LilaC123

Thank you for the replies. I think I will order some from home before I travel and then get more when I reach Amsterdam Airport.

I am wondering...... would it be best for me to have my Credit Union in Canada order NOK before I leave for my Norwegian cruise or, use a bank machine somewhere close to the cruise terminal as soon as I get to Norway? We will be travelling from Canada to Amsterdam where we will be embarking on HAL Koningsdam. The first day on the ship is a Sea day and then our first stop in Norway is Stavanger. Should we wait until we get onto Norwegian soil before buying - getting - bank machining out our Kroners?

I would appreciate hearing from those "in the know" about foreign currencies. Thank you in advance.

Lila (getting too excited about this trip for my own good!!!);p

My sister and I are renting a car through Bilservice in July. I e-mailed the company and got confirmation back within a few days for our rental mobile.

It's been four or five years since we were there.

We rented a van with two other couples and drove up there, stopping at a bird sanctuary on the way. We also stopped to see the herds and stayed as long as we wanted each place.

Others took the public bus, some said you could not book ahead while others said they had a reservation. For the bus it is important to get off the ship ASAP and go catch the bus. We were docked right in town and it was an easy walk. I heard no complaints about the bus, everyone was given a timetable to choose a time for the return trip.

 

I'm not sure what ports you have but Norway is an expensive place to visit, most people researched and DIY. Prices may have dropped with oil prices, not sure.

 

We prebooked our own reservations in Geiranger for Mt Dalsnibba at a fraction of the cruise line cost. We booked our Stavanger pulpit rock cruise at a fraction of the cost. Both were within a five minute walk of either the ship dock or the tender point.

We booked our own group Flam train in advance, one person collected the money on board and got group tickets. You must choose a time in advance for both directions. You can also go stand in a same day line for individual tickets.

We booked our own activities in Bergen, Alesund, Tromso including the funicular, museums trains and boat rides.

Oh, I forgot to ask.... did you book the Flam train, the Geiranger and others on the day you landed at those ports, or before you left on your cruise? Thanks in advance. Lila

Thank you all for good information. Sammiedawg, I will most certainly look into booking excursions for ourselves after your comments. Thank you very much. My sister and I are sailing on the Koningsdam on July 9th - 23rd, and our stops seem to be the same places you stopped Sammie.

We'll be landing in Honningsvag in July 2017 while cruising on HAL. I have looked everywhere I can think of regarding information on public transit to the North Cape. Does anyone have information on the public transit instead of using the HAL excursion - which is very expensive?

Does one need to book ahead on the bus going up to North Cape if using the bus system in Honningsvag?

Thank you in advance.

Oh boy, what fabulous photos! My husband, sister and brother-in-law will be doing a South American cruise in the beginning of 2018, and now I can hardly wait!!!!

One question; you mentioned that your passport was taken away before the cruise? When did you get your passport back? I have never had to give my passport to anyone (although I do not travel as much as the rest of you all...:) ) Was nobody worried about the passports not being returned, or is this a fairly regular thing that a traveller experiences without concern? Please, ease my mind before I have to explain this to my sister!!!! :eek:

Thank you Terry for the beautiful photos of Norway! My sister and I are taking a 2 week cruise of Norway next July. We are so excited, we are really looking forward to cruising the fjords.

We let our conscience be our guide. We generally remove the auto tips and hand out tips to those who serve us. Sometimes it's more than the recommended and sometimes it's lower than recommended. We like the envelopes and a handshake.

I wonder about something regarding tipping. I do not mind tipping - I was in the service industry myself and sure did appreciate the tips. My question is (or should I leave it alone?), if my husband and I do not use the wine steward at any time on the cruise and make note of it, but still tip our $25.00 auto tip a day; would the amount that does not go to the wine steward then get portioned out to the service we did receive such as our room attendant, food servers and the like?

Or, should we just leave it alone and tip extra to those whose service went "above and beyond"?

We are not cheap and are more than happy to tip, but on the last cruise we were on 20 years ago, the wine steward got a rather large percentage of the tip pool whether we used his services or not, and our cabin person got a much lower percentage; we felt our cabin person did not get his rightful share in the tip pool, so we gave him a large tip to make up for the auto tip pooling.

What I meant was - We won't be paying 15% gratuities on alcohol - because we don't drink.... so that 15% can INSTEAD go to other staff that make our cruise comfortable such as in our room, in the dining room, the spa.... where ever else we choose to spend our time on the ship.

I'm glad to know that any money we personally give to a staff member stays in their pocket and does not go into the tip pool for the whole ship.

About spending money elsewhere, buying gold and stuff??? Do I have to tip the salesperson who sells me jewellry on the ship?

I do remember on our last cruise so many years ago, that we tipped certain staff that provided service above and beyond what we thought the norm... I am glad to know that they probably got to keep that money for themselves instead of handing it over to the tip pool.

And, we do not drink alcohol, so I suppose that will save us 15% on the booze bill which can then go instead to the other staff members that made our cruise so enjoyable, I am sure we will have an enjoyable time!!!!

Thank you for all the replies; I will not go to the bank and "buy" American Dollars, I will just leave it on my credit card that HAL has on file.

Our last cruise was about 20 years ago, so I imagine this cruise will be very different. My husband and I are very much looking forward to this holiday and I will report back on cruise critic when we return to Canada.

If I have any other questions, I will be sure to post!

Thank again.

My DH and I will be taking a Western Med cruise in 8 days. We will be on the HAL, Nieuw Amsterdam.

We are from Canada (Canadian colourful dollars!), so we will be "buying" Euros from our bank to bring along for shopping while on shore. Should we also bring US dollars to put in the tip envelopes for the end of the cruise, or does the tip come from a credit card?

What is normally expected in the envelopes, Euros, US Currency or have it all put on a credit card?

Thanks, and we are very much looking forward to our cruise!!!!