Voyage of the Vikings or fire and ice?

[Toad]

HAL used have a cruise that was about 35 days that went to the UK and returned to either Boston or NY.  I did this on Princess years ago and want to do it again does anyone remember this or know of a similar cruise itinerary out of NY or BOS with return to same?

 

I cannot remember which name in the title was HAL and which was Princess. 

[Mary229]

Here is a sampling leaving from the US east coast and going to Iceland.  You can adjust the search

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/cruiseitineraries.cfm?cl=21&depcity=369&port=189

[REOVA]

VoV might be what you are looking for. Sails out of and returns to Boston and overnight usually in The Netherlands for return trip. Sails in July so if you look for saling out of Boston in July, you'll find it. 

[JeffElizabeth]

Am on the Voyage of the Vikings right now, they deleted Bergen, Norway and Dublin, Ireland.  Reykjavik will be tender only on an overnighter! Fellow passengers are upset. 

[Mary229]

9 minutes ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Am on the Voyage of the Vikings right now, they deleted Bergen, Norway and Dublin, Ireland.  Reykjavik will be tender only on an overnighter! Fellow passengers are upset. 

Did they give a reason?  

[JeffElizabeth]

32 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Did they give a reason?  

No explanation for the deleted stops. The tender ride to Reykjavik is because bigger boats took all the docks. Might just be scuttlebutt on the Iceland change. 

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, Toad said:

HAL used have a cruise that was about 35 days that went to the UK and returned to either Boston or NY.  I did this on Princess years ago and want to do it again does anyone remember this or know of a similar cruise itinerary out of NY or BOS with return to same?

Here is link to HAL's Voyage of the Vikings in 2024:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/E4T35A/U450.html

 

And here is the Roll Call thread if you book!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2907653-july-20-2024-zuiderdam-35-day-voyage-of-the-vikings-boston-rt/page/6/

 

[Toad]

I have looked at the 2024 sailing but it doesn’t look as if I can get the round trip in a catagory I want

 

[Toad]

2 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

No explanation for the deleted stops. The tender ride to Reykjavik is because bigger boats took all the docks. Might just be scuttlebutt on the Iceland change. 

Please let us know if you find out the reasons for the changes. Ty

[crystalspin]

13 minutes ago, Toad said:

I have looked at the 2024 sailing but it doesn’t look as if I can get the round trip in a catagory I want

Sorry! The itinerary is very popular.

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, Toad said:

I have looked at the 2024 sailing but it doesn’t look as if I can get the round trip in a catagory I want

 

Hey again! The website is wonky, if that is where you have been looking. Do you have a PCC or TA? That could call in to HAL and talk to Inventory? Of course I don't know what category you are interested in, but I was just logged in where I saw all categories (for the round trip) were available, except Pinnacle Suite. Including at least 7 Verandahs on the Observation Deck (where we are rooming). Then I logged out and looked again, attempting a "dummy booking", and only the two one-way cruises even showed! Then I logged in and looked again and only one (the same one) O-Deck Verandah is showing for both legs.

 

Just a thought but you might call and ask to be assigned a Personal Cruise Consultant to do the leg-work. If you don't have a TA. 

[OlsSalt]

Some times a change to a tender landing can be good news.

 

Like in Stockholm, where the lucky ship gets to park in their gorgeous inner harbor and tender directly into downtown.  It was an overnight and the tenders did run all night. Longer waits after midnight. But full of lots of crew members in those late hours.

 

The big ships had dock in the less inviting spots out of downtown.  The dock in Reykjavik is quite a walk into town. Maybe this will be good news too to tender in to a closer location.

 

Sorry to hear about the loss of Bergen and Dublin ...mid cruise. We just lost Monterey and Santa Barbara on a coastal Noordam cruise. But hey,  we got San Pedro and Catalina as substitutes. 🫤

 

Time to re-activate some great travel advice I got once ...... there are no uninteresting streets in India. 

Just go for it, never know what is around the corner in even the most unlikely stops.

[oakridger]

I can't imagine why Bergen would be cancelled.  It's such a great place to visit as far as Norway larger cities are concerned!   I'll be interested to find out why that and Dublin were cancelled!

 

~Nancy

[crystalspin]

46 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Time to re-activate some great travel advice I got once ...... there are no uninteresting streets in India. 

That is VERY TRUE!!!

[WriterOnDeck]

14 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Am on the Voyage of the Vikings right now, they deleted Bergen, Norway and Dublin, Ireland.  Reykjavik will be tender only on an overnighter! Fellow passengers are upset. 

Did they replace Dublin with Dun Laoghaire? If so, that is because Dublin doesn't let cruise ships dock there anymore -- they go to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced dun leery), where you tender in. But once in, the train station is right there and it's an easy 20 minute run into your choice of Dublin stations. I did it on two different stops earlier this summer.

 

No idea about Bergen, but on our Bergen stops we docked about a half mile or so from the main harbor. I never saw any cruise ships at the main harbor, but we were there in April and June, so fairly early.

 

On one of our Reykjavik stops we were at the industrial port -- ship shorex bused from there, but everyone else tendered to the main cruise pier, where you take the shuttle (or walk 2 miles) to the old harbor. There were 2 other ships at the main cruise pier, but I'm not sure that ship size is the main determinant. Maybe it's luck of the draw; maybe it is who will pay more for the preferred pier. I had heard that the VoV would tender -- if you are tendering into the old harbor, it might be better than the shuttle bus, which can have lines if there are big ships in port.

 

With cruising so popular this summer, I say expect less-than-preferred docking or tendering. Norway will be limiting cruising in its fjords (unless electric ship), and many ports are limiting cruise visitors.

[Toad]

13 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Hey again! The website is wonky, if that is where you have been looking. Do you have a PCC or TA? That could call in to HAL and talk to Inventory? Of course I don't know what category you are interested in, but I was just logged in where I saw all categories (for the round trip) were available, except Pinnacle Suite. Including at least 7 Verandahs on the Observation Deck (where we are rooming). Then I logged out and looked again, attempting a "dummy booking", and only the two one-way cruises even showed! Then I logged in and looked again and only one (the same one) O-Deck Verandah is showing for both legs.

 

Just a thought but you might call and ask to be assigned a Personal Cruise Consultant to do the leg-work. If you don't have a TA. 

I haven’t cruised since before Covid but I will try and call my old PCC and see if he is still there! Thx for the info about the wonky website 

[St Pete Cruiser]

On 7/29/2023 at 8:15 PM, JeffElizabeth said:

No explanation for the deleted stops. The tender ride to Reykjavik is because bigger boats took all the docks. Might just be scuttlebutt on the Iceland change. 

The bigger ships do get the dock, but one would think the Zuiderdam with an overnight should be an exception.  I did the V of the V on the Maasdam in 2009 and we rarely had another ship in port with us.  Is the ship full?

[janmcn]

Love the V of V! Done it twice…so far. Just got back from a Reykjavík overnight (Zuiderdam) where we were in the industrial port until 10 pm when the captain moved the ship to the regular dock for the remainder of the night and next day. The tender was used while in the industrial port just to take people a short ride to the regular dock. 
 

Agree “Dublin” may be Dun Laoghaire which you take your tours into Dublin from…or their tram/train.

[akeka]

On 7/30/2023 at 12:00 AM, JeffElizabeth said:

Am on the Voyage of the Vikings right now, they deleted Bergen, Norway and Dublin, Ireland.  Reykjavik will be tender only on an overnighter! Fellow passengers are upset. 

I’m also on this sailing. These ports are replaced with two stops in Scotland. The tendering in Reykjavik is because too many ships are here those days and HAL got the short straw.

[Mary229]

15 minutes ago, akeka said:

I’m also on this sailing. These ports are replaced with two stops in Scotland. The tendering in Reykjavik is because too many ships are here those days and HAL got the short straw.

Scotland is a good replacement.  I like Bergen, been to Dublin enough for a while, I would embrace this change 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

VOV is a great cruise.

[VacationCharlene]

1 hour ago, akeka said:

I’m also on this sailing. These ports are replaced with two stops in Scotland. The tendering in Reykjavik is because too many ships are here those days and HAL got the short straw.

Which two ports did you get replaced to in Scotland?  Replacing Dublin with Dun Laoghaire is fine and so EASY to take train to downtown Dublin.  Hoping that is what you guys got to do. Voyage of the Vikings is the best!!  Can't wait for the 2025 to get published for sale 🙂  Thanks

Edited August 1, 2023 by VacationCharlene

[akeka]

1 hour ago, VacationCharlene said:

Which two ports did you get replaced to in Scotland?  Replacing Dublin with Dun Laoghaire is fine and so EASY to take train to downtown Dublin.  Hoping that is what you guys got to do. Voyage of the Vikings is the best!!  Can't wait for the 2025 to get published for sale 🙂  Thanks

Lerwick in the Shetland Isles and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, akeka said:

Lerwick in the Shetland Isles and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.

Both of those are good ports! Very different from the ports they replaced, but interesting in their own right. 

[OlsSalt]

On 8/1/2023 at 10:47 AM, akeka said:

Lerwick in the Shetland Isles and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.

 

If you don't already know about the "Shetland Bus" during WWII - bringing supplies into the Norwegian resistance when they were under German occupation, it is a remarkable good read and worthy of honoring the role the Shetland Island played during those very difficult days.

 

There are monuments to this event in both the Shetland Island and in a coastal port in Norway - the name of which escapes me right now. But visiting both "book ends" of this operation was a satisfying way to honor their valor.