SKY PRINCESS Aug 12 - 19 Norway (Live from)

[TenneSea]

The journey I am about to document is one my husband and I had planned before the pandemic brought a halt to cruising.  It is a journey to our “heritage” countries: mine being England, his being Norway.

 

My husband did not know his ancestors’ locations in Norway, but he wanted to go, mainly to experience the country; to get a feel for where his roots were.  So we planned a cruise on Sky Princess.  The itinerary is:

 

Board Aug. 12, 2023 - Southampton

Aug. 13, 2023 - Sea Day

Aug 14, 2023 - Haugesund, Norway

Aug 15, 2023 - Skjolden, Norway

Aug 16, 2023 - Olden, Norway

Aug. 17, 2023 - Bergen, Norway

Aug. 18, 2023 - Sea Day

Aug. 19, 2023 - Disembark Sky Princess

 

I, on the other hand, have volumes of information on my mother’s English ancestry.  The family name I know most about is Wightman.  After the cruise, we are renting a car and traveling around England for 4 days and will visit a few sites of particular historical interest to me - relating to family history.

 

After our road trip through a lot of English countryside, we will end our trip with 4 days in London.

 

Although I have many (heavy) Nikon cameras and many (heavy) lenses for those cameras, I decided to leave them at home for this epic trip.  I researched some fixed lens cameras more suited to travel and purchased a Sony RX10  iv.  I will document the entire journey with this camera and some occasional assists from my cell phone camera.

 

(1). AUG 9 - 10 TRAVEL: 

 

Upper Class seats on Virgin Atlantic from Atlanta, GA to London Heathrow, but not before we endured a 1 hour flight from Knoxville to Atlanta.  Upper class gave us First Class on Delta for the 1 hour flight, which was a nice perk.

 

Impressions of Virgin Upper Class:  Excellent service from everyone at Virgin. Such well trained representatives of the brand.  However, the plane, although it was their newest aircraft (A330-900neo), was uncomfortable, somewhat cramped and loud.  Noise cancelling headphones helped muffle some of the engine noise.  Sleep was difficult, just couldn't get comfortable.  Food was very good.

 

Impressions of Atlanta airport:  We're pretty familiar with ATL.  Huge airport but very efficient and convenient to maneuver.  I love this airport for connections.  The international concourse/terminal F is beautiful.  The plane train takes you to all of the concourses easily.  We did not have to go through additional security as we were cleared at our original airport, however, we did have to show our passports at the gate before boarding.

 

Impressions of Delta Sky Lounge in ATL, term F: Very nice, appealing display of food.  The outdoor patio was a great place to "land" for a while.

 

Impressions of London Heathrow: So busy, but direction signs are pretty straightforward.  Passport control/customs - EASY !  (with the use of gates).  Amazing!  I dreaded a long delay and it was under 15 minutes.  The Virgin arrival lounge was a welcome sight.  I actually used the showers there to make me feel human again.  Breakfast was also very nice.

 

 

Atlanta Terminal F - eye candy

 

 

 

She's waiting for us !!

 

Upper Class Suite - So excited to take off.

 

Ruby Slipper welcome on-board drink.

 

 

F

Full English breakfast.

 

 

Well, good morning Merry Old England !

 

We board Sky Princess today so I will continue on board ...

[TenneSea]

Let me know if you have any questions about the trip from US to UK.  Also, while onboard Sky Princess, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, if I can.  This is our 2nd cruise on Sky - she's such a beautiful ship.!

[TenneSea]

After we refreshed in the arrivals lounge, we took a National Express (bus route NX203) and headed to Southampton on Thursday Aug 10, 2023.  Then we  waited from 9:30 am to catch our bus at 12:30.  I did ask the young men behind the counter if we could catch an earlier coach and their only answer seemed to be, "call National Express".  I tried but just couldn't make my phone do what it was supposed to do.  So after much frustration, we just decided to wait.  We watched 3 of "our buses" come and go and at 12:20, "our" bus still had not arrived.  Again, to the desk, where I was assured, everything was on time and I only had to wait for the announcement which never came.

Let me just say, I have no idea why those employees sit behind the counter.  They know nothing and they do nothing.  We finally flagged down a yellow vest woman and she tried to see if the next bus had room but no, all of the afternoon busses were full.  She then tried to find out what happened to the 12:30 bus.  Come to find out, he was early but since the coach was pretty much full, he just took off.  To think we sat inside, in the lounge while this was happening is maddening ! 

She apparently chewed him out and made him come back from Terminal 5 to pick us up (plus a few other people who were in the same boat as us).  He wasn't happy, but we were !

Impression of National Express coach and experience: Well, not impressed, obviously.  The coaches were clean but HOT and cramped.  If you have the $$, I would recommend a private transfer, which I regretted not doing.

Edited August 12, 2023 by TenneSea

[TenneSea]

Finally, SOUTHAMPTON.  We stayed at Holiday Inn. It was so much fun to walk around this port area.  We walked that evening to The Duke of Wellington Pub and I experienced my very 1st real, English fish and chips.  LOVED IT !

 

Such a pretty area.  Duke of Wellington ahead.

Had to sample them 1st !

 

 

 

[TenneSea]

On our way to Duke of Wellington, we peeked into Pig on the Wall.  I just loved the interior !

 

[Malleykatt]

Hi. We disembarked this morning and had a great holiday on Sky Princess. Enjoy your trip and I will be following your story. 

[Booboochase]

This looks like an amazing itinerary! We leave in less than 3 weeks for our first Med cruise.  I too have a heavy camera with lenses and searched high and low for the perfect bag that wasn't too large and also anti-theft.  That Sony looks like a nice camera. Makes me wonder if I should be taking a more compact one! 

Looking forward to your review!

[phabric]

I did this cruise Norwegian Fjords on the Sky June 2022.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

[TenneSea]

Posting some other images from our 1st day in Southampton.

 

 

 

 

 

Impression of Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker: very comfortable and conveniently located.  We had the breakfast (buffet) one morning and it was quite good.  Beds were great and boy, did we sleep tonight !

[minniegidget]

Looking forward to fallowing along on your cruise. Love your pictures.

[TenneSea]

(2) ISLE OF WIGHT 

 

We boarded the Red Funnel ferry as foot passengers and an hour later, we stepped foot on the Isle of Wight.  This is one little spot in the world I had always dreamed of visiting, even as a child.  And here I was - it felt like home.  We grabbed a taxi and he took us to the Osborne House which is around 2 miles from where the ferry docked.  

 

Osborne House is the house that Prince Albert built for Queen Victoria and their 8 children as a summer get-away from London.  

 

 

 

 

The landscaping at Osborne is stunning.  I loved this pretty tree.

 

 

Looking out towards the water and the beach.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

So fun seeing your photos of Southampton.  We were there early July for 2 days pre cruise, we sailed on the Regal and loved it.  We also went to the Duke of Wellington for fish and chips.  So happy to hear you had a good experience.  While we loved the pub and a pint of the black stuff, our fish wasn’t good.   

 

Following along and interested to hear about the Sky.  We will be sailing on her in December.  
 

Have a fantastic cruise!!

Edited August 12, 2023 by Fortunate 2 travel

[TenneSea]

Before we get to the beach have a look inside Osborne.  

 

I knew we could take photos inside but no flash.  So I brought a monopod to help stabilize my camera for the darker interior shots.  But, not allowed.  So I had to try to hold the camera very still and maybe use some photo editing software to lighten.  The laptop I have does not have any editing software so forgive me if some shots are a little dark or are not perfectly clear.

 

The interior of this house is filled with statues, mostly white alabaster (?), and mostly children.  It seems that their dear pets were memorialized with a statue somewhere in the home or outside in the garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These door knobs and plates were on every door I saw.  They show a VA on the plate (Victoria & Albert)

 

 

[TenneSea]

 

Stunning dining room

 

 

 

 

 

Ceiling in the dining room.  This room was used to entertaining official guests, not for regular family dining.

 

[TenneSea]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some the ceilings were as interesting as the furniture and wall hangings !

 

 

Sorry for the blur, this room was really dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TenneSea]

Nice little crystal floor lamp !

 

 

Leg of a billard table.

 

 

Very dark nursery.

 

More of the official dining room.

 

 

[TenneSea]

Next up will be the walk to the beach and the beach.

 

Later !

[MWcruiser]

Thanks for doing this live thread.  I am loving your interesting and informative posts.  Sky Princess took us to Norway last year and in one month we will be boarding Regal in Southampton for British Isles cruise.  Your photos are stunning!  Have a great trip!

[TenneSea]

@MWcruiser: British Isles would amazing.  Someday !  I want to come back.

[Rick&Jeannie]

We have done the ATL to LHR jump several times now, almost always in Delta One.  (Have never flown Virgin Atlantic...yet).  Fully agree with your comments from your first posting about ATL airport and Concourse F...along with the Delta Skyclub.  We'll be doing this again in November!

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Looking forward to reading all about your cruise on Sky Princess- i’m on the cruise after you with husband & daughter Completely new to Princess and never been to Norway so I can’t wait to hear how you get on.

 

im also loving the posts about your time in England. I’m a Brit, living 30 min from Central London & very familiar with not only London, but south & south east coast.

 

I love hearing how people from other countries experience/enjoy their time in the UK. Now you’ve experienced a proper fish and chips I wonder how Princess offering compare if you do indeed decide to try fish & chips on board too! 

 

Have a fab cruise and a fun time exploring afterwards too 😃 xx 

 

 

[villauk]

The Isle of Wight is one of our favourite places. I used to holiday there when I was young and we took our own kids there when they were younger too, year after year. Loving the photos 👍.
 

Enjoy your cruise; we’re on the one following yours.

[Martha1974]

Following - we were on Sky Princess last September and are boarding again Sept 16 this year so interested to know what might be the same or different (other than new charges for RS/Ocean Now etc) and what the productions shows etc are at the moment 

[dides]

12 hours ago, TenneSea said:

Impressions of Virgin Upper Class:  Excellent service from everyone at Virgin. Such well trained representatives of the brand.  However, the plane, although it was their newest aircraft (A330-900neo), was uncomfortable, somewhat cramped and loud.  Noise cancelling headphones helped muffle some of the engine noise.  Sleep was difficult, just couldn't get comfortable.  Food was very good..

Found your views on the Virgin neo Upper Class experience interesting. What specifically did you find uncomfortable about it?  We managed to upgrade to the Retreat Suite for our Virgin neo flight to Boston a couple of months back and loved the extra space that gave us - have flown upper in their older fleet a few times and were concerned about roominess on these newer planes. 

[TenneSea]

5 hours ago, villauk said:

The Isle of Wight is one of our favourite places. I used to holiday there when I was young and we took our own kids there when they were younger too, year after year. Loving the photos 👍.
 

Enjoy your cruise; we’re on the one following yours.

On the ferry over to the IOW, I enjoyed watching all the Mums (and some Dads) taking their children over for a day out.  So cute.