LIVE from the CARIBBEAN PRINCESS 6/19/12 - Norwegian Fjords & Scandinavia

[caribill]

You cannot walk from the ship, but there is a city bus nearby. Shuttle better.

 

 

You are not usually a fan of the ship's shuttles. Why do you say this time the shuttle is better?

[Caribensun]

Hello Pia, Thanks for doing this thread, I really enjoy your writing. This cruise is on my bucket list. Glad you are enjoying the ship as we are on next year. Congratulations on being number 1 again!

Seadeck

[Princess Cat]

Hi Pia! No need to find out the name of the next Hotel GM. I found her name on a piece of paper where I had written notes about the photos I had taken last cruise. She is Melania Parnisari and takes over when Claudio Mazzoni leaves. Hope the good weather continues for you all. :)

[DonahCBrown]

Actually, there is plenty to do if you are willing to get out of town. Here is my review of a similar itinerary on the Ocean Princess in June 2010.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=69933

 

We did a private tour in Honningsvag with two of Pia's (Hi Pia!) good friends, donahcbrown and coo359a2 (Hi Donna and Tina!), plus another couple from the CC roll call.

 

One of Pia's other friends, Dorinda (Hi Dee!), and her husband were even more adventurous; they took the public bus to and from Nordkapp.

 

And Dee and John brought their own champagne to toast with - a tradition at Nordkapp - the champagne, not bringing it with you - they have a bar there where you are encouraged to order some. I thought it was a great tour, and particularly enjoyed a stop we made at a local artist's gallery on the way up to the cape, as well.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Heres a a couple of extra shots from the cams at Tromso..

 

 

[shellbeachjim]

More photos from last year...

 

Norway is expensive and alcohol is very expensive. I swear the beer was made with gold because it was about $10.50. It was quite good, though...

[JWJs]

David, thanks for the extra cam shots! :)

[Pia1913]

Good cold Tuesday morning from Gravdal, where we are currently anchored and it’s the coldest day thus far. Not looking forward to the tendering portion and won’t be sitting up top for this one. This will be a quickie, since we need to have breakfast and meet our tour at 8:00 AM in the Princess theater; a half mile away. Can you tell we’re liking it aft? :D

　

Had a good night in the casino; about time. Tina, didn’t remember the botanicals until we were back on the ship and was too lazy to get off again to go find it. Bill, shuttle is fine when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Besides which, I had no NOK and you need that for local transport. Actually, I do have 3 kroner and you know how far that’s going to get me. Jim, one of the people in our roll call group paid $12 for her beer. More inflation.

　

Movie time again today with MUTS showing The Blind Side, The Adventures of Tintin and Moneyball. In Explorer’s, the movie John Carter. Tonight in the theater; Caliente. Doesn’t that sound like HOT HOT HOT to you? We won’t be doing much tonight because we have our Captain’s Circle party at 7:15. We chose this one over the one at 5:00 which I felt was too early.

　

See you later in the day.

[wineforhealth]

We chose this one over the one at 5:00 which I felt was too early.[/size][/font]

　

See you later in the day.

 

you experianced cruisers know all the tricks

 

 

Love your live as always Pia, as I sit here in Kaanapoli watching the sunset with a glass of S.B.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[grammyprf]

Found you! Wondering how you are both doing?:) Look us up on The Vision of the Seas Jan 4 2013 would be great to chat alittle!:D Pam & Gary

 

 

 

 

 

you experianced cruisers know all the tricks

 

 

Love your live as always Pia, as I sit here in Kaanapoli watching the sunset with a glass of S.B.

[Pia1913]

Our day in Gravdal. Not. Gravdal is a teeny village on the other side of the tender dock for which you needed to take the Princess $8.00/pp one way shuttle. Inasmuch as we had a tour, we never saw this area. However, there’s a church that can be seen from the ship; the Gravdal Church, a/k/a the dragon church. It’s far away, but looks nice through a telescopic camera lens.

　

We tendered into the Gravdal pier at 8:00 AM; approx. 15 minute ride. There’s a small gift shop on the pier and internet availability. For a price. Boarded our bus (nice bus with restroom, but they wouldn’t open it) for our tour as follows:

　

NUSFJORD: We traveled through an undersea tunnel along a Bay to Nusfjord, considered to be the best preserved fishing village in Norway. It is said that the village looks the same as it did at the end of the 19th century. During UNESCO’s architectural heritage year in 1975, Nusfjord was selected for participation in a pilot project for the conservation of older wooden building settings in Norway. Archaeological finds have confirmed the existence of rorbu cabins (fisherman’s cabins) as early as 400 AD. This led to the belief that commercial fishing has been taking place in the Lofoten Islands and Nusfjord since the early Viking age. Nusfjord has its own fish landing station, and we did see a fresh catch hanging out to dry on racks. The gift shop is an original country store dating back to 1907. We were able to walk into various buildings such as an old power station, smithy, smokehouse, boathouse, sawmill, bakery and a cod liver oil factory. Now I know where that stuff came from; what my mother wanted me to take and would chase me around the house wielding a bottle of it with a large spoon. YUK!

　

Before I go further, I will tell you about our guide. He may as well not have even been there. He never told us his name, he had a book from which he would occasionally read out loud (if he could find the page) and when we got to the area above, never even told us what was where and how to traverse the area. He just told us the time to be back to the bus. When someone asked specifics, he then remembered he had maps to disperse. :mad: During our bus ride along winding, narrow moutain roads, we observed donkeys and sheep. And goats. We passed a house that had a grass roof and there were two sheep up there chomping away.

　

OK. Now on to the next venue.

　

LOFOTR VIKING MUSEUM: Again, no information and no printed material. Just instructions as to what time to be back on the bus. There was an information desk when we went inside, and we were handed earphones and a cute little attachment which we had never before seen. It’s like a small flashlight and you point it at exhibits which allows you to understand what they are saying in your own language. There was an interesting film about Viking times and you had to actually “point and shoot” the device before you sat down, in order to hear the narration in English. This museum is supposed to be at least 1500 years old and believed to have belonged to one of the most important chieftains of the Viking region. There were guides standing around in Viking costumes, mostly to direct you to the gift shop, the coffee shop and to hand out earphones. No printed material available, unless you purchased it.

　

We got back to the ship about 1:15, ready for lunch and especially some hot coffee. We were dressed appropriately, so didn’t freeze. But, that wind goes right through you. We are still fortunate to be having good weather; no sign of rain or snow and the sun peeks in and out too. On the way back, our bus driver drove us through the village of Leknes, which looked as if it had several small shops and a small mall in which to browse. We saw people walking from the pier, so I presume that’s where they were heading. It certainly was closer to the ship than Gravdal.

　

I’ll end this now since it’s time to start thinking about dressing for the CC party. We chose to attend the casual night‘s party, rather than the formal night’s party.

BTW Jim, I'll be there in October. With my SB.

[CruzinNoony]

Speaking of Norway being so expensive; on our first night in Oslo, we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant. We had 3 hambergers, 1 salmon entree and 1 diet coke. The bill was $140.00 usd. :cool:

[shellbeachjim]

Pity about your guide. It happens on occasion and it's frustrating. We've also had guides who were completely unintelligible and that's even worse.

 

Again from last year, here's a photo of Nusfjord.

[DougH]

I've really loved reading about your trip as I enjoyed my cruises thru Norway. It is a very beautiful county with friendly people. Its way too late for you but the trick in Bergen is to head immediately for the funicular and beat all of the tour buses to the top. Every time I've just walked on yet when I came back down the line was around the block :)

 

I've done the Hellyst to Gerainger overland trip twice and really enjoyed it both times. This is a pricey tour but I really felt it was worth the cost where I feel a lot of the shorter cheaper tours I feel I way overpaid.

 

Congrats on being #1, someday I hope to make it that high. I always seem to be about 6-7. I hope the rest of the trip is as much fun

 

Doug

[dottiedef]

What a hoot--- I can remember the same thing about the cod liver oil. My Mom would chase me all over trying to get me to take it. Never have been able to figure out what it was supposed to do???? Sounds like you made the best of it, even if you had a terrible guide. Had those too and it does detract from the tour! Did you bring a heavy coat for these tours or are you just in layers?

 

Dottie:):):)

[Bowie MeMe]

Enjoying your "live" very much. I love Norway and the fjords are so beautiful. On the longest day of the year I had my husband take of movie of me in the hot tub at midnight with full sunlight shining. I really liked to see the waterfalls from the hot tub -- best of memories 2001 Royal Princess and 2006 Star Princess.

 

Even the Norwegians hate the high price of alcohol! They take the fairy across to Sweden where the beer is cheaper and bring it back. The bottle tax is high in that part of the world too. As much as $1/container if you didn't turn it back into the store. Shh don't tell our politicians -- another way to raise revenue.

[shellbeachjim]

They take the fairy across to Sweden where the beer is cheaper and bring it back.

Is that the Alcohol Fairy, and is it related to the Upgrade Fairy? ;)

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

[wineforhealth]

Pia

 

I have the date penciled in for the 5th if it works out

[blueridge20]

Is that the Alcohol Fairy, and is it related to the Upgrade Fairy? ;)

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

 

 

:D:D:D:D:D Too funny!!

 

Enjoying this thread very much, I always enjoy your "Live From..."

[Carolina Cruisers 2]

Hello Pia and Mike,:)

 

We were up north for a week so I'm just catching up with your travel adventures. Thanks for sharing your cruise and we hope you continue to have lots of fun.

 

Hum ... only three bottles of wines between the two of you.:D;)

 

Hugs to both of you,

Franky and Jack

[FritzG]

What a hoot--- I can remember the same thing about the cod liver oil. My Mom would chase me all over trying to get me to take it. Never have been able to figure out what it was supposed to do???? Sounds like you made the best of it, even if you had a terrible guide. Had those too and it does detract from the tour! Did you bring a heavy coat for these tours or are you just in layers?

 

Dottie:):):)

 

It was supposed to be a good source of vitamin D. My mother was lucky; my brother and I loved it for some crazy reason.

[Pia1913]

Good Morning at sea; Wednesday June 27th. Skies are cloudy and it’s only supposed to reach a high of 52. Won’t bother us, ‘cause we have no place to go.

　

Interesting night last night. Started with the Captain’s Circle party; without the captain. We left Gravdal late, and he had to be on the bridge. So, hotel manager Claudio Mazzoni took over for him. When we received our numero uno champagne and paperweight, I whispered to him that we still did not have a cabin for the next cruise. Tune in for the outcome. The stats are:

Gold …………… 1282

Platinum ……….624

Elite ………………217

 

　

Afterwards, we went to see the comedian, Kevin Devane. Tonight’s show was supposed to be Caliente, but one of the performers got hurt and it was postponed until tonight. We had previously seen Kevin, but after too many drinks had forgotten we didn’t care much for him. Lots of old, old, material and some not a bit funny. Thankfully, only a short ½ hour show. Stopped into the casino to play MY machine and suddenly realized it was after 9 and we hadn’t had dinner. Went down to IC, got some nibblies and took it back to our cabin.

　

Looks like a boring day ahead, but doesn’t matter to us. We can relax and read. Movies today are The Sting, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Hugo. There’s another $10 (whoopee) 3 hour only sale and a pub lunch. There’s also arts and crafts where you can paint a reindeer. A lecture on The Cradle of Russian National Music might be interesting, since I know the port lecturer’s presentation on Flaam and Stavanger will not. We do have our Elite Princess grapevine this afternoon, though not sure yet whether we will attend. Tonight in the theater will be Hot Hot Hot and on MUTS; The Help. That about does it.

Dottie: When we were on the Diamond last month I bought a jacket in Alaska. If you recall, I got a bargain because it was a closeout and it was a boy’s size. Anyhow, this jacket/parka is very warm and even with a short sleeved polo it is very adequate. I also bought a scarf and gloves, so all set. Mike is OK too, because he had one he bought in SF a few years ago and he layers with it.

Will check in later. We’re having a champagne party in our “HUGE” (hahahahaha) cabin at 5:00. ;)

[caribill]

　

Afterwards, we went to see the comedian, Kevin Devane. We had previously seen Kevin, but after too many drinks had forgotten we didn’t care much for him. Lots of old, old, material and some not a bit funny. Thankfully, only a short ½ hour show.

 

 

At last, one benefit of the new, shorter entertainment schedule.

[Underwatr]

Interesting night last night. Started with the Captain’s Circle party; without the captain. We left Gravdal late, and he had to be on the bridge. So, hotel manager Claudio Mazzoni took over for him. When we received our numero uno champagne and paperweight, I whispered to him that we still did not have a cabin for the next cruise. Tune in for the outcome.

I think that's cheating... :cool: