Live from a Norway Intensive cruise - oh wait its Norway no internet

[uktog]

Well I like to do some Live froms, but we knew this had to be a Live from loading the washing machine back home given the internet in Norway.  Nevertheless here goes with our reflections and pictures.

 

Our departure was from Dublin, a beautiful city I regret to say even though it is an hour away by air we had never visited before.  Therefore we did all the usual things

 

On our first day we used the Green hop on hop off bus complete with (very amusing and slightly non politically correct) live commentary from the drivers.  We bought a two day pass which was only 5 euros more than a one day pass so a no brainer.  The start point for the Hoho was opposite our hotel so it was ideal for getting a good seat each day.  We  stayed in the Holiday Inn Express Dublin City Centre and it was excellent, lovely big rooms, reasonable included breakfast and very friendly staff at a good price.  As there is a taxi stand outside on the corner it was also very easy to get to the ship.

 

You need to pre book things otherwise you will spend a lot of time in line or not even able to see things.  Our first stop was the Book of Kells in Trinity College (no photos allowed of the book).  The book is amazing but the library is even more spectacular.  But I do not want to rub that in too much – its going to close next year for up to two years renovation.  The guide we spoke to said they may be able still to make the Book of Kells available in another site, depending on climate and light controls so check online before going.

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https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/

 

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Our other prebooked activity was the Guinness Storehouse – a kind of Dublin have to do!  It’s a self guided tour which is great but we noted the exhibition space over several floors had no seating so bear that in mind if you get tired walking or standing long periods.  We booked the basic experience but you can see from the site there are many options you can enjoy

 

https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en

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These two visits plus a ride the route of the hoho took up the whole day – we do not like to rush around trying to do too much!!

 

On our second day we hopped off in the Temple Bar area – now I have to say that was an experience because we were visiting on the day of the Irish Gael Football final – 88000 spectators cram into the stadium and of course into the town before and after.  It was a Sunday and we realised pubs did not open until noon and we happened to be outside one as it opened its doors.   Went in, got a seat no problem, enjoyed a brilliant Guinness and listened to some session musicians.  It was only on coming out and taking photos we realised we had been in THE Temple Bar.  Sometimes underplanning works!!!

 

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Each night we ate local fare in Irish pubs, all the food was good, hearty grub no frills but a very enjoyable experience.

 

Although it was embarkation in a tent, it was one of the smoothest and best experiences - even if 10 minutes after boarding, my airbags told me my cases were IN Dublin Harbour - fear not, it just meant onboard the ship!!!!

[uktog]

oops we have an IT issue never had that problem before, I will pause uploading the rest until I sort it!!!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks for posting this!  Sláinte!

[uktog]

Ok the first photos 

Trinity College Library 

 

 

The beautiful Guinness 

 

Temple Bar

 

 

 

Great Irish pubs

 

[tgg]

When Azamara called in Dublin, we were far more interested in seeing the Long Room at the Trinity College Library than the Book of Kells.  The enormity of it took our breath away.  More than 200,000 volumes. The architecture is awe inspiring.  Sorry others won't have a chance to see it for a few years.

 

Thanks for the great pictures.

[uktog]

 

For us Scots, Lerwick was a home run, but again we were first time visitors.  We already knew we would be coming back for a longer stay so we did not venture out far on ships tours.  

Rather we took the local bus (no 4) to Sumburgh, walked around the Jarlshof ruins and hopped on the next bus back an hour later.  We visited all the little hamlets picking up locals and seeing so many things. 

 It was a damp overcast day, none too warm so that worked perfectly for us.  Everyone in Shetland was so friendly and there were some lovely craft shops in the main street.  

 

Of course for some a shot of Jimmy Perez’s house was essential!

 

 

As was one on sail out – it is to the left of the beach.

 

The weather picked up for the beautiful sail out

Edited August 12, 2022 by uktog

[uktog]

Alesund

 

We were blessed to arrive in Alesund on the most beautiful day having left the grey of Shetland behind.  It was so nice to be able to meet up with Odd16 and be shown Alesund by a native.  Such a beautiful town rebuilt after a devastating fire at the beginning of the last century. 

 

Guests exploring on their own enjoyed the hop on hop off bus and said it gave them a great overview of the town/city.  A word to the wise, the ship also was selling the Hoho experience in each port, there is absolutely NO advantage in taking the ships offering as the buses come to the port anyway and in fact sell tickets to other guests pierside and put them on the same bus.  And once you hop off, its not a ship bus anyway.  You do of course get the privilege of a 50% price surcharge for this experience so unless you have no other way to burn OBC, its not worth it.

 

In Alesund you can of course save money by walking up to the viewing point.  Some very good guests did (not us)

 

 

On the way back we stopped by a perfect waterside bar for some wine

 

before going back to enjoy the Destination Celebration onboard which was a quality performance by well known Norwegian singers and a fiddle player.  They had all been part of Norwegian entries to Eurovision in the past.

 

It was a nice touch the next day to be given a lovely Norwegian gift from the cruise line (not a nasty cheap plastic item as they gave us in Spain) but a real quality and useful item.  Clearly budget is still being generously applied to these evenings.

 

 

[uktog]

Olden is a port we have visited before.  It is one of my favourites in Norway due to its simplicity.  It is very easy to do on your own

These people have a base on the pier and run great services to the two main spots the Skylift and the Glacier

https://www.oldencruise.com/shore-excursions/

 

There is also a little train that hops into the village and up to some view points and back from the pier departing on the hour.

We chose to walk into Olden having never done it before.  A lovely view back to the ship and the Skylift beyond from the village. 

We were absolutely charmed by this beautiful Norwegian Staveform Church.  

Don’t you love the chalkboard hymn board 

 

 

We also saw our first “front door pot gardens” which became such a feature of our cruise.

 

  It was about a 25 minute walk each way (I am a slower walker) and I loved stopping to admire the gardens etc.  There were regular benches along the route by the way.

 

Leaving Olden in the evening we passed Homelen - the highest seacliff in Europe

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by uktog

[uktog]

Laerdal ( you cannot go to Vik)

 

The next day was an adventure for everyone especially the marine team.  A rockslip on the road outside Vik meant that whilst we could go to the port, none of the 300+ guests booked on excursions including the Flam Railway could go on their tour.  As ever the resourcefulness of the Captain and his colleagues pulled it off.  We went to Laerdal, somewhere identified on a map as having a marine jetty suitable for the tenders and a route the buses could get into.  That was all anyone knew about this stop… not even our Norwegian captain had been before and initial feedback from Guest relations was there was nothing to do at all there.

 

However, we decided to get off and head ashore and were fortunate to find Captain Johannes who had done a recce and could tell us exactly where to walk.  
 

Ten minutes along a path and here was the most perfect unspoilt town that was not expecting visitors!  

But they opened their cafes and gift shops normally shut on Saturdays and made us so welcome.  For us, Laerdal was the highspot of the cruise, so peaceful, natural and unexpected.  I had been so looking forward to seeing the church at Vik, my love of the day in Laerdal was such I forgot until a few days later I had even been keyed up for that visit.

I doubt Laerdal will be on the Azamara’s agenda again (though maybe it should be) but that day showed us the unexpected is sometimes the best of all.  And a basket of cherries bought from a man selling from the back of a van near the lovely Porsche (tractor) was the gourmet experience of the cruise

 

 

 

[uktog]

Eidfjord

 

The weather turned again in Eidfjord (as had been forecast).  Our plan for a fjord walk was therefore abandoned and we invested 300kr each in the little train which leaves every hour on the hour by the pier.  (If you are wanting this train, do not expect to buy the ticket on the train, you have to go and get it from the tourist information booth which you pass before coming to the train stop).

 

 

Eidfjord is a very wealthy town ( you should see their purpose built retirement home) due to the revenue the village makes from a hydro dam up in the mountains.   So there is lots of sculptures and flowers but as the gentleman who owned the gift shop explained it struggles to look after tourists because no one wants jobs there, they do not need them.

 

 

The little train took us to a viewpoint where Azamara Quest appeared out of the mist.

We also went by some Viking burial grounds which if you did not know you would think were just a pile of stones in a field.  They are evidently some of the very best preserved examples in Norway.

 

The weather brightened in the afternoon so we enjoyed balcony time with the rest of our cherries and some rose we brought back from the bar.

We did see the ships kayak excursion come by, so if you were on it, can you spot yourself.

 

And that evening the skies lifted and we had beautiful rainbows 

 

And special Norwegian waffle cone dessert with strawberries for dessert.  Ryszard the hotel director and Alex (F and B) had four special Norwegian waffle makers going in full view of all the guests in Discoveries making this treat. Quite a feat because they are so delicate.

 

[uktog]

Rosendal

 

Our last fjord village, not as pretty as the others until you get out of town.  Head right up the hill and follow the signs for The Barony Rosendal which is the smallest castle in Scandanavia.  

 

We did not pay for a castle tour, we wanted to see its other feature, its gardens.  
 

Firstly its natural flower gardens, from which you can see Azamara Quest in the distance

And then its stunning rose gardens.  I have so many photos of the roses, all labelled in beautiful beds but have chosen just a few here!  The fragrance in the garden was stunning.

 

That evening, we were treated to an extra when two high class performers were brought from Bergen to perform on a 17^th c violin and the piano, music from Norway.  This included hymns, children’s melodies and work by Greig,  It was absolutely outstanding again, budget is being spent here!  Two shows were offered so people could distance and as with all shows it was also live streamed to the cabins for those who wanted to completely avoid the Cabaret Lounge as some chose.

 

[uktog]

Stavanger

 

This was another day when the rain gods threatened (and they did indeed curse us) – so mindful of the forecast we got out early and opted for an indoor activity.  That said, we have been to Stavanger before and although there was a good hop on hop off available, it was repeating too much for us.  However an eight minute gentle flat walk from the ship took us to the Norwegian Petroleum Museum

 

https://www.norskolje.museum.no/en/

 

This is a great place (50% off for seniors too!) and we spent ages learning so much about how oil was discovered in Norway, how they used their new wealth to invest in their future so well and also a sensitive look at the Green challenges of the future.  Norway is very aware of this – they have already passed legislation that all new cars have to be electric only from 2026, Teslas are very popular cars and everywhere you go there are charging points, may free of charge.

 

The museum also looked back into pre oil times and the dinosaurs.  Regrettably, I do not have photos of the amazing models of rigs or the rig simulators.  I do have a picture of the biggest drill bit in the world.  

Oh and I have lots of photos of dinosaurs and am now considered one cool Grandma by a little boy

 

[uktog]

Kristiansand

 

Again it was a mixed weather day (none of these days were cold, it was just we got spoiled so much by the cloudless blue sky days we were then saying oh the suns not splitting the pavement or it’s a bit grey….. we actually had the best weather they have ever had on a Norway cruise!)

 

We were tired from some of our previous exertions so took it easy.  There was a little train running around this resort, we did not manage to connect with it.  But we did enjoy a walk through the fish market

And passed some sand art

 

And down by the marina and its lovely fountains.  

 

Kristiansand won the hanging basket prize for the trip. 
 

So a nice lazy day building up to hit Oslo next day.

 

[uktog]

Oslo

 

We had an excellent berth in Oslo for our two days – not by the castle with the big ships but round in the smaller harbour which made it a very short walk to the stunning Opera House and Munch museum.

Each evening, if you were on the sunset bar you could enjoy watching the young and not so young locals enjoying the floating saunas then jumping in the harbour (their harbour is blue flag high water quality).

 

 

We opted to do the hop on hop off bus on Day One.  The ship had engaged with one company which is part of the global City Sightseeing chain, but we knew to use the local Norwegian Hop on Hop off (https://hopon.no) which has far better visibility on their buses and a more logical route.  We were not disappointed.  Our aim was to see Oslo in full in the day (so we effectively did two loops round) with our main wish being to see the Vigeland Sculpture installations.  We came to Oslo on a cruise stop several years ago, did all the ship museums, the ski jump and the installations in a four hour tour or should we say rapid sprint around in the pouring rain.  This time, we wanted to spend time at the sculptures and so enjoyed a beautiful morning really taking time to enjoy the beauty of the work created by one man over a 20+ year period.

 

 

 

 

 

The art form is so interesting 

 

Even if I think my grandson modelled for this piece 

 

Mind you, when we got back to the ship, the heavens opened and it was a seriously wet afternoon in Oslo, thank goodness they had moved White Night to the next day.  The rain did eventually clear away and it was a lovely late night. 
 

 

The rain stayed away Day 2 which turned out to be a glorious day.  

 

Unfortunately for us, it was a disaster tour wise.  We had booked to do an Oslo Foodies Tour through the ship and checked it was moderate.  We were assured it was a gentle stroll around tasting food.  That it certainly was not – after a fast march the plan was we would climb the opera house, walk over to Munch then explore the old city, the castle before stopping to eat.  After 8500 steps I was struggling and conscious I was holding things up for others.  We spoke with the guide who advised we had at that point done 40% of the walking – so moderate this was not!!!!  She did say we could try and walk over to rejoin the group for the food tasting but we decided as the climb up the opera house had affected me, we would just head back to the ship.  We did at least have some nice photos from up top the Opera House

and it’s interesting interior.

We also saw the statues outside the Munch gallery that are currently stirring up local controversy 

We were disappointed and gave feedback to the ship about the fact this trip needed to be tagged as strenuous – the guide having said they had problems with this trip all the time with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity (knock knock….. who is still running the excursions show??).  We got no response to our feedback so followed up with guest relations.  Eventually we got a call late the next day to say we were getting a small refund – of course it was non refundable OBC and the shops were closing in 15 minutes…… so our walking tour became a bottle of shower gel and hair conditioner and if we had not chased up for feedback we would have got the refund after we could use it!  So shore excursions did not impress in Oslo.  The shops are terrible by the way, no stock – they say that is the new range – nothing is priced so you have to find someone to ask how much and they seem more keen to tell you why you should buy it rather than the price. There is virtually nothing under $100 and most stuff is overpriced.  I have priced the shower gel and conditioner and it had a 250%!! mark up – but it used up OBC…..

 

[uktog]

Amsterdam

 

Woke early as we came through the lock from the North Sea.  What a dreamy misty sail in. 
 

We hit Amsterdam the day after a massive parade and so Amsterdam did not look and certainly did not smell its best!  However we have been there many times before, so we opted for an excursion to go out into the countryside and make cheese.  
Whilst the excursion was not quite what was advertised (we did not go to the farm and see the animals etc but we did see a clog making demonstration complete with flying woodchips!).  
 

It was a great afternoon and we each made a cheese that was sealed up for 7 days non refrigeration so we will enjoy some wine and cheese this weekend to remember our cruise adventures by.

 

 

 

If you have been and done and seen all that in Amsterdam, I would recommend this excursion.

[uktog]

And how was the ship?

 

Well Quest has a lot of new starts who are learning to ropes, some are managing better than others.  There are some old familiar faces and it was great so see Godson and two colleagues promoted and wearing suits partly through the trip – well deserved!!  Some great people on the bar especially Dwight and Amadeo, but some of the new girls are struggling, I think generally the standard of English of the new hires isn’t as good and of course we are all hampered still by their wearing masks.  We too had reverted to wearing masks as we had a mini covid spike so communication was challenging all round.

 

I did not see any reductions in quality of food, in fact I felt this chef was better than the one we had in April.  The Windows served meal on a country theme was popular as people experimented trying cuisine from around the world including South America.

 

Land discoveries/Shore excursions continues to be very spotty and we were aware of a lot of people being unhappy with excursions though I do not know the details.  It just seemed that every evening at 5 there was a line to see them and raised voices whilst we were having pre dinner drinks.  The Enrichment programme was virtually non existent with the one talk I did hear being factually very wrong relating to Lerwick so I did not return.  Azamara needs to get up to Vikings level on these destinations talks and have real experts or have their existing presenters up their presentation skills and have their talks vetted by local agents for accuracy.

 

But overall such beautiful memories were created on a very enjoyable cruise with several old friend sailing with us again which was lovely.  It was indeed like the good old days – new owners or not.

 

[Mrs.Dukes]

Thanks for sharing with us pictures and descriptions of your cruise. Really enjoyed it as I have never been to any of these ports (except for Amsterdam!)

[nordski]

We thought that our 2016 Azamara cruise to the North Cape was the best possible Norway itinerary.

 

As amazing as it was, clearly I was wrong. I will look for a similar cruise as yours in the future.

 

However, I would argue that overall our weather was better and the Norwegians kept assuring us that we were very lucky in that matter.

 

Thanks for the exceptionally impressive review.

[QueenP]

Loved reading this thank you! The Trinity Library looked incredible, and loved the shot of Jimmy's house 🙂. For those of us who aren't cruising at the moment, reading such threads as yours is a joy!

[RosieCanberra]

Oh I love this! Thanks so much for all the detail, I love Norway and looking forward to going back. 

And many thanks for the shot of Jimmy Perez's house 🙂

 

[Piaa]

Wonderful read - thank you for taking us along 

[DS]

Thanks UKTOG... especailly for the shjp-board summary at the end.   We had freinds on this voyage as well and got good reports

[Grandma Cruising]

Thanks Uktog for this interesting report of your Norway cruise and the lovely photos. Overall it looks like you had generally better weather than we did on the Journey Norway/North Cape cruise in 2019. We had snow in Flam!

Also very re-assuring that Azamara is just as good as ever!

[excitedofharpenden]

12 hours ago, nordski said:

We thought that our 2016 Azamara cruise to the North Cape was the best possible Norway itinerary.

 

As amazing as it was, clearly I was wrong. I will look for a similar cruise as yours in the future.

The cruise up to Nordkapp is pretty special though, not least because you cross the Arctic Circle and experience the sun that never sets (if you go at the right time of year). There was one cruise that was to go to Svalbard. I can't remember what with covid if it happened, but that far north would be very special. In my view Norway is one of the prettiest places on earth. It knocks the Alaskan Fjords into a cocked hat. 

 

Phil

[uktog]

11 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

The cruise up to Nordkapp is pretty special though, not least because you cross the Arctic Circle and experience the sun that never sets (if you go at the right time of year). There was one cruise that was to go to Svalbard. I can't remember what with covid if it happened, but that far north would be very special. In my view Norway is one of the prettiest places on earth. It knocks the Alaskan Fjords into a cocked hat. 

 

Phil

Onboard Captain Johannes was hopeful for Svalbard in 2024. I bet that one sells at a premium. This cruise was our lift and shift of that one 

Edited August 13, 2022 by uktog