip to Ireland in the summer staying in country hotels with our older son. We love scenery and culture and are always game to meet new people, but we don't need shows or casinos. though we do tend to like to sip a drink on deck (assume we could even do that on our own).

- I'm thinking we will take our sons who are in their 20s. I realize that's not the demographic but they like travel and culture and I'm hoping that won't be odd.

- Anything more about life on board, whether there are speakers or discussions of what we will see (a plus), etc. would be helpful. Also anything about what are/are not extra charges compared to other lines.

- Assume most people onboard are from the UK - hoping they would be friendly to Americans? We honestly prefer not to travel in American dominated spaces but don't want on the other hand to invade areas where we aren't welcome.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I'm happy to answer any questions you have.  First off, I have found the descriptions of the voyages on the Noble Caledonia website to be spot on (unlike some other cruise lines that either under- or over-promise on their excursions).  Whenever an itinerary appeals at first glance, I download the pdf to see the map and all the detail about daily activities – very helpful.

 

Second, I'm not sure which itinerary you are looking at, but a Scottish islands cruise is one of my bucket list items too and I have been following the variations that Noble offers [looking ahead to 2025].  The one that appeals the most to me is Atlantic Ocean Odyssey, which they seem to do every June.

 

Looking at the specific questions above:

•. We were always the only Americans onboard, but were welcomed warmly by the Brits and had no trouble fitting in and making friends – the waiters like to fill tables, so we got to share a meal with many different people from lunch to dinner unless one of our previous companions beckoned us over [which happened a lot]

•. The average age is probably in the 70s, but your adult children would fit in as part of your family group – they might even fit in ok if traveling alone on Noble as the passengers are far more active than their age might imply [more active than many of the passengers on our recent Azamara cruise]

•. The included shore excursions are active – not intensive or grueling but often including lots of walking – and include free time and flexibility that allows you to top up with sights that you have identified.  The Cruise Director and staff are very accommodating.

•. It is indeed a country-house atmosphere.  Both lounges have a piano, and post-Covid I expect that there will be some music at cocktail time etc.  Otherwise, not much onboard entertainment [but always a shore-based evening like the 'AzAmazing Evenings' on that other cruise line] – but lots of passengers hang out in the bar lounge after dinner.

•. The main lounge holds the full complement of passengers and the lectures are very good and very well attended [they are also available on your cabin TV].  The speakers are very knowledgable about history and culture [on our first cruise we had Ret. Admiral John Lippiett who talked about his time in the Falklands War and also as liaison to NATO; on our last one we had BBC presenter Martin Sixsmith who talked about Russian history and Putin (very relevant in the Baltic)].  There is also a daily briefing by the CD to preview the next day's activities.

•. Our first cruise on Noble, in September 2021, was hampered by the Italian wariness of cruise ships at that time (late Covid).  This forced a rearrangement of ports [but none were dropped] and a severe limitation on shore activities [all the planned excursions operated as described, but free time was forbidden].  I watched the CD scrambling and tearing her hair to make our experience the best she could – very impressed!  On the other cruises the local authorities were not an issue and everything operated as described in the brochures.

•. My research before sailing on Noble was as frustrating as you are finding, because there is so little out there.  I was warned off the Serenissima [a quirky ship that some love but most find doesn't come up to Noble standards], and the Eleganzas [food not as good on the Skys].  We loved Hebridean Sky, and are told that Island Sky is almost identical. I'm now researching MS Monet, which has some terrific itineraries in the Adriatic – haven't found much!  

 

Finally for today, here is a list of my Noble Caledonia reviews:

Noble Caledonia September in the Mediterranean & Sicilian Odyssey [back-to-back] 9-2021 

https://jazzbeauxmediterraneanblog2021.wordpress.com/

 

 

Noble Caledonia Andalucian Odyssey 11-2021

https://jazzbeauxandalucianodysseyblog2021.wordpress.com/

 

Noble Caledonia Baltic Odyssey 7-2022

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2876257-review-of-noble-caledonia-baltic-odyssey-cruise-on-hebridean-sky-july–august-2022

 

 

[irvington]

This is so incredibly helpful. Thanks! I'm going to download the PDFs as suggested and then come back with more questions. 🙂

[Fletcher]

Between 2005 and 2016 I did 12 cruises on Noble Caledonia, ranging from the Baltic to the Mekong to the South Pacific and the South Atlantic.  By and large these were terrific experiences.   One reason you do not read much about NC on the internet is they like it that way.  They have quite a large and exceedingly loyal client base and do not need any coverage.  Having done a dozen or so cruises with them I guess I was one of those loyal customers.  Until I wrote some critical things about a Caribbean trip on the simply appalling Serenissima. NC didn't like that and they banned me for life.  They do not tolerate criticism.

 

I then started to sail with Seabourn and Silversea but I retain some very happy memories of my time with NC.  As @Host Jazzbeau says, the atmosphere on board is very congenial, almost exclusively British.  I think the food is very poor compared to Seabourn or Silversea but NC's ships are much smaller.  And much older. Cabins on Island Sky and Hebridean Sky are fairly cramped and old-fashioned in my view and deck space is limited. They charge a high premium for this but sometimes the itineraries are worth the compromise.

[Fletcher]

On 1/10/2023 at 12:21 AM, irvington said:

This is so incredibly helpful. Thanks! I'm going to download the PDFs as suggested and then come back with more questions. 🙂

@irvingtonif I were looking for a great ship and a great itinerary in Scotland I would be looking at something like this -

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/E3R12C/V332.html

[irvington]

12 hours ago, Fletcher said:

@irvingtonif I were looking for a great ship and a great itinerary in Scotland I would be looking at something like this -

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/E3R12C/V332.html

This looks PERFECT. I wish they had it in 2024. Can't go this year and the British Isles itinerary they have for 2024 is a bit more focused on places we've gone, not ones we want to visit. Hopefully they do something similar in 2024 and following.

[Ethel6666]

We are booked to do the Hebrides to the Faroes cruise in June this year, so not much help to you in terms of answering questions.

I thought I’d just chip in and say that this year’s cruise was fully booked a year out. From time to time a cabin briefly pops up, presumably due to cancellation. But might be something to be aware of to book sooner rather than later if you decide to go ahead.

We are also travelling on to Norway on the subsequent cruise, so we are hoping we like NC 🙂 We we’re attracted by the nature and culture based activities and itineraries that include a few destinations away from the mainstream.

[Fletcher]

On 1/18/2023 at 4:13 AM, irvington said:

This looks PERFECT. I wish they had it in 2024. Can't go this year and the British Isles itinerary they have for 2024 is a bit more focused on places we've gone, not ones we want to visit. Hopefully they do something similar in 2024 and following.

Not so perfect after all.  This cruise has been cancelled due to the Venture's stabilisers being broken in Antarctica.  Dry docked for a month.  Very embarrassing for Seabourn and this brand-new, state of the art ship.

[Host Jazzbeau]

27 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

Not so perfect after all.  This cruise has been cancelled due to the Venture's stabilisers being broken in Antarctica.  Dry docked for a month.  Very embarrassing for Seabourn and this brand-new, state of the art ship.

Venture was built at the T. Mariotti shipyard, which has recently announced that it's going to build the ships for the new Aman hotel luxury yacht venture.  I hope they do better!

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/mariotti-to-build-100-guest-ultra-luxury-ship-for-project-sama/

 

And I doubt that any of these new luxury yachts will still be sailing in 30 years, like the venerable Renaissance ships of Noble Caledonia.

[directionfinder]

59 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

Not so perfect after all.  This cruise has been cancelled due to the Venture's stabilisers being broken in Antarctica.  Dry docked for a month.  Very embarrassing for Seabourn and this brand-new, state of the art ship.

Oh! How did you find out this? I thought they cancelled the trips in April.

I just booked this cruise (May 12th  2023) this morning!

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 minutes ago, directionfinder said:

Oh! How did you find out this? I thought they cancelled the trips in April.

I just booked this cruise (May 12th  2023) this morning!

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/cruises-cancelled-as-seabourn-venture-heads-to-drydock-for-repairs/

This article says Seabourn has canceled "all voyages set to depart between Apr. 7 and Apr. 30, 2023."  So you should still be ok (with even one 'maiden' cruise as a buffer).

 

But the reports on the Seabourn forum here, about a series of cruises in Antarctica where the passengers were being assured that stabilizers aren't needed in the Drake passage, would make me question anything they say about anything!!!

 

[directionfinder]

3 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/cruises-cancelled-as-seabourn-venture-heads-to-drydock-for-repairs/

This article says Seabourn has canceled "all voyages set to depart between Apr. 7 and Apr. 30, 2023."  So you should still be ok (with even one 'maiden' cruise as a buffer).

 

But the reports on the Seabourn forum here, about a series of cruises in Antarctica where the passengers were being assured that stabilizers aren't needed in the Drake passage, would make me question anything they say about anything!!!

 

Yea, that's the article I found.

And I know, whom can you believe! I would love to sail in these aera (around British Islands) and the recommendation for Noble Caledonia Serenissima was not so appealing, Silversea could be an option,

but sailing on the new Seabourn ship sounds good! Do you have any other idea for this area? 

[Host Jazzbeau]

You can easily limit a search on Noble's website to just their two owned 'Sky' ships:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/ships/fleet/

 

Here's a circumnavigation of England:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/tour/3138/

 

You'll also find a variety of choices for Ireland and Scotland in 2023 and 2024, as well as one itinerary that visits only the small islands off England, Wales and Scotland ('Islands on the Edge').

[directionfinder]

13 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

You can easily limit a search on Noble's website to just their two owned 'Sky' ships:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/ships/fleet/

 

Here's a circumnavigation of England:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/tour/3138/

 

You'll also find a variety of choices for Ireland and Scotland in 2023 and 2024, as well as one itinerary that visits only the small islands off England, Wales and Scotland ('Islands on the Edge').

Thank you, these are the very popular tours! And already very booked this year.

Do you have any other cruise line in mind for these area?

[Host Jazzbeau]

We did Viking's 'British Isles Explorer' itinerary and enjoyed it.  But Viking's focus is very much on the large ports, and their daily included excursions were so basic that we ended up paying for private tours in most places.  Here's my blog of that trip:

Viking Sun British Isles Explorer 8-2018

jazzbeauxbritishislescruise2018.wordpress.com

[irvington]

I'd really like to see Orkney, Shetland, Faroe Islands, something like St. Kilda's would be a plus. If we are seeing places on the mainland of Britain and Ireland we are more interested in a train or driving vacation, but we tend to skip islands on those trips since the logistics to get out and back really eat up a lot of time. Same with our land trips in Iceland; didn't get to the islands.

 

What's given me cold feet about the Noble Caledonia cruises, is that the focus on the trips (at least in the time frame I'm looking) seems to be bird life and some wildlife. Nothing against that, but my focus in leaving the Pacific NW is more to connect with history and culture, and honestly even though my family all loves wildlife (and we've taken hikes to see puffins in Iceland and night critters in Costa Rica), I think they'd shoot me if I signed us up for a birding-focused trip and we didn't see the Neolithic sites in the area. Maybe I should post on the region forum. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Some of their cruises focus on birds, some on gardens, and some on opera — but most do focus on history and culture.  The title of the itinerary usually tips you off. Maybe the British Isles trips are more nature focused because their main passenger base is British and already knows the history!

[LandC]

On 1/25/2023 at 1:35 AM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Some of their cruises focus on birds, some on gardens, and some on opera — but most do focus on history and culture.  The title of the itinerary usually tips you off. Maybe the British Isles trips are more nature focused because their main passenger base is British and already knows the history!

Jazzbeau, we have sailed round Sicily on Hebridean Sky and loved it. We have another cruise booked on the ship. The Scottish Isles is on our bucket list too.  I have a note to pack hat nets to avoid midges!

Did you manage to find out any information about MS Monet?  There are some interesting itineraries being offered around the Aegean and Adriatic which are very tempting!

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 hours ago, LandC said:

Jazzbeau, we have sailed round Sicily on Hebridean Sky and loved it. We have another cruise booked on the ship. The Scottish Isles is on our bucket list too.  I have a note to pack hat nets to avoid midges!

Did you manage to find out any information about MS Monet?  There are some interesting itineraries being offered around the Aegean and Adriatic which are very tempting!

I haven't had the opportunity to do any further research on MS Monet, as we are currently on a trip in Patagonia.  This trip included 4 nights on Stella Australis, which is a terrific expedition ship in most respects – but all cabins are Oceanview and one afternoon when the sun was shining on our side of the ship I dearly missed having a balcony so I could open the door for fresh air.  No more Oceanview cabins for me!  So that rules out MS Monet...

[LandC]

Thanks so much for your reply Jazzbeau, balconies are definitely preferable for warm weather cruises.

I hope you enjoy your journey in Patagonia.

[tomculb]

We are very excited about a cruise we have booked around Scotland this summer on Island Sky, and I have an embarrassingly mundane question. A review of the ship I read said everything is included except laundry, and I'm wondering whether that meant laundry is available for a charge?  We'll be spending a couple of weeks exploring shore-side Scotland after the cruise, and it would be nice to have clean clothes for the latter part of our trip.

 

Thanks

[Host Jazzbeau]

50 minutes ago, tomculb said:

We are very excited about a cruise we have booked around Scotland this summer on Island Sky, and I have an embarrassingly mundane question. A review of the ship I read said everything is included except laundry, and I'm wondering whether that meant laundry is available for a charge?  We'll be spending a couple of weeks exploring shore-side Scotland after the cruise, and it would be nice to have clean clothes for the latter part of our trip.

 

Thanks

There is a laundry service onboard, and it is fast and reasonably priced.  We have used it on all our Noble cruises [on Heb Sky, but both ships are near-identical]

[YoPhilly]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:54 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I haven't had the opportunity to do any further research on MS Monet, as we are currently on a trip in Patagonia.  This trip included 4 nights on Stella Australis, which is a terrific expedition ship in most respects 

Jazzbeau, I did the 4-night Stella Australis in 2010, and it is still the cruise I've enjoyed the most.  To me, it was thrilling to travel in the footsteps (sailing route?) of Magellan and Darwin.  Fascinating!  We were able to land on Cape Horn and hike out to the Albatross Memorial.  Once in a lifetime trip!  I hope you enjoyed yours.

Edited March 28, 2023 by YoPhilly

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, YoPhilly said:

Jazzbeau, I did the 4-night Stella Australis in 2010, and it is still the cruise I've enjoyed the most.  To me, it was thrilling to travel in the footsteps (sailing route?) of Magellan and Darwin.  Fascinating!  We were able to land on Cape Horn and hike out to the Albatross Memorial.  Once in a lifetime trip!  I hope you enjoyed yours.

It doesn't count, since you reached Cape Horn with blue skies!  Come back and slog through gale force winds with rain and sleet pelting your faces like we did!  🤣  But yes, we enjoyed the entire trip tremendously.  Definitely recommend Australis, and very happy we booked through Classic Journeys since the whole trip was beautifully organized.  [Hope to get my review published here soon.]

[YoPhilly]

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

It doesn't count, since you reached Cape Horn with blue skies!  Come back and slog through gale force winds with rain and sleet pelting your faces like we did!  🤣  But yes, we enjoyed the entire trip tremendously.  Definitely recommend Australis, and very happy we booked through Classic Journeys since the whole trip was beautifully organized.  [Hope to get my review published here soon.]

Well, we didn't escape gale force winds, rain and sleet the entire voyage, but we sure did hit it lucky on our Cape Horn day!!!  It was magnificent!