Looking for others thoughts regarding 2 different cruises

[brer111]

Hi Everyone! Long time NCL cruiser here but looking for some thoughts regarding 2 cruises. Currently we are booked with NCL to do10 day greek isles cruise in Oct/Nov for 10 days on Breakaway. But originally we thought about doing a cruise to Norway and Iceland.  I am looking at a 14 day out of Norway/Iceland on the Star in September. Cost is a little higher but expect that since 1 is 10 and the other 14. My husband only looks at cost but I am wondering if we would regret not doing the 14 day cruise instead. So any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

[lorif]

I saw a video by Gary Bembridge that Norway is going to be putting in restrictions for cruise ships in the next couple of years.  You may want to look at that info online, and see when and what restrictions there will be.  If you can't go later, you may want to switch to that itinerary now.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

50 minutes ago, brer111 said:

Hi Everyone! Long time NCL cruiser here but looking for some thoughts regarding 2 cruises. Currently we are booked with NCL to do10 day greek isles cruise in Oct/Nov for 10 days on Breakaway. But originally we thought about doing a cruise to Norway and Iceland.  I am looking at a 14 day out of Norway/Iceland on the Star in September. Cost is a little higher but expect that since 1 is 10 and the other 14. My husband only looks at cost but I am wondering if we would regret not doing the 14 day cruise instead. So any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

I would really look closer at the ports and places you think you'd enjoy most.  We did both cruise locations last year and even though we'd been to Greek ports before we enjoyed the Greek cruise alot more.  At least for us, when you've seen one Fjord you've seen them all.  Again, just our opinion/experience.     

 

Don't worry.......be happy.........

[brer111]

as a added note we have not ever cruise from a port outside of the USA. And hubby a little nervous about it too.

[fredflint]

Look at the typical weather and see if that is what you like 🙂

[complawyer]

while we've been on a greek isles cruise a few times, and believe me, the islands and scenery are amazing. you cant beat either santorini or mykonos for the wow factor. same for corfu.

 

that being said, (although they are gaining in popularity) even if it's  more expensive, youre getting 4 more days on a cruise, this time out, i would choose the norway/iceland, especially if they also dock in greenland. 

 

that part of the world (inho) is usually off the beaten pat, so if given the chance, im going there.

 

besides, seeing the northern lights is on my wife's bucket list.

 

by the way, most of the cruises we've taken in the past have all departed from european ports.

 

tell hubby "no worries" also, if i may suggest, if you take either cruise, (and especially if they leave and end at different ports) go in a few days prior, and stay a few days post, to explore the cities

[brer111]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

while we've been on a greek isles cruise a few times, and believe me, the islands and scenery are amazing. you cant beat either santorini or mykonos for the wow factor. same for corfu.

 

that being said, (although they are gaining in popularity) even if it's  more expensive, youre getting 4 more days on a cruise, this time out, i would choose the norway/iceland, especially if they also dock in greenland. 

 

that part of the world (inho) is usually off the beaten pat, so if given the chance, im going there.

 

besides, seeing the northern lights is on my wife's bucket list.

 

by the way, most of the cruises we've taken in the past have all departed from european ports.

 

tell hubby "no worries" also, if i may suggest, if you take either cruise, (and especially if they leave and end at different ports) go in a few days prior, and stay a few days post, to explore the cities

 

Thanks you for your response. That is what I have been telling my husband There are 2 14 day cruises and the one end of august does also have greenland but much higher price since there are no sea days. The one in September is Iceland, Norway and Scotland. Ending in London. We always go in a day or 2 before. We will be using NCLAIR too. I would want to add on in London also. My husband worries about all the flights and baggage. I end up doing all the work for our trips. LOL

Have not done any research on hotels, what to see etc. He is quick to now say but still worried to keep our original Greek Isles but like your wife I would love to see the northern lights too

[complawyer]

if i had any worries at all, it would be over the efficiency of flights booked through ncl air.

 

having read numerous post about the subject, some people swear by them, others swear at them (lol)

 

to be safe and get exactly what i want, i make sure we book our own flights. we've sailed on ncl from to many foreign ports to begin mentioning, and tell hubby, never ONCE had we ever had baggage or flight problems.

 

by the way, when it comes to booking trips, from airfare/hotels/shuttle services etc. im extremely anal.

so when i get to the airport, every document i might need is in the order of use. 

 

i think your hubby is worrying for nothing. tell him to just chill, if you do all the work, go ahead and do so, and tell him to just have a nice relaxing vacation.  i also recommend a cold glass of champagne once you get on board the ship. the 1st one is on me.

 

as for hotels, we usually travel with a close friend, and she gets points through marriott, so if possible we let her book the rooms at a marriott or affiliated hotel. this includes sheraton properties. i would also recommend crowne plaza.  

 

finally (and i hope the length of this post hasnt bored you by now) the port for london is usually southampton, which is about an hour+ from london itself.   

last year we stayed at a hotel called the "dilly" it's a little pricey, which i didnt know prior to booking, but right in the heart of piccadilly square, and within walking distance of a great many sights. by the way, we've been on approximately 25 cruises with ncl.

 

whew! sorry about the length 

 

bon voyage!

[FLAHAM]

I am looking forward to 14 days on the Star next August, New York to Reykjavik, with stops at Halifax, St. John’s, St Pierre/Miquelon (French), 3 stops in Greenland and 3 in Iceland.

[bluesea777]

After reading today's posts, I think the September Norway/Iceland cruise (14 days) is better suited for you. Smaller ship, but good. And the ports of calls will be less crowded as your ship will be the only ship in most of them.

 

The Star's September Norway/Iceland cruise (14 days) is now cheaper than the Breakaway's Oct/Nov Greek Isles cruise (10 days).

 

If you're using NCL air try to get at least 2 days deviation outbound so you can spend some time in the fantastic city of Reykjavik.

 

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, FLAHAM said:

I am looking forward to 14 days on the Star next August, New York to Reykjavik, with stops at Halifax, St. John’s, St Pierre/Miquelon (French), 3 stops in Greenland and 3 in Iceland.

 

It's on our list ... we missed going to Greenland (diverted to Norway) last July on the Star due to some bad storm brewing up at sea between Iceland and Greenland. we got 25% of cruise fare back.

 

 

[craig01020]

Dig a little deeper and look at the times for each day in port. Some stops can have only a few hours in port.

[brer111]

18 hours ago, craig01020 said:

Dig a little deeper and look at the times for each day in port. Some stops can have only a few hours in port.

Every cruise the ports are usually only so many hours. Unless you are doing overnight stop

[craig01020]

18 minutes ago, brer111 said:

Every cruise the ports are usually only so many hours. Unless you are doing overnight stop

Of course.  But "so many" can be 10 hours or 4 hours.

[brer111]

We have decided to do the Greek Isles. The price dropped and we saved almost 1200.00 so were sticking with that one!