Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas Fjords May 2024 Trip Report

[Vampiress88]

Crew 
Me: Im 35. Married, mum of 2 girls, part time worker with a holiday obsession, the one who plans and budgets with awesome spreadsheets. 

Hubby: He’s 36 just. The annoying one, he who pays for everything and never does the planning. 

Scarlett: 9 my sensible smart one

Georgia: 8 my crazy funny one

 

These are my beautiful girls on Arvia



The Plan




Going with Royal Caribbean on the Anthem of the Sea for one week in May. 



Cost us £2549 for one weeks for balcony cabin (kids will be on sofa beds) and includes the food (and drinks such as tea coffee and juice while in the restaurants) 
 

We have no obc or parking. This price included the upfront gratuity to have anytime dining 

This is also just a guaranteed cabin so it could be obstructed. That’s something I can risk as I can’t pay another £600 to guarantee a none obstructed one. Cost me £113 for car park. Travel insurance for the year was £131 but that will now cover me for this holiday plus the other three later in the year. Then £100 petrol. 

We have also booked for Harry Potter studios and one night at Holiday Inn. 

As this was something the kids really wanted to do. 

It was £172 for the studio, then £25 for Harry Potter sweets, £16 for a hogwarts letter and £137 for the hotel with breakfast 




The itinerary 



Saturday Day 1. Harry Potter Sudios 

Sunday Day 2. Board ship 

Monday Day 3. At Sea
Tuesday Day 4. Bergen
Wednesday Day 5. Olden. Loen sky lift
Thursday Day 6. Geiranger 
Friday Day 7. Haugesund 
Saturday Day 8. At Sea
Sunday Day 9. Disembark. 



I have budgeted $799 for our drinks and speciality dinning as that’s what I have left over from the dollars we didn’t use to the Caribbean. 

I will not buy the package as I don’t think it’s good value, I haven’t found a package on a cruise yet I like. £30 for in case we have food or coffee on the car journeys etc, plus £150 for dinner after Harry Potter. 



We also have £500 on the credit card for Norway purchases. 
All my spreadsheet are ready for this cruise. 
£184 will be on olden no doubt so that leaves an average of about £80 per port. We rarely spend though so I’m confident I won’t break my budget.

[Vampiress88]

Day 1. Saturday

We were up early at 7am as our alarms went off. We waited for the kids to get up from the playroom bed but they were fast on, after a shower we woke them and they opened the hogwarts letter and saw all the hogwart sweets we had that had come through the door. They were excited now as they only knew about the cruise. 
They got dressed and had breakfast and we were on our way by 8.30am. 

We stopped at our normal stop of Watford gap for the toilet on the way down and had an apple and pain au chocolat from the house as that’s what needed using. We were a bit early getting there for 11.30am but traffic had been good. We parked and went to the cafe while we waited for our tour to start. 

At the cafe we got a few things we probably shouldn’t have, you know when your a kid in a candy shop well it was that kind of feeling so I didn’t really have a concept of money, just ohh I want to try that and now that I’m the adult I can, I’ll regret it after I’m sure. 

The kids had marshmallow wands, we had a butter beer shortbread, cafe latte, mint chocolate milkshake and a golden snitch, they all looked so so cool but they were all a bit cloggy and looked a lot better than tasted. I wish we had just stuck to coffee. Cost me £30.10. Butter beer is half way though the tour, otherwise we will wait for dinner now. 

We got a magnet from Harry Potter shop for £6 then started the tour a little early at 12.20. 

We saw lots of cool prop sets, I think the forbidden forest was my favourite. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would, I think maybe we didn’t find it as interesting as other people do. I think the theming would be similar at universal studios in Florida when we go back. 

We were done by 1.45. So we decided instead to go to a pub nearer to the hotel, We got there and it was on a little canal and looked very quaint but it was absolutely packed so we didn’t stop, we just moved on to the other pub where we were planning to have dinner at. 

It was very sunny and we sat in the beer garden for a few drinks, kind of felt out of place though as it was very full of local people so we didn’t stay very long. Spent £28.60

We went and checked in at the hotel. It looked nice and clean enough. 
 

We had a double bed and the kids had a sofa bed to share. We thought we might eat at the hotel’s restaurant but after having a drink for £15.20 there we decided to try the M&S food hall in the petrol station across the road. We ended up with a meal deal each and some extra crisps and biscuits for £33.95. 

This was more because we didn’t like the looks of those pubs rather than saving money as we don’t tend to do that. Once we are on holiday we kind of spend what we want. Maybe that’s due to how both me and Scott were brought up in that there would be a picnic cooler in the boot with horrible sandwiches in and rarely got to eat out on holidays. 

We ate in the hotel room our sandwiches and wraps while we watched a very weird murder mystery movie, we were all in bed and asleep by 10. Scott managed to fall asleep before all of us. 

Today hadn’t quite lived up to expectations, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

[Vampiress88]

Day 2

We were up at 7.30am, got showered and dressed and went to the hotel breakfast for 8.30am. I’d booked the room to include breakfast at about £25 more. It really wasn’t worth that. All the food was cold even though it was under the hot light, the orange juice was nice though which was annoying as I can’t drink if I am travelling and the pain au chocolat wasn’t bad but it was way over priced for the quality. We shouldn’t have bothered. In fact the cookies from M&S yesterday would have been better for breakfast but we weren’t to know. 

We went back to the room, packed our stuff and were on the road by 9.30am. I had to put another £28.50 in the car at the petrol station. We had a quick toilet stop at services on M3 then got to ABparking for 11.30am. We had parked with them before but I didnt really remember and couldn’t direct Scott to where they were. 

We packed and left our luggage outside near the boot of the car as it was getting collected by the trolley instead. We went to check in, scanned our tickets, gave our passport and went through security then onto the ship. 

It wasn’t busy at all and couldn’t have taken more that 20 minutes which was great compared to last time we cruised from Southampton. It was dead easy. I will go as far to say this was the best embarkation for a cruise we have ever had and I like that I can get on before lunch time too. 

As we got on we had a glass of fizz each, Scott drank mine. That was as quite a nice touch, although not necessary. We did our muster station at the two70 and got a free lemonade from the machine in cafe next to it. The kids also got coconut cookies whilst we decided what to do. We then went to kids club on deck 12 to register the kids, they will be in the same group as there aren’t many on board. I do prefer doing this online as with other cruises really. 

We were getting a bit peckish so headed to the buffet for lunch. We got some more of the free drinks which were great they had some lovely ones like the lemonade and the ice tea from the machines but the food choice wasn’t great. There was lots that looked nice but most was vegetarian. 

Scott got a rotti and chips. Me,Scarlett and Georgia got some chicken and chips off the kids station. The bbq chicken we tried wasn’t nice it was all slimy. Wasn’t a great start when we thought it would be better food on here than we usually have. We were persuaded to try royal Caribbean as forums for years have said how much better it is for food, entertainment and the kids. I really do hope it is worth the extra as it’s a good 30% more expensive. 

On the way back from the buffet we passed the free ice cream. Now I love ice cream and this wasn’t that. I don’t know what it was but I didn’t like it. It hasn’t that strange plastic taste that I don’t like and unfortunately there isn’t any other paid for ice cream that I could have had either. 

The kids thought it was good and that was ok until Georgia dropped it in the indoor pool area in front of lots of people. I got some napkins from the bar and cleaned it up. As no one seemed to even bother to come clean it after I had told them about the spill. I’m not sure if more of the staff were busy due to it being embarkation day. Maybe doing the muster station and giving out the free fizz. 

Our rooms were ready now so we went and our cases were there shortly after. I found this really we’ll organised and better than what we usually have. 

 

 

 

We got unpacked and I changed my boots to trainers and it was much better. The bumper cars and rock climbing was on so I thought today would be the quietest just in case. So we went and joined the line for the bumper cars. Took about 10mins and we all got a car each. Was great apart from Scott chasing me. But we had fun and this was the first time the girls had ever done this. 

For me and Scott it was a little nostalgic but we were missing the electric wire at the top now that everything is electric cars it’s not exactly the same feeling. Think more of the dodgems 20 years ago at the seaside and that’s what we missed. They have proper seatbelts and everything now. Not just a little thing you slip an arm through, and no sparks coming down all the time either. 

After this the kids did rock climbing. Georgia got about 6 feet up then got scared and came back down. Scarlett got over half way but then it started getting harder as it wasn’t a flat part of the wall anymore, she did try the other side but again it got too hard and she then came down. She did really well though. I did think that Scarlett wouldn’t have gotten as far as she did. I was very proud of her. 

 

It was only 3ish and we didn’t have a table booked for dinner until 7.45pm tonight as the only times I could actuallly book on the app for anytime dining was always 7.30ish so the kids went swimming for an hour while we watched before we went to the schooner bar for the 5pm quiz. 

We were really terrible at it as always but quizzes are my very favourite, and the kids weren’t too fussed for being there either. Scott did find that he enjoyed the peanut butter whiskey neat though so that’s the drink on this ship for him. Since he doesn’t like the look of most of the beers. 

As the kids were bored they tried kids club while we got showered and ready for dinner. We then all went down to dinner in chic. We didn’t like the table here as it was in a walk way and my chair kept getting bumped into. 
 

Me and Scott had the crab cake and Georgia had the prawn cocktail. 

 

Neither were nice, something was strange with the prawns. 

Georgia had mac and cheese, Scarlett had burger and me and Scott had prime rib. 

 

 

I’m not sure why I expected it to be an actual rib but it was more like a beef dinner at a Sunday lunch pub. Then key lime pie for dessert for all but Georgia who had cookies. We enjoyed the key lime but it wasn’t a patch on the ones in Florida. 
 

 

It was 9pm now and quite late and it had been a long day so back to the room, all ready for bed and asleep by 10.30. Sea day tomorrow so don’t need an alarm but do need to put the clocks 1hr forward. 
The £ is really $ (spreadsheet didn’t like not pounds) 

Heiniken £8.25
Mocktail £8.00
Heiniken £8.25
Coke £3.50
Heiniken £8.25
Cocktail £15.00
Coke £3.50
Whiskey £9.99
£64.74

[Vampiress88]

Day 3

We woke up quite late for us at 8.30am. I suppose it’s normal time really but seems later due to the clock changes. 

We got showered and dressed ready for breakfast by 9.30am. We went to the sit down breakfast which was nice. They came around with juices which were better than what we are used to on P&O because as much as I do like our cruises on there it does have a few bad point and watered down juices is a pet peeve, but this was only better by a little, for the best we had to pay more from the menu and we weren’t doing that. 

Me and Scarlett had French toast, 
 

Georgia had pancakes 
 

and Scott had a burrito. 
 

Ours were quite nice, they looked absolutely amazing when they came out, just a little bit lacking in flavour. Scott said he couldn’t get used to having salsa and guacamole for breakfast which I don’t get either. I don’t think he would have that again. I’m not sure why he chose it to begin with. 

Once we were done the kids wanted to go to their club so we sent them there for an hour as they said they only wanted to test it for a little while. 

We collected them an hour later, all they had done was play baby games apparently and went for a walk around the ship to see where everything was since this was a new ship to us. We stopped at the schooner bar and Scott got a drink while the kids least Spanish. I’d had to take tablets as I was actually feeling really poorly by this point. 

For lunch we went up to the seaplex and had a hot dog which wasn’t brilliant, it was mediocre, maybe I have too much expectations due to what people say about the food on here but Scott enjoyed his. 
 

Me and the girls had a classic hotdog while he had one with sauerkraut and sweet pickles. 
We played corn hole, which is a bag tossing game and I didn’t win. 

Then we played table football and we were terrible at it. 
We decided to go swimming around 2pm so Scott and Georgia went to go get the swimming stuff and me and Scarlett got seats. 

We watched as a bird, we think maybe a young one, flew straight into the window pane and landed on the floor. Scarlett, being who she is and can’t leave animals alone, got it on her hand and she looked after it for an hour and it managed to get better and fly off. Hopefully not into any more windows. 
 

The girls spent a few hours in the outside pool before getting dressed and going to a music quiz in the music hall. 
 

 

 

Unfortunately it was so quiet we couldn’t hear it from upstairs so got fed up and went to do bumper cars instead. 

Took a good 30mins waiting in the queue for them, Georgia and me had a head on collision and then Scarlett got me from behind at the same time. Little bit of whiplash and Georgia complained afterwards. I think maybe she’s sitting too close to reach the pedals. I’m not sure we would do this again now. 

We managed to get changed very quickly and down for dinner at 6pm as we were told that if we come at that time then they would be able to seat us at a table. 
 

 

We had calamari to start. 
 

Then Scott had a Guinness pie, 
 

I had seafood spaghetti 
 

and the kids had cordon bleu. 
 

We really enjoyed both the starters and mains. This was the type of food people had been raving about. We had crumble and creme brûlée for pudding which were nice but nothing special for those unlike the starts and mains. 
 

 

We went to sit in the theatre at the front waiting for the illusionist. He was more like a magician and it was a lot of card tricks. They were quite good though and we couldn’t work out how he did most of them. Georgia got to join in with one of the tricks so she was extremely happy about that, as you know she loved to be centre of attention. The girls also had Cotton Candy which was quite cool. I do wish they would had this on P&O sometimes. 
 

We got back to the cabin around 9pm and got ready for bed. Early night for us as is usual. 

Whiskey £12.00
Coke £3.50
Whiskey £12.00
Bud £8.25
Coke £3.50
Magnet £9.95
Heiniken £8.25
Milkshake £5.50
Fosters £9.75
Coke £3.50
Guiness £8.25
Guiness £8.25
Guiness £8.25
Candy floss £2.50
Total $103.05

[Vampiress88]

Day 4

In Bergen today, not somewhere we have been before. I wanted to go to the ice bar but I hadn’t booked it quick enough. We decided we wanted to go up the loen mountain again tomorrow so we pre booked that as soon as we had signal. 

We were up at 8.30am again today. We weren’t in any rush as we weren’t going to dock until afternoon time. Showered and dressed for breakfast by 9.30am. 
We decided to go to the buffet for breakfast. It was really packed and we managed to get a seat right at the end of the ship. Most of it was cold by the time we sat down. Especially the mushrooms which Scott was really not pleased about. 

Kids had pancakes and tried the breakfast donut that they had heard so much about, we had seen it on vlogs. The donuts weren’t as great as what they looked like. Unfortunately i find this quite a bit where everything looks fantastic but in reality it doesnt taste like anything. Or maybe we are just very hard to please. 
 

As we weren’t getting off the boat till the afternoon the kids went to the kids club but only wanted to go for an hour and a half while we went back to the cabin with a coffee for Scott and I sorted out the travel bag. 

The gangway is opened and we were off the ship at about 12 as we had no plans, we walked into town. We went up quite a big hill, and just followed all the crowds that were walking from the ship as we had no idea where we were going. We got into what look like the town centre which was very pretty with a little fountain. 
 

We went through the fish market and the kids saw a lobster in a tank, it really stunk though, the fish soup sounded cool even though it’s not something I could ever bring myself to try. So we didn’t stay that long. 

We carried on walking along the front of the harbour and I’m glad we did because we found the little houses that seemed famous in Bergen, they are on a lot of the magnets and postcards. 
 

 

 

We went into one and got some magnets and an ugly little troll. we had a look at quite a lot of wood carving et cetera. 

It was really warm and we spotted a bar that had outside tables so we sat there for a drink as we all know when it’s sunny 
 

 

Scott likes to try the local beer while sunbathing and people watching. We went to Sjoboden. Inside the bar looks really cool. It was like walking onto the bows of it ship. Me and the girls went and got ice cream to have as a snack. 
 

We spent a good hour and half just drinknng in the sun. Not been to Norway yet and had bad weather, and it’s a good job the kids are very chill and will just sit and talk with us. With nothing else to do, we had a walk back to the ship and managed to find it without needing a map. We still didn’t go to the ice bar, no one else seemed really interested, but me. So i let it go 😂 

We were back on the ship for 3:30 so as usual the kids wanted to go in the pool for an hour, we joined them in the hot tub for a bit then we sat on the lounges and watched them. 
 

 

 

 

 

There is rollerskating today and me and Scott are quite good. He hasn’t been in years but I’ve been twice with the kids for parties and the kids aren’t brilliant at it but they both want to try again. Well, these skates have four wheels in a square where are used to the blades which are more like iceskating. So the skating went really poorly. Me and Scott managed to go round twice. The kids stayed on a little bit longer because they had a little bars that they could push round to help them. I managed hours at the skate party at home. I was pretty gutted how rubbish I was. 

We went down for dinner at 6pm. Scott had arancini, which is like a rice and mushroom ball which he said was nice. 
 

I had polenta fries, there didn’t look much like fries to me and I didn’t like them at all. 
 

Georgia ended up eating mine, she’s alway there to polish something off. 
For mains we had chicken Parmesan. 
 

It was actually one of the better dinners we had. It’s hard to eat the pasta without it getting all over our faces but it was really very nice. We then had lemon curd tartlet, with Georgia having oat and berry bar. 
I enjoyed the pudding. 
 

 

We were out for 7.15pm so we decided to go to the music hall to play pool. Scott ordered some drinks but when it arrived he decided his was disgusting (it did have about 5 different spirits in it) and me being me was cross at wasting $15 so I drunk it instead. 

Well that went well. I drunk it through a straw within a few minutes and I don’t hardly ever drink alcohol so I was plastered within 10 minutes. We were having fun playing pool. 

I remember potting a ball for one of the girls can’t remember which one who was against Scott when he wasn’t looking and then when I was behind him I knocked his pool queue a few times letting the girls get in a few more shots. 

Apparently I thought it was hilarious and couldn’t stop giggling. We did a music quiz that I wanted to do and I was singing along, not very quietly to everything. 

Then I wanted a different drink so we went to a Latin bar and had a lime margarita. I remember it being nice and I wanted another one but Scott said I’d had enough and he was probably right as I must have broken the booze seal as I couldn’t stop needing the toilet. 
 

 

He took us back to the cabin and the kids got dressed while laughing at what state I was in. I think I’d only had three or four drinks in the end. First time I was drunk in a long time and the kids just found it amusing. I don’t even remember what that sleep was like. But I believe we were asleep by 10. 

Onboard 
Cocktail £15.00
Cocktail £15.00
Coke £3.50
Cocktail £15.00
Cocktail £12.50
Coke £3.50
Total £64.50

Onshore
£13.37 pub
£13.37 pub
£13.37 pub
£23.01 pub
£7.67 Ice cream 
£19.69 shop 
£91.38

[Vampiress88]

Day 5. Olden. Loen sky lift

Olden today so alarm set but we were up early anyway. Up at 5.50am today. Good job I didn’t have a hangover or anything. We got showered and dressed and decided on buffet breakfast this time. The most annoying dancing happy person there getting everyone to wash their hands. 
We got buffet breakfast. I didn’t get much as I don’t like it. Scott complained most of it was cold, again. 

We were off the ship by 8 and as we had already booked the Loen sky lift then we were the first ones sat on the bus waiting. 
Now had we have known what we did then I don’t think we would have booked this again. 

Last year when we came in April there was so much snow. It was covered and we could walk on all the trails and the igloo was there. When we were at breakfast we looked out the window and realised that the snow had melted and it just looked like a mountain. Beautiful but just not as magical as before. 

Never mind. It will still be a nice view. So we were at the lift by 8.30am. 
 

We got a magnet now to avoid queues later. Then we were up the mountain by 8.45am. I am very scared of heights so this isn’t my favourite and I have to not look going up. But I’ve done it before. I find it slightly worse at the top as I hate the girls being near the edge. 

When we got up there the snow was so melted that as we were walking sometimes and we would go through the snow with one foot all the way up to our knees so everyone had ice in their boots and trainers. 

The girls and Scott walked up to a stone monument, my sciatica was terrible so I stayed near the igloo that was melted and closed. Scarlett went the wrong way and got stuck on some rocks which caused and argument as she was told to follow her dad but she chose to go a different and unsafe way. We didn’t go as far today. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got a coffee and watched some crazy people who jumped off the top of the cliff and glided down onto the fjord below, hubby says they are called cliff jumpers. Crazy crazy people. Made me feel queasy just watching. Last time we watched them parachuting off the other side. 
 

We left the mountain around 10.30am and the bus dropped us back off at the ship. We did get some lovely photos in front of the lake Lovatnet. 
 

 

 

 

We had a 10 minute walk up to the other side of olden to get some snacks at a supermarket I’d found on the map, we never did this last time. The kids had a cool lollipop, we got some pop and we got some crisps for the cabin. 
 

Last year I wanted to go the the pub that’s bang next to the ship called Molla Gjestehaus but Scott wouldn’t. Anyway I said we were going this time after I bought a magnet from the shop across the road. 

They had wolves paws that had been skinned in little baskets to but, it was weird. They looked unique though and Scott and Georgia wanted a reindeer rug but I don’t like it, it’s too creepy for me. Used to freak me out the sheep skin rug as a kid never mind getting reindeer and wolves in the house. Plus they won’t go with any of our decor. 

So I went up and got the end seat that would be in the sun and sat there till my troop decided I wasn’t coming back down and followed me. The kids sat there while we went and got some pop and beer. Lovely lass behind the bar. Glad they all speak English as it turns out what we were saying in Norwegian wasn’t actually correct anyway. 

It turned out to be a great decision although not for my credit card. We sat for a few hours drinking and talking. We talked about where else we wanted to go and our next cruise in August. We also talked quite a lot about Florida. 
 

 

 

 

 

It was getting to lunchtime so Scott got a deer burger and we got some fries, we were still hungry after sharing a plate so we got another, the lady next to us was listnening to our conversation and we overheard her telling her hubby all about Scott’s burger when he was at the bar. 

By 1.15pm we had done with the sun. We were too hot and full so decided to go back on the ship instead as it had already been a long day and there wasn’t much else to do in Olden. It had been a really nice few hours. 

Back at the room and we had a towel dinosaur waiting for us. The two mermaids wanted to go swimming for the millionth time. I’m so glad I made them have swimming lessons as when we are on holiday they are never out of the pools. So we took them to the indoor swimming pool as it was quieter in there and I couldn’t do any more sun. 
 

 

 

Scott had a snooze on the sun lounger next to me. All that beer and burger must have hit him as he was gone within seconds. It’s a good job he doesn’t snore loud like me. 

I really wanted to have a nap too but someone needed to watch the kids and I was the only adult left awake so I got a cocktail that was on offer today. A red robin or something like that. The bar over looks the pool so I could see them the whole time. It was very nice then I got a none alcoholic one. They don’t have strawberry daiquiri on the menu but they can make it anyway. Seemed a bit peculiar. 

The kids were taking the mickey saying I was drunk again. I really wasn’t. I don’t usually get drunk off of one drink but that one last night was lethal. 

I got the kids out and dressed just as Scott was waking up and we took them roller blading as that’s what they had asked to do and as much as those two can annoy me making sure they have the best holidays and upbringing they can do is important to me and Scott. 

By the time I was 18 I had been on 6 holidays abroad visiting I think 3 other countries, I think Scott had been on even less. My two are under 10 and this is their 12th time abroad already, so they have beaten our. And they have visited 12 different countries. Soon to be 15 after we get back from the next cruise. 


Anyway little rant over, It was only 4-4.30pm for the roller blading so when we got back to the cabin we washed the kids hair and got ready for dinner. 

Really wasn’t feeling this menu tonight but we went anyway as I really hate the buffet. So we got down there for 6ish and it took a good 25mins for the starter. It didn’t occur to me to ask as every other night the meals were fetched at the same time but they fetched our starters and then asked us if we wanted the kids dinner right now, bare in mind we were bang next to the counter that these waiters use and we had already seen the kids dinners come up with our starters. 

I was slightly annoyed that they hadn’t even asked us tonight, but maybe that’s more on me than them I don’t know. I just feel like meals should be served together as mine aren’t babies anymore that they keep forever pointing out to me as I really wish they were sometimes. 

Me and Scott had some strange quiche. 
 

Then I had chicken with mash.
 

Scott had curry 
 

and kids had the nuggets and chips as they didn’t like anything on the main menu for a change. For pudding it was a creme brûlée and a chocolate pot. We didn’t enjoy any of it. 
 

 

 

We did start missing P&Os food as these ones weren’t ridiculously better as we had been led to believe. Some were actually worse. It was one of those ones where we should have just walked out when the starter took so long but we didn’t listen to our gut. It’s a good job Scott had the very nice burger earlier or he would have been even more annoyed. I was a little annoyed as I’d not had much and sometimes I get a little hangry. 

We managed to get to the quiz for 7pm in the schooner bar and had a cocktail. It had black salt on it, some kind of blackberry gin and wasn’t nice at all. And we were really terrible at the quiz. Since some of us hadn’t had a nap, meaning me and the kids, we were flagging so I needed to go back to the cabin. Luckily my very nice husband went and made us a coffee and we sat on the balcony going slowly through the beautiful fjords. I do always love the way in and out of olden. 

We were in bed and asleep by 10pm as usual. We needed to be up early again tomorrow. 

Onboard
Milkshake £5.50
Cocktail £12.00
Fanta £3.50
Mocktail £6.00
Cocktail £15.00
Coke £3.50
Cocktail £15.00
Whiskey £9.99
Total $70.47

On shore
£183.94 2a2c Loen sky lift with discount. 
£4.44 coffee
£5.10 magnet 
£15.38 magnet and music box
£12.46 snacks
£92.43 beers,coke and lunch 
Total £313.75

[Vampiress88]

Geiranger

The captain had warned us all to be up early in the morning to see the sights so we were up at 6.45 so that we were ready for the Seven Sisters waterfall out of our balcony. 

I really couldn’t do a cruise now without a balcony. The ship passed them and we took photos with the kids and then the ship did a turn so we could see the suitor too on our way to greinger. It was a very good start to the day. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showered, dressed and down for breakfast at 8.30am. We weren’t in a rush this morning. The kids and Scott had bacon, egg and hash browns. They managed to get my order wrong and fetch me a bran muffin. I really must be incoherent as my order always seems to wrong no matter where I am. 
 

 

We were off the ship at 10am when the ship docked. We went around the shops and bought a Viking boat candle holder that I had seen a few times that I wanted which now has my ugly troll sailing in it on my living room drawers. 

It was a super small village. Lovely but not much there at all. A few shops and that’s about it. We had a walk and looked at a little waterfall next to a campsite. 
 

We found a chocolate shop and they had coffee chocolate that we got. I went into the shop to pay while the others waited outside as it was small and cramped. I was waiting at the till to be served and an American slammed his stuff down and the proceeded to pay. I wasn’t feeling well and he was old so I bit my tongue much to Scott’s annoyance as we both don’t particularly like rude people. 

We weren’t sure what else to do and there wasn’t many places for the toilet but we really wanted to try the hot chocolate mania so after having another wander and a quick stop for another magnet and a hat for Scott we went back to the chocolate shop and got one and me and the kids shared while Scott had a coffee and he couldn’t help but open the expensive chocolate that then didn’t last two minute, surprisingly it wasn’t me who ate the majority of it either as I wasn’t quite feeling it that morning. We sat on some pallets that were turned into tables while we watched everyone who was going on the rib ride getting on their boat. It was a very lovely morning. 
 

 

 

 

We really wanted to go to the pub and get some lunch and sit and watch the fjords like yesterday as it had been so lovely just drinking in the sun. We did get in the queue to sit outside of one called Naustkroa and when it opened they went to sit outside and I went to the bar, I was told the one beer Scott wanted wasn’t available and that I had to wait for table service, so I told this to him when I sat down and he waited for the waitress while me and Scarlett went to the toilet. When we came back we were still waiting to be served but both of us had that didn’t like where we were feeling. 

Now it’s a running theme with me and Scott where we tend to stay somewhere and just try even though we don’t get a feel for a place and then we end up regretting it so we have started to try and get out of that habit. 

They didn’t have the beer we wanted anyway so that combined with the not feeling it feeling and the lack of service I asked to go back to the ship and Scott said he thought the same so we went back instead. They didn’t seem best please as we walked out. 
 

We went back on the ship, no one was hungry much after they had all had big breakfasts and chocolate so the kids had an ice cream instead and I had a Johnny rockets Oreo milkshake which was very nice. 

One of my favourite things on this ship was the milkshake, and one of the pet peeves was that it was a chargable burger bar right next to the pool when I think really it should have been an all inclusive burger place like on other ships. 

We went swimming in the outside pool and hot tub around 12.30pm. The kids and Scott spent ages in there and also sunbathed. Until Georgia swallowed some pool water which made her a little sick unfortunately. We left the pool around 4pm. 
 

 

 

 

So tired again with the sun so me and Scott had a nap for 40 minutes. The kids played on their phones while we did. It’s a good job they can do this now as I do get tired in the day often so napping for me is a regular occurrence. I think they may have taken some photos and videos of us at this point too. 
 

 

 

Well we felt awful after the nap but we got dressed and went to the main dinning room for dinner. We had coconut shrimp which was nice and pork bao bun which were very very good, wish I’d got that one instead of a shared one. 
 

 

We had garlic prawn and rice for mains. Scarlett was the only odd one having korma. She enjoyed it though.
 

 

Pinapple sunshine cake for dessert which I didn’t like at all as it had weird jelly on it. Scarlett had carrot cake. 
 

 

I wasn’t feeling brilliant so decided to go back to the cabin. Scott again got me a lovely coffee and we watched the fjords again with the coffee. 
 

Georgia put her nightie on the bathroom floor and ended up with bleach on which I was annoyed about as that could have been her skin. 
 

We played cards on our bed before went to sleep around 10am as usual. 

Onboard 
Heiniken £8.25
Coke £3.50
Milkshake £5.50
Milkshake £5.50
Heiniken £8.25
Coke £3.50
Heiniken £8.75
Heiniken £8.25
Total $51.50

On shore 
Magnets £7.16
Chocolate £7.03
Hot chocolate and coffee £8.21
Magnet £3.62
Hat £13.98
Candle Viking ship £14.42
Total £54.42

[Vampiress88]

Haugsund

We were up at 6.45am. Scott got us some breakfast and we showered and were ready for the day. Last port today at Haugsund where we have been before and we didn’t particularly enjoy it then. We were in two minds if to get off or not but in the end we thought we’d best go do something. 

So we were off the ship by 9.30am. We crossed the bridge, I was very slow with Georgia and those two steamed ahead, and we found everything closed for their national day. We did watch them do a parade but apart from that we didn’t feel there was much else to do. 

We did have a walk though lots of the main roads and we didn’t have any cash for all the little stores they had set up outside the shops. I was starting to get a bit desperate for the toilet so either needed to get back to the ship or find a cafe. 

We did have a walk on the water front but none of those lot seemed to be bothered for a cafe or pub so back to the ship we went. I found the toilet at the port which I was very thankful for, I’m not really sure hubby understands how it feels to walk miles when you need to go. 

We went in the ports little shop and the kids got a magnet. I now do wish we hadn’t bothered getting off as it was quite pointless and just ended up causing me more bother. 

We had a bunny towel waiting for us when we got back to the cabin. We didn’t know what else to do for something to eat so we had a buffet lunch which I didn’t enjoy at all. I had some chicken and chips. Did try a bit of a burger. Wasn’t great, but maybe I’m bias or picky I don’t know at this point. 
 

I felt really rotten so we went back to the cabin. The kids played with their puzzle books and I was nodding on the bed as I do when I’m like this so Scott covered me up with my blankie (yes I fetch a blankie on holiday with me) and came to cuddle me but then accidentally fell asleep himself leaving the kids on their phones for an hour. 
 

I had set an alarm just in case so we managed to get up on time for the evening activities. Scott decided he fancied some beer on the balcony rather than go out so since he had done the coffees the other nights then I went up to get the beer with Georgia. I did also try to get a milkshake but it was super busy I just couldn’t be bothered to wait. 

The kids had booked in for Skating again at 5 so I took them to that as I had promised to while Scott had half hour off to veg on the balcony. He has a nice hour to himself and the kids did love the skating but I was really flagging and tried not to spoil it for those three. We did fetch some more beer down for him on the way back from skating as the bar wasn’t far between there and the cabin. 
 

 

I was feeling really poorly by this point so I wasn’t bothered to do anything. I wouldn’t have left the cabin had that not have been the last day for skating for the kids. 

So we had buffet dinner as I couldn’t muster the energy to get changed out of day clothes and I don’t think I could face three courses anyway. I really really dislike buffets, I don’t know how many times I can say this and i think if I could avoid them I really would have but it’s a means to an end. I ended up having some sausage and mash. It wasn’t great, but I was feeling too bad to be concerned. I actually have no idea what the others had. My brain wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders. I think they might have fetched cookies back to the room. 
 

We went back to the cabin and they played cards all night until 10pm. 

Coke £3.50
Fosters £9.75
Fosters £9.75
Fosters £9.75
Milkshake £5.50
Fosters £9.75
Total $48

On shore
Magnet £3.70

[Vampiress88]

Sea day today. 

Last day here. I was quite ready for home. Il be honest we didn’t like Royal Caribbean. We did prefer the P&O ones apart from a couple of things but it’s definitely not like everyone was saying. 

We got up late today at 8am. Showered and down for breakfast at 9am. Scott ordered pancakes, asked for two pancakes, one banana and one chocolate with bacon on the side. When it came he got two banana ones with some bacon. Scarlett had fruit and bacon. I ordered an omelette with bacon and didn’t get any bacon so stole some of the kids. Also asked for a muffin. 

We finished everything then he brought another plate with two chocolate pancakes on it and my muffin. Bit silly as we had all finished now and Scott couldn’t eat four pancakes. Maybe it isn’t just me who’s incoherent or maybe people just aren’t understanding us. 
 

 

It was a very lazy day due to how I was feeling. The kids weren’t bothered for the kids club as they didn’t particularly like it. Instead we did some of the puzzle books in the room and I really wanted to do the murder mystery thing in the 270 but when we got down there it was a lot like cluedo and I’ve never done that game so I was confused in the first 5 minutes and it meant I had to go all over the ship and as I was feeling terrible that was a big no. I’d put my bra on for this! 

Being a tad annoyed we went back to the room again and did some packing although we are taking the bags off ourselves tomorrow, I just find it better to put things in bags that we won’t use again. 

We went and got a quick buffet lunch, it was some strange spicy chicken that wasn’t too bad. 
 

This was before we went and watched the 2pm show of “we will rock you” it was a really good broadway show and we actually really enjoyed it. 

It was the best entertainment show we have seen on a cruise ship before and I assume they paid big bucks for it if it used to be on broadway. Especially as curly from corrie was in it. He played the same person almost, when we last saw him in rock of ages which is our favourite. It was nearly all Queen songs and we do like Queen. 

We did go for a drink in Brass and Brocks to try it out and there was a band that was great but it gave me headache. It also made me sing to hello dolly so that wasn’t ideal. 

It was dinner time and I couldn’t face getting dressed up even though the kids wanted to. I do usually try more but if just really had enough today. The menu didn’t look great either so we went to the buffet instead. My head hurts that much I don’t remember what any of us ate. I only remember some noodles and spicy chicken. It was probably the nicest buffet we have had since being here. Think it was similar to lunch. 

We went and paid in cash at the reception and brought up the few issues we had. Mainly getting over charged for drinks, the unclean kettle and bleach on our clothes. I’ll be honest they didn’t seem interested in anything we had to say really. The bar bill came to $400ish so plenty still left for the next cruise. 

We packed the rest of our bags and changed the clocks again. We were in bed for 9pm uk time. 

Found these on my phone. Obviously girls had been using it to take selfies again. 
 

 

 

Onboard spends
Fosters £9.75
Coke £3.50
Total $13.25

[Vampiress88]

Sunday 

We were up at 5am. Showered and dressed we skipped breakfast and went to queue to get off the ship for 6am. 

We managed to be out and in our car which was just across the road in the car pack for 6.45am. So not bad timing even though we seemed to wait around for ages to be let off. 

We had some snacks from the bag and we were back home for 10am. We had already sorted a chili in the freezer before we left and had a filted milk ready in the fridge. So no need to go shopping instead we did the washing which was lots as we didn’t do any on the ship. 

It was all out and dried by mid afternoon and since it was red hot we sat on the garden with a beer and then had the chilli for tea. It was a lovely stress free end to the holiday. 

We wouldn’t go on Royal Caribbean again unless it was a great deal. There was far more we preferred on P&O. 
The good bits were quick embarkation. Free lemonade and ice tea in buffet. Juice as breakfast better quality. Bumper cars and roller skating. I would say that’s it. Not 30% better in our eyes unfortunately. 

Total onboard spending was $415.93 and since I had used the left over dollars from the Caribbean cruise we had then it had already been budgeted and paid for months ago. 

On shore spends was £463.25 so I came in on budget including the excursion up the mountain. So I was happy with that. 

£2549 Royal Caribbean 
£464 Noks
0 Spends ($416) are in dollars left over from Caribbean 
£100.00 Petrol
£113.00 Car park (TA2024-abparking)
£131.00 Travel insurance 
£3357. Total

[jalves]

Very interesting report.  We might have been on the same cruise.  Did you sail on the 12th?  

Sorry you didn't enjoy the food/service on this ship.  We had similar issues with service and we were in a suite.  

[zap99]

21 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

Geiranger

The captain had warned us all to be up early in the morning to see the sights so we were up at 6.45 so that we were ready for the Seven Sisters waterfall out of our balcony. 

I really couldn’t do a cruise now without a balcony. The ship passed them and we took photos with the kids and then the ship did a turn so we could see the suitor too on our way to greinger. It was a very good start to the day. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showered, dressed and down for breakfast at 8.30am. We weren’t in a rush this morning. The kids and Scott had bacon, egg and hash browns. They managed to get my order wrong and fetch me a bran muffin. I really must be incoherent as my order always seems to wrong no matter where I am. 
 

 

We were off the ship at 10am when the ship docked. We went around the shops and bought a Viking boat candle holder that I had seen a few times that I wanted which now has my ugly troll sailing in it on my living room drawers. 

It was a super small village. Lovely but not much there at all. A few shops and that’s about it. We had a walk and looked at a little waterfall next to a campsite. 
 

We found a chocolate shop and they had coffee chocolate that we got. I went into the shop to pay while the others waited outside as it was small and cramped. I was waiting at the till to be served and an American slammed his stuff down and the proceeded to pay. I wasn’t feeling well and he was old so I bit my tongue much to Scott’s annoyance as we both don’t particularly like rude people. 

We weren’t sure what else to do and there wasn’t many places for the toilet but we really wanted to try the hot chocolate mania so after having another wander and a quick stop for another magnet and a hat for Scott we went back to the chocolate shop and got one and me and the kids shared while Scott had a coffee and he couldn’t help but open the expensive chocolate that then didn’t last two minute, surprisingly it wasn’t me who ate the majority of it either as I wasn’t quite feeling it that morning. We sat on some pallets that were turned into tables while we watched everyone who was going on the rib ride getting on their boat. It was a very lovely morning. 
 

 

 

 

We really wanted to go to the pub and get some lunch and sit and watch the fjords like yesterday as it had been so lovely just drinking in the sun. We did get in the queue to sit outside of one called Naustkroa and when it opened they went to sit outside and I went to the bar, I was told the one beer Scott wanted wasn’t available and that I had to wait for table service, so I told this to him when I sat down and he waited for the waitress while me and Scarlett went to the toilet. When we came back we were still waiting to be served but both of us had that didn’t like where we were feeling. 

Now it’s a running theme with me and Scott where we tend to stay somewhere and just try even though we don’t get a feel for a place and then we end up regretting it so we have started to try and get out of that habit. 

They didn’t have the beer we wanted anyway so that combined with the not feeling it feeling and the lack of service I asked to go back to the ship and Scott said he thought the same so we went back instead. They didn’t seem best please as we walked out. 
 

We went back on the ship, no one was hungry much after they had all had big breakfasts and chocolate so the kids had an ice cream instead and I had a Johnny rockets Oreo milkshake which was very nice. 

One of my favourite things on this ship was the milkshake, and one of the pet peeves was that it was a chargable burger bar right next to the pool when I think really it should have been an all inclusive burger place like on other ships. 

We went swimming in the outside pool and hot tub around 12.30pm. The kids and Scott spent ages in there and also sunbathed. Until Georgia swallowed some pool water which made her a little sick unfortunately. We left the pool around 4pm. 
 

 

 

 

So tired again with the sun so me and Scott had a nap for 40 minutes. The kids played on their phones while we did. It’s a good job they can do this now as I do get tired in the day often so napping for me is a regular occurrence. I think they may have taken some photos and videos of us at this point too. 
 

 

 

Well we felt awful after the nap but we got dressed and went to the main dinning room for dinner. We had coconut shrimp which was nice and pork bao bun which were very very good, wish I’d got that one instead of a shared one. 
 

 

We had garlic prawn and rice for mains. Scarlett was the only odd one having korma. She enjoyed it though.
 

 

Pinapple sunshine cake for dessert which I didn’t like at all as it had weird jelly on it. Scarlett had carrot cake. 
 

 

I wasn’t feeling brilliant so decided to go back to the cabin. Scott again got me a lovely coffee and we watched the fjords again with the coffee. 
 

Georgia put her nightie on the bathroom floor and ended up with bleach on which I was annoyed about as that could have been her skin. 
 

We played cards on our bed before went to sleep around 10am as usual. 

Onboard 
Heiniken £8.25
Coke £3.50
Milkshake £5.50
Milkshake £5.50
Heiniken £8.25
Coke £3.50
Heiniken £8.75
Heiniken £8.25
Total $51.50

On shore 
Magnets £7.16
Chocolate £7.03
Hot chocolate and coffee £8.21
Magnet £3.62
Hat £13.98
Candle Viking ship £14.42
Total £54.42

I remember your report from the first cruise you took your girls on..inside cabin, upgraded onboard..never look back. Your little girls will have these memories for life.

[zap99]

21 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

Sunday 

We were up at 5am. Showered and dressed we skipped breakfast and went to queue to get off the ship for 6am. 

We managed to be out and in our car which was just across the road in the car pack for 6.45am. So not bad timing even though we seemed to wait around for ages to be let off. 

We had some snacks from the bag and we were back home for 10am. We had already sorted a chili in the freezer before we left and had a filted milk ready in the fridge. So no need to go shopping instead we did the washing which was lots as we didn’t do any on the ship. 

It was all out and dried by mid afternoon and since it was red hot we sat on the garden with a beer and then had the chilli for tea. It was a lovely stress free end to the holiday. 

We wouldn’t go on Royal Caribbean again unless it was a great deal. There was far more we preferred on P&O. 
The good bits were quick embarkation. Free lemonade and ice tea in buffet. Juice as breakfast better quality. Bumper cars and roller skating. I would say that’s it. Not 30% better in our eyes unfortunately. 

Total onboard spending was $415.93 and since I had used the left over dollars from the Caribbean cruise we had then it had already been budgeted and paid for months ago. 

On shore spends was £463.25 so I came in on budget including the excursion up the mountain. So I was happy with that. 

£2549 Royal Caribbean 
£464 Noks
0 Spends ($416) are in dollars left over from Caribbean 
£100.00 Petrol
£113.00 Car park (TA2024-abparking)
£131.00 Travel insurance 
£3357. Total

Great report Vamps .As you know we sail with P&O, probably about a third. Celebrity Royal and NCL for the rest. We are on Anthem in September for the second time. I hope they lift their game. We have booked our third Fjords cruise for next June on Britannia.  Thanks for your review.

[sgmn]

Great review.

Interesting you prefer P@O to Royal.  We also live in UK and mainly cruise royal caribbean. But have been thinking about trying P@O as Royal is doing more shorter cruises from next year and we prefer 10 plus days.  Plus of course we only get RC in Europe for six months of the year. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Currently on P&O Azura in the med, very hot phew. Agree with you, in the fact Royal out of Southampton is not worth the extra 30% (unless a good deal) in costs esp on Anthem. Not a ship we enjoyed. 

We are booked on Indy from Southampton next july which was a good deal when we booked it and Allure from Barcelona next October, again a great deal. 

P&O would be perfect if they had a top deck pool area like MSC Virtuosa, huge pools, water slides and high ropes. Sadly with Arvia which we went on last summer the pools are a huge let down. Id say Azura which we are on now have better pool and top decks.