Live Report: Suddenly, I’m Going to Norway!

[RuthC]

Fabulous itinerary! And you're going to Molde! I am jealous, as I've been there only one time. Had a great time, but want to go there again and spend more time in the city itself. 
You get not one, but TWO fjords, so don't pay any attention to what Sir PMP says. Both fjords are stunning. 

Oh, now you have made me want to go back, and on this itinerary. 
Congratulations on a cruise well chosen. Have a great time! 

[ontheweb]

Isn't It Good, Norwegian Wood. I could not help myself as I just watched a documentary about the Beatles before going on these boards.

 

Enjoy, Norway is a fabulous place.

[VacationCharlene]

Awesome!!  We absolutely LOVE Norway and it's beauty.  Norway is our favorite cruise destination.  Have a great cruise

[syesmar]

7 hours ago, RuthC said:

Fabulous itinerary! And you're going to Molde! I am jealous, as I've been there only one time. Had a great time, but want to go there again and spend more time in the city itself….

Would love to go back to Molde, too! When we were there, we took a bus to the airport and rented a car from Avis. Spent the most amazing day driving and experienced Trollstigen. One of my favorite days ever!

 

@*Miss G* Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Edited May 25, 2023 by syesmar

[Radbooks]

Have a wonderful cruise!!

[*Miss G*]

Oh my gosh, everyone!  Thank you so much!  You have made me look forward to this even further!  Isn’t it funny how ships pass in the night, with some of you disembarking while I’m embarking, and some embarking while I’m disembarking.  And now I am really curious about Molde, since it seems to be a popular destination!  I am looking forward to beginning my rePORTing.  (Sorry.  Couldn’t help myself.)

 

 

DAY TWO

Tuesday, May 23rd

The Netherlands and England

 

We land in Amsterdam and I learn my connecting flight is delayed.  I am okay with that because it’s a *four-mile walk to another terminal and my gate.  (*not to scale)

 

It was a quick flight to Manchester, then a ride on the TransPennine Express to Yorkshire.  From there, I hop in a taxi to my sister’s house.  I haven’t caught a wink of sleep on either flight and start to nod off on the train.  Someone’s phone rings and I give myself a little pep talk because the next stop is mine and God knows where I’d end up.

 

KLM had good movie choices so I watched them all flight as I can’t sleep on a plane.  When I got to my sister’s I stayed up until 9pm and then it was lights out for me!  When I went to bed it was daylight.  When I woke up it was daylight.  When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t sure if it was today or tomorrow!

 

 

DAY THREE

Wednesday, May 24th

England

 

Rise and shine to another beautiful day!  I am loving this Spring weather.  My sister has booked us into a surprise spa day!  What a nice surprise from an even nicer sister.  😊 

 

Then it’s off to dinner at the pub and the pub quiz.  During lockdown I had joined the team, virtually, by Zoom.  I was even Quiz Master a few times!  Today I got to meet everyone in person and we had just as much fun as we did online.  When we got to the pub, my sister had gone to the bar to order so I was sitting alone.  But as soon as everyone walked in we all recognized each other immediately and it felt like old times!  Isn’t technology grand.

 

Aw, crumbs.  I just realized I forgot to take a picture of my fish and chips and mushy peas!  Oh my gosh, they were so good.  I have missed you, proper-fish-and-chips!  Let’s not be separated this long again.  🤗

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by *Miss G*

[BarbinMich]

Looking forward to your reports on this cruise as I'm doing a similar one on the Rotterdam in August!  Have a great criuse!!

[Turtles06]

13 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

I just realized I forgot to take a picture of my fish and chips and mushy peas!  Oh my gosh, they were so good.  I have missed you, proper-fish-and-chips!  Let’s not be separated this long again.

 

It was a few years ago, but the best fish and chips we've ever had were in Alesund, which I see is one of your ports.  A little take out/sit outside place called Jafs right in the middle of town along the water.  It bills its fish and chips as "probably the best in the world."   I can't substantiate that claim, but they were really terrific. 🙂 

 

Alesund is beautiful, especially the view from Mt. Aksla, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

It was a few years ago, but the best fish and chips we've ever had were in Alesund, which I see is one of your ports.  A little take out/sit outside place called Jafs right in the middle of town along the water.  It bills its fish and chips as "probably the best in the world."   I can't substantiate that claim, but they were really terrific. 🙂 

 

Alesund is beautiful, especially the view from Mt. Aksla, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

 

Thank you, Turtles!  I am now a woman with a mission in Alesund.  I shall report back! (With pictures.)

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Thank you, Turtles!  I am now a woman with a mission in Alesund.  I shall report back! (With pictures.)

 

Looking forward to it!

 

 

[*Miss G*]

2 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Looking forward to it!

 

 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words!  Thank you!

[bennybear]

Oh what a wonderful adventure!  Gotta love the dream liners!  And washrooms you can turn around in.  Only surpassed by the ones in the belly of an A 340.  🤷‍♀️(and with your Canadian roots I shouldn’t need to translate) 

 

I love hearing how you got to Yorkshire, it’s on our list again! And ooh mushy peas.  So my candidate for best fish and chips is the f street station pub in Anchorage for halibut and chips, if you choose to take the challenge!

 

enjoy!  Love last minute cruises! 

[SUESEABE]

Have fun in Norway! Safe journey! 

[*Miss G*]

DAY FOUR

Thursday, May 25th

England

 

Despite a late night, I am up early again.  Phew!  I was worried I would sleep in and miss part of the day.  ☀️

 

Today we did some running around.  Part of that included a visit to Blacker Hall.  They’ve expanded a lot since I was last here.  I am kind of sad about that because it’s become more trendy and less farmy.  It’s still nice, though; just not the same.  As with all things, I guess.

 

These were hard to resist but we managed to pull ourselves away before doing some damage:

 

 

 

We had butter chicken for dinner tonight.  It was delicious.  (I made it.)

 

Last trip report I kept a list of random travel stats so I think it will be fun to keep track of that again:

 

Travel Stats

Airline Count (1):  KLM

Airport Count (3):  IAD, AMS, MAN

Country Count (3):  US, NL, UK

Time Travel in Hours (2):  -6, +1

[*Miss G*]

10 hours ago, bennybear said:

So my candidate for best fish and chips is the f street station pub in Anchorage for halibut and chips, if you choose to take the challenge!

 

My sister and I laughed at this.  We now have a world’s best fish and chip challenge!  You’re on.  😂

[*Miss G*]

DAY FIVE

Friday, May 26th

England

 

It is another sunny day!  ☀️

 

Tomorrow we leave for Amsterdam.  To get there we will be taking a DFDS “mini-cruise” (aka overnight ferry) from Newcastle to IJmuiden.  Founded in 1866, DFDS is Denmark’s oldest large shipping company.  In English, the acronym stands for the United Danish Steamship Company.

 

 

My sister lives nowhere near Newcastle so we will need to take the morning train.  We will be traveling north in order to travel south.  Sounds like some of those flights I had to discard when reviewing options to get here.

 

Today we will do laundry and packing and a couple of other last-minute things.  I am preparing a charcuterie of snacks to bring with us on the ferry since the reviews of their available-for-purchase food items aren’t so good.  

 

No idea what’s for dinner yet.  I’m thinking a nice sausage roll.  Or maybe some of that lovely Yorkshire ham we purchased at Blacker’s yesterday.  Mmmm, Yorkshire ham.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by *Miss G*

[BetsyS.]

Miss G - Thanks for sharing your trip! You are smart to take snacks on the ferry! 😊

[bennybear]

Ooh! I’m drooling over those scones.  Gotta love the wonderful British soups and scones.  Interesting in Yorkshire, the cream is in the middle!  No debating the Cornwall vs Devon issues🤷‍♀️😉

Glad you’re taking up the fish and chip challenge 😂

 

Happy and safe travels! 

Edited May 26, 2023 by bennybear

[*Miss G*]

DAY SIX

Saturday, May 27th

England

 

Well, there’s nothing like a bit of excitement to start off your adventure.  We had seats booked on the 11am train to Newcastle.  I wanted to confirm all was well, last night, so I took a look at the train schedule.  Train is cancelled.  CANCELLED!  Received an email at 9pm with the news.  40 minutes later we received another email saying it was back on.  Oh, er… okay.  I’ll tentatively believe you.

 

Did another check, this morning, and it says cancelled again!!!  I have lost trust in these people so we are heading to the train station, as scheduled, and will take it from there.

 

Deep breaths.  Deep breaths.

[*Miss G*]

This is me screaming.  Silently screaming. 

 

The good news is that we’re on a train.  The bad news is behind us, for the most part.   Suffice it to say that we survived the nightmare and I am looking forward to a Big Gulp-sized adult beverage when we get there. 

 

Deep breaths. 

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

DAY SIX

Saturday, May 27th

England

 

Well, there’s nothing like a bit of excitement to start off your adventure.  We had seats booked on the 11am train to Newcastle.  I wanted to confirm all was well, last night, so I took a look at the train schedule.  Train is cancelled.  CANCELLED!  Received an email at 9pm with the news.  40 minutes later we received another email saying it was back on.  Oh, er… okay.  I’ll tentatively believe you.

 

Did another check, this morning, and it says cancelled again!!!  I have lost trust in these people so we are heading to the train station, as scheduled, and will take it from there.

 

Deep breaths.  Deep breaths.

Not a great start!

 

The positive way to look at it is things have to get better!

 

OOPS, did not see the next post that you were on a train. still things have to get better after that scare.

Edited May 27, 2023 by ontheweb

[bennybear]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

This is me screaming.  Silently screaming. 

 

The good news is that we’re on a train.  The bad news is behind us, for the most part.   Suffice it to say that we survived the nightmare and I am looking forward to a Big Gulp-sized adult beverage when we get there. 

 

Deep breaths. 

Yikes! I hope the rough start means smooth sailing the rest of the trip!  

[*Miss G*]

DAY SIX - Continued

 

The taxi gets us to the train station.  Well, almost.  There is construction going on and he can’t quite make it.  He drops us off a few streets away and tells us we’ll have to hoof it; pulling luggage.  We suck it up and get moving.  We have a train to catch.  Or, at least, a train to find.

 

So, yes, the train is definitely cancelled.  My sister leaves me with the luggage and heads to the information desk.  There are throngs of people here.  Why do they all seem to be dressed for Comic-Con?  In my fascination I forgot to take pictures.  Sorry.

 

It turns out that the Comic-Con peeps are all Stag and Doe parties.  Like, hordes of them.  Did I mention this was a bank holiday weekend?  

 

My sister comes back with the news that we can catch the 12:08 on Platform 16, but it will be a free-for-all since we are not the only passengers bumped from the cancelled train.  Off we toddle to Platform 16.  Hmm.  No 12:08 showing on the board, but there’s an 11:59 to Edinburgh!  We’ll jump on that and get off at Newcastle.  We change direction in search of Platform 8D.

 

Oh oh.  An announcement:  Platform change.  We grab our luggage and get moving.  But wait.  The board is no longer showing a change.  Let’s ask this guy who works here.  He says go back to Platform 8D.  There is no change.  This is fun. 🙃 The train arrives and suddenly a swarm of people come out of the woodwork to push onboard.  We keep walking down the length of the train but each car is standing room only.

 

Sigh.

 

We give this up as a lost cause and head back to the main entrance.  At another Information Booth we learn the 12:08 is now the 12:20 and it’s on Platform 16.  Up the lift, across the bridge, then down the lift.  There are two Platform 16’s: A and B.  My sister finds a worker who has no idea which one.  We stand at Platform 16A and twiddle our thumbs as we watch the departure time getting pushed further and further back.

 

Ooooh, here comes the train!  Guess where it stops?  Platform 16B.  We make our way through the hordes of Comic-Con peoples to the other end and board our car.  It is packed, but we manage to find a seat, each at opposite ends of the car.  Phew.  I’m glad that part of the adventure is over.

 

If you see someone frazzled and worn out, say hi.  That’s us.

[*Miss G*]

DAY SIX - continued

 

We made it to Newcastle!  There is a DFDS shuttle (a double-decker bus) across the street from the train station.  We arrive at the terminal and check in.

 

It is a long walk up the gangplank when you pull your own luggage.  We emerge into “an area”.  Now what?  Our room is on Deck 5 but we are currently on Deck 6.  Ah.  An elevator!  But what is wrong?  This lift only goes between Decks 6 & 7.  Huh?

 

We backtrack and ask a crew member how to get to Deck 5.  He tells us to go to Deck 7 and cross to the other side where there will be an elevator which will get us to Deck 5.  Okay.  Up we go to go down.

 

Up on Deck 7, we are lost again.  A crew member sees my sister struggling with her bag and personally escorts us to Deck 5.  I am thinking he is rather helpful until I see the reason he is escorting us.  Turns out the Deck 5 elevator takes you to the vehicles, whereupon you have to cross over the lanes and open the airtight doors to enter the Deck 5 cabin area.  Yikes.

 

So.  First impressions of the DFDS King Seaways.  Barring the fact that you can’t get anywhere easily — especially if you have luggage in tow — it is sparkly clean and the crew is friendly and helpful.

 

Look who’s in port!  It’s the former Holland America Amsterdam; now Fred Olsen’s flagship, the Bolette.

 

 

Here is our room.  It is an OV four-bunk cabin, with only the lower beds.  Sorry about the mess.  In our mad rush to fall on the beds in exhaustion, I forgot to take pictures before we messed it up.

 

 

The bathroom.  I got tired of the shower curtain trying to be my bestie so I draped it over the shower head.  Another big problem solved.  *wipes hands*

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by *Miss G*

[*Miss G*]

We are told that the Sky Bar on Deck 12 is nice so we head up there.  Uh oh.  Never mind.  We’ll find somewhere else.

 

 

Oh, this is nice.  It’s the Columbus Club on Deck 9.

 

 

 

Don’t mind if I do.  And well deserved, if I do say so myself.  Cheers.