TheoneandonlyMICAH Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 As we await the itinerary release next week, I was thinking about taking my first European cruise. I had considered the group cruise next year out of Southhampton, but could not convince my wife to pull the trigger on the booking. However, it brings up the question, what would be a good itinerary to sail on in Europe? I am interested in England, Norway, and other North Sea destinations. I would also be up for Italy and Spain. I have also told my travel agent to be on the lookout for any transatlantic sailings on an Oasis-class ship either from Europe to a Florida port (Since I live here) or vice versa. But I wanted to find out what you guys thought. I would like to do this in the summer as my daughter is in elementary school and would not want to pull her out of school. Plasticbrain 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticbrain Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 Hi! I am from Norway, and I would definitely reccommend coming here in the summer. I would say Kristiansand and Stavanger (and Oslo or possibly Bergen) are great ports of call (if available) at that time of year. If you want to do excursions of your own with kids here are some ideas that my girls (age 8 and 10) love if you go to these ports: Stavanger: Kongeparken (Theme park with a farm theme) Kristiansand: Dyreparken (Norways biggest zoo), Aquarama (aquapark in case you go on a ship without it) Bystranda/Hamresanden/Høllesanden - 3 great beaches (Kristiansand is the best summer spot in Norway, and it is like a mini Barcelona, disclaimer: I am from Kristiansand city.) Bergen: Akvariet (aquarium), Bergen Urban zoo (reptiles) - urban zoo is right next to cruise terminal Oslo- Freia (chocolate factory where you get to make and taste loads of lovely chocolate). Feel free to ask mote about specific ports and so on when you know your ports of call. -Chris- PPPJJ-GCVAB, 123Explore and JohnK6404 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheoneandonlyMICAH Posted February 8 Author Report Share Posted February 8 Awesome! Thanks for the ideas. My daughter is 9 and I am trying to get her to see other parts of the word. I am looking forward to seeing these places with her. Plasticbrain 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticbrain Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 4 minutes ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said: Awesome! Thanks for the ideas. My daughter is 9 and I am trying to get her to see other parts of the word. I am looking forward to seeing these places with her. I just posted a topic where I added things (under excursions) I forgot to say you should take her to the kings castle if you go to Oslo, and to Arendal (Arendelle from Frozen) if you go to Kristiansand. Feel free to ask when you know more about which ports you are visiting. WAAAYTOOO and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelp1446 Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 2 hours ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said: As we await the itinerary release next week, I was thinking about taking my first European cruise. I had considered the group cruise next year out of Southhampton, but could not convince my wife to pull the trigger on the booking. However, it brings up the question, what would be a good itinerary to sail on in Europe? I am interested in England, Norway, and other North Sea destinations. I would also be up for Italy and Spain. I have also told my travel agent to be on the lookout for any transatlantic sailings on an Oasis-class ship either from Europe to a Florida port (Since I live here) or vice versa. But I wanted to find out what you guys thought. I would like to do this in the summer as my daughter is in elementary school and would not want to pull her out of school. Norway is one of the most beautiful countries I've visited. We have 2 cruises booked for Norway for 2025. Would not get my hopes up for 2026 European cruise schedule next week. 2026 Europe deployment will most likely be released in October/November of this year. 2025 deployment was released in October of 2023. Plasticbrain 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus527 Posted February 8 Report Share Posted February 8 Keep in mind that RC only does transatlantics in the spring (April-ish) and fall (October-ish). You won't find one in the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelseylovestocruise Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 I have taken one European cruise in summer 2022 on odyssey it was great I loved the port but I had never seen so many rude kids on a cruise or parents not parenting. I assume this was luck of the draw and I am a teacher so I spend all day with kids they don’t normally bug me. I am doing a b2b this summer on explore of the seas through Greece and the Adriatic from Ravenna. I am looking forward to this! I would recommend. In 2027 I am hoping to do another European cruise. 2025 I already have booked with a new years cruise and Alaska. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonOasis Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 If you are looking for a summer cruise then a Transatlantic cruise is out because Royal sends the ships over to Europe in April for the European season and they return to the US in October and November (I'm doing my first Transatlantic cruise this coming November on Odyssey). I've never done a cruise to Norway it is on my bucket list and I heard it is beautiful. My husband and I have done several Mediterranean cruises on Oasis Class ships those are a lot of fun and generally they tend to be 7 night cruises on Oasis Class ships. Other ships that are smaller have longer itineraries and offer more options when it comes to ports of call. Which ever cruise you choose one thing is for sure you will not be disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan79 Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Summer transatlantic cruise isn’t going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 If you want Norway you better go in 2025 because they are putting big restrictions on cruise ships starting in 2026 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelseylovestocruise Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 I know about the Norway restrictions and I am super sad about that as I wanted to do one. It is a bucket list item for sure and I’m already in Europe with my whole family in 2027 so we were planning to do one then. We will now have to find something different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Va4fam Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 5 hours ago, Jill said: If you want Norway you better go in 2025 because they are putting big restrictions on cruise ships starting in 2026 Oh no. Really wanted to go next year but already have 3 great cruises booked so we were going to wait until 2026. Wanted to book the fjords itinerary, is that not going to be possible in 2026? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticbrain Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 They will probably change up itinerarys, because some ports add restrictions whilst others open up for more. There is also a new proposal being voted on now as to whether or not to add a tourist tax for cruise passengers (1$ per passenger or something low like that) to mitigate the pollution issue. So 2026 is not off the table but it is uncertain.. (i reckon 2026 itinearys visiting here in Norway would probably be more city focused and less fjords focused) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryansox Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 I noticed the 2025 schedule got released in October/November. My wife and I are going to be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and wanted to do a European cruise. It will be our 4th cruise ever and our first time leaving North America. We looked at the itineraries from 2024 and 2025 and seem to be leaning toward the Mediteran Ones specifically leaving from Barcelona, (traveling around thru italy and greece), ending in athens, greece. I noticed Celebrity Cruises has better and more options available for Europe, which makes me sad. We've only ever done Royal Caribbean and they have been amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyPandy Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 I have had two RCCL cruises out of Southampton recently, both on the Anthem, a great ship. But whilst they deploy the Independence there, I am sailing another cruise line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug_Texas Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 14 hours ago, Va4fam said: Oh no. Really wanted to go next year but already have 3 great cruises booked so we were going to wait until 2026. Wanted to book the fjords itinerary, is that not going to be possible in 2026? There is a phenomenal itinerary this year as a 9-day sailing (Ultimate Fjords) as a part of the World Cruise in August. However, the price has gone up 67% since we booked it last year. WAAAYTOOO and Va4fam 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Va4fam Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 7 hours ago, Doug_Texas said: There is a phenomenal itinerary this year as a 9-day sailing (Ultimate Fjords) as a part of the World Cruise in August. However, the price has gone up 67% since we booked it last year. We considered it but the timing and price escalation didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticbrain Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 If I hear more about the cruise legislation and restrictions I will let you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 On 2/10/2024 at 8:19 AM, Ryansox said: I noticed the 2025 schedule got released in October/November. My wife and I are going to be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and wanted to do a European cruise. It will be our 4th cruise ever and our first time leaving North America. We looked at the itineraries from 2024 and 2025 and seem to be leaning toward the Mediteran Ones specifically leaving from Barcelona, (traveling around thru italy and greece), ending in athens, greece. I noticed Celebrity Cruises has better and more options available for Europe, which makes me sad. We've only ever done Royal Caribbean and they have been amazing. Celebrity is owned by Royal and considered their “premium” line. It’s a more “ sophisticated” experience. No waterslides, flow riders etc. Ships are smaller. We booked the fjords for 2025 and I had Indy on hold, for a great price, but opted to go with celebrity apex because the itinerary included Geiranger and Flam, 2 deep fjords. I wouldn’t hesitate to book celebrity in the med simply because the itineraries are better and many celebrity sailings are actually lower in cost than Royal. I’ll miss my 5 free drinks a day (they only offer a couple of hours of happy hours in the evening), but being port intensive, I don’t think I’ll miss it too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelp1446 Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 6 hours ago, Jill said: Ships are smaller. We booked the fjords for 2025 and I had Indy on hold, for a great price, but opted to go with celebrity apex because the itinerary included Geiranger and Flam, 2 deep fjords. We booked Indy for August 2025 with a large group the day the deployment was released. When Celebrity released their schedule we jumped on the the Apex Itinerary with Geiranger and Flam. We love both of them. These 2 ports have been specifically mentioned as being closed to non-zero emission ships in 2026. It will be our first Celebrity cruise and we are looking forward to it. PPPJJ-GCVAB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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