Oren

Anyone else going on the Ocean Diamond August 13-24, 2016 Greenland Cruise? Planning to do an extensive review when I get back but wanted to chat with other fellow cruisers that will be on this trip beforehand...

A few months ago, I booked and paid for a row of three seats for the two of us. I was able to do this on line with Jet Blue with no problems. Yes, the flight was completely full except for the one open seat in the plane which was ours! That's the way to deal with all the elbow room issues on todays economy flights.

These answers may be buried in trip reports, so for recent cruisers on the Escape:

1) Can you RSVP for the Comedy Shows BEFORE boarding the ship (on-line)or only once on board?

2) Are the shows by the two comedians DIFFERENT after seeing them once each or do we make multiple RSVPs for the same comedians during the week for difference monologues?

3) How long are the shows?

Thanks

I had cruise credits from Royal Cruise line when they were bought out/sold to NCL back in the early 1990s and the Royal Cruise line credits transferred to NCL ... Although I had a NCL card number from that conversion, I had no record from those older cruises and by 1995, the system was restarted from zero unless you had some proof.

Hi Oren

I promised to give you a review on our trip end August from Greenland to Iceland.

 

There were two trips this year - one mid August from Iceland - and ours end August from Greenland. We spoke to people of the first trip in Kangerlussuaq after they had disembarked and they were quite satisfied with their tour - especially the weather, they had 12 sunny days!! which is not normal in Greenland. Our weather was a mixture.

We know that the charter flight was only for Ocean Diamond passengers.

We had arranged our own flights but as far as I know you have to book the charter flight from / to Iceland next year with Iceland Cruises.

We have arrived two days before departure in Kangerlussuaq and did the excursion to the icefield on our second day. This was very good and interesting. We were allowed to walk one hour over the icefield. This excursion is sometimes included in the travel arrangement of Iceland Pro Cruises though the people we spoke to had not enough time to walk on the icefield.

One thing, do have rainwear with you, especially pants as you will get really wet in the zodiacs and we needed very warm cloths end August. However we were lucky that the mosquitoes had just disappeared.

About the ship, most of the problems have already been mentioned - heating, thermostat, rattling in the lower floors (we were on an upper floor in a renovated stateroom so we were lucky)

The small dining room on 4th floor was a good recommendation. Food was mostly good.

The lectures we had about vikings etc have always been repeated in English after the German one. We missed a good daily introducing of next days locations etc.

Uummannaq is a nice little village.

Weather and ice can always change your programme. We were able to go into Disco bay and see the Equip glacier (the tour before us not) but we could not dock inside Ilullissat and had to stay outside. Fortunately the little boats for the excursions through the icebergs came out to fetch us - at least the first group we were luckily on. This excursion was really good as we went right through the ice. We have not seen Ilullissat.

The excursion to the fjords of Nuuk is very expensive and actually not too much to see - it is more or less whale watching - the first group saw sevaral, our second group saw one coming up several times, the third group none.

There is the zodiac tour included to the Ivittuut "wholes" with underwater stalagmites which you can see from the zodiac and which is very interesting. We also saw some mosques at the shore.

What we liked very much was the excursion in a little boat to the Quoroq icefjord at Narsarssuaq. You have to do that and hopefully the weather is good. You see phantastic icebergs in blue and white, come near a glacier, and finally you get martini on the rocks right from outside.

We were also able to go through the Prins Christian sound, unfortunately rather bad weather but this was good as well.

Going over to Iceland was quite stormy - I got seasick for one day.

Our first stop in Iceland was Stykkisholmur. There is a zodiac tour included for bird watching but they told us that the birds had all gone. We therefore booked an excursion to see the peninsula which is probably very nice if it is not raining all day what we had.

One highlight we had was one night with polar light where it has to be dark and a clear night. We had a list at the excursion desk where you could sign in to be woken up by phone should they spot a polar light and the phone rang at 00.30 hrs

We thought it was a very interesting trip and we have seen lots of ice - that was the reason we went there.

 

Hope you have a nice cruise next year!

Heidi :)

Heidi:

Thanks so much for the excellent and complete review. Next year (2016) the Greenland cruise fare DOES include the Iceland to Greenland charter flight and transfers in Greenland so that's one less issue. Did you have to pre-reserve all your "shore excursions" before the cruise departure OR did you reserve your spot when you were already onboard???

We did the August 2015 Iceland/Greenland cruise. I did not notice any doors slamming, but the waters were quite rough returning from Greenland to Iceland, and the cabin did creak quite a bit. it's an older ship, so I think that's inevitable in rough seas.

 

We were on the bottom deck, mid-ship, in a quadruple cabin.

Thanks for the update... A few questions:

1) How was the "charter" flight one-way to Greenland? Was it just the cruise ship passengers on the flight?

2) Any paid-for excursions you would recommend or was the Zodiac transports enough to see everything you wanted?

Thanks...

A few took this cruise, anyone back who can post additional reviews? It was trouble to read about "slamming door" noises throughout the cruise so hopefully that was resolved? Reserved the Iceland/Greenland combo cruise for August 2016.

These were very interesting and helpful reports and details on your cruise with Ocean Diamond.

We will do the cruise from Kangerlussuaq to Reykjavik end August and hope to have a great time. We are not expecting a luxurious ship and also hope that the positive things will predominate.

We will post a report on return.

Heidi

Heidi:

We are on this exact cruise in August 2016 so I am looking forward to a trip report. I am assuming you are doing this trip in year 2015? If so, have a great time.

Some cruise journals are now posted on the website allthingscruise for this Iceland Pro Cruises. You can search for those who were on the late July 2015 cruise.

Thanks for the detailed review. We are on the Ocean Diamond in 2016 so hopefully the flaws that you went through will work themselves out. Curious if this cruise line actually bought the Ocean Diamond or are just leasing it as is typical in many exploration ship companies. If they actually bought it then one can expect many improvements to maintain and improve, not only the ship, but the company's reputation. What company wants a reputation of "awful mattresses"? Looking forward to reading what others will be experiencing.

By the way, did you have a higher/lower cabin floor? On these expedition ships, I realize that cabin floor and mid-ship location can make a big difference in rougher seas.

We were dealing with a rep here in the US when we booked the trip, and she has kept us up to date with payments: we paid in full, for the cruise and the expeditions we want to take on the date the final payment was due. Have received confirmation, via email from her. This cruise line is small, and I don't think that it has many resources to deal with the customers. Found out some basic stuff from Evelyn, but had to ask specific questions. You do have to fill out a boarding manifest 2 months before the cruise, and send it by mail to Iceland: information was sent to us with the manifest via email (but you can't fill it in on line and send via email). Road Scholar, which will have a tour on the same tripo, probably has a packing list and other info, but probably not available to outsiders. However, they do have a list of reading materials. I am packing very lightly, but with coat, warm hat, gloves and scarf at the top of the list. Also binoculars! And a swim suit for the blue lagoon visit. Will be glad to get any other suggestions and tips. Keep in touch. Pam

We are booked for the Greenland cruise in 2016 so really looking forward to your trip report. Also experiencing the same "resource" issue you mention and do not get many details. We were unable to secure a cabin number at time of our booking deposit only category guarantee with a cabin number assigned closer to cruise date.

Just booked a 2016 Greenland Ocean Diamond ship through Iceland Pro Cruises. Looking forward to any reviews from 2015 cruisers. Definitely nervous about the small company aspect of this cruise line so will definitely be taking travel insurance right at time of deposit.

Will be on the Coral Princess and received notice that there may be a 2-4 hour wait for the ship to pick up passengers from their Panama excursions at Colon. QUESTION: Which Colon pier does the Coral Princess dock at ? Is it the "warehouse "Cristobal location or the modern Colon 2000 location ? Really don't like waiting for hours to get back on a boat when there is nothing to see or do. Any recent Colon pick-up excursion passengers, did you really have to wait that long ?

Did you work for Boeing in Huntington Beach?

No.... I don't....

Will be on the Coral Princess and received notice that there may be a 2-4 hour wait for the ship to pick up passengers from their Panama excursions at Colon. QUESTION: Which Colon pier does the Coral Princess dock at ? Is it the "warehouse "Cristobal location or the modern Colon 2000 location ? Really don't like waiting for hours to get back on a boat when there is nothing to see or do. Any recent Colon pick-up excursion passengers, did you really have to wait that long ?

My youngest son got Noro on a Princess cruise. Travel insurance DID compensate us for all prorated loss of vacation days under the "quarantine" coverage.

We are on this exact cruise in mid-February 2015 so your insights were terrific....Thanks...

Always apply the sunscreen layer first, allow at least 15 minutes to soak into skin (dry), then the DEET on top of that- otherwise it may not work! Aerosol spray can is the best and quickest application but you will go through it quickly. (CVS' own brand has the best value for deet spray cans if you can find it) Hold your breath when applying deet spray to minimize inhalation. Lightly rub in the deet spray so it cover the skin.

We had the pleasure of having Charo (and she does lip-sing most of her songs) on a prior RCCL Mariner of the Seas cruise a few years ago. Also, the Ventriloquist Ron Lucas and Yakov Smirnoff also performed on past cruises. Many have been Vegas or Branson regulars in the past and resurrect their careers ion cruise ships. The duo Siegfried and Roy started on cruise ships before their Vegas run. So there is a history with certain classic entertainers and cruise ships. If you are lucky to get them, it is certainly nostalgic.

No more fighting those first/second night sleeping jitters trying to adapt to all the time changes (along with the other hotel noises, a/c, door slams, loud neighbors, and street noise).. A few nights of the proper dosage of Ambien and I am rested and ready for the vacation. Otherwise it takes me over 5 days to acclimate. Then again, I am from Los Angeles, so going over that "pond" is little more trying. Warning- try the dosage out at home well before you travel to see how you react and you have to see a doctor for this.

Last year when we got off the boat at Canada Place, there was a National Car rental podium and took the car right from the parking garage at the Canada Place port. They even escorted us to our car in the garage. It was super convenient but more expensive due to the location.

Want to use the same chemical the cruise ships use when they have to disinfect for noro, then look up the ingredients in CVS (Red Tub) Antibacterial moist Wipes. Benzalkonium Chloride wipes when used correctly is the best we have ever used-- not only for cruise ships but also to wipe down gross HOTEL room remote controls, handles, and surfaces--- and worse offenders are the airplane seat armrests, tray tables, and seat belts.

We were always forced to pay for Spa level cabins to be in the balcony non-smoking zone, now the whole ship is available without the smoke drift that made so many prior balcony cruises unusable. GREAT DECISION..... Thank you Carnival for listening to us!

I came off the Oasis a few weeks ago and I was very disappointed with the customs line. For some reason they only have 3-4 windows open for the 1000's getting off. By the time we were at the front of the customs line (did the first baggage time at 7:45), the lines was snaking through all the weaves (about as bad a Disneyland line). Got to the airport via private taxi to the Jet Blue check in counter at 9:30am (for my 11:30am flight) after first walking off the ship at 7:45am--- way too long of a process but probably not due to RCCL unless they can't/won't order more customs officers.

I agree that the Headliner act is NOT my taste. We have had in the past Yakov Smirnoff, Charo, Abba Tribute Group, Ron Lucas- which were all very good and more of a variety act... This country group I have never heard of-