unseemlygamer

Sugar Beach - coming from the US, I was disappointed to see that it was all American candy except for Maltesers and Aero bars.

However, the general store offered its fair share of European goodies.

Huge chocolate bars.

Playmakers - added during the refurbishment.

Royal Promenade

I think if you're on the Freedom, this bridge flashes rainbow colors. But not here.

The front of Vintages can be seen from these signs.

Tonight the waiter recommended chicken marsala. I'm of Italian origin, and I think marsala is usually veal in Italy, but I feel terrible for the veal and the lamb :(, and I'm not even a vegetarian. I've had veal before, but is this an irrational feeling?

Not to mention I ate those mashed potatoes with a fork since I didn't see my spoon...

Still good though.

For dessert I ordered the Royal Chocolate Cake with some vanilla ice cream. The cake was a bit on the dry side, and never on the cruise did this ice cream taste like vanilla at all - it tasted like cake batter or something. I like cake batter, but the only tastes of vanilla ice cream I ever got here were those cones near the pool.

Tonight there was an ice show - Freeze Frame - at 8:45. In the meantime, I spent some time exploring the ship a little more.

Well, there's the front of Studio B.

Boleros Lounge

Those in the Facebook group who ordered lanyards that were made for the cruise would be given them here. £1 each.

Name tags were also made. I didn't order one, but was given one right on the spot.

Like I said, some people...oh, who am I kidding, everybody I met up with here was really surprised that I would be on this cruise myself.

I spent some time at the pool bar, and after 5:30, I made my way down to dinner.

Dinner with an ocean view! :D

First plate - stir fry.

Second plate - mashed potatoes, carrots and fatty pork chops! 😋 One thing to know about me - I love meat fat.

Of course, rooms were ready by 1pm. I booked this cruise just about 11 months ahead. It made more sense for me to stay in a standard cabin (#6377), since I was traveling alone. I didn't want a balcony or ocean view, because the sun barely sets in Norway during the summer. There were times when I would forget that fact. I could be going outside after an evening show and the sun would still be out.

I don't know why that hat was on my bed, but I didn't keep it. 2pm, I decided to go swimming and ride down the water slides for about 45 minutes. I wasn't sure if I could do that, because it was in the 60s and gusty out, but a lot of people were swimming, so what the heck.

The wind made it feel cold to be standing in line for the slides, but to my surprise, they were warm enough, and so were the pools...until you stepped into the hot tubs. I think the water's heated on this ship.

It was time for the muster drill soon after I came back and showered. More importantly, at sailaway, I met up with more people from the Facebook group at the pool bar. Time to sail to Norway!

First day on the ship!

Now for the beginning of what you've really been waiting for.

The morning of the cruise, I was up by 6am and down in the lobby by 7. I believe it was around 8am when staff escorted me to my transfer. There wasn't much traffic, and it was about 9:30 by the time I got to the pier.

Waiting outside, it was quite windy and only in the 60s. Usually we carry our suitcases on with us, but for some reason, I had them bring my suitcase up to my room instead. I was checked in and issued my SeaPass about a half hour later. While waiting to get on, I met some of the people from the Facebook group I was in, and after getting on, I hung around with some of them in the Royal Promenade.

The Windjammer opened at 11:30.

A big sheet cake was set out front.

Other pictures I took around the Windjammer, in no particular order.

I think this is Lambeth Bridge.

County Hall?

I then decided to walk back to my hotel. Because of my sense of direction and not wanting to use up all my data roaming, it took me almost two hours to get back there from here. I was ending up all over the place.

Did I mention it was about 90 degrees that day? I didn't take my water bottle out of my room either. Didn't put sunscreen on, so my nose was sunburned. Everybody in the parks was eating outside, buying ice creams and water bottles, but not me.

When I finally got to my hotel, I felt so dizzy that I thought I was going to die or pass out. Thankfully, hotel staff gave me some water bottles. I went back up to my room, showered up and drank probably as much water as I had on me.

Wow...90 degrees is still 90, no matter how far north you are. Lesson learned: if you're going to explore a major city on foot, bring a water bottle or at least buy one somewhere, especially in the heat.

The rest of the day wasn't very eventful. It rained in the evening, cooling everything off, and temperatures throughout the trip were much more tolerable.

At least I got to see a few sights of London in a day. But tomorrow is what you really wanna see - the cruise!

Stay tuned!

The palace, as seen from this park.

Around noon, I got to Westminster. No, I did not go on the London Eye.

Westminster Bridge

Now for Big Ben - I mean, the Elizabeth Tower. Thankfully before I came to London, I read up that this was what I would be seeing of it. It'll be a few years before all this construction is finished.

I also walked along St. James's Park.

Mini-bar. I didn't take anything from there either.

I also could see the London Eye right from my window.

After going down for breakfast, it was time to start walking around London.

The first place I wanted to see was Buckingham Palace. It was early enough that I could've seen the changing of the guards, but I missed it by at least a few minutes because I started walking in the wrong direction from my hotel. I got to the palace around 11:10AM.

Pre-cruise day in London

My head was pounding the whole flight, so it was hard to sleep, despite being in the premium cabin. I did take Excedrin after getting to my hotel though. After landing in Heathrow and going through passport control, I got my luggage within seconds of going down to the baggage reclaim. When going through the customs lane, I thought I was doing something wrong, but I was assured that I was doing it correctly.

I looked everywhere for somebody holding up my name, but it took a while for my transfer to get to the airport. My hotel was the Grosvenor House in the Mayfair district of London, which we had booked through Royal Caribbean.

My room was already ready by 9am. It was small, but efficient. Here are some pictures, in no particular order.

Though I didn't take anything from the bathroom, I just had to take these with me.

I don't know why I didn't get around to this until now, but it's better late than never. I will be reviewing a cruise that I took on Independence of the Seas back in July to Norway - specifically Bergen, Geiranger, Ålesund, Skjolden and Stavanger.

My name is Mike. I was only 20 when I was on this cruise (turned 21 a few days after), and I did it solo. Some people were surprised about that, especially considering I'm all the way from Pennsylvania. Could I have been the youngest solo passenger on this sailing? Probably.

I really don't know why I didn't let my parents go with me, because Norway is just so beautiful.

Last month, I posted videos about this adventure on my YouTube channel - MichaelsiCast. You're more than welcome to check those out. Now it's time to get around to posting all these pictures. There could be pages and pages of them. Tomorrow we'll get started.

You should be able to cancel the direct transfer and book the excursion. I'd call the cruise line and see if they'll let you do that if you wish. We had a 3:30 flight out of Heathrow after a Baltics cruise a few years ago. We purchased a direct transfer through the cruise line. By the time we got to the airport and cleared security, it was past noon & gave us enough time to have some lunch and relax before the long flight back to ORD.

Well, I'd have to talk to our travel agent about that.

Have you considered doing a ship tour?

 

Normally offer either Stonehenge or Windsor with airport drop off.

 

Pete.

I don't think so, because we already purchased a transfer straight to the airport through the cruise line.

I'm taking an Independence cruise in about two months. After the cruise, the ship gets back into Southampton at 5:30am. Not sure how early they'll want me off the ship, but the cruise line is transferring me back to Heathrow. If I can, I'm planning on checking in for my flight online the night before while onboard. Let's say it takes about an hour and a half to get from the cruise terminal to Heathrow T5. I'm flying to Newark through BA, and that doesn't leave until around 4:45pm. That must mean that if have to check in at the airport, it wouldn't open until maybe 1:45pm. Same would go for the bag drop.

I'm flying premium economy for maybe 8 hours, so that would arrive around 7:30pm US Eastern time. Since I don't trust airline food, eating at one of the restaurants in this terminal is in my plans. If not before, then after going through security. As far as I've heard, Terminal 5 is enormous, so assuming I'll be in this airport all day, how else would you pass time?

P.S. I haven't flown in over a year, and never transatlantic, so I'm also incredibly nervous...

Lykke til! Jeg bare bruker 'takk' fordi ingen vil forstå aksenten min og vil heller snakke engelsk! (Jeg er også sjenert ***** at jeg ofte bruker feil preoposisjoner!)

 

Kvikk Lunsj is a long-standing tradition. It's Norway's official tursjokolade (hiking chocolate), and the wrappers are typically printed with information about historic Norwegian adventurers and famous hiking routes. Smash! is one of those love-it or hate-it things, because the combination of salty and sweet is a divisive one. Freia milk chocolate (used in Kvikk Lunsj) is an icon in its own right. Non Stop are always amusing, because they're just not quite M&Ms (which are illegal to import commercially because they infringe on Freia's trademark "m" candy.) There's also Laban Seigmenn for a non-chocolate option. And of course there's the love of licorice. Salmiak licorice is certainly not for everyone, and Turkish Pepper is quite an experience! For sweet licorice, lakrisbåter are popular, and Skole kridt is my favorite, because I like the crunchy outer layer.

I've tried Swedish candy, and licorice is certainly not for me either.

You can get brunost in any grocery. If you want to try it, I'd recommend just popping into a shop and picking some up, rather than trying to plan an excursion around it. Especially in one of the most beautiful fjords in the world! You'll find it in the refrigerated section alongside the other cheese. Gudbrandsdalsost is one of the most common varieties, and you can often find it pre-sliced. Otherwise, pick up a block and an ostehøvel (Norway's favorite souvenir)! Try it on a waffle or atop a slice of buttered bread.

 

As for Geiranger itself, I would skip the boat cruises on the fjord, since you'll be sailing through the entire length during the sail-in/sail-out. The fjord scenery is dramatically different from down by the water level compared to seeing it from above, so having sailed through on the ship with the fjord walls towering over you, I always recommend getting up into the hills to see the view from above. Dalsnibba and Eagle's Bend are both good for this, but Eagle's Bend is a bit off to the side and may not give you the iconic view you'd get from someplace like Flydalsjuvet. The problem with Dalsnibba is that the summit is often above the clouds, so be sure there are some lower stops as well.

 

As for weather, Bergen is certainly known for rain, but I've had astonishing blue sky days on all of my port visits! (I've had the more normal Bergen experience whenever I arrived by flight or train, though.) And unfortunately, it's been overcast with low clouds on all of my visits to Geiranger so far! You really never know what you're going to get in Norway!

Everyone's told me "blah blah blah, weather" at this point, but I suppose I'll give the view from above a chance.

And I see you're from Norway? I've actually been learning Norwegian extensively for this trip. :D

Also, speaking of shops, I also plan to purchase a bunch of Norwegian candy and snacks for one of my YouTube videos (I plan to vlog this cruise). I hear Kvikk Lunsj is very popular, and Smash! caught my interest as well. Do you have favorites?

We visited a goat farm in Flam, and it was wonderful. But the other thing you should consider is that the weather might be terrible in any of the ports, which will greatly affect the beautiful views. My understanding is that there are buses that run fairly consistently (though I don't know how late) to the highlights of Geiranger, and don't take more than a few hours. So I'd see if you can plan on both visiting the farm and taking a bus tour of the highlights of Geiranger because you have no idea if you will be able to see much in Trollstigen and/or Pulpit Rock. We took the funicular in Bergen because of our kids, but knew before we went up that we wouldn't be able to see anything but fog from the top (and that's what happened). So I'd be prepared to try to see as many beautiful scenery options as possible in Norway, because you don't know how many of them will be visible on the day you visit.

I'm predicting that Bergen will have the worst weather of all, but the other ports might be good to go.

Hello! I will be sailing in July 2018 on the Independence of the Seas to the Norwegian fjords. So far I already have a few excursions booked:

- In Ålesund, I'm doing the day trip to Trollstigen

- In Stavanger, I'm doing the Lysefjord cruise to Pulpit Rock

I know what I want to do in Bergen, but I may need help organizing that. Don't know what I'll do in Skjolden, since the cruise line isn't offering the excursions they have there. Maybe it'll change to Flåm, but who knows?

For this thread, I will be focusing on Geiranger, which is considered one of the most beautiful fjords of Norway. This port of call is from 11am to 8pm that day.

Dalsnibba was one of my ideas, especially considering the summit, and then of course the famous viewpoint of the fjord, but I'm already doing an excursion to Trollstigen.

One excursion goes up Eagle Bend, which one tourist in a YouTube video called a "mini-version of Trollstigen," but that's not all: its main destination is Herdal Farm. "Once at Herdalssetra Mountain Farm, sample goat cheese, sweet homemade fudge (yum! ) and experience a bit of the country's farm life - including goats, sheep and cows."

Goat cheese? What I'm curious about is Norway's brunost (brown cheese), but I don't know where that's from or where you can get it.

Then there's the RIB boat along the fjord, but the ride seems like it would be a little rocky.

As far as what's near the port, not only would there be souvenirs and all that stuff, but I even heard about this chocolate shop which, according to one vlogger, must be really good.

Norway tours usually have very low capacity.

Tour guides are usually people doing work for a bit of extra pocket money.

They probably have not confirmed arrangements yet.

Hmm...

Let's talk Skjolden. It's one of our ports of call during a Norwegian fjords cruise on the Independence. Every port of call is offering excursions so far except this one. However, there are a few excursions listed on RC's website.

1. Nigardsbreen Glacier Lake & Gaupne Old Church, in addition to a scenic drive through Jostedalen

2. Urnes stave church (Norway's oldest stave church)

3. Something called Panoramic Sognefjell

4. Sengjabetget Nature Walk

5. Sognefjell and Scenic Jotunheim, including refreshments

Yet none of them are offered on this particular sailing. A small village with only around 200 people living there.

I looked at the Skjolden tourist website a little bit. They seem to have bus tours of areas such as Jostedalen, Sognefjellet, Urnes, etc., which you have to book by email. Some people even do biking around this port. As for Sengjabetget, I suppose you could do that on your own?

Surprisingly, there's even Wi-Fi right on the pier, up until it's time to set sail, along with the visitor center and tourist info. Food - looks like there's a little café in there.

Either way, if they can offer their excursions in the other ports (Bergen, Geiranger, Ålesund and Stavanger), why not here?

Update - I made the decision to book the excursion just this morning. Thanks to anyone who recommended it! It should be spectacular!

I've never been on a cruise line where there were single supplements for excursions. I've been on many, many cruise line excursions by myself. The price is per person.

Thank you! The more I'm recommended to do this excursion, I will gladly book it!

Check the Avis website, probably you have to pay a surcharge if under 25. Or try to find an older companion through the rollcall section.

Well, I wouldn't be comfortable driving anyway because I'm not this experienced, so I think I'd stick with the excursion, especially considering the added stops, particularly Gudbrandsjuvet, also seem fun.

That still leaves the single supplement for me to be concerned. Do you know if that applies to shore excursions?