Jack Staff

The day started as cloudy and wet, but the on-board weatherreport stated that we should expect scattered showers. We arrived in Haugesund at 8:00 am It is necessary to take the free shuttle from the port into the town centre which we did and the drop off and collection point was outside the church.

We had decided to visit the ‘Norwegians Birthplace’ at Alvernes where Harald Fairhair the first king of Norway lived and there are local buses (No 209 & 210) from the bus station that is about one or two blocks from the church. The driver can give change, so the exact fare is unnecessary and its about 35NOK each way -we found the driver very helpful. After getting off the bus its about a 15/20 min walk to theViking Centre and farm -just head towards St Olves church which can be clearly seen.

The path near the centre leads to a short set of spiral steps and I did wonder were the centre was – on descending the steps I realised itwas built into the hill and the windows looked out over the water -it started to rain.

Tickets into the centre wereabout 150 NOK and covered both the history centre and access to the farm. The reception had the usual souvenirs and some information, and we were wondering what we had paid for however the staff gathered us together and gave each of us a small cylindrical hand set and a earpiece and took us down more steps to a small cinema where we watched a short film (made even shorter by a power cut) on Norse legends. Following this we were directed into a large space where the heads sets helped describe the exhibits.

We enjoyed the experience.

After the history centre it’s a 15-minute walk to the farm , although we enjoyed the rather wet walk (it was raining) the farm did not impress. The village was populated by school children who were dressed in Viking clothes and it seems on some sort of experience trip.

On the way back to the centre we intended to visit St Olves church but as with many ancient monuments it was closed while refurbishment was carried out. So, a wet walk back to the bus stop (scattered showers seem to be all day and over all!).

We took the shuttle to return to the ship where we decided not to go to the theatre that night – the performance was a singer ( Karl Loxley) who we had seen in the embarkation day review and although we though he was good it was not for us. We enjoyed dinner in Alizar (the rotisserie chicken was huge) .

The day started with breakfast in the buffet. It was busy, and people were looking for empty tables but did not have to wait for long. Not a bad selection of food either with coffee; tea; soft drinks available.

This day was a bit grey and we did spend time on our balcony watching the sea go by (and in the distance the occasional energy rig). It rained. Time to explore the ship.

After seeing some of the YouTube videos of the Jade we thought that the décor may be a bit garish, but it was not so, perhaps the brightest area was the Stardust Theatre. The atrium is unremarkable being only 2 decks high and it would be possible to pass through the area without realising it’s the atrium. Music entertainment was provided here. O’ Sheehans is on the deck that looks down on the atrium.

Attended a free 30-minute History of art talk in Bliss – itwas quite good given that 30,000 years or so were covered in 30 minutes. The speaker was an art auctioneer I believe he hails from Chester and the presentation was good. There was also art & craft classes and ‘Deal Or No Deal’ ; ‘Battle of the Sexes Gameshow’ to help pass the time.

A little reading in the quiet library (an acceptably comfortable place) helped pass the morning in a relaxing manner.

Tonight was ‘Dress Up or Not Night’- from what we saw it was mainly ‘Not’ although throughout the cruise we saw that most people were dressed 'smart casual' style. We used O’ Sheehans for dinner (the chicken wings -yummy).

After dinner we went to the Stardust Theatre for the 09:30pm show, we arrived about 20 minutes before the show started and so had an easy time choosing our seats. Tonight the production cast were to perform 'Showdown' which is described as a high energy vocal battle - and it was OK.

On returning to our room the beds had been turned down andthe towel animals started to appear -tonight it was :-

Got off the Jade at end of a Fjord cruise on 3rd Sept. There was no problem getting drinks on sea days -Spinnaker bar was doing a good trade and O Sheenans as well judging by the state on some from the USA and Germany who were seemed to have been "sampling" British beer. I tend to agree with the OP on most .

We chose the cruise offered by NCL although we have not used the line before (Celebrity is our current favourite) and did have some apprehension on reading these boards however the itinery/timing seemed to suit so we were willing to give it a try.

We booked car parking with ABP at Southampton as usually you leave your car a short distance from the ship and luggage is taken from you as you park and the next time you see it is when it arrives in the cabin/stateroom. There was a slight difference this time as the car park was at City Cruise Terminal and Norwegian Jade was moored at berth 46 at the Ocean Cruise Terminal but we were instructed to board a free shuttle from the car park to the terminal. The Jade would moor at

Do you put luggage tags on carry on bags?

I think your questions have been answered in some way or another. For info on ports perhaps look at https://www.tomsportguides.com/ ; https://www.ricksteves.com/;

Booking a cruise can be a little confusing at first but do look at other cruise lines as well as NCL.

Rome can be interesting but is approximately an hour from the cruise port and we used a shuttle to get there. The Mediterranean is hot in the summer -Rome is currently averaging 93F but will be about 82 F in April . April is outside of European school holidays when holidays are cheaper - Easter when schools have at least week off will be very busy

The connection from ship is via satellite and is inherently slow. Land based systems are via cable (although may be locally distributed via wi-fi) and hence have greater bandwidth. So wait until the ship docks and go to an internet enabled café or similar.

Trying to decide between

Hello

I am looking at Norway Fjord cruises for this year and wondering if those who have experienced these could advise on the best cruise length. I notice that most cruise lines seem to offer approx. 7 day experiences.

Any advice on cruise ships/lines that offer the Fjords will be appreciated.

I have cruised before and am looking at a UK embarkation.

Thank You.. I am in the UK and looking at Northern European Fjords. We have cruised before and do enjoy sailing from the UK

We did a Baltic Cruise on Celebrity Eclipse - we do favour Celebrity - and the only issue we had was that on a sea day when the weather was poor an Art Auction was held in one of the lounges , this did reduce the space available to customers as most were inside the ship. Other than that could not fault it.

Hello we are thinking about a cruise to the Fjords this summer but are wondering about which Cruise Line provides the best overall experience and what should not be missed.

Any help/advice out there?

We had absolutely no issues when we toured with Alla..

Great guide (Marina) and small groups.

Miaminice puts it quite nicely. Eclipse is fine and you may enjoy the cruise (depends upon what you like and expectations). We prefer Reflection but only because :

Lawn Club

No Hot Glass Show

Hideaway (good for reading and a fairly peaceful time). -We like deck 8 and the hideaway is on 7 so easy for us).

Sunset bar on Reflection.

However I can find no worthwhile negative points about Eclipse.

We used ALLA tours and could not fault them. The pre-tour contact via their web site was excellent and the tour guide (we were allocated Mariana) was superb.

Only smallish groups (we were 14 people) and early entry to sites where possible.

We as Americans have many service type jobs which rely on tips like our youngest daughter has ( and my Mom and Pat had in the past ) .

 

We did however hear a few things from several of the Danes about theirs . They all earn high wages and pay high prices for goods and have high taxes .

 

Adam shared with us how expensive and difficult it was to own a car in Denmark . He said that the government had just lowered the car registration tax from 180% to 150% ! . This is paid in addition to the high price of the car in the first place . Thus the price of a small car selling for $30,000 , becomes 75,000 . :eek:

 

 

Could it be that what Marcellus said in Hamlet is true ?

 

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

?

or

"

O, wonderful" ?

Denmark does have high taxes but also a very good and free welfare service that includes a health care service.

ABP parking was very easy.

At the port entry we were directed to a parking area (display your parking pass on the dash) - parked the car and cases were taken from us (remember the lable!)We kept the car keys . We kept our hand luggage and walked a couple of hundred yards into the terminal (route is clearly marked although it would be difficult to lose your way). We kept the car keys. Through security and onward to the check in desk - a short wait and although we had booked in on line the agent went through it again - only took a few minutes. Then onto the ship.

We do like deck 8, Deck 0 ?

Depends on the cruise itinerary and if you think you will use a balcony.

1. This is the first time we have five sea days on a cruise. Is the weather warm enough on sea days that the outdoor pools/loungers can be used in August? Do they strictly enforce the Solarium as an adult's only area if it is not?

Pools are heated and solarium does have 'family slots' . Unfortunately we had cold/cool/wet sea days at the end of our Baltic cruise and most people stayed inside. IMO Celebrity was poor on those days in that they held art auctions in the Skylounge and much space was taken by the pictures before the event and we were told to vacate the area due to security checks before the auction. IMO it was an example of Celebrity putting its sales first, paying passengers second.

2. Is Quasar an active place at night?

Not my scene.

3. What are typical onboard daytime activities for sea days?

There is the Hot Glass Show (what is it doing on a ship? Reflection had art studio classes much better), Other low key activities do exist - e.g.dance class, game shows (e.g. trivia. table tennis, choir rehearsal, film, and a matinee performance,)

Let me see if I've got this right. On Smart Casual nights I can wear a long sleeved shirt with or without a jacket, and trousers. On Evening Chic I can wear a long sleeved shirt with or without a jacket, and trousers. So that's all clear then.

 

My question is what if I wear my evening chic shirt and trousers on a Smart Casual night or vice versa ? Will anyone notice? Will anyone care? What if I've forgotten which is which? Should I get a badge to wear to indicate which outfit I am in?

 

It's far easier for my wife. For Smart Casual she can wear trousers and a blouse and for Evening Chic she can wear trousers and a blouse. Like I said, so much clearer for the women.

 

Have I missed something here?

Seems about right. Forget about the badge.... wear bright clothes.

Rick Steves Book " Northern European Cruise Ports" is we find a great help in deciding what to do at ports.

Has anyone had experience with this new "dress code" on European sailings? We've typically found that more people dressed up more and are more likely to participate in formal nights on these sailings, which we still love! We'll be in Europe on the Reflection next summer, and I was planning on taking things appropriate for a couple "formal" nights (I always wear dresses and heels to dinner every night anyway), but we also don't want to feel too out of place.

 

Ugh - this really sounds more confusing than the old policy and seems to leave the door wide open for a number of various interpretations.

The Eclipse has been doing Baltic cruises this summer and for Evening Chic nights a good number of people of men wore tux and ladies evening wera. However there were also people in ''Hawaiian" style shirts and jeans - t seems that anything reasonable goes.

You may get a pertinent answer on the Carnival Forum

and

also see HERE

Alla Tours is still offering Catherine Palace: http://alla-tour.com/

I have had a message from Alla Tours that warns of a possible wait at Catherine Palace of between 45 - 60 mins. It seems to be due to popularity. Alla advise that the wait may impact upon night tours

Are the fancy coffees included in the Premium pkg?

The short answer is Yes