Things I wished I had packed for Norway

[Kountess]

58 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

I’d do the latter two options (layers & rain gear). The rain coat will be good for wind as well.

I agree with multiple layers and rain gear.  We did the BIE in early June and still used some layers under a rain coat most days, even if it wasn't raining.  A wool hat, scarf and gloves were also very welcome.

[Moonlion]

5 hours ago, happyyaya said:

Doing British Isles cruise end of April, early May....London to Bergen, Norway. Stops in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, Dover etc.  Am I correct, after looking up some weather info, that we can expect high farenheit temps from 46 to 60 across these cities? Trying to figure out if I shold bring a lightweight winter coat....or just layers with a large zip-up fleece that fits over layers. Of course, a rain coat/hat and may bring rain pants as well. Anyone been in these venues in early May? 

I would suggest the latter for BIE cruise in April/May: a base layer, zip-up fleece and an outer rain- proof light jacket. I use this type of layering for temps in the 30-40s F and am very comfortable. Very light rain pants with a base layer would be good too if temps are low. 

[SempreMare]

7 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Check out the weatherspark.com site.  It is a wonderful climate site.  

 

 

Wow, very cool data visualization on its homepage! 

[SempreMare]

One thing I swore I'd figure out before my next cruise is a way to switch glasses quickly from regular script to sunglasses and back.  

I am in search of an eyeglass holder with:
- a magnetic closure
- Something I can attach to my small purse

 

Ex: Something like these sun glass holders but
-- With a magnetic closure, definitely NOT a zipper (takes too long)

-- Able to attach to a purse

 

Plan B if I can't find it: 

 

Get something like this

Take it to the repair expert the Austin Shoe Hospital (Yes, the actual name...).

Ask him to put an eyelet through the leather.  (Which... over time might tear out depending on the leather, and Situations...) for a D-ring attachment.

Has anyone else figured out something like this? 

[sugarside]

Would prescription sun glasses solve your problem?
Mine suit my needs.

Edited March 26, 2023 by sugarside

[Clay Clayton]

Agree about prescription glasses. We get all our prescriptions from Zenni and have yet to pay more than $20 all in.  Let’s you have an eyeglass wardrobe!

[deec]

transition lenses would work too

[dd57]

Or you could get transition lenses, eliminating the problem.

[SempreMare]

thanks @Clay Claytonand @sugarside, prescription sun glasses is what I have.  I’m looking for a a sunglass holder to make faster a change out between my 2 prescription glasses: progressives to sunglasses. 

 

@deec @dd57 I thought about transition lenses, but when I go from the bright  Texas Sun to inside a parking garage, I want an immediate change; much faster than what transitions give. 
 

@Clay Clayton I am a Zenni superfan 🤩.
They are without a doubt  the online shopping  site I have recommended to more people than any other. In fact, I have a list of 10 tips for buying on zenni that i keep handy to send to any first time customers I recruit. 
 

Am wearing a pair of their near distance progressives right now in a 12 gram super lightweight frame.   First learned about Zenni when they were mentioned in passing on Leslie Stahl’s 60 Minutes episode re:

the monopoly that is Luxottica. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by SempreMare

[aungrl]

24 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

thanks @Clay Claytonand @sugarside, prescription sun glasses is what I have.  I’m looking for a a sunglass holder to make faster a change out between my 2 prescription glasses: progressives to sunglasses. 

 

@deec @dd57 I thought about transition lenses, but when I go from the bright  Texas Sun to inside a parking garage, I want an immediate change; much faster than what transitions give. 
 

@Clay Clayton I am a Zenni superfan 🤩.
They are without a doubt  the online shopping  site I have recommended to more people than any other. In fact, I have a list of 10 tips for buying on zenni that i keep handy to send to any first time customers I recruit. 
 

Am wearing a pair of their near distance progressives right now in a 12 gram super lightweight frame.   First learned about Zenni when they were mentioned in passing on Leslie Stahl’s 60 Minutes episode re:

the monopoly that is Luxottica. 

This is the first I've heard of Zenni!  Would you mind posting your 10 tips?  Or if you'd prefer, my email is aungrl at gmail dot com

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, deec said:

transition lenses would work too

 

We live in Las Vegas where it can be very sunny a lot of the time.  My wife asked about transition type lenses. The optician said that they do not get very dark.

 

DON

[SempreMare]

50 minutes ago, aungrl said:

This is the first I've heard of Zenni!  Would you mind posting your 10 tips?  Or if you'd prefer, my email is aungrl at gmail dot com

 

Sent!    (from my personal email, not the random one I created for my sig.) 

---

 

Here is  Leslie Stahl's 60 Minutes episode that made me realize 

 

1) The relatively huge markup in eyeglasses.

 

2) How most of the eyewear stores you see in real life are actually all controlled by one company, Luxottica. You have the illusion of choice, but it's actually a monopoly controlling the price.

 

3) How Luxottica own both the major vision insurance plans and the eyeware companies.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfxERwUFZHc

 

Note the response from the CEO at 12min 30 sec

"Everything is worth what people are willing to pay." 

 

Of course, this is a true statement.  In the context of that interview, I decided to spend my $ elsewhere.  

 

[dd57]

33 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

We live in Las Vegas where it can be very sunny a lot of the time.  My wife asked about transition type lenses. The optician said that they do not get very dark.

 

DON

The transition lenses come in two "darkness" levels.  I used to live in Indio, CA, similar to Las Vegas, and my prescription transition lenses that I got at Costco worked fine. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by dd57

[aungrl]

2 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

 

Sent!    (from my personal email, not the random one I created for my sig.) 

---

 

Here is  Leslie Stahl's 60 Minutes episode that made me realize 

 

1) The relatively huge markup in eyeglasses.

 

2) How most of the eyewear stores you see in real life are actually all controlled by one company, Luxottica. You have the illusion of choice, but it's actually a monopoly controlling the price.

 

3) How Luxottica own both the major vision insurance plans and the eyeware companies.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfxERwUFZHc

 

Note the response from the CEO at 12min 30 sec

"Everything is worth what people are willing to pay." 

 

Of course, this is a true statement.  In the context of that interview, I decided to spend my $ elsewhere.  

 

Thanks for sending the tips.  Just by reading through them before checking out the site, it's clear how confusing it could be for a newbie. These tips are all great, but particularly the one about needing your PD measurement, so that you can get that ahead of time.  Looking forward to watching the video!

[SempreMare]

6 hours ago, aungrl said:

These tips are all great, but particularly the one about needing your PD measurement, so that you can get that ahead of time. 

 

Yep, one more note - I included that Costco became the best place to get my PD (pupil distance) measurement without having an uncomfortable debate / arm wrestling session with my local Optician for a measurement that is in fact my own health data. (but they still don't want to give it to you).  Make sure you get a PD for each eye, not just 1 single PD left to right.   I am asymmetrical by 1 mm.

 

Also - Unless my skull gets squished by a vise that magically moves my eye sockets closer together, I would not expect to ever need my PD measured again either.  Once and done.   Zenni has a video on how to measure it yourself, but I want a skilled, experienced human to do it.   

 

Tip:  Create a new Contact in your Contacts phone app

Company name:  Pupil Distance, eye

In the notes add your PDs.

 

I take a pic of my scripts + PD before I leave the dr's office.

These days, iPhone Photos makes it so easy to tap that OCR icon on bottom right, , then copy & paste the text out of a photo & into contacts. 

 

BTW, my vision is corrected to 20-15 with Zennis.  My first pair of <$60 Zenni's had better fit and finish than my the last $400 pair of glasses I'll ever buy.  I was thrilled to see that famous football player and the actress from that hysterically funny Hulu series Angie Tribeca sign up with Zenni.

Edited March 27, 2023 by SempreMare

[aungrl]

1 hour ago, SempreMare said:

 

Yep, one more note - I included that Costco became the best place to get my PD (pupil distance) measurement without having an uncomfortable debate / arm wrestling session with my local Optician for a measurement that is in fact my own health data. (but they still don't want to give it to you).  Make sure you get a PD for each eye, not just 1 single PD left to right.   I am asymmetrical by 1 mm.

 

Also - Unless my skull gets squished by a vise that magically moves my eye sockets closer together, I would not expect to ever need my PD measured again either.  Once and done.   Zenni has a video on how to measure it yourself, but I want a skilled, experienced human to do it.   

 

Tip:  Create a new Contact in your Contacts phone app

Company name:  Pupil Distance, eye

In the notes add your PDs.

 

I take a pic of my scripts + PD before I leave the dr's office.

These days, iPhone Photos makes it so easy to tap that OCR icon on bottom right, , then copy & paste the text out of a photo & into contacts. 

 

BTW, my vision is corrected to 20-15 with Zennis.  My first pair of <$60 Zenni's had better fit and finish than my the last $400 pair of glasses I'll ever buy.  I was thrilled to see that famous football player and the actress from that hysterically funny Hulu series Angie Tribeca sign up with Zenni.

Thanks again!  I did notice the Costco info, but this additional detail is helpful.    I'm embarrassed to tell you what I paid for my most recent pair, and I'm not really able to wear them at all.  Live and learn.

[SempreMare]

Yep. I massively overpaid for prescription glasses for most of my life.  Zenni makes it easy to keep a back up pair in the car and suitcase. 

Though if you have an old frame that you really love, Costco is a good choice for putting your new prescription into an old frame. Zenni does not do this.

 

This is one of my favorites Zenni frames with this year’s prescription from Costco. It took more than 2 weeks to get these back. So I’m glad I did it in plenty of time before my flight departure date.

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by SempreMare

[nini]

On 3/19/2023 at 2:00 AM, Nippy Sweetie said:

We're on the Northern Lights cruise ending tomorrow. We wish we hadn't packed so much cold weather stuff! We needed our thermal longjohns, hat and gloves only once (for the fantastic husky sledge ride). Meanwhile we were far too hot on board the ship but also on the buses. We took ten sets of hand warmers with us and they're all coming back with us! We're Scottish so the outside temp was fine for us. I noticed many Americans complaining about being cold.

It really depends where the Americans are from in the USA. When it gets to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, we are in shorts. We live on the west coast about a mile from the ocean, on a peninsula.

[Nippy Sweetie]

I live in centigrade world so not sure how cold that is. 

[Moonlion]

13 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

I live in centigrade world so not sure how cold that is. 

15C

[SempreMare]

 

Found it!   

Above = a readout of the PD measurer gadget at Costco.  

 

I asked if I could take a picture of the readout.

(In case I lose any written notes.  I never lose photos.) 

 

[Nippy Sweetie]

15C is a summer temp here in Scotland. On the Northern Lights cruise temps were around -5C which is an OK temp in winter here. Nothing special. 

[THR]

This thread is very timely. I hadn’t considered much warm gear for our Into the Midnight Sun (late June). Not many of the things people have raised. 

[LostFan#1]

Following this thread for more hints on Northern Lights itinerary packing needs, particularly boots. We travel Feb. 29 of next year, so I have lots of time 😀.

[Iloveketo]

13 hours ago, LostFan#1 said:

Following this thread for more hints on Northern Lights itinerary packing needs, particularly boots. We travel Feb. 29 of next year, so I have lots of time 😀.

I was over confident in my abilities to walk in snow and ice and didn’t bring the spikes to slip on over our boots. I fell in the street when I decided to shop in Tromso. I didn’t break anything, but I might have. 
When they were provided in excursions, I used them and found them very helpful and not all that hard to get on and off. 
My boots were very warm, lightweight and comfortable. I wore one pair wool socks from LL Bean. My boots were from Columbia.