ColdCruise

@hal2008 When you say first part of fjord cruise was not scenic, are you talking about cruising through Sognefjord or Naeryofjord? Sognefjord. If I recall, the ferry didn’t go into Sognefjord just paused at the intersection

Google map - 20 minute walk. Bergen is pretty flat & walkable most of that distance. I tried to get a taxi for something longer and they were always too busy. That was 24 June for reference

Many thanks for all the great, useful details in this thread and especially to @DragonOfTheSeasforvstarting this thread with her detailed research. I’m not on this cruise but think I’m missing a treat. However my Sept itinerary has done intersecting ports, so I will unabashedly use these tips! we just returned from 2+ weeks in Norway,some of our experiences that may be relevant or informative : - used transaction fee-free CC for all purchases, although occasionally was asked for signature. Still better than carrying cash. Did not run into any pay toilets though. However in Amsterdam in April that occurred once but there was a CC option. (for 0,70€!) - like a couple others mentioned, I set the CCs to notify me of transactions, which worked well except for when I bought a water on a Norwegian Air flight 6 July from Svalbard. Since we were airborne I didn’t get a transaction notice until after we’d disembarked at midnight in Oslo … to find out I was charged $46 for a 3€ bottle.still fighting that charge. did not need to use mt debit card. Only carried cash (Euros) for tips to expedition team onboard ship in Svalbard and some USD “ just in case”. Euros were left from previous trips. - did run into flight issues, including flight from US (Icelandair) cancelled (rebooked to next day) and a missed connection on the subsequent rebooking. FYI, 1 hr and a few minutes are not enough time in Oslo to do immigration, baggage collection, and recheck in with SAS. However the SAS desk was very efficient in getting us on the next flight 2 hours later. However that was before the SAS strike so YMMV.

I’m going to Gydnia In Sept and was for “Gydnia tours” and a company turned up. So I think a general search will turn up some options. No experience in that area, this is my 1st cruise with a Polish port of call. our ship doesn’t arrive till 2:30 and is only offering 3 very similar tours to Gdańsk. Not wanting to do 50 pax buses in these times (or almost anytime!), I was looking for options. good luck and I’d be interested in how this works out for you @azgrandmax3

Been to Iceland 7 times, rented vehicles each time using mostly mainstream rental companies. We buy the extra insurances, the weather and road conditions are unique and it’s worth the extra cost to not have to deal with a claim after I’ve flown home. I think vast majority of Icelandic people are honest but noticed last visit (a week ago) that there are a lot more non-Icelandic people working the auto rentals at KEF… hope that doesn’t bring issues with rental claims.

Yes we rented a Rav4 from a locally owned company in Akureyri. The office and parking lot were a block from the cruise pier. Turn-in was easy-least - we were gone for about 10-12 hours and just had to park it and drop the keys in a slot at their office. We drove from Akureyri to Dettifoss and Asbergyi. We’d visited all the other wonders in the area (Godafoss, Myvatn lake sites, geothermal area (mud pots), spa, Krafla) a couple years earlier but had to bypass Dettifoss as we were in an RV (aka camper van) and couldn’t legally take it on the necessary roads. Great DIY trip both ways. Recommend getting AWD at a minimum, even if you don’t think you’ll need it. Also get the crazy extra insurances (ash etc) - Iceland is a (magnificent) world of its own!

We went to Greenland, so my info might be outdated, but I don’t think the towns grew or changed much. That was on a smallish 800 pax ship (CMV Marco Polo). We are going back next August on a mainstream cruise line (Carnaval Legend). I expect that trip to be much less than the first due to size but it’s sailing from my backyard, so to speak, so I couldn’t turn it down! Since the port visits are to semi-isolated communities, as others said, there isn’t a robust tourist infrastructure esp re excursions. If your ship offers something of interest, book it asap! Because we didn’t have status with CMV, by the time we could prebook excursions all the interesting ones were full, leaving us with the choice of very strenuous hikes or very expensive plane/heli rides (2017 $3-600 pp). However, walking was mostly good enough to see most things and I did book a separate iceberg excursion in one town, but couldn’t get one in Illilisat, which would have been superb! Even the $4-500 planes were fully booked there, until after our ship’s departure! Qaqortoq tendered -Definitely not wheelchair friendly, probably a challenge with a cane or walker. Irregular paths and elevation change. We walked around the lake - the town provided more exercise than expected. -Most needed the mossie nets here, in fact I think our ship bought out the local supply. Visit the grocery store - it’s definitely a different selection & a one stop shop. Bear in mind the residents only gave the one store and perhaps look but think twice what you buy. - The little museum was pretty interesting and good souvenirs - There’s a sealskin museum and store to the right of the pier in the manufacturers. The skins are supposedly by -product of indigenous food harvesting. ** for both the sealskins and a lot of souvenirs, while it may be legal in Greenland to own harvest sell & export various animal based items, the US May view it differently in view of the animals listing as threatened or endangered under CITES & US law. I did not research the position of all other countries, just the US which was stricter than the other countries I would travel through before arriving home. Narsarsuaq tendered - Beautiful scenery to/from and there - We did a cruise to the glacier (booked separately on older, slower boat but we spent twice as long AT the glacier than the faster boats the cruise ship filled. Found the boat owner online. Surreal. Lots of good sized photogenic icebergs down to bergy bits. The boat should cut its engines so you can hear the icebergs crackling as they release eons old gases? Do the glacier cruise if you can! - nothing to do near the tender point, just small boat tie ups and warehouses - If I recall, some people walked into the settlement. Google maps shows a museum Nuuk Docked - The most wheelchair friendly town of the ports listed in this thread (it IS the capital after all), one you get from the docks up to the town. Not sure how you’d do that, we walked up hill, but I think ships excursions used local school buses. - Excellent ethnographic museum All you lucky people going to Greenland this year - enjoy yourselves, it’s a memorable destination

Good information everyone - thanks! We’re going on Prima in September and nailing down final plans.

I was told during my first trip to Iceland several years ago, which started on Aug 24th if I recall, that ALL the puffins went to sea on the 20th. Evidently there’s a Puffin Union that declares they must all stop entertaining tourists on the same day and go out to sea (or be eaten? ) I was majorly disappointed. BTW, I just learned Svalbard Puffins are bigger than other Atlantic puffins, so easier to spot (iPhone 12 photo on a moving zodiac)

If you can swing the extra drive, you might also check Newark - I’ve seen some very good prices to Iceland. Also Play out of BWI has been doing well. I’d prefer Icelandair out of IAD over BWI, which is closer easier to get to but bad experiences there. 6 trips to Iceland, 2 specifically for the Auroras with no luck. However one Labor Day we were flying back from a Ring Road road trip as a friend was flying to Iceland - she saw good Auroras 3 nights the week she was there. So you’re in the window of possibility ….and it won’t be freezing !

We just returned from Norway last week. Short answer: we really enjoyed the Flam train and last half of the fjord cruise (1st half not as scenic) The main point of our trip was to make an expedition cruise in Svalbard (HIGHLY recommend !) but we added a few days prior to ride the scenic Flambahn I’d read so much about and check out Oslo. Good thing we did cuz our flight from the US got cancelled and we were rebooked for the next night. Our original itinerary was Icelandair US-KEF-BGO with overnight in Bergen and Aurland (ferry stop or short bus ride from Flam) with planned hike on Stegastein. Due to canceled flight, we had a major regrouping starting with the flight the airline changed to US-KEF-OSL (missed 1 hr connection) -BGO using SAS (before strike( for last leg Luckily I was able to move my overnight in Bergen to the next night for an additional cost, but would not recommend that hotel dye to these issues experienced with them. I had to repurchase the fast ferry (norled) from Bergen to Flam (~5hr) and loose the money on the Aurland accommodations, We were able to recover and adhere to original plan once we got on the FlamBahn to Myrdal, transfer to VY train to Oslo. Was the cruise to Flam and train ride worth the aggrieved it turned into because of the flight changes? YES!!! If we didn’t have to make the plane to Svalbard I might have reworked the whole itinerary to keep the overnight near Flam, but might not have been possible cuz there’s not a lot of places to sleep and those available last minute are expensive or very basic hostel situations. By the time we got to Oslo at 2045, we were tired from traveling 4 long days in a row. The planned earlier arrival to Bergen and overnight near Flam we’re sorely missed! do the trip to Flam, either via NIN or fast ferry, ride the Flambahn. If it makes more sense for your overall itinerary, I don’t think you’ll loose much by doing a circle from Bergen instead of going one way between Bergen & Oslo.

Nothing “at Sea” is truly “Free” - the wholesale cost (at a minimum) of the drink package and other package contents is baked into the cabin price. The only way you can truly avoid it is to book “sail away” and forego cabin selection. That being my opinion, we still (mostly) book FAS cuz we drink, often take NCL’s “BOGO” air if significantly cheaper than what I can book myself, and mostly we want to pick our room location. However I usually price out the sail away + expected usage of the package before deciding (with reduction of FAS value in prep for FAS+ the math might change). It’s all about the destinations tho

Worst excursion - whale watching in Madeira on Epic during this past December’s TA. They added the excursion while we were en route from Spain. We saw nothing cut the water. The distant coastline and very few (unidentified) birds. Oh Kay. That can happen since were not at SeaWorld. But what made it worse excursion - the operator had “money back guarantee if no whales were sighted” plastered all over their shop where we were deposited by NCL. Afterwards I asked them about the guarantee and they said I’d get it back from the cruise line. Checked with NCL excursion desk and they seemed as if they never heard of that but would check. Never happened. I’d have been happy with a voucher for future use since I’ll definitely return to Madeira. My best cruise excursions have been DIY and with MSC. Still waiting for an NCL excursion to really deliver that “wow” moment. Usually too overpriced and too many people like the 2 buses we experienced to Jerez for a mass sherry tasting or the 3 buses for a wine tasting & Florence walking tour (only way to get off the bus & into Florence last year)

Those were great excursions @BirdTravels! May I ask what timeframe you made them? We did a northbound the 1st half of June in 2018 but the bears were mostly absent except fora DIY visit we did on a small plane …and saw 1 bear at quite a distance (Ranger said they were all gorging themselves on clams when he arrived so were sleeping it off - natch)

We did a Danube cruise in March-April, Bucharest->Hungary. I loaded a prepaid debit card with money, card didn’t charge foreign transaction fees. Took cash out in Bucharest about 200usd worth and it covered expenses for 4 days with plenty left over, I pre booked and prepaid tours by locals for local trips before the cruise, (definitely recommend Liviu for Bucharest-Brasov-Bran Castle-Sigishoara area). During the cruise, a lot of places took euro and almost everyone took credit. I used the prepaid credit card when possible having been warned by a travel safety service not to use my regular cards. In Hungary I took out about 100 usd cash from the prepaid and that was enough for casual money for 3 days and the prepaid for meals Gave the excess lei and florint to a charity at the OTP airport. also I’d recommend downloading Bolt on your phone for use instead of taxis if you need a ride. Hungary doesn’t have Uber, but Bolt is similar and available in Romania and Hungary. We used uber to get from Bucharest to the port, big savings over ships transfer and since we were doing our own thing anyway, it was convenient as heck. enjoy your trip!