Did Emerald Princess miss Greenland?

[diplomats]

The ship tracker site seems to suggest that Emerald Princess did not go to Greenland on its 10 Sept 2012 ta. anyone have any info, especially anyone on board?

[silvercruiser]

They're not due in Greenland until tomorrow.

[jannandjohn]

The ship tracker site seems to suggest that Emerald Princess did not go to Greenland on its 10 Sept 2012 ta. anyone have any info, especially anyone on board?

Gerri(or Marshall?)I Have been trying to find any info on missed ports for this cruise....to be ready for our cruise same time next yr..

hopefully someone will give a full review when they return, and then we will decide if its too risky that time of yr..

[simbasmom]

Yes, they are missing Greenland. I talked via skype to our son (staff on Emerald). I think he said they'll be adding another port. I'll ask Dad if he remembers.

[jannandjohn]

Yes, they are missing Greenland. I talked via skype to our son (staff on Emerald). I think he said they'll be adding another port. I'll ask Dad if he remembers.

 

This is certainly a problem when people book private excursions..it can be hard to contact them..at Least a ship tour can be refunded..

I know I dont want to fly for 30hrs, to miss any of on our cruise next yr..

May have to rethink our cruise plan.

[silvercruiser]

Webcam says they're on their way to Newfoundland. That stop wasn't even on the itinerary. Wonder if they have to skip Greenland tomorrow. I haven't heard from my friends who are onboard for a couple of days, so maybe internet isn't too good. Has been spotty this cruise.

[caribill]

Gerri(or Marshall?)I Have been trying to find any info on missed ports for this cruise....to be ready for our cruise same time next yr..

hopefully someone will give a full review when they return, and then we will decide if its too risky that time of yr..

 

It is always a risk to travel the North Atlantic at this time of year.

 

2008: Six ports on the itinerary between Copenhagen and USA. Missed Reykjavik due to storms. Stayed far away.

 

2009: Nine ports on itinerary between Southampton and NYC. Missed four of them (but made Reykjavik):

Shetland Islands -- Storms. Stayed far away

Akureyri, Iceland -- Beautiful sunshine, but too windy to dock or tender.

Nanortalik, Greenland -- A beautiful day, but there was an iceberg sitting in the area where the ship needed to anchor and the iceberg refused to move out of the way. We did some very nice scenic cruising up a fjord instead of going to the port.

St. Johns, Newfoundland -- Storms. Stayed far away. Went to Halifax instead. Absolutely perfect weather there that day.

 

In other words, if your heart is set on making all of the ports, don't bother to make a booking for the cruise. If you are willing to roll with the punches, then you should make the booking and have a great vacation.

 

And if you do book, don't set up any independent shore excursions that require any sort of advance non-refundable payment.

[jannandjohn]

It is always a risk to travel the North Atlantic at this time of year.

 

In other words, if your heart is set on making all of the ports, don't bother to make a booking for the cruise. If you are willing to roll with the punches, then you should make the booking and have a great vacation.

 

And if you do book, don't set up any independent shore excursions that require any sort of advance non-refundable payment.

Thanks..I think.

Thats what we Have been worried about!!

And yes, we have already booked it.:(

The shorex was also a concern for aby pricate touring..it has happened to us before, and its hust a right " pain in the ...," ..

[diplomats]

jann, certainly looks like weather is a big issue on this itinerary, but that is part of the excitement of the trip. have to weigh the pros and cons i guess. on this one, seems emerald has already missed one stop in norway(not an exciting one i think) and greenland. tracker info looks like it is heading for newfoundland and stayed far from greenland. mized feelings about that, newfoundland is intriguing for me (4 years in ottawa and never got to newfoundland) but the mystery of greenland was also appealing. we are sticking to the trip but can understand reluctance. should something be posted on the rollcall thread crossreferencing this thread? marshall

[Griller]

This is certainly a problem when people book private excursions..it can be hard to contact them..at Least a ship tour can be refunded..

I know I dont want to fly for 30hrs, to miss any of on our cruise next yr..

May have to rethink our cruise plan.

 

When we went to Greenland - Qaqortoq - several weeks ago there weren't any excursions anyway, we just went ashore and walked around the town, or you could have walked around a lake.

 

If you are worried about losing money on private excursions in Reykavik, another often missed port, then do not book them until you are safely ashore there, easy to do at the tourist office right by the dock, way cheaper than the ships tour as well.

 

You are correct about how hard it can be to contact anyone by internet on these Northern routes, the internet often cannot work for a few days due to the ship's position and angle of the satellite which carries the signal.

[san diego sue]

Did this cruise last year on the Crown.

Sometimes missing ports have to do with weather and sometimes

passenger illnesses. We got to Bergen Norway 6 hours late and missed

the whole day because passenger became ill and we had to go back to

Southampton to drop them off, many hours after we sailed.

We had two ports in Greenland. Missed the second one due to icebergs in the water.

Even in warm weather climates ports have been missed because of tides, and rough seas.

Cruising has no guarantees that you won't miss a port. So if missing a port is not acceptable, then almost no cruise will work, always a gamble, one we love to take.

By the way our last year cruise Southampton to New York was fabulous, and would do it again in a heartbeat.:D

 

PS. Internet was very spotty

[silvercruiser]

This is why I'm doing HAL's Voyage of the Vikings in July '13. Hoping weather will cooperate better in the middle of the summer. Also love the b2b Boston for 35 days.

[caribill]

You are correct about how hard it can be to contact anyone by internet on these Northern routes, the internet often cannot work for a few days due to the ship's position and angle of the satellite which carries the signal.

 

Shore excursion providers will be well aware if the ship is going to miss the port, so not being able to E-mail to them due to lack of Internet conenction is not that big of a problem.

[catsdinner]

Heard on the radio today that the Emerald will be here in St John's tomorrow. She wasn't scheduled to be here. Wish we had time to take a run in to take a look as we're going to be on her in March. They will have beautiful weather here, temperature is supposed to be 20 C and sunny.

 

Sarah

[Griller]

Shore excursion providers will be well aware if the ship is going to miss the port, so not being able to E-mail to them due to lack of Internet conenction is not that big of a problem.

 

Sorry I do not agree.

 

If a condition of a refund of a pre paid privately booked excursion is that the passenger has to give 24 hours notice of cancellation then the lack of a timely internet connection is totally a problem.

 

I have been in that position.

[jannandjohn]

Sorry I do not agree.

 

If a condition of a refund of a pre paid privately booked excursion is that the passenger has to give 24 hours notice of cancellation then the lack of a timely internet connection is totally a problem.

 

I have been in that position.

.

 

I posted this pic about a cruise to NZ from AUS.. on my copenhagen thread , just to show what we are worried about happening...again.

.

 

That trip was without flights and we are still angry about spending 10,800 on the cruise and missed 2thirds of the ports because of weather.

Its missing the ports that bugs us..not the weather

Our private excursions were completely messed up..we did lose more money, and had no time to research others ...and it wouldnt have mattered if we did, because we didnt stop:(...

With New Zealand being so close to Australia, many were visiting families who had travelled long distances by car to the ports (we missed) ..so many people were in tears because they couldnt let them know...it was awful.

[caribill]

Sorry I do not agree.

 

If a condition of a refund of a pre paid privately booked excursion is that the passenger has to give 24 hours notice of cancellation then the lack of a timely internet connection is totally a problem.

 

I have been in that position.

 

You often will not have 24 hours notice that a port will be missed even if you do have a great Internet connection.

 

Advice remains the same. Book no private excursion that does not provide for a total refund of any advance payment if the ship cannot make it to port. That situation should be different from a passenger deciding he/she does not want to take the tour and thus cancels.

[jannandjohn]

You often will not have 24 hours notice that a port will be missed even if you do have a great Internet connection.

.

 

On our awful NZ. Cruise , one Napier tour operator had actually emailed me ,12 hrs before the capt. made his announcement that we were to miss Napier..to tell me we would not be docking there..and so didnt charge me.

Then three days later the capt announced that because we were missing the south island completely, we would return to Napier..so I emailed the guy and rebooked...and guess what..??

We could not get into Napier when we returned...

What a stuff up that was.:mad:

[c-legs]

It is always a risk to travel the North Atlantic at this time of year.

 

2008: Six ports on the itinerary between Copenhagen and USA. Missed Reykjavik due to storms. Stayed far away.

 

2009: Nine ports on itinerary between Southampton and NYC. Missed four of them (but made Reykjavik):

Shetland Islands -- Storms. Stayed far away

Akureyri, Iceland -- Beautiful sunshine, but too windy to dock or tender.

Nanortalik, Greenland -- A beautiful day, but there was an iceberg sitting in the area where the ship needed to anchor and the iceberg refused to move out of the way. We did some very nice scenic cruising up a fjord instead of going to the port.

St. Johns, Newfoundland -- Storms. Stayed far away. Went to Halifax instead. Absolutely perfect weather there that day.

 

In other words, if your heart is set on making all of the ports, don't bother to make a booking for the cruise. If you are willing to roll with the punches, then you should make the booking and have a great vacation.

 

And if you do book, don't set up any independent shore excursions that require any sort of advance non-refundable payment.

 

VERY SMART advices and comments.

Thanks you !!

Cheers

[Seacucumber]

We were on Caribbean Princess from Southampton-NYC on August 25.2012. The ship missed Dublin due to bad weather. At Reykjvik we left 12 hr late due to high wind and rough seas. When we arrived Qaqortaq we were 3 hr late, no excursion, just walked around te town and went to Church and saw natives singing. There was another ship on the port, the shops were packed.

[CruiseList]

Don't know about Greenland, but she certainly was in St John's today! Got photos of her coming and going!

[jannandjohn]

We were on Caribbean Princess from Southampton-NYC on August 25.2012. The ship missed Dublin due to bad weather. At Reykjvik we left 12 hr late due to high wind and rough seas. When we arrived Qaqortaq we were 3 hr late, no excursion, just walked around te town and went to Church and saw natives singing. There was another ship on the port, the shops were packed.

thanks, that really helps us make up our mind..

[cruisemom42]

The Greenland port stops are some of the most frequently missed ports on any cruise itinerary, no matter what time of the year. I have been watching these cruises carefully for several years now (one of my bucket list cruises being the Princess British Isles + TA that calls in Iceland and Greenland). The weather is always very iffy and storms are frequent.

 

It is one of the things stopping me from actually booking, as Greenland would be very important to me. It honestly seems like Greenland is missed somewhere close to a third of the time....

[jannandjohn]

It is one of the things stopping me from actually booking, as Greenland would be very important to me. It honestly seems like Greenland is missed somewhere close to a third of the time....

and the reason we are cancelling ours:(

[NYLady]

To the OP...I'm on the Emerald Princess now and we did not stop in Greenland due to the forecast for very unruly seas and icebergs in the area. We were advised that we would go directly from Iceland to St. John's Newfoundland (where we stopped today) and then to Saint John New Brunswick (sea day in between).

 

The change was not welcomed by everyone as some had their heart set on Greenland (especially after we missed one stop in Norway) but our stop in St. John's Newfoundland was truly enjoyed by everyone. After a day or two of heavy fog we were greeted today by sunshine and warm temperatures today. It was truly glorious. The people were so welcoming and friendly and when we left it seemed like the whole town came out to wave goodbye. It was absolutely wonderful.

 

Just a word on our missed Norway stop. The captain decided to forge ahead to miss a forecast storm in the North Sea so we arrived in Scotland approximately 12 hours ahead of schedule (maybe a little more)...anyway, it was fortunate because there was a medical emergency onboard and the patient arrived at a hospital in time to be "saved". Of course, I don't know the details but the captain told us two things: 1) We are going to hurry up into port because there is a patient who needs emergency hospital attention and later 2) the patient is in the hospital and doing well. Sounds like his decision to skip the Norway port due to forecast bad weather (which we mostly missed) also may have saved a life (unexpectedly).