Norwegian Fjords July Sapphire Princess

it was amazing at the top, people were parasailing (if that is the right term?) which was cool to watch ...

and the views whichever way you looked were spectacular

we walked around the trails for a while, there were a variety of hikes marked you could follow of varying lengths and difficulty. We followed the easiest one for a while

There was a restaurant at the top of the mountain and a viewing platform on its roof

we could see the ship!!

you can see the road hugging the side of the fjord that we followed to get there

we had a great time and I would highly recommend the skylift.

We came down around an hour later and caught the next bus almost immediately back to the boat. We grabbed some lunch at the buffet and marvelled at how beautiful it was.

see that cloud? the rain that was threatening was on its way!

After lunch we walked the half a mile or so from the dock to the village. It was raining quite heavily at that point so I didn't take photos. There are a number of souvenir type shops there and a couple of clothing shops. There was also a small supermarket. Closer to the dock was a petrol station with a convenience store and directly opposite the dock was a couple of souvenir shops too. Most of the souvenir shops in all the ports we visited sold a similar type of stock ... trolls, Norwegian knitwear and the same range of t shirts etc.

This is a great review! Your pictures are beautiful and they make me want to book this cruise right away. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

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This is a great review! Your pictures are beautiful and they make me want to book this cruise right away. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

 

 

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Thank you so much. It really was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, I’d love to go back and see more of Norway

The next day was Olden. We slept well, I often wake early but the combination of the inside cabin and the comfortable beds resulted in lots of sleep!!

 

We went upstairs to the buffet for breakfast and were greeted with this view

 

 

 

it was spectacular

 

Thanks for posting the pictures of Olden. We have been there three times. To me, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world!

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our boarding time was 1pm I think if I recall correctly. I wasn't sure how long the remaining drive would take me to the port and I can see from my photos we arrived at around 10.25am. I'd checked in and was going up the escalator to the waiting area at 10.34 and we were still sitting waiting at 11.30 but were on board by 12 noon.

 

Quite a lot of people did dress up for formal night but not all in dinner jackets. We ate at the buffet on the first formal night but on the second the man at the next table was wearing walking trousers and a fleece jacket so definitely NOT dressed up!

 

I don't know how early you want to be off. We did put our luggage outside the night before and had selected the 8.30-9am slot but there was an earlier independent slot of 7.30 if I recall. I was in my car driving out of the carpark by 8.55am

Thanks so will probably turn up about 11.30 to 12 but we always leave extra time for traffic (A34 always a nightmare) so will probably arrive earlier.

Will skip the DJ but I will bring long dresses.

We normally self disembark if only on for a week on P & O and Cunard so will do that and hopefully will get through centre of Southampton before all the Saturday shopping traffic. We asked about self disembarking from MSC from Southampton recently, let’s just say there appeared to be a language problem with that one.

Huzzah! I was beginning to have second thoughts about cheating on NCL with Princess when all I could find were older photos of the Sapphire that made it appear dark and uninviting. You have eased my mind immensely, my unmet friend!

Your pics of Norway are gorgeous *and* useful! And even your brief mention of having happily stayed in Winchester assuaged the doubts I may've had.

Many, many thanks, from the Commonwealth of Virginia (okay, it's a US.State, but we're proud of our English history and kind of snobby :D)!

Thanks so will probably turn up about 11.30 to 12 but we always leave extra time for traffic (A34 always a nightmare) so will probably arrive earlier.

 

Will skip the DJ but I will bring long dresses.

 

We normally self disembark if only on for a week on P & O and Cunard so will do that and hopefully will get through centre of Southampton before all the Saturday shopping traffic. We asked about self disembarking from MSC from Southampton recently, let’s just say there appeared to be a language problem with that one.

we found the A34 rough going on the Friday we travelled down but a breeze on the Saturday morning going home ... traffic was a bit slow as we approached Southampton on the morning of the cruise but coming home we had a very easy drive out with little traffic, as I said we were in the car at 8.55am ... we were back in Southport (north of Liverpool) by 2.15pm and that was with two stops!

Huzzah! I was beginning to have second thoughts about cheating on NCL with Princess when all I could find were older photos of the Sapphire that made it appear dark and uninviting. You have eased my mind immensely, my unmet friend!

 

Your pics of Norway are gorgeous *and* useful! And even your brief mention of having happily stayed in Winchester assuaged the doubts I may've had.

 

Many, many thanks, from the Commonwealth of Virginia (okay, it's a US.State, but we're proud of our English history and kind of snobby :D)!

Oh thank you for such lovely feedback ... I know exactly what you meant ... this was our first cruise on Princess (I was cheating on the mouse (that was my Instagram hashtag!) as we've only cruised Disney before. I was worried I wouldn't like the ship but I did. All the public areas were clean and fresh, (in fact I started photographing the carpets I loved how bright and new they were!).

Staying in Winchester worked for me, it's around a 5 hour drive from where we live and it meant just 30 minutes less for us and kept me from turning up to the port too early (I've queued outside ports before they even open before I just get too excited I'm cruising!) and it literally was about 30 minutes drive from where we were staying.

Anyone can take good pictures of Norway ... it is just so beautiful .. these are all just from my phone!

your review and pictures are much appreciated..and especially since you posted them here on CC and didn't direct posters to an offsite "blog"

again, your photos and presentation style are amazing, without being overwhelming ..:D

today was not a good day for my waistline ... we discovered the scones on the buffet in the afternoon

(this became something of a routine ... by the last day I was taking them out of the buffet to the pool!)

we headed to deck 7 around 5pm and watched people returning from their excursions. Directly opposite the dock was a pub/café with the ticket office we purchased our tickets from below

as we set off they turned up their music and Rod Stewart's 'we are sailing started to play' ... the people on the balcony started waving and the security man waved his Norwegian flag ...

it was a lovely send off and just one more reason to love Olden!!

we did try the show out that evening but it really wasn't our thing and we crept out (which meant two people standing got a seat so I didn't feel too awful!).

your review and pictures are much appreciated..and especially since you posted them here on CC and didn't direct posters to an offsite "blog"

 

again, your photos and presentation style are amazing, without being overwhelming ..:D

that is very kind of you to say, thank you!

the next day was Geiranger ... but we had to cruise through the fjord to get there ... we'd been told around 12 noon arrival. The cruise through the fjord was spectacular.

the clouds were low and the sky quite grey but this just added to the atmosphere

we passed the famous Seven Sisters waterfall (the captain joked that due to the weather they weren't all there - there has been so little rain that the falls weren't flowing as much as usual)

there was much more water in the Suitor opposite

the good news was we didn't have to tender ... we were the only ship in port that day so we got to use the sea walk!

see those blue circles floating? they were going to float a dock out to us!

That meant that even though our ashore time was 12 noon we were off the ship

the ship just looked beautiful

we strolled around and found this troll (he's exactly the same as the one at the Norway Pavilion in Epcot so I was thrilled!)

and just kept marvelling at the view

we had an exciting booking for later ... but I'd made it for 3pm as I thought we'd have to tender so we got back on board after doing some souvenir shopping and grabbed some lunch at Alfredos ...

it was delicious but I struggled to finish my pizza

vegetarian:

and then we headed back off the ship

ok, so this was my big day out ...

we rented this ...

it's a Renault Twizzy electric car that came with a satnav guided tour ... we collected the car, got a very brief explanation of how it worked and we were off ... I did hope I'd get to drive it round the car park or something but no, I turned right as instructed and we were off up a mountain! It was such good fun, but hairpin bends and quite a lot of traffic!

The satnav not only told us where to go but described what we were seeing and explained the local history as I drove. Our first stop was to a look out point that the tour buses can't stop at!

the view of the ship was amazing

and then we got back in and headed further up the mountain to an old bridge ... then we turned back around and came back down diverting to a traditional farm on the way. All in all the tour took an hour ... there are two variations of the hour tour, and longer tours which take you right into the mountains. It was a great experience and I was sad to give the car back at the end

Your day in Gerianger turned out better than my day. We had a very beautiful day but I felt like all of my pictures were taken "into the sun". It was very sunny that day, even down to pictures of the Seven Sisters waterfalls.

Your day in Gerianger turned out better than my day. We had a very beautiful day but I felt like all of my pictures were taken "into the sun". It was very sunny that day, even down to pictures of the Seven Sisters waterfalls.

Oh that’s a shame. I have to say I was disappointed at first when I saw the weather in the morning but it exceeded expectations later and I love the way the clouds hang in the pictures, adds atmosphere!

Oh that’s a shame. I have to say I was disappointed at first when I saw the weather in the morning but it exceeded expectations later and I love the way the clouds hang in the pictures, adds atmosphere!

It just makes me want to go back. I was on the 14 night in June and the previous 75 days were rainy so we considered ourselves very lucky for the weather we did have.

I agree - my pictures don't have the cool clouds that yours have. I loved Norway. Thinking of going back next year.

Great Photos! So many fabulous photo opportunities in Norway.

Great Photos! So many fabulous photo opportunities in Norway.

thank you, they're nowhere near the quality of yours but I do think it must be hard to take a bad picture in Norway!!

we wandered around the port area a little bit before getting back on the ship

and we headed back on board … glad we did when we did as the line to board backed up quite a lot as all aboard time approached …

and then we wandered the ship as we sailed back out of the fjord

it looks like we went to 80s trivia that evening in Club Fusion … really enjoyed it but didn't win :(

I think we also had a few drinks!

the last port was Bergen … if you're following @FishinChris you will have seen very similar photos as we did the same thing .. wandered the port! Actually I went looking for a particular store I'd first found in Stockholm as was rewarded by finding a couple of branches and some bargains in the sale!

Anyway, apparently according to just about every internet site, Bergen is the rainiest city in Norway and you can expect around 240 days a year of rain. Well today wasn't one of them! We decided not to go up the Funicular as we'd done two "head up a mountain to see the view" trips already.

everyone says if you want to go up the funicular get there early to avoid queuing. This picture was at 9.47am and you can see the queue is already building up

The weather was glorious, and I think these may be the prettiest McDonalds ever

we walked back through the market and the old town - and I finally got a Norwegian waffle!

I'm afraid I passed on the brown cheese so this was just jam and sour cream!

All aboard was 1.30pm and we passed some interesting scenery as we left Bergen and headed back to the UK

heading under this bridge drew a lot of attention

the weather was glorious and people took the opportunity of an afternoon at sea to sunbathe