crizzlyhug

Sounds appealing to rent a car. Did you reserve online or in person? Do you drive on the left side of road? Very interested. Thanks for info. We’ll be there next April.

I rented it online, worked well. On the pickup the handwritten contract was ready to sign. Even I had to get fuel before the trip, that I can make it, we were early at Olympia-Site. They said that every customer has to fill up what they use, 20 Euros was more than enough for the day. There is a gas station just outside town on the righthand side. And yes, you drive on the right as in most of europe and also in the united states.The mainroads are good and traffic is light. The smaller roads can get a bit bumpy, but it's only a rental car, right. I suggest you get a very good map or navigation if you wanna do more than just Olympia, just to be sure you're on the right road. Traffic Signs on bigger roads are in two languages so no problem, rural streets sometimes are only in greek letters written. Here is a small map of the route we took: https://ibb.co/b66WwR

We also rented a cor from Avis in Katakolon, fast and easy and it's close to the port. We drove to Olympia where we had enough time before most of the tours arrived. We walked around on our own with some printed out details of the site and history which we read when something interested us. Than we drove towards the mountains (Lambia) and on to a lake close to Kevtpo. We did some photostops in a few small towns and at the lake. After that we drove to a small beach close to the port. (37.685923, 21.312828). Not to good for swimming but for a short alright. After that stop we headed back to Katakolon to return the rental car. Also very fast. Thanks Avis. There was enough time left to get a drink in a restaurant and some souvenir shopping before we got back on the Norwegian Jade. And yes we did have navigation brought from home.

They should ditch the Atrium I agree, they and all cruise lines should have stolen RCCL's Royal Promenade/Esplande idea a long time ago. A central place to meet that can take you to just about anywhere in the ship. Your never lost because of this feature.

RCCL has were not the first big ships with a promenade "inside". They have "stolen" the Promenade-thing from Silja Line in Finland. The sisterships Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony are the first ships to have that.

I do have another question. We will be on Deck 6. On one side of the ship there are 3 Level O cabins and on the other side there are only 2. Can anyone tell me what's on the other side of the cabin where there are only 2 (cabin 642).

 

Thanks everyone!

 

 

I don't know about this ship. But on others there is a sliding door wich goes to the crew-only staircase. I saw that on the Nordnorge during the safety-drill at our antarctic cruise.

From memory, the Sea Eagle Safari and Tromso Dog Sledding trip were sold out on our trips.

 

We find it best to book excursions as soon as we are able. There's nothing worse than watching a trip that you wanted to take depart without you.

 

As far as the North Cape excursion is concerned, it was snowing quite heavily (with some brief breaks) when we were there and that only added to our enjoyment of the experience.

You're right... I have been to north cape a few times. During summer sunshine, during summer thick fog, during summer rain, and during winter snow... Actually winter was the most impressing. Fog was alright if you know what you can see in clear skys. If you don't know you'll hate the fog.

I have many questions that I'm hoping you all could answer for me.

denyse

I try to answer a few of them...:

All ships on the norwegian Coastal route doing the same Route. Only the Real Expedition cruises go elsewhere in the world. The trainride from Oslo to Bergen takes about 8 Hours. It ja a very nice route and you will enjoy it. If you go during summer holidays I would suggest you go for First Class on the train... it is Not so crowded.

The Walking in Front of your cabin Window is Not the Problem, because you'd be outside too... but you would like to close the shades because of people looking in. So I would not go for a cabin on that deck. Go one up! Some of the excursions go indeed from one port to the next or even further... it is a relaxing way to see some of the countryside. I have never done the whole trip back at once; only many port-to-port part cruises; also took my car a few times with me... (it is a ferry too) So this is what I can tell you for now... You'll love it.

If you love pools and big nice cabins you should go on Finnmarken. If you love Whirlpools you should take Midnatsol or Trollfjord. If you just like the nature, scenery a nice panoramic salon then go for Nordkapp or Nordnorge. Both of them have the panoramic windows arranged in a corner shape, so more spacious than on the Polarys and the Kong Harald. And don't go during the most populated times of the year, the experience is double as good.

Have no doubt, you will enjoy Antarctica.

you said it!

I can't imagine landing 500 passengers in Port Lockroy... ...Hurtigruten states that there will be only one landing per day (at best) with MS Midnatsol.

You're right about Port Lockroy, almost forgot that rocky landing. And even other places can be the same. But well... it is still Antarctica. If Hurtigruten really have only one landing per day, it would be quite a long day waiting until the next thing happens... then I probably would not consider taken the trip with the Midnatsol. But when you're not that adventurous and like to have a few hours with a book or so it might still be a very good choice.

Just saw this Thread... We also went with Hurtigruten's Ship "Nordnorge" back in 2005 to Antarctica. Included also the chilenian Fjords. Here soma picture, if you like to see them: http://sniederer.bplaced.net/2005.11/index.html

The landings in Antarctica were very well organised, and split into groups. On other smaller excursion ships you have a bit more shore time. But we never felt rushed back to the ship or would loved to be much longer ashore. The other thing is, we had about two landings a day and just shorter sailings in between. On smaller excpedtions we had the experience: We came back to the ship and as we changing clothes the ship already sails. Almost feeling that we missing something. Love the company Hurtigruten and their Ships. The ship is quite big for only 500 passengers, as in norwegian waters they take many passengers more. Also the have a lot of day-passengers in norway. So there is a lot of space around the ship. The Landing sites are the same as with smaller ships. As we saw much smaller ships in the same place just leaving as we came in. Our landings you can see with a small map also on my photo site. You'll be happy on the Midnatsol or other Hurtigruten ships. If you wanna know something more, don't hesitate to ask. I have been on the Midnatsol also up in Norway. Loved the ship, but would not recommend a cabin on deck 6, because there always standing people infront of the windows. I recommend a cabin class U2 or a bigger suite if you wanna spend the money.

We are considering an Antarctic Cruise although I have never gotten sick on any boat larger than 100', I'm certainly nervous about the Drake. For those who have taken the cruise how bad was it really?

I was on the Nordnorge (123 Meters long) down south and also north. On our trip south the seas where almost as flat as a Inland Lake. It was sunny and smooth. No waves for two days strait.

On the the way north we had a storm coming so the captain pushed full speed ahead. Was a bit more interesting. Later on the first day the storm had catched up and we where rolling around and hoped to get to the island close to the "horn" soon. We arrived during the night. The waves where quite high and the buffet restaurant close to empty. I didn't eat anything, but I would not have missed the storm on the Drake. Loved it as much as I hated it!

This sad... it depends really on the weather. I don't wanna be on a ship with less than 50 Meters in those waters. But decide for yourselve... http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/search.php?search_imo=9107784&search_uid=10922

This is what NCL has on their website, so "Fujairah Port" it is.

Hi, just clicking here - because we're on the same cruise... :) Since we're docked in Fujairah Port I can't belive there is a free shuttle bus to the Oceanic Resort. We're not docked i Khorfakkan port, or are we :confused:

Our day in Penang here.

Thanks for the link. Nice pictures. Looks very interesting. Thank you for the explanations... sure will use them. :)

We had a great time in Penang and were alongside from 8am - 9pm.

 

Got off the ship at 9am and went to the Penang Hill funicular first up before any of the Princess excursions got there and it was a really good way to get our bearings.

 

We then stopped at the top of Kek Lok Si, then took off for the Butterfly Park. I was happy with where we had decided to go and the times we went as we never felt there were any crowds.

 

There were six of us on this private tour and we were back at the ship for 2pm. The Butterfly Park was about 50mins from the pier and it was a great scenic drive there and back.

 

After a bite to eat, and a nanna nap (it was draining cos it was very humid), we went for a walk to look at the street art and the Chew Jetty.

Hi kjets,

Which company did you book your private tour through?

We wanna do almost the same for the 2 of us on the Norwegian Star cruise this year.

Also NCL. The Norwegian Star will cruise twice to India in 2016/17.

4 ports in 5 days, also includes Sri Lanka. See their website.

Btw, I'm booked on one of them. :)

Hi,

About the date we have been at Seno Otway Colony on february 12th, 2013 and there where still plenty of penguins around, but march will be to late I think.

Walking with a wheelchair might be possible at Seno Otway. Decide for yourself...:

http://hurtigruten.bplaced.net/2014.12/pages/image1563.html

On this Link you'll fin my pictures of that day. I did both. The Crater Rim is spectacular. I loved tha "action" in and around the crater. But I didn't have enough time to get down into the Kilauea Iki Crater which I would do next time. The road to the coast in my opinion is an amzing drive. You'll get close to "older" Lava Flows and you can see the big impact it did. Interesting and some nice scenes but not a must.

I have the very song by another artist. I think it's better.

 

Album is called Mele O Hawaii

 

Track is Hale'iwa Hula by Amy Hanaiali'i & Willie K

 

We love it, got it at Starbucks

Thanks for that. I think we got the title now. I can't understand the lyrics but in my opinion they are quiet different to my recording. So I'm not sure about that.

Hi,

Maybe someone on here can help itentify a song which i heard in Hawaii.

I heard it at the Airport on Kaua'i and can't find the title or singer of this song.

http://stefanniederer.filesync.ch/item/d3c626edca9d40e6951d9c1b9c7b740d

Then click on "Herunterladen" which means download in german to play it.

Please help, thanks.

We stayed in the hotel Los Cauquenes Resort & Spa. It was very nice but quite expensive. I would recommend it but you'll need a car to get there easy, because it is out of town. The Views from there were incredible though. If you rent a car for the first 2 or 3 days it would be very nice and quite there, and you don't have to book any tours. All the touristic things you can reach easy be selfdrive. We stayed 4 nights there and 2 more nights on Tierra del Fuego. A lot of pictures from Ushuaia and beyond here: http://hurtigruten.bplaced.net/2012.12/index233.html

If you have any questions about Ushuaia, I'm happy to help you, if I can.

We also got a certificate with Celebrity Cruises. It had the name, date, ship name, sign of captain and cabin no on it. Every person got a own certificate.

Thanks for you're honest opinion. We'll do something other then... :(

Anyone have been to Chichen Itza on a one-day stop at Cozumel. I saw some air excursions to Chichen Itza which might be worth the money. Also heard that some cruiselines even do excursions by bus to Chichen Itza. We will be in port from 10:00h to 18:00h Anyone got some recommendation to do or not to do this trip?

I have not been on any of there cruises or ships. But what I saw when I was touring around down there, the ships are very well maintained. I sailed part of the same area what their doing on the cruises and know some places. It is quiete an amazing trip and very good quality over all. You can go to places which you'll never see on a normal big cruiseship. Also by road you can't get to the most of there go-ashore-places. My travelagent was on one of their cruises and only had good things to tell. I would go for sure, but already have seen the area. Here are some shots of their ships.