phxbne

We just visited Lerwick last month and loved our visit.

As Rasmie said, the Shetland Museum is interesting, and has a great cafe and a cute shop.

I wandered the town a little and it was cute - lots of yarn stores and a good bookshop. Shetland Jewellery had some beautiful things!

Enjoy your cruise!

Looking forward to this - fell in love with Norway this summer and a NorthCape cruise is now on my list!

Have a great time

We walked it recently - and my frugal husband admitted we should have done a tram or taxi! The first set of riverboats were quite close to the station - the cruise terminal was deceptively far.....

Have a great cruise - we loved the sailaway from Amsterdam

We did the train a couple of weeks ago.

You use what they send you in the email - you print the attachment if I recall.

They checked ours before you get on the train, and then during the trip (both ways).

When we did it, people started lining up about 30 mins before departure time, and they let people on about 15-20 minutes prior. So my guess is that if your docking time sticks, you would walk right on the train. It varies by departure, but lots of seats might already be taken.

Have fun!

I am sad the Donner bags are no more....maybe others in the Overland Equipment line? also, I think I have seen some online at Magellans or Travelsmith - but it may have been the Travelon one.

I am tempted by that Travelon in navy!

I have the Donner bag by Overland Equipmemt and I love it! - it holds a water bottle and has a front 'organizer' pocket. I have one in a couple of colors, and the brand has some similar bags that vary in size.

I got them from eBags - they do free returns on most things so you can order a couple of variations or brands and send back the ones you don't care for.

There are other brands too on eBags with the features you describe - I have tried a couple of them, but end up with Overland Equipmemt each time....

I also take a wristlet type bag to take to dinner - takes no space to pack.

Have a great first cruise!

Michele

We did HAL in Alaska and really enjoyed it - at 8, daughter found the kids club OK.

We have done 2 Celebrity cruises in the Caribbean - she loved the kids club on one and didn't care for it on the other.

But she vastly prefers any of them to the Disney club......

I think either is a good choice.

We did whale watching in Juneau and musher camp in Skagway - loved them both!

I was just working on our day in Oslo and it looks like for this year, you can get the Oslo pass at the ferry pier to Bygdoy

http://nyc.no/pdf/2016/Ferry-2016.pdf

seems like that will save some time and stress

Hi

I would take into account how 'messy' she is, whether there is an onboard laundry, and if you or her Dad are Ok wtih doing laundry.

I have/had a messy kid, so I would do:

- 2 outfits per day, shorts, tshirts etc

- 2 swimsuits, with rash guards for sun protection - because it is icky to put on a wet swimsuit

- 1 'dressier' outfit each day to wear to dinner

- 1 pyjamas per day - in case of accidents

It sounds like a lot, but will pack pretty small - and packing cubes can help to pack either by outfit or by type (eg all tshirts in one - this is what we still do)

For shoes, I would suggest crocs or keens, and a pair of flip flops

have a great time!

Thank you so much for continuing your wonderful reports! Brisbane is my hometown - I need to play tourist next time I go back. And the walking tour in Sydney sounds fun.

Plus at least once a week your jokes and quips make me laugh out loud!

Thanks again and safe travels

Michele

Thank you so much for your wonderful reports! Brisbane is my hometown - I definitely need to do a better job of playing tourist next time I go back. The city has definitely gotten more proud of its heritage since I left 20+ years ago.

Thanks again

Michele

Some of the things I found in 2014:

- Helsinki - some handmade things at the market on the water - I got a Christmas ornament that looks like a pine cone but made from birch (?) chips.

- St Petersburg - we did a matroshkya doll painting class - the teacher painted the dolls - watching her paint the faces, especially the eyes! was fascinating

- Copenhagen - I saw more 'design' type stuff - it was beautiful, but the prices were crazy so I resisted.....

Have a wonderful cruise!

I use a silver wristlet I got at Kohls - takes no room to pack,and the silver makes it seem dressy

Things do vary and change - we were on Crystal in 2014 and they would not provide a box lunch. I got 2 different explanations from 2 different sources - one that the Russian govt did not allow it, and the other that the ship was concerned about folks getting sick from non-refrigerated food. Thankfully we travel with a stash of packaged snacks.....

When we were in St Petersburg, I had hoped to get box lunches to take off the ship because our private tour did not include lunch. However, the ship policy did not allow it.

I did take our standard bag of snacks off the ship, wondering if we would be questioned or bags would be checked. They never were......

I would have taken meat/cheese/veggies on our 2nd day, but did not have anything to keep them cool.

Thanks for your review. One reason we cruise is for the kids clubs, and I have been curious about Princess.

My 11 year old has been on 6 cruises on 4 lines, and her least favorite kids club by far was Disney. I think your explanation captures well what she cannot really express.

On Celebrity she had one great experience (spring break) and one OK experience (Christmas).

By far her favorite kids club is Crystal - primarily because of the personalized attention she gets.

We cruised Alaska on HAL Volendam when my daughter was 7. We all loved the excursions - whale watching and dog sledding were the highlights. The rangers who came on board offered some kid-friendly things.

It was our first non-Caribbean cruise, and we enjoyed the excursions much more than days at the beach (we love the beach, but prefer to stay there0

What a great thread!

Skip Bo is great - it takes a little longer, but is a good mix of luck and strategy.

Uno continues to be our 'waiting for dinner' standby.

Heads Up on the iphone is great when you are waiting in lines.

I like the idea of knowing how to turn regular cards into other games - going to go look that up!

Some games like Slamwich or Wig Out are a bit one-dimensional so get old quickly.

Wikkistix are great while waiting for meals too - not as messy as play doh, but almost as much fun.

I am going to be looking for July tickets.

How do the tickets with the 30 minute program appear on the site? I just tried testing on some May dates, but it looks like regular tickets.

thanks!

Michele

Thanks all!

I am not optimistic about getting Anne Frank tickets - guess I need to wait a few more weeks to give it a try. Once I know if I can get those or Van Gogh tickets I can make a real decision!

And yes, I meant Rembrandt Huis - I think our 11 year old will prefer that to the RijksMuseum.

Michele

When my daughter was 6 we did a cruise shop excursion that went to the Butterfly Farm - which was great - and Orient Beach - which was just a beach to us. We then wandered around town and went to McDonalds - a little comfort from home can go a long way sometimes!

She is now 10 and we went to Maho - it was fun to see the planes, but it did not seem like a beach to hang out at for long. The planes are reaaaaallllly loud - so depending on your kids, that could end in tears!

Enjoy your planning and have a great cruise

Michele

We used TJ for 3 days of private touring in July 2014. Our guide the first day was not so good (a bit robotic), but the one the next 2 days was awesome.

I realized afterwards that I should have paid a bit more attention as I planned things. It was my first time booking a private guide anywhere.....Emails were answered by different people, so it turned out that things I said in my first email (1 with mobility problems, 1 9 year old) never got passed on.....

In the end, the 3 days were great - we slowed the pace a little compared to what I see most folds doing, but did all we wanted.

The best thing - and why I chose TJ - was a matroshkya doll painting class! It was the 5 of us with a young woman whose job it was to paint dolls. We have some fun nesting dolls with 'professional' faces and very amateur bodies!

Hi

We have one Sunday in Amsterdam in July, as our cruise begins. We have been there before and know it is easy to do 'on your own.' I had planned Anne Frank, canal cruise and either Rembrandt or Van Gogh Museum.

But based on my reading I am a bit un-nerved about crowds at Anne Frank Haus and the Van Gogh museum......

Can anyone advise on paying just to get front of line access? Or doing a cruise excursion just so we can get more done? That is of course assuming I miss the window to get Anne Frank tickets online.

Michele

Thank you for a wonderful report! Love the mixture of humor, travel and cruise details. Makes my breakfast more enjoyable!

Just found your review and enjoyed it. We are headed to Norway, Iceland and Shetland this summer - your photos make me even more excited to see puffins!

In Shetland, did you get to visit the farm or just see the horses across the fence?