Europe - Northern Europe Cruise Reviews

This was a relaxing trip.  The ports of call were interesting and easy to navigate.  Our Neptune Suite service was gracious.  The Zuiderdam is a lovely ship with nice amenities and a very helpful staff.

Germany and Russia were the best part .Always be aware of your surroundings . a fellow cruiser was knocked to the ground while exiting a tour bus. Three guys worked as a team. He lost passport cash and credit cards. Within minutes his card had thousands charged to it.

Other than the ship just being a bit too large for my taste, we made it to each of the stops on time and enjoyed all the cities we went to.  Berlin was a knockout, St. Petersburg, Russia absolutely gorgeous and fascinating and Talinn, Estonia a lovely place to walk or bike.  Would highly recommend visiting all these cities.  The crew on the Getaway is wonderful, respectful, personable and very service oriented.  

This was something of a redemption, for those of us who had been on the prior Trans-Atlantic (which faced several disasters).  The ports were lovely, ship is nice, but receiving notice of changes in where we would dock, while at sea, is really annoying, as is the line's practice of listing ports by different names (Stockholm docks in Nynashamn). I actually called NCL to find out where we were scheduled to dock in each city, and we did not dock where we were told we would be in several ports.

That said, the ship is in good shape, the food was good and the staff was fabulous! 

After two Alaskan cruises, we weren't sure we would be wowed by Norway. Couldn't have been more wrong! Norway is simply gorgeous in its own super special way. Loved the Jade; we had a mini-suite, and it was well worth the extra money. My husband and I enjoyed the extra space and the tub/shower in bath. There was some rough water in the North Atlantic, which I expected, but this ship felt very smooth and stable. Food was great all around, but especially in the specialty restaurants. Our cabin steward was wonderful; he just took very special care of us. Shore excursions were really good - something for everyone. Kayaking for my husband, stave churches and Edvard Grieg for me. We would recommend this cruise to anyone.

This itinerary was wonderful and the views splendid. Our all time favorite will always be the Geiranger Fjord with its steep sides and hundreds of waterfalls. While there, we also visited a self sufficient goat farm which produces delectable cheeses and traveled through beautiful countryside. Stavanger and Bergen were nice towns but the fjords, mountains, pastures, waterfalls, and nature in general were amazing.

the scenery was unbelievable and the food was excellent. Unfortunately our room had no heat for 4 of the 8 days.  

We enjoyed the on board trivia daily, the easy walk into the towns, the ease of the sign up, the friendly washy-washy lady, and our room gentleman that tried to make us okay with no heat.

We like the itinerary. The IT person was helpful in getting my onboard wifi minutes. 

We love the French Specialty Restaurant with good food and great services. The Shehannon Restaurant has a good menu for comfort food. 

The desserts are fair at best at all the restaurants. The Brazilian Specialty Restaurant has the worst desserts. Selection was poor and dessert we chose was

poor. 

The cooking demonstrations need need to improve. Not impressive at all. 

Camera/photo department provides good services and Mr Kumar is friendly and helpful. 

Staff at the the reception desk needs more training. They are helpful but give out wrong info at times. I have to ask two or more people to make sure I got the right info. 

NCL's food and entertainment were first class.  Norway's fjords were extremely scenic.  The ports were excellent, especially Geiranger.  Would definitely recommend this cruise and NCL.

My favourite part was the scenery -- so worthwhile. I learned so much about Norway, and I really loved it. The Jade is well appointed with a great staff! The shows are some of the best in the cruising world. I have sailed on 5 of the best lines including Cunard and Celebrity.

The one thing that prevents me from a 5 star review is that besides the daily service charge, 18% is added to every drink served. There are no washing machines onboard though they will do it for another charge. 

Norway is a beautiful country. Most of the ports we visited were small and we were the only ship in port so there weren't the usual crowds in town. One shore excursion was cancelled because not enough people signed up and one was changed due to snow on the mountain. It was a very relaxing, no rush trip. The entertainment on HAL was not up to their usual standards but the scenery made up for it. We had booked 2 shore excursions from , supposedly at a discount, for the hop on/hop off busses. When we got to the bus we found that we could have saved $10 each if we booked directly with them on shore.

The ports of call for this cruise were the main attraction.  There are not many cruises that visit Norway.  May is just the beginning of Spring and the weather illustrated that fact.  At one of the ports many excursions had to be cancelled or modified because the roads were still closed due to snow fall.  We had two spectacularly beautiful days and two cold rainy days.  My only complaint concerns the excursions.  The excursions, in general, seemed to be much more confused for this cruise than or any of the others I've been on.  We signed up for three excursions in advance of departure, at least a month before.  We were notified about a week before departure that one of the excursions had been cancelled and an alternative was suggested.  When I went online to book the suggested alternative, it did not show up as a possible selection.  For this port we waited to board and then went to the excursion desk onboard to choose an alternative.  The person who was manning the excursion desk was positively rude to us.  She ignored our presence for about five minutes and when she finally acknowledged us she was less than helpful.  We did choose an alternative excursion.  Upon boarding the ship we received information that another cruise had been cancelled because of road closure.  We did not choose an alternative for this one.  The night before the third excursion was scheduled we received a voice mail message on our cabin telephone informing us that excursion had also been cancelled.  We ended up with only one excursion for the four ports of call.  That was disappointing.

All of the ports were great but Geiranger was absolutely wonderful. We rented a "TWIZER" small tandem electric car and drove almost to the glacier. Had to turn around almost to the top because it was so windy.

 Everything did not meet my expectation, since day one of our cruise.

Telling everyone not to book with Princess Cruise.

I had a very high expectation before I left, but got very disappointed since day one.

THE CRUISE WAS FANTASTIC.

I HAD PROBLEMS AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE I DID NOT RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT MI ELIGIBILITY TO GET O BOARD.

I TOOK THE RISK, AND FORTUNATELY I WAS IN THE PASSENGER LIST/

I DID NOT RECEIVE THE TAGS FOR MY LUGGAGE.

FORTUNATELY I SOLVED ALL THE SITUATIONS THERE, AND MI NAME WAS IN MY CABIN.

INCREDIBLE.  I CALLED 4 TIMES WITHOUT ANSWER, NO BODY KNEW.

The itinerary was fabulous!  Border control in St Petersburg was an issue on Day 1, coming back on ship...since I am a retired Air Force general, they brought me into a backroom for an interrogation while my wife had to wait outside.  The service on board was the best we have ever had, and we've been on over 20 cruises.  In particular, we would like to single out the Vines Steward, Franky Panca Septiando (unbelievably personable and hard working), the Buffet Steward at Alfredo's, Danijela Peno (our first meal on ship, and she personified the expression "first impressions last" by going above and beyond to help us settle in), and our stateroom steward, Joseph Joson (the best room steward we have ever had; prompt and courteous).  The food was average, hence the overall 4-star rating.

The ports were all great. we enjoyed the tours and i think our tour guides were some of the best we have had anywhere and were very knowledgeable we were impressed. the buffet and restaurants that were included were fair at best, Not what i expected from Princess. The specialty restaurants that were extra were worth the money. Overall i would recommend this cruise for the itinerary and price and the ship was very nice

Great cruise. A little cool but dry. the stops were great, although we liked Skagen and Estonia the best.. quaint little old towns that retain old world charm. Lots of construction in Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen

Skagen and Estonia make great walking tours and easily accessible from the port. All other ports you need HoHo bus or local bus to get into town.

St.Petersburg was interesting. You need a visa to visit Russia, HOWEVER if you book a off ship tour ( SPB  tours ) or with the ship, your visa coverage is included in the price of tour.

estonia.  the ships food was very good.   the staff very friendly.  the server was not very happy, he was the wine steward. the shows in the evening were good.

My husband and I choose the cruise by the destinations...which we're amazing! We planned excursions at every stop, which felt like we never stopped while at port. Our favorite port was st Petersburg,  the 2 day tour including lunch was amazing! Our tour guides were knowagable, and patient with the group. The only downside was the ship. We understand that the ports needed a smaller ship, but on sea days there was not much to do. The weather was windy and in the 40s.