TrumpyNor

9 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I need an Olden re-do!

Yes, you do. I remember you saying that Olden was one of the few places that you didn't enjoy - and that I suspect was mainly because of the bad weather... 

Torshavn, Faroe Islands

In Torshavn the only thing we had planned in advance, was to walk up to an Obelisk that was located at 19, Hoyviksvegurat  to get a nice view over parts of the town. Other than that we just walked through various residential neighbourshoods – a nice walk with lots to see along the way, and just outside of the towncenter there were many properties that actually kept beautiful "viking type" sheep in their backyard. When we came back to the harbour, we turned right instead of going back to the ship. And we are very happy that we did just that, because that led us to Torshavn old town – and it was definitely our favorite part of town, with old very colourful houses that were all well kept.

Olden, Norway.

The weather was not very good (lots of rain and wind), but since we had prepaid/booked tickets with the Loen Skylift we just decided to make the best of it. The Skylift was located just a short busride from the cruise pier, and the transport was included in the ticket.

We were brought 1000 (!) meters up to the top and the views were spectacular even in bad weather.

And then we decided to have some lunch with a view....!

Harstad, Norway.

I had done some research and new that from the old TV-tower there would be nice views of the town. We originally planned on walking up there, but to save some time we decided to take a taxi up and walk down - very happy we did that, because parts of the way towards the top was rather steep... Taxi stop was located close to where we docked, and the trip up to the TV-tower only cost NOK 170, so it was absolutely worth it...

My husband and I joined @YVRteacher on the last leg of her cruise - from Tromsø, Norway to Reykjavik, Iceland (August 4-15). Because we mostly hiked on our own in each of the ports on the itinerary instead of joining organized excursions, I've agreed with her to post some photos and tips about where we went. All the walks are what I would call "easy" walks - some of them in a bit steep terrain, but by taking regular breaks we managed it without any problems. Our experience is that there were very good walking paths pretty much «everywhere», especially in Iceland. Perhaps the following posts can provide some helpful tips for others who are going to one of these ports in the autumn or in 2024. To avoid too long posts because of added photos, I will post information about each port separately.

Weather was as unstable as only the Norwegian Sea and the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean can be – we had temperatures ranging from around 5°C to 18°C/39°F to 64°F and many of the days also offered icy winds from the north and rain. So my suggestion when cruising in these waters during the months of May-June-July-August-September to bring clothing for «all weather types except snow». We were also very happy that we had brought with us some light gloves – on those windy, rainy days they were very good to be wearing… Shoes with a waterproof goretex membran is also a good idea – especially if you plan on doing some walking or hiking tours when in the ports. In some of the ports I activated the GPS on an app on my mobile phone, to track our movement, and I will add screenshots of those as well.

This was the taxi line when we joined the que that same morning around 08.50 to get in to our hotel in Reykjavik. We waited until that time as we actually believed that at such a "late" time there wouldn't be much of a line waiting for taxis.... Luckily the rain stopped after just a couple of minutes, but it took us a good 30 minutes to get to the front of the line (well, 30 minutes is a much better waiting time than the 3 hours the guide told @YVRteacher on her bus excursion). 

PS: We also found the LOUD and EARLY announcements for disembarkment to be extremely frustrating as we originally had planned to have a good rest until around 07.00 AM that morning. 

4 hours ago, phillygwm said:

Just curious why you'd do this.  DSC may be prepaid; bar and restaurant packages have tips built into the cost.  By using refundable OBC for "above and beyond" tips, NCL is an intermediary.  There are other threads on the topic and, essentially, nobody on here knows with 100% certainty how it works, but it seems that those tips go into the designated crew member's pocket indirectly, if at all.

 

Better to bring cash for the purpose.  

I was on a NCL cruise earlier this month, and as we were very content with both the meal and the waiter we had in Le Bistro, we booked a table there for a couple of other nights and asked to be seated at that waiters station. We like to pay extra tip in speciality restaurants if the service has been very good - and this time (because of all the threads on the topic here on CruiseCritic) I asked who would get the extra gratuities if I added them on the 0,00 bill at the end of the meal - I actually asked specifically if he would get it all or if it went in to some kind of "tipping pool" and shared with his collegues. And the smiling response was the same as I have received when asked a different waiter the same question on a different NCL ship some years ago: "It all goes to me, ma'am".

5 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

So…

sometimes you come home from a trip and everything is fine.

 

Sometimes you come home and the pipe in the upstairs bathroom bursts the moment you turn the water back on at the source and you have water damage all through the walls and the downstairs bathroom ceiling and the downstairs bathroom walls.

 

 

 

Dear newfound friend! 

And at difficult and troubled incidents like that , after taken care of the problem, it is important to again turn your focus to the amazing memories you have been making over the last few weeks. And scroll through all these amazing photos and only remeber the good times! 🩷

I am already looking forward to hopefully meeting you again on a cruise in a not too distant future! 

27 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Why am I spending all this time online this morning when I should be out exploring and hiking in Harstad?

Hi.

I hope you can get off the ship soon, as this extremely slow gangway situation is totally ridiculous.... We are currently sitting on the pooldeck watching live on our mobiles a world championship womens soccer match between Norway and Japan, so didn't plan on going ashore until that match is finished anyway.

Wishing you a nice day ashore and look forward to meeting you in person tomorrow!

PS: I have been looking for your "Tromsø review" from yesterday,  but couldn't find it.... 

25 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

 

 I had an awful waiter who kept saying “so you don’t eat gluten. No bread. You can’t have eggs. You don’t eat butter.” (At no time have I said I don’t eat gluten, he has taken my order for eggs most days in O’Sheehan’s.  It was ridiculous and unpleasant and I wanted him to go away. I didn’t get the wine I ordered (same bottle) until after I had finished eating.

 

 

 

 

Thankfully we have not come across very many awful waiters, but whenever we did, we have on occations asked the Matre D' to please change the waiter, especially if the constant bad service has occured in one of the speciality restaurants. 

@YVRteacher 

Welcome to Tromsø!!!

Yes, I did what I could about the weather and managed to improve it quite a bit from the originally overcast and rainy weather forecast. 🤩

7 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Oh, that’s interesting! The reindeer I saw in Svalbard was so far in the distance and there was long-ish grass in the way so I could barely see him.

They are a "subspecie" of the regular reindeer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_reindeer

@YVRteacher Did you notice that the Svalbard reindeers looked very different from the reindeers you saw in Honningsvåg? They are more "adapted to their climate" in Svalbard, with shorter legs and thicker fur... 

12 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Things are much, much better! I love the Moderno salad bar and there’s enough there for a lovely meal (for me.) The chef at Moderno did come and offer to make something else. I told him how much I enjoy the salad bar. He said “but everything is cold.” That didn’t matter to me!

I had Moderno booked again for tonight (August 2) but then booked an evening shore excursion so had to cancel the reservation.

I eat meat, but one of my favorites at Moderno is actually the grilled pineapple with cinnamon - it is simply delicious (plus it is warm....). 

4 hours ago, tizbo1423 said:

I am going on a vacation with family and we have several cabins booked with specialty dining packages. When it comes to making dining reservations, will we all have to make individual reservations or can one person make it for the group to guarantee we sit together? There are 8 adults and a toddler, so also hoping to note we’ll need a high chair.

Just make a reservation for 8 persons, they have several high chairs for toddlers that can be added to your table, no need to ask for that until you are on the ship. Just be aware that when booking restaurants in advance, the booking system at NCL doesn't allow you to book the same restaurant twice in advance (when on board you can book the same venue as many times as you like, as long as there are tables available). So in case you want to dine at the same speciality restaurant more than once, have someone else book the second night for the whole group.

6 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

 

 

And this is how to make it yourself..... 😉

https://outside-oslo.com/kvaefjordkake/

@YVRteacher There is a supermarket chain in Tromsø called Eurospar where they sell slices of that particular cake (small plastic containers with two or three slices), with the name "Verdens Beste" written on the label.  They do have one store in the city centre. 

On 7/30/2023 at 10:33 PM, LauraAnneC said:

That cake looks like something you would get in Ireland, made with real cream. It looks delicious! 
 

Hope you enjoy your evening tour! 

23 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

It was definitely real and definitely amazing!

22 hours ago, LauraAnneC said:

OMG - that sounds amazing! 

And this is how to make it yourself..... 😉

https://outside-oslo.com/kvaefjordkake/

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Before my evening tour I had time to browse the grocery store which didn’t open until 3:00pm.  
 

 

 

@TrumpyNor and @Norwegianprincess what is in the can with the giraffe on it? The label says protein but I’m assuming it’s not powdered giraffe! Also what is the product in the middle on the left?

 

 

 

 

 

The "giraffe can" contains brewer's yeast and the product in the middle on the left is cane sugar. 😊

@YVRteacher Your live review is actually one of the best I have read, as it contains of so much detailed information plus fantastic photos from the various ports! Looking forward to getting on board for the next leg in Tromsø, but must admit that I am now a little worried about the food on board. Luckily we have a total of 6 speciality restaurants on our 11 days cruise, so I am guessing that the other 5 evenings we will just have dinner in the Asian complimentary restaurant or O'Sheehans - so definitely trying to stay away for the MDRs.....

We have done two previous cruises with the Star (12 days and 14 days), and they were both fantastic and the food was perfectly fine everywhere on board, and the service great. But that was back in 2015 and 2019 - so something must have happened since then.... 🤔

@YVRteacher Just wanted to wish you a great cruise from Reykjavik to Tromsø, and sincerely hope that you will be feeling better very soon! Looking forward to meeting you in person in a couple of weeks! 

6 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

If you want the US site you can go to app.ncl.com

 

THANK YOU!!!! Just tried it and that worked perfectly from Norway,  both on my phone and on my pc.

Yes, we always pack white clothing for the glow party (it used to be called White Hot Party "back in the day".... )

I haven't done it myself, but I simply can not see why you could not fill (and pay for) two bags on the day of the laundry special offer. You may however have to ask your room steward for an extra bag, as there often is only one laundry bag in the cabin (usually on the top shelf in the closet). But if you are rolling your clothing tight before carefully placing it inside the laundry bag, it is actually amazing how much clohting that can fit in to that bag. Plus, if your cruise is longer than 7 days then it is very likely that the laundry special will be offered twice....

5 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

2024 does us no good as we are scheduled to land there as a I said August 15th, only a few weeks away.

Aa you actually said JULY 15th in your post, I assumed that you were talking about next year....

22 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

🤞, we are supposed to dock there on July 15th. I guess there is hope, but every cruise that does not make it there makes me less optimistic. But thank you for posting that letter.

 

 

My quote was regarding the Isafjordur pier for July/August 2023! So the extension of the pier will definitely be ready for cruises summer 2024....