Thoughts on Norway Itineraries?

[JsMom2]

I know I don't want to fly all the way to Copenhagen for a 7 night cruise, so I'm trying to decide between the 9 night roundtrip from Copenhagen that includes more Norwegian ports, or the 11 night one way that goes to Iceland and ends in Dover.

Any info or advice would be appreciated!

 

[jenf22]

We had the same thought so we're planning a 7-night Med on another line out of Barcelona. The 2 cruises are cheaper than the 11-night is going to be and it's cheap to fly from Copenhagen to Barcelona. How awesome does that Iceland cruise look though!?

 

[NancyIL]

I wouldn't fly to Europe just for a 7-night cruise. However, I would add days in Europe on either or both sides, and/or book a 2nd cruise.

As far as the Norway itineraries - I would choose the 9-night over the 7-night. The 11-night is good if you are more interested in Iceland and the Faroe Islands than Norway, but you won't see any great fjords on that itinerary. The ship barely spends 5 hours in Stavanger on the 11-night cruise.

 

[abacab]

What bothers me is the 4:45pm onboard times (on both the 7-night and 9-night Norway cruises). Royal Caribbean has a similar itinerary where they do 8am-6pm for Stavanger and Bergen; 8am-8pm for Alesund, and 7am-5pm for Geiranger. That's considerably longer at each port (for example, 12 hours in Alesund instead of 8hrs, 15min).

I wonder why DCL has to have us back on the ship so early.

 

[JoyB-UK]

I am really disappointed with the Norway stops on the 11 night repo, I'm surprised they didn't add at least 1 of the more northern true fjord ports. The sail in/out of Oslo is really nice. Stavanger is a nice picturesque town, but Kristiansand has nothing, we found it really dull and it's not even that scenic. I was decided on Iceland despite this but I have been thinking about the Faroe Islands and all the whale killing that takes place every summer. I think we may have to take a conscientious stand on that one and choose not to book it. My 15 year old vegetarian would be appalled if she found out what they do. So it's not for us I'm afraid.

 

[KashasMom]

What bothers me is the 4:45pm onboard times (on both the 7-night and 9-night Norway cruises). Royal Caribbean has a similar itinerary where they do 8am-6pm for Stavanger and Bergen; 8am-8pm for Alesund, and 7am-5pm for Geiranger. That's considerably longer at each port (for example, 12 hours in Alesund instead of 8hrs, 15min).

I wonder why DCL has to have us back on the ship so early.

Hi - can you tell me where you are finding the DCL port times?

 

[kmc33]

I have been wondering about the Norway stops too. We are very interested in going to Iceland so we are leaning toward the 11 night. We are also considering a Royal Caribbean Fjord Iceland cruise.

I am very torn because I would rather go on DCL. I like that it goes to Oslo and I like the idea of getting to see Copenhagen. The RCCL cruise is round trip out of Harwich (London). So that would mean no Copenhagen and it does not stop at Oslo. Also the RCCL only stops at Reykjavik in Iceland rather than the two stops on DCL.

But it is the other Norway stops I need to read about... they are completely different. Where the Magic goes ot Kristiansand and Stavanger, the Royal Caribbean ship goes to Bergen, Alesund and Geiranger. And maybe that is the same thing others are considering between the several DCL Norway cruises because I see that some of those other Norway Fjord stops are on other sailings. But we can't go any earlier in June and part of our interest is going to Iceland. I just wish at least Bergen or Geiranger was on the DCL Iceland sailing.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Hi - can you tell me where you are finding the DCL port times?

When you go to the DCL website, click on European cruises, click on the one your are interested in and then click on map, itinerary to see port times.

 

[NancyIL]

Hi - can you tell me where you are finding the DCL port times?

Go here (http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/europe/itineraries/), click on the itinerary, then click on the map to see the port times.

 

[Staceyl0u]

Does anyone know when they will release prices other than the on shown on the first page? Or release booking, and will they offer special offers for early bookings....oh AND which ship? Im guessing Magic but hoping for Fantasy!! Purely for the extra balconies.

Im excited in case you can't tell!!

Shame that there are no options that take in St Petersburg and the Fjords though. Oh well will have to do both!

 

[slindamood]

We had been planning to do the Transatlantic, but DD was hoping for a NYC departure.
After we saw the 11 day Copenhagen to Dover, we decided to bite the bullet and book that one. The stops look interesting - one of the more interesting itineraries I have seen. Even a dull town here or there is nice with DGD, a 2 year old. As long as there is a playground we will all be happy.

I am bracing myself for the sticker shock as we will need 2 cabins for the 5 of us.

I still want to do the fjords cruise sometime, though.

 

[Chilly]

Does anyone know when they will release prices other than the on shown on the first page? Or release booking, and will they offer special offers for early bookings....oh AND which ship? Im guessing Magic but hoping for Fantasy!! Purely for the extra balconies.

Im excited in case you can't tell!!

Shame that there are no options that take in St Petersburg and the Fjords though. Oh well will have to do both!

Platinum and Gold members can book tomorrow, Silver and newbies on Thursday.

Yes its the Magic.

No special prices but the cheapest prices your likely to get are on opening day.

 

[slindamood]

Does anyone know when they will release prices other than the on shown on the first page? Or release booking, and will they offer special offers for early bookings....oh AND which ship? Im guessing Magic but hoping for Fantasy!! Purely for the extra balconies.

Im excited in case you can't tell!!

Shame that there are no options that take in St Petersburg and the Fjords though. Oh well will have to do both!

The Magic is the only ship going to Europe this year and I think it is the only one that has ever done Europe. Those large balconies on the Fantasy sure would be nice!

 

[Staceyl0u]

Thank you both!

 

[KashasMom]

I have been wondering about the Norway stops too. We are very interested in going to Iceland so we are leaning toward the 11 night. We are also considering a Royal Caribbean Fjord Iceland cruise.

I am very torn because I would rather go on DCL. I like that it goes to Oslo and I like the idea of getting to see Copenhagen. The RCCL cruise is round trip out of Harwich (London). So that would mean no Copenhagen and it does not stop at Oslo. Also the RCCL only stops at Reykjavik in Iceland rather than the two stops on DCL.

But it is the other Norway stops I need to read about... they are completely different. Where the Magic goes ot Kristiansand and Stavanger, the Royal Caribbean ship goes to Bergen, Alesund and Geiranger. And maybe that is the same thing others are considering between the several DCL Norway cruises because I see that some of those other Norway Fjord stops are on other sailings. But we can't go any earlier in June and part of our interest is going to Iceland. I just wish at least Bergen or Geiranger was on the DCL Iceland sailing.

Well I was much more excited when I first saw the itineraries than I am now since I've had a chance to do a little research. RCI has 2 great cruises - the 11 nights Arctic Circle (starts at $1649) and the 12 nights Fjords and Iceland (starting at $1949). And NCL has an amaaaazing 14 nights North Cape that goes all the way to Honningsvag (starting at $1799). The ports on those 3 are either comparable or better than the DCL 11 night.... DCL should have let me book when I was excited.... And if the DCL option 11 night falls out of my 18 month window (and I'm really not sure about that) then I may just book a 7 night on the Fantasy, which was my original intention.

 

[JsMom2]

We had the same thought so we're planning a 7-night Med on another line out of Barcelona. The 2 cruises are cheaper than the 11-night is going to be and it's cheap to fly from Copenhagen to Barcelona. How awesome does that Iceland cruise look though!?

Great idea!

 

[JsMom2]

I wouldn't fly to Europe just for a 7-night cruise. However, I would add days in Europe on either or both sides, and/or book a 2nd cruise.

As far as the Norway itineraries - I would choose the 9-night over the 7-night. The 11-night is good if you are more interested in Iceland and the Faroe Islands than Norway, but you won't see any great fjords on that itinerary. The ship barely spends 5 hours in Stavanger on the 11-night cruise.

What bothers me is the 4:45pm onboard times (on both the 7-night and 9-night Norway cruises). Royal Caribbean has a similar itinerary where they do 8am-6pm for Stavanger and Bergen; 8am-8pm for Alesund, and 7am-5pm for Geiranger. That's considerably longer at each port (for example, 12 hours in Alesund instead of 8hrs, 15min).

I wonder why DCL has to have us back on the ship so early.

Thank you! I hadn't realized the port times were published, but now that I see that, it really puts a damper on my enthusiasm.

 

[KashasMom]

Thank you! I hadn't realized the port times were published, but now that I see that, it really puts a damper on my enthusiasm.

Especially because there will be so much daylight! The NCL cruise I looked at had port times up until 9 p.m.!

 

[JsMom2]

Hi - can you tell me where you are finding the DCL port times?

Took me forever to find it....

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/europe/itineraries/

 

[DahliaRW]

If it all works out, the 7-day Norwegian Fjords will be how some of us end a Scandanavia trip that my dh and I have been planning for a while! Dh likes to go to lots of places, and the kids and I get worn out being drug around city to city. We're already planning on Bergen, Stockholm, Karlskrona (relatives there) and ending in Copenhagen with my family and my in-laws. So our compromise was at the end is that myself, my daughter, my mother in law, and possibly my (then 7yo) son will go on the fjords cruise while dh, my father-in-law, and my oldest son and maybe 7yo son too go down to Belgium and France. It's perfect! And I'm super excited, and now I can't wait for dds Elsa dress to get here - going to be some great photos of her in it in Norway!!!!

So long story to say, we're not flying in for just a 7 day cruise, it's part of a larger European itinerary. It's how dh got me to agree to the whole trip after how stressful our trip to Japan he planned was!