BuckeyeMark

Did you need to do anything special to drive in Norway? Is a valid US driver's license all you need?  Is this the emobility car place you used - https://emob.no/en/?

17 minutes ago, hallasm said:

In my opinion, no difference - check when there are available tickets for the train

I don't think we can book until within the six month window.  We're a little far out still. 

Do you recommend we book this ourselves or do it as an excursion through the cruise line? Any reason not to book it ourselves?

We will be in Flam from 8:00AM to 4:00PM next May.  Should we go immediately from the ship and do the railroad and save other sites like Stegastein for later in the day or do those first and ride the railroad after lunch?  Any reason to prefer one over the other?

1 hour ago, fsufancc said:

Don't forget YouTube as a resource.  Tons of videos about each specific port stop.  

This is an excellent suggestion.  There are some really high quality YouTubers out there!  Can I ask that if you find a video or two that is helpful you post here for the rest of us? Thanks!

19 minutes ago, 3boyz2keep said:

Love an AeroPress! How do you get hot water for yours? Just thinking it wouldn't be great to walk up to OceanView with the AeroPress and then back to room. I like the idea of bringing my AeroPress though!

You can have a carafe of hot water delivered by room service.  Some rooms have a kettle or a Keurig-style coffee maker and you can get hot water out of that. That's been my go to. 

Or you can take the AeroPress to the OceanView and make a fresh cup of coffee on the spot.  I've done that too.

I do bring a small hand grinder and coffee beans.  Quick grind and ka-bang! Amazing coffee. And the AP turns is very easy to clean - no mess (especially when compared to a French press).

4 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

@BuckeyeMark

We are doing carryon only for our upcoming land/river cruise in Europe. How small is the Aeropress? I couldn't find dimensions/weight on their website. Staying in vacation rentals for 9 days in France and Switzerland, that most likely only have kettles. We are bringing Tasters Choice Dark Roast packets along, but to get a palatable cuppa takes two each!

 

Luckily the river cruise has a 24/7 self-serve coffee/espresso machine, and our Lucerne hotel has a Nespresso in the room. And at last we've reached E+ so we are set for Cafe Al Bacio for next year's Celebrity cruises.

I measured mine.  It is quite small and compact. The AP is a little over 5" long (with the piston-plunger all the way in the tube, which is how you travel with it - fully compressed) and it is about 4" wide at its widest point. It weighs 180 grams. I carry a Dopp kit which holds my AP and assorted other coffee gear easily.

I will warn you now: it makes ridiculously good coffee. It isn't complicated, it isn't hard to use, it's super simple and it just turns out great, smooth coffee.  It also allows you total control over your brew - you decide how long to let it steep, how much coffee to dump in it, etc. Here's the point: you get an AP and you may not care for instant coffee very much after trying an AP!  

This isn't an AP forum so i'll stop with my AP love, but I would be glad to help anybody further who needs more info or recipes on how to brew with it etc.  Message me at m d r 4 4 and then that AT sign and juno and then a dot and the com.

I'll join others in saying making coffee in your room isn't difficult.  Take a look at the AeroPress.  It's a marvelous, compact coffee maker that is very easy to use and clean up is a snap. It's my go to coffee maker and a joy to use and have. It's been on a bunch of cruises with me!  And no, I don't work for them!

10 hours ago, Dreamer68 said:

So, should I continue? I'll share photos from the 4 MDRs including some food choices, the theatre and some show videos (all entertaining, some more than others), the outdoor space and of course Oceanview Café. If people are interested, I can share some photos from the excursions we took (one through Celebrity itself).

Now contemplating between the Constellation and the Ascent for a 2024 Mediterranean cruise... surprisingly hard choice.

 

KEEP THEM COMING!

Carefully researching our ports of call.  We'll be in Flam Sat, May 18, 2024 - 8:00AM to 4:00PM.

Can we do the famous Flam railway to Myrdal before lunch, then go to Stegastein viewpoint, and then go to Borgund Stave church and be back in time? Or is that too much?  And we'll any of that, like Stegastein be closed by roads not clear of snow yet?

Finally, is there a private tour operator who would take me and my group to Stegastein and Borgund that you have used and is reliable?

Thanks!

I'll join in the "ask about the weather" thread here ... we'll be there in mid-May.  What's the weather like in the fjords then? How much snow will we see?

Prayers for you both.  No fun being sick on vacation!

Booking through the cruise line or through a private vendor?

This looks amazing ... I would have thought "No need to do RIB boat since we just came up the fjord on our cruise ship." But no - still worth doing?  Anyone go on this and afterward think "Meh, not so great. We just saw the fjord?"

4 minutes ago, hallasm said:

The fjord into Nordfjordeid is relativere short - i would be On uppercut deck an hour before arrival

 

Don’t miss the fjord sailing - as impressive as Geiranger.

Railway is great - tickets must be booked in advance. Also Stegastein viewpoint. 
 

Yes, be sure not to miss the waterfall. In Geiranger has some impressive view points not to be missed.

 

Do som searching for your ports of call in this forum.

So we could do a morning activity on Day 3 at 10 AM and not miss anything going into Nordfjordeid?  That'd be great.  And yes, I'm searching everything, including and especially this forum.  Thanks!

Looking like we'll be on the cruise from Celebrity that I posted as the replacement cruise so I need some additional info about these ports please.  Notably the ports where we can sked a group activity before we dock.  Some of these ports are at the end of a long fjord cruise and the whole reason we're going is to be out on deck and see these great fjords so I don't want to sked anything then. But, for example, Kristiansand looks like sea cruising so we could do something that morning?  
We're scrambling here to get up to speed in a hurry so any and all info on these ports is appreciated. "Don't miss" or "You have to" or the "The signature thing in that port is _____" are all very welcome.  Yes, I'm googling like mad but there is no substitute for the folks who have been there!  Everyone has been so helpful.  THANK YOU!
 

Day 3 - NORDFJORDEID, NORWAY - Docked: 1:00PM to 7:00PM - great fjord cruise in so nothing that morning, yes?

Day 4 - FLAM, NORWAY - Docked: 8:00AM to 4:00PM - am thinking the railway is the thing here,yes?

Day 5 - GEIRANGER, NORWAY - Docked: 8:00AM to 6:00PM - obviously want to be out on deck for sail in and sail out.  BTW, the Seven Sisters are about five miles from port. Is that about an hour's cruise away so we should for sure be there 7AMish?

Day 6 - ALESUND, NORWAY - Docked: 8:00AM to 4:00PM

Day 7 - KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY - Docked: 1:00PM to 8:00PM - could do a morning activity before port on this day?

Again, big thanks to all.

6 hours ago, CCJack said:

Also, note the 4 am Fjord viewing may actually be 5:00 or 5:30 am depending on your ship's schedule.  You may need to figure it out yourself.  On our cruise (Cunard) there was no mention or suggestion by the ship about any Fjord viewing / sail in time.   

 

How long does it typically take to sail the Geiranger fjord?  If we're sked to dock at 8 AM we'd prolly enter the fjord at ___________?

31 minutes ago, CCJack said:

I agree with all the responses...   A couple thoughts...

 

I would think a Norway cruise would be pretty appealing to most people, however, just make sure your group understands that it is vastly different then a Med cruise, mostly because Med cruises go to large cities and a Norway cruise does not.

 

As far as viewing the sail in at 4 am.... on our cruise there was exactly one person on the top deck (me) for over 1.5 hours.   The other 3000 people, including my wife, was sleeping.   The one time in my life that I was the smartest person on the boat, and probably the one time in my life that I was the smartest person in my marriage.    Don't miss it, at least for the long Fjords.    For our cruise,  the morning sailing was much more serene than the evening sail out due to wind, clouds, etc. in the evening.    You will have time to view from your balcony, plus the top deck, plus get a refill of coffee, etc...  

 

I would be curious if Celebrity is generous with their freebies for you.   If not, consider other cruiselines.   I personally really like Celebrity, but I think they owe you something besides a token discount.   It sounds like this was a business decision and not a weather related decision, and they should be considerate of their customers in this case. 

 

 

 

 

 

This is helpful.  And I may try to be the smartest person on the boat too!

It was not a weather decision in any shape, form, or fashion.  It was a financial decision - for which Celeb will pay dearly in many very unhappy customers.  But someone decided they could live with that ... over in the Celebrity forum it sure doesn't sound like they are doing much for canceled customers. We'll see if they are willing to help us a little more since we're a big group and working with Group sales, not an individual customer service agent. I would say this: this thread has made me eager to take my group to Norway!

Great info.  Thanks for sharing!

8 hours ago, hallasm said:

My assessment is subjective - also the word terrible.
From the balcony you only see one side of the mountain - to enjoy the panorama, the snow on the mountains and the waterfalls, you have to go up to the upper deck and get the full view. The morning sailing through the deep fjords to Geiranger and Flåm is, in my opinion, one of the highlights of the cruise which I enjoy from the upper deck.
However, based on the number of guests on the upper deck early in the morning, the vast majority of guests find it terrible to get up early and enjoy the view from the open decks.

This is, again, extremely helpful.  Would be good to tell my group exactly that, and then let people choose what they want to do. If folks want to get up and get the max experience they can, and I'm letting them know how to do that. If they don't, that's okay too - their choice.

QUESTION: Do you need to be on deck or is being in a balcony okay?  Obviously you see only one side of the fjord in your balcony but is that terrible? 

This is all so helpful.  Thank you thank you thank you!  We'll see if Celeb has room on the ship for us to go to Norway but I'm greatly encouraged.  Keep posting your ideas, ideal itineraries, if some other line has a great May sailing we should investigate (it wouldn't take much to say "see ya!" to Celebrity!), etc.  Really appreciate everyone here!

Had a huge church group booked on Beyond for eastern Med in early May.  Now we're left scrambling and Celebrity is offering us $100 OBC and $200 in the Retreat but no price protection of the price we had!  GRRRRR!

Celebrity decided to move their ship the Beyond to the Caribbean and so they canceled its Med cruises for the summer of 2024. Just sent us all emails saying "Sorry, you don't have a ship any more."  Didn't even replace the Beyond with a different ship so we could still go on that cruise - just canceled it. Now we need to select another cruise - and we have two weeks to do so to get some perks and goodies that Celeb is offering to "make up" for the inconvenience.  On top of that I had a big church group I was bringing on that Med Sea cruise!  So now I'm choosing for a big group ...

We are looking at going to Norway. Celebrity has a cruise in May that goes to Nordejordeid, Geiranger, Flam, Alesund and Kristiansand out of Southampton. That looks good but I need to know more about cruising fjords. Is it true you have to be up at 4 AM every morning to see the fjord as you sail into port and appreciate it?  Is everyone pretty worn out all day because of the early starts? These cruises look amazing but the cruises I have been on have been about the port mostly - the sailing was inconsequential (the ocean looks the same every day).  Norway looks like it's not so much about ports as it is about the sailing. Yes? What else should I know about these cruises before I put my group on a ship to Norway?  Below is the cruise we're looking at.  Any and all info appreciated.  We're really trying to get up to speed on this quickly as Celeb pulled the rug out from underneath a well-planned, we've got everything in place cruise and now we're starting over from scratch.  Thanks!

Really good writing, and as others have said, FUN!  Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

These reports are simply excellent!  Well done!  TAKE MORE CRUISES! WRITE MORE REPORTS!