My first cruise

[emam]

Lovely photos Sarah, glad you are enjoying it.

[BouncingWheel]

7 hours ago, SarahHben said:

After lunch  we walked up the many metal steps up the side of the waterfall, and it was well worth it, it was such a powerful waterfall it was incredible. The metal walkway took us over part of the waterfall, I didn’t particularly enjoy that bit and instructed by husband to scoop me up quick if there was an issue. I survived! I even made it back again to go down, I’m not very brave

Thank you so much for the wonderful reporting. You are really making the cruise come alive and giving those of us planning a Fjords trip such important first hand insights. This Geiranger waterfall sounds fantastic and a must do - was it far from where your Rib docked in the Geiranger port?

[SarahHben]

13 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

You mentioned earlier that you have a wheelchair with the large rear wheels. I do think the wheelchairs with the four small wheels are more manoeuvrable plus are easy to get up and down kerbs. 

Thank you, I’ll mention that to dad although hopefully she won’t break any more bones and they won’t need to hire a wheelchair again.

13 hours ago, purplesea said:

Mum has a wheelchair with four small wheels and I struggled up and down kerbs when in Lisbon. Others in our tour group helped by lifting it up and down the kerbs!

Yes that’s what we ended up doing, I’m glad we had our husbands with us to lift.

 

13 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

The wheelchair I used had a pedal on the back which you could use to lever the chair back to get up the kerb. 

Mum’s has 2 little wheels behind the big rear wheels but they don’t seem very sturdy and because it’s hired not bought we didn’t like to lean back to heavily on them.

 

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I find that when there are no drop kerbs, then going down them backwards is the safest way, but going up the other side is probably best forwards.

I’ll remember that for when we’re out and about at home, thank you.

[SarahHben]

11 hours ago, Fionboard said:

These small fjord villages have very little to offer. Maybe a couple of coffee shops and a souvenire shop ( they are all the same). Need to do excursions. The likes of bigger places like  Stavanger and Bergen however offer more interest to wander on your own.

 

We have really enjoyed the small fjord villages, they’ve been so pretty. I’ve taken hundreds of photos. It’s going to take me ages to sort through them all.
We would happily go back to Olden, Hellesylt and Geiranger and wander around.

 

[SarahHben]

6 hours ago, BouncingWheel said:

Thank you so much for the wonderful reporting. You are really making the cruise come alive and giving those of us planning a Fjords trip such important first hand insights. This Geiranger waterfall sounds fantastic and a must do - was it far from where your Rib docked in the Geiranger port?

We took the ferry that P&O organised, I would have to have several stiff drinks to get me on a RIB 😂 but it wasn’t far.
There are several places for the ferries to stop, we docked at the furthest one and then it was a short flat walk around the dockside (I don’t know if I use the right terminology) then there’s a path that follows the fjord edge round a little way to the bottom of the waterfall.

I’ll check with my husband once he’s awake but I think it was no more than 15 minutes walk to the bottom of the waterfall steps.  The spray from the falls makes the steps and hand rails wet in several places so I’d recommend shoes with a good grip. 

I’ll see if I can find a map later to show you.

[SarahHben]

Morning, it’s our last sea day before arriving back in Southampton early tomorrow. I woke up early again so I crept  out to our conservatory so Mr B can sleep longer, I’m a fidget once I’m awake. 
 

Until last night we had barely felt any movement of the ship but once we’d left the Norway coast the winds picked up a little. In the night I woke up a few times wondering if anything would start rolling around in the cabin but it didn’t. The cabin is creaking  a fair  bit now but didn’t keep us awake.
There is definitely a fair amount of horizon rising and falling this morning  and you can tell it’s windy out there, it’s been nice to have very calm seas but I’m quite glad to have experienced some swaying too.

I can’t remember where I got up to yesterday but we had a later dinner in the Opal restaurant, we wish we had thought to book the Beach House but we didn’t plan far enough ahead. The meal in Opal was good though, I had prawn cocktail again (I’ve eaten so much sea food this week) then I had the roast chicken, the chicken , gravy, veg & stuffing we’re good but the roast potatoes weren’t crispy so I didn’t waste stomach spaces for those and then had some very nice salted caramel ice cream and champagne sorbet.

The Ariel show RISE was on in the SkyDome so we went up there 20 minutes before it was due to start, we should have gone 10-15 minutes earlier but I had to get into a disabled loo, lucky me 😂

There were no seats free so we found a good place to stand, until a young girl sat right in our way and proceeded to not watch any of the show but never mind. I have to say it was a little underwhelming, there was one particular good part where a lady was doing fantastic moves on her trapeze but the rest was a bit nothingy. I’m glad we saw it once but probably wouldn’t go again. After that we went up to the Crows nest but couldn’t find seats for the 6 of us, husband and I might try again this evening. 
We ended up sitting in the atrium with mum & dad having a drink listening to the very good pianist.

Once mum & dad went back to their cabin, Mr B and I wandered past the shops, he bought some nice aftershave, Dior Sauvage, it was around £18-£20 cheaper than at home and we bought a tasteful (to us anyway) metal and leather Iona magnet and a wonderfully tacky blow up toy Iona for our 2 year old grandson who is telling people that nanny and grandad have gone to Norway on a big pirate ship! 😂

 

We popped into the Clubhouse on the way back to the cabin, they were playing some great songs so we stopped for a while then headed back to our cabin.

 

We we’re given our disembarkation time for tomorrow, 9:55 - 10:05, that will give us enough time for a leisurely breakfast.

 

Today I intend to relax, not spend the whole day packing, if I could I’d stay another week! The sun looks like it’s trying to break though so hopefully we’ll get some nice weather.

 

I know my posts have been long but I think at the end I’ll do a summary of our opinions and thoughts/tips on cabin, food & entertainment. 

 

 

[grapau27]

9 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

Morning, it’s our last sea day before arriving back in Southampton early tomorrow. I woke up early again so I crept  out to our conservatory so Mr B can sleep longer, I’m a fidget once I’m awake. 
 

Until last night we had barely felt any movement of the ship but once we’d left the Norway coast the winds picked up a little. In the night I woke up a few times wondering if anything would start rolling around in the cabin but it didn’t. The cabin is creaking  a fair  bit now but didn’t keep us awake.
There is definitely a fair amount of horizon rising and falling this morning  and you can tell it’s windy out there, it’s been nice to have very calm seas but I’m quite glad to have experienced some swaying too.

I can’t remember where I got up to yesterday but we had a later dinner in the Opal restaurant, we wish we had thought to book the Beach House but we didn’t plan far enough ahead. The meal in Opal was good though, I had prawn cocktail again (I’ve eaten so much sea food this week) then I had the roast chicken, the chicken , gravy, veg & stuffing we’re good but the roast potatoes weren’t crispy so I didn’t waste stomach spaces for those and then had some very nice salted caramel ice cream and champagne sorbet.

The Ariel show RISE was on in the SkyDome so we went up there 20 minutes before it was due to start, we should have gone 10-15 minutes earlier but I had to get into a disabled loo, lucky me 😂

There were no seats free so we found a good place to stand, until a young girl sat right in our way and proceeded to not watch any of the show but never mind. I have to say it was a little underwhelming, there was one particular good part where a lady was doing fantastic moves on her trapeze but the rest was a bit nothingy. I’m glad we saw it once but probably wouldn’t go again. After that we went up to the Crows nest but couldn’t find seats for the 6 of us, husband and I might try again this evening. 
We ended up sitting in the atrium with mum & dad having a drink listening to the very good pianist.

Once mum & dad went back to their cabin, Mr B and I wandered past the shops, he bought some nice aftershave, Dior Sauvage, it was around £18-£20 cheaper than at home and we bought a tasteful (to us anyway) metal and leather Iona magnet and a wonderfully tacky blow up toy Iona for our 2 year old grandson who is telling people that nanny and grandad have gone to Norway on a big pirate ship! 😂

 

We popped into the Clubhouse on the way back to the cabin, they were playing some great songs so we stopped for a while then headed back to our cabin.

 

We we’re given our disembarkation time for tomorrow, 9:55 - 10:05, that will give us enough time for a leisurely breakfast.

 

Today I intend to relax, not spend the whole day packing, if I could I’d stay another week! The sun looks like it’s trying to break though so hopefully we’ll get some nice weather.

 

I know my posts have been long but I think at the end I’ll do a summary of our opinions and thoughts/tips on cabin, food & entertainment. 

 

 

Your posts have been a joy to read Sarah.

I'm pleased you have all had a super cruise and hopefully it is the start of many more for you and your family.

Wishing you a lovely relaxing day today and easy disembarkation tomorrow.

Graham.

[SarahHben]

A funny story that I needed to check with my mum before sharing and then forgot to post. 

You can tell we aren’t used to dealing with a mother in a wheelchair, she’s mostly been using the loo in her cabin but occasionally has needed to use the disabled ones around the ship. My sister took her the first time  on formal night and got them both in and locked the door with the sensor. Once mum ‘got in position’ so to speak, my sister accidentally got too close to the sensor and the door opened to public view and she couldn’t get it shut again. My sister panicked and was trying to shield mum by lifting her formal dress as wide as it would go! 😂 As mum said, she’d started so had to finish, while my sister was getting more and more flustered.

Its given us plenty of laughs, I don’t think my sister has attempted to take her again and I have learned from her mistake 😁

[Josy1953]

Enjoy your last day on board.  I have enjoyed reading all of your posts, we have been to the fjords several times at different times of the year and have enjoyed every one.  My personal favourite was was early April on Aurora when we were the only ship in each of the ports so it was a lot whiter everywhere.

[SarahHben]

8 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Your posts have been a joy to read Sarah.

I'm pleased you have all had a super cruise and hopefully it is the start of many more for you and your family.

Wishing you a lovely relaxing day today and easy disembarkation tomorrow.

Graham.

Thanks Graham, I’ve enjoyed writing them.

[SarahHben]

3 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

Enjoy your last day on board.  I have enjoyed reading all of your posts, we have been to the fjords several times at different times of the year and have enjoyed every one.  My personal favourite was was early April on Aurora when we were the only ship in each of the ports so it was a lot whiter everywhere.

Thank you. I’m so glad we’ve got to see snow on the mountains, I quite fancy trying an April one too one year.

[thornegirl]

15 hours ago, SarahHben said:

So today we are in Haugesund. 
We had a rain shower to start the day but since then it’s been part sun part cloud and when the sun is shining it’s quite warm.

We are currently enjoying the sun on our balcony and it’s nice to have a relaxing afternoon and not rushing around doing lots.

Thats the positives!

Others May feel differently but an hour and a half was plenty of time for us to look around and take a few photos. I really think it’s worth doing an excursion from Haugesund because there’s not much to do here.

The biggest problem for us is that we haven’t found it to be wheelchair friendly at all. Even getting away from the ship docking area was difficult. The flat path took us right through where people we’re waiting for their coach yours so I had to ‘excuse me’ my way through everyone. People are mainly very kind though and let us through. Then we found that there are not many dropped kerbs here, not even at the pedestrian crossings. I saw a couple of wheelchair users staying in the road but between the 5 of us we managed to lift the wheelchair up and down the kerbs. Next was an enormous long bridge that we had to push the wheelchair up and over, oh my goodness it was hard going. My sister and I both pushed together and then going down the other side mum kept a hand on the brake just incase 🥴 my husband did the pushing on the way back. 
Many of the shops were shut because it’s a national holiday and to get to the main view points there were lots of hills and steps so it was a bit frustrating for mum. We were only off ship for an hour and a half I think. 
We had a very light lunch in the buffet and then went to Aqua restaurant for afternoon tea. The sandwiches weren’t great but the scones were delicious and there was a good choice of cakes, the prawn rolls were good and my sister and brother in law don’t like prawns so we ate theirs.
We will have a later dinner so we are just relaxing now, enjoying the sun and the rest.

The acrobatic show is on for the first time in the SkyDome tonight so we’re hoping to get along to that. 

Thanks for the information from Haugesund,  I'm glad that we have booked an excursion.  I didn't think it looked that interesting.  

[kalos]

20 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

A funny story that I needed to check with my mum before sharing and then forgot to post. 

 

Congratulations on making cruise memories Sarah, you have almost completed page

one of your cruise adventures ,but something tells me as this one comes to an end you

will be booking many more ,time to turn to page two 

The longer you leave it the more the sea calls for you ,as you will find out .

 

It's been a pleasure reading your exploits ,thank you and hope you all have a safe journey 

home      Until next time 

 

                        

[terrierjohn]

36 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Your posts have been a joy to read Sarah.

I'm pleased you have all had a super cruise and hopefully it is the start of many more for you and your family.

Wishing you a lovely relaxing day today and easy disembarkation tomorrow.

Graham.

I totally agree with Graham, as a seasoned cruiser your posts have reminded me just how much we enjoy cruising, and I am now really looking forward to our first post covid cruise in 2 weeks time. Thank you Sarah.

[Ranchi]

Really enjoyed reading your reports. We should open a sweepstake on how long it will be before you book your next cruise!  

[Gettingwarmer]

This has been a really lovely report with lots of information. I am glad you enjoyed your first cruise especially as you had problems occur just before you left. You have coped admirably. I hope you and your family go on many more. 

[DamianG]

Thanks for your wonderful updates Sarah, you have a lovely writing style that brought your voyage to life for me and I'm sure many others (and it was never too long, wordy, or over detailed). I still enjoy getting up early and taking a few photos as well but I've never quite mastered the art of not disturbing the sleep of my spouse at the same time so if you've already cracked that well done! I'm also still fascinated by the whole docking and letting go of the lines procedures, even after many years of cruising.

 

Thanks too for all your wonderful photos, clearly you know what you're doing in that regard and I think the quality of the shots reflects the fact that you've been using a DSLR camera. What a pro!

 

It's such a shame that you weren't able to dock at Stavanger as I think that you'd have found plenty of things of interest there and certainly lots of photo opportunities. When our Iona itinerary kept getting changed due to high winds the captain went to great lengths (almost propaganda-like) to state that this was not a problem exclusive to high sided cruise ships but it feels to me that it's becoming more of a regular occurrence.

 

Have a lovely sea day today and safe travels home tomorrow.

 

Best

 

Damian

 

 

[Adawn47]

40 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Congratulations on making cruise memories Sarah, you have almost completed page

one of your cruise adventures ,but something tells me as this one comes to an end you

will be booking many more ,time to turn to page two 

The longer you leave it the more the sea calls for you ,as you will find out .

 

It's been a pleasure reading your exploits ,thank you and hope you all have a safe journey 

home      Until next time 

 

                        

🙋‍♀️😁

Avril

[Eddie99]

Can only agree with previous posters that this has been a lovely read

 

I hope you enjoy a nice relaxed day today, with good weather too, perhaps?

 

Final morning will be another new experience 

 

Safe journey home - I look forward to hearing where you will go next.  Perhaps Spain/Portugal first, followed by a Med cruise?  Our second cruise, after the inaugural fiords adventure, found us in Acapulco! 🇲🇽 

[Fionboard]

Enjoyed your reports. Reminded me of my first cruise  when I was in awe of everything. Have done scores of them since and the excitement of boarding never wears off. Hope you enjoy many more.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I totally agree with Graham, as a seasoned cruiser your posts have reminded me just how much we enjoy cruising, and I am now really looking forward to our first post covid cruise in 2 weeks time. Thank you Sarah.

Sending you both our best wishes for an amazing cruise in 2 weeks time John.

It was always me looking to book cruises and short breaks but now Pauline is looking for cruises at least as much if not more than me.

We have had 5 post covid cruises and Pauline has been more proactive than me in booking them.

I'm delighted for Sarah and her family that their first cruise has been excellent and like most of us want more cruises.

The abundance of outside seats and tables on most decks on Iona,pictures of which I previously posted and Sarah mentioned is great for us who don't want to lie in the sun all day.

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

The abundance of outside seats and tables on most decks on Iona,pictures of which I previously posted and Sarah mentioned is great for us who don't want to lie in the sun all day.

This is what I find encouraging, the amount of upright seats. I no longer want lie on a lounger but some ships have a lack of alternative seating. 

[Caullkhead]

Thank you Sarah for taking us along, our first( & last actually) was to the fjords don’t think you can beat those views. Your writing & photos have been brilliant, you’ve got us all in the mood to cruise again I think! Enjoy your last day & safe journey home tomorrow. 

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

This is what I find encouraging, the amount of upright seats. I no longer want lie on a lounger but some ships have a lack of alternative seating. 

A selection of some of my photos on Iona.

[Twogreynomads]

Very enjoyable cruise diary Sarah. Have a safe journey home. Can you confirm whether the buffet is back to self service or not? Thanks Viv