Splinter

When we were in Barcelona (disembarkation) on Princess, they provided a wheelchair lift equipped van/cab for our transportation to the airport (Princess transfer), as my mother could not climb the steps for the regular bus. Barcelona has excellent wheelchair accessible transportation as a result of the Paralympics there in the 1990s.

I also like the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro. Close to the cruise ship pier, and located in the old ferry building. If you like the history of sea-going ships and great models, this is the place for you. http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/

There is also the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which is not as big or glitzy as the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, but has nice exhibits about the local marine life, including grey whales: https://www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org/

Once had bags with the tags torn off in San Pedro. Fortunately we found it quickly before the ship left the pier.

Now I use these plastic and wire tag holders. Works like a charm:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017BVF8L6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have only been on one Hurtigruten cruise, which was on the MS Trollfjord. I loved the ship. I had an inside cabin which was plenty big for me (traveled alone). I spent very little time in the cabin (sleep, bathe, dress) because I so enjoyed sitting in the Vista Lounge, which on this ship is 2 story and gives you a great panoramic view of the beautiful scenery, and easy access to an outside deck for taking photos.  I understand it has been refurbished and redecorated since my cruise in 2015.

All rental car companies have moved from the airport to the new off-site rental car facility at the east end of the airport. If you go to the airport, you will have to take a shuttle bus to this facility to pick up your car. This is also where you drop your car when returning it. Much easier to take a cab or Uber from the port to the rental car facility directly (you can even walk it if you are up for about a 1.5 mile walk).

I believe you can still go to the Little ltaly Avis location (and they will shuttle you to the facility above to get the car) instead, but there are many companies with better prices than Avis at the rental car facility.

You could also cab or Uber to the Trader Joe's in Liberty Station for a much better selection of wines, and reasonable prices. Cost Plus is also a good place to pick up wines,  but sadly the location in the Gaslamp Quarter has closed, and the closest one would be in Loma Portal.

Hard to find, but they do exist. The third person may need to be in a bunk or sofa bed, or even a roll-away. We did both on Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and RCCL ships. Crystal does not have any accessible cabins that sleep more than 2 people.

I often park on-site at LAX when taking flights for international trips. I also use cheapairportparking.com to find a good rate. Best to book at least 10-12 weeks ahead if possible to get the best rates. I try to find something for $8-9/day, which is generally going to be outdoor secured parking (not a garage).  I have used the Fox Rental Car AutoParks parking several times, as well as Sam's Park, the Westin, and Mega Airport Parking.

I don't know of any high-end cruise ships/lines with single cabins. Most are going to charge you 200% single supplement rate; Crystal sometimes has lower single supplement rates (from 120-150%) on some cruises.

Have you considered a river cruise? Many of the high end river cruise lines have single cabins, although few in number.

I have a waterproof fanny pack that I use for my ship's card, a little money and a credit card, and even my point-and-shoot camera when I swim or snorkel. I don't travel with a cell phone, but could put one in this bag too. I bought mine at REI years ago.

We took our own large sized disposable bed pads (Chux) when I traveled with my mother. If soiled, I wrapped them in a plastic shopping bag (took those with us) and left bagged next to the trash in the bathroom for the steward to dispose of (in addition to any briefs). Certainly did not expect them to deal with these pads when making up the beds. Occasionally we had extra pads left at the end of our cruise, and rather than lugging them home, we donated them to the ship's hospital, which was always happy to take them off our hands.

On 3/17/2019 at 2:41 PM, Travel2? said:

Hallam/Splinter,

If reading correctly, you can travel by rail from Bergen to Flam by way of Myrdal; after a visit in Flam, can you continue directly to Oslo?

 

Yes, that is what I did. I took the train directly from Oslo to Bergen to board the ship, then upon my return, I booked the following 3 train tickets: 1) Bergen to Mrydal (first train in the morning; around 7:30AM as I remember), 2) Myrdal to Flam  (only had 5 minutes to make this connection to Flam; waited in Myrdal about 1 hour for train to Oslo), and then 3) Flam via Myrdal to Oslo. 

The Flam railroad does not sell specific seats; seating is first come, first serve.  Tickets for the Bergen/Oslo route go on sale 90 days before your travel, and that is when you will get the best price. Prices are better on-line than at the train station too. If your train offers Komfort class, pay the slightly higher price for this as it gives you a reserved seat at a table with power and Wifi plus free coffee and tea.  This is not available on all trains on this route (and not on the Flam train at all).

There are two piers which are using by cruise ships in San Diego. Most go from the B Street Pier, not the newer Broadway Pier. For both, from where you check-in on the pier, it is roughly 200 yards to the entrance to the ship. I would request wheelchair assistance if I were you.

I have been using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS70S for travel the last year or so. Got great photos on it on a trip to Costa Rica last spring, safari in game parks in South Africa last summer, recently whale watching in San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja, and have taken it on several cruises,  Fits in my fanny pack along with my wallet, and even can put it in my pocket if I have slacks with a pocket. You might want to consider that.

I have some friends that did the Antarctica trip with National Geographic expedition cruises in Jan. 2019, and they raved about the trip. You might want to compare that with the Hurtigruten pricing and itinerary.

I would recommend the Sea Eagle excursion, which is only available southbound.  You will be on the small boat in/out of the Trollfjord (not on the ship), but it also gives you excellent opportunities to take photos of the ship as well as the eagles.

In Oslo I bought the Oslo Pass, which gives you admission to all the museums, and also use of the excellent public transportation (buses, trolleys, ferries, etc.). I bought mine at the Visitors' Center at the Central Train Station, but there are other places you can purchase it as well. The Visitors' Center staff were also excellent is showing me routing to the sights I wanted to see using public transportation.

I had an excellent dinner at the Olympen restaurant in the Grønland area of Oslo (not far from my AirB&B): https://www.olympen.no/eng

I stayed in AirB&Bs in both Bergen and Oslo. If that interests you, I can let you know the specifics.

If you stay overnight in Bergen, then take the first train in the morning to Oslo, you can also work in a side trip on the train to Flam and back (from Myrdal) before proceeding onto Oslo. This made it a long day, but I am glad I didn't miss the beautiful ride. I booked all my train travel through the Norwegian Railway website which was very easy.

It rains a lot in Bergen, so if you get a dry/clear day, definitely take the funicular up to Mount Fløyen right then. I did this my first day in Bergen, and was so glad because my second day was cloudy and rainy and the mountain was up in the clouds (so no view).  If you are a classical music lover, I would also recommend taking in a visit to the Edvard Grieg Museum at Troldhaugen. You can take a city bus to get there.

You are only a short walk from Liberty Station which has many restaurants and a large craft brewery (Stone Brewing World). In addition, within a couple blocks of your hotel there are the following I can recommend:

Jimmy's Famous American Tavern

Pizza Nova

Point Loma Seafoods (very casual)

Miguel's (Mexican)

Old Venice (Italian)

The Brigantine (seafood)

The Ketch (seafood)

Fiddler's Green (seafood & steaks, corned beef)

Supannee House of Thai

A little further away (easy Uber or cab) is The Venetian, which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in San Diego.

I can also recommend the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.  It is a short walk from the cruise ship terminal, or you can take the historic trolley car if it is running. http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/

You should also be able to change your shuttle time reservation even if already booked and paid. You certainly can do that with Supershuttle, but I never use Prime Time, so not sure with them.

Yes, I use the CVS on-line pharmacy (CareMark, required by my insurance) with 90 day supply prescriptions, and they just ask that I notify them 10 days prior to the trip of any refills that I will need early, how long I will be gone, and they send the early refills as needed.

I never check my CPAP. Can't afford to have it lost or damaged. I take a rolling bag that fits in the overhead bin, and which I can carry by setting my CPAP on top with the strap around that roller bag handle, and then take a small knapsack which I put my purse into when checking into the flight. The roller bag and CPAP both go in the overhead bin, and the knapsack under the seat in front of me. I use the ResMed travel bag, which TSA readily recognizes as a CPAP...sometimes they hand inspect it, sometimes not. I also have a tag with my address/phone/e-mail on one side and a orange colored notice about this being medical equipment on the other. Medical equipment does not count as your carry on limit, nor is there an extra charge, as long as all you have in that bag is indeed medical equipment or supplies (don't add any clothing, etc. to that bag).

Also, although you are usually instructed to use only distilled water (which you can usually obtain aboard ship) for humidification, I have traveled where I could not obtain this, used bottled water, and never had a problem.

Assume you will be on the MS Nordlys, as that is the ship scheduled to leave Bergen on the 11 day RT Norwegian Coast Voyage on June 28, 2019. 

The MS Nordlys was built in 1994, but is scheduled for refurbishment in May 2019. This makes it one of the older ships on this route. It does have a one story observation lounge (The Explorer Lounge) which is not as spacious nor with the 2 story windows found in the newer ships like the more recently built ships such as the MS Trollfjord (2002), MS Finnmarken (2002), or MS Midnatsol (2003) which have the 2 story Panorama Lounge.

What specific questions do you have about this trip? I hope you have reviewed the extensive information already available on this forum.

I wouldn't risk the 0900 time. Book the 1130 and you won't have to worry about missing your train.

Has anyone seen the new Virgin Voyages cruise line, which is starting service from Miami starting the spring of 2020?  They are doing pricing by the cabin, not per passenger, so solos may have a great opportunity to get a single-supplement-free cruise. Limited itinerary so far (Cuba and Yucatan), but they also offer free Wifi, no tips, and non-alcoholic beverages.  I'm going to keep my eye on this.

Ship's photos are a rip-off. Outrageous prices, which you can easily beat in a photo studio ashore. Take your own camera or smart phone, and ask friendly other passengers to take photos of you if you want to have something other than a selfie.

You probably should post this on the Norwegian forum. It doesn't appear to be related to solo cruising.