Betsynh

We booked a morning tour with airport drop off that included some views of Reykjavík and a trip to the Perlan Museum. We were slated to meet in the Starlight Theater at 8:30am and were dropped off at the airport by 12:30/1-ish. Unfortunately, our flight wasn’t until 8:05pm, so we had several hours before we were allowed to check our bags, and then a couple more hours to wait after we passed security. We tried to do a day pass at the Saga Lounge, but they don’t offer day rates. I was worried the airport would be so small and lack food options, but we were able to find something reasonable for lunch and a mini-dinner. I didn’t notice any outlets (US, European or USBs), so be sure your phone/iPad is fully charged before heading to the airport.

We took advantage of the discounted airfare with NCL booking our flights. We tried to switch to the 5:10pm flight to our final destination (the agent said they had 96 empty seats), but they couldn’t help us and the telephone agent indicated there was a $250 per person change fee plus any differential in price. We gave up and hunkered down with books and cribbage to pass the time. Smooth flight home!! Happy travels everyone!

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

That waterfall is freaking epic! 

 

And puffins! They are a dream for me to see someday! 

It truly was a dream trip. Friends took even more beautiful waterfall pics—so many to choose from! There’s apparently a place off the coast of Maine where puffins nest, too, so you may not need to travel too far. 

While waiting to disembark —

Overall, despite the little bumps I described earlier, this trip was amazing! The ports were so varied and interesting from elegant castles to brogh ruins to thunderous waterfalls and remote Icelandic villages. We saw so many sea birds; people on our flight to Grimsey spotted a whale! We thoroughly enjoyed our Thermal Suite pass, using the stone loungers almost daily, and hiding out together in the Relaxation Room to read and enjoy the view when we wanted quiet. The staff were incredibly friendly from the adorable omelet chef at the Garden Cafe’s station #5 who would bow every time he handed me the “best omelet of my life” on it, to the fantastic Mark and Lea in the Atrium Cafe. I completely felt appreciated everywhere we went.

For gluten-free cruisers, I didn’t have any issues although am not diagnosed Celiac. I was able to order sandwiches in O’Sheehans with GF bread although they ran out of corn tortillas for nachos and had to revert to flour...oh well! As a raving chocoholic, Mark, the dietary restriction coordinator, made sure I had something GF and chocolate every night for dessert — one was a chocolate/orange mousse that apparently no one else on the ship had that night. Interesting! The Atrium Cafe’s macarons should be GF as well as the truffle-like candies (the staff checked for me, but you may want to double check).

This 12-night trip was the longest I’ve taken thus far, and today it feels like time flew. I was completely able to disconnect from work and life back home, and the issues with the WiFi were probably a blessing. It doesn’t appear to be fully resolved at this point, though. I did get daily voicemails in the cabin promoting Future Cruise Credits, but declined since I’m not loyal to any specific cruise line. I forgot to mention that we decided to blow the last of our nonrefundable credit in the casino and came up $8.00 ahead, so heading home with about $38 for the effort. I’d call that a win!

Wednesday — Isafjordur, Iceland

Today we arrived bright and early to yet another day full of sunshine in the high 40’s/low 50’s. We booked an NCL excursion to an abandoned village, Hesteyri, which involved a 60-minute boat ride to a nearby fjord. The scenery was stunning and our guide lead a walk to various places explaining the history as to why the previous inhabitants all left in the early 1950’s. There are a now couple of small private homes by the water that are inhabited in summer, and the former “doctor’s house” has been converted into a bed and breakfast, although it’s unclear how many rooms they actually have. The town previously had no plumbing or electricity but in recent years have been able to pump water in/out of the fjord and have a seasonal hydroelectric set up to provide electricity to the B&B. It’s actually staffed in summer by a renown accordionist, Hrolfur Vagnsson,who did an impromptu performance for us. It was mind-blowing to see the remnants and imagine their remote lifestyle. With two ships in port today — NCL Star and the Ambassador Ambiance, we were glad to leave the port by boat rather than tour with crowds.

We need to pack up tonight to disembark in the morning… will share some closing thoughts after our Perlan Museum/Airport Drop Off excursion tomorrow.

Tuesday — Akureyri, Iceland

This was the port where we splurged and booked the NCL excursion “Polar Flight to Grimsey” to the Arctic Circle. It was worth every penny and more. Eighteen of us boarded a small Twin Otter plane after catching a shuttle at the pier (4 minute drive to the airport) and took a 25-minute flight to the remote island of Grimsey. It is home to 20 residents (only one school-aged child) and several hundred puffins. The photo opps were incredible. The residents’ philosophy is to all take care of each other, which has worked well for them for years. We had about two hours to explore the island which also boasted a small house containing a gift shop, a tiny kitchen and honor system coffee set up, as well as a Disc Golf Course installed by the local Kiwanis Club not realizing that bad shots would send the flying discs off the cliffs into the sea below. Meeting the people and seeing the puffins was magical.

Monday - Seydisfjordur, Iceland

When you get off the ship in this adorable little port, be sure to check out the cultural installation depicting some of the townspeople that were impacted during the landslide in 2020. Their stories and photos are riveting. There’s also a gorgeous waterfall visible from the pier that you can walk up to and get pretty close via a bridge. Lots of passengers and crew were enjoying the free Wifi at the port.

Our private taxi/tour to Vox Baths fell through, sadly, so we walked around for a bit and went back to lounge on the ship. Please note that this was a tender port for us.

Shetland Islands were such a pleasant surprise. We had no idea what it was going to be like. Lerwick was an adorable little town with great shops, cafes and more. 

Alesund, Norway — at the Marine Park and in town. Gorgeous little cafes and shops. Definitely a walk around if you have time.

Bergen, Norway port, photos of Voss and scenery.

Several days worth of musings:

Double-checked the original itinerary, and today was supposed to be in Norway—Ulvik?… had another nice meal in Versailles (complimentary dining room) and then off to the 7pm show — singer Harry Linacre, a previous Britain’s Got Talent 2nd round contestant. Good voice, sang a wide variety of familiar songs from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, EWF and more. He said this is his first NCL contract. Decided to crash early given our 8-hour Norway in a Nutshell excursion in the morning.

Thursday — Bergen, Norway

Docked in Bergen to bright sunny skies with the forecast nearing 70 degrees. No rain or clouds in sight — our guide was pleasantly surprised. We booked the Norway in a Nutshell excursion and I am not sure I can recommend it. Will break it down so you can decide for yourselves. We took a 90-minute bus ride to Voss — gorgeous views along the way from the bus. Hopped on a train about 15 minutes after we arrived to Myrdal and then caught an old-style train that follows the largest descending slope in all of Europe to take us to Flam. I thought we would have time to wander around Flam (there was an MSC cruise ship docked there!), but were immediately sent to our waiting bus for a return trip to Voss with a brief waterfall stop on the way.

I didn’t realize that the old-style train was supposed to be the highlight of the excursion — I thought we’d get to wander around a village. Nope. We stopped at a waterfall for 10 minutes where we could take photos and buy trinkets and finally arrived at the Voss Park Hotel for lunch at 4:00pm. There were more than 100 of us on three buses that needed lunch and the buffet line was incredibly long with a one-sided buffet and long cafeteria style tables. The food was decent, but I was definitely hangry by then. It was a 90-minute ride back to the ship in Bergen, which had us back at 6:54pm when All Aboard was 6:30 and we were supposed to depart at 7:00pm. Even though it was no one’s fault, I hated being “those people” that held up the ship. In fairness to the excursion, there was a Tour of Norway bike race starting today, so that might have prevented us from having lunch closer to 12noon. I’d be curious to learn when other groups stop for lunch. I’d recommend bringing snacks to hold you over!

We joined our CC friends for the adult comedy show from Stevie Jo. I left after 5 minutes and the group told me it didn’t get any better. I’m not a prude, I just didn’t find him funny in any way and decided that charging my phone was a better use of my time. Ugh… Ship WiFi is finicky, so I couldn’t upload this right away…

Friday — Alesund, Norway

A local from the pier said it’s pronounced Oh-le-sund as if the A is an O. Didn’t know that. Another day of lovely weather in low-60’s and sunny. Off early morning to our excursion at the Marine Animal Park (aquarium). It was a nice place to visit and we were back for lunch. Ate at O’Sheehan’s and then ventured out to walk around the city. Lots of shops for tourist souvenirs as well as a couple of indoor malls in the town center for anything you might want/need. Many cruisers opted for the Hop On Hop Off (HoHo) bus, and there’s also a small train that could take you to the mountain top for spectacular views — we didn’t make it up there, but heard rave reviews from our friends.

The evening show was called Memory — two aerialists that were amazing. Hustled down to Bliss lounge for the production singers doing a tribute to Broadway. It, too, was good. Poked around the ship for a bit finally landing in the atrium enjoying a couple of macarons ($) from the Starbucks area, and then playing cribbage listening to the pianist. Gorgeous sunset tonight — clocks turn back an hour as we head to the Shetland Islands.

We heard that there’s an equipment malfunction on the WiFi and supposedly the necessary part will be waiting in the Shetland Islands tomorrow… time will tell. Sorry about the delayed posting.

Saturday — Shetland Islands

Enjoyed a lovely day at the Shetland Islands today! Booked the NCL Mousa Island boat ride. Took a half hour bus ride through the country passing plenty of sheep and a couple of Shetland ponies. Lots of “one track roads” where there are pull-off spaces when two vehicles are approaching at the same time. Interesting — it seems to work well. We were on the first tender, so no issues getting off the ship and there was no line after we finished our shopping in the cute village of Lerwick. Plentiful little shops including yarn shops, art galleries, souvenirs, and the like. We opted to have a late lunch on the ship, but there were at least a handful of restaurants and small cafes. Ship WiFi is still an issue so there were apparently quite a few irate passengers giving the Internet Manager a hard time…

In the evening we bounced between the Atrium and Gatsby’s for live music. We would’ve seen Adam again, the Multi-Instrumentalist, but dinner ran late and it was a one-show only. With the WiFi malfunction, Mark, my gluten-free food pre-order helper, didn’t have a copy of the menu for tomorrow night so I need to check in early in the day if I want something special.

Sunday —

Clocks moved back another hour this morning, so we had an extra hour of sleep. It’s a sea day as today was the day we were originally scheduled for the Faroe Islands. Temp is high 40’s and cloudy today, so the inside spaces are crowded. We were lucky to score a table in the Atrium for coffee and cribbage. Will continue to try to upload these although WiFi remains funky. I was able to download another book to read at 5:00am, but perhaps 2100+ people all trying to access it at once is too much.

The Wifi has been out for the last couple of days! Will catch up soon. 

The evening show was Band on the Run — an enjoyable high energy show with a talented cast of singers and dancers. It was followed by a 70’s themed dance party in Bliss. A fun time all around. Clocks moved ahead an hour at 2am as we head to Norway.

Wednesday — Sea Day

I think today was the day we had originally been heading to the Faroe Islands, but the itinerary was changed a few weeks in advance… so we’re chugging along at sea. Enjoyed a nice breakfast in Versailles. It apparently ended at 9am, but they were still seating new guests at 9:10am. Pre-ordered GF french toast and it was presented beautifully and was delicious.

Camped out at an outward-facing table with cushioned bench in the Atrium while it was still quiet. I decided this ship is designed for “extroverts” since the public spaces often require you to request sharing a table with someone else. For a party of two it’s not bad, when we’re out and about with our new CC friends, it’s tougher to find tables for four. There are lots of window seats along deck 7 to relax, but not as cushy as other ships we’ve experienced. For a mainly cold area ship, I’m surprised there are so few indoor nooks and crannies to relax and hide.

Currently enjoying the view from a hot stone lounger in the Thermal Suite. I think I’d be a little lost without this place. Adding cool pic of Highland cow our friends took yesterday. 

On 5/19/2024 at 6:08 PM, cruiservictor said:

Thank you for taking time to do this. If, at the meet and mingle, they give you a card with the names of all the senior hotel officers, would be very happy if you posted a picture of it. 

There was a rotating screen. Grabbed a pic. Hope this helps!

On 5/20/2024 at 1:25 PM, ecslady said:

Following along...especially interested in your "Gluten Free" experience as I am GF also and looking at booking this or similar itinerary.  Enjoy your cruise!

I was able to order a sandwich in O’Sheehan’s on GF bread — it was decent.

Tuesday — Invergorden

Today we booked an NCL excursion to Dunrobin Castle with a 9:00am meeting time. Much less crowded at breakfast and we were whisked away with no issues. Another beautiful, sunny day to tour the castle and see the grounds. Be sure to note when the falcon demonstration is taking place — it was fantastic — showcasing a raven and a falcon. We arrived just before 10am and departed at 12:15, arriving back at the ship for a late lunch. No lines no waiting at O’Sheehans.

The tour guide said it was a 5-minute walk into Invergorden, but we opted to relax on the ship having done tons of walking the last couple of days. Caught some sun out by the pool and hit the Thermal Suite again as the clouds rolled in. BTW, I’m able to text my daughter through iMessage without incurring any cost/minute-usage… no photos or anything… shhhhhhhh!

7 hours ago, ecslady said:

Following along...especially interested in your "Gluten Free" experience as I am GF also and looking at booking this or similar itinerary.  Enjoy your cruise!

They’ve invited me to preorder twice for items off the menu. Tonight was Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp with rice and tomorrow I ordered Eggplant Parm. Will see how that goes! The toaster attendant was out again this morning for GF toast or bagel. I asked the pre-order food guy for any kind of chocolate dessert last night and he brought a decent dark chocolate/mocha cake tonight. The other option was bananas foster — I’m not a fan of bananas.

Monday — Edinburgh

We had to report for a 7:15am excursion today, so went to breakfast just after 6:30am and had trouble finding a spot to sit in the Garden Cafe! We asked to share a 4-top with someone almost done — a little awkward but we were crunched for time. The tender over went smoothly and we were on the bus arriving at our “House and Castle” excursion just before 9am. I’ve never seen Outlander, but apparently this is the setting for many of the characters’ homes. Very interesting how the front and back facades are different eras and several spots on the grounds can be utilized. Staff were lovely and they have a small cafe with a variety of tasty treats. The “meander” around the Royal Mile was not the case — we had approximately 40 minutes to find a place to have lunch and walk up the hill to the castle entrance. No meandering to be had. Our guide was full of interesting tidbits and then we were on our own for a bit. We waited in the queue to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland in the “Kings House”. Didn’t have time for more than 5 minutes in the Gift Shop before we needed to head to the bus. Commiserating over dinner, we both gave the excursion a 7 or 8 out of 10. We didn’t feel like we got any real flavor of Edinburgh although we enjoyed what we did do. Be prepared for huge crowds everywhere, but the weather was perfect so we were grateful.

Arriving back at the tender at 4pm was a shock. The lines were massively long and it didn’t seem that enough tenders had been deployed. Again it was gorgeously sunny and warm (60’s), so no complaints arriving back at the ship at 5pm. We departed Edinburgh late as a result.

The 7pm show was Multi-Instrumentalist Adam Barry. He was pretty fun and energetic. Got the crowd on it’s feet for the last number. People in Edinburgh said we might be able to see the Northern Lights tonight, so we’re hunkered down in the Thermal Suite relaxation room waiting for the sun to set (it’s already after 9pm).

BTW, to the person that asked about chairs on the promenade, there’s a stack of lounge chairs strapped down out there, but none were being used — it’s simply too cold and windy to enjoy outside time at this point.

It was great to meet so many people from Cruise Critic at the M&M. If you haven’t signed up, definitely do so!

Spent a quiet afternoon reading and relaxing. Eighteen knot winds outside, so mostly everyone was hunkered down indoors. Not a lot of square feet per passenger. We are experienced finding nooks and crannies to hide in when ships get crowded, and it was a little more difficult on the Star. Since we got the Thermal Suite pass, we used one of the relaxation rooms and stayed cozy and warm inside with bright sunshine after the sheltered area of Spice H2O got a little cool for us.

We hit the Versailles dining room tonight with no lines or waiting for a 5:30pm meal. I hadn’t preordered anything gluten-free so picked off the menu. They’re adapting one of the main courses to make it GF tomorrow since I pre-ordered ahead. I guess that’s the purpose— you can pick MORE than just what’s offered with the little wheat symbol on the menu. Yum! Found a good spot to play cribbage in the Library, but was surprised at the limited hours it’s staffed and the fact that the book cases were locked when it’s not staffed. I much prefer ship libraries where you can “Take one leave one” much less formal and perhaps more cruiser friendly.

There was lots of entertainment around the ship. We opted to skip the magician and enjoyed the string quartet in Gatsby’s, then headed to the Atrium for music with Angel, and a few songs by the pianist. He’s not a traditional piano bar guy — more stylized so it’s not a singalong, but he had a good voice. Crashed early since we’re meeting for a 7:15am excursion. Since we’ve got 12 days, didn’t feel the need to stay up late dancing…

Note that they serve Starbucks in the atrium. I didn’t check out the menu or pricing yet, but it’s very convenient.

2 hours ago, logan25 said:

We board the Star at the end of the month.  Did you notice whether chairs or loungers are available on the promenade?

I’ll take a look — the wind was upwards of 18 knots today so most everyone was inside.  

3 hours ago, cruiservictor said:

Thank you for taking time to do this. If, at the meet and mingle, they give you a card with the names of all the senior hotel officers, would be very happy if you posted a picture of it. 

Sorry, they didn’t. 

I didn’t realize that I was a nervous traveler until I had to figure out how to get from Heathrow to our hotel in Portsmouth. Although the ship’s embarkation point shifted from Portsmouth to Southampton, we opted to keep our reservation at the Holiday Inn Express Gunwharf Quay and we’re so glad we did!

I’d downloaded the National Express Bus schedule ahead of time and the signage was pretty easy to navigate. There was a little kiosk with an attendant selling tickets and answering questions as we were leaving the main airport. We walked along an extensive tunnel following the “yellow signs” to Central Bus Station and there’s a giant digital schedule with bus numbers and waiting directions. Ours were the giant white buses out the left exit rather than the red ones on the right. I thought we’d have to take a train from T2 to T3, but it was a walk — not horrible dragging our luggage along.

I researched in advance to get off at “The Hard” bus stop for Gunwharf Quay and it was a short walk to the Quay entrance and we eventually found the hotel entrance. It was the perfect location to spend our day-and-a-half pre-cruise. We booked the 10:15am Wightlink Ferry the following day to spend the day at the Isle of Wight and connected with Gemma from Ryde Taxi to hire a driver to take us all over. Definitely worth the trip. Be sure to see Queen Victoria’s summer residence Osborne House.

A special surprise is that we wound up meeting another CC couple on our starting flight from Boston. We were on the same first flight to Reykjavik, but they were routed through Gatwick so we started our own “Amazing Race” adventure. They took the train from Gatwick and beat us to the hotel by about 90 minutes. We met up for dinner overlooking Portsmouth Harbor. There are tons of restaurants in that area. As we strolled after dinner, we came upon the Spinnaker Tower. Since there was a wedding on the lower levels, they invited us to go to the little bar at the top at no charge. The views were gorgeous. It was especially fun when we could see the Spinnaker in the distance as we sailed out of Southampton. They opted to join us for our Isle of Wight adventure which made it even more fun.

Due to potential rail issues, the hotel recommended a taxi to the cruise terminal for 50 pounds. Given the traffic (Saturday AM, 4 ships and a sports festival), it took us close to 90 minutes to get to the port with a 10:30am hotel pick up. Our boarding time was 11:30-12noon, so it all worked out fine. Boarding was reasonably efficient and we were on the ship heading for our muster check-in and lunch shortly after 12:30pm. Cabins were ready close to 3pm, so pack what you need for the afternoon in your carryon.

On the Ship

I’m writing this the morning of day 2 and we’re still getting used the the layout. Exiting the starboard side of the Garden Cafe in the back, is Spice H2O, a sheltered outdoor spot for a meal or drink with gorgeous views of our wake. We booked an inside cabin on deck 10 forward and splurged on a Thermal Suite pass and multiple excursions. We already used the hot stone loungers and hot tub in the spa this morning. The sauna, steam room and “relaxation room” are separated by gender and the loungers and pools are combined.

The main dining room was open for limited breakfast hours, but we opted for the Garden Cafe so we could use the spa before it got crowded. I was pleasantly surprised that one section (#5) portside/aft had a dedicated gluten-free bread section with options and a friendly attendant. Had a custom omelet with my GF bagel. We joined our new friends for dinner at Cagney’s last night so I haven’t checked in with anyone about official GF dining yet. The meal was amazing and we’re all worried that we’ve set the bar high on delicious dining by eating there night one.

I love a good comedian and not easily offended, and I’d give last night’s a mid-range score. Great singing voice, 25 years in the business… but we’re not likely to attend another one of his shows. Can’t really explain why not. The Bliss dance floor was hopping after a game show and the staff was hosting line dances for most of the songs so we watched (we like to flail freestyle!). Crashed before they shifted over to the 10:30-ish DJ, so not sure how the rest of the night played out. Slept like a baby in our cozy cabin. Heading off to the Meet & Mingle one of our CC group arranged in a few minutes. More to follow!

Just got off the 3-day Wish 4/5-4/8/24 and my first trip to Castaway Cay. I’ve been to many other cruise line’s private islands and thought this ranked up there with some of the nicest. Short wait for tram ride, plenty of shade and chairs at the family beach and the lunch was surprisingly good (and allergy friendly). Plentiful soft drinks and soft serve ice cream, too! 

It appears that you’ve already sailed but for anyone else, we just were in 11511. We loved it for multiple reasons! As an inside cabin, we paid inside prices since it was a short trip and we were only there to sleep. We were on the same deck as the food concessions, ice cream and pools. We were off the beaten path so had zero noise of crying kids or little ones running down the hall. We had a direct elevator ride up after the 8:30 show to put my 3-year-old grandson to bed. 
 

I agree with earlier poster that recommended checking what’s above and below your stateroom prior to booking. Happy travels! 

13 hours ago, carohs said:

Next time look into the pirates package at bibbidi bobbidi boutique on board. You can book through the app (prior to sailing), but spaces full up fast. Also, the store for that is on a different deck than the shops, so you may have missed it. Not a bad thing for your wallet, tho! 

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/onboard-activities/bibbidi-bobbidi-boutique/

One staff member we were chatting with seemed surprised we didn’t get pirate bandanas in the cabin… is that a thing? We weren’t in any special cabin or rewards program. We passed the boutique and it looked adorable! All slots were filled well before we traveled. I’ll be better prepared next time.