Live - Sky Princess - Norway Fjords - 11 June - 14 nights

[capriccio]

40 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If they were asymptomatic,  how was it discovered that they had covid ?

Possibly patient zero was symptomatic and tested positive.  Then when they investigated and tested his/her contacts they discovered many asymptomatic cases?

[Airwavey]

It has been very hit and miss for me

 

But

I recently stopped accessing Web by my preferred browser Firefox and went online by straight Google from my android phone and links seem to come up better & quicker 

 

But direct to Twitter is rubbish. 

 

Best area? Princess Theatre has been best when I've been in there

[srpilo]

6 hours ago, Airwavey said:

It has been very hit and miss for me

 

But

I recently stopped accessing Web by my preferred browser Firefox and went online by straight Google from my android phone and links seem to come up better & quicker 

 

But direct to Twitter is rubbish. 

 

Best area? Princess Theatre has been best when I've been in there

 

 

 

Sorry if it's been asked already, how many passengers onboard this cruise ?

 

 

P.S. really enjoying your reports and updates 😉

[insidecabin]

When on the sky the WiFi was generally  fine around the ship.

 

It's the internet connection that has problem.

[Airwavey]

On 6/21/2022 at 5:10 AM, srpilo said:

 

 

 

Sorry if it's been asked already, how many passengers onboard this cruise ?

 

 

P.S. really enjoying your reports and updates 😉

Hi

3150 ish

 

2400 brits

450 USA

 

 

[Airwavey]

Hi all
Currently Wednesday in Ålesund, a quite delightful town, with three days blog to catch up on. 

Push off from Tromso on Sunday was around 9pm. We think there was a second medical emergency delay as a "crew medical team report to the theatre" call went out.

This didn't delay our already announced late arrival into Gravdal/Lofoten Islands, and we moored up from around 10.30am. 

They started handing out tender tickets, done casually from a table set up alongside the Seafood Bar, from about 10am. But it was 11.30am before we boarded the tender. Organisation at the ticket issue was not as efficient as it could have been. When we arrived, around 9.45 the seats in the bar were taken by earlier arrivals. The staff then set up two identical "Tender Tickets" signs, one at each end of the bar. For some undefined reason the seated passengers became a queue with its front at the second placed sign, next to where we sat.

Like it or lump it we maintained our position and so were in the first batch of issued tickets. For "novelty" they batch tickets by City names - we were Sunderland.

But as I said earlier it was still 11.30 before we got on to the tender, and about 20 minutes for crossing and unboarding.

On top of that the Dock is 3/3.5km from both Gravdal and Leknes, but in opposite directions. Shuttle laid on by Princess, but $19.95 pp again, and, we think, only went to Gravdal.

We had a privately organised group tour, with Lofoten Lights. Passable, but rushed - insufficient time taken for photo stops, and inappropriate location for the driver's 50 minute compulsory stop. Some lovely scenery though.

The tour got us back at around 5pm. The captain had already announced that the last shuttle would be 7.30. We had thought of using the time to go into Gravdal or Leknes but concluded time would be too tight/rushed.

That evening we had a burger & chips/chicken burger & chips from the poolside bar, but went in to World Market to eat them as it was somewhat blowy and cold outside
Both were fine as burger & chips go, but I certainly wouldn't call them "gourmet", the burger was particularly ordinary.

Tuesday was a welcome chance for a lie-in, 9am, before breakfast and then Quizzical.

A walking track walk and lunch, then we gave Scattergories a try, in the Take 5 lounge. Not the best organised or controlled. Particularly frustrating as Pip had put a lot of effort into entries for one category - famous people - and then host decided to ignore that category as it would take too long to mark.

After some time watching the ballroom/Latin dancers strutting their stuff in the Plaza - how do they know the specific moves for each dance? —we had our 2nd quiz of the day, which we won..... ish. Joint top with 3 others, but didn't win the tie break.

Hot tub and a swim in the Retreat Pool which acted as if it had its own wave machine as it moved in the swell. 

We had booked a late meal - 9.10pm - in Sabatinis for Tuesday, as it was summer solstice night, though with all the clouds the sun didn't really "perform". 

We had tried, via the Medallion app, a few days ago, 
to change our booking to earlier. But it would only offer us 5.30. We were immediately disappointed when we turned up therefore to find only 4 other tables occupied. And about 15 mins into our meal there was only us. 

Nice window table, but maybe with the heavier swell not best for enjoying a meal. 

Regarding being the only ones in we did feel decidedly rushed throughout the meal. No sooner had each course been finished then it was cleared and the next course set in front of us. 

In summary it wasn't the best meal on board ship, far from it. 

We both forewent the soup/salad starter choice. 

The spicy dip appetiser was nice. 

Pip - zuchinni and squash tempura with a cheese topping and crostini was OK, though the cheese was melted on the crostini not the veg as described 
Paul - Bell peppers, salad, anchovies. OK but too cold (as has been all cold served dishes on the trip) 

Pip - Broad tagliatelle with ox cheek reduction. Tasty, but  some wide sinew had slipped through
Paul - lamb tortaloni - Lamb mix was dry. Pasta on the thick side. Sauce, or the cheese on it, far too salty (and I like salty things) 

Pip - chicken with rosemary & lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes. Chicken, although beaten, was tough. Felt boiled rather then grilled. Asparagus - the tasty ends had been cut off. Mash had a skin on it, too long under heat lights. And the sauce.... like wallpaper paste. 
Paul - veal, marsala sauce, spinich, potatoes. The veal had to be really cut, and was chewy. Marsala sauce was harsh. 

Pip - pannacotta, fruit compote, shortbread biscuit. Pannacotta was too cold. The "shortbread" was a flavourless pastry, totally unworthy of the name "shortbread" 
Paul - zabaglione - wasn't made to order. It was lukewarm. Nice flavour and froth however, and fruits underneath. 

And if the waiter had asked us one more time "Gunpowder?" when offering to grind pepper onto each course I would have put the grinder where it would have had a real grind. 

Finished evening with a pleasant coffee in International Cafe listening to the string duo and the  pianist. 

Sometime earlier in the day, around lunchtime, our toilet had refused to flush. Couldn't find our steward at that time. Reported it to Guest Services, all sorted by when we got back to our room later in the afternoon. 

Docking at Ålesund was on time this morning and we were off board by 8.10.

A really lovely place. Town centre barely 10 mins walk away, and the rest of the town very compact. We spent a pleasant 7 hours walking around and out was a productive caching day (16 caches). 

Tonight is the two showings of 5Skies the 2nd big production show of the cruise. Going to make sure we get in early. 

During various previews on the Wake Show we know
-they only do it on a port day as it takes all day to set up
-it cost $2m to develop! 
-rehearsals in Los Angeles took 4 months

 

[nini]

Thank you for keeping us updated via your report.

That is too bad about your time at Sabatini's. In May, we ate twice in the Crown Grill on the Emerald. Our food was very good and the service was fairly efficient, however, I would not call it warm and friendly. Sabatini's was closed for the entire cruise (12 nights) as well as Planks.

[Airwavey]

43 minutes ago, nini said:

Thank you for keeping us updated via your report.

That is too bad about your time at Sabatini's. In May, we ate twice in the Crown Grill on the Emerald. Our food was very good and the service was fairly efficient, however, I would not call it warm and friendly. Sabatini's was closed for the entire cruise (12 nights) as well as Planks.

Our Crown Grill meal last week was very nice, and worth it

[nini]

4 minutes ago, Airwavey said:

Our Crown Grill meal last week was very nice, and worth it

That is good to hear. I probably read about it, but glad it was a positive experience. Sabatini's menu has not appealed to us, so we did not miss that it was closed.

[Sea rabbit]

We enjoyed the Crown Grill food, steaks were delicious. The service was efficient but as someone else said not very warm. We were just left after dessert with the plates in front of us. Unfortunately both my husband and I have now got covid. From the coughing and spluttering I imagine many people have. Also the medical response was very slow. Around 4-5 hours before we got a call back. At least its the end of the cruise rather than the beginning. 

[HRHJAN]

On 6/22/2022 at 5:06 PM, Airwavey said:

Hi all
Currently Wednesday in Ålesund, a quite delightful town, with three days blog to catch up on. 

Push off from Tromso on Sunday was around 9pm. We think there was a second medical emergency delay as a "crew medical team report to the theatre" call went out.

This didn't delay our already announced late arrival into Gravdal/Lofoten Islands, and we moored up from around 10.30am. 

They started handing out tender tickets, done casually from a table set up alongside the Seafood Bar, from about 10am. But it was 11.30am before we boarded the tender. Organisation at the ticket issue was not as efficient as it could have been. When we arrived, around 9.45 the seats in the bar were taken by earlier arrivals. The staff then set up two identical "Tender Tickets" signs, one at each end of the bar. For some undefined reason the seated passengers became a queue with its front at the second placed sign, next to where we sat.

Like it or lump it we maintained our position and so were in the first batch of issued tickets. For "novelty" they batch tickets by City names - we were Sunderland.

But as I said earlier it was still 11.30 before we got on to the tender, and about 20 minutes for crossing and unboarding.

On top of that the Dock is 3/3.5km from both Gravdal and Leknes, but in opposite directions. Shuttle laid on by Princess, but $19.95 pp again, and, we think, only went to Gravdal.

We had a privately organised group tour, with Lofoten Lights. Passable, but rushed - insufficient time taken for photo stops, and inappropriate location for the driver's 50 minute compulsory stop. Some lovely scenery though.

The tour got us back at around 5pm. The captain had already announced that the last shuttle would be 7.30. We had thought of using the time to go into Gravdal or Leknes but concluded time would be too tight/rushed.

That evening we had a burger & chips/chicken burger & chips from the poolside bar, but went in to World Market to eat them as it was somewhat blowy and cold outside
Both were fine as burger & chips go, but I certainly wouldn't call them "gourmet", the burger was particularly ordinary.

Tuesday was a welcome chance for a lie-in, 9am, before breakfast and then Quizzical.

A walking track walk and lunch, then we gave Scattergories a try, in the Take 5 lounge. Not the best organised or controlled. Particularly frustrating as Pip had put a lot of effort into entries for one category - famous people - and then host decided to ignore that category as it would take too long to mark.

After some time watching the ballroom/Latin dancers strutting their stuff in the Plaza - how do they know the specific moves for each dance? —we had our 2nd quiz of the day, which we won..... ish. Joint top with 3 others, but didn't win the tie break.

Hot tub and a swim in the Retreat Pool which acted as if it had its own wave machine as it moved in the swell. 

We had booked a late meal - 9.10pm - in Sabatinis for Tuesday, as it was summer solstice night, though with all the clouds the sun didn't really "perform". 

We had tried, via the Medallion app, a few days ago, 
to change our booking to earlier. But it would only offer us 5.30. We were immediately disappointed when we turned up therefore to find only 4 other tables occupied. And about 15 mins into our meal there was only us. 

Nice window table, but maybe with the heavier swell not best for enjoying a meal. 

Regarding being the only ones in we did feel decidedly rushed throughout the meal. No sooner had each course been finished then it was cleared and the next course set in front of us. 

In summary it wasn't the best meal on board ship, far from it. 

We both forewent the soup/salad starter choice. 

The spicy dip appetiser was nice. 

Pip - zuchinni and squash tempura with a cheese topping and crostini was OK, though the cheese was melted on the crostini not the veg as described 
Paul - Bell peppers, salad, anchovies. OK but too cold (as has been all cold served dishes on the trip) 

Pip - Broad tagliatelle with ox cheek reduction. Tasty, but  some wide sinew had slipped through
Paul - lamb tortaloni - Lamb mix was dry. Pasta on the thick side. Sauce, or the cheese on it, far too salty (and I like salty things) 

Pip - chicken with rosemary & lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes. Chicken, although beaten, was tough. Felt boiled rather then grilled. Asparagus - the tasty ends had been cut off. Mash had a skin on it, too long under heat lights. And the sauce.... like wallpaper paste. 
Paul - veal, marsala sauce, spinich, potatoes. The veal had to be really cut, and was chewy. Marsala sauce was harsh. 

Pip - pannacotta, fruit compote, shortbread biscuit. Pannacotta was too cold. The "shortbread" was a flavourless pastry, totally unworthy of the name "shortbread" 
Paul - zabaglione - wasn't made to order. It was lukewarm. Nice flavour and froth however, and fruits underneath. 

And if the waiter had asked us one more time "Gunpowder?" when offering to grind pepper onto each course I would have put the grinder where it would have had a real grind. 

Finished evening with a pleasant coffee in International Cafe listening to the string duo and the  pianist. 

Sometime earlier in the day, around lunchtime, our toilet had refused to flush. Couldn't find our steward at that time. Reported it to Guest Services, all sorted by when we got back to our room later in the afternoon. 

Docking at Ålesund was on time this morning and we were off board by 8.10.

A really lovely place. Town centre barely 10 mins walk away, and the rest of the town very compact. We spent a pleasant 7 hours walking around and out was a productive caching day (16 caches). 

Tonight is the two showings of 5Skies the 2nd big production show of the cruise. Going to make sure we get in early. 

During various previews on the Wake Show we know
-they only do it on a port day as it takes all day to set up
-it cost $2m to develop! 
-rehearsals in Los Angeles took 4 months

 

Loving your blog as we missed the cruise due to positive covid tests. Nice to read about what we would have been doing but why are your photos upside down. They look wonderful but can they upload the right way up. .

keep up the good work with telling us what we missed.🤨

[dides]

Just seen a post on another site about speed restrictions currently on Sky Princess meaning she will be late arriving in Southampton tomorrow - due to arrive 11:30am!!! Ouch!   Is that the generator issue?

[Airwavey]

At around 9.20 this evening there was a Captain announcement. 

 

The entry channel to Southampton past the Isle of Wight is going to be closed from 5.30 am due to Round The Island race.

Have had the ship going fast enough to try to beat 5.30am deadline but now know won't be able to. So won't be fixing until 11.30am.

People who have flights booked via Princess will have new arrangements made for them. 

People with independent arrangements will need to contact their TA. 

Anyone with a Heathrow flight earlier  than 5pm / Gatwick 5.30pm will not make it. 

Ship cabin phones being given free access for calls. 

Free Internet for everyone, but encouragement for those that don't need to be on line to stay off to give bandwidth for those that need it. 

What a balls up for those with timed ongoing travel. Surely this race was in the diary months ago?!!! 

And there are 4 or 5 ships due in on Saturday morning. If they all miss the 5.30 deadline or all be fun having them all jostling for docking position at the same time. 

And the land side departures should be fun. 

 

And you can guess what the atmosphere on board ship is like

A LOT of very angry passengers 

[nini]

I am so sorry about the late arrival tims. That really complicates transfers and flights home.

[KikiKruiser]

8 hours ago, Airwavey said:

At around 9.20 this evening there was a Captain announcement. 

 

The entry channel to Southampton past the Isle of Wight is going to be closed from 5.30 am due to Round The Island race.

Have had the ship going fast enough to try to beat 5.30am deadline but now know won't be able to. So won't be fixing until 11.30am.

People who have flights booked via Princess will have new arrangements made for them. 

People with independent arrangements will need to contact their TA. 

Anyone with a Heathrow flight earlier  than 5pm / Gatwick 5.30pm will not make it. 

Ship cabin phones being given free access for calls. 

Free Internet for everyone, but encouragement for those that don't need to be on line to stay off to give bandwidth for those that need it. 

What a balls up for those with timed ongoing travel. Surely this race was in the diary months ago?!!! 

And there are 4 or 5 ships due in on Saturday morning. If they all miss the 5.30 deadline or all be fun having them all jostling for docking position at the same time. 

And the land side departures should be fun. 

 

And you can guess what the atmosphere on board ship is like

A LOT of very angry passengers 

I am also onboard, with friends.  Some are scrambling to rebook their own flights back to the U.S.  Some are worried that Princess EZAir may not be able to find enough Business Cl/First seats (for which they paid dearly) for them.   Not to mention all the Covid cases onboard.  What an adventure!

 

[Medeba]

10 hours ago, Airwavey said:

And there are 4 or 5 ships due in on Saturday morning. If they all miss the 5.30 deadline or all be fun having them all jostling for docking position at the same time. 

All the other ships made it back to Southampton in time.  Just Sky marooned in the English Channel.

[Ehg]

1 hour ago, Medeba said:

All the other ships made it back to Southampton in time.  Just Sky marooned in the English Channel.

Sorry to gate crash this thread, we are due to board Sky today so very interested to find out what has caused the delay. As Medeba says, all other ships have made it on time. Why did Sky not manage it? Was the ship already running behind schedule?

Any info gratefully received while we wait in our hotel room…..😩

[Alcairns]

15 minutes ago, Ehg said:

Sorry to gate crash this thread, we are due to board Sky today so very interested to find out what has caused the delay. As Medeba says, all other ships have made it on time. Why did Sky not manage it? Was the ship already running behind schedule?

Any info gratefully received while we wait in our hotel room…..😩

Sky has had engine problems and not making full speed. 

[Airwavey]

5 minutes ago, Alcairns said:

Sky has had engine problems and not making full speed. 

Not so sure that's it

We were 40 minutes late leaving Bergen - late passenger arrivals

And whenever I checked ship progress during the day we were typically doing 19.7 knots. Doesn't sound like an engine problem to me

[Airwavey]

Currently holding station off the coast of Isle of Wight waiting permission to enter for docking. More on this later. UPDATE - 10.40 and expect to Dock 11am.

 

We left Ålesund on Wednesday in 30 knot winds, and they used 2 tugs for additional control of the ship. 

 

The Captain explained this over the tannoy and warned of big swell out in ocean, several metres, and strong wind. As we anticipated, therefore, it was somewhat a "interesting" night at sea that night. Ship was bouncing and rocking all over the place, and quite noticeable up here on deck 

 

The 8.15pm showing of 5Skies was basically full around 8pm.

 

A very brave choice of show/topic - computer gaming - given the type/age profile of the passengers. We've seen somewhere, pre-cruise, that it was part of Princess's drive to getting a younger clientele, but I can't see how a blockbuster contemporary show will itself attract a younger clientele - who choses a cruise because of a 1 night show??? 

 

It was very slick and high tech though and quite professional. Don't think they had the best choice for make lead singer though. 

 

The ship arrived in Bergen on Thursday at 7am as planned - with a notified all back on board of 1.30pm.

 

We were off the boat by 7.10 and headed straight for the Bryggen old buildings area. It took us about 25 minutes to get there as the ship was docked at the Dock furthest away. But being there before 8am meant it was empty of tourists, great for photos. 

 

After that we put in another 9 miles around Bergen (another 15 caches). We did return to Bryggen when the shops were open. We also decided not to take up too much time with a sit down fish/shellfish meal at the fish market but shared a hot smoked salmon baguette which was delicious. 

 

We were back on board by 1pm.

3 tour buses rocked up late at 1.45, and it was 2pm by the time all the passengers were on board (takes some quite a time to get from bus to gangway). 

But at 2pm Captain notified us that we were still 2 passengers short. They finally ran down the dockside at 2.10.

 

The final formal evening was lovely. The MDR menu was a real push-out - eg tomato bisque, beef wellington, lobster tail, duck breast with noodles - and even the chocolate special really did look the part tonight. 

 

Friday's Sea day was a general laze between the occasional event eg quizzes, eating - there's always eating isn't there - hot tub/swim and lazing in cabin. 

 

Where our cabin is, S210 on deck 16, with a glass walled corridor outside our room looking on to the Retreat Pool has been a lovely position. We took a walk around the ship on Friday to places we haven't been eg laundromat, Wedding Chapel, and remarked how enclosed it felt in the inside between-cabin corridors. 

 

Also I think the Retreat Pool and its 2 hot tubs above is little found by most passengers even though it is open to all.

 

The info we needed for disembarking was under our door on Friday wake up, as was a new Disembarkation Video on the ship TV. All seems to make sense. 

In summary

Packed bags outside your room by 8pm latest - ours were ready and moved along the corridor by our steward by around 6pm. And they were gone from corridor by the time we returned from dinner.

The luggage tag is colour and number coded and we will use this for finding luggage in the terminal. 

We have a time to go to an onboard holding area eg ours is designated to the Take 5 Jazz Bar, from which we will be called down. At the time all this was happening during Friday morning our notified vacate room time was by 08.30 and go to Jazz for an expected 9.50 call for disembarkation. Breakfast service available in World Market and Estrella. 

That was all OK... Until around 9.00pm, during dinner, on Friday night. And then the Captain made an announcement 

 

The Captain had tried to go fast to make time to get us into port by 5.30. Because he had been informed by port authorities that the Channel would be closed at 5.30 because of the - ANNUAL! - Round the Island yacht race. Expected docking time now 11.30.

As a result those with Princess ongoing travel arrangements eg flights, will have new arrangements made by Princess including possible overnight on Saturday. Those travelling independently will need to make new arrangements. Don't expect to make any Heathrow flights before 5pm or Gatwick before 5.30. Making cabin ship telephone free for use, and WiFi too though only use this if you need too so as to allow bandwidth for those who need to sort out new arrangements.

 

Essentially everything pushed back by 4 hours. 

 

The queue at Guest Services, which we could see from the Piazza whilst having coffee, was horrendous. 

 

This morning, Saturday, new info was beneath our door. Our new time was now to vacate room by 1pm and meeting time 2.05pm.

Around 9am this morning Captain updated us again. We may get in slightly earlier. And as of now, 09.56, he had just said - in what was a decidedly curt and unapologetic manner - that he anticipates 11am docking. 

 

And all because of a yacht race WHICH PRESUMABLY HAS BEEN IN THE DIARY FOR MONTHS!!! 

 

For us it just means we set off to drive back to Devon 4 hours later. For independent flight passengers the consequences for many will be horrendous. 

 

As we finish some random things we have found out in the last couple of days that would have been useful to know earlier:-

- can get free "lemonade" (American "home made" style with lemon bits in) rather than plain water.... and glasses of cola

- oaty biscuits to go with the cheese, if you ask

- the grey terminals either side of Customer services gives you a print out of your account so far

- if you ask you can get a baked potato with MDR meal

- MDR menu a starting point eg can get starter AND pasta and main and pud,.... and mix/match other items

- Breakfast tea comes from a thermos and can be stewed, but have seen others get it as tea bag in a cup which is more controllable. Or bring a tea bag down from room and ask for hot water to make at table 

 

Other observations peeps may find useful:-

- Haven't used our electric adapter, which works with any known electrical sockets, plus has 4 USB B and 1 USB C socket. The only power we have used has been from the USB B outlets built into the bedside lamps which we've used to charge phone, camera, power brick (Photo of sockets) 

- WiFi - Using straight Google as browser was best. Firefox, DuckDuckGo - crappy, Twitter - crap, Facebook - crap. Still think it is vastly oversold and overpriced at $100+. 

- Room was well soundproofed - from the corridor outside, from the balcony /sea outside, and from next door rooms either side - hardly heard a peep . Even the chairs being set out on the open deck above barely noticed

- Television Live had the following available channels 
BBC World News
BBC - Random programmes with no selection/choice eg Dr Who, Doctors, Father Brown, Bargain Hunt... 
Sky News
Sport 24
Sky Sports News
CNBC - business news
Prime One - no idea, random dramas?
National Geographic
Bridge Cam - need to be on this to normally hear disembarkation messages

- World Market - no trays, have to hand carry all or do return journeys.

- If you keep a manual list of your spend to x-reference to your account print out your job will be easier if you note where you made that sirens eg Estrella, Vista Lounge, International Cafe etc. All our billing was accurate

- the room temperature control was very responsive. Could go from cold room to warm room very quickly

- from what we could see on returning to boat crew smoking is far aft, deck 4? - level with keel of the lifeboats. 

 

Our last bill printout last night was $748 (after deducting paid for gelato and my Medallion accessory ). That is for alcoholic drinks, tea/coffee speciality, and daily Crew Appreciation. In addition we separately paid $105 (?) for a single WiFi.

 

Someone earlier said it would have cost us £840 - say $1030 currently - at the old £30 pppd rate to go Premier. So $750 actual spend has saved us a bit of money, ~$280. Or around 28 extra alcoholic drinks?? But we accept that on the package we would have probably willingly have had more to drink, so can in hindsight see the value in it... especially as you don't need much extra drink to make it worthwhile..

We are leaving an additional tip for room steward though still confused if this currently goes to him or if he has to hand it in to a pool. 

 

So, that's it for now.

Will we cruise again? Maybe. It's still not our holiday of choice, we are more rucksack/no luggage in hold of plane/doing it independently type of travellers. But maybe if there was a v. cheap offer, to somewhere interesting, in the sun, we might do again. That said we are "planning" an Antarctica cruise for Xmas/New Year this year. And here's to 3 weeks backpacking in Albania in September.

 

Happy to answer any follow up questions

 

NB - "Why are some of our photos upside down? “
I wish I knew. They are all the correct way up in my phone album but some turn when I post. Sorry! And it won't let me upload the ones I've chosen today. 

[lumley]

40 minutes ago, Airwavey said:

Not so sure that's it

We were 40 minutes late leaving Bergen - late passenger arrivals

And whenever I checked ship progress during the day we were typically doing 19.7 knots. Doesn't sound like an engine problem to me

One of the four generators is not working.  That was why we were late to first port.  And it means we cannot reach top speed.  So we missed the cut off for getting back into Southampton.  Crew have told us they have been unable to repair so far and they believe it won’t be fixed until next dry dock - next year.  Apparently if new generator is needed access is through hull of ship.  That’s what we have been told by crew.  

[joeecco]

19 minutes ago, Airwavey said:

Currently holding station off the coast of Isle of Wight waiting permission to enter for docking. More on this later. UPDATE - 10.40 and expect to Dock 11am.

 

We left Ålesund on Wednesday in 30 knot winds, and they used 2 tugs for additional control of the ship. 

 

The Captain explained this over the tannoy and warned of big swell out in ocean, several metres, and strong wind. As we anticipated, therefore, it was somewhat a "interesting" night at sea that night. Ship was bouncing and rocking all over the place, and quite noticeable up here on deck 

 

The 8.15pm showing of 5Skies was basically full around 8pm.

 

A very brave choice of show/topic - computer gaming - given the type/age profile of the passengers. We've seen somewhere, pre-cruise, that it was part of Princess's drive to getting a younger clientele, but I can't see how a blockbuster contemporary show will itself attract a younger clientele - who choses a cruise because of a 1 night show??? 

 

It was very slick and high tech though and quite professional. Don't think they had the best choice for make lead singer though. 

 

The ship arrived in Bergen on Thursday at 7am as planned - with a notified all back on board of 1.30pm.

 

We were off the boat by 7.10 and headed straight for the Bryggen old buildings area. It took us about 25 minutes to get there as the ship was docked at the Dock furthest away. But being there before 8am meant it was empty of tourists, great for photos. 

 

After that we put in another 9 miles around Bergen (another 15 caches). We did return to Bryggen when the shops were open. We also decided not to take up too much time with a sit down fish/shellfish meal at the fish market but shared a hot smoked salmon baguette which was delicious. 

 

We were back on board by 1pm.

3 tour buses rocked up late at 1.45, and it was 2pm by the time all the passengers were on board (takes some quite a time to get from bus to gangway). 

But at 2pm Captain notified us that we were still 2 passengers short. They finally ran down the dockside at 2.10.

 

The final formal evening was lovely. The MDR menu was a real push-out - eg tomato bisque, beef wellington, lobster tail, duck breast with noodles - and even the chocolate special really did look the part tonight. 

 

Friday's Sea day was a general laze between the occasional event eg quizzes, eating - there's always eating isn't there - hot tub/swim and lazing in cabin. 

 

Where our cabin is, S210 on deck 16, with a glass walled corridor outside our room looking on to the Retreat Pool has been a lovely position. We took a walk around the ship on Friday to places we haven't been eg laundromat, Wedding Chapel, and remarked how enclosed it felt in the inside between-cabin corridors. 

 

Also I think the Retreat Pool and its 2 hot tubs above is little found by most passengers even though it is open to all.

 

The info we needed for disembarking was under our door on Friday wake up, as was a new Disembarkation Video on the ship TV. All seems to make sense. 

In summary

Packed bags outside your room by 8pm latest - ours were ready and moved along the corridor by our steward by around 6pm. And they were gone from corridor by the time we returned from dinner.

The luggage tag is colour and number coded and we will use this for finding luggage in the terminal. 

We have a time to go to an onboard holding area eg ours is designated to the Take 5 Jazz Bar, from which we will be called down. At the time all this was happening during Friday morning our notified vacate room time was by 08.30 and go to Jazz for an expected 9.50 call for disembarkation. Breakfast service available in World Market and Estrella. 

That was all OK... Until around 9.00pm, during dinner, on Friday night. And then the Captain made an announcement 

 

The Captain had tried to go fast to make time to get us into port by 5.30. Because he had been informed by port authorities that the Channel would be closed at 5.30 because of the - ANNUAL! - Round the Island yacht race. Expected docking time now 11.30.

As a result those with Princess ongoing travel arrangements eg flights, will have new arrangements made by Princess including possible overnight on Saturday. Those travelling independently will need to make new arrangements. Don't expect to make any Heathrow flights before 5pm or Gatwick before 5.30. Making cabin ship telephone free for use, and WiFi too though only use this if you need too so as to allow bandwidth for those who need to sort out new arrangements.

 

Essentially everything pushed back by 4 hours. 

 

The queue at Guest Services, which we could see from the Piazza whilst having coffee, was horrendous. 

 

This morning, Saturday, new info was beneath our door. Our new time was now to vacate room by 1pm and meeting time 2.05pm.

Around 9am this morning Captain updated us again. We may get in slightly earlier. And as of now, 09.56, he had just said - in what was a decidedly curt and unapologetic manner - that he anticipates 11am docking. 

 

And all because of a yacht race WHICH PRESUMABLY HAS BEEN IN THE DIARY FOR MONTHS!!! 

 

For us it just means we set off to drive back to Devon 4 hours later. For independent flight passengers the consequences for many will be horrendous. 

 

As we finish some random things we have found out in the last couple of days that would have been useful to know earlier:-

- can get free "lemonade" (American "home made" style with lemon bits in) rather than plain water.... and glasses of cola

- oaty biscuits to go with the cheese, if you ask

- the grey terminals either side of Customer services gives you a print out of your account so far

- if you ask you can get a baked potato with MDR meal

- MDR menu a starting point eg can get starter AND pasta and main and pud,.... and mix/match other items

- Breakfast tea comes from a thermos and can be stewed, but have seen others get it as tea bag in a cup which is more controllable. Or bring a tea bag down from room and ask for hot water to make at table 

 

Other observations peeps may find useful:-

- Haven't used our electric adapter, which works with any known electrical sockets, plus has 4 USB B and 1 USB C socket. The only power we have used has been from the USB B outlets built into the bedside lamps which we've used to charge phone, camera, power brick (Photo of sockets) 

- WiFi - Using straight Google as browser was best. Firefox, DuckDuckGo - crappy, Twitter - crap, Facebook - crap. Still think it is vastly oversold and overpriced at $100+. 

- Room was well soundproofed - from the corridor outside, from the balcony /sea outside, and from next door rooms either side - hardly heard a peep . Even the chairs being set out on the open deck above barely noticed

- Television Live had the following available channels 
BBC World News
BBC - Random programmes with no selection/choice eg Dr Who, Doctors, Father Brown, Bargain Hunt... 
Sky News
Sport 24
Sky Sports News
CNBC - business news
Prime One - no idea, random dramas?
National Geographic
Bridge Cam - need to be on this to normally hear disembarkation messages

- World Market - no trays, have to hand carry all or do return journeys.

- If you keep a manual list of your spend to x-reference to your account print out your job will be easier if you note where you made that sirens eg Estrella, Vista Lounge, International Cafe etc. All our billing was accurate

- the room temperature control was very responsive. Could go from cold room to warm room very quickly

- from what we could see on returning to boat crew smoking is far aft, deck 4? - level with keel of the lifeboats. 

 

Our last bill printout last night was $748 (after deducting paid for gelato and my Medallion accessory ). That is for alcoholic drinks, tea/coffee speciality, and daily Crew Appreciation. In addition we separately paid $105 (?) for a single WiFi.

 

Someone earlier said it would have cost us £840 - say $1030 currently - at the old £30 pppd rate to go Premier. So $750 actual spend has saved us a bit of money, ~$280. Or around 28 extra alcoholic drinks?? But we accept that on the package we would have probably willingly have had more to drink, so can in hindsight see the value in it... especially as you don't need much extra drink to make it worthwhile..

 

We are leaving an additional tip for room steward though still confused if this currently goes to him or if he has to hand it in to a pool. 

 

So, that's it for now.

Will we cruise again? Maybe. It's still not our holiday of choice, we are more rucksack/no luggage in hold of plane/doing it independently type of travellers. But maybe if there was a v. cheap offer, to somewhere interesting, in the sun, we might do again. That said we are "planning" an Antarctica cruise for Xmas/New Year this year. And here's to 3 weeks backpacking in Albania in September.

 

Happy to answer any follow up questions

 

NB - "Why are some of our photos upside down? “
I wish I knew. They are all the correct way up in my phone album but some turn when I post. Sorry! And it won't let me upload the ones I've chosen today. 

Could you please share which evenings were the formal evenings? Thank you

 

 

[Airwavey]

3 minutes ago, joeecco said:

Could you please share which evenings were the formal evenings? Thank you

 

 

We had three 

1st at sea day on Sunday

2nd at sea day on Friday end of week 1

3rd was the half at sea day after leaving Berg on 2nd week's Thursday 

[Ehg]

3 minutes ago, Airwavey said:

We had three 

1st at sea day on Sunday

2nd at sea day on Friday end of week 1

3rd was the half at sea day after leaving Berg on 2nd week's Thursday 

Any update on docking. No sign of you yet in Southampton. 🤷‍♀️😬

[has been]

46 minutes ago, Ehg said:

Any update on docking. No sign of you yet in Southampton. 🤷‍♀️😬

 

Both CruiseMapper & Sky Bridgecam have Sky stationary .. a long way from where they usually dock though.