Hello From Nieuw Statendam! Voyage of the Midnight Sun

[Sea42]

7 hours ago, MAVIP said:

And if you see Gede or Uman will you please send him the greetings from Joost and Magdalena, who left 4150 May 14th? and if you please will be so kind: will you try to ask Beverage server Carina (maybe in the BB King) whether she received my package with supporting stockings May 14th? After disembarkation my son in law brought them and I handed them to a young woman of port security. She promised to find a way to bring them on board. (Guest Service, Ship Security, Port agent, nobody could tell me the right way to handle this 🙂 after disembarkation.)  I hope they will bring some comfort to Carina's legs..... Thank you very very much and I hope this question does not consume too much of your holiday time.  🤝

I'll see if I can locate Carina for you

 And give greetings to Gede and Uman.

[Sea42]

8 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Really enjoying this thread :).  Kudos to the OP for doing that hike in Flam (we are walkers).  All this makes me want to be back in Norway.

 

Hank

It was a beautiful walk! And really most anyone could do it. While the first mile was very steep, it would also be a lovely walk getting off the train in Blomheller and walking  in either direction and returning to Blomheller station  or whichever station works for your abilities. The miles around there were flat.

[Sea42]

On 5/18/2023 at 5:43 PM, Skicruiser55 said:

Thank you - the cabin looks wonderful.  We’ll be on Rotterdam.  Is there much vibration/noise in the cabin.  Enjoying your reporting.  

I'm revising my answer a bit. Last night was quite windy and it was pretty loud in the cabin with moderate vibration.  It hasn't been an issue under normal seas though.

[Sea42]

A few observations on life on the ship. 

The ship is sailing with about 2700 passengers.

We haven't had many issues with long lines or wait times for service. The one exception was surprisingly at CO for breakfast. One morning it was about 10 minutes which was fine but another morning there were 4 couples waiting so we went to NY deli for breakfast bagels. They were good so we've returned there whenever there was a wait at CO. One night at dinner there was a 30 minute wait but we had Pinnacle reservations that night so again not an issue for us.

CO'S special items have been very good and are being made right in CO

Their lemon shrimp fettuccine with spinach was great!

We've also enjoyed the Grand Dutch Cafe a few times. If you go for lunch there has been no line right at 11;30. They have the best hot chocolate that I've had on the ship!

There are way too many people that don't seem to know that you let people off of the elevator before getting on!

I attended a very fun wine pairing event at the Tamarind bar. Who knew how well wine and sushi were together? Not me, but they do.

I'm a library director and one of our summer programs I have planned is kids origami. Seeing I've never done it I'm glad they're offering daily classes. I'm still not great at it but am not completely incompetent anymore!

 

[Skicruiser55]

3 hours ago, Sea42 said:

I'm revising my answer a bit. Last night was quite windy and it was pretty loud in the cabin with moderate vibration.  It hasn't been an issue under normal seas though.

That’s good to know - we are on the Best of Norway cruise so I don’t think we’ll be in the more open waters.  It will still be worth it.  

[alyssamma]

19 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

A few observations on life on the ship. 

The ship is sailing with about 2700 passengers.

We haven't had many issues with long lines or wait times for service. The one exception was surprisingly at CO for breakfast. One morning it was about 10 minutes which was fine but another morning there were 4 couples waiting so we went to NY deli for breakfast bagels. They were good so we've returned there whenever there was a wait at CO. One night at dinner there was a 30 minute wait but we had Pinnacle reservations that night so again not an issue for us.

CO'S special items have been very good and are being made right in CO

Their lemon shrimp fettuccine with spinach was great!

We've also enjoyed the Grand Dutch Cafe a few times. If you go for lunch there has been no line right at 11;30. They have the best hot chocolate that I've had on the ship!

There are way too many people that don't seem to know that you let people off of the elevator before getting on!

I attended a very fun wine pairing event at the Tamarind bar. Who knew how well wine and sushi were together? Not me, but they do.

I'm a library director and one of our summer programs I have planned is kids origami. Seeing I've never done it I'm glad they're offering daily classes. I'm still not great at it but am not completely incompetent anymore!

 

I'm on the ship too and agree with what you said except we haven't seen lines at CO...but as a result we've missed out on bagels at NY deli, lol.

 

This is our first HAL cruise and definitely impressed. We are Celebrity cruisers, but are quite happy with this.

[Sea42]

2 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

I'm on the ship too and agree with what you said except we haven't seen lines at CO...but as a result we've missed out on bagels at NY deli, lol.

 

This is our first HAL cruise and definitely impressed. We are Celebrity cruisers, but are quite happy with this.

That's great, we're enjoying ship, too! I was a bit concerned reading some of the comments lately but I've experienced nothing that would make me hesitant to book with HAL again. 

Right now I'm sitting on our balcony watching the reindeer foraging up on the hillside! This is so much fun!!

[POA1]

Really great reporting and the photos are stunning! Thank you so much.

[Sea42]

Trondheim was up next. I had grand plans that were dashed by someone, who shall remain nameless, dropping the laptop on my foot. Being a bit of a  clumsy hiker I've had many broken bones in my toes/feet so I'm confident there are no broken bones this time. Still,  no hills for me in Trondheim.

We did follow the Midtbryruden trail thru town and that was a very nice walk.

 

[waiting2retire]

Looks lovely!  Will definitely add Trondheim as a must do port on my next Norway cruise. Hope your foot does not continue to alter your plans. 

[Sea42]

31 minutes ago, waiting2retire said:

Looks lovely!  Will definitely add Trondheim as a must do port on my next Norway cruise. Hope your foot does not continue to alter your plans. 

Oh it really looks much worse than it feels, so I can use that to my advantage. Honey, could you fill up my wine glass? Lol 😆 

[Sea42]

A bit brisk sailing away from Hammerfest!

[kazu]

44 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

I had grand plans that were dashed by someone, who shall remain nameless, dropping the laptop on my foot. Being a bit of a  clumsy hiker I've had many broken bones in my toes/feet so I'm confident there are no broken bones this time.

 

So sorry about your foot.  What a relief it is not broken 😅 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

@kazuWe just returned from the tour to the North Cape with Sebastain. He was a wonderful guide and was on our bus at 9 am.  I thanked him for hanging in with us after last year's cancellation and letting us all be on the bus as a group. Thanks one more time for all the initial organization for the tours. This one was outstanding. (In contrast to the terrible ship tour yesterday to the Polar Bear Club ☹️.)

[kazu]

8 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

@kazuWe just returned from the tour to the North Cape with Sebastain. He was a wonderful guide and was on our bus at 9 am.  I thanked him for hanging in with us after last year's cancellation and letting us all be on the bus as a group. Thanks one more time for all the initial organization for the tours. This one was outstanding. (In contrast to the terrible ship tour yesterday to the Polar Bear Club ☹️.)

 

Thanks Susie.  I’m so glad you enjoyed it.  And how great you got Sebastian himself 👍.  

[SnowshoeCat]

Thank you for the information about the Sunnmore Museum (I tried to quote, but think I deleted everything). I love open air museums. How do you pay for the bus? I know Norway likes credit cards - even for such a small amount?

Edited May 22, 2023 by SnowshoeCat

[Sea42]

26 minutes ago, SnowshoeCat said:

Thank you for the information about the Sunnmore Museum (I tried to quote, but think I deleted everything). I love open air museums. How do you pay for the bus? I know Norway likes credit cards - even for such a small amount?

Yes, they took credit cards but also cash 

[Sea42]

39 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

@kazuWe just returned from the tour to the North Cape with Sebastain. He was a wonderful guide and was on our bus at 9 am.  I thanked him for hanging in with us after last year's cancellation and letting us all be on the bus as a group. Thanks one more time for all the initial organization for the tours. This one was outstanding. (In contrast to the terrible ship tour yesterday to the Polar Bear Club ☹️.)

It was a very good tour. I hope the person who didn't return to the bus made it back to the ship! At least he had a few hours to make it before we leave!

[Sea42]

Hammerfest was a disappointment to many I think. We did enjoy our first reindeer sighting, although today was certainly better!

In Hammerfest we walked over to the survey marker and then down along the water to the cannon. There was signage in English so we learned a bit about both.

We then took the shuttle to town, $20 pp round-trip.The walk was just about a mile. We stopped in at the Museum and the church. Most things were closed as it was Sunday but I did find adorable little sweater for our granddaughter.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Sea42

[Sea42]

@SusieKIslandGirl it was so nice to meet you today! Ive have been enjoying your posts and they helped pass the time until it was our turn to board!

[Sea42]

Midnight in the Artic Circle 

[BetsyS.]

Sea42 - Thank you! That's beautiful! 😊

[MAVIP]

On 5/21/2023 at 6:16 AM, Sea42 said:

I'll see if I can locate Carina for you

 And give greetings to Gede and Uman.

Could you locate Carina? Have a perfect 2nd seaday! 

Lenny

[Windsailer]

What deck is the shore excursion desk on? I have looked at a number of deck plans and it doesn't seem to be mentioned. TIA!

[Cruise Suzy]

1 hour ago, Windsailer said:

What deck is the shore excursion desk on?

 

Exploration Central - Deck 12, Starboard