Norwaylady goes b2b Alaska+Hawaii on Eclipse

[Norwaylady]

It’s time the get the show started!

Technically we have been on tour for almost a week already…..

So I will give you a little recap of what we have been doing the last days. 

 

But first, it’s time for a little introduction. 

We are Jarle & Alexandra (JA=yes in Norwegian) from Oslo, Norway🇳🇴

Yes, the Vikings goes on holiday😁 

 

If you want to follow this trip and other adventures from time to time on IG you are welcome to search up: al_be_ra_bo 

 

Jarle is from northern Norway and we frequently go north to visit the family. 

Jarle has also lived and worked on Svalbard for 2 years. 

So mr Norwaylady really like the cold climate. (So you understand that Norwaylady is interested in warmer climate, that’s why this b2b is perfect to please everyone🙃) 

 

So we are prepared for 4-seasons in one day and have packed for all events😉 it’s just like holiday in north Norway😅🇳🇴

 

We have been living together for 15 years and have in October been married for 12 years. We are in late 30/early40. 

We love to cruise and our favourite is X. It’s a good fit for our personality and our wishes for holiday. 

We travel 15-25.nights every year on X + weekend trips in Europe/Nordic region. 

 

Our favourite class of ship on X is Millennium class. They are older, but they have a great floor plan and just have something we like❤️⚓️ 

We have been on Eclipse before, it was actually our first ship/cruise on X, 14-days ultimate Caribbean cruise in 2014. 

Then we were sold on X. It’s the attention to details and a bit older crowd😅😉 We are young ish, but are old souls inside💃🏻🕺🏻

Edge class is nice, but we are not sold on the infinity verandas. 

 

Normal cruise season is Easter (then we like a warmer destination far away, typically 3-4weeks away) and October (Mediterranean and wedding anniversary celebration).  

 

So we are kinda into cruising😅😂🥰⚓️

 

At home we are occupied by work as a technical engineer in security solutions and as a land management consultant ( land tenure, leased land and expropriation). So Norwaylady is a engineer+lawyer specialist in real estate law🤓 So don’t ask me to sell your house😂😂 the real estate agents will be better😉

We have 2 British shorthair cats, they are our fur baby’s🐈🐈‍⬛

 

We can be anywhere from hiking in the mountains, flying balloon over vineyards, to sipping toddy’s in front of the fireplace and reading books when we are away from home🏡 

 

We have waited and waited for this trip. It’s been a long time since we booked. 

As everyone, we had lots of cruises down the drain🤥 

BUT here we are🤩

 

Planning is always under sharp control of Norwaylady. 

Mr Norwaylady just shows up and hope for a beer and a good plan😝 

(let me tell you a secret…. Mr Norwaylady packed his own suitcase one cruise, let’s just say that it was lacking… so in Savona he needed to shop a new suit and some clothes for formal and evening wear..) 

So Norwaylady had no bad feelings for booking a massage in the spa on that sailing😅😅😅

 

So as the good wife, I always check Untappd app for locations for beers 🍺 

Oh boy, Norwaylady is in trouble…. It’s lots of locations and beers 🍻 on our route😝

(Norwaylady don’t drink beer…) 

If someone wants to follow mr Norwaylady on Untappd app, search for: jarleoddvang 

 

Well, back to the travel⚓️

 

The process for planning started extremely late for our standard. 

We didn’t know if it would be possible to travel. So everything except for the cruise were not booked until June/July/August this year. 

 

Air tickets is a mixture of paid and frequent flyer award tickets. 

We are star alliance members. So we stick to them ✈️(and Norwaylady worked for SK for several years during university 7years;) 

So you will get a small review on SAS, Air Canada and United. 

 

Hotels are for the moment crazy priced almost all over the world. And I was really shocked to see some of the prices in Toronto and Vancouver. 

 

So this was a challenge to find a decent balance on price/location/comfort level. 

Mr Norwaylady really enjoy a good bathtub. (And unfortunately we don’t have one at home… So its something I try to find when we travel) 

 

The cruise b2b was originally booked for 2020…. It was call+wifi included in the booking. 

I called to upgrade to premium WiFi before departure to be able to get our elite discount. (We need it for some work;) 

 

We always cruise in balcony or concierge stateroom. (Price decide if it’s balcony or concierge) 

We have tried aqua class on one cruise in the Mediterranean, it was same price as balcony. We really enjoyed it, Blu it’s perfect for our taste buds😁

But we just can’t justify the price difference. 

YES, Norwaylady is strictly on budget and value-for-money feelings🤓😅

 

But on this cruise, we went all-in (for us)  and booked a Aqua class stateroom for Alaska and a concierge for Hawaii. 

Norwaylady needs the heated loungers to de-frost🥶😝 I like all 4-seasons and know how to get dressed, but my skeleton is not a big fan of colder climate😑

 

Shore excursions is something we normally always book private and thru cc roll call. We are big DIY fans and walk a lot. 

But due to the situation, we ended up booking everything thru X. 

So we will see if we end up happy or regretting this choice. 

 

We have been extremely strict and taking precautions to avoid covid for the last 2,5 years. This due to work and health. 

Unfortunately we went down by covid in July. It was bad for Norwaylady, not like a cold or flu. Mr Norwaylady was like a boiled spaghetti for 2 weeks. But other then that, good. 

We took pcr test to get it registered in the digital covid passport we use in Norway/Europe and we are bringing COR. 

 

We have been careful and will remain careful by using masks and try the best not to stay in crowded areas. 

 

Enough talk, it’s time to start the show🤩🤩🤩

[Norwaylady]

Days before the departure is always a bit slow….. and lots of last minute things to fix🤓

Paperwork, ESTA, eTa, ArriveCAN✔️

Suitcases✔️ 

Carry-on rucksacks✔️

Cats delivered to grandma and grandpa✔️

Hand luggage✔️

Last crazy days at work✔️

 

Some words for packing…. 

We are away for 6 weeks. 

And the climate is different in Hawaii and Alaska. 

But, it’s not the first time we are away for a long time or have totally different climate. We have lots of very cleaver clothes that can be used in all types of climate and some really light weight fabric. Jarle is a brand geek for good quality, Klättermusen offers lots of options in this category and is his favourite. But it comes by a $$$. 

Laundry service on the ship is something that comes in handy and makes it easier and laundry rooms on hotels. 

We are prepared for 4-seasons in one day🕺🏻💃🏻😎

 

So last minute price check saved us 350 CAN$ on our hotel in Toronto before departure👍🏻

Good start✔️

 

MoveUp

We have not received an email or being able to log in to MoveUp. Just got a error of more then 21-days to sailing. Even if it’s 21-days and less 

So I did send an email to the email they give in the error. It was send 15-days before sailing day. 

No reply when we left Norway. 

We wanted to see the price before we decided if we wanted to bid. 

The cruise we want to consider bidding is Hawaii. 

 

What I can say, is that a guest from the Nordic is not a priority guest😝🤣 we are always the underdog in guest count’s🇳🇴😂

So not angry or offended🙃 just very clear of the hierarchy🤣🤣🤣

[Norwaylady]

3.September Saturday 

Our flight leaves at 07.15am from OSL to ARN and then a 3.45h layover before we fly ARN-YYZ. We fly SAS/SK on award tickets business. 

So we decided to spend the night at Radisson Red OSL. 

The rooms are large and have good amenities. Good quality bed for a decent sleep. 

 

It’s walking distance to the terminal and we can sleep a bit longer😉

And we officially start the holiday💃🏻🕺🏻

[Norwaylady]

4.September Sunday 

So at 05.20 we walked from the hotel to the terminal. Bags were delivered (21kg & 19kg), eTA, arriveCan checked and boarding pass issued in 20.mins from we left the hotel. 

Another 10 minutes and we had passed security and sat down for breakfast in the SAS lounge. 

They serve a Scandinavian breakfast buffet from 05.00-10.00, bread, choice of ham, cheese, yogurt, muesli, jams, tomato, cucumber, boiled eggs, oatmeal, milk, juice, coffee, beer, soda, fruits etc. 

 

Our flight to ARN was 30.min late, they waited for late arrival crew. 

But full speed to Stockholm, so we arrived almost on time, 40.mins flying time. They offer breakfast in premium. 

Flight was operated on a A319, seated 3+3, 2 classes Eco/premium. About 1/3 full. 

For us it’s wasn’t not a problem, since we had 3.45h before next flight😌

 

We killed the time in the SAS lounge in ARN. Perfect to do some work:) 

On arrival it was still breakfast service but it changed into lunch service. So then it’s a full salad buffet multiple choices for ingredients and 2 types of soup. One vegetarian and one other either meat/chicken/fish style. Fresh fruits and some bakery items. 

You have more choices for drinks/wine and they have snacks available. 

 

Flight to Toronto was a A321 Long Range, flight time is 8h 10min. 

It has 3 classes Biz/Premium/Eco. Seats are 1/2 Biz, 2+2 premium and 3+3 economy. Flight was fully booked. 

We are seated in 3A+C Biz. 

Service was good Scandinavian style. 

It’s 2servings, a lunch/dinner 3-course+cheese and a smørbrød 1,5h before arrival since this is a day flight. All food is from the Nordic region/Scandinavian. 

Great crew and good attention to details. All in all a good flight✈️ 

The weakest point at SAS long haul is the entertainment system. Compared to SQ/TG/TK they need to step up the game. 

It’s a personal screen in all seats and you can choose between movies, tv shows, games etc but it’s not many new movies to watch compared to the airlines listed above. 

 

Arrival on schedule and a super fast process for immigration and bag delivery All finished in 20.minutes. 

All bags arrived🇨🇦

 

Unfortunately, Mr Norwaylady was selected as random test person….. the email arrived 13.mins after arrival. 

But, we both had covid in late July AND took pcr test. So we had to call the number and follow the instructions for registration of positiv pcr test to avoid test on arrival. 

 

We took a lyft from the airport to our hotel.  It was a easy 25.min ride. 

We are staying in Pan Pacific Toronto. 

This hotel is not in the city centre, but price was 1/3 of city centre hotels.

Okay first impression, large room and balcony. Has a pool outside and walking distance to several restaurants and shops 

Cover our needs for our stay. 

 

We took a walk around the area and stopped by the grocery store before we returned home. 

Then we “played” the game don’t fall asleep to early😝

[Norwaylady]

5.September Monday

 

After a good night of sleep, we did wake up at 05.30. That’s a decent time, since we are 6h ahead of the Toronto time at home🙃 

Since it’s Labour day, we knew that a lot of stores and cafes might be closed. 

 

Today plans: a bicycle tour in downtown Toronto in the morning/mid day. 

Dinner & classic symphony concert in the gardens of Casa Loma. 

 

We started the day by a walk from Pan Pacific to Don Mills metro station. It’s a  decent flat walk. 

We took the metro to downtown and found the bicycle tour starting point. 

We were a group of 13 guests+2 guides. 

Our tour went on bike in downtown. Some of the places we visited: Chinatown, CN tower in front, Sugarbeach, different parks, the TORONTO letters in the front of the new and old town hall, King Edward hotel etc. It’s a good way to navigate and located how the city works. Perfect first activity to get a quick view of the city before you explore on your own. It was a 3,5h ride and it’s very easy/no hills. 

We had a flat tire situation on a bike about halfway. No problem, 3.minutes, tire off/on and replaced the old. Great service and very professional. 

 

After the trip, we decided to return to our hotel. It’s a 59.minute commute from downtown to Pan Pacific on metro 1+bus 95/121. 

We needed to change clothes for dinner and take a dip in the pool to relax😎

We ordered a lyft at 16.00 and arrived at Casa Loma 16.45. So a little waiting on arrival before we were seated. 

 

Our dinner reservation at BlueBlood, Casa Loma was at 17.00. So 2.5h before the concert. We had booked the vip concert tickets. So that’s 3-course set menu+seats in the glasshouse front rows to the orchestra. 

Dinner was excellent, great service and good menu options. 

Strongly recommend to book dinner 2-2,5h before concert. We were fishing our dessert at 19.00. 

 

Concert was great, it was a Disney/Dream works themed concert. So everyone knew all songs well and music in movies are the cherry on the top;) 

The concert ended around 21.30, so we ordered a lyft and was picked up in 5.mins. We returned safe and tired at the hotel after 25.mins and walked straight to bed. 

[Norwaylady]

6.September Tuesday 

 

So today was a “open” day in the planning. If weather was cooperating, we wanted to go to Toronto Islands. 

 

Well, rise & shine. The sun was up when I opened my eyes 07.30. So Toronto Islands it is😎 beach towels and swimsuit in the backpack, off we go. 

 

We took the commute to downtown and went to Longo’s for shopping before we left for the island’s. 

We shopped for a full picnic on the islands, so we could spend the day. 

 

At 11.15 we took the ferry to Center Island. It’s a beautiful cruise crossing the waterfront to the islands. It was Cristal blue clear skyline. So perfect🤩 

We walked from the docking to the pier (number 17 on the islands map) and then we walked down on Manitou Beach, located a nice table and we had breakfast/lunch picnic. 

After the picnic, we walked onward on the beach to Hanlan’s point and then crossed over to Hanlan’s point ferry dock and the statues (27+28). We had a little break on the benches overlooking to Toronto skyline and watching airplanes taking off from the island airport. 

When we where ready, we started to walk back to central island. We did follow the road passing Block house Bay, passing Gibraltar Light house and continue onward in direction of Wards Island. We choose to walk by the ocean on the plank track. Beautiful scenery for our walk. 

On Wards Island we wanted to have an ice cream and some coffee. So we walked to the Island cafe and got a really good homemade ice cream of strawberry. Together by some hot coffee. 

 

After the little ice cream stop, we went down to Ward’s Island beach. Beautiful sand and perfect wind for a beach break. 

We took a dip in the lake and had some fresh fruit and vegetables for snack. 

At 17.30 we packed up and went to the ferry that was leaving at 17.45. 

And again, beautiful view from the islands to the city. 

We stopped by Longo’s for some salad for dinner and some cold drinks to enjoy later. 

Then it was back to Pan Pacific and time for a shower and a relaxing night at the hotel. 

Mr Norwaylady was going to take a bath in the showertub…. Maybe a bit to small. But the ducks were happy🦆🦆

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Norwaylady
Picture failure

[Ken the cruiser]

You know I have to follow along!! 😂 
 

BTW we’ll be on the Eclipse next Spring for 30 days from Sydney to Vancouver and are looking forward to your insights as we need to stay on top of what’s happening on the ship!!  Have a great cruise and here’s hoping you’ll see some more Northern Lights over Alaska while you’re there!!  😂😂

[megfla]

Have a great trip!  I look forward to following along!

 

My wife and I will be doing the Hawaii to Vancouver and Alaska B2B, when it returns in May!

[Norwaylady]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

You know I have to follow along!! 😂 
 

BTW we’ll be on the Eclipse next Spring for 30 days from Sydney to Vancouver and are looking forward to your insights as we need to stay on top of what’s happening on the ship!!  Have a great cruise and here’s hoping you’ll see some more Northern Lights over Alaska while you’re there!!  😂😂

welcome🤩

 

I hope the weather will cooperate for northern lights🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I really hope for some good pictures😌
I know it’s been good the last 10-days. So fingers crossed😇 

 

I will post up-to-date later tonight. 
We have arrived in Vancouver🇨🇦

[Norwaylady]

5 minutes ago, megfla said:

Have a great trip!  I look forward to following along!

 

My wife and I will be doing the Hawaii to Vancouver and Alaska B2B, when it returns in May!

Welcome🙃

 

[peanut head]

Fantastic review so far!  Have a wonderful and safe trip--bon voyage!

[Lastdance]

I am enjoying your perspective and hope your travels are safe, full of positive experiences and great memories!

[Norwaylady]

1 hour ago, megfla said:

Have a great trip!  I look forward to following along!

 

My wife and I will be doing the Hawaii to Vancouver and Alaska B2B, when it returns in May!

Welcome🙃

 

[Norwaylady]

7.September Wednesday 

 

So today we have a dinner at CN-tower at 18.30. Just in time for the sunset. Hopefully the weather is cooperating. 

We have made plans on the go and decided that today,  we will have breakfast at St. Lawrence market and visit Art Gallery of Ontario. 

 

We left from our hotel at 8.35, so just in rush hour of first day of school after the summer holidays…

We arrived at St Lawrence market around 9.40 ish. It opens at 9.00. It was still quiet, but perfect for a walk around to have a look and plan today’s breakfast options:) 

Lots of great ingredients to cook the ultimate dinner at home. 

 

Mr Norwaylady discovered that they had a great selection of oysters in the fish area. So oysters started the breakfast😋 3 oysters was opened and served, cheers to a great day! 

 

Happy to see that they had Norwegian brow cheese on the market. (Pricey$$ and tiny) But so worth it for my Norwegian waffles😍 (that’s one of the things I miss most when I’m been living abroad and travel) 

After roaming around the first floor, we went down to explore some more. 3 oysters is not a full breakfast. 

We needed some coffee, so the Italian store downstairs has Italian coffee to go☕️ and their neighbour are the bakery. So macchiato and a croissant please🙃

 

After a walk through the choices, mr Norwaylady decided that some Chinese food was perfect to end our breakfast. So we ordered pork dumplings and noodles vegetarian. We took them to the outside area and enjoyed the food out in the sun. 

The dumplings were delicious. 

 

After finishing up our breakfast, it was time to walk to the museum, AGO. 

It’s a great walk in the city centre and you have time to enjoy the streets and sight lines. 

We had pre booked tickets online, so we just scanned and walked straight inside. The museum is large and the building is really a architectural treat for construction. The exhibition offers a wide variety of paintings and artworks. 

The mirror room was fun. 

We spent around 4h at the museum. 

 

When we were leaving it was around 2,5h until our dinner reservation at CN-tower. 

So we had plenty of time to walk around and enjoy life out in the sun. 

At 18.05 we started the process to enter CN Tower. We were up in the restaurant at 18.30. All guests for dinner had a private elevator up. It takes 61 seconds from ground to the restaurant. 

We were seated at a lovely window table for 2. 

OMG, that view🤩🤩🤩 

The weather conditions was perfect and you really get a bird’s eye view of Toronto. 

The restaurant is turning 360’ in 60. Minutes. So for dinner service, you are doing 2 rounds +. 

We decided to go for 3-course chefs menu. 

We ordered some drinks and just enjoyed the view. 

Since Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a neighbour, you have a perfect view on taxi/take-off and landing. 

 

Starters arrived, fish. Really good, perfect balance. 

Main was bison steak. Perfectly grilled and good sides. 

The sun was starting to go down and the moon was starting to be visible. A perfect setting. 

Dessert was good, not to sweet and perfectly crispy. Really a good ending of our dinner as the sun had gone down. 

After dinner, you can walk down to the observation deck or take the elevator down to ground floor. 

 

After enjoying the last view, it was time to go home to bed. So we walked to the metro and arrived back at the hotel around 22.30. 

[amcco]

So glad you have had a great start to your trip!

[dlh015]

Your pictures are just stunning!

 

I see the tower has changed quite a lot since my visit in '87!!

 

Bon Voyage!!

[dlfntx]

Enjoy your cruise!  Will be following your travels!

[megfla]

Loving the pics!

[Barwick Cruiser]

We’re on the first leg with you, so glad you’re having a wonderful visit to Toronto. Love the silhouette pic at the CN tower. Hope to meet you and your hubby onboard, my DH is also a craft beer aficionado…they’d have lots to discuss hahaha 

Cathy

[Norwaylady]

8.September Thursday 

 

So today we are flying to Vancouver in the evening 19.30. Originally we were booked on a AC flight early afternoon. But AC changed our flight 4 weeks ago to later in the evening. Not super happy about it, but it was impossible for AC to give us another option, unless we wanted to fly out at 07.00am in the morning…. So then we just accepted the new time. 

 

Since we have more time in Toronto, that means that we can visit Royal Ontario Museum. 

Bags will stay at the hotel during our tour and we will pick them up when we are ready to go to the airport. 

 

I woke up to good morning from X MoveUp in my mail box.  

Received an email for bidding on the Alaska cruise 4-days before departure. And we know from the roll call and fb group that a lot of cruisers already had bids accepted several days ago... 

It’s the “wrong” cruise we wanted to bid on and the starting bid was high for suites. So we will pass on this. 

We are very happy for our AQ stateroom. 

 

We took the bus+metro to the museum after checking out of the hotel. We arrived around 10.30. 

Mr Norwaylady is huge fan of stones and fossils, so this is a real treat for him. 

After 3,5h in the museum, we felt finished. So we went to get some ice cream and coffee before we took the commute back to Pan Pacific for bags and lyft to the airport. 

 

It was heartbreaking 💔 to read the news and see that Queen Elisabeth had past away. 

God save the Queen🇬🇧👑🇬🇧 

 

Our lyft ride was late, it changed several times before we had a car picking us up. It took 45.minutes to get to the airport, rush hour…. 

But we were at the airport 17.10 and bags dropped off in 5.mins and then security fast track was about 10.mins wait.

So we arrived in the maple lounge at 17.30. The lounge was quite busy, but we found seats. We had some sodas and some nachos and guacamole before boarding. 

 

Boarding went on time and AC stick strictly to zone boarding. But there was too much hand luggage. So it was a delay due to full overhead bins in economy. 

Our aircraft was a 777-200LR. The flight was fully booked. 

It’s 3-classes Biz/premium/economy. 

Configurations is 1-2-1 Biz, 2-4-2 premium and 3-3-3 economy. 

We are seated at 6G+D. Good private seating, large screens and good storage in the seats. Good space for legs when you put the seat to bed position. 

At our seats we were greeted by the crew and service manager. They took our order for dinner before take-off. 

 

Service started as soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off. It was drinks and salted almonds for aperitif. 

Then they served 3-course dinner+cheese. 

Food was good-not bad, the starter was excellent the main course was okay. Dessert and cheese was okay. 

Personal I think SK delivered better food. 

Excellent crew and service, very friendly service. 

After dinner it was time for a little nap. 

 

AC has a good selection of movies and games. Better ife then SK. 

I was so happy to see World worst person, the Norwegian Oscar nominated movie+Cannes film festival winner onboard.

Landing on time 21.30 and bags on the belt in 15.minutes from landing. 

 

We took the Canada Line to Waterfront and walked to our hotel Apa Coast Coal Harbour. We arrived around 22.40 and was warmly welcomed by the reception. 

We have a okay sized room on the 7-floor overlooking the waterfront. And it has a full tub🕺🏻 So Mr Norwaylady is a happy camper❤️

[maggie.1008]

I am really enjoying your travels and will continue until we meet you on the Vancouver to Hawaii cruise. We are Heather and Bud from California. Hopefully we will see you at the Sunset bar for sail away. Cheers 

[Scottishclover]

Super review so far😀 I visited Toronto around 20 years ago so your photos brought back some great memories. Can’t wait to read more about your travels.

[vickykay]

Looking forward to your review.  We’re on the Hawaii to Vancouver sailing in May.  Can’t wait!  Enjoy your cruises.

[WNCtourist]

Enjoying your review and can't wait to see what's next! Wishing you safe travels and much fun.

[Provence55always]

Fabulous review really enjoying. We cruised to Alaska on the Millennium last May B2B wonderful cruise and crew. Vancouver is a such a great city.

Wishing you safe travels and a spectacular cruise.