Cruise stop in Greenland?

[brilliantseas]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:17 AM, MadManOfBethesda said:

What's wrong with a 21-year-old ship? I'm on it right now and it is absolutely fine. Great crew, good food, plenty to do. I think it is the perfect size. Some of us don't want to sail on a ship with 5,000 people on it.  And I also happen to like the ratio of 8 sea days to 5 port days. That sounds ideal to me. It's why I enjoy transatlantic and other repositioning cruises the best. I don't much care for cruises where you're in port 5 or 6 days out of 7.

 

I can't address the overpriced aspect of your comment as I am here on a casino offer and don't know what the going rate was. Or what you consider "overpriced" for that matter. I paid $200 for my cabin and in return received $200obc + $100 in cash from the casino. 

 

100% agree. I've sailed on Carnival Legend 2x, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Celebration, and Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady in the past two years. My favorite was Valiant Lady, but my Legend cruises were likely my #2, with Sunshine and Paradise in 3rd and 4th. The brand new ship, Carnival Celebration, with all the bells-and-whistles... yeah, not my cup of tea. I'll pay more to sail on Legend out of Baltimore. 

For the OP, don't miss Alter Idem, the current band in the RedFrog Pub. They were on two of my previous sailings and are currently contracted onboard Legend until November. They are the best cover band I've experienced on any cruise line. 

[brilliantseas]

On 8/19/2023 at 3:53 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

The best line for solos would be NCL, since they have an entire section on their breakaway, breakaway plus and prima class ships specifically for solos.  The newer builds on Celebrity and RCI also have solo cabins, even some with balconies.

 

Also recommend Virgin Voyages for solos. I've done the solo studio staterooms on NCL as well, but prefer VV for the dining and entertainment. 

[luvs2beachit]

On 8/20/2023 at 3:06 PM, stobe1 said:

Do you plan on doing a review after the cruise? I would love to hear your overall thoughts and take on it. 

Me too! Thank you in advance!

[crazycatlady82]

On 8/16/2023 at 1:23 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

Not gonna happen.  It's an overpriced 14 day cruise out of Baltimore on a 21 year old ship that has 8 sea days and makes 3 port stops in Canada and 2 port stops in Greenland.  Doesn't stop in Iceland.

For the NCL Star, 10 days with 6 ports in Greenland and Iceland, we paid $3800 for a balcony with the perks (drink package, etc). We had 10% off due to a cancelled cruise…we booked the day it came out and over time, it tripled in price. Because of the weather, we missed 2 ports. 
 

So Carnival’s pricing is right in line with NCL’s old ship pricing. 

[groundloop]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:41 PM, iamsteph said:

I'm also in three different groups and wait times to tender back to the boat were 1.5+ hours.  Someone posted a video of the line. It just kept going and going and going!

 

I was in that line also, although I guess I was a little bit "lucky" in that my wait was "only" an hour and fifteen minutes at Nanortalik and 55 minutes at St. Anthony.  

 

I get that there was only one dock for tenders at Nanortallik, but they still could have handled things better, as in having more tenders running.  Yes, only one could be at the dock at a time, but there was a long delay between when each left the dock and when the next one arrive.  Once upon a time I was an engineer in industrial settings where moving the most product in a given time was critical, Carnival would do well to hire a good industrial engineer to optimize the movement of people.

 

 

[ChinaShrek]

9 hours ago, crazycatlady82 said:

For the NCL Star, 10 days with 6 ports in Greenland and Iceland, we paid $3800 for a balcony with the perks (drink package, etc). We had 10% off due to a cancelled cruise…we booked the day it came out and over time, it tripled in price. Because of the weather, we missed 2 ports. 

I'm looking at this cruise for 2025. Did you like it?

[crazycatlady82]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

I'm looking at this cruise for 2025. Did you like it?

We loved it! We cruised for the itinerary, not the ship. The Star is an older ship but was kept up well, and we had good service. Our biggest complaint was that there wasn’t very many bars open later in the evening. (Also, no pool open)

 

Just be aware that due to the weather, there is a high chance of ports being missed. We missed 2 ports out of 6, one from Greenland and one from Iceland. The cruise before us had Greenland canceled altogether and went to Norway. We loved Iceland and would love to go back; we highly recommend going for a few days and spending time there. Also, it will be cold on the ocean…we hardly ever used our balcony. We’re from Minnesota so we’re used to the cold…save some money and get an ocean view (and then bid for cheap balcony, haha). 
 

let me know if you have any specific questions! 

[Tbcrane14]

@crazycatlady82 We are going on the Greenland cruise in May 2024. We have our 14 year old son going with us. I see that you said the pools were closed. Were the hot tubs open and would you happen to know if the basketball court was open? He loves his basketball so I thought I'd ask for him.

[crazycatlady82]

3 hours ago, Tbcrane14 said:

@crazycatlady82 We are going on the Greenland cruise in May 2024. We have our 14 year old son going with us. I see that you said the pools were closed. Were the hot tubs open and would you happen to know if the basketball court was open? He loves his basketball so I thought I'd ask for him.

Hello! I can’t remember if the hot tubs of the basketball court were open. I’m sorry! We usually do a lot of walking on the top decks but due to the weather, we did not. 
 

I hope all of you have a great time! It’s definitely a bucket list cruise for sure. 

[Tbcrane14]

2 minutes ago, crazycatlady82 said:

Hello! I can’t remember if the hot tubs of the basketball court were open. I’m sorry! We usually do a lot of walking on the top decks but due to the weather, we did not. 
 

I hope all of you have a great time! It’s definitely a bucket list cruise for sure. 

Thanks so much for the response. We will look forward to it and make sure we highlight the special experience with our son.