2015 Norway itineraries

[bobbisailsolo]

We just signed for June 6 on Ocean Princess [Midnight Sun]. It goes to Bergen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Tromso, Magdelena Fjord [cruising], Ny Alesund [near Santa's Cabin at the North Pole], Honningsvag, Alta [new stop for them, anyone know it?], Gravdal Lofotens, and Stavanger, back to Dover. I wish they still did Kirknes because I have heard great things from over there. But this seems an awesome iteneray.

 

 

 

Any insights?

 

 

 

Doug

 

 

That one sounds fantastic. Small ship, plus spitsbergen! That would be my first choice, if I could afford it.

 

 

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[Oceandog]

That one sounds fantastic. Small ship, plus spitsbergen! That would be my first choice, if I could afford it.

 

 

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ditto!:D

[sippican]

What do you think of this Cunard itinerary?

They are offering reduced deposits, free gratuities and cabin updrades from OV to balcony.

 

11 days 7 Aug 2014 M415

 

Hamburg, Bergen, Andalsnes, Trondheim, Tromso, Alesund, Stavanger, Hamburg

[sippican]

We just signed for June 6 on Ocean Princess [Midnight Sun]. It goes to Bergen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Tromso, Magdelena Fjord [cruising], Ny Alesund [near Santa's Cabin at the North Pole], Honningsvag, Alta [new stop for them, anyone know it?], Gravdal Lofotens, and Stavanger, back to Dover. I wish they still did Kirknes because I have heard great things from over there. But this seems an awesome iteneray.

 

Any insights?

 

Doug

 

Lol, after searching forever, I just realized this is a 2014 Itinerary, not 2015.

 

For anyone interested, Royal is offering buy one get one half off and it applies to the 2015 sailings too.

I'm still obsessing - I've even made a spreadsheet to compare - no decisions yet.

Edited May 2, 2014 by sippican

[generichandle]

Lol, after searching forever, I just realized this is a 2014 Itinerary, not 2015.

 

For anyone interested, Royal is offering buy one get one half off and it applies to the 2015 sailings too.

I'm still obsessing - I've even made a spreadsheet to compare - no decisions yet.

 

Oops, you are right, the thread was 2015. Sorry, got excited.

 

I suspect the Ocean will do exact or similar iterary in 2015, as it has for many years.

 

Most of these smaller ship tours are more expensive. We got lucky and took Princess' 'Last-Minute' e-mails, which had this at about $100/day outside [+ taxes, port fees etc, of course], which is VERY good for this. I highly recommend getting on all the e-mail lists for Princess, Celebrity, Holland, etc. Then wait till past 'final payment' and voila! Of course, you must be free to take last minute stuff, but often the prices are great. We even got this before the price jumped for flights from USA. :D

 

So, try this in 2015, and you will have more money left to spend in Norway [a very expensive place I am told].

 

Enjoy the views.

 

Doug

[sippican]

Oops, you are right, the thread was 2015. Sorry, got excited.

 

I suspect the Ocean will do exact or similar iterary in 2015, as it has for many years.

 

Most of these smaller ship tours are more expensive. We got lucky and took Princess' 'Last-Minute' e-mails, which had this at about $100/day outside [+ taxes, port fees etc, of course], which is VERY good for this. I highly recommend getting on all the e-mail lists for Princess, Celebrity, Holland, etc. Then wait till past 'final payment' and voila! Of course, you must be free to take last minute stuff, but often the prices are great. We even got this before the price jumped for flights from USA. :D

 

So, try this in 2015, and you will have more money left to spend in Norway [a very expensive place I am told].

 

Enjoy the views.

 

Doug

 

Found it - June 4, 2015. Way out of my price point, over $4000 pp for an inside. So you did get an excellent deal. I do get notified of all of the cruise deals. The Norway trip is for a small group, so last minute is not an option this time. (My bucket list Princess cruise is the 25 day South Pacific, NZ itinerary! Surprisingly, the same price as the 16 day. For that I'll look for a last minute special)

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

[sippican]

I can view the MSC itineraries on the website, but am unable to figure out how to see the prices!

[bobbisailsolo]

I can view the MSC itineraries on the website, but am unable to figure out how to see the prices!

 

 

I can't even view 2015 itineraries!

 

 

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[sippican]

I can't even view 2015 itineraries!

 

 

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Try this

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/uk_en/Cruise-Departures/Find-Your-Cruise.aspx?Ship=SP&Reg=NOR&DateF=201506&DateT=201509&ddl=y&p=1&

 

I am only able to view through the UK website, but there are two itineraries that interest me (11 and 14 days), the prices seem good in the UK.

I may call them later today.

[bobbisailsolo]

Sippican, the 14 day looks like the perfect itinerary. I wonder why it's not on the US site... I travel solo, so I'm really curious what the offer... When I tried to look at a 2014 cruise, it wouldn't even give me a cabin..

 

 

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[sippican]

Sippican, the 14 day looks like the perfect itinerary. I wonder why it's not on the US site... I travel solo, so I'm really curious what the offer... When I tried to look at a 2014 cruise, it wouldn't even give me a cabin..

 

 

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According to the MSC rep I spoke with today, the US site should have the additional itineraries for sale within two weeks.

However, after converting the prices from the UK site to USD, the 14 day will be no bargain at all (of course, that assumes the pricing will be similar). In that case, I'll be back to stalking the Princess trip.

[bobbisailsolo]

According to the MSC rep I spoke with today, the US site should have the additional itineraries for sale within two weeks.

 

However, after converting the prices from the UK site to USD, the 14 day will be no bargain at all (of course, that assumes the pricing will be similar). In that case, I'll be back to stalking the Princess trip.

 

 

Seems there are mixed reviews about MSC. I still think it's a great itinerary, but the ship seems awfully big, 3900 passangers. Of all the ones I'm considering, the HAL RYNDAM is the smallest ship... And I do like HAL, but the CARIBBEAN Princess has what I think is a better itinerary. Both 14 day cruises, both sailing from London.(which is neither here nor there). If prices were comparable, OCEAN PRINCESS would be my first choice, followed by HAL PRINSENDAM, both which are smaller vessels. Fortunately, I can wait to book till last minute, if I need to, as I really don't care which cabin I end up in. Looking at the 2014 prices today, even on the OP and the Prinsendam, they are about 1/2 off which puts them in my price range. I've been told when cruising the coast of Norway, the smaller the ship the better...so you can get closer to the coast.

 

 

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[sippican]

Seems there are mixed reviews about MSC. I still think it's a great itinerary, but the ship seems awfully big, 3900 passangers. Of all the ones I'm considering, the HAL RYNDAM is the smallest ship... And I do like HAL, but the CARIBBEAN Princess has what I think is a better itinerary. Both 14 day cruises, both sailing from London.(which is neither here nor there). If prices were comparable, OCEAN PRINCESS would be my first choice, followed by HAL PRINSENDAM, both which are smaller vessels. Fortunately, I can wait to book till last minute, if I need to, as I really don't care which cabin I end up in. Looking at the 2014 prices today, even on the OP and the Prinsendam, they are about 1/2 off which puts them in my price range. I've been told when cruising the coast of Norway, the smaller the ship the better...so you can get closer to the coast.

 

 

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Excellent points regarding ship size. We are looking at 2015, so have plenty of time. I really like the OP itinerary (includes Lofoten Islands).

[bobbisailsolo]

Pluto... You originally stated only NCL and HURTIGRUTEN are in your price range. I found HURTIGRUTEN to be much more costly than NCL if traveling in the summer. In the winter, such as March they way better fares to "chase the northern lights".

 

 

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[bobbisailsolo]

Since nearly all the itineraries are out, can we use this thread to list price drops?

 

 

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[sippican]

We finally jumped on the Royal Caribbean 11 night Arctic Circle cruise. It doesn't hit every port we wanted, but the price of the trip with their Buy One Get One Half Off promotion, along with our loyalty reward, made the price something we just couldn't pass up. The Radiance class ships are our favorite and we also love Copenhagen; looking forward to spending some extra time there pre-cruise.

[Oceandog]

We finally jumped on the Royal Caribbean 11 night Arctic Circle cruise. It doesn't hit every port we wanted, but the price of the trip with their Buy One Get One Half Off promotion, along with our loyalty reward, made the price something we just couldn't pass up. The Radiance class ships are our favorite and we also love Copenhagen; looking forward to spending some extra time there pre-cruise.

 

Yeah buddy! Our RCL price dropped $1600 from that promotion!

[Pluto_fan]

Sippican, congrats on making your booking! :) That looks like a great itinerary. I'd be all over that, except that the kids don't get out of school until June 11. Too bad high schoolers can't miss the week of final exams. :(

 

Royal Caribbean's current deal is VERY tempting! It could save us a few thousand dollars on the Brilliance on July 29. Our family discussed it at dinner last night (since it was Mother's Day and we got to talk about what I wanted ;)), and the consensus was that five sea days on a twelve-night cruise might be a bit much for us. Plus it only has three ports in Norway, which is our primary destination for the trip. We are interested in Iceland, but might try to do that as a land trip in the winter in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights. So I think we're leaning toward the NCL 14-night North Cape trip on June 12...of course, the very first itinerary I found several months ago!

[prish]

We are interested in Iceland, but might try to do that as a land trip in the winter in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights. So I think we're leaning toward the NCL 14-night North Cape trip on June 12...of course, the very first itinerary I found several months ago!

 

Pluto_fan, you may want to check out Iceland Air, they have some great deals in winter to view the northern lights, my brother did that a couple of years back and had a wonderful time.

Edited May 12, 2014 by prish

[sippican]

Sippican, congrats on making your booking! :) That looks like a great itinerary. I'd be all over that, except that the kids don't get out of school until June 11. Too bad high schoolers can't miss the week of final exams. :(

 

Royal Caribbean's current deal is VERY tempting! It could save us a few thousand dollars on the Brilliance on July 29. Our family discussed it at dinner last night (since it was Mother's Day and we got to talk about what I wanted ;)), and the consensus was that five sea days on a twelve-night cruise might be a bit much for us. Plus it only has three ports in Norway, which is our primary destination for the trip. We are interested in Iceland, but might try to do that as a land trip in the winter in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights. So I think we're leaning toward the NCL 14-night North Cape trip on June 12...of course, the very first itinerary I found several months ago!

 

I can empathize with the whole "missing school" dilemma, I used to be a principal and trips during school were not an option. I am sooooo enjoying the freedom of being able to travel during off peak times now. We do take the grandchildren out of school for trips, but they are still little, it will be different in the upper grades.

There are so many great options for Norway out there. I'm sure you won't be disappointed no matter which you choose (especially after all of the research). Unfortunately, the pricing is a bit daunting. The Northern Lights are amazing, on very rare occasions we are treated to them here in NH, would love to see them in their full glory.

[bobbisailsolo]

I just noticed Princess raised the rate on the June 2015 caribbean princess cruise by 200.00. And there had be no price drops prior. Perhaps they keep track of how many "hits" each cruise gets? I'm going to stop searching for awhile... Lol

 

 

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[sippican]

I just noticed Princess raised the rate on the June 2015 caribbean princess cruise by 200.00. And there had be no price drops prior. Perhaps they keep track of how many "hits" each cruise gets? I'm going to stop searching for awhile... Lol

 

 

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The Royal Caribbean Sailing on June 6th now has very limited cabin availability in some categories and is sold out in others. Seems like the BOGOHO promotion has helped in filling the ship. I see some increases also, defiantly no drops.

Have you used any fare tracking sites that would notify you of a price drop?

Good luck while you are waiting and watching!

[bobbisailsolo]

Yes, using the one on cruise critic. And I'm getting emails directly from Princess and HAL. So being that cabin is not an issue at all, I will have to just wait it out. Hard to believe a large ship like RCLs would be getting full!

 

 

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[Pluto_fan]

Well, after much hemming and hawing, I finally booked the NCL Star, 14-night North Cape on June 12. :) I'm hoping for a price drop, but I wanted to get the cabins booked since we need two and prefer connecting. I'll probably keep stalking other possibilities...STILL waiting for MSC to publish their US prices :rolleyes:, and I still really like the Celebrity itinerary which includes Iceland but the price is more than I can stomach. But I'm happy with what we've booked--I'm sure it will be wonderful! :D

[rdnpdx1]

Well, after much hemming and hawing, I finally booked the NCL Star, 14-night North Cape on June 12. :) I'm hoping for a price drop, but I wanted to get the cabins booked since we need two and prefer connecting. I'll probably keep stalking other possibilities...STILL waiting for MSC to publish their US prices :rolleyes:, and I still really like the Celebrity itinerary which includes Iceland but the price is more than I can stomach. But I'm happy with what we've booked--I'm sure it will be wonderful! :D

 

We did the same a couple of weeks ago. I see the prices starting to climb. Our cabin cost has gone up $360 and the OBC halved to $150 for our family suite. Makes me wish I had booked this even earlier!