Live from the Norwegian Fjords May 5-13, 2024 - Silhouette

[kk20]

Come along with us as we visit Haugesund, Olden, Alesund, Stavenger & Oslo Norway onboard the Silhouette!

 

This my spouse’s 50th birthday trip. We flew from Toronto to Brussels on April 30th and spent two nights in Brussels, then took the train to Amsterdam for another two nights before boarding the ship yesterday. Brussels was fun, but it is a one and done for us, but we’ll definitely be coming back to spend more time in Amsterdam! We loved the beauty of the canals and homes lining them and their tram and subway systems are top notch. We found some great spots by just hopping on a tram, not knowing where we’d end up and just getting off when we saw something we thought looked interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kk20]

Pics from Brussels and Amsterdam

grand place

 

entrance to an alleyway bar

 

peeing boy statue

 

shopping plaza

 

canal at sunset

 

our hotel in de pijp - sir albert

[kk20]

We took the subway from our hotel over to central station then enjoyed a leisurely 10 minute walk along the canal to the port. The embarkation went smoothly and was very quick, much like embarking in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The only difference was that we walked into the terminal to drop off our luggage instead of handing it over to a porter curbside. 
 

Total time from entering the terminal til getting to our room was under 15 minutes.

(My favourite and only aisle I want to walk down again!)

 

We also noted that yesterday didn’t seem as hectic around the ship as our previous sailings in the Caribbean (which is a good thing!) No crowding at the Martini bar all afternoon. No lineup to book our specialty dining reservations or to get into the mdr at 6pm. Plenty of seats available in all the bars after dinner. The busiest spot was the ovc during lunch, but that is completely expected on the first day. We did take note of these signs on each table 👍

Edited May 6 by kk20

[kk20]

We have a standard balcony room on the 6th floor

 

[kk20]

We spent a few hours cruising down a canal towards the north sea yesterday and got to experience going through a lock as well. So far, the sea has been super smooth. Fingers crossed that she stays like this for the duration of our cruise! 
 

[kk20]

After having some al bacio in our cabin this morning we went up to the buffet for breakfast. I had my normal eggs benedict with bacon accompanied by a strong mimosa and the hubs had a made to order omelette along with some fresh carved ham. We then made our way down to the theatre to watch 10 things you didn’t know about pop music with cruise director Eddy. It was really good, but the love & soul duo stole the show with their rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

 

Before the cruise we had purchased a wash and fold package and sent away a good deal of clothing in our provided cloth laundry bag. I had watched a tiktok video that showed how to lay out your clothes on the bed on top of each other then roll them tightly together before shoving everything into the bag. We fit 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, 9 pairs of undergarments and 10 pairs of socks and still had plenty of room in our bag.

 

The sea is still like glass and we’re sitting in the hideaway enjoying some quiet time before we head back to the theatre for a beyond the podium presentation and then music trivia

 

[Freeguy]

Hello, Great photos kk20! it was great weather all day in Amsterdam, now on to the Fjords! Can you believe how calm? We have been lucky so far!

do you do excursions with Celebrity or other service like Viator?

our first visit to Norway and on a back to back starting in Fort Lauderdale then across the Atlantic. 

Those table signs don’t help much, (like pool chair signs)…and, many play games in Al Bacio and OCV seems a bit much but we are new to cruising…

🚢

[BuckeyeMark]

Link that TikTok on how to get more in a laundry bag please! Great photos!

[Bexpo]

Hello,

we are on this cruise. Would love to meet KK20! We are in 9291. Would you like to meet?

[Beachlover1989]

We want to take a Fjord cruise soon so I’m excited to follow along! Some great information already! Hope your weather continues to be beautiful!

[kk20]

40 minutes ago, Freeguy said:

do you do excursions with Celebrity or other service like Viator?

We have two booked with celebrity and one directly with a cruise company from stavenger. We didn’t prebook olden because we want to do the sky lift, but only if the weather cooperates and we plan on either doing our own walking tour with gpsmycity or the hop on hop off bus in Oslo

[Bexpo]

7 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

We want to take a Fjord cruise soon so I’m excited to follow along! Some great information already! Hope your weather continues to be beautiful!

 

3 hours ago, kk20 said:

After having some al bacio in our cabin this morning we went up to the buffet for breakfast. I had my normal eggs benedict with bacon accompanied by a strong mimosa and the hubs had a made to order omelette along with some fresh carved ham. We then made our way down to the theatre to watch 10 things you didn’t know about pop music with cruise director Eddy. It was really good, but the love & soul duo stole the show with their rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

 

Before the cruise we had purchased a wash and fold package and sent away a good deal of clothing in our provided cloth laundry bag. I had watched a tiktok video that showed how to lay out your clothes on the bed on top of each other then roll them tightly together before shoving everything into the bag. We fit 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, 9 pairs of undergarments and 10 pairs of socks and still had plenty of room in our bag.

 

The sea is still like glass and we’re sitting in the hideaway enjoying some quiet time before we head back to the theatre for a beyond the podium presentation and then music trivia

 

Norway is banning larger ships to go thru Fjords…. Starting in 2026, only cruise ships powered by alternative fuels will be allowed to visit the fjords in Norway. Lawmakers want to protect the unique natural environment and stop marine diesel oil and mass tourism from damaging the ecosystem.

[Bexpo]

Hello,

we are on this cruise. Would love to meet KK20! We are in 9291. Would you like to meet?a

[Freeguy]

We are thinking of the hop on hop off in Oslo as well- great way to see the city I think…

we have booked today the Olden troll car excursion and we have Haugesund up to the glacier tour booked. The others we may just walk the city-

we were at the celebrity destination briefing this morning to get ideas 

 

[kk20]

38 minutes ago, BuckeyeMark said:

Link that TikTok on how to get more in a laundry bag please! Great photos!

I thought I saved it, but I didn’t. Sorry! 
 

basically I folded the pair of jeans in half (pantleg to pantleg) then in half again. Then did the same with the other pants and placed them on top of each other on the bed. Then I folded the shirts so they fit on top of the pants, then placed our undergarments flat on top of the pile then did the same with our socks (left the socks flat vs folding them together in pairs). Once everything was in a pile, I flattened it and rolled from the bottom pair of jeans and stuffed the roll into the laundry bag. There was still lots of room along the sides and top, if we had more items to send out.

Hopefully this is a good enough explanation 😉 

[Bexpo]

We went through the largest locke in the world last night!!!

It is located at the mouth of the North Sea Canal with a view of Fort Island: IJmuiden Marine Lock. The lock is 500 metres long, 70 metres wide and 18 metres deep.

Our captain is super delightful and charming. Captain Nigel Smyth - He has an Irish lilt accent.

[kk20]

8 minutes ago, Bexpo said:

 

Norway is banning larger ships to go thru Fjords…. Starting in 2026, only cruise ships powered by alternative fuels will be allowed to visit the fjords in Norway. Lawmakers want to protect the unique natural environment and stop marine diesel oil and mass tourism from damaging the ecosystem.

Yes! This is why we decided to do this cruise this year

[kk20]

12 minutes ago, Bexpo said:

We went through the largest locke in the world last night!!!

It is located at the mouth of the North Sea Canal with a view of Fort Island: IJmuiden Marine Lock. The lock is 500 metres long, 70 metres wide and 18 metres deep.

Our captain is super delightful and charming. Captain Nigel Smyth - He has an Irish lilt accent.

Great pics! Did you see the windmills in the ocean last night as well? I was surprised at how far out they were

Edited May 6 by kk20

[BuckeyeMark]

17 minutes ago, kk20 said:

I thought I saved it, but I didn’t. Sorry! 
 

basically I folded the pair of jeans in half (pantleg to pantleg) then in half again. Then did the same with the other pants and placed them on top of each other on the bed. Then I folded the shirts so they fit on top of the pants, then placed our undergarments flat on top of the pile then did the same with our socks (left the socks flat vs folding them together in pairs). Once everything was in a pile, I flattened it and rolled from the bottom pair of jeans and stuffed the roll into the laundry bag. There was still lots of room along the sides and top, if we had more items to send out.

Hopefully this is a good enough explanation 😉 

That's a very good explanation.  We'll be doing that.

Person in laundry room for Celebrity: Hey look, someone else is doing that think KK20 did with her laundry bag! How did they know?!

[HeiPus]

Enjoy your cruise! 

 

We're on the Silhouette in July, but will be swinging by on Saturday to wave at her in Oslo. 😊

[Barwick Cruiser]

Hello! We are boarding on the 24th for the Best of Scandinavia itinerary. We have five days in Netherlands prior to boarding.
Nice to get some idea of the entertainment on the ship! Thanks for doing this and hope the seas and weather are good for you! 

[peanut head]

Thank you for taking us along.  Happy cruising.

[kk20]

We just finished another great meal in Murano. We had our usual lobster bisque and tomato salad for apps, followed by chateaubriand for two with murano lobster. We were both too full for dessert but I did indulge in a few glasses of my favourite Cattier champagne 🍾 

 

[Barwick Cruiser]

Murano sounds delicious! We’ll do Tuscan our first night (discount!) and Murano later in the cruise…looking forward to the Chateaubriand 😋 

 

Question regarding your time in Amsterdam. When you used transit, had you bought a OV card or did you just tap on and off with your credit card? I’m hoping to use my ApplePay from my phone..

Cathy

[Nancycat]

We are boarding the Silhouette May 24, so excited to follow along with your trip