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

[Sauvignon]

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.

 

Yes, a shuttle bus type service to the North Cape would be a huge improvement. We could have spent much longer there even though the weather was not great. One could quite easily spend much of the day there

[cal56girl]

Why are they talking about Belfast on the first page?

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.

 

 

[Sauvignon]

Why are they talking about Belfast on the first page?

 

Each day, the Patters and port guides were littered with mistakes and inconsistencies - this was a more obvious example.

 

There has been much talk and castigation of a certain other Cruise Director on another thread. If indeed the CD is the final arbiter in this area, then Ron Goodman should have been made to walk the plank on this cruise.

[wickesy]

Why are they talking about Belfast on the first page?

 

Well done for spotting it - that was the deliberate mistake I was talking about. :)

 

Each day, the Patters and port guides were littered with mistakes and inconsistencies - this was a more obvious example.

 

Really? We didn't spot any others, although to be honest I didn't really read them properly, I normally skimmed the first page and then looked to see what was happening the next day. I presumed on the 4th July one they had just pasted the wrong copy onto the front page.

[cruise pup]

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

 

 

 

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

 

If memory serves me, on the way into Gereinger I hadn't realized the 7sisters were on the opposite side from the hunter and kept trying to locate them. It wasn't until we left Gereinger that I realized where they were. ;)

[cal56girl]

It took me a few minutes. There was nothing glaring as I figured that the schedules are pretty much set. So I began reading the first page-AHA!

I have saved the Patters from our three previous Princess cruises and the equivalent from our Holland cruise.

Thanks again for your updates. I am excited to see the rest.

:)

Well done for spotting it - that was the deliberate mistake I was talking about. :)

 

 

 

Really? We didn't spot any others, although to be honest I didn't really read them properly, I normally skimmed the first page and then looked to see what was happening the next day. I presumed on the 4th July one they had just pasted the wrong copy onto the front page.

[wickesy]

Day 9 - Tromso

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

Tromso Port Guide is in my Photobucket album - http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t120/wickesy/Norwegian%20Cruise/Day%209/

 

By the time we got up at 7:45 today we were already in our penultimate port - Tromso. We had no excursions booked today so after getting up and having a leisurely breakfast we bought return tickets for the shuttle to the town centre, as we were docked 3 miles away.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

There was also a chance to try out the digital zoom on my camera, QVC style. This is the before:

 

And this is at 61x zoom:

 

 

And then sat and had a drink each before returning to the bottom just after 11:00. We had to wait quite a while for the next bus but before too long we were back in the city centre and walked round to our next stop, the Polaria arctic centre. This contains various exhibits about the Arctic and also has a seal pool with a short show at various points through the day.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

Once the show was over we watched the Svalbard panorama film which, like the film yesterday, had no narration and seemed to just be showing the various different species of wildlife that live in the Arctic.

 

After the film we walked back to the shuttle stop, stopping off at the souvenir shop nearby to get a fridge magnet.

 

 

We were back on the ship just after 2:00 and went up to the Trident Grill where I had a cheeseburger and Dad had a cheeseburger and a hot dog. We then went our separate ways - me wandering around for a while, including my 2 laps of the Promenade deck, and Dad going to the Explorers Lounge with his iPod.

 

At 4:45 it was time to go upstairs to watch sail away.

 

 

 

 

 

After that it was relaxation time then cocktails and dinner. Tonight Dad and I ordered the same three courses again - dry cured ham with melon, red bean soup and veal. All was going well until we were eating our soup and Eduardo came over and asked if everything was OK and if it was what we ordered. It was only then that we realised we were eating minestrone soup rather than red bean and we hadn’t even noticed! It just goes to prove that Dad and I are no foodies and we will eat whatever is put in front of us! For dessert Dad had gelato allo zabaglione and I had Princess Love Boat Dream, which is chocolate mousse on a brownie.

 

After dinner we had our brandies and then it was bed by 10:40 with another relaxing sea day ahead.

[wickesy]

Day 10 - At Sea

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

 

As today was another sea day a lazy morning saw us not getting up until 8:20. Breakfast was in Horizon Court as usual, after which we set up camp in Skywalkers at the rear of deck 18 as this is the only place on the ship guaranteed to have nothing going on throughout the day.

 

 

[wickesy]

During the morning, and after 17 hours and 47 minutes of gameplay over the past 9 days I managed to get to the end of the Professor Layton game I bought way back on day 1. After that I went for a wander, including my exercise - 2 laps of the Promenade deck - before returning to Skywalkers and then at 1:00 I went down to Trident Grill for a hot dog and Dad went into Horizon Court.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

After lunch I went for another wander and then at 2:00 went down to the Princess Theatre for the backstage tour. We learnt some interesting facts about how the shows are run and there was a chance to go backstage and see behind the scenes.

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

After the tour we went down to Vines for wine and sushi before returning to the cabin to relax for a while and get ready for formal night take 2.

 

It was cocktails and dinner as usual. Dad started with crab and shrimp salad, I had asparagus with bacon then we both had tomato soup followed by pheasant and banana ice cream for afters. After dinner it was brandies in the International Café and bed by 10:35 ready for our last port tomorrow - Bergen.

[cruise pup]

Great photos of Tromso. That's the port where I had miserable weather. I didn't even bother getting off the ship which turned out to be for the best. Those who used the shuttle to town were caught in a downpour waiting for it.

[oncruisecontrol]

Wonderful photos. Thanks for posting.

[wickesy]

Day 11 - Bergen

 

Today’s Patter (click for full size)

Bergen Port Guide is in my Photobucket album - http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t120/wickesy/Norwegian%20Cruise/Day%2011/

 

Today was our last port and it was a short stop - arrive at 7:00 and leave at 2:00. We were up at 7:00 and went up for breakfast as usual. The ship had docked at the container port (we later found out that this was due to a cruise ship taking away half of the other pier when it left on 21st May) so we had to get a complimentary shuttle into the town centre.

 

It was raining when we arrived so, although the plan had been to go on the Floibanen funicular railway to the top of Mount Floien we instead opted to go for a wander around Bryggen, the oldest part of Bergen. It was still early and most of the shops were not open so we sat down under cover for a while hoping that the rain would ease off.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

Once the shops opened at 9:00 we had a look round some more souvenir shops, had a wander through the fish market and went into the shopping mall by which time the rain had stopped. There was still a lot of low cloud but we decided to go on the Floibanen anyway just to say we had done it, and I was still hoping that the mist might clear.

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

We got to the top, had a look around the souvenir kiosk and still we couldn’t see the view of Bergen at all. As it looked like the cover wasn’t going to clear in the near future we decided to go back down again. We waited in the station for maybe 3 or 4 minutes and as soon as we boarded the next funicular and in accordance with Murphy’s Law, the cloud cover cleared and there were perfect views. We had been lucky enough to get right at the front of the train so I managed to get a few shots as we came down.

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once at the bottom we had another wander around Bryggen and bought a few souvenirs.

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

Then we wandered back through the fish market and back to the shuttle to the ship. We were back on board around noon and went up to deck 15 where we laid out for a while with a beer each and grabbed a bratwurst and chips from the Trident Grill. At 2:00 it was time for us to set sail bound for Southampton.

 

This is the top station of the Floibanen (that 61x zoom coming in handy again)

 

 

 

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

 

After sail away I had a wander around taking more pictures and doing my daily laps then went back down to the cabin at 3:00 to relax for a while.

 

 

[wickesy]

 

 

 

Cocktails and dinner followed as usual and once again Dad and I had the same initial courses - quail and venison terrine followed by mushroom soup, followed by raspberry sorbet then cocoa spiced pork. For dessert Dad had amaretto ice cream and I had butter toffee ice cream then it was off to the International Café for brandies. We were in bed for 10:20 facing the prospect of our last full day on board tomorrow, which would be a sea day.

[OnVacation11]

Each day, the Patters and port guides were littered with mistakes and inconsistencies - this was a more obvious example.

 

There has been much talk and castigation of a certain other Cruise Director on another thread. If indeed the CD is the final arbiter in this area, then Ron Goodman should have been made to walk the plank on this cruise.

 

I totally agree.. on our Crown British Iles cruise, the Patter also had mistakes daily.

The worst offender was Wales spelled as Whales and the best 'Secrets to a fatter stomach" seminar instead of 'Secrets to a flatter stomach'. ! I cut that one out for my scrapbook :rolleyes:.