Brilliance OTS, 2 June 2012 Trip Report - the Norway, no, Denmark, no, Norway Cruise

[Booking It]

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/

 

I lucked out with my Norway trip... according to the site above, we won't have too many neighbors in our ports... except for Gerainger where we have to share the town with a 3,500 passenger Costa ship. :eek:

[jomarb]

Do not wait to buy train tickets. We were on the 6/21 Artic Circle cruise and the train was sold out very quickly. We ended up taking the all day Norway tour which was very interesting and beautiful. It started off by bus, lunch and then the train back down to Flam. If there is another ship in the area it would be best to book the train now or you won't be able to do the trip.

[jomarb]

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/

 

I lucked out with my Norway trip... according to the site above, we won't have too many neighbors in our ports... except for Gerainger where we have to share the town with a 3,500 passenger Costa ship. :eek:

Sharing Geiranger with a 3,500 passenger ship will lead to lots of delays. There are only two small docks for tenders. The lines in the tourist info office were very long just with one ship in as it is a popular spot for tourists from all over who are camping or driving around the fjords. We took the HOHO bus which we booked online. However, you still had to stand in line to turn in the confirmation. Geiranger is beautiful but small. And beware of ordering drinks in Norway - a beer costs 11 euros!!!!

[Coastcruisers]

Thank you again for your wonderful journal of your trip -- as my dear friend from Ireland says with enthusians -- it was "brilliant" and we all enjoyed your words and seeing your photos. As close as being on the cruise with you. We are travelling to CPH for the August 9th journey on VOS north to Honningsvag, so appreciate the details of the cruise and particularly Gerainger. We have My Time Dininger @ 7:30 pm as 7 pm was not available. Based on some of the schedules we have read, we are wondering how realistic it is to "plan" a bit around the few formal evenings, return guest party, Captain's party -- do you remember when they are scheduled? On other occasions when tours are delayed in returning to the ship we dine in the Windjammer if we miss our scheduled reservation, but do not choose to do so the evening of the primary Captain's evening. (Sorry here for editing once again, having a bit of a challenge this afternoon with trying to break my comments into paragraphs.) David, thank you again, we have enjoyed your review and love the visuals -- a good way to spend some time. We have planned this trip for a few years and spending some time with your posts have heightened the anticipation. Take care . . .

Edited July 15, 2012 by Coastcruisers
Hit the "enter" key once, now another mistaken key stroke

[jomarb]

Thank you again for your wonderful journal of your trip -- as my dear friend from Ireland says with enthusians -- it was "brilliant" and we all enjoyed your words and seeing your photos. As close as being on the cruise with you. We are travelling to CPH for the August 9th journey on VOS north to Honningsvag, so appreciate the details of the cruise and particularly Gerainger. We have My Time Dininger @ 7:30 pm as 7 pm was not available. Based on some of the schedules we have read, we are wondering how realistic it is to "plan" a bit around the few formal evenings, return guest party, Captain's party -- do you remember when they are scheduled? On other occasions when tours are delayed in returning to the ship we dine in the Windjammer if we miss our scheduled reservation, but do not choose to do so the evening of the primary Captain's evening. (Sorry here for editing once again, having a bit of a challenge this afternoon with trying to break my comments into paragraphs.) David, thank you again, we have enjoyed your review and love the visuals -- a good way to spend some time. We have planned this trip for a few years and spending some time with your posts have heightened the anticipation. Take care . . .

 

We sailed out of Amsterdam and the schedule for parties was this. First day - meet and mingle party in the morning. Second night - captain's dinner with Greek Captain Manolis who is so friendly and nice and expecting a son in October of which he is very proud. Third day - helipad party into Geiranger for top tier guests. Welcome Back party was on night 5 (if I remember well), there was another formal night - the third being the second to last night on the ship. There were also a Blue Nose Party crossing the Artic Circle, a Disco Inferno '70's party. You will be busy every night. Last day there was a "Meet the Stars" in the theater for top tier also. They kept us very, very busy. Cruise flew by. Personnel on the Brilliance is fantastic and soooo friendly. Get to know them.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Do not wait to buy train tickets. We were on the 6/21 Artic Circle cruise and the train was sold out very quickly. We ended up taking the all day Norway tour which was very interesting and beautiful. It started off by bus, lunch and then the train back down to Flam. If there is another ship in the area it would be best to book the train now or you won't be able to do the trip.

 

The person who was asking about train tickets was talking about the funicular in Bergen, not the train in Flam (which was not part of my review, because we didn't go there) :rolleyes:

 

camly - although it doesn't look like it, there are two queues at the bottom station for the funicular. The ticket office, for those who don't have tickets, is to the left, the one for those with tickets is to the right. But it isn't marshalled very well, so it may or not be an advantage!

Edited July 16, 2012 by Cotswold Eagle

[Cotswold Eagle]

Sharing Geiranger with a 3,500 passenger ship will lead to lots of delays. There are only two small docks for tenders. The lines in the tourist info office were very long just with one ship in as it is a popular spot for tourists from all over who are camping or driving around the fjords. We took the HOHO bus which we booked online. However, you still had to stand in line to turn in the confirmation. Geiranger is beautiful but small. And beware of ordering drinks in Norway - a beer costs 11 euros!!!!

 

I'm not picking on you, but that's not really accurate either, or reflect my experience in Geiranger :) There are three tender "docks", which have two berths each - we had three ships in port, and therefore each ship had two tender berths, and they didn't share them (because the security check for getting back on was ship specific).

 

I expect things were quite busy first thing, but by the time I got off the ship there were no significant queues for either tenders or the tourist information office. As I said in my review, I waited until those who wanted/needed to get off early, and therefore needed tender tickets, had got off. There is always the potential for long queues to get back on board, especially when excursions may be returning, but that's not unique to Geiranger.

[Coastcruisers]

Thank you jomarb, I appreciate your response. From past cruising oftentimes Captain's evening and formals seem to be held the evenings we have had sea days. I am going to try to adjust our My Time Dining once again and see if there is an opening for earlier than 7:30. Definitely cannot miss any parties.

 

Now it is back to studying the transportation options for Copenhagen and enjoying Cotswold's amazing photos again.

[negc]

Thank you jomarb, I appreciate your response. From past cruising oftentimes Captain's evening and formals seem to be held the evenings we have had sea days. I am going to try to adjust our My Time Dining once again and see if there is an opening for earlier than 7:30. Definitely cannot miss any parties.

 

Now it is back to studying the transportation options for Copenhagen and enjoying Cotswold's amazing photos again.

 

There have always been tables available any time that we simply walked into the MTD section of the dining room (without reservations) and they have been able to seat us promptly. Whether you choose traditional or my time dining, there should never be a reason that you need to miss any parties.:)

[penguinscott]

Very thourough and informative. I don't normally like reviews that are so port-intensive, but having a cruise of the fjords coming up in a few weeks, this was immensely helpful. I'll be stopping in a few of these ports. You seem to travel very much like I do, so I anticipate that I'll do many of the same things in the manner in which you did them. Thank you!

[Harley57]

Thank you for an absolutely fantastic review nd gorgeous pictures. Add another insolvency to the list :D

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I was referred to your thread from the ports of call board. Just the sort of practical information I was looking for! So helpful to see pictures of where you are docked, what the area looks like from a cruiser's perspective, etc. You can read guidebooks until you're blue in the face, but your review is much more helpful for a cruiser.

 

So, thank you very much for one of the most helpful reviews I've ever read. As you can see, I'm off to Norway this spring.

 

P.S. I'll probably be joining the insolvency gang after this string of cruises.

Edited February 1, 2013 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[jomarb]

Of all the cruises we have taken, the one on the Brilliance to Norway was the most fun and the most breathtaking. The we have sailed 4 times on the Brilliance and the crew is fantastic from the Captain on down. The parties are very creative and if you are going on an Artic Circle cruise do not miss the Blue Nose party. Sign up for the Meet & Mingle also. Anyway, enjoy. Oh, how envious we are. This year we are looking towards the Greek Islands.

Jo-Anne

[Cotswold Eagle]

I was referred to your thread from the ports of call board. Just the sort of practical information I was looking for! So helpful to see pictures of where you are docked, what the area looks like from a cruiser's perspective, etc. You can read guidebooks until you're blue in the face, but your review is much more helpful for a cruiser.

 

So, thank you very much for one of the most helpful reviews I've ever read. As you can see, I'm off to Norway this spring.

 

P.S. I'll probably be joining the insolvency gang after this string of cruises.

 

Glad you found it useful. I concentrated on those aspects precisely because it will all be a little unfamiliar to many.

 

I check the Ports of Call board from time to time, to see if I can help, but Terry-in-Ohio has that pretty much sown up :)

[prudence passenger]

so glad i found your post,

cruising to Norway for 12 nights end of June on X Constellation,

also from Amsterdam,

wonderful photos and fabulous explanations of ports,

you really did such a fantastic job and helpful to all of us other cruisers,

thank you again,

 

judi

[pmcf]

Thanks for this review, I'm travelling on this ship soon and wanted to know a bit more about it.

[lovingretirement]

Great review and pictures!!! This was most helpful in planning what to do in Norway. Looking forward to seeing some of the places in your pictures the first of September. Thanks for sharing!

[Cotswold Eagle]

Glad you found it useful! Have a great cruise :)

[villauk]

Glad you found it useful! Have a great cruise :)

 

Hi David,

 

Hope you are well? We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Norway, so much so that we've booked Iceland and Norway (again) for next year :). It'll be interesting to see if it's as good on Infinity as it was on Brilliance ;).

 

Jenny.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Hi David,

 

Hope you are well? We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Norway, so much so that we've booked Iceland and Norway (again) for next year :). It'll be interesting to see if it's as good on Infinity as it was on Brilliance ;).

 

Jenny.

 

Hi, Jenny. I'm well, thanks, enjoying the heatwave and the cricket :) Iceland and Norway sounds great - I have nothing booked at he moment, and the rest of the year is looking pretty busy. But having had two cruises each of the last three years, I can't complain if I miss this year!

[LkMichigan beach bum]

We are cruising Mid May this coming Spring. Now, we are considering changing our mid May trip to later for less SNOW. We want the roads open and sites open.

 

After taking numerous photos and rewarding myself with a coffee and a pastry at the cafe (which cost NOK 50, or thereabouts, if I remember correctly), I walked up the road behind the viewpoint to reach the summit of Aksla, which is slightly above Fjellstua. On the way you pass some Second World war fortifications and, being a small boy at heart, I couldn't resist exploring.

 

 

 

On the summit itself there is a large weather vane apparatus. From here one gets perhaps better views of the surrounding fjords and mountains than from the viewpoint, so I would recommend this extra small climb.

 

 

 

Just below the weather vane there is a bench with a small plaque to the memory of Wilson 'Johnny' Ceybird, a British pilot killed near here in 1945, so close to the end of the war. Intrigued, I have subsequently researched Johnny and discovered that he flew reconnaissance missions along this coast in Mosquito aircraft based in northern Scotland. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Medal for his daring and bravery on a mission in 1943.

 

 

Johnny's view - looking towards his home base, several hundred miles across the North Sea, as the Englands-Farten memorial does in the town below.