Iceland/ Ireland celebrity cruise vs. “ Best of Scandinavia” celebrity cruise

[dleahy4444]

Not sure where to post this question. Trying to decide between these two cruises. The Iceland cruise includes 2 days in Ireland ( Waterford and Cork) the ports in Iceland are AKUREYRI, ISAFJORDUR, REYKJAVIK. 
 

the “Best of Scandinavia” ports are: Berlin, GDYNIA, VISBY, Tallann, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. 
 

Has anyone done either of these cruises? Anyone has done both? What would you choose? Thanks 

[CruiserBruce]

We don't know your interests so hard to make any recommendations. But having been to 9 of the ports, I would favor Ireland and Iceland. 

[edinburgher]

7 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

 

the “Best of Scandinavia” ports are: Berlin,

In case it might help you decide, Berlin is a "headline" port as I assume the actual port is Warnemunde and Berlin is approx 3 hours each way from there , meaning most of your day will be taken up transferring. A very long day for a few short hours in this huge city.  It is similar to "Paris" from le Havre,another "headline" port approx 3 hours each way from le Havre.

only you can decide if the long journeys are worth the effort.

 

Warnemunde is a pretty seaside resort, actually a suburb of Rostock, so very easy to combine both for a very pleasant and easy day, or there are other options. Many past threads re Warnemunde and it might help if you read some of them.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=warnemunde&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116

Edited March 19 by edinburgher

[KforKitty]

Depends what you like.  If you prefer cities, the Best of Scandinavian will be a better fit.  If you like scenery and natural environments then the former will be better.

 

Catherine

 

[dleahy4444]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

We don't know your interests so hard to make any recommendations. But having been to 9 of the ports, I would favor Ireland and Iceland. 

Thank you. What makes it hard is that I’m interested in everything! I have never been to any of these ports other than Cork and Waterford. My travel companion has not been to any. Have you been to Iceland before and are comparing it to the ports in The Scandinavia cruise? 

[dleahy4444]

2 hours ago, edinburgher said:

In case it might help you decide, Berlin is a "headline" port as I assume the actual port is Warnemunde and Berlin is approx 3 hours each way from there , meaning most of your day will be taken up transferring. A very long day for a few short hours in this huge city.  It is similar to "Paris" from le Havre,another "headline" port approx 3 hours each way from le Havre.

only you can decide if the long journeys are worth the effort.

 

Warnemunde is a pretty seaside resort, actually a suburb of Rostock, so very easy to combine both for a very pleasant and easy day, or there are other options. Many past threads re Warnemunde and it might help if you read some of them.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=warnemunde&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116

Thank you. I know it would be a very long ride into Berlin, so the port city is definitely an option. The other stops on the Scandinavia cruise seem have easy access to the city centers. Such a hard decision ( a nice problem to have)

[dleahy4444]

1 hour ago, KforKitty said:

Depends what you like.  If you prefer cities, the Best of Scandinavian will be a better fit.  If you like scenery and natural environments then the former will be better.

 

Catherine

 

Thank you. The issue is that I like it all!! I can’t say I favor one over the other. I absolutely love seeing new things in any setting. I’m sure I’ll love either of the cruises we select. I wish I could afford both. 

[CruiserBruce]

16 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

Thank you. What makes it hard is that I’m interested in everything! I have never been to any of these ports other than Cork and Waterford. My travel companion has not been to any. Have you been to Iceland before and are comparing it to the ports in The Scandinavia cruise? 

Yes, as I mentioned, we have been to 9 of the ports on your two cruises, and traveled in Europe extensively on land trips. I agree with @KforKitty for the reasons to choose one over the other.

[Mr. Click]

We did The Best of Scandanavia pre pandemic, pre Putin invading the Ukraine so it included an over night stop in St Petersburg and it was a great trip.  Yes, Berlin is a very long day with all the travel so we opted to stay in Wernamunde and we enjoyed the day.  I don't think I would go back without St. Petersburg but that is just me.   Oh, we are doing the Iceland trip this summer.....Flip a coin and go and save the loser for next year.

[dleahy4444]

47 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yes, as I mentioned, we have been to 9 of the ports on your two cruises, and traveled in Europe extensively on land trips. I agree with @KforKitty for the reasons to choose one over the other.

The problem is that I like it all! I love natural beauty and stunning visas, but I also love cities for their history, architecture and culture. Unfortunately I can’t do both trips. I realize I’m so fortunate to be able to go on any so I’m trying to choose wisely. I’ve been to Europe a few times but never to theses areas.   Having been there and done that, which would be your first choice and why? I know it’s all so subjective but I’m interested in your assessment 

[dleahy4444]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Click said:

We did The Best of Scandanavia pre pandemic, pre Putin invading the Ukraine so it included an over night stop in St Petersburg and it was a great trip.  Yes, Berlin is a very long day with all the travel so we opted to stay in Wernamunde and we enjoyed the day.  I don't think I would go back without St. Petersburg but that is just me.   Oh, we are doing the Iceland trip this summer.....Flip a coin and go and save the loser for next year.

It may come to that lol. If you had never done the Best of Scandinavia trip before, knowing what you know now, would you have chosen it over Iceland if at the time you could only choose one? 

[Mr. Click]

14 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

It may come to that lol. If you had never done the Best of Scandinavia trip before, knowing what you know now, would you have chosen it over Iceland if at the time you could only choose one? 

Without St. Petersburg I would pick Iceland BUT that is biased because I just found the other cities interesting but not stunning.  We also did a cruise through the fjords of Norway out of Southamption and that scenery was just stunning.   Iceland has been on my list for a long time. We were supposed to go in 2020 but that did not happen and now I can go without flying all of the way to Europe.   Bottom line is they are are good so get out your coin....

[dleahy4444]

34 minutes ago, Mr. Click said:

Without St. Petersburg I would pick Iceland BUT that is biased because I just found the other cities interesting but not stunning.  We also did a cruise through the fjords of Norway out of Southamption and that scenery was just stunning.   Iceland has been on my list for a long time. We were supposed to go in 2020 but that did not happen and now I can go without flying all of the way to Europe.   Bottom line is they are are good so get out your coin....

Thank you for your insights 

[edinburgher]

3 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

The other stops on the Scandinavia cruise seem have easy access to the city centers

if this helps,

 

in Warnemunde ships usually dock right next to the train station, and to access the town you only need walk through the small station, cross the bridge and you are there. Trains to Rostock are quite frequent and as Warnemunde is a suburb, the journey is, I think I remember, under 30 minutes or so.

[dleahy4444]

1 hour ago, edinburgher said:

if this helps,

 

in Warnemunde ships usually dock right next to the train station, and to access the town you only need walk through the small station, cross the bridge and you are there. Trains to Rostock are quite frequent and as Warnemunde is a suburb, the journey is, I think I remember, under 30 minutes or so.

Thank you. If we decide to do the Scandinavia tour we probably will not take the long ride into Berlin and will opt instead to stay in warnemunde and or take the train to Rostock. Glad to learn it’s easy to do. 

[edinburgher]

4 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

will opt instead to stay in warnemunde and or take the train to Rostock.

Docking is so convenient and the ride into Rostock so easy, that you could sightsee in Rostock in the morning and spend the afternoon in Warnemunde or the opposite way around.

 

You will see references to CC mmbers doing exactly this in some of the previous threads. You could lunch in Rostock, Warnemunde or onboard.

 

Previous Rostock threads.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=rostock&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116

Edited March 19 by edinburgher

[dleahy4444]

10 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Docking is so convenient and the ride into Rostock so easy, that you could sightsee in Rostock in the morning and spend the afternoon in Warnemunde or the opposite way around.

 

You will see references to CC mmbers doing exactly this in some of the previous threads. You could lunch in Rostock, Warnemunde or onboard.

 

Previous Rostock threads.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=rostock&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116

Thank you. I think we will do both if we select this cruise.  I’ve been researching both cruises and there is a wealth of information. Managing the stops on the both seem to be very doable. I am so torn between both. They both seem really fantastic. I vacillate between the two several times a day. It really might come down to a coin toss 

[edinburgher]

10 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I am so torn between both. They both seem really fantastic. I vacillate between the two several times a day. It really might come down to a coin toss 

You would probably enjoy whichever one you eventually choose whichever way you make your choice.😀

[CCJack]

A couple thoughts.

 

We took the Celebrity Apex on the Iceland / Ireland cruise.   It was great.   Apex is fantastic.  Many people recommend a land tour over a cruise for Iceland.   After cruising there (and having a great time) I do see the rational in that recommendation.  In Iceland many of the interesting sites are inland.  You spend quite a bit of time traveling by road inland, and the views from the ship are not nearly as spectacular as Norway, for example.  One option is to consider Iceland for a future land based vacation.   

 

A Scandinavia cruise remains on my bucket list, so I cannot comment.

 

You can't go wrong with either of your options.

 

Have fun.

 

   

[ljandgb]

Having been to both, if you’re talking about a cruise, I’d choose the Scandinavia cruise, for the reasons listed above. Iceland is amazingly beautiful, but difficult to explore from the few ports you’ll have. We actually did a 3 day Iceland stopover on the way to our Baltic cruise.