Oh Dear! Itinerary Change: Quest, Aug. 05, 2025

[nordski]

Just received an email regarding an itinerary change for Quest, Aug 05, 2025.

 

I knew they were rejigging Quest’s itineraries during this summer period, but I didn’t expect that they would drop L’Anse aux Meadows, near the northern tip of Newfoundland, and replace it with Sisimiut, Greenland.

 

For me, one of the main attractions of the itinerary was potentially visiting one of the earliest Viking settlements in North America (since it was a tender port there was always a chance of missing it). We will have to research Sisimiut. 
 

The subsequent Quest itineraries are not yet posted.

 

I hope that this change is not too disappointing to those, like Mackdogmolly, who are also on the August 05 cruise. It may have been a priority only to a few of us.

 

 

[wjfan417]

1 minute ago, nordski said:

Just received an email regarding an itinerary change for Quest, Aug 05, 2025.

 

I knew they were rejigging Quest’s itineraries during this summer period, but I didn’t expect that they would drop L’Anse aux Meadows, near the northern tip of Newfoundland, and replace it with Sisimiut, Greenland.

 

For me, one of the main attractions of the itinerary was potentially visiting one of the earliest Viking settlements in North America (since it was a tender port there was always a chance of missing it). We will have to research Sisimiut. 
 

The subsequent Quest itineraries are not yet posted.

 

I hope that this change is not too disappointing to those, like Mackdogmolly, who are also on the August 05 cruise. It may have been a priority only to a few of us.

 

 

I posted about this on the roll call yesterday-I’m disappointed in the change also. Was interested in visiting L’Anse aux Meadows after reading about it, and am not interested in 3 sea days in a row.

[uktog]

I’m wondering if it’s an infrastructure issue. Our stop to L’Anse on Viking couldn’t take place this autumn because the jetty the tenders go into had been swept away and there was nothing else in the area that met the cruise line safety standards. I believe that was also the situation for subsequent cruises on several lines. 

[Whitby100]

We will cancel due to the removal of L’Anse aux Meadows.  That port was a primary reason why we booked the week it was released.  The new Greenland port doesn’t come close to the historical significance of LAM.  Thanks uktog for the insight into issues with that port.  With Quest and Journey itineraries up in the air and supposedly heading to the region so we will wait and watch, hopefully shifting our cruise rather than cancelling outright.

Plenty of time for things to shift and a busy few weeks ahead.  This decision will be revisited later.  Lots of time still.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Whitby100 said:

We will cancel due to the removal of L’Anse aux Meadows.  That port was a primary reason why we booked the week it was released.  The new Greenland port doesn’t come close to the historical significance of LAM.  Thanks uktog for the insight into issues with that port.  With Quest and Journey itineraries up in the air and supposedly heading to the region so we will wait and watch, hopefully shifting our cruise rather than cancelling outright.

Plenty of time for things to shift and a busy few weeks ahead.  This decision will be revisited later.  Lots of time still.

Are they giving you a free cancellation option or is it at the loss of a deposit? 

[nordski]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

I’m wondering if it’s an infrastructure issue. Our stop to L’Anse on Viking couldn’t take place this autumn because the jetty the tenders go into had been swept away and there was nothing else in the area that met the cruise line safety standards. I believe that was also the situation for subsequent cruises on several lines. 

Thanks for your comment.

 

You may well be right! Port schedules are showing ships docking there in 2024 and 2025, including Viking ships, but that may all be wishful thinking.

 

If repairs are scheduled then it would seem 2 years is a lot of time to do so, although  there may be issues with local marine life and geologic  formations.

[Whitby100]

15 minutes ago, uktog said:

Are they giving you a free cancellation option or is it at the loss of a deposit? 

To be honest I haven’t checked.  Worst case we only lose $75 and we are hoping to shift to another cruise.  If we do that I am confident our TA will get that waived if they try and charge us.  There are so many shifts going on it’s not worth the emotional energy or time to worry about it. It’s still 18 months away and we have just had a travel window open up for autumn 2024 as well. We booked this cruise with others so we will revisit in the new year as a group.

[nordski]

44 minutes ago, uktog said:

Are they giving you a free cancellation option or is it at the loss of a deposit? 

The only refund mentioned specifically is of land tours already booked for that stop.

 

I found that a bit humorous.

[Mackdogmolly]

4 hours ago, nordski said:

The only refund mentioned specifically is of land tours already booked for that stop.

 

I found that a bit humorous.

@nordski, are you booked on this cruise?

[nordski]

26 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

@nordski, are you booked on this cruise?

Well, I was. But have to reconsider.

 

The prior cruise visits St. John’s and at least once in a lifetime one should visit Signal Hill!

But I haven’t checked stateroom availability on that cruise yet.

 

The subsequent Quest itineraries are not posted.  But what if they sail to Montreal and offer a fall tour of the Green Mountains?

 

So many choices, I may have to defer to your judgement. Are you still committed to the Aug. 05 cruise?

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, nordski said:

Well, I was. But have to reconsider.

 

The prior cruise visits St. John’s and at least once in a lifetime one should visit Signal Hill!

But I haven’t checked stateroom availability on that cruise yet.

 

The subsequent Quest itineraries are not posted.  But what if they sail to Montreal and offer a fall tour of the Green Mountains?

 

So many choices, I may have to defer to your judgement. Are you still committed to the Aug. 05 cruise?

Right now we are. The big attraction for us was Greenland. 

[nordski]

Greenland would certainly have its attractions.

 

Even with the port change it is an attractive itinerary. Just want to see what happens on the next cruise.

[knitter]

Just got an email that the itinerary for our March 2025 Japan trip has changed, and it starts from a different port too. For us it is the 2nd leg of a back to back and the itinerary for the first leg still shows the original termination point. I guess they haven't updated anything on the website. We booked this onboard in August and still don't have any bookings showing in our account on Azamara. We already had to redo the entire booking b/c they changed the Asia leg to another Japan intensive, leaving us doing back to back Japan intensives. I wish they would get their act together already- m sure glad we have time to get it all straightened out!

[Aardvaark]

We wanted on this cruise to see new places (Greenland) and to visit a place we loved when we were RVing, namely L'Anse Aux Meadows, and the greatest restaurant in the the region, the Norseman. 

 

Since we've seen enough of Quebec,  we canceled the cruise immediately.   

[nordski]

The prior cruise Reykjavik to Montreal, it stops for 2 days in St. John’s, apparently has limited staterooms available, specifically no suites.

 

No wonder Azamara is rejigging Quest’s itineraries. Will they add Sydney N.S.? Probably not.

 

We will keep monitoring the website.

[nordski]

13 hours ago, Aardvaark said:

We wanted on this cruise to see new places (Greenland) and to visit a place we loved when we were RVing, namely L'Anse Aux Meadows, and the greatest restaurant in the the region, the Norseman. 

 

Since we've seen enough of Quebec,  we canceled the cruise immediately.   

Thanks for the post!
 

Now that is a trip to dream about! I have several family members who would love that.

 

Did you take the RV across on the ferry or rent it in Newfoundland?

[Mackdogmolly]

New itineraries have just been posted 

[nordski]

13 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

New itineraries have just been posted 

Thanks so much!!!

 

Some wonderful choices, and one itinerary includes Gaspé (Grandfather’s home), Sydney N.S., and Trois-Rivières. 
 

I do hope these cruises are popular so that they are repeated in 2026. 

[wjfan417]

We stayed in Lunenberg in August and really enjoyed it. One of the itineraries has that as a stop.

[Riocca]

We’re boarding Onward tomorrow and will probably swap our 5th August booking to the late September Montreal to New York itinerary. It’s a few days shorter but can make up for that with a few days in the Big Apple.

[Mackdogmolly]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:39 AM, nordski said:

Thanks so much!!!

 

Some wonderful choices, and one itinerary includes Gaspé (Grandfather’s home), Sydney N.S., and Trois-Rivières. 
 

I do hope these cruises are popular so that they are repeated in 2026. 

@nordski, I see that you switched your booking to the 8/30/25 itinerary. That looks good too. We are checking with some possible traveling companions to see if it might work for them. The dates would actually be better for us. Stay tuned!

[nordski]

17 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

@nordski, I see that you switched your booking to the 8/30/25 itinerary. That looks good too. We are checking with some possible traveling companions to see if it might work for them. The dates would actually be better for us. Stay tuned!

Hope it works for your cruise buddies!

 

We liked the 2 days in Reykjavik at the beginning, the 2 ports in Greenland, and 2 days in St. John’s.

 

Lots to see in St. John’s!

[BrendaJ]

Personally, I’d love to visit Sisimiut - not that many mainstream cruise lines go that far north in Greenland and it would probably be icebergs galore. I visited L’Anse aux Meadows on a land vacation this summer, and although the settlement was somewhat interesting and their tour guides give good information, there really isn’t much left to look at. It’s a scenic enough spot, but honestly, I’d rather visit Sisimiut.

[nordski]

4 hours ago, BrendaJ said:

Personally, I’d love to visit Sisimiut - not that many mainstream cruise lines go that far north in Greenland and it would probably be icebergs galore. I visited L’Anse aux Meadows on a land vacation this summer, and although the settlement was somewhat interesting and their tour guides give good information, there really isn’t much left to look at. It’s a scenic enough spot, but honestly, I’d rather visit Sisimiut.

 

Thanks for those points and once we visit Greenland you may well be right, Sisimiut may also become a goal.

 

I totally agree that Azamara is now providing a significant opportunity to explore ports not regularly visited  by mainstream lines. It’s rather exciting.
 

And, as I have posted, I hope that these itineraries centred on Eastern Canada prove to be popular and remain viable for a number of years.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, BrendaJ said:

Personally, I’d love to visit Sisimiut - not that many mainstream cruise lines go that far north in Greenland and it would probably be icebergs galore. I visited L’Anse aux Meadows on a land vacation this summer, and although the settlement was somewhat interesting and their tour guides give good information, there really isn’t much left to look at. It’s a scenic enough spot, but honestly, I’d rather visit Sisimiut.

Thanks for this.  I had been looking for an itinerary that visits there, but wondered if there was really anything left to see.  Unlike Columbus, whose dream was to found the first Italian restaurant in the New World [according to Stan Freberg...], Leif Ericson knew that Icelandic restaurants would be a tough sell...