Thoughts on Norway Itineraries?

[Karlzmom]

I am very excited about the new itineraries! We have our 1st Disney cruise in August to Alaska and am worried that by then there will not be availability to do an OBB or that the prices will have gone up and will negate any savings. WWYD?

 

[abacab]

DCL has 4:45pm onboard times to accommodate early dining.

Woody

There are lots of Disney cruises with onboard times after 6pm. Most of the Med cruises, for example. Not sure why the Norway cruise is different; as someone else pointed out, the days are long and it is a shame not to be able to take advantage of them.

Remember, with a 4:45pm onboard time, you really have to plan to be back by 3:45pm (or earlier), to allow for a safety margin, and that cuts into the day quite a bit.

 

[KashasMom]

DCL has 4:45pm onboard times to accommodate early dining.

Woody

That makes NO sense. If anyone WANTS to be back to eat they can do so. Half the passengers shouldn't suffer because of that. I would rather have 2-3-4 more hours in port and order room service - or better yet, try some local food in port!

 

[DahliaRW]

I actually think the earlier boarding times might be so that the ship can leave and get to the next port. Some of the port distances are a bit long between (like Stavanger to Alesund and Geiranger to Bergen) and the ship has to pull out of port and make it to the next port early in the morning (or we'd all be ticked we were only getting a half day in the next port).

 

[woody73]

That makes NO sense. If anyone WANTS to be back to eat they can do so. Half the passengers shouldn't suffer because of that. I would rather have 2-3-4 more hours in port and order room service - or better yet, try some local food in port!

I agree. I'd rather have more time in port too.

It's too bad DCL doesn't offer flexible dining times.

Woody

 

[KashasMom]

I agree. I'd rather have more time in port too.

It's too bad DCL doesn't offer flexible dining times.

Woody

 

[JoyB-UK]

Celebrity is offering a similar cruise to the 11 night but it is 14 nights, has more interesting ports and is about $1000 cheaper. It is from Dover and back, does both Iceland ports reykjavik overnight, Faroe isles and more northern Norway ports. It's one to consider if disney pricing is too much for some and celebrity standards are very good.

 

[abacab]

I actually think the earlier boarding times might be so that the ship can leave and get to the next port. Some of the port distances are a bit long between (like Stavanger to Alesund and Geiranger to Bergen) and the ship has to pull out of port and make it to the next port early in the morning (or we'd all be ticked we were only getting a half day in the next port).

Yes, but the other cruise lines are able to offer longer port times on their Norway cruises with similar itineraries, so why not Disney?

 

[DahliaRW]

Yes, but the other cruise lines are able to offer longer port times on their Norway cruises with similar itineraries, so why not Disney?

To do a quick comparison, I pulled up RC's 8 night Norway from Copenhagen. They leave, have a sea day, then they go to Flam (8-6), Geiranger (12:30-9), Alesund (7-9), Olden (9-6), and Bergen (9-5). If you map, the ports on Norway are all really close together, compared to the further distance between most the ports/order DCL is doing (the only two close ports on DCL are Alesund and Geiranger). So going by distance, the travel time between Olden and Bergen (which RC sails) is slightly closer than Geiranger to Bergen (which DCL sails). In Bergen RCI is in port for 7 hours. DCL is in port in Bergen for 8 hours. Both return to Copenhagen the next day, DCLs all aboard time is 4:45 that day, RCs is 5. But, I also don't know if RCs times are the disembark/all aboard times like DCL lists or just the time the ship is in port. If the latter, you have to assume the morning is up to 1 hour later before they can disembark, and the all aboard must be at least a half hour before the scheduled time.

I think we're comparing apples to oranges.

I don't think it's dining or DCL being mean, it's that DCL covers ports spread further apart in Norway, rather than just a small area, in roughly the same amount of time. Now if there were sea days between some of the DCL ports, I would expect them to try to stay later in port.


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ETA, I just checked the Celebrity 7 night. They spend 8 hours in Bergen, 12 hours in Alesund, 8 hours in Geiranger, and 9 hours in Stavanger. In comparison, DCL spends 8 hours 45 minutes in stavanger, 8 hours 15 minutes in Alesund, 8 hours 15 minutes in Geiranger, 8 hours 15 minutes in Bergen. Alesund is the only stop on Celebrety that is significantly longer than the DCL stops. The others are pretty much the same.

 

[abacab]

To do a quick comparison, I pulled up RC's 8 night Norway from Copenhagen. They leave, have a sea day, then they go to Flam (8-6), Geiranger (12:30-9), Alesund (7-9), Olden (9-6), and Bergen (9-5). If you map, the ports on Norway are all really close together, compared to the further distance between most the ports/order DCL is doing (the only two close ports on DCL are Alesund and Geiranger). So going by distance, the travel time between Olden and Bergen (which RC sails) is slightly closer than Geiranger to Bergen (which DCL sails). In Bergen RCI is in port for 7 hours. DCL is in port in Bergen for 8 hours. Both return to Copenhagen the next day, DCLs all aboard time is 4:45 that day, RCs is 5. But, I also don't know if RCs times are the disembark/all aboard times like DCL lists or just the time the ship is in port. If the latter, you have to assume the morning is up to 1 hour later before they can disembark, and the all aboard must be at least a half hour before the scheduled time.

I think we're comparing apples to oranges.

I don't think it's dining or DCL being mean, it's that DCL covers ports spread further apart in Norway, rather than just a small area, in roughly the same amount of time. Now if there were sea days between some of the DCL ports, I would expect them to try to stay later in port.


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ETA, I just checked the Celebrity 7 night. They spend 8 hours in Bergen, 12 hours in Alesund, 8 hours in Geiranger, and 9 hours in Stavanger. In comparison, DCL spends 8 hours 45 minutes in stavanger, 8 hours 15 minutes in Alesund, 8 hours 15 minutes in Geiranger, 8 hours 15 minutes in Bergen. Alesund is the only stop on Celebrety that is significantly longer than the DCL stops. The others are pretty much the same.

Thanks; this is great info!

 

[jenf22]

Wish all research was this fun

No kidding! I love this stuff!

 

[JsMom2]

I am very excited about the new itineraries! We have our 1st Disney cruise in August to Alaska and am worried that by then there will not be availability to do an OBB or that the prices will have gone up and will negate any savings. WWYD?

Book now and get the opening price. Then when you are on the Alaska cruise you will have the option to cancel and rebook using OBB.

 

[NancyIL]

There are lots of Disney cruises with onboard times after 6pm. Most of the Med cruises, for example. Not sure why the Norway cruise is different; as someone else pointed out, the days are long and it is a shame not to be able to take advantage of them.

Remember, with a 4:45pm onboard time, you really have to plan to be back by 3:45pm (or earlier), to allow for a safety margin, and that cuts into the day quite a bit.

DCL's all-aboard time is about 30 minutes prior to departure time. You may want to be back onboard an hour before that, but you don't have to.

 

[Karlzmom]

Book now and get the opening price. Then when you are on the Alaska cruise you will have the option to cancel and rebook using OBB.

Thank you for the help!

 

[jenf22]

I don't know if this helps anyone (or is totally off topic), but there is an NCL cruise on June 5 that is basically the same itinerary at the June 6 Magic fjords cruise. Based on the opening price thread, a 5C for 6/6/15 on the Magic is $6500 for 2A/1C. The NCL cruise is $4800 for a Family Suite with concierge service. I'm sure a comparable balcony is much less.

You could do the NCL cruise and then still do the B2B on the Magic for the Baltics that follow, but spend the day in between in Copenhagen.

Just a thought...

 

[DahliaRW]

I don't know if this helps anyone (or is totally off topic), but there is an NCL cruise on June 5 that is basically the same itinerary at the June 6 Magic fjords cruise. Based on the opening price thread, a 5C for 6/6/15 on the Magic is $6500 for 2A/1C. The NCL cruise is $4800 for a Family Suite with concierge service. I'm sure a comparable balcony is much less.

You could do the NCL cruise and then still do the B2B on the Magic for the Baltics that follow, but spend the day in between in Copenhagen.

Just a thought...

You get Flam instead of Stavanger. 10 hours in each port (listed as arrival and departure time).

DCL seems to be the only line doing a lower fjord on the shorter iteneraries. Everyone else seems to "clump" further north.

 

[jenf22]

You get Flam instead of Stavanger. 10 hours in each port (listed as arrival and departure time).

DCL seems to be the only line doing a lower fjord on the shorter iteneraries. Everyone else seems to "clump" further north.

I don't know if that's bad or good since I know nothing about Norway. I Googled Flam and Stavanger and Flam had better pictures. But that's the extent of my research. I'll still price DCL for myself tomorrow.

 

[NancyIL]

I don't know if that's bad or good since I know nothing about Norway. I Googled Flam and Stavanger and Flam had better pictures. But that's the extent of my research. I'll still price DCL for myself tomorrow.

Stavanger is a coastal port city and not a fjord. Flam is at the end of the Sognefjord, and it and Geiranger are the two most popular towns at the ends of fjords on Norway cruises. Lucky is the person whose Norway cruise goes to both Flam and Geiranger!

 

[KashasMom]

You get Flam instead of Stavanger. 10 hours in each port (listed as arrival and departure time).

DCL seems to be the only line doing a lower fjord on the shorter iteneraries. Everyone else seems to "clump" further north.

Flam is MUCH nicer than Stavanger!! That's almost a throw away port to me.

 

[jenf22]

Stavanger is a coastal port city and not a fjord. Flam is at the end of the Sognefjord, and it and Geiranger are the two most popular towns at the ends of fjords on Norway cruises. Lucky is the person whose Norway cruise goes to both Flam and Geiranger!

Flam is MUCH nicer than Stavanger!! That's almost a throw away port to me.

Good to know since I have a deposit on the NCL cruise!