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

[wickesy]

We arrived at Gerainger at 5:30 and were able to board a tender straight away to get us back to the ship. Once back on board we went up to deck 16 to take photos of the sail away.

 

 

 

This waterfall is known as the seven sisters because there are seven separate falls

 

And this one is known as The Hunter – hunting the seven sisters

[wickesy]

At 7:00 we went down for our usual cocktails and then went down for dinner at 8:15. Tonight Dad and I had the exact same three courses - mozzarella and tomato, potato cream soup and shepherd’s pie made with chicken and chili mashed potato. Dad had Jamaican coffee ice cream for dessert while I had Oreo crusted peanut butter chocolate pie.

 

After dinner we went to International Café for our brandies then I took some photos before going to bed at 10:45.

 

 

 

[wickesy]

Day 6 - Trondheim

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

Trondheim Port Guide is in my Photobucket album - http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t120/wickesy/Norwegian%20Cruise/Day%206/

 

We weren’t due to arrive in Trondheim until 9:00 today so we got up at 7:45 and went up for breakfast and by the time we had finished there was just time to go upstairs and watch our arrival.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

At 9:15 the announcement was made that we could go ashore and although Princess had told us that the town centre was 2 miles away and we could take a shuttle bus for $6 each we decided to take a chance and see what alternatives there were. As it turned out it we decided to walk and it was no more than about a mile, or a 15 minute stroll. By 9:45 we were at the tourist information office in the town square waiting for it to open at 10:00. The plan for today was to visit the Sverresborg Folk Museum, a collection of medieval Norwegian buildings and although I knew we needed to get a number 8 bus there I hadn’t made a note of where to get the bus from.

 

The lady in the tourist information office soon put us on the right track and by 10:25 we were on the bus and arrived at Sverresborg about 10 minutes later. We had a wander around the buildings taking photos along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

We also came across this exhibition of dental surgeries through the ages:

 

1918

 

1928

 

1958

 

Then we stopped off for a coffee and a coke before looking around the exhibitions in the main building. We were finished by 12:10 and on the bus back to the town centre at 12:25. Once back in the town centre we had a look around the shopping mall and then, as the tower I had intended on visiting turned out to be another bus ride away we decided to wander back to the ship and get some lunch.

 

We stopped off at the souvenir shop in the cruise terminal and bought a fridge magnet, then we re-boarded the ship and went up to Horizon Court for a little bit of lunch and then into the pizzeria for a slice of pepperoni pizza each. After lunch we relaxed on deck for a while then, once it got a bit chilly at around 3:30 we went downstairs to relax.

 

As the quay was on our side of the boat today we watched cast-off at 6:00 from our balcony then about an hour later went down to Crooners for our usual.

 

For dinner tonight I started with Peruvian scallop and Dad had mushroom tartlet, we both followed with Old English barley & mutton soup then Dad had rib eye steak and I had duck breast then Dad had black cherry ice cream and I passed on dessert.

 

After dinner we had our brandies then we were in bed by 10:40 ready for a day at sea tomorrow and a night where the sun would not set.

[janina]

We cruised the Baltics this summer. Upon leaving Oslo my husband said that he would like to see more of Norway.....your pictures have made me excited to maybe book for next year.:)

[Sauvignon]

So that was the view from the Flaam train was like, by the time we came down, it was peasoup fog the whole way and we didn't see a darn thing. We had been on the bus ride first--not really worth the $200 per person for the tour.

 

So were you paying for the view or the tour?

 

Basically what you are saying here is that there should be a base price for the tour and that if the weather meets a certain criteria then an additional fee should be added.

 

Value for money becomes rather difficult to control when one is dependent on the elements, which thankfully no one yet has control over.

[wickesy]

Day 7 - At Sea

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

 

Today was the day I had been waiting for for a long time - a day (or night) when the sun would not set at all. It was also a sea day so no need to get up early and in fact I didn’t make a note of the time we did get up but I think it was about 8:30 or so.

 

After getting ready we went up for breakfast and then spent the morning sitting in the Explorers Lounge before going up to the Trident Grill for a hot dog at lunchtime, Dad went to the Horizon Court and I joined him there as it was cold on deck.

 

After lunch I had a wander round taking photos then went back to the Explorers Lounge for a while before going to the Princess Theatre for a talk by one of the ship’s officers on how the ship is navigated etc.

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

After the talk I did a couple of laps of the Promenade Deck then spent the rest of the afternoon in the Explorers Lounge.

 

7:00 was cocktail time then dinner tonight was Caesar salad for me, salmon and crayfish tails for Dad, cock-a-leekie soup for both of us then Irish stew for Dad and lemon sole fillets for me followed by toffee ice cream for Dad and lemon meringue pie for me.

 

After dinner we had our brandies and as the sun wasn’t setting tonight I stayed up to see what the ’midnight sun’ actually looks like. At midnight I went out to take some photos and I was surprised at how calm the sea was.

 

 

 

 

After taking the photos I went to bed ready for a day out to the North Cape, the most Northerly point in Europe tomorrow.

[kath00]

Wow, this is exactly the cruise I would like to do in 2013! Please keep the excellent review and pix coming! I am so excited already. :)

 

By the way, is it just me or don't some of those fjords remind you of Alaska, minus all the ice on the mountaintops??? Here is leaving Ketchikan...

 

 

Katherine

[wickesy]

Wow, this is exactly the cruise I would like to do in 2013! Please keep the excellent review and pix coming! I am so excited already. :)

 

By the way, is it just me or don't some of those fjords remind you of Alaska, minus all the ice on the mountaintops??? Here is leaving Ketchikan...

 

 

Katherine

 

Thanks Katherine, it's nice to know I might be inspiring others to do the trip in the same way I was inspired by reading a trip report. We haven't done much of Alaska (yet) but we found elements of Alaska, Canada and Scotland all rolled into one in Norway. I think our next cruise (after the Disney Fantasy next year) will probably be Alaska but not sure who with, or when, yet.

[wickesy]

Day 8 - Honningsvag/North Cape

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size). Full marks to anybody who can spot the mistake on this one!

Honningsvag Port Guide is in my Photobucket album - http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t120/wickesy/Norwegian%20Cruise/Day%208/

 

Today we were at the most Northerly port of our trip - Honningsvag. We were up at 8:00 and as usual we went up for breakfast and to take photos before anything else.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

For those who have never been on the Crown Princess, Princess Links is a little putting course out on the top deck of the ship.

 

We were doing a trip to Nordkapp (North Cape) this morning so by 9:00 we were down in the Princess Theatre to check in. By 9:45 we had been led off the ship on to our waiting coach and we were on our way. First stop was a photo stop at a ‘ Sami camp’ - the Sami are the native people but rather than a genuine camp this turned out to be two tents and a souvenir shop at the side of the road, so obviously a tourist trap.

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

We arrived at Nordkapp at about 10:30 and were given about 90 minutes to wander around before we had to meet the coach to take us back to the ship. First stop was the gift shop where we bought a hoodie for me and a couple of fridge magnets. From there we stopped off to have a coke each while sitting looking out at the cliffs and sea.

 

 

Suitably refreshed we went outside to the globe where we had our picture taken by the ship’s photographer.

 

 

From there we had a wander around the cliffs taking various photos.

 

This one is a full 360 degree panorama

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Children of the Earth monument. Every year a prize is handed out here to an individual or project that has helped children that have suffered somewhere in the world. You can read more about the project here: http://www.barnavjorden.org/eng/welcome.htm

[wickesy]

Then we went back inside and watched a 14 minute film that was unnarrated but was kind of ‘a year in the life of Nordkapp’. By the time the film had finished we just had time to go down and look at King’s View before it was time to meet our coach for the return journey.

 

 

 

 

This is the world’s most Northern ecumenical chapel. It’s just a little room carved into the rocks.

 

By 12:45 we were back at the port so we had a look around the souvenir shop and then went into the Artico Ice Bar.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

We had a couple of drinks in the bar then, in accordance with local custom, went outside, threw our shot glasses (made of ice) into the sea and made a wish. By now we were getting hungry so we made our way back on to the ship and up to Horizon Court for some lunch and then spent the afternoon wandering around and taking more photos. Today was the 4th of July so there was a big display in the atrium to mark the day.

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

At 4:30 we went up onto the deck above the bridge to watch sail away from a different vantage point.

 

 

This bird got a bit of a surprise when the rope was slackened so we could be untied!

[wickesy]

 

 

 

This ship was moving in to take up the berth we had just left.

 

 

Cocktails were at the usual time following which we went down for dinner. Tonight I started with duck liver pate and Dad had crab meat with apple balls and melon balls, then I had chicken noodle soup and Dad had romaine lettuce. Main courses were turkey escalope and pumpkin for Dad and surf ‘n’ turf for me - filet mignon and jumbo shrimp - then dessert was café latte ice cream for both of us.

 

Brandies followed as usual and then it was in bed by 10:25 ready for a day in Tromso tomorrow.

 

Not quite the Midnight sun – I think this was taken around 10:00

[JanetAlice]

Great report, can't wait to read more. We are going on the Aug 4 Crown sailing of the British Isles and I can't wait. The ship looks to be in great shape!

 

Come over to the roll call for our cruise. We have a good group.

[cruise pup]

I cannot begin to tell you what a joy viewing your photos has been. I took a similar cruise 4 years ago on the Rotterdam and loved it. When we were in Stavanger I just walked around the town which was beautiful. A lot of people booked the boat ride to the fjord with the pulpit rock like you did. But what no one knew was that after leaving Stavanger the ship took a detour through the same fjords leaving a lot of people angry that they had paid for an excursion that the ship repeated. One of the more memorable excursions I took was a boat ride out of the north cape around some bird sanctuary islands. I always wanted to see a puffin. Well I didn't see a puffin. I saw thousands of them along with other sea birds. It was amazing. Expensive but amazing. No queue at the Flam railway and it's a good thing too because someone threw a lit cigarette out the window on a later trip and shut down the railway for the rest of the day. Since you were fogged in at the summit of Mt. Dalsnibba I thought I'd share my panaromic photo. Not as sharp as yours but I thought you might enjoy seeing it. Thanks again for stirring up some wonderful memories.

[Sauvignon]

We were doing a trip to Nordkapp (North Cape) this morning so by 9:00 we were down in the Princess Theatre to check in. By 9:45 we had been led off the ship on to our waiting coach and we were on our way. First stop was a photo stop at a ‘ Sami camp’ - the Sami are the native people but rather than a genuine camp this turned out to be two tents and a souvenir shop at the side of the road, so obviously a tourist trap.

 

I can't let this pass. We can't disagree more that this was a "tourist trap".

 

Certainly it was not a working camp per se, however it did add a great deal of atmosphere to the excursion. It was nice to be able to get outside and get a feel for the remarkable landscape; the people at the camp were charming, interested and interesting to talk to and the gift shop had a rather more unusual selection than the usual tourist tat.

 

Sure, it can be argued that this family is simply cashing in on tourists and why not. Importantly though we got we sense that they are genuinely proud and not out to exploit people.

 

We could have quite happily spent a little longer there.

[cruise pup]

We arrived at Gerainger at 5:30 and were able to board a tender straight away to get us back to the ship. Once back on board we went up to deck 16 to take photos of the sail away.

 

 

 

This waterfall is known as the seven sisters because there are seven separate falls

 

And this one is known as The Hunter – hunting the seven sisters

 

Just wanted to share a panoramic shot I took showing the 7 sisters on one side of the fjord and the hunter on the opposite side.

[wickesy]

Since you were fogged in at the summit of Mt. Dalsnibba I thought I'd share my panaromic photo. Not as sharp as yours but I thought you might enjoy seeing it. Thanks again for stirring up some wonderful memories.

 

Thanks - it's nice to see what we 'should' have seen when we were up there.

 

I can't let this pass. We can't disagree more that this was a "tourist trap".

 

Certainly it was not a working camp per se, however it did add a great deal of atmosphere to the excursion. It was nice to be able to get outside and get a feel for the remarkable landscape; the people at the camp were charming, interested and interesting to talk to and the gift shop had a rather more unusual selection than the usual tourist tat.

 

Sure, it can be argued that this family is simply cashing in on tourists and why not. Importantly though we got we sense that they are genuinely proud and not out to exploit people.

 

We could have quite happily spent a little longer there.

 

Hmm, 'tourist trap' is probably too harsh but it was completely opposite to what I was expecting and seeing the souvenir shop was very jarring, although I'll agree that there was definitely more than tourist tat for sale. I definitely wouldn't have wanted any less time at the North Cape though so I think in future Princess would serve the passengers better by running a shuttle directly to and from the Cape, rather than having a timed excursion there (something I've just realised I forgot to mention in the post-cruise survey), and having a separate excursion to the Sami camp allowing people more time there.

 

Just wanted to share a panoramic shot I took showing the 7 sisters on one side of the fjord and the hunter on the opposite side.

 

Thanks again. Had I thought of it I could have got a similar shot rather than running from one side of the ship to the other. :D