Splinter

There are two piers which are using by cruise ships in San Diego. Most go from the B Street Pier, not the newer Broadway Pier. For both, from where you check-in on the pier, it is roughly 200 yards to the entrance to the ship. I would request wheelchair assistance if I were you.

I have been using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS70S for travel the last year or so. Got great photos on it on a trip to Costa Rica last spring, safari in game parks in South Africa last summer, recently whale watching in San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja, and have taken it on several cruises,  Fits in my fanny pack along with my wallet, and even can put it in my pocket if I have slacks with a pocket. You might want to consider that.

I have some friends that did the Antarctica trip with National Geographic expedition cruises in Jan. 2019, and they raved about the trip. You might want to compare that with the Hurtigruten pricing and itinerary.

I would recommend the Sea Eagle excursion, which is only available southbound.  You will be on the small boat in/out of the Trollfjord (not on the ship), but it also gives you excellent opportunities to take photos of the ship as well as the eagles.

In Oslo I bought the Oslo Pass, which gives you admission to all the museums, and also use of the excellent public transportation (buses, trolleys, ferries, etc.). I bought mine at the Visitors' Center at the Central Train Station, but there are other places you can purchase it as well. The Visitors' Center staff were also excellent is showing me routing to the sights I wanted to see using public transportation.

I had an excellent dinner at the Olympen restaurant in the Grønland area of Oslo (not far from my AirB&B): https://www.olympen.no/eng

I stayed in AirB&Bs in both Bergen and Oslo. If that interests you, I can let you know the specifics.

If you stay overnight in Bergen, then take the first train in the morning to Oslo, you can also work in a side trip on the train to Flam and back (from Myrdal) before proceeding onto Oslo. This made it a long day, but I am glad I didn't miss the beautiful ride. I booked all my train travel through the Norwegian Railway website which was very easy.

It rains a lot in Bergen, so if you get a dry/clear day, definitely take the funicular up to Mount Fløyen right then. I did this my first day in Bergen, and was so glad because my second day was cloudy and rainy and the mountain was up in the clouds (so no view).  If you are a classical music lover, I would also recommend taking in a visit to the Edvard Grieg Museum at Troldhaugen. You can take a city bus to get there.

You are only a short walk from Liberty Station which has many restaurants and a large craft brewery (Stone Brewing World). In addition, within a couple blocks of your hotel there are the following I can recommend:

Jimmy's Famous American Tavern

Pizza Nova

Point Loma Seafoods (very casual)

Miguel's (Mexican)

Old Venice (Italian)

The Brigantine (seafood)

The Ketch (seafood)

Fiddler's Green (seafood & steaks, corned beef)

Supannee House of Thai

A little further away (easy Uber or cab) is The Venetian, which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in San Diego.

I can also recommend the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.  It is a short walk from the cruise ship terminal, or you can take the historic trolley car if it is running. http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/

You should also be able to change your shuttle time reservation even if already booked and paid. You certainly can do that with Supershuttle, but I never use Prime Time, so not sure with them.

Yes, I use the CVS on-line pharmacy (CareMark, required by my insurance) with 90 day supply prescriptions, and they just ask that I notify them 10 days prior to the trip of any refills that I will need early, how long I will be gone, and they send the early refills as needed.

I never check my CPAP. Can't afford to have it lost or damaged. I take a rolling bag that fits in the overhead bin, and which I can carry by setting my CPAP on top with the strap around that roller bag handle, and then take a small knapsack which I put my purse into when checking into the flight. The roller bag and CPAP both go in the overhead bin, and the knapsack under the seat in front of me. I use the ResMed travel bag, which TSA readily recognizes as a CPAP...sometimes they hand inspect it, sometimes not. I also have a tag with my address/phone/e-mail on one side and a orange colored notice about this being medical equipment on the other. Medical equipment does not count as your carry on limit, nor is there an extra charge, as long as all you have in that bag is indeed medical equipment or supplies (don't add any clothing, etc. to that bag).

Also, although you are usually instructed to use only distilled water (which you can usually obtain aboard ship) for humidification, I have traveled where I could not obtain this, used bottled water, and never had a problem.

Assume you will be on the MS Nordlys, as that is the ship scheduled to leave Bergen on the 11 day RT Norwegian Coast Voyage on June 28, 2019. 

The MS Nordlys was built in 1994, but is scheduled for refurbishment in May 2019. This makes it one of the older ships on this route. It does have a one story observation lounge (The Explorer Lounge) which is not as spacious nor with the 2 story windows found in the newer ships like the more recently built ships such as the MS Trollfjord (2002), MS Finnmarken (2002), or MS Midnatsol (2003) which have the 2 story Panorama Lounge.

What specific questions do you have about this trip? I hope you have reviewed the extensive information already available on this forum.

I wouldn't risk the 0900 time. Book the 1130 and you won't have to worry about missing your train.

Has anyone seen the new Virgin Voyages cruise line, which is starting service from Miami starting the spring of 2020?  They are doing pricing by the cabin, not per passenger, so solos may have a great opportunity to get a single-supplement-free cruise. Limited itinerary so far (Cuba and Yucatan), but they also offer free Wifi, no tips, and non-alcoholic beverages.  I'm going to keep my eye on this.

Ship's photos are a rip-off. Outrageous prices, which you can easily beat in a photo studio ashore. Take your own camera or smart phone, and ask friendly other passengers to take photos of you if you want to have something other than a selfie.

You probably should post this on the Norwegian forum. It doesn't appear to be related to solo cruising.

On HAL ships, I go to the Crow's Nest bar during the day. Usually quiet (check your daily newsletter to see if there are events scheduled their during the day). They also are forward on an upper deck with a good view. Otherwise, I look for bars that are either not open, or don't have entertainment during the day. On Crystal, the Palm Court is usually a good choice. Outdoors, for most ships, I also like the promenade deck chairs. 

On 2/11/2019 at 2:30 PM, Sallyandtex said:

Thanks again, lots of great tips!

I have been looking at a package thru 50 degrees North that includes land bookings and transfers. Thinking maybe I should try booking myself but worried I would put us in the wrong areas and worried about language barriers.

I also went solo on my trip. I used advice from this CC forum, and info I found on the internet to book my flights (Norwegian LAX to Oslo and return), took the train from the airport to Oslo, booked an AirB&B in Oslo, train travel from Oslo to Bergen, a hotel in Bergen, then my 11 day Coastal Voyage on the MS Trollfjord. I didn't book any shore excursions until I got on the ship, but would recommend pre-booking some of the more popular ones if you want to be sure to get a ticket. I walked around many of the towns where we stopped on my own. Everyone spoke English, including the Norwegian passengers I met aboard ship. I also booked an AirB&B in Bergen, and then my return train trip to Oslo (with a side trip to Flam) on-line. I bought the Oslo Pass (48 hour pass) for my last 3 days in Oslo and took the excellent buses and trolleys to everything I wanted to see in Oslo, including all the museums on Bygdøy (Norwegian Heritage, Viking Ship, KonTiki, and Fram) and visiting a friend there, and took the train back to the airport when I flew home.  Probably one of the easiest countries in Europe for an English speaking tourists (although not the cheapest!).

One thing that is available on a lot of cruise ships on TV is a bridge cam, and I was disappointed to not see that on the Trollfjord when I traveled with Hurtigruten in May 2015, especially as I had an inside cabin. Often these also display outdoor temperatures and wind speed, which is invaluable in deciding what clothing to wear. Is this being considered for Hurtigruten ships?

On 1/6/2019 at 4:52 AM, Essiesmom said:

There are no strictly tender ports in Alaska.  Occasionally they will have too many ships scheduled in Ketchikan or Juneau, and one has to tender.  But that's not the norm.  EM

Not true. Sitka is a tender port in Alaska, so yes, there are tender ports. Probably want to pick a cruise that stops in the most popular ports such as Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan to avoid tendering.

Be careful with a scooter, especially if not one with 4 wheels, as they can be fairly tippy on cobblestones, which you will find all over Norway, especially in tourist areas.   Not all buses or trolleys in Norway are accessible either, even in Oslo.

Can she climb the steps into a tour bus? The tour buses are usually air conditioned. if taking ships tours, pick those that describe the trip as little or no walking. If not, then you can take taxis for both Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, although in Mazatlan she would need to get onto the trolley (1-2 steps) that takes you from the pier to the gate.  In Cabo she will need to be able to get on/off the tender (which also may require stairs) by herself with no assistance, so if it is rough, she may not be allowed ashore.  Again, a cab may be a good option as the walk into town from the pier may be a problem for her.

Would she be willing to take a folding wheelchair for use ashore (assuming another family member could push)? This will be much better than walking if it is hot with MS, and you can put a folding chair into a cab as well easily.

This is not an uncommon practice. For example, Hurtigruten has different prices for Norwegians than for non-Norwegians. Are you sure Cunard does not charge extra for non-UK citizens?

Not sure what this has to do with the topic of disabled cruising...you should probably post this instead over on the RCCL discussion forum.

On 1/20/2019 at 3:38 PM, hallasm said:

You cannot compare Vantage or Collette price offerings with Hurtigruten prices - Hurtigruten price is cruise only while Vantage and Collette does include flights and hotels in their price offerings.

 

Not all Vantage tours include airfare.

I can answer that for you. Yes, when you book your trip, you will see which ship is leaving Bergen for the date you have selected. There is one Hurtigruten ship leaving Bergen every day (365 days/year). You may want to check out the ship you are most interested in first, then find a Bergen departure date for that ship that works with your travel plans. This is what I did. I knew I wanted to leave Bergen on a Saturday evening, flying into Oslo on the prior Thursday, so I found a date when that would work for the MS Trollfjord, my preferred ship.

Yes, the cabins are small, but I really only was in my cabin to sleep, bathe, and change clothes. Most of the newer ships have a lovely indoor observation (Panorama) lounge, which is where I spent the bulk of my time, when not out on deck taking photos.  Check out the different ships here: https://www.hurtigruten.com/our-ships/#

4 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Why not fly directly to Vancouver.

Notice the OP said she wanted to fly Southwest with points. Southwest does not go to Vancouver, but does fly into SEATAC.

You also might want to look at HAL. Older group, not party ships, few children. I have gone on HAL a number of times with family; going on my first solo this next December.

I also went solo on Hurtigruten, and had a wonderful cruise up and down the Norwegian coast.

Look at river cruises too. Several river cruise lines offer either low or no single supplement cabins (limited in number), including AMA, Vantage, and Gate 1. I went solo on a 7 day AMA cruise in the Netherlands and Belgium in 2017 and had a great time, met many friendly people (couples and other solos), and paid a very low single supplement. Going on a Vantage 27 day cruise this summer and paying no single supplement.

On 1/14/2019 at 3:13 PM, Bella0714 said:

Mind if I ask a question about booking through Vantage? Why are their prices nearly three times higher than the Hurtigruten.no prices?

Notice on the Vantage site for their Hurtigruten cruises that they include a number of shore excursions, which are not cheap when you buy them from Hurtigruten. This is one reason for the higher prices compared to booking through Hurtigruten.

I would just add about food; on the northbound leg of my trip on the MS Trollfjord, a woman at my table did not like seafood. After letting the wait staff know the first night, they automatically brought her a meat or poultry main dish for the rest of the cruise. In addition to the mean and poultry already mentioned, we had a very good duck breast one night (and I love duck).