LIVE from the Rotterdam’s Best of Norway: August 17-31, 2024

[msjb22]

1 hour ago, tigervixxxen said:

This is the first I’ve heard of such a Scandinavian brunch. Is this once per Norway cruise? You said it’s in the CO dining room, is it just for CO guests? I have booked CO so that’s fine but just trying to gather the logistics of this. 

The brunch has been showing up on the final sea day for the Northern Europe cruises on Navigator this summer, and I think it's in the MDR. I think what they meant was that they saw the queue for the MDR while they headed to CO which had regular breakfast.

[0106]

2 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

This is the first I’ve heard of such a Scandinavian brunch. Is this once per Norway cruise? You said it’s in the CO dining room, is it just for CO guests? I have booked CO so that’s fine but just trying to gather the logistics of this

The Scandinavian brunch was served on the second sea in the Main Dining Room only from 9:39-12:30. It was not served in Club Orange which had regular breakfast hours and menu.

[0106]

Oslo: Sailing in for our 11am docking. The bow was open.  These pictures are from our aft can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27 by 0106

[0106]

We booked an extraordinary 4 hour walking tour with Andrew from Tours by Locals, $475 for up to 10 people, we had 8 so $60pp.

Opera house

 

 

Saunas

[0106]

Vigeland Sculpture Garden exceeded our expectations.  Do not miss it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27 by 0106

[0106]

Pictures from the city center

Planters are used for protection instead of cement blockades.Memorial for the victims of the worst mass shooting in Norway.

 

Gorgeous flowers for the garden club.

 

 

[*Miss G*]

2 minutes ago, 0106 said:

Planters are used for protection instead of cement blockades.

 

I am loving your pictures!  Can you please explain the above?^^  I am not sure what you mean by “protection”.  Protection from what?

 

Also, that glass sculpture in front of the opera house had me curious, so I googled.  It is tethered, but turns and changes based on tides and currents.  Fascinating!

 

THE POWER OF MOTHER NATURE over human endeavors is on display in Oslo Harbour just off the shore of the Oslo Opera House. This striking sculpture evokes the power of ice and water ever-present in the high north.

The floating stainless steel and glass sculpture named She Lies was designed and created by Italian artist Monica Bonvicini. It is based on Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Das Eismeer (The Sea of Ice).

[Huskerchick]

Your pictures are just stunning. Thank you for sharing your adventures. 

[Hogladyrider]

@0106...WOW stunning pics and you hit a home run with the weather today!

[0106]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Can you please explain the above?^^  I am not sure what you mean by “protection”.  Protection from what?

The planters prevent terrorism attacks in the city.  They are made of iron.  A car can’t drive through them.  I’m sorry my explanation is not very clear .  The guide gave an excellent explanation. Basically a lot of large cities have ugly cement barricades.  Here is an article if you are truly interestedSecuring Cities in the Global War on Terrorism: The Case of Oslo 

[Haljo1935]

OMG @0106 your pictures are fabulous! Looks like Mother Nature has smiled opon you and gifted you with a beautiful day. Thanks for sharing. 

[0106]

We booked a Gardens of Gothenburg tour with our travel partners to use some nonrefundable OBC.  Yesterday the phone rang in our partners cabin waking the sleeping husband.  It was Shore Ex stating that the tour time had changed from 8:30 to 9.  Half asleep, he said ok and hung up.  When planning our breakfast time last night, we realized that we were now had 2 different excursion times, 8:30 and 9.  Guest services couldn’t help.  They said shore excursion would open at 7.  I called this morning at 7, there was no way to put us on the same tour.  We requested and received a refund.

 

A free 15 minute shuttle is required to get from where we are docked into downtown Gothenburg.  We took it at 9.  When we arrived in the city center, some very helpful tourist information folks explained how to get to the gardens using the tram.  You just tap your credit card upon boarding.  I checked my credit card notifications when I returned to the ship.The garden is free so did our day cost .20pp instead of $120? 🤷‍♀️

Edited August 28 by 0106

[0106]

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is gorgeous.  We could have stayed there all day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[0106]

We used the tram to return to where the shuttle dropped us off in the morning.  What a mess.  Over 200 people waiting for a shuttle.  No indication of where to line up.  Apparently,  all the drivers were taking a break at the same time.  Utter confusion.  Some very angry passengers. After about 30 minutes, a bus arrived, luckily we were standing in the right spot.

 

To end on a more positive note, the view from our aft cabin.

[cruisemom42]

Last night we had a performance by Chordial, which seems to be HAL’s new traveling classical trio (piano, violin, cello). They performed on the main theatre stage. They were fairly good. Not LCS caliber and a trio rather than a quartet, but much better than some performers I’ve heard on other ships. They will do a second show tomorrow night, I believe.

[0106]

First world problem…trying to spend the non refundable onboard credit. Ate in Canaletto tonight.  Might be my favorite specialty restaurant onboard because I love pasta.

 

BROILED LOBSTER TAILS
spaghetti with garlic and olive oil, asparagus, warm crab mayonnaise $19 upcharge.Delicious.

[VMax1700]

57 minutes ago, 0106 said:

First world problem…trying to spend the non refundable onboard credit. Ate in Canaletto tonight.  Might be my favorite specialty restaurant onboard because I love pasta.

 

BROILED LOBSTER TAILS
spaghetti with garlic and olive oil, asparagus, warm crab mayonnaise $19 upcharge.Delicious.

 

Isn't the difference in presentatons/plating between ships unreal!

This is the same Caneletto dish served on Nieuw Statendam in April!

It was a great meal.

 

[0106]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

Isn't the difference in presentatons/plating between ships unreal!

It wasn’t the most beautiful dish but it was delicious.

[Haljo1935]

Thank you @0106 for the stunning pictures. I would also stay in that garden all day.

[0106]

Mandal, another rainy Norwegian port.

View from our balcony.

 

 

We got in line for the tender at 10:25 and arrived at 10:55.  There is a nice building at the dock with information, a miniature golf course, what appeared to be a public library and a coffee shop.  You walk across a bridge to a cute small town.  

 

While wandering we came across the home where Vigeland was born.

There is one of his sculptures in the garden.

Like every Norwegian town we have visited, the flowers are beautiful.You can hike to the top for a nice view (we didn’t).Tender returning to ship

 

Edited August 29 by 0106

[Bkguy]

@0106 Thank you.  I learned a lot about doing a travel log from this thread!

[0106]

I had the lobster again last night.

It was tasty, not at all spicy. Once again the presentation was lacking.  Rice was served in a bowl on the side.

[0106]

Today is our final sea day.  I was happy to see that the always well attended “City at Sea” was being shown on the big screen by the Lido pool.  There is also a Nordic Pioneer lecture I haven’t heard before.

 

Thanks for following along.  It may be a few days before I post again but I will be happy to answer any questions when I get home.

[maraena]

Did they bring experts on for the lectures or is it the CD reading from a scripted powerpoint? I'd definitely prefer the former but it seemed like all the enrichment type activities were scripted on our last cruise so we stopped bothering to attend.

[Haljo1935]

Safe travels  @0106. Thanks for bringing us along.