ladyariadne

10 minutes ago, LargeNegroni said:

Hi we are also on this cruise and have just seen that you can now book excursions for the cruise on https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/manage-booking . It gives a bit more information on each of the ports too. 

I am interested to hear in any recommendations for excursions from previous Cunard passengers.

It’s our first cruise and there is a lot to learn!

 

Hi LargeNegroni:

I have started a roll call for this cruise.  There are currently three of us on it.  You might want to join.  Thanks for the information.  Looks like the two currently offered by Cunard are the tram in Trondheim and the North Cape coach in Honningsvag.  Will look at the cost if we buy separately on those.

37 minutes ago, drsel said:

Try Toms port guide and Whatsinport

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately Tom’s only has Bergen and Kristiansand. What’sinport doesn’t have Norway ports as far as I can tell. 

We are not the super mingling type either but do enjoy meeting new friends.  See you on the roll call.

My friend and I are booked on the North Cape Queen Victoria.  We have cruised on many lines and are just tired of the chaos, noise, and abundance of heavy drinking on so many other ships.  We are looking forward to a more sedate time on Cunard.  I have only sailed once before on Cunard, a transatlantic on the Queen Elizabeth.  I remember particularly enjoying the dressing up, and even formal evenings on other cruises are not adhered to by most passengers.  We also are very interested in culture and educational talks, which I am expecting will be more in depth and perhaps more abundant on the QV.  If you book on this cruise, I have created a Roll Call.  So far no one has joined it, but I think that might be an indication of the more sedate style of Cunard.

I'm hoping that those of you who are familiar with the fjords might be able to give me some advice.  Next June we are on the Queen Victoria with this itinerary.  Although I have tried researching and looking on this forum, I don't find a lot of information on these ports. I am finding the places we are visiting are not the ones that most ships call at, so I'm looking for advice on whether private tours are feasible and also what companies might offer them.  Thanks so much for any help. 

Thank you that does help.  I have been advised to place this posting in the Norwegian Fjords thread, so I will do that.

I'm hoping that those of you who are familiar with Norway might be able to give me some advice.  Next June we are on the Queen Victoria with this itinerary.  Although I have tried researching and looking on this forum, I don't find a lot of information on these ports. I am assuming that the last three "ports of call" are not really that and are cruising in the fjords.  I am finding the places we are visiting are not the ones that most ships call at, so I'm looking for advice on whether private tours are feasible and also what companies might offer them.  Thanks so much for any help.

On 4/17/2021 at 3:08 PM, gnome12 said:

I'm thinking about the Norwegian Fjords in summer 2023. I'd like to see the midnight sun. I'd also like to see Geirangerfjord. I love beautiful scenery, but I'm not really a hiker. I don't want a whole lot of sea days. (I have also been to England and Scotland - including Edinburgh and the Orkneys so don't want to spend extra time doing that.) I'm looking for at least 11 nights, but probably more.

 

I've looked at Hurtigruten's regular coastal trips, but, since they generally don't stop in ports for very long, their excursions are very expensive because they always have to get you to another port to pick up the ship.

 

Hurtigruten Expedition cruises are round trip Hamburg, so they have sea days at start and finish. I can't really tell which excursions are included and which are not; their website isn't particularly clear on it.

 

I looked a Viking's Into the Midnight Sun, which only has London at one end (Bergen is the other), but it spends too much time in Scotland for my taste, with only 5 excursions in Norway.

 

Can anyone direct me to other cruise lines (preferably on small to medium sized vessels) that might have something for me? (They don't have to have 2023 schedules up yet; I'm happy to see what they have planned to 2022 as an idea of what 2023 would be like.) Are there any ports that you particularly consider to be must-sees?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

I am booked on the North Cape Cruise starting on June 6 2023 with Cunard on the Queen Victoria.  We liked the fact that it is 11 days and it goes up to the very top of Norway into the North Cape.

Does anyone have any experience in the Deck 4 Princess Grill Cabins on Queen Victoria (or Elizabeth as I think they are the same).  I know that the balconies are larger, but I'm wondering about noise from the floor below and whether there is an obstructed view due to the lifeboats.  There are cabins available on both 4 and 5 and I'd love a bit bigger balcony but not at the cost of other concerns.  Thanks so much.

Roscoe would you happen to have that layout for the Princess Grill cabin 5094 on QV?  We have that booked and I'm wondering what that layout is like with the rounded balcony.  Thanks so much.

We are new to Cunard and will be doing the North Cape cruise in June 2023. We are in Princess Grill suite 5094, and I have read that there could be a restricted view with that balcony. Does anyone know anything more about this balcony or cabin. Thanks very much. 

I suppose they would be a step above sweatpants.  Jersey-like material with elastic at the bottom of the legs. So maybe it's a Northern US thing. 😂

Jogging pants.  Guess that might be a U.S. term.  Sorry.😉

I have a question with regard to non evening dress.  Are people more dressed up during the day than on other cruise lines.  Generally I take two pairs of joggers and jeans for daytime wear on a cruise.  Will i need to "smarten up" on the QV next June for the North Cape cruise?

Well, the boys were tired and they slept an hour past their normal 7am wakeup time. How nice that we got to sleep in an extra hour. With a day at sea, that was nice. We decided to go get breakfast first. It still took us a while to get four of us out of the room and up to the Windjammer for breakfast, so we didn’t get there until almost 9am. It took an hour to get breakfast (more than moderately busy). We asked the boys if they wanted to go to the playroom (Adventure Ocean) and they said yes. We left them there happily while we went back, showered leisurely, took some time to get ready for the day and we took a brief walk around the deck. We got them just before noon when AO closes for lunch. We took them to lunch in the WJ, but being that it was noon on an at sea day, it was the worst madhouse I’ve seen in a WJ in three cruises on RCI—PAINFUL. Will have to avoid that mistake if at all possible in the future. Lunch ended with an unfortunate bathroom accident which necessitated returning straight to the room.

 

Once there, it was pretty clear that the boys were pretty fussy. Although we’ve largely given up on naps, they still do need one occasionally and they were definitely pretty close. So we made them have some quiet time and we each took about an hour to wander on our own. I did some errands and ended up kibitzing in the casino for a while. I normally do my gambling at night, so I was good and didn’t step in early (after all, it was the first night of the cruise and there would be many more chances). That evening was the captain’s reception and the first formal night. DW and my mother made an appointment with the photo gallery to have family photos taken on the Centrum stairway on formal night at 5pm before our 5:30pm seating. So when the boys got up, we got the family ready including these cute outfits with hats that the boys loved. We headed to the Centrum and got there first and it was already apparent with a sparse crowd that the boys were drawing loads of attention due to being twins in cute formal outfits. The hats were a big hit all around. It took a while for the whole family to gather so at 5pm, we started taking photos of various subgroups. After 5-10 minutes, when we were still missing my nieces, we let some other families take some photos. When the niece showed up we got back in line and finally got photos with the nieces there. When the twins got up on the steps for a twosome photo, the photographer asked them to step closer and they naturally drew together and put their arms around each other. I noticed several strangers who we hadn’t met, pulled out cell phones/cameras and took photos. A little odd, but at least they didn’t ask my address!

 

After the family photos, we finally went in for dinner. Midway through dinner the boys needed a rest room break and when we came back in to the dining room, a bunch of heads started turning to see the kids. So I picked them up to walk them back to our table and had them waiving to the tables. It was like being the limo to the queen of England. They boys waved as we passed. Yes, they were gaining a lot of notoriety. Additionally, the boys asked to sit with their cousins and their two cousins took care of ordering food and watching them throughout dinner.

 

This was the first night we could take advantage of the Adventure Ocean deal. At 6:40 each night, if you bring your kids out of the dining room to the stairwell area, the Adventure Ocean staff will pick up kids from the lobby, take them back to Adventure Ocean and you can come to pick them up anytime before 10pm. After 10pm, you pay $7/per child/per hour until 2pm or when the last child leaves. What a joy! Between my nieces watching the boys at dinner and then the AO deal, we got a nice break at night. We went to the captain’s reception including the aerial show in the Centrum. Not quite Cirque du Soleil, but still an enjoyable show for the 15 minutes that it took place. After the show, we got to spend about 45 minutes catching up with the family without having to mind the kids and that was pretty nice.

 

We went up to AO about 9:30 and picked the boys up. They were pretty happy. The teachers in the AO had read them several books (one of their favorite activities, having books read to them) and they were in a great mood, until we said that we had to go back to the room for bedtime. Again it took a while for them to fall asleep. At least we gained an hour ship-time as we set the clocks back an hour as we change to Central Time.

 

After the boys fell asleep, I went for my night-time walkabout and visited the Casino for the first time. Not too bad, I spent about an hour and broke even for the night, so I called it a night with the same money I walked in with. Since I budget a certain amount per night, I figured that this just saved me one night’s stake.

How smoky was the Casino? I have heard it is really bad

Noticed that the OP hasn't had a chance to respond, so I'll chime in with last week's (Feb 28) prices.

 

Unlimited Plan for the week: $ 189.95 but only one device may be logged in at any given time.

 

There was a "Cruise Special Plan" that was also unlimited but allowed two devices to be logged in at a time. The price was $ 225.95..

 

Other prices: Daily Plan $ 55.95 giving 24 hours of continuous access from time of purchase. Also an Hourly Plan ($ 29.95) with 60 minutes of access than can be used throughout the cruise. In each case, only one device may be logged in at a time.

 

I believe that C&A members had coupons for discounts. For Diamond members, it was $ 29.95 off any package purchase.

Thanks for the information. Does the ship have the new fast satellite internet or is is the same old slow system? On the Oasis on the 21st the internet was like being at home on broadband.

Today we will be departing on the Vision of the Seas! I plan on doing a picture heavy review once we get back. Does anyone have any questions or anything that they would like me to check out while onboard? Any particular pictures that they would like taken? I will be reading the requests till sail away today so let me know!

I would love to know if the reports about the smokiness of the casino and the whole floor it is on are correct. Thanks so much for the offer. I am doing a TA on it on April 10.

I just want to make it clear that no one in our party was the fat lady who complained ;)..shower doors worked perfectly. Complained about the balcony furniture, but it seems they have not changed them yet and will decide when and if they will do that. Contractors were also in the room when we sailed on 2/21.

Can you just order an iced tea at a bar?

Just off Oasis. No, ice tea and lemonade are not available at the bars. There went my usual Arnold Palmer LOL.

You don't see many of them but they were available. I believe they were $2.00 each.

Yes the climbers will be able to see at least the balcony, and you will be sick of the bell! As a person famously said need more cowbell!

 

I am surprised they didn't try to put privacy glass 1 way glass, but probably to much of a glare and possible fire issue of sun reflecting.

So far the bell has not been a problem. The rock climbing wall is only open certain hours and the climbers seem more worried about hanging on than our balcony.

Room looks great but quick question - can people climbing up the rock wall look onto you?

Probably if you were sitting close to the wall on the balcony but not into the room.

It looks like the bathroom is in the 'master bedroom'. If you are bringing a third person that could get a little awkward . :)

Yes that is a downside for some people. We did a cabin crawl today and the people on our roll call loved the suite.

It looks like the bathroom is in the 'master bedroom'. If you are bringing a third person that could get a little awkward . :)

Yes I think it is the same in all the new aft grand suites.