Traveler

Day 4 - Olden 

Wow , what an amazing combination of weather and location. We woked up at 4 am as someone forgot to close the curtain, let's say for the sake of the argument (and fact I don't want to sleep in the upper deck) it was me. It's amazing how it's saw bright here at 4 am . Anyway the view was amazing.

After taken some pictures we tried to go back to sleep,  the gangway were suppose to open at 7:30 pm but since we dud not have any excursion (the one we had from RC was canceled) we did not had to wake up so early. At 7 am I was already up , since my spouse was still sleeping I got organized and went to eat and bring some food back to the room , this is the vew from the aft part of the WJ

. Around 09:30  we were ready to go , not before another coffee from the coffee shop. Embarkation was quick as most of the people are better morning persons than us. Per the very good and helpful advises of @FionaMG we waited to book our excursion at shore, it was very easy to find were they sell the excursions. Since it was such a sunny day , it was no brainer and we went with the Sky lift at Loen. It was around 90$ PP , much less than RC excursion. We waited fir the shuttle about 10 minutes , it's took around 10 minutes to arrive the lower cable car station. The view was already amazing even from the lower station.

There were no lines so we went all the way up , it took us around 5 minutes.  Up and above the view is stunning. Highly recommend in a clear sky day.

Here is our little ship

 

On the other side you could still see lots of snow , actually some of the snow at that session grows iPhone ( somehow I was responsible for that also, not for finding of course:-) ) 

There were some base jumpers with frying suites,  it was amazing watch them jumping,  sorry for not be able to deploy a video here. I sent the video on the famely what's up group saying "finally fulfilled one of our dreams" , for some reason people assumed we were jumping,  not sure why.

We started our way back,  all in all it took us around two hours.

Back on the ship we took a quick lunch before heading back to the shore. We checked if we can still take the glacier tour but it was fully booked so we just walked to Olden town enjoying the weather and the view. We stopped at the local supermarket to buy the local brown cheese which is one  the Norway typical food we wanted to try.

All is very green, 

Back to the ship my spouse wanted to enjoy the sun and have some pictures with her bathing suite withe the background of the white  snow mountains. Amazing 75 f 

 

Santorini is a lovely Island but if you have more than one big ship docking it's become too crowded .  Oia is super crowded and the cable car line can takes hours. I always try or to take excursion that goes back from the new port or we ending up sharing the the trail back with the donkey. If it's a very hot day I will avoid it . 

And that's what you see if you wake up at 4 am in Norway

Yesterday another med evacuation,  this time from the peer. I hope it was the last time.

Some good news , someone got a 32000 jackpot in the casino, the bad news , it's not me .

 

On 5/10/2024 at 10:56 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I don't know about anyone else, but I always find the Chef's Choice amenity to be so sad looking lol

And amazing how all the chef's on all the ships think the same all the time ...

Day 3 Bergen 

Morning started  slow as we were planned to be docked only on 12:30 PM. Breakfast was at the WJ , mot too crowded so it was fine. We went to take a coffee in the CL, the new machine that replaced the broken one is not as good so we took a coffee from the Starbucks again. Once again we went to play some pool.

Returning to the room we notice the water is not working , I called house keeping they told me it's all the back of the ship that dose not have water due to some emergency shutdown and it will take at least 3 hours to be  fixed , not a good news for the morning. Good that the room is not the only place with a bathroom on the ship. Of course after 15 minutes the water returns,  that time I was happy with the false information.

We started our way near the shore and strated to see amazing view from the balcony. 

The weather today was perfect around 70 f without any clouds.  This is a rare weather for this time of the year , but I will not complain. Once the gangway was opened we started our way into the city. We had tickets to the funicular which takes you up to the hill to a stunning 360 view of the city and the ports. It took us around 20 minutes to reach the station.  The line was very long but once I checked I saw there are actually two lines , one for people with tickets which was much shorter and one for buying tickets. We stand on the right line when people started to ask us about the second line . Apparently,  many people with tickets were standing in the wrong line without checking... Maybe people  thought "hey , it's a longer line it must be for something better". The train takes about 5 minutes , indid amazing view

And here she is 

We went to walk around , meet some locals 

You can do some short trips around the mountains but we decided to go down and tour the city. Bergen is a lovely city , at that time of a year they had tulips everywhere.

For lunch we went to the fish market, we shared a salmon sandwich which I thought was amazing (although not cheap) . Anyone see something strange in the menue ?

We continue to walk around the city until we decided to go back to the ship. 

Arriving to the ship we went to have some drinks in the sun . After that we decided to try and go up on the north star. As we thought , many people reserved it but only few arrived so there was no issues to join and go up. 

Dinner today was at the main dining room, it was Italian night so we both took the lasagna which, as always was very good.

Today show was the gift, after reading all the reviews about it we skipped it , thanks .  The Casino was again packed and all the few machines I like thete were taken , so I saved some money.  Tomorrow early port day.

4 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

There are no fun machines, I love it when the people/animals/dragons/crazy beings randomly come out and offer you things. There are hardly any games like that. I can play a bunch of spins and not even win twenty cents. Then there are a bunch not working, so I feel like everyone is fighting for

Same happens in the Anthem , there are very few machines that everyone likes and people are waiting in lines for them ... Not sure how they don't see it as I read so many complains about the Anthem Casino. Anyway,  better luck.

Day2 - Sea day.

The first real day if the cruise was a sea day. The watch was moved forward but it is still one hour behind our watch and I anyway still in a jetlag. So we woke up early and went tot the CL just to find out the coffee machine was broken. That was very sad news as this machine was one of the best in the fleet and had good coffee. So we took something to eat and and used one of our vouchers to take coffee at the local "Starbucks" , don't worry even with that we still did not used all the vouchers,  we are bad , very bad. Next we went to play some pool in the music hall. Love the pool tables there , advantage to the Q class. I went to the shore excursion show has one of our excursion got canceled. I must say it was very fresh to hear them talking on how to get also independent excursions,  I guess they did not had many spots left available but still it was nice.

Quick round in the casino (oh , it should have been quicker ) and we went to organized for our lunch. Few month ago I booked the Jamie's for lunch , the price was something like 12 $ so it was a crime not to book it. We did not came with much expectation as in the past it was hit and miss. Surprisingly it was very good.

We took almost most of the starters (you allow 2 for each) and my spouse got the spagiti with some sea food while I took the truffle pasta. Both were good.

For dessert I got Tiramisu and my spouse got the banana split which looked better. I cam claim bananas are pure evil and they are planning to take control of the world one day but somehow I am failing to convince people with this pure truth. Oh well 1:0 for the bananas today. 

 

After such meal a rest was required so we took a nap and later went to tour the ship , stopping in different locations to use our  drinking vouchers.

Quick visit to the loyalty ambassador to find out we missed the to tier , he was telling us "we should have seen it in the paper we had at the room" but we did not got any, so I can not give you the count report. More important we collected our glass block , finally.

Today was also the "dress your best"  night, we'll with what we packed at the last minute our best was not something to impress , but hey we are on vacation. We were still full from lunch so we eat some snacks in the WJ (it was funny as it was French night so they served some Croque Madam for dinner). We had reservations for the Spectra show in 270. We went 30 minutes before and took the front row chairs which was on the stage itself , funny experience,  I was worried I will be part of the show.  I do recommend to try it once. The show itself was nice but had the same exact numbers as the show on the Odyssey of the seas (the book) just different story frame. 

Around 10:30 PM the captain announced another med evacuation.  An helicopter arrived 10 minutes after, Hope whoever  needed it is OK.

 

After a night snack at Sorentos we called it for the day ,tomorrow our first port call.

 

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

When you say cable car, this would be the Loen Skylift, right? Did you book it through the ship?

I ask because you can get there on your own very easily. They sell tickets right at the dock that include the round trip bus transfer to the cable car and the ticket for the cable car itself. The bus runs continuously backwards and forwards throughout the day. They also sell tickets to the Briksdal Glacier if that's something you'd like to consider as an alternative (and much cheaper than Royal, of course).

If you want you can book the tickets online with Olden Adventures: https://www.oldencruise.com/shore-excursions/loen-skylift-including-transfer/ but we just waited and bought them on the day because that way, if the weather had been uncooperative, we could have done something else instead. It's very slightly more expensive to buy on the day.

I cannot speak too highly of the cable car experience. There are walking paths at the top that you can do and they have information about them in the ticket office. The views are simply magnificent.

 

 

 

There are also some small souvenir shops right by the dock with some nice stuff if you feel like browsing afterwards.

We thought Haugesund was the least interesting of the stops but there is a pleasant coastal walk that will take you past Norway's national monument:

https://www.fjordnorway.com/en/inspiration/day-trips/haugesund/walk-the-coastal-trail-in-haugesund

It's free and you can pick up a useful map from one of the shops in the pedestriansed shopping area that you pass through to get to the trail. Also before you reach the trail you will pass a cupcake shop that's worth stopping at either on the way out or the way back. https://www.jaablombakst.com/

A couple of pictures along the way:

Walla.co.il 

 

The national monument:

 

This inlet with the horse statues was as far as we went. I can't remember if the trail continues past it but you'd probably not want to go any farther on anyway. The scenery is pleasant enough but it can't compare to everything you'll have seen beforehand in your other stops.

 

 

Hope it helps.

Thank you so much for this very useful information. Yes our excursion was from RC , it was with a hood price when I booked it and in a new port sometimes I like to firt try it with the ship excursion.  Seems that in Norway it's really not needed.  Our weather suppose to be excellent,  20 C and clear sky so I think we will try to take the sky lift. 

Thanks again.

Day 1 ,

Cabins were ready at 1 PM which was better than 2 PM they published.  For this cruise we have an ocean view balcony on deck 13. I was afraid we will have some noise from the WJ which is above us but so far it's been a quiet cabin (beside maybe the baybe who was crying for few minutes during the night. I like the setting of the cabin as the bad near the balcony and far from the bathroom. Lunch was at the WJ , second lunch at Cafe 270. Nothing special to report about. The crown launch was accessible even before we got our room keys via some hidden door , we weren't the only one who found it. This cruise its open all the time for diamond and above. Don't ask me for the number of each group as we missed the top tier (they forgot to put the page of C&A in our room). We went to check the casino which was open at the moment the ship moved , or should I call it the slots museum? Never saw so many dated machines , as if all the late 90 early 2000 machines came to retire at the Anthem. Fir example , no one Buffalo machine, very strange. That of course creates a hogging issues on the very few poplar machines. I can at least report the 3 card table was good , at least I thought so when getting 777.  Dinner was a combine of snacks at the CL, Sorentos and park cafe,  we just were very tired to take a full meal. We wanted to see "we will rock you" but the show was canceled due to some technical issues. Also the balloon drop and the Eurovision party which was planned per the application, maybe because  the UK results. During the night we had an air evacuation 9f one of the passenger , she was taken to France and the captain inform that she is OK which we were happy to hear. This did not cause us any delay reaching our first port.

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Have a great cruise @Traveler.

I did this same itinerary last July on a mum and daughter cruise and it was amazing. I expect you've already planned out your port days but I'll be more than happy to share what we did if you're still looking for ideas.

Thanks ,

Port days , Bergen we have the tickets to train.

Olden , we had the cable car hike but it was canceled so we will try to find some tour when in port. Geiranger - We booked this funny electric car and we will drive around. Haugesung - we stop there only for few hours , but we might do a RIB boat tour.

Going to the port:

There are three main options to go to the port:

1. Car/shuttle services , private car will be somewhere between 140 GBP and up but will pick you from the hotel until the cruise port.

2. Take the national express bus from Victoria Station,  cost around 10 GBP PP and limits the luggage size and number of pieces you can take with you (1 suitcase included but you can pay for more) reservation required and it takes 2 hours to arrive the Southampton national express terminal which is 20 minutes walk from the cruise port.

3. Take the train from Waterloo,  it takes around 1.5 hours to get to the Southampton station. The cost is really depends , the key here is to try and purchase the advance ticket which cost around 10 GBP PP . If you wait it can come up all the way to 80 GBP.


We have booked the train when it came available but then , news started about strikes in the different train companies so just to be on the safe side we booked also the National express with option to cancel. Lucky for is the strike ended a day before the cruise so the train it was.
First we had to get to the train,  to do so we decided to take the bus which it's station was just adjust to our hotel. The bus brought is to a tube station which I knew were the elevator for this line were and two stations after we were in the waterlo station. We went on the train to find out two important things. First , no were to put your luggage if it's more than a small suitcase,second half of the train continue to Southampton and half pf it splits and go to some other place. Very important to know which cars are the right ones. Since I guessed about the luggage issues and since the 1st class cost only few more dollars, that's what we booked and it was quite empty so we could stuck the suitcase in between seats. Take it into consideration when you plan your way to the port. We arrived Southampton around 10:40 am and started to do the quite easy way to the port. It took us 15 minutes to get into the port. There were no lines at all so from arriving to the port until we got to the ship took us around 10 minutes,  very organized.

 

We landed in London this Thursday evening, our hotel was in the tower hill area . We took the Elizabeth line to Liverpool Station were we had to decide of to walk for 12 minutes or jump on the tube for a single station. Since I knew the station we needed dose not have lift I thought it will be easier to walk , once again , as my spouse gladly emphasize,  I was wrong. I guess that's what happens when you think you know the area but going out from the wrong exit. Long story short,  we did our way back to the station,  took the tube and had to carry the luggage on the stairs of the destination station. The hotel was nice, clean and modern (Indigo tower hill) it was adjust to a bus station and 2 minutes from the tube station. 

I was visiting London many times for some business trips but it was my spouse first time here. Planned to go and see all the must stop and maybe if she likes it's to come back again for longer period. I must admit we were so lucky with the weather,  it was sunny,  yes one of those rare days in London

 

WIFI ?

 

 

View to the palace

Starting a blog on the cruise day ? Can it be ? Or not starting a blog at all , this is the question (well among other). 

We really were not sure if we will male it to this cruise,  so many things happened from our last cruise and travels plans were canceled more then once (last time it was few hours before the flight) but here we are. 

To make things even more complicated I got a call two weeks ago asking me to travel to the other side of the world which will make me fly back a day before our flight to this cruise (at least it was my one condition when I agreed for this business flight). So 18 hours flight later , 3 laundry cycles and one more 5 hours flight here we are, on the train to Southampton to catch our  first ever ,Norwegian cruise .

In all RC cruises the payment a d the deposits are using dollars, even in a cruise from China.

The only thing they changed in the last 3 years is the wine , now most of it is white beside one red that comes with the filet mignon. 

Seems like some kind of a glitch in their system thar don't know to handle GTY .

Have a great cruise and Merry Christmas.

Well B&J is highly overrated,  any Italian no name ice cream place is much better,  to my opinion. No need brand name just bring good ice cream , such has real pistachio flavor. 

13 hours ago, bretts173 said:

How can you compare the 2. What right minded person would get on line now and say, yes dear let's book a cruise in Israel in July next year.

Hundreds of cruises sail the Carribbean in July each year, the likelihood of cancelling less than 1%. 

Well as I think I know the geopolitics of the region July next year is far enough for thing to be much difference, but I might be wrong . At the end of the day RCL is a business.  

On 11/3/2023 at 3:48 PM, JasonOasis said:

No they don't know what's going to be happening in the region a year from now but at least they know but more importantly their guest know where their ships will be.

Equally as important is their guest now have the information they need to either continue with the cruise, or cancel their cruise al together, and guest who've had their entire voyages canceled can decided what they want to do.  

The worst decision Royal or any cruise line for that matter can do right now is wait and see.  Traveling from the US to Europe isn't cheap at all, I'm assuming most people if they book their airfare separately from the cruise line are probably just starting to look at prices.  So yes now right now is the absolute time for Royal to cancel the 2024 season because waiting causes more problems.

With this approach Royal need to cancel all cruises in the Caribbean from July to October as it might be cancel due to hurricane and you don't want to wait for the last minute to see there is a new hurricane . People are buying expensive flights and non refundable hotels ...

Nice to see Royal already know what will be in the region almost one year ahead... Someone was very hurry to pull the trigger.

6 hours ago, steverk said:

Does anyone know if Rhapsody has a military escort for this?

Haifa port is a secure area. During this conflict Hifa itself was nearly trageted or hit. Regarding after leaving the Israeli water, I will just say that there is an American aircraft carrier cruising near the Israeli shore,  another one is already nearby. 

7 hours ago, Ray said:

Especially if the crew member is a Muslim docking in Israel... imagine having to get off the ship to assist with boarding! You would be bricking it ...

Considering that in Israel you have 20% Muslims citizens and (some of the serve in the army) I don't think there is any issues with the crew docking in Hifa.

10 hours ago, billyjobob said:

We are on the Oct 15 2023 Royal Holy Land Curse. I wonder if they will be cancelled.

Bill

Dose not look good now , but maybe something change in few days.