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Regal Princess Review - Baltic 6/14 - 6/25

FraudBroad

By FraudBroad,
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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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Oslo day we awoke to rain…a lot of rain…and it would continue throughout the day.

 

My group of 6 met two other Cruise Critic folks in the International Café (IC) at 10:00 to walk off together and catch the hop on hop off (HoHo) bus. My group had pre-purchased our tickets online at www dot city-sightseeing dot com/tours/norway/oslo. I’d pre purchased as much as possible for this trip to minimize wait times. Ha! Best laid plans…

 

We met our group and when everyone was ready to leave someone had to go to the bathroom. This became a reoccurring theme throughout the trip….I heard more times than I can count over those eleven days “I need to pee.” Once the bathroom break was taken care of we headed off the ship and to the bus.

 

As luck would have it, my sweet mamma left her HoHo tickets in her cabin. So the other 7 of us waited…in the rain…for 15 minutes for her to get back on the ship, get to her cabin, get the tickets and come back out. Waiting….oh how I love to wait…

 

Finally, the eight of us were together and we were ready to start our Oslo adventure!!!! So excited we made our way towards the bus and then we saw it…the line…the very, very, very, very, very long line. Buses were coming quickly, but not quickly enough. We waiting a half hour in line to board the bus…in the rain…did I mention it was raining?

 

No worries! We were finally onboard the bus and ready to start out adventure! At last we were here and ready to go!!!

 

And then the headsets didn’t work. At least 4 of the 8 headsets on the bus were dead and you couldn’t hear any of the commentary. No worries, I can look at the map and identify all of the landmarks!!! We are here, in Oslo, on a moving bus, no commentary, but I have a MAP and we can start out adventure. Did I mention it was raining? Do you know what happens on the bus when it’s raining outside and the bus is full of people on the inside? The windows all fog up….

 

It’s okay, we are here…in Oslo…on our adventure…we will have fun!

And then the bus comes to a complete stop.

 

Did I mention that John Kerry was in town? Yes, he certainly was! And do you know what they do in Oslo when John Kerry is in town? They block off streets….a lot of streets….and it was raining…and the headsets didn’t work and we couldn’t see anything….

 

No worries, we are here…in Oslo…on our adventure…and the bus with no commentary with fogged up windows is going to get us through the grid lock and we are going to the Sculpture Park and it’s going to be fun…in the rain….FUN!!!!

 

I don’t care what country you are in but grid lock ain’t fun any way you try to enjoy it. Especially when you want to see the sights and the FREAKING WINDOWS ARE ALL FOGGED UP!!! It took us over an hour to finally get to the Sculpture Park.

 

We FINALLY made it! We ran out of that bus like our lives depended upon it…FREE AT LAST!!!!! So excited to make our way through the rain and see all of the beautiful sculptures…and then someone said….

 

“I need to pee.”

 

Seriously?

 

So we waited…they stood in line of course…they peed…and we finally began to make our way through the beautiful Vigeland Sculpture Park, one of the highlights/can’t be missed places in Oslo.

 

Did I mention it was raining?

 

Even in the rain the park is lovely. Lined with beautiful sculptures….very breathtaking….and then you can pick out the Americans.

 

They’re the ones pointing at the sculptures and exclaiming “IT’S A PENIS!!!! HAHAHAHA”

 

I heard the word penis more times in one day than I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

 

At one point I asked my kids “Where’s Grammy?”

 

Their response: “Looking at penises.”

 

My response: “That’s because she’s never seen one that big before.”

 

And then I look over at my dad pointing at a penis with his mouth hanging open.

 

Case closed

 

Seriously folks, I can’t make this up…

 

We spent about an hour at the Sculpture Park before we decided to head on to our next destination. You guessed it…huge HoHo bus line. So we waited…in the rain…for the bus…for thirty minutes…in the rain.

 

The bus arrived and we decided that we’d next head back downtown to the Nobel Museum and City Hall. Back on the bus we went, wet, with windows fully fogged…and made our way back downtown.

 

After a 45 minute ride, navigating blocked roads of course and massive traffic, we made it to the Nobel museum. We were required to leave our purses in lockers and we waited for about 10 minutes for the free tour to start. This was for sure one of the highlights I was waiting to see.

It really wasn’t a problem waiting for the tour to start because of course people had to pee.

 

The guide started off showing us a new exhibit about Carl von Ossietzky. Ossietzky won the prize in 1935 for speaking out against the **** regime. While interesting, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Once finished there she started talking about another group of Nobel Peace Prize winners that once again I’d never heard of.

 

Then the guide began to talk about Edward Snowden and how he’s been nominated several times and how he will eventually win because he’s considered a hero.

 

This is where I said “Peace out”

 

Actually, my kids were falling asleep on the bench and if I wasn’t going to get to learn about Alfred Nobel or see some exhibits about more well-known winners that myself and my kids could relate to…and the guide was going to continue to spew her personal beliefs and thoughts I was outta there.

Got the rest of my group together and we headed out to the bus…in the now pouring raining.

 

After waiting ten minutes for the bus to come, in the pouring rain…I hailed the first cab we saw and headed back to the ship. It was 2:00, the kids were starving and we were all soaking wet.

 

Wish we would have realized where we were and the weather had been better. Found out the museum was only a 10 minute walk from the ship. Could have saved the 8 Euros!!!

 

Thanks so much Oslo…beautiful city…wish we could have truly enjoyed you!

Once back onboard we dried off, changed and headed to different venues for lunch. Old folks hit up the buffet and the girls and I went to our favorite Alfredos.

 

It was nap time for me after lunch. Seeing all of those penises is downright exhausting!

 

For dinner that evening I headed to the buffet with my oldest around 7:30. When we got to the Horizon Court you could see beautiful Oslo laid out in front of us. Sun was shining and the city looked beautiful. My daughter turned to me and said:

 

“Why could we see THAT today?”

 

Good question kiddo…

 

After dinner that evening I attended several different trivia games and made my daily deposit in the casino.

 

Random thoughts on Oslo, Norway....

 

It feels great to wear a different pair of jeans for a change...the ones I wore for three days straight may be permanently retired...

 

Your kids will start the day laughing at your rain poncho...and end the day wishing they had one because they are soaking wet and at least your shirt is dry...

 

The Hop on Hop off (HoHo) buses are excruciatingly slow...and the Norwegians will be happy to tell you it's all John Kerry's fault because he's in town today...

 

After taking an hour to get to your first destination and fleeing the bus like you're running for your freedom you will stand in the rain for ten minutes waiting for people to go to the bathroom before you can actually see anything...and then all you'll hear is the bathroom cost $1 to use...

 

While visiting the sculpture park you will see people pointing and then hear....over and over again..."that's a penis!!!!"

 

You'll realize all of the sculptures of the women show them short and round...the only thing that goes through your mind is "why couldn't I have lost my luggage in Norway...they would have had clothes that fit...."

 

While exiting the park you'll be amazed at how many times you've heard or said the word penis....

 

There's a pasture of cows in downtown Oslo...seriously, there is....

 

My last two cents is I wouldn't waste my money or time on the HoHo in Oslo. Book a real tour and you'll be able to see everything! Oslo has a lot to offer and the traffic, weather and slow HoHo schedule didn't give us the time to truly enjoy the city.

 

Next up….At day at sea and Berlin

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Eppe4

Eppe4

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Oslo day we awoke to rain…a lot of rain…and it would continue throughout the day.

 

My group of 6 met two other Cruise Critic folks in the International Café (IC) at 10:00 to walk off together and catch the hop on hop off (HoHo) bus. My group had pre-purchased our tickets online at www dot city-sightseeing dot com/tours/norway/oslo. I’d pre purchased as much as possible for this trip to minimize wait times. Ha! Best laid plans…

 

We met our group and when everyone was ready to leave someone had to go to the bathroom. This became a reoccurring theme throughout the trip….I heard more times than I can count over those eleven days “I need to pee.” Once the bathroom break was taken care of we headed off the ship and to the bus.

 

As luck would have it, my sweet mamma left her HoHo tickets in her cabin. So the other 7 of us waited…in the rain…for 15 minutes for her to get back on the ship, get to her cabin, get the tickets and come back out. Waiting….oh how I love to wait…

 

Finally, the eight of us were together and we were ready to start our Oslo adventure!!!! So excited we made our way towards the bus and then we saw it…the line…the very, very, very, very, very long line. Buses were coming quickly, but not quickly enough. We waiting a half hour in line to board the bus…in the rain…did I mention it was raining?

 

No worries! We were finally onboard the bus and ready to start out adventure! At last we were here and ready to go!!!

 

And then the headsets didn’t work. At least 4 of the 8 headsets on the bus were dead and you couldn’t hear any of the commentary. No worries, I can look at the map and identify all of the landmarks!!! We are here, in Oslo, on a moving bus, no commentary, but I have a MAP and we can start out adventure. Did I mention it was raining? Do you know what happens on the bus when it’s raining outside and the bus is full of people on the inside? The windows all fog up….

 

It’s okay, we are here…in Oslo…on our adventure…we will have fun!

And then the bus comes to a complete stop.

 

Did I mention that John Kerry was in town? Yes, he certainly was! And do you know what they do in Oslo when John Kerry is in town? They block off streets….a lot of streets….and it was raining…and the headsets didn’t work and we couldn’t see anything….

 

No worries, we are here…in Oslo…on our adventure…and the bus with no commentary with fogged up windows is going to get us through the grid lock and we are going to the Sculpture Park and it’s going to be fun…in the rain….FUN!!!!

 

I don’t care what country you are in but grid lock ain’t fun any way you try to enjoy it. Especially when you want to see the sights and the FREAKING WINDOWS ARE ALL FOGGED UP!!! It took us over an hour to finally get to the Sculpture Park.

 

We FINALLY made it! We ran out of that bus like our lives depended upon it…FREE AT LAST!!!!! So excited to make our way through the rain and see all of the beautiful sculptures…and then someone said….

 

“I need to pee.”

 

Seriously?

 

So we waited…they stood in line of course…they peed…and we finally began to make our way through the beautiful Vigeland Sculpture Park, one of the highlights/can’t be missed places in Oslo.

 

Did I mention it was raining?

 

Even in the rain the park is lovely. Lined with beautiful sculptures….very breathtaking….and then you can pick out the Americans.

 

They’re the ones pointing at the sculptures and exclaiming “IT’S A PENIS!!!! HAHAHAHA”

 

I heard the word penis more times in one day than I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

 

At one point I asked my kids “Where’s Grammy?”

 

Their response: “Looking at penises.”

 

My response: “That’s because she’s never seen one that big before.”

 

And then I look over at my dad pointing at a penis with his mouth hanging open.

 

Case closed

 

Seriously folks, I can’t make this up…

 

We spent about an hour at the Sculpture Park before we decided to head on to our next destination. You guessed it…huge HoHo bus line. So we waited…in the rain…for the bus…for thirty minutes…in the rain.

 

The bus arrived and we decided that we’d next head back downtown to the Nobel Museum and City Hall. Back on the bus we went, wet, with windows fully fogged…and made our way back downtown.

 

After a 45 minute ride, navigating blocked roads of course and massive traffic, we made it to the Nobel museum. We were required to leave our purses in lockers and we waited for about 10 minutes for the free tour to start. This was for sure one of the highlights I was waiting to see.

It really wasn’t a problem waiting for the tour to start because of course people had to pee.

 

The guide started off showing us a new exhibit about Carl von Ossietzky. Ossietzky won the prize in 1935 for speaking out against the **** regime. While interesting, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Once finished there she started talking about another group of Nobel Peace Prize winners that once again I’d never heard of.

 

Then the guide began to talk about Edward Snowden and how he’s been nominated several times and how he will eventually win because he’s considered a hero.

 

This is where I said “Peace out”

 

Actually, my kids were falling asleep on the bench and if I wasn’t going to get to learn about Alfred Nobel or see some exhibits about more well-known winners that myself and my kids could relate to…and the guide was going to continue to spew her personal beliefs and thoughts I was outta there.

Got the rest of my group together and we headed out to the bus…in the now pouring raining.

 

After waiting ten minutes for the bus to come, in the pouring rain…I hailed the first cab we saw and headed back to the ship. It was 2:00, the kids were starving and we were all soaking wet.

 

Wish we would have realized where we were and the weather had been better. Found out the museum was only a 10 minute walk from the ship. Could have saved the 8 Euros!!!

 

Thanks so much Oslo…beautiful city…wish we could have truly enjoyed you!

Once back onboard we dried off, changed and headed to different venues for lunch. Old folks hit up the buffet and the girls and I went to our favorite Alfredos.

 

It was nap time for me after lunch. Seeing all of those penises is downright exhausting!

 

For dinner that evening I headed to the buffet with my oldest around 7:30. When we got to the Horizon Court you could see beautiful Oslo laid out in front of us. Sun was shining and the city looked beautiful. My daughter turned to me and said:

 

“Why could we see THAT today?”

 

Good question kiddo…

 

After dinner that evening I attended several different trivia games and made my daily deposit in the casino.

 

Random thoughts on Oslo, Norway....

 

It feels great to wear a different pair of jeans for a change...the ones I wore for three days straight may be permanently retired...

 

Your kids will start the day laughing at your rain poncho...and end the day wishing they had one because they are soaking wet and at least your shirt is dry...

 

The Hop on Hop off (HoHo) buses are excruciatingly slow...and the Norwegians will be happy to tell you it's all John Kerry's fault because he's in town today...

 

After taking an hour to get to your first destination and fleeing the bus like you're running for your freedom you will stand in the rain for ten minutes waiting for people to go to the bathroom before you can actually see anything...and then all you'll hear is the bathroom cost $1 to use...

 

While visiting the sculpture park you will see people pointing and then hear....over and over again..."that's a penis!!!!"

 

You'll realize all of the sculptures of the women show them short and round...the only thing that goes through your mind is "why couldn't I have lost my luggage in Norway...they would have had clothes that fit...."

 

While exiting the park you'll be amazed at how many times you've heard or said the word penis....

 

There's a pasture of cows in downtown Oslo...seriously, there is....

 

My last two cents is I wouldn't waste my money or time on the HoHo in Oslo. Book a real tour and you'll be able to see everything! Oslo has a lot to offer and the traffic, weather and slow HoHo schedule didn't give us the time to truly enjoy the city.

 

Next up….At day at sea and Berlin

 

Thank You so much for taking the time to write a wonderful review filled with great facts and wonderful laughter. We're on the Regal boarding in CPH. on 8/30 and we're very excited. I will now NOT be packing any summer clothes, oh the beautiful things that I've bought! They'll be replaced with everything I can layer, my wonderful new hooded raincoat and lots of shoes for the rain I've read about! Thanks So Much, Great Review.

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DubbyLee

DubbyLee

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Looking forward to reading the rest of your tale... you are living my nightmare so far! As a seriously fluffy female I live in fear of my luggage being lost and seriously NOT being able to find anything to replace the lost clothing. Sounds like that will be the case in Copenhagen next year for sure! :)

 

A packing hint...don't pack your suitcase with just your own clothes in it. Spread your clothes out into different suitcases. My husband and I mix up our things just in case one of our suitcases is lost.

We're doing this cruise and the TA starting 8/30. Loving you review so far.

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DubbyLee

DubbyLee

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A packing hint...don't pack your suitcase with just your own clothes in it. Spread your clothes out into different suitcases. My husband and I mix up our things just in case one of our suitcases is lost.

We're doing this cruise and the TA starting 8/30. Loving you review so far.

 

Oops...I see a few beat me to the packing advice!

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caribill

caribill

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My last two cents is I wouldn't waste my money or time on the HoHo in Oslo. Oslo has a lot to offer and the traffic, weather and slow HoHo schedule didn't give us the time to truly enjoy the city.

 

 

Good advice.

 

Oslo has an excellent public transportation system (trams and busses) that run more frequently than the HOHO busses and have just as much commentary as non-working HOHO earphones.

 

No need to take HOHO busses or a ship's tour.

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warthog2608

warthog2608

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Looking forward to the rest of your review. My wife and I were onboard for part of the same cruise, we boarded in Warnemunde on the 17th to the 28th. Just got back yesterday after a night in Berlin. Since only about 200 people boarded in Warnemunde it was the easiest, fastest embarkation ever. Can't wait to read your reviews of the ports we shared!

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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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LMAO! Love your writing! Thank you.

 

OMG! You have me laughing with tears in my eyes! :D I love your attitude...and sense of humor! :D

 

Seriously...didn't mean to make you cry folks...thanks for your sweet words!

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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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Looking forward to the rest of your review. My wife and I were onboard for part of the same cruise, we boarded in Warnemunde on the 17th to the 28th. Just got back yesterday after a night in Berlin. Since only about 200 people boarded in Warnemunde it was the easiest, fastest embarkation ever. Can't wait to read your reviews of the ports we shared!

 

When we looked to book this cruise we really thought about boarding in Berlin because there was just so much to see. It ended up just being easier for us to start in Copenhagen. We LOVED Berlin and would love to go back and really get to see all the city has to offer. Thanks so much for following along!

 

Wonder review. Love seeing my favorite part of the world (I lived there for awhile) through your eyes.....wish everyone traveled with your great sense of humor and appreciation. Thank you!,

 

Thanks so much for your kind words. Although I say this was a "once in a lifetime trip" I can't stand the thought of NOT going back. Besides...I need to see Copenhagen!!! Thanks for following along!

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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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OMG! You had me hooked after your first post! This sounds like something that should be on a reality show.:eek:

 

FraudBroad, you really know how to hold people's attention. I can't wait to read the rest.

 

Seriously, this is my life sweetheart...and this is only 14 days of it!!! Fortunately or unfortunately it's MY reality!! Thanks so much for following along!

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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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This is great reading �� I can't wait for the rest. We are on at the end of July, hopefully with our luggage.

 

Luggage is ALWAYS a good thing...why don't they ever lose it on the return trip?

 

Loving this review!!!

 

Thanks so much!

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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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Loving the review, FraudBroad, you're a riot! :D

 

Thanks so much...just wish my kids would find me funny!!!!

 

Thank You so much for taking the time to write a wonderful review filled with great facts and wonderful laughter. We're on the Regal boarding in CPH. on 8/30 and we're very excited. I will now NOT be packing any summer clothes, oh the beautiful things that I've bought! They'll be replaced with everything I can layer, my wonderful new hooded raincoat and lots of shoes for the rain I've read about! Thanks So Much, Great Review.

 

I seriously stalked the weather for two months before the trip...up until an hour before we left for the airport. It was SUPPOSED to be 70 and sunny everywhere we went.....bring layers, a waterproof jackets and waterproof shoes.

That way you'll be sure to have 75 and sunny everywhere you go!

 

Oh wait, that's just MY luck with the weather....

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FraudBroad

FraudBroad

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Good advice.

 

Oslo has an excellent public transportation system (trams and busses) that run more frequently than the HOHO busses and have just as much commentary as non-working HOHO earphones.

 

No need to take HOHO busses or a ship's tour.

 

Absolutely...and I would have done exactly that but I was planning and guiding six people 3 of which are senior citizens. This is what I felt, at the time, would make the day much easier on everyone including myself. Hindsight is always 20/20! Live and learn! There are wonderful threads out there that will give you specific direction on how to get everywhere in all of the Baltic ports. I don't believe, after our experience, that the HoHo is the way to go in any of the cities.

 

Thanks so much!

 

You are so funny and s great,writer 😜!! What is your occupation ? So happy about your luggage, but looking forward to hearing about your other "misadventures lol

 

Misadventures are my life :)

 

I'm an Information Security Risk Analyst with a large corporation specializing in metrics and reporting. Just riveting to say the least :)

 

Thanks for following along!

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