North Cape and Norwegian Fjords Detailed Trip Report (Photo heavy)

[wickesy]

I wrote a trip report during our cruise with the intention of posting it on other forums but I realised that people here might be able to pick up some useful information from it so I'm going to post it here as well. It's more of a day-by-day blog than a review and there will be a lot of photos - I make no apologies for that because looking through the photos today I'm not sure how I'm going to decide which ones to leave out because no amount of photos can do the scenery justice. Rather than posting each day in a separate thread like I do on the other forums I'm going to keep everything in this one thread and try and maintain an index in this first post. So here goes and, if this is in the wrong place, mods please feel free to move it wherever it should be.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation (Posts 2-5)

[wickesy]

Today was a day I had been looking forward to for a long time, several years in fact. When I was younger I saw adverts for cruises to the Land of the Midnight Sun - a place where the sun never sets and I decided that one day I would like to do one of those cruises myself, today that day had finally arrived.

 

I was up at 7:30 and by 8:10 I had done the last few bits of packing (or so I thought) and we were on the road on the way to Southampton. After fighting our way through the London rush hour traffic we made it to the M3 where we had a clear run down to Southampton and were at our first stop, the West Quay Shopping Centre by 10:30. First order of business was to go into the Apple Store to have a quick play with the iPads - no purchase today though, that will have to wait until Florida in September. From there we went to the Game shop where I bought a copy of Professor Layton and the Lost Future to give me something to play on our sea days.

 

By 11:10 we were at the cruise terminal, which was extremely well organised. I had a sticker in the windscreen showing that I had paid for parking - we were immediately told which lane to go down and at points down that lane were marshals, similar to the ones you get in the Disney car parks, beckoning me forward. Outside the terminal we were greeted by a rep from the parking company who gave me a receipt for the car, explained what would happen when we got back and then took the key from me as porters whisked our luggage away to be put on the ship.

 

Inside the terminal we filled out the forms confirming that we were not going to be a health hazard before going upstairs where we were given check-in letter G and asked to take a seat to await check-in - unlike the Disney cruises Princess operate a system where you check-in and then immediately get on board.

 

 

We sat and had a coke each and were finally called for check-in at 12:10. Within a few minutes we were in the queue for our embarkation photo and then for security. By 12:40 we were onboard the ship, although there was no announcement of our name like you get with Disney. Again embarkation was well organised - at check-in we had been given a sticker which showed that our cabin was in the forward section of the ship and we were told this would assist the staff - as we got on board there were crew members stationed there to direct us to the appropriate lifts to get to our cabins, so within a few minutes we had stepped into our home for the next 12 days - cabin C255 on deck 10 or Caribe deck.

 

This is the Princess Patter – their version of the Disney Navigator (click for full size)

[wickesy]

Welcome Aboard Letter

 

Although we weren’t going near Germany we did get this warning about the E-coli outbreak

 

Invitation to the art auction

 

We dropped off our hand luggage before making our way up to Horizon Court on deck 15 for a buffet lunch. After lunch we signed up for the Ultimate Drink package, which entitled us to free soda, fruit juice, smoothies, mocktails and hot chocolate for the duration of the cruise for a cost of $7 per day plus 15% gratuity.

 

From there we had a wander around the ship taking a few photos along the way.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

Then we pulled up a lounger and sat in the Movies Under The Stars section where ‘Lionel Ritchie Live In Paris’ was playing on the screen. After a while it became too warm sitting there so we moved down to the shade and had a root beer each.

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

After resting for half an hour or so we went downstairs to unpack, which was when I realised I had forgotten to pack a razor - d’oh - and at 4:15 it was time for the muster drill, so we grabbed our lifejackets and made our way down to our muster station, which was in the Princess Theatre on deck 7.

 

After the drill we dropped the lifejackets back in the cabin and went upstairs for the sail away party and at just after 5:00 we were on our way.

 

 

 

 

Once we were well under way we went downstairs for a look around the shops and then went back upstairs to get changed for dinner. From there we went down to Crooners Bar where Dad had a Margarita-tini and I had an Oceans Eleven (Crown Royal, apple schnapps and cranberry juice).

 

After our cocktail we made our way into the Princess Theatre for the show, which was your usual introduction show with the cruise director explaining what was going to be happening, introducing some of the staff and a couple of acts - a body balancing act from Budapest and George Casey, a comedian from Ireland.

 

 

After the show we went down to the Botticelli Dining Room and found a large group waiting outside as it appeared they hadn’t finished the first seating yet. Although our dining time was 8:15 we didn’t get in until about 8:30 and it was almost 9:00 before we had any food on the table. Dad started with fettuccine alfredo while I had vegetable spring rolls and we both had Texas chili for main course followed by hazlenut ice cream for Dad and honeydew sorbet for me.

 

After dinner we went down to the International Café for a large brandy each and we were upstairs and in bed by 10:30 (which was actually 11:30 as we had to put the clocks forward one hour).

[Woobstr112G]

Great review and pictures so far. Looking forward to seeing more.....:):):)

 

Bob

[west2000]

Photos are fantastic. We are sailing on July 28th and this is getting us really excited please keep going!:)

[wickesy]

Well it looks like this is one of those boards where you can't edit your posts after a certain time so bang goes the index idea, you'll just have to find them yourselves. :D

 

Day 2: At Sea

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

 

After a good night’s sleep we were up at 7:30 and found that the North Sea was being kind to us and we couldn’t feel any movement at all.

 

[wickesy]

We went up to the Horizon Court and had a cooked breakfast each then made our way down to the Wheelhouse Bar where they were holding an introductory meeting for first-time Princess cruisers. We picked up all the bumph there then Dad went to the Princess Theatre for a talk on our first two ports, Stavanger and Flam, while I did a couple of laps round the Promenade deck, had a wander around the ship and then settled by the pool with a root beer for an hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

At 12:00 we met up again and went to the photography area where we picked up our embarkation photo and ordered a copy of the DVD of the voyage that was being filmed during the cruise.

 

 

We then went to the Duty Free shop to place our order - a bottle of mango rum and a bottle of banana rum for me, and a bottle of rum and a bottle of orange tequila liqueur for Dad. From there we went up to the Trident Grill for lunch where we both had beef knockwurst with sauerkraut.

 

After lunch we went down to the Explorers Lounge where we had intended to sit and relax quietly but unfortunately it turned out to be the venue for the art auction so we sat and watched that for an hour or so before getting bored so we went down to the dining room to see what was on tonight’s menu before going upstairs to relax for a while before getting ready for formal night.

 

Just after 5:00 we started getting ready and then went downstairs where we had photos taken against various backdrops.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

After the photos we went to Crooners for cocktails where Dad had a Margarita and I had my usual Oceans Eleven. At 7:15 it was time for the champagne waterfall and the Captain’s Welcome Party.

 

 

 

At 8:15 we went down for dinner. Tonight we both started with duck breast then Dad had asparagus soup, I had chicken won ton soup and for mains Dad had beef mignons and I had Cornish game hen, I passed on dessert and Dad had raspberry ice cream. The game hen was served with baby corn and sitting there in my dinner jacket eating baby corn reminded me of the scene in the film Big where Tom Hanks’s character goes to the office party and eats baby corn by nibbling along it as though it were a full size corn on the cob and throws the cob back on the buffet. After dinner we went to the International Café for a brandy each and at 11:00 we went off to bed ready for our first port day tomorrow.

[phabric]

I enjoyed reading your review with pictures. Looking for more.

[gacruisergal]

Great review. We were on the Crown when she did her TA from FL to Southhampton in May. We are planning almost the same cruise next June, 2012 on the Grand so this will make it something to look forward to next year. Such fun seeing the beautiful Crown again in your photos. And, great pics of you and your Dad............

[User Error]

Great review so far...keep it coming.....

 

How did you get your ship photos on this message board- did you scan them?

Recognize you actually- may have even been in a lift with you at times..... Woooooo.....

 

I'm assuming you have literally hundreds of photos of calm sea/mountains/streams etc like we do...

[wickesy]

Great review so far...keep it coming.....

 

How did you get your ship photos on this message board- did you scan them?

Recognize you actually- may have even been in a lift with you at times..... Woooooo.....

 

I'm assuming you have literally hundreds of photos of calm sea/mountains/streams etc like we do...

 

Yep, photos are scanned as I get to them - same with the Patters. The report was typed up at the end of each day so all I needed to do was drop in the photobucket links then copy and paste - it doesn't help that this board only allows 6 photos per post though, the other two I'm posting on allow 20.

 

I've got a feeling we may have shared a table at lunch on the Hellesylt excursion. :)

 

I do have hundreds of photos of mountains, waterfalls etc. Also got loads of the ship from various angles at Flam and I took 47 just of the sunset over the White Cliffs on Friday. I won't be boring people with all of them though! :D

[User Error]

it doesn't help that this board only allows 6 photos per post though, the other two I'm posting on allow 20.

 

Which boards? link?

[wickesy]

Which boards? link?

 

Two Disney boards - http://www.thedibb.co.uk and http://www.disboards.com Most of our holidays are Disney holidays and I always do trip reports for them so I post my non-Disney trip reports there too. :)

[KaththeTaff]

We saw you and your dad around the ship Wickesy - and we are in one of your pics in this thread too!!!

 

Haven't even started uploading our photos yet, and yes, we have hundreds as well!

[tequilasunrise]

great review so far, thanks! I love reviews with pictures :)

[lovevacadays]

Enjoying reading your review and love the pictures. Makes me want to be back on the Crown right now!

[wickesy]

We saw you and your dad around the ship Wickesy - and we are in one of your pics in this thread too!!!

 

 

Hope it's a good picture of you! ;)

[wickesy]

Day 3 - Stavanger

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

Stavanger Port Guide is in my Photobucket album - http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t120/wickesy/Norwegian%20Cruise/Day%203/

 

We were up at 7:20 today, by which time we had already docked at Stavanger, the first of 4 consecutive port days.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

We went up to Café Caribe for breakfast and at 8:20 made our way off the ship and into Stavanger. This was our first chance to see the full size of the Crown Princess from the outside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

First stop was an ATM machine for Dad to get some Norwegian cash and then we had a wander around Stavanger, although as it was still early nowhere was open. We stopped off at the embarkation point for our Lysefjord cruise and exchanged our booking confirmation for tickets for the 12:00 sailing and then had another wander round, although it soon started to rain so we stopped off in a café by the station for a coke each.

 

After a rest we got our waterproofs out and made our way back to the main part of town, had a look round the shopping mall and then Dad decided to take his jacket back to the ship as it was too warm to wear both a jacket and a waterproof. By the time he had done that the rain had more or less stopped and so we waited at the mooring point for our Lysefjord cruise and about half an hour later we were on board the boat.

 

It was still raining slightly and so we decided not to chance the outside deck and got seats inside at the back. The boat left on time and we spent the next three hours cruising up the Lysefjord and back, although with the bad weather I didn’t really get any decent photos.

 

 

This is Pulpit Rock, which stands 604 metres above the sea and has a 600 square metre plateau.

 

 

Hengjanefossen Waterfall

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

Once we arrived back at Stavanger we re-boarded the Crown Princess and went up to Horizon Court for a buffet lunch and then went down to the Explorers Lounge to relax before it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

At 5:00 the ropes were cast off and we were back under way so we went outside to watch the sail away then went back upstairs to get changed for dinner. At around 7:00 we went down to our usual haunt, Crooners Bar and had our usual pre-dinner cocktails. At 8:15 we made our way down to the dining room and for the first time were able to walk straight in.

 

For dinner Dad started with crab meat pate while I had smoked salmon, then Dad had baked potato soup and I had beef broth, then we both had goose followed by peanut butter ice cream. After dinner we went to the International café for our usual brandies then just before going to bed we went to the internet café where I rented an iPad for $5 a day or $25 for 7 days plus internet charges.

 

We were in bed by 10:45 ready for another port day tomorrow.