Iceland and Greenland on Insignia

[brazilgirl]

I just got back from my Iceland cruise on the Symphony ( wonderful). I had originally booked the Insignia journey starting in Miami to Iceland ( which included Canada, Greenland and Iceland). Am curious about how the cruise went and would love to hear comments from anyone who was on the Insignia.

 

We were actually in port together in Reyjkavik.

We watched the Insignia sail on to the next Icelandic port, which made me even more curious!

[alexandra cruiser]

as I booked the Insignia for next July,doing Iceland ,Greenland,and down to NYC.

 

How did you like YOUR cruise?

[brazilgirl]

as I booked the Insignia for next July,doing Iceland ,Greenland,and down to NYC.

 

 

 

How did you like YOUR cruise?

 

 

 

It was absolutely impeccable. Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway....the ports were unforgettable. One of my best cruises ever. I wrote a complete review with many photos here

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2375205

 

 

Greenland is still on my bucket list! Hope you are as lucky as we were with the weather and smooth seas ( we only had one rough day during the 14 day cruise).

[alexandra cruiser]

will go read review.

 

See you re from Brazil, going to Olympics??

 

I did Norway on Seabourn and absolutely loved it. Look forward to Greenland and hope someone will post about it.

[brazilgirl]

will go read review.

 

 

 

See you re from Brazil, going to Olympics??

 

 

 

I did Norway on Seabourn and absolutely loved it. Look forward to Greenland and hope someone will post about it.

 

 

 

I live in Brazil...but no Olympics. Will watch on TV. Too chaotic for my taste! We have done Norway twice and will never tire of it. So lovely. Very curious about Greenland too!

[Hawaiidan]

a 29 day cruise Seward to Montrial over the top of Canada.... 22K@ Pretty wild trip....

[Bowie MeMe]

Just returned from an 18 day Rotterdam to Boston cruise. there were about 1100 folks on board. The food was very good, entertainment typical, ship comfortable and the scenery just outstanding. I was pleased. This trip was slightly less costly than O and spent longer in Greenland and Iceland. Have a friend doing similar this month on RCCL so anxious to see what they think for that price point (more people on ship). I would go again in a heartbeat it was so good.

[brazilgirl]

Just returned from an 18 day Rotterdam to Boston cruise. there were about 1100 folks on board. The food was very good, entertainment typical, ship comfortable and the scenery just outstanding. I was pleased. This trip was slightly less costly than O and spent longer in Greenland and Iceland. Have a friend doing similar this month on RCCL so anxious to see what they think for that price point (more people on ship). I would go again in a heartbeat it was so good.

 

 

 

We had three cruises on our list when we were deciding...

 

The Oceania Insignia Miami - Reykjavik

The HAL Rotterdam to Boston

Crystal Symphony Amsterdam - Tilbury

 

We orginally booked the Insignia...but switched to the Symphony, which we ended up loving.

 

Very curious to hear about you HAL cruise....how were your stops in Greenland and Iceland? How were the seas? Did you make all the ports? We only had one bad night at sea out of the Faroe Islands, lots of queasy people ( including some of my family). But were blessed with smooth sailing and nice weather on most of the trip. How was the ship?

[CorgiNole]

as I booked the Insignia for next July,doing Iceland ,Greenland,and down to NYC.

 

How did you like YOUR cruise?

 

Mom and I are planning to take the Iceland to NYC next July also.

[Fetchpeople]

From someone who was on board the Insignia, July 1 from Miami to Reykjavic:

 

Seas calm, with only a hint of motion on part of one day

Food as good as ever, with service to match

Condition of the public areas was top notch, constantly being cleaned

Tender port services were outstanding, organized and without any issues

Entertainment was typical for Oceania-low key, the magician/comedian (Greg Moreland) was especially good

The bridge instructor (Judy Sonen) was as good as they come

 

We stopped at 3 different ports in Greenland and enjoyed our time, but keep in mind that Greenland is a very large country with a very small population. Accordingly, infrastructure is limited. However, the history of the native people, the Inuit, is remarkable.

 

Iceland (we spent several days there post cruise) is a truly beautiful palette of waterfalls, gorges, geysers, hot springs, icebergs, and much more. Friendly people with a Danish/Norwegian orientation.

 

If you want to see if climate change is impacting our world, an open minded look at Greenland and Iceland will do the trick.

 

My judgement: the Insignia crew executed very well and Oceania delivered what it promised. The stay in Iceland? Frosting on the cake.

 

Try it, you like it!

[Hawaiidan]

Just returned from an 18 day Rotterdam to Boston cruise. there were about 1100 folks on board. The food was very good, entertainment typical, ship comfortable and the scenery just outstanding. I was pleased. This trip was slightly less costly than O and spent longer in Greenland and Iceland. Have a friend doing similar this month on RCCL so anxious to see what they think for that price point (more people on ship). I would go again in a heartbeat it was so good.

 

 

 

The 2 lines are drastically different 4000 and 90000 thnthe 650 pax Oceania ships, in style ambiance, civility and convenience

 

I am interested in seeing what costs you added to put Holland america. Air fare? specialty restaurants, sodas, tips, shore ex, Limited choices for variety of cuisine, coffees ,juice, water, etc.

 

Id be very interested to see howyou arrived at that, what you added/considered to be "the cost" Its not just the cabin,, gratitirs and port/tax...

I ran cruise to cruise O to Hal.. pricing at a level of equal accommodations apples to apples not a veranda on O to an inside on HAL, and the difference was Hal was thousands more $3850 to be exact..

,

I wont touch RCCL a tennement of the seas with close to 9000 on her with crew..... Thats not a cruise to me... Price reductions come at long lasting price to passengers...

[Paulchili]

a 29 day cruise Seward to Montrial over the top of Canada.... 22K@ Pretty wild trip....

 

Are you doing that?

[brazilgirl]

From someone who was on board the Insignia, July 1 from Miami to Reykjavic:

 

 

 

Seas calm, with only a hint of motion on part of one day

 

Food as good as ever, with service to match

 

Condition of the public areas was top notch, constantly being cleaned

 

Tender port services were outstanding, organized and without any issues

 

Entertainment was typical for Oceania-low key, the magician/comedian (Greg Moreland) was especially good

 

The bridge instructor (Judy Sonen) was as good as they come

 

 

 

We stopped at 3 different ports in Greenland and enjoyed our time, but keep in mind that Greenland is a very large country with a very small population. Accordingly, infrastructure is limited. However, the history of the native people, the Inuit, is remarkable.

 

 

 

Iceland (we spent several days there post cruise) is a truly beautiful palette of waterfalls, gorges, geysers, hot springs, icebergs, and much more. Friendly people with a Danish/Norwegian orientation.

 

 

 

If you want to see if climate change is impacting our world, an open minded look at Greenland and Iceland will do the trick.

 

 

 

My judgement: the Insignia crew executed very well and Oceania delivered what it promised. The stay in Iceland? Frosting on the cake.

 

 

 

Try it, you like it!

 

 

 

Thank you for your comments. Sounds like you had a terrific time. We loved Iceland and the Faroes and hope to visit Greenland someday. We had a fascinating stop on the island of Heimaey as well which was eye opening.

[Bowie MeMe]

We had three cruises on our list when we were deciding...

 

The Oceania Insignia Miami - Reykjavik

The HAL Rotterdam to Boston

Crystal Symphony Amsterdam - Tilbury

 

We orginally booked the Insignia...but switched to the Symphony, which we ended up loving.

 

Very curious to hear about you HAL cruise....how were your stops in Greenland and Iceland? How were the seas? Did you make all the ports? We only had one bad night at sea out of the Faroe Islands, lots of queasy people ( including some of my family). But were blessed with smooth sailing and nice weather on most of the trip. How was the ship?

 

I replied in GREAT detail last night and then it did not post! :p What happens when you get too windy on here!

 

Rotterdam cruise was just great. My first on HAL and I found the ship comfortable, the ship's crew well-trained and they did their jobs as expected. The food was better than I anticipated but not as good as O probably. All specialty restaurants are a up-fee and we did not try any -- MDR was fine for us with good variety and friendly service (a bit slow as all have been last few years -- just too many tables and we remember the years where waiters could chat and provide individual services. Some of the slowness might have been that two of the table had medical reasons that seriously slowed their eating but the reward was that they were both brilliant and nice human beings). I thought the Cruise Director rather stiff and formal but the cruise itself was efficient. Fog Horn on most nights and some days -- makes you grateful for electronics on the bridge -- but it always seemed that the sun shined just enough for the wonderful scenery and fascinating shore stops. We did not miss any ports and personally not significant rain though some with less able timing did get soaked on excursions. Luck pure and simple! Cooler temperatures. Less birdlife and animal life than I expected but plenty of icebergs! Big ones too. Best whale watching EVER on sail away from St. John's Newfoundland. Pod of 60+ whales playing around the ship and breaching within camera view. Captain slowed way down and let us enjoy a special sunset with the whales (though most were at dinner or show so just a little group lucked out on this). So all in all a wonderful cruise. They say that HAL is for oldsters and there were plenty of those. But those oldsters had more energy, and intellect and travel history than most passengers on other lines have. HAL ship was well laid out to encourage conversation and sharing of puzzles and library and other interests. I summed it up by saying I thought that I got high value for my fare on this cruise. For the price point it was one of my better cruises and that means I will go back to HAL if the itinerary warrants the trip. (I am 69 yo woman, 30+ cruises on 20 lines (lots of eco tours/river/small boat cruising) and land tours on 6 continents -- so I have defined for me pretty specific travel style -- yours is probably different.)

[brazilgirl]

I replied in GREAT detail last night and then it did not post! :p What happens when you get too windy on here!

 

 

 

Rotterdam cruise was just great. My first on HAL and I found the ship comfortable, the ship's crew well-trained and they did their jobs as expected. The food was better than I anticipated but not as good as O probably. All specialty restaurants are a up-fee and we did not try any -- MDR was fine for us with good variety and friendly service (a bit slow as all have been last few years -- just too many tables and we remember the years where waiters could chat and provide individual services. Some of the slowness might have been that two of the table had medical reasons that seriously slowed their eating but the reward was that they were both brilliant and nice human beings). I thought the Cruise Director rather stiff and formal but the cruise itself was efficient. Fog Horn on most nights and some days -- makes you grateful for electronics on the bridge -- but it always seemed that the sun shined just enough for the wonderful scenery and fascinating shore stops. We did not miss any ports and personally not significant rain though some with less able timing did get soaked on excursions. Luck pure and simple! Cooler temperatures. Less birdlife and animal life than I expected but plenty of icebergs! Big ones too. Best whale watching EVER on sail away from St. John's Newfoundland. Pod of 60+ whales playing around the ship and breaching within camera view. Captain slowed way down and let us enjoy a special sunset with the whales (though most were at dinner or show so just a little group lucked out on this). So all in all a wonderful cruise. They say that HAL is for oldsters and there were plenty of those. But those oldsters had more energy, and intellect and travel history than most passengers on other lines have. HAL ship was well laid out to encourage conversation and sharing of puzzles and library and other interests. I summed it up by saying I thought that I got high value for my fare on this cruise. For the price point it was one of my better cruises and that means I will go back to HAL if the itinerary warrants the trip. (I am 69 yo woman, 30+ cruises on 20 lines (lots of eco tours/river/small boat cruising) and land tours on 6 continents -- so I have defined for me pretty specific travel style -- yours is probably different.)

 

 

 

Thank you for the detailed response. It sounds like a special cruise... The whale sighting sounds incredible. Wow!

 

I have sailed on HAL to Northern Europe and Alaska and would not hesitate to sail on them again. Sure, the luxury lines offer a different ballgame of service and food, but at this point in my life, that is not all I look for in a cruise. It sounds like we would have been very happy on any of the three cruises we were considering.

 

Which port was your favorite? Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.

[mare s.]

From someone who was on board the Insignia, July 1 from Miami to Reykjavic:

 

Seas calm, with only a hint of motion on part of one day

Food as good as ever, with service to match

Condition of the public areas was top notch, constantly being cleaned

Tender port services were outstanding, organized and without any issues

Entertainment was typical for Oceania-low key, the magician/comedian (Greg Moreland) was especially good

The bridge instructor (Judy Sonen) was as good as they come

 

We stopped at 3 different ports in Greenland and enjoyed our time, but keep in mind that Greenland is a very large country with a very small population. Accordingly, infrastructure is limited. However, the history of the native people, the Inuit, is remarkable.

 

Iceland (we spent several days there post cruise) is a truly beautiful palette of waterfalls, gorges, geysers, hot springs, icebergs, and much more. Friendly people with a Danish/Norwegian orientation.

 

If you want to see if climate change is impacting our world, an open minded look at Greenland and Iceland will do the trick.

 

My judgement: the Insignia crew executed very well and Oceania delivered what it promised. The stay in Iceland? Frosting on the cake.

 

Try it, you like it!

We are going to try it next July! But I'm wondering, did Oceania offer any excursions in Greenland or was it just DIY?

[Fetchpeople]

Yes, Oceania did have tours in Greenland. Some were walking tours, others were whale watching, etc.

 

Since all 3 ports were tendered and since all 3 were small towns (Nuuk, the capital has less than 30,000 population), we chose to do our OLife tours in other ports. In each of the 3, we did our own thing and walked/visited.

 

FWIW, Destination Services on this cruise was on the top of their game-helpful, responsive, organized.

[aussietwo]

We also did the Miami to Reykjavik cruise. Greenland was indeed the "icing on the cake". There was a great bunch of Cruise Critic people on the cruise and we had an amazing time.

 

I had arranged private tours in both NUUK and QAQORTOQ. Both were fjord cruises and were absolutely fantastic. Both local companies were very keen to please and were delighted that we were visiting their country. In Nuuk there were a lot of whales up close. In Qaqortoq we went out to the Ice Caps and went close to a glacier.

 

Paamiut was very small and it was not possible to organise tours there. Everyone just got off and did a walk around the small town.

 

The scenic cruising as we were leaving Greenland was fabulous.

 

I also like Iceland but the two are distinctively different.

[LHT28]

We also did the Miami to Reykjavik cruise. Greenland was indeed the "icing on the cake". There was a great bunch of Cruise Critic people on the cruise and we had an amazing time.

 

I had arranged private tours in both NUUK and QAQORTOQ. Both were fjord cruises and were absolutely fantastic. Both local companies were very keen to please and were delighted that we were visiting their country. In Nuuk there were a lot of whales up close. In Qaqortoq we went out to the Ice Caps and went close to a glacier.

 

Paamiut was very small and it was not possible to organise tours there. Everyone just got off and did a walk around the small town.

 

The scenic cruising as we were leaving Greenland was fabulous.

 

I also like Iceland but the two are distinctively different.

 

What was the weather like temp wise ??

What month were you there?

[mare s.]

We also did the Miami to Reykjavik cruise. Greenland was indeed the "icing on the cake". There was a great bunch of Cruise Critic people on the cruise and we had an amazing time.

 

I had arranged private tours in both NUUK and QAQORTOQ. Both were fjord cruises and were absolutely fantastic. Both local companies were very keen to please and were delighted that we were visiting their country. In Nuuk there were a lot of whales up close. In Qaqortoq we went out to the Ice Caps and went close to a glacier.

 

Paamiut was very small and it was not possible to organise tours there. Everyone just got off and did a walk around the small town.

 

The scenic cruising as we were leaving Greenland was fabulous.

 

I also like Iceland but the two are distinctively different.

 

would you mind sharing the info on the private tours....they sound terrific. I've been able to find very little on line

[Pearl64]

We just left the Nautica which went to Iceland and Greenland right after the Insignia this past July but very late in the month. There was still ice but still navigable. Prince Christian Sound was absolutely spectacular. We were blown away. Weather was perfect--sunny and warm for Greenland. The captain sent the rescue boat out to capture some ice and had it on display on the pool deck. We could hear the glaciers calving. Spectacular. It took about 6 hours to go through. We only had two port stops in Greenland but both were interesting. We didn't take any tours just walked around. Iceland was truly amazing. We had excellent tours in Akuyeri and Reykjavik. Truly amazing.

 

We did have winter jackets with us but kept shedding layers as the day progressed. As long as the sun is out you are fine. It might become uncomfortable if it rained. You may want ear warmers and gloves just in case as well as rain gear.

 

We took no ship tours so cannot comment on them. All tours taken were private and excellent.

 

Pearl

[brazilgirl]

Pearl...

 

Sounds wonderful. So glad you had good weather.

[aussietwo]

NUUK http://touringgreenland.com/tours

Our group booked two different tours. One was in a speed boat for which we were provided Survival Suits. http://touringgreenland.com/tour/5957

The second was in a closed boat. I communicated with Rosina info@touringgreenland.com

 

QAQORTOQ http://www.sagalands.com/

We had a choice of three different tours in a closed boat. In the morning our group did the Ice Caps tour. A second group did the Church Ruin tour in the afternoon. Oceania had offered the Church Ruin tour at a higher cost. My contact was Minik info@qaq.gl

 

We had good weather. A lot of ships don't get in to Greenland but the smaller ones like Insignia usually do. Both companies required prepayment, however, offered money back if the ship was unable to get into port.

[alexandra cruiser]

may use my 9 free shore excursions ,if I like them,in both Iceland and Greenland.Those you listed sounded great,but am always very leary of prepayment in foreign countries.I ve TRIED to do this on 4 occasions(1 actually worked)but others had to cancel and NEVER got my money back.Tried repeatedly ,but gave up .

 

I ll give half,but never whole amt.anymore.

 

Have sometimes just booked after arriving,and no problems YET. On a few occasions,had cruisers that DID.Came back late and literally missed the boat.Seems more in Caribbean ports,but 1 time in Oslo.

 

Glad it worked for you.Appreciate your sharing.Getting older and taking less risks,I m afraid.

[aussietwo]

Alexandra cruiser, I do understand how you feel. I approach life differently. If the amount I am going to outlay makes no difference to my future well being, I am prepared to take the risk. However, having said that, I only use companies that come recommended on Trip Advisor or Cruise Critic. The private tours are so much better than ship excursions with BIG buses, long lunches and free time to shop. We have never had a problem getting back to the ship on time as I always plan to be back at least an hour before the all on board time.

 

In Reykjavik, the very best tour is the Golden Circle. On two occasions I have used Iceland Horizon info@icelandhorizon.is. That company is payment on the day.

 

I am not a TA - just s fellow cruiser who enjoys life.

Edited August 11, 2016 by aussietwo