SKY PRINCESS Aug 12 - 19 Norway (Live from)

[villauk]

35 minutes ago, TenneSea said:

@Dwaff85  I have the Princess Plus (under the old system).  I get it mostly for the internet, the gratuity, and specialty coffees.  An occasional key lime martini too.

 

We have the same but the new changes to the packages start on our cruise - expecting long lines at GS 🙈.

 

Looking forward to hearing of your experiences in the MDR. Thanks for answering my previous question 👍.

[TenneSea]

@Rick&Jeannie Where in TN are you from?  We're in East Tennessee (Kingston).

[ecs66]

Thanks, Sis!  Having a vicarious adventure watching this thread, and feeling a little jealous.  The first cruise we haven't done together in many years. 😴  Glad the aft cabin is a good experience, since we'll all have them in February.

 

The pics are great!

[Rick&Jeannie]

8 hours ago, TenneSea said:

@Rick&Jeannie Where in TN are you from?  We're in East Tennessee (Kingston).

Just outside Chattanooga... not that far at all!

[mrsgoggins]

Also enjoying your thread, which I’ve only just found.  What poor service from National Express!  I was interested in your comments about Virgin Upper since we have only used with the older layout in UC. Returning to LHR from TPA (PE) in January on a near empty plane (new route for Virgin), I asked to be shown the new UC seats and I wasn’t overly impressed.

 

We were on Sky’s Scandinavian & Baltic cruise last month and it was excellent all round - food, service, rooms etc.  We are booked on her next year for a Canaries cruise I’m happy to say 👍

 

We’re boarding Celebrity Silhouette in Southampton the day you disembark (also Fjords) and I’m pleased to report that the weather is looking good for the weekend.  Looking forward to the rest of your trip report and more great photos.

[TenneSea]

For those of you who like to follow the food selections.

 

This was lunch on embarkation day in the main dining room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef tenderloin was 4 star !

 

 

Hub said this was a little bland

 

[TenneSea]

Enjoying the first evening on the ship.

 

 

 

 

[TenneSea]

First night on the ship, the entertainers performed the new show "Starlight Pub".  The other two shows on board are 5 Skies and Rock Opera.  I've seen both of them before so I had hoped the new one would be really good.  It was.  Lots of energy.  Outstanding stage backdrops, (etc) and costumes.  Amazing dancing and some good (vocal) solo work by the Sky talent.  Here are a few shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll post some more of them later as I upload them off of my phone cam.

 

[TenneSea]

I'm going to skip ahead to the Princess excursion in Haugesund today.  The name of it was "Akrafjord, Eljarvik Farm & Langfoss Waterfall". All in all, an excellent tour.  The bus ride out to the waterfall was 1 1/2 hours, which was quite long, but it gave us the opportunity to really SEE Norway.  I actually loved it.  Every mile was filled with glorious scenery.

 

The bus was comfortable. Note that there were no toilet facilities on this coach.

 

The boat ride was about 45 minutes, out to the waterfall.  We were able to get many photos of the waterfall.  The guides put buckets into the water and gave drinks of water to us from the famous, glacier-fed falls.  I thought that was a treat !

 

Back on the bus for a quick stop in the driveway of the "Eljarvik Farm" (which they should just remove from the title of the tour - it's not really a stop, it's not really a farm) for photos and the next stop was lunch.  

 

:Lunch was at a nice buffet.  The store and restaurant were nice and the food was all local.  I found it a little underwhelming but we enjoyed it none the less.

 

Before we got back to the pier, there was enough time to stop at the Viking Memorial.  

 

Impressions of the Princess tour:  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.  The scenery alone was 5 stars but the lunch was so-so and the (lack of) the farm removed one star.  The tour guide and bus driver (especially the driver) were very good. The guide had a captive audience on the return portion and espoused all of his political opinions to all of us.  Not necessary.  I may or may not have detected a few digs at USA and UK, but I guess we'll survive his criticism.  He covered just about every world event he could think of.

[TenneSea]

Here are some of the photos of today.  Again, as I get my phone images uploaded, I'll post them.  The camera is easier to transfer the images so they get posted first.  Forgive the out of sequence pics, but I'll try to clearly label them.

 

Also, MANY of these are shot through the moving bus window so, not perfect.

 

 

 

Haugesund Port

 

 

Haugesund Port

 

Scenery

 

 

Scenery

 

 

 

 

[TenneSea]

I think this is the marina where we boarded the boat to the waterfall.

 

 

 

 

 

This must have been a cave ?

 

Almost to the waterfall.

 

 

[TenneSea]

And... pictures of the Langfoss waterfall.

 

The water was perfectly still.  The forcast was 80 - 100% rain but we lucked out.  The day was beautiful !

 

 

 

 

 

Some trees stuck out about half way up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TenneSea]

I'm always fascinated by local flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viking memorial

 

 

[TenneSea]

Leaving Haugesund tonight - heading to Skjolden.

 

 

 

[TenneSea]

I don't want to jinx anything but,  the food on this cruise has been pretty darn close to excellent.  Amazing dinner tonight, which I'll post later !

[TenneSea]

10 hours ago, ecs66 said:

Thanks, Sis!  Having a vicarious adventure watching this thread, and feeling a little jealous.  The first cruise we haven't done together in many years. 😴  Glad the aft cabin is a good experience, since we'll all have them in February.

 

The pics are great!

 

We wish you guys were here too.  You would have loved it.

[gah_cruise]

28 minutes ago, TenneSea said:

 

The bus was comfortable. Note that there were no toilet facilities on this coach.

 

We were in Norway earlier this year on Sky.
There was an excursion that had a coach trip that was similar in length to yours.
I asked at Shore Excursions about onboard toilets on the coach.....their response indicated that they had no idea and basically couldn't give a damn.........@ over $150 pp, that's a piss poor attitude.

[Ilikebigboats]

We are doing the 14 night Norway cruise next June and I am really enjoying following along with you on your trip!

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your aft balcony since that’s what we booked. 
I’m so glad the food on board so far has been great, love your food pictures!

I hope the weather stays nice, have fun!

[Joy_K]

Loving your trip report and pictures.  We are boarding the Sky on the 19th when you are getting off.  Another east TN'ean here.

[jdacombe]

Thanks for putting up all those great photos.

We are going to the Fjords on Sky next April, this will be our second cruise there but apart from Stavanger these we will be new locations. Really looking forward to it 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kiwimum]

What are the temperatures like?   Trying to pack for next sailing.

[TenneSea]

4 hours ago, kiwimum said:

What are the temperatures like?   Trying to pack for next sailing.

So far, it's been upper 60's during the day.  Expect rain.  Yesterday was perfect but this morning looks gloomy and rainy.

[kiwimum]

7 minutes ago, TenneSea said:

So far, it's been upper 60's during the day.  Expect rain.  Yesterday was perfect but this morning looks gloomy and rainy.

Thank you.

[minniegidget]

Wonderful photos.

[drwbrt]

@TenneSea thanks for all the great posting.  I think you mentioned you are sailing on a Plus fare.  I believe your sailing is the first to have the casual dinning changes.  I've been wondering if Premier fare passengers can order from the casual restaurants through OceanNow.  I'm not sure if that is something you would be able to see given you mentioned you're traveling on Plus.  If you have any insight there, I would really appreciate it.  In any case, happy cruising and thanks for sharing.