23 Magical Nights: Norway, Iceland, Scotland & the Baltics (with ABD add-on). UPDATED Complete!

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Howdy from Texas! Please give the kids a HI-5 from the Texas lady! Thanks for the great perspective on these cruises and the ABD add-ons. It seems that it really was not as worth it as you would have expected. I think DCL and ABD compete with each other and do not make it easy on the other. As you remember we had a big group, but we managed. I am pretty sure that my DS would have lost it with that many people. Thanks for sharing! Maybe we will see each other on another cruise. We are looking at one of the Europe cruises next year. I really want to do the Scotland ABD. Decisions decisions.... S wants to go to see the Loch Ness monster. He has his surgery next spring so we are trying to decide what to do. Hope you guys are well!
Robin

Waving to Robin!!! All well here. How are you guys? I was trying to remember how many we had on that trip? 41 or something? We did manage pretty well, but we had plenty of bathrooms (LOL) and not nearly as much bus/touring time. Scotland was awesome. My favorite ABD so far, although they have really changed it since I went the first year They removed the private plane and trip to Lewis, which was definitely a highlight. I hope we overlap on an ABD trip or cruise again, too. We are signed up for the river cruise next year, but are considering changing if I can't get some more information on logistics from them. I don't want a repeat of the add-on! I think you are exactly right about the relationship between ABD and DCL--they act much more like competitors than parts of the same company. DH kept saying they just need to play nice! Say hi to the family for us.

Californiagirl09, did you get country specific currency before you left for the trip or did you get it onboard? Thanks in advance!

I travel to Europe pretty frequently so I had GBP and Euros. I did pick up some Danish K, since we were arriving in that city and I wanted to have cash for taxis. I didn't need it, but it was nice to have. I didn't buy any other currency. I relied on my credit cards, and because I was with ABD I knew I wouldn't have many extras to purchase (like meals, snacks or taxis). Hope that helps!

 

[Calfan]

Hi, everyone. Sorry it has taken me a while to chime in. I am the friend that CaliforniaGirl09 referenced in some of her posts. My family also did the 23-night B2B with the ABD add-on for the Baltics cruise. I don't want to hijack CaliforniaGirl's trip report, so let me just say I am happy to answer any specific questions about our experience and what we did in the ports. Much of it overlaps with what CalifornaGirl09 did, but we did a few things differently, which I will highlight here.

My family did Oslo on our own, because we couldn't find a DCL port adventure that covered everything we wanted to see there (Viking Ship museum, Kon-Tiki museum, Fram museum, Stave Church at the outdoor folk museum, Vigelund sculpture park), and it was a really easy port to do on your own. We bought the Oslo Pass which covered the ferry to the Bygdoy Peninsula to get to the museums, as well as entry into all of the museums we visited. We were able to buy the pass at a store right in the cruise terminal, so it was super convenient. We also did the Hop On Hop Off Bus and bought our tickets again right outside the cruise terminal, but it turns out we probably didn't need to do the HOHO. The Oslo Pass covers the city buses which go to all of the places we wanted to visit. With a little advance research, we could easily have just used the city buses and not paid for the HOHO.

We did the same Port Adventures as CaliforniaGirl in Kristiansand (RIB boat) and Stavanger (Lysefjord Cruise), and really enjoyed both.

For the first day in Reykjavik, my family booked a private tour through Extreme Iceland to do the Golden Circle tour and snow mobiling on a glacier. This turned out to be a fantastic day. We loved our guide, who threw in a few extras to the itinerary. And snow mobiling was a blast.

I did the Let's Go Volcano and Bathing at the Blue Lagoon PA with CaliforniaGirl09 and her family on the second Reykjavik day while the rest of my family went horseback riding, and my feedback is similar.

In Akureryri and Orkney, we were on the same private tours as CaliforniaGirl, which were great.

I actually just finished writing up my thoughts (long, I'm afraid) on the ABD add-on for the Baltics cruise and posted them in a new thread on the ABD board. Here's a link for anyone interested in reading:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/12...ut-not-likely-to-book-another-add-on.3433633/

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Sure! We used these guys and they were great. http://www.iceak.is My friend handled the reservations, but they were very responsive and accommodating even when our dates in Akureyri got switched at the last minute (and shortened). We did a slightly modified tour and they gave us a reduction in price. A nice bonus was that we didn't have to pay until that day!

Which tour did you "modify" - just wondering because I might want to do something similar? Was it a private or group tour? Planning for this trip is so overwhelming.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Which tour did you "modify" - just wondering because I might want to do something similar? Was it a private or group tour? Planning for this trip is so overwhelming.

We did a private tour with another family we were traveling with (8 of us all together). I think it was this tour without the baths because we didn't have enough time (our port times were rearranged), but I'm not 100% sure. http://www.iceak.is/#!iceak-s05/c21r7 If you have time to do it all, I'm sure the baths would be great. We were slightly rushed at Godafoss, so my only head's up would be to make sure you let the tour guide know that you want plenty of time there. The cave was gorgeous.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

We did a private tour with another family we were traveling with (8 of us all together). I think it was this tour without the baths because we didn't have enough time (our port times were rearranged), but I'm not 100% sure. http://www.iceak.is/#!iceak-s05/c21r7 If you have time to do it all, I'm sure the baths would be great. We were slightly rushed at Godafoss, so my only head's up would be to make sure you let the tour guide know that you want plenty of time there. The cave was gorgeous.

Thanks so much for all of the information - there are only 3 of us so I wonder how expensive it will be - can't be worse than a DCL excursion, I'm guessing. I guess it only takes an email to find out!

 

[Calfan]

We did a private tour with another family we were traveling with (8 of us all together). I think it was this tour without the baths because we didn't have enough time (our port times were rearranged), but I'm not 100% sure. http://www.iceak.is/#!iceak-s05/c21r7 If you have time to do it all, I'm sure the baths would be great. We were slightly rushed at Godafoss, so my only head's up would be to make sure you let the tour guide know that you want plenty of time there. The cave was gorgeous.

Just confirming that Magical Myvatn is the tour we did in modified fashion. We originally booked the Fantastic Falls, but couldn't make that work when our port day was shortened.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Just confirming that Magical Myvatn is the tour we did in modified fashion. We originally booked the Fantastic Falls, but couldn't make that work when our port day was shortened.

Thanks!!

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Did you find that you needed much foreign currency for this trip?

 

[Calfan]

Did you find that you needed much foreign currency for this trip?

We didn't need much at all, except for GBP to pay our tour guide for our Leeds Castle and Dover Castle tours on our B2B transition day (but we knew that ahead of time). We brought a modest amount of Danish and Norwegian currency and more GBP and Euros as a back-up because we knew we would need them for future trips and exchange rates were good when we ordered, so we ordered some extra. We did not bring any currency for Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Russia or Estonia and were able to use credit cards for everything we needed there (with the exception of tips for our private guides in Iceland, where we used dollars and Euros). I think we also could have done without the Danish and Norwegian currency and the Euros and paid for everything by credit card in Denmark, Norway and Germany as well. Same with Orkney (we only used GBP there to tip our private guide). So the bottom line is that I don't think you need much foreign currency at all if you have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. In Russia, we were advised to use our credit card only in Disney-approved shops. We used our credit card in Starbucks, the port and a shop in St. Petersburg, and had no issue with our card information being compromised.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Thanks so much!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Did you find that you needed much foreign currency for this trip?

We did like Calfan and purchased only a few extra euros, pounds and DKK. I did the first two because I travel to Europe enough to like having those on hand, but I wouldn't do the DKK again. We were in Copenhagen a day ahead to start so I thought I might need it for cabs etc, but I didn't. Ended up having to sell back to Wells Fargo when we got home. I think the only time I "needed" cash was at the port in St. Petersburg. They did take credit cards, and it probably would have been fine, but we were warned so much about card skimming I just decided to be safe and pay in Euros for a couple of hats we bought. All the prices were in both Rubles and Euros.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

We did like Calfan and purchased only a few extra euros, pounds and DKK. I did the first two because I travel to Europe enough to like having those on hand, but I wouldn't do the DKK again. We were in Copenhagen a day ahead to start so I thought I might need it for cabs etc, but I didn't. Ended up having to sell back to Wells Fargo when we got home. I think the only time I "needed" cash was at the port in St. Petersburg. They did take credit cards, and it probably would have been fine, but we were warned so much about card skimming I just decided to be safe and pay in Euros for a couple of hats we bought. All the prices were in both Rubles and Euros.

That's great to know! Thanks!

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

I'm so sorry to bombard you with questions but what kind of footwear do you recommend for the excursions? We will be doing Iceland/Norway sailing next summer, if that helps?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I'm so sorry to bombard you with questions but what kind of footwear do you recommend for the excursions? We will be doing Iceland/Norway sailing next summer, if that helps?

No problem, happy to help! We wore sturdy hiking shoes in Iceland and were really glad we had them for some of the hikes to craters, etc. I think it depends on how active you are going to be on your excursions. There were certainly people in regular tennis shoes, etc. We wanted waterproof footwear in case it rained and for our boat excursions.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

No problem, happy to help! We wore sturdy hiking shoes in Iceland and were really glad we had them for some of the hikes to craters, etc. I think it depends on how active you are going to be on your excursions. There were certainly people in regular tennis shoes, etc. We wanted waterproof footwear in case it rained and for our boat excursions.

Good to know! Thank you!

 

[DizC1288]

We didn't need much at all, except for GBP to pay our tour guide for our Leeds Castle and Dover Castle tours on our B2B transition day (but we knew that ahead of time). We brought a modest amount of Danish and Norwegian currency and more GBP and Euros as a back-up because we knew we would need them for future trips and exchange rates were good when we ordered, so we ordered some extra. We did not bring any currency for Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Russia or Estonia and were able to use credit cards for everything we needed there (with the exception of tips for our private guides in Iceland, where we used dollars and Euros). I think we also could have done without the Danish and Norwegian currency and the Euros and paid for everything by credit card in Denmark, Norway and Germany as well. Same with Orkney (we only used GBP there to tip our private guide). So the bottom line is that I don't think you need much foreign currency at all if you have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. In Russia, we were advised to use our credit card only in Disney-approved shops. We used our credit card in Starbucks, the port and a shop in St. Petersburg, and had no issue with our card information being compromised.

How much time did you spend at the Dover Castle? Which did you like better Leed Castle or Dover Castle? We are only going to be able to do one of them....so trying to decide. thanks

 

[Rapunzel22]

Hi, everyone.

In Akureryri and Orkney, we were on the same private tours as CaliforniaGirl, which were great.

/

Hi californiagirl and calfan

Thanks so much for the trip report.

Which private tour company did you go with in Orkney and would you recommend it?

Thanks!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Hi californiagirl and calfan

Thanks so much for the trip report.

Which private tour company did you go with in Orkney and would you recommend it?

Thanks!

Hey Rapunzel22, We used Clive at Wildabout Orkney and really liked him.

 

[Rapunzel22]

Hey Rapunzel22, We used Clive at Wildabout Orkney and really liked him.

Thanks!!!

 

[sayhello]

OMG, I cannot BELIEVE that I never read this report!! My only excuse was that I was in the middle of a move then, and just didn't have a lot of my brain left.

Wonderfully detailed. I have to throw in that I did the "Golden Circle" tour when I was in Iceland this summer, and I *LOVED* it!! After 10 days in London, it was nice to get out into nature, and see such gorgeous areas. I didn't make it to any other areas of Iceland, as I only really had 1 1/4 days there, but I loved what I saw. I know it's the "tourist" thing to do, but in this case, it was really amazing!

So sorry that your experience with the ABD add-on was so poor. I'm pretty sure I've said elsewhere that this was not my experience when I did the original Med-cruise add-on, but I think that one was very much "an ABD with the ship as the hotel". I think your comment about the audiences being different may be why the focus has changed to "PA's with ABD". It's a shame. But even with that first one, the sea days were woefully empty, except for an hour here or there, and dinner at Palo.

Although I know that you've switched ABDs, I'm still hopeful about the River Cruise. I got a good deal on my cabin (50% single supplement vs. the normal 100%) which may never be offered again, so this may be my one opportunity. The river cruises are WAY too expensive to do as a single otherwise. I've heard that they've paid attention to what we've been saying, and are planning more than just 2 tracks for the excursions each day. We'll see how that goes. My biggest concern about the River Cruise is the fact that it's 160 people and 8 Adventure Guides. So even if it works out that we have no more than 40 people per activity with 2 Guides, it's not going to be the same 40 people all week, or the same 2 Guides. So I'm likely to miss out on one of my favorite things about ABDs - the feeling you get of traveling with family. The Guides get to know everyone, and you get to know everyone on the trip. We had that on my Med cruise Add-on (39 people) but I'm not so sure how it will work on the River Cruise. But I'm willing to give it a try. If nothing else, I'll find out if I like River Cruising or not...)

Sayhello