Celebrity Silhouette, Norwegian Fjords Sept. 1 2019

[Jasperdo]

2 hours ago, deladane said:

 

That's how I handled the "signature situation" and it seems to be working well.  I still think it's very annoying that we are so restricted in our signatures as there are many of us who like to keep the links to our old reviews accessible and conveniently located, but such is life!   

Thanks for that tip. I haven't been able to include the photos from my most recent cruise because of the new signature restriction. I'll have to try your solution. And I also need to go and read your latest review. They are always terrific.

[knbcruisers]

7 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

 

Welcome friend!

I may drop a link on the Princess board...

Norris

I am so glad you linked to the Princess board otherwise I would not have found this thread!!!   I am interested The Celebrity experience as we have only cruised Princess.  This northern itinerary is on our list once we’ve seen Italy and Normandy.

[TM]

We just returned from doing the Norwegian Fjords on Princess.  We stopped at Stavanger, Olden, Geiranger, and Bergen.  Princess only does this a few times each year.  It was an amazing cruise.

[Redrobo]

9 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

 

 

 

 

 

HMS Belfast and cruise ship Ocean Majesty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had it on good authority that the Guns of Belfast were trained on Scratchwood services

[macsford]

Looking forward to your review and excellent as always pictures.

We had a land trip in Norway about 15 years ago, car ferry overnight from Newcastle. A return by cruise ship from Southampton would be even better .

Will be following every morning, a good way to start the day.

Sandra

[Shimsdan]

Hi Norris!  I was away for work, but had made a note to check for your GSJ upon my return, so here I am!  So excited to take the journey with you.  I have never been to the Fjords, but by the time you are done I know I will feel like I was there right alongside you and Carol.  

[scubacruiserx2]

We did have a great time in Norway , Iceland , Scotland and the Baltic in June on the Zuiderdam . So we're looked forward to seeing your trip unfold , especially in Flam which we didn't visit . It's on the agenda next year along with Molde and Eidfjord as new ports also so you can keep us in the game until we get to return   Cheers !

[Lin336]

Another Bimmer review - yahoo!  We very much enjoy your reviews and photos.  This is a cruise we've been talking about taking.

 

Mike & Linda

[wendyam76]

Yeah another Norris review! I’ve been eagerly awaiting your review as I love your writing style and the photos.

Thank you! 

Wendy

[Bimmer09]

We are sailing along. The sun is shining on my happy face although I do feel I'm in a different time zone. I woke at 5 am in Chicago on Thursday went to work then was in an airport then on an airplane. Now it's Friday and 9 am in Chicago so I have been up for a day already.

I can honestly tell you that in Chicago I never, ever, ride a boat on the Thames on a Friday. Just doesn't happen!

I have only ever once sailed on a Thames boat cruise-sometime in the late 70's I imagine and now my dream of Not Being Back in the 1970s is being realized.

Carol is listening to but not appreciating the awkward narrating skills of the young lad hogging the microphone. I am switching out lenses on a moving boat and trying to get good shots of all this eye candy that I took for granted for 13  years as London was "just where I live Guv'nor!"

 

This crazy modern skyline has erupted since I was here in 1994

 

I often drove over this bridge as a means to get somewhere 

 

Could people not build things that were Un-beautiful back then?

 

St Katherine's Docks. St Katherine was the Patron Saint of men in white starched pants, blue and white striped shirts with a cashmere sweater knotted casually around their shoulders

 

Riverview apartments

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

I said I had snagged a seat with no human barriers to photography....

 

 

Hey- I think that's the Gordon Ramsay gastro pub! said I to Carol.

( I was correct)

 

Cute

 

Canary Wharf development

 

 

 

 

 

Greenwich will be just around the next bend.... 

[Bimmer09]

12 hours ago, hockeyguru32 said:

Into the great wide open, under the skies of blue... Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers

Rollin', rollin,' rollin' on the river....CCR or Tina Turner

 

You know your tunes and have listened to some good simple pop music and are the better man for it no doubt. Well done. A totally worthless "Deluxe" lanyard is on it's way to you if I don't forget. (which I will)

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

12 hours ago, SleepingUgly said:

These pictures are bringing back wonderful memories so thank you so much for sharing!  I used to "have to" travel to London for work @ 1-2 times a month , and I hated it because it was - you know - for work.  I never learned to really appreciate the city until many trips in.  Have not been back in a couple of years and have really missed it.  Just goes to show you - you never really appreciate something until you don't have it anymore!  Thanks again for reminding me why I love the city so much!

 

I first visited London aged 13 (me-not London) in 1965 and went to live there in 1970 (Wembley then Willesden) Went to Nuremberg for a few months in 72 then returned to N Ireland until 74 after getting caught up in a couple of gun battles, one of them indoors and left London finally in 1986 for my last contract with RCCL and came ashore in November 86 to live in the USA where i have remained. I was living in a garden flat in Dulwich near Mrs Thatcher when I left, but had also lived in Chiswick and Wandsworth prior.

 

Very exciting when I was 18 and everything was new- tube trains, double decker buses, Wimpy Bars (loved those) the Marquee Club, the pubs by the Thames, seeing celebrities in the street etc but later as one does a night at home was a great thing, watching telly or playing darts and drinking beer with mates. I worked for Texaco in Knightsbridge in their Oil Tanker division which was good considering my love of ships and later just played in pub bands and taught drums at the time I got an offer to go sail the Caribbean in August 1985.

 

With a car I drove all-around London and the South and East coast and barely noticed the historic riches of the city any longer. 

 

It's a city like no other I will have to say. Last week's visit just confirmed that and made me regret leaving it 25 long years between visits. I loved every second we were there, truly, no hyperbole. I could see why I immediately fell for it in 1965 on vacation with my uncle and only my 2nd time out of N Ireland.

 

Norris, understanding you.

[perfect match]

Norris, just like so many others I’ve had my calendar marked for the start of this review! I’m so excited to see that it is now underway! I have my stash of hoarded pillow chocolates by my side, and I’m ready to join you and Carol on your journey through the fjords of Norway! 😃

[metairiegal]

I always enjoy your Princess reviews, so I am looking forward to hearing about Celebrity.

[Jase0581]

I have been waiting patiently for this epic and I'll be in it for the long haul. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

 

Also, I wanted to thank you as I took my first non Princess cruise this year on the Silhouette and your previous review helped me prepare and know what to expect.  I liked not feeling like a total newbie cruiser again.

[Bimmer09]

Come on the rising wind, we're going' up around the bend...

 

 

A ship! On the river of all places!

 

A cruise line that has been making quite a splash

 

I immediately foresaw a cruise from Greenwich to Northern Europe on Azamara (or Viking?)

in our future, knowing after just a couple of hours landing in London that we (a) wouldn't see much of the city and (b) would be wanting to come back. Carol was also having the same thoughts.

 

There stands the tall masts of the Cutty Sark in her exhibition dock in Greenwich

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark

 

 

Prior to docking we found that the boat would not be returning to London immediately and all would have to leave. There would be return boats every half hour until 6 pm and it was now after  4. We disembarked and as we were walking up the gangway to the land I suggested getting a bite to eat in a pub I saw from the river as we approached. 

 

[kpark895]

Norris, love all of your pictures.  Those are some crazy skylines, though, the mixture of new and modern mixed with the old and really architecturally interesting.

[Bimmer09]

9 hours ago, perfect match said:

Norris, just like so many others I’ve had my calendar marked for the start of this review! I’m so excited to see that it is now underway! I have my stash of hoarded pillow chocolates by my side, and I’m ready to join you and Carol on your journey through the fjords of Norway! 😃

 

Nancy, welcome indeed!

Norway may seem like a long way off as I have so much London stuff to talk about and show

but that's just my review style (for those unfamiliar with it). Chronology rules and you get to see things as I saw them unfolding. 

Read on...

Norris

[Bimmer09]

On 9/11/2019 at 7:50 AM, JimmyVWine said:

I'm thrilled that you have fjound the thime to write this up and post your photos.  So fjar everthing is fjantastic.  I'll be along fjor the full thour!

 

Jimmy, long time no see!

I notice you have learned Norwegian since we last spoke...

Glad  you have joined us!

Norris

[jlf1]

Hi Norris,

 

Thanks for the link on the Princess board.  I'm late to the party but on board now for the duration.  As usual, stunning pictures.

 

Judy

[Bimmer09]

Coming ashore in Greenwich* we found many food stands and lots of tourists but rather than get something from that Indian food stand just 20 feet away I proposed a 1/4 mile hike along the waterfront to that pub I saw. Carol needed a restroom and I pointed to a visitor center 50 yards away with the certainty of Tonto reading the hoof prints in the dust for the Lone Ranger.

* pronounced Gren-itch

Now we could make our way to our  first British Pub experience.....

 

The Trafalgar Tavern

 

Frequented by my favorite writer- Charles Dickens and it makes an appearance in "Our Mutual Friend". Blessed by its location on the Thames

 

We found an empty table just to the left of this one-armed statue of Lord Horatio Nelson

 

Beautiful pub 

 

Flowers don't hurt

 

No waitress service but a sign directing to order at the bar so in I went and waited to be served while people ordered cocktails. My needs were simple-a Ginger Beer, a pint of Guinness, one bangers and mash and one cod and chips with peas. "Regular peas or mushy?" asked the young Indian barlady. I lowered my glasses and looked over them at her "Come on now-seriously?"

She laughed..."Mushy then?" "Oh hell yeah!" said I, the gourmand. I think it was about 32 Pounds with the Pound then $1.20.

 

 

Back outside. Lots of people chatting at the tables, much laughter from a group of guys having a pint after work. Sun. Warmth. People with kids strolling by. Tourists from all over.

Out comes our drinks and I have my first Guinness. Hit the spot. I used the ashtray on the table and was in my happy place (the 7th Astral plane if you know it).  Carol enjoyed a ginger beer. Instantly refreshed by the drinks and the scene and looking forward to our first food since breakfast on the plane maybe 7 hours ago?

The food came

 

Rich onion gravy, silky smooth mash and those herbed Cumberland sausages-the essence of bangers and mash. Carol gave me a taste. Perfection!

 

 

Fish and chips as they were meant to be. 100% thrilled with my dish. 

 

A fine introduction to a week of good eats!

 

We took our leave, well chuffed

 

 

Back to the pier

 

[Mickey22]

Hi Norris,

 

  We are booked on the Azamara Norway Intensive cruise next year so I am really looking forward to your port reviews. Your pictures of London are beautiful, have been there several times but never did the river cruise so something to put on my to do list for next year.  Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

 

 Jane

[Jasperdo]

Enjoyed your Thames River cruise photos. We did a similar cruise out to the Thames Barrier on our first trip to London in 2000. The skyline sure has changed a lot since then.

[Bimmer09]

Friday evening in London

We didn't make plans for tonight as we knew we would be tired and had to be at the Churchill War Rooms at 10.00 a.m Saturday for the first tour of the day so we were happy enough to be going back to our hotel in close proximity to our bed if the fatigue suddenly hit us. We caught the 6 p.m boat (the last one of the day) back to Westminster Pier. We had Oyster cards so could have taken the Tube from Greenwich but we liked the boat so kept to schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

People gather at pubs or restaurants along the river on a summery Friday evening