A Sisters‘ Summer Sailing to Scandinavia - update: After Cruise Day 2: Tivoli

[dolphingirl47]

Yay, you are on the ship. The cruise terminal looks interesting. What a shame that it was not very nice. I will never understand why DCL is hell-bend to make a mess out of embarkation. When we did our Suez Canal cruise in May, we sailed out of the same terminal in Barcelona we had sailed out twice previously with DCL (Med cruise and Westbound Transatlantic in 2010) and it was a difference like night and day. Yet the ship we sailed on in May was nearly twice as big as the Magic.

What a shame that you had issues checking in. I had the same issue every time I cruised on my German passport. Apparently for some reason the nationality would not auto-populate when they swiped it. I wonder if you had the same issue. Since I have had my British passport, I have not had any issues.

What a shame that you had to embark on deck 1. I think this takes something away from the experience. I thought the local costumes were a nice touch and it is great to see the atrium so empty on embarkation day.

What a shame that you missed out on Palo.

It was nice to see the Magic again. You are correct. The seating areas were added when she had her extended dry dock in 2013. I was amused by the fact that you ended up with virtually the same cabin after downgrading.

It looked like you had a nice first day.

Corinna

 

[tiggrbaby]

You had a very full first day! I am sorry that you weren't able to get a Palo ressie, but the regular restaurants are so nice it doesn't matter that much. I know what you mean about the shirt sizes! I have to go up two sizes if I want to throw it in the dryer. Sounds like the show was a lot of fun!

 

[franandaj]

But according to the Navigator, booking would not start until 12:30pm. We felt that we did not have enough time between boarding and 1pm to really enjoy lunch, that’s why decided to have lunch after we had taken care of that.

We did the same thing on the Alaskan Cruise. But I waited form the time that I got on the ship until they opened. I think I was 4th in line.

They put us on the wait list and said that we had the first spot on the wait list. They also kept calling us telling us that we were still on the wait list during the cruise, but we never got a brunch reservation.

That's really too bad, although I remember you not being as impressed with it on your PC cruise. It would break my cruise not to have brunch there!

I am not sure who had which of these plates:

Two of them are clearly plated with less food "touching", so who is the one with the touching phobia? I'm guessing it's Katharina since I've seen your buffet plates before and you don't seem to have this issue like I do.

When we changed we could not pick a stateroom, but were going to be assigned a statroom by DCL. This is called GTY status. About a month before the cruise we finally got our room assignment and I nearly fell of my chair laughing. We had received an upgrade to an 11B stateroom, the cabin next to the one that we had originally booked!

Thanks for explaining GTY. Well at least you saved $80 and got the one you originally wanted!

They smell of sewer. Supposedly this is a common problem on cruise ships, but it appears that with the Disney ships, the problem is most prominent on the Magic. So, Katharina and I were prepared and had brought a little stone that you could add some essential oils to to make the room smell better. However, sniffing the bath room, we only detected a very very slight smell. Still, we made sure to install our little good smelling stone. And it actually was really nice!

I remember reading about this on Karin's TR. I'm glad you had something to counteract it even if the scent was barely noticeable.

Having a look at Palo, where we would NOT eat this cruise:

One of the things that was new to the Magic (and has now been added to the Wonder as well) is the Shawarma station at the pool side fast food offerings:

Oh! I can't wait to check that out!

However, if you order it from the pool bar at the adult pool (on the Fantasy I found out that you need to go up the stairs to Currents, the bar above the adult pool), there they mix it freshly.

Good to know where it is on the Fantasy!

it was a strange crowd. However, there were still plenty of very nice people and we even made some friends!

How annoying to have folks flaunting their status and perceived Itinerary superiority! I'm glad you met some nice people and friends.

at least I did not remember any seats on the Wonder in this area, but loved similar seating on the Fantasy right in that area

On my Alaskan Cruise, there were some chairs there, but not permanent seating. Armchairs and automans.

(I am realizing that there is one thing that makes this trip report very different from my recent ones in case you followed them: I have so many more pictures of people because 1) I can post pictures of Katharina as opposed to Michael and 2) she actually lets me take pictures of her!)

After I had taken the picture, our server offered some mint jelly to go with it and I thought why not.

I always decline the mint jelly. I think it's one of those hold overs from when meat wasn't so fresh, so it was meant to mask the taste.

The Grand Marnier Soufflé infused with fresh Orange Zest and served with Grand Marnier Créme Anglaise:

 

[Flossbolna]

I can't imagine having to mow my roof! I have a hard enough time with my yard.

I think on our excursion there was mention of goats working in Norway as roof mowers... I guess @Steppesister has experience with goats in yards for that purpose...

I'm glad to see that you've picked this one back up. I doubt that it is an itinerary that I will ever sail on, so it's fun to hear about places I'll probably never visit.

I am glad that you are enjoying it even without any future travel there planned.

I liked the recreation of the earlier photograph, the only difference I noticed in you two is that you (Magdalene) appear to have lost a bit of weight between then and now. But you both still look very young and vibrant!

Thanks!! Unfortunately vacation and Christmas have added some weight onto me recently...

Interesting facts about the Berlin airport. That's some backlog on the schedule there!

Last week they confirmed that they are now definitely not opening until 2018. At least the other big failed building project here in German opened a couple of weeks ago after a multi year delay: Hamburg's new concert hall. And it is getting fantastic reviews. I am afraid the airport will not be viewed so positively once it is opened.

Sounds like an interesting day of touring. From you pictures I didn't realize that it was so late. I forget that summer days there are long like Alaska.

Yes, the summers in Northern Europe are quite amazing in that regard.

I would have freaked out about the door not opening as well.

I was really quite concerned about this being a potential security risk.

 

[kid-at-heart]

There was also some issue with some kind of noise that we heard from our window in the morning. It was very difficult to figure out what we were hearing, it could have been protesters or maybe a running event. In the end it we decided that it must have been a music festival that was going on in Copenhagen that weekend. We just never figured out why they were out in the streets in the early morning hours. By 9am the noise had stopped…

How wonderful to be traveling sisters. I have been trying for years to con my sisters into traveling with me but it tends not to work out with our schedules matching. Regarding the early morning noise you were hearing, you mentioned a music festival; when in college, I worked with a music festival company and we would use the hours from sunrise to about 8 a.m. to work on setting up stages, etc. Then when the businesses opened we would retire until later in the day. That may or may not have been the noise you were hearing.

Kate

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm so glad you're going forward with the trip report. I always enjoy reading about your adventures.

Thanks!!

The pretzel bread you had on the plane looked so good. Reminds me of the bread at Le Cellier.

It actually was not the best pretzel bread. Pretzels and pretzel bread are a staple here in southern Germany, every bakery has them for 0.60 € a piece. So, we are very very spoiled with regard to pretzel quality!

What wonderful memories you are making with your sister. Can't wait till you get on the ship.

We definitely had some quality time together on this trip, I hope we can repeat it sometime soon.

Thanks for sharing your vacation memories. We did The Baltic cruise July 2016 and doing Norway this June. Before our cruise we are going to Berlin (Tegel-Berlin Airport) on an Air Berlin flight only for a day and we book anow 8 hours private tour to see everything we can.
Can you recommend where to eat, and what we shouldn't miss. We also want to go to Pandora store to see if they have a exclusive Berlin or German charm.

I hope the local expert, Katharina, was able to help you!!

 

[Flossbolna]

So glad I stumbled on this report! I love to read about sisters who get along as well as my sis and I do.

and I understand your sentiment, I always love reading about other sisters as well!

That village museum looked very interesting. I also enjoyed your street shots.

It was not the most typical tourist day in Copenhagen, but fun!

The Disney store in Barcelona had adult shirts; my sister gave me one for Christmas!

Interesting! I am quite certain that there were no t-shirts for adults in Copenhagen...

So glad to see you are starting this TR up again. I am looking forward to hearing more.

I hope we can move it along quite quickly, but it is always taking more time than I thought to write these reports...

No, not really. It's either censored heavily or just non-existent. We do however hear of news from our friends there through FB and can still read and respond to most.

Yes, I saw what a difference it made to have the internet with staying in touch with friends in England after my year there as compared to Denmark where I was in 89/90.

YAY!! Looking forward to it!

Tivoli is still a long way away, I hope you will enjoy the adventures in between as well!

Looking forward to reading along with this TR

What had us giggling that at one stage, they could not switch the lights off.

It is mind blowing. Now it is the doors and the fire prevention. The fire prevention was the issue that got it delayed 5 years ago. And they still haven't figured it out??????

I am here and very excited to hear about this cruise! Copenhagen looks beautiful in your pictures!

Copenhagen is a great city! And by the way, it is also a foodie dream. We did not splurge, but our boat tour after the cruise took us by the Noma Restaurant that is world known for supposedly amazing food!

 

[Flossbolna]

Can't wait for port days, looking to see your excursions.

I think I can already tell you that we did not do a lot of excursions through Disney. Only one. All the other ports we just explored on our own and felt that this was absolutely perfect for us! Next will be a sea day however...

 

[Flossbolna]

Yay, you are on the ship. The cruise terminal looks interesting. What a shame that it was not very nice. I will never understand why DCL is hell-bend to make a mess out of embarkation. When we did our Suez Canal cruise in May, we sailed out of the same terminal in Barcelona we had sailed out twice previously with DCL (Med cruise and Westbound Transatlantic in 2010) and it was a difference like night and day. Yet the ship we sailed on in May was nearly twice as big as the Magic.

What do you think is the difference between DCL and RCCL? On my cruises out of Florida, we always made sure to arrive around noon and that is actually a perfect time frame. We never have to wait long to check in or to board because most people seem to be determined to arrive as early as possible. Here we arrived early and it was really not worth it... The main reason for arriving early was that I was hoping to get a Palo reservation.

What a shame that you had issues checking in. I had the same issue every time I cruised on my German passport. Apparently for some reason the nationality would not auto-populate when they swiped it. I wonder if you had the same issue. Since I have had my British passport, I have not had any issues.

Interesting! At least it isn't like DVC which seems to not understand the difference between Germany and Georgia (the country, part of the former Soviet Union, not the state) and keeps changing my address accordingly. It is soooo annoying!

What a shame that you had to embark on deck 1. I think this takes something away from the experience. I thought the local costumes were a nice touch and it is great to see the atrium so empty on embarkation day.

I knew this was going to happen (from other reports about the port in Copenhagen) and in the end it was less dissappointed than I thought I would be. The costumes definitely were a nice added touch!

It was nice to see the Magic again. You are correct. The seating areas were added when she had her extended dry dock in 2013. I was amused by the fact that you ended up with virtually the same cabin after downgrading.

Thanks for confirming this!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Looks like I have a lot to catch up with here! I'll be back!

 

[Malia78]

Just stumbled back onto this trip report---so glad you are able to continue it. Looks like a great start--glad you and your sister are good travel companions. Not sure I could say the same...we might end up more like

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Well, things did not work out as planned and the new BER airport has turned into a nightmare project. It still is not open (and might not open until 2018 now… - yes, even the efficient Germans can be wonderfully inefficient).

My world is now shattered! If you guys can't break through bureaucracy, there's no hope for the rest of us!

Especially their pastries. There is a reason that the English word for certain pastries is “Danish”.

I always wondered about that.

I have some more pictures of pastries, just because they looked so good:

I would like one of everything.

Copenhagen’s Main Train Station is a very beautiful building and I tried to catch some of it when we passed through it on the way to our hotel:

That looks like a gorgeous building!

And I managed to order our snack in Danish! It seemed that the more I forced myself to use my Danish, the more it was coming back quite rapidly.

How many languages do you know? We already knew your English is impressive!

Just imagine living on a tiny island in the North Atlantic and living in houses that look like this:

The grass on the roof is fascinating.

a very happy pig:

Mmmmmm...bacon.

(Salads, Pasta and Burgers – so don’t be afraid of Danish food – it’s difficult to get in Copenhagen)

We then walked past Tivoli. This is an amusement park that is between the town hall and the main train station, so in the middle of the city. It has a very long tradition and supposedly it was an inspiration for Walt Disney when he planned Disneyland.

I remember seeing this once on the Travel Channel. They were premiering a new show geared towards families traveling with young kids. We thought that would be perfect for us! And then in the first episode, the family (American) traveled to Copenhagen to go to Tivoli. Looked like a great trip, but at that moment, we knew this show wasn't meant for families in our income bracket.

Today we are going to board the Disney Magic!

There was also some issue with some kind of noise that we heard from our window in the morning. It was very difficult to figure out what we were hearing, it could have been protesters or maybe a running event.

It was Michael, angry that he couldn't tag along.

“I am now fully packed. We are planning on leaving in about one hour from now. It will be interesting to see how often Magdalene is going to repack in that hour.”

Sounds like sisterhood is beginning to show its colors!

The white building in front of the Magic is the terminal and there are four of them in a long row.

Weird-looking buildings.

Nice shot there!

The selfie was actually taken for the purpose of sending it to a DIS friend, @GoofyFan1515

I bet Marv enjoyed that.

Once again, for a terminal that was purpose built just a year ago, it really did not impress me. The waiting area was cheap chairs and not large at all. Also, the air in the building was not good at all.

That looks like a very small area to handle a cruise ship crowd!

There has been a lot of discussion about the changes that were made to the atrium of the Magic in the 2013 refurb. I have to say that I was not impressed by the pictures I had seen of it, but in person it was actually quite stunning. I even really liked the chandelier. I think it looks far better in person when it can sparkle. I also loved the color scheme which I found very calming and less busy than before.

Good to hear!

We had a look at the adult entertainment district (Disneyfied of course, not like adult entertainment opposite our hotel):

By the time we got there, the people in front of us had gotten the last table for two for Palo brunch. We were told if we were a party of 4 they could accommodate us. I was not impressed and felt very guilty towards my sister that I had made her run around the ship instead of getting in line as early as possible.

That stinks. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

After having read a lot of reports about the Magic here on the DIS, I had found out something that did not sound very good. It appears that some staterooms have a certain odor problem. They smell of sewer.

That would be...less than magical.

I like this one!

One of the things that was new to the Magic (and has now been added to the Wonder as well) is the Shawarma station at the pool side fast food offerings:

Did you see any Avengers eating there?

On the newer ships this is enclosed, but here the Captain and his staff come outside during the docking procedure and work the ship from there. We always had fun watching this!

I would be fascinated by that as well!

We were intrigued what it was and found out that it was one of the forts protecting Copenhagen. In writing this I found out that it was actually bought by a foundation that was put up by the Danish scouts organization amongst others and the island will be renovated into a “youth island” where young people can go for adventure. Sounds fascinating!

My kids would love that! I wonder if Julie and I can leave them there.

(I am realizing that there is one thing that makes this trip report very different from my recent ones in case you followed them: I have so many more pictures of people because 1) I can post pictures of Katharina as opposed to Michael and 2) she actually lets me take pictures of her!)

I guess it was some kind of Black Friday atmosphere and I was surprised that Katharina did not spontaneously combust in there as she hates crowds!

The things one endures for loved ones...

Yuck! I refuse to endure Black Friday crowds. There's nothing I need that badly.

It tasted as artificial as it looked, kind of like toothpaste.

This is why I don't eat green slimy things.

What I did not notice was that I was actually exchanging Katharina’s shirt and not mine. We did not realise this until we got back home and Katharina called me to ask me if I had accidentally packed her shirt as the one that she just put on is too large for her.

Oh no! Maybe you can go on another cruise to try and exchange it again.

 

[dolphingirl47]

What do you think is the difference between DCL and RCCL?

I really don't know. The only possible explanation I have is that Royal Caribbean pays for more security and check in staff and thereby keeps crowds down. You can also go straight on the ship as soon as you are checked in.

Corinna

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I'm sure the speed of this TR will be comfortable for you!

I think you are correct........about my speed indeed!

Yeah! At least one TR I am not too far behind.

I was worried when I saw the last time I posted here, but not very far behind either............which reminds me I really need to get over to yours because I KNOW I am way behind there!

It is actually a lot of fun for me to read her notes and comments. Especially all the comments that she makes about me in her notes!! They are not always flattering (actually, so far I have found far more that are the opposite of flattering - if you have siblings, I guess you understand...), but mostly very amusing.

Can't wait to see if you actually share some of those, or edit them first..........

Hello everyone and a Happy 2018!!

WOW! I AM way behind..........

(Okay, I admit I saw you had originally used 2018 in Katharina's quote of your post, but I couldn't resist the urge to edit it back in because that is too good to pass up commenting)

Walking to our gate we had to go outside and along a parking lot (yes, the airport has a lot of these temporary buildings that they just put wherever they could get some space) and I saw that they had put up a small piece of the Berlin Wall there which they repainted with advertisement for the airline:

The slogan says: “freedom needs wings”

Very creative, and a whole lot better use of the wall than the original.

We got a snack and a drink during the flight:

I like your snack offerings better than the ones we get on Southwest.

It turned out that Terminal 2 was nice and calm and we shared a sandwich and a pastry there:

Looks more like a salad and pastry to me........

I have some more pictures of pastries, just because they looked so good:

Yum!

Exiting the train station we came across something very typical for Copenhagen: A bike parking garage:

There's a sight you don't see every day! What an interesting concept.

Fairly soon we got to a kiosk selling snacks. I find it always interesting to check out the popsicles in other countries.

That watermelon one looks pretty good!

And then we came to the area with houses from the Faroe Islands. These are some tiny islands kind of halfway between the northern tip of Scotland and Greenland. They are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, therefore the traditional houses from there were included here. Just imagine living on a tiny island in the North Atlantic and living in houses that look like this:

On a positive note, if your enemy was attacking by air I doubt they would even know there was a home there at all.

There were quite a few interesting restaurants in this area. One was a Thai restaurant reminding us of WDW as it was the Danish version of the Flying Fish. Here it appears to be a Thai restaurant however if you look at the "subtitle":

The Matterhorn???

And it only gets worse! I am almost.... 39 again, and I feel like I'm 20 sometimes. Once in a while I act like it too. LOL!

Wow you're pushing it all over those comments! And I think you had a typo on that 20 comment as for how you sometimes act. You sure that "0" didn't sneak in there while you weren't looking???

We both were packed quickly (despite one of Katharina’s comments in her notes, which reads: “I am now fully packed. We are planning on leaving in about one hour from now. It will be interesting to see how often Magdalene is going to repack in that hour.”) and decided to go for a little walk in the neighborhood.

Katharina just has that type humor that really cracks me up!

Well, I guess I have had to become better at packing since I am now in a relationship with the world's worst packer. I need to keep the equilibrium...

Funny the concessions we make at times for our........uh............ better halves!

We found an interesting little statue at some mail boxes:

They must have gotten that one from the Mexico Pavillion in Epcot!

The selfie was actually taken for the purpose of sending it to a DIS friend, @GoofyFan1515

Love this! Hate it is the first time I've seen it!

We killed some time by going to meet Captain Mickey:

Very Nice! Love the shirts!

We had a look at the adult entertainment district (Disneyfied of course, not like adult entertainment opposite our hotel):

Well that stinks! I thought Disney always tried to meet everyone's needs..........

When we changed we could not pick a stateroom, but were going to be assigned a statroom by DCL. This is called GTY status. About a month before the cruise we finally got our room assignment and I nearly fell of my chair laughing. We had received an upgrade to an 11B stateroom, the cabin next to the one that we had originally booked!

Don't you just love when things work out like that!

They were very tasty and my strategy worked! Katharina’s trip notes say: “was delicious, but also potent.”

The perfect combination!

(I am realizing that there is one thing that makes this trip report very different from my recent ones in case you followed them: I have so many more pictures of people because 1) I can post pictures of Katharina as opposed to Michael and 2) she actually lets me take pictures of her!)

You're lucky I'm not a very vain person.

It tasted as artificial as it looked, kind of like toothpaste. That’s why it remained untouched on my plate…

We both really liked our food. I still remember the lamb being excellent, but I might have passed on some of the Brussels sprouts to my sister as she is far more a fan of those than I am.

I don't think I've ever had mint jelly that didn't. I think that's just what you get.

The food looks good, and the lamb is probably what Pat would pick so I'm glad you liked it. Be interested in hearing how Katharina did with her food allergies since that is probably the biggest concern for Pat and I going on a cruise.

For dessert we both ordered what I consider to be one of the few desserts that is good on DCL (their desserts are definitely not one of the reasons why I cruise with them, you will hear more on this on my upcoming trip report on the Fantasy cruise with Michael): The Grand Marnier Soufflé infused with fresh Orange Zest and served with Grand Marnier Créme Anglaise:

Disappointing that they don't have better desserts, but that one does look and sound really good!

Now, we both have shirts in the same size which is too large for Katharina and which will only fit me when I finally manage to lose some odd 15 pounds… I still blame Disney and there totally off sizing for this incident. Yes, I am not a stick figure, but a European 3X large is not my size either.

Well who else could be responsible for messing it up but Disney.........

The it was time for Match Your Mate and it was a lot of fun to watch. The Club Host for the cruise was Jo from the UK and she was very funny. I really liked her a lot!

Would love to see how Pat and I would do with this contest.........

 

[Steppesister]

Wow you're pushing it all over those comments! And I think you had a typo on that 20 comment as for how you sometimes act. You sure that "0" didn't sneak in there while you weren't looking???

HEY!!! I resemble that remark!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Sorry I missed this by a day, especially since I started to send it Thursday night knowing it was already Friday in Germany, but............

Happy Birthday Katharina!!!!!



Again, sorry I'm a day late!

 

[Steppesister]

Yes, I saw what a difference it made to have the internet with staying in touch with friends in England after my year there as compared to Denmark where I was in 89/90.

I can see that for sure. Do you know where ANY of them are from Denmark?

Tivoli is still a long way away, I hope you will enjoy the adventures in between as well!

I'm here for the long haul!

 

[Flossbolna]

I will be back with replies, but have limited time right now and just got an update back from Katharina with replies, so I thought I ought to post it quickly!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Cruise Day 2: Stormy Sea Day - Part 1

The night was quite rocky. The wind had definitely gotten stronger and I woke up a few times during the night. At some point we both were awake and decided that sleep was no longer going to happen. Katharina’s notes claim that it was 7am, but then she goes on to say that we checked the bridge view channel and realized that we had just passed the northern tip of Denmark, Skagen. However, I have pictures of the map that is on the stateroom TV that we were just past Skagen at 7:58 am. So, I guess we know that it was some time between 7 am and 7:58 am when we woke up…

We had ordered hot tea from room service and they delivered two cups, one carafe of hot water and TWO tea bags… So, that was not a lot of tea for us unfortunately.

Our first stop this morning was the DVC Member Celebration which started at the early hour of 8:30am. You could meet Stitch there:

And we both got mimosas as well as a welcome gift: A refillable mug with the DVC logo.

I also spotted a DISer whom both Katharina and I knew from our previous trip report, @Linda67. We talked to her for a little while until the event started. The event was a little bit like a game show in the first half, this was lead by Jo, the club host from the previous night. She was really great again! Then they started showing us videos and such of the wonderful DVC properties and told us about all the great opportunities to buy more points while on the cruise ship. In my opinion that part is getting pushier every time I go on a cruise…

Afterwards we went to the shop to pick up some of the limited edition Disney Magic Norwegian Fjords 2015 pins. They were released that morning and the purchase was limited.



We brought the pins to the room, taking some random pictures in the hallways of carpet and signs:

And then we headed to Cabanas for some breakfast. It was quite crowded in there, but it was still ok. I have to say that for me Cabanas on the Magic is the best of all the buffets I have experienced. It is far superior to the previous layout (which I only ever had on the Wonder at Beach Blanket Buffet) with the different stations instead of one long line. And it is more compact than the one on the Fantasy. It also has these amazing “bay windows” that they added during the dry dock where you can sit with a fantastic view of the scenery. I also really loved the cheerful décor. Here is a crappy picture, I hope I have more later on!

My breakfast selection:

I also had some muesli:

And this was Katharina’s:

Everything was quite tasty, only Katharina did not like the omlette, which was very bland according to her notes.

We had also picked up some extra Navigators at guest services before breakfast as well as a “newspaper” they had these little compiled news stories leaflets in the same format as the Navigators. At that time the G7 summit was taking place in Bavaria and it was interesting to read the American view on what was going on there. They even reported about an incident at large German music festival where there had some sudden thunderstorm and several people were injured by lightning.

After breakfast we picked up our books (and Katharina also brought her trip notes) to find a space to sit on deck.

That was difficult as it was very windy. And even though usually you do not notice a lot of wind on the pool deck, today we definitely did!

This is something that you normally don’t see on DCL late morning on a sea day:

A lifeguard packed in winter clothes guarding an empty pool deck.

All the prime loungers at the adult pool were available:

We explored a bit and nearly got blown away – literally!

Actually, the picture of Katharina being blown away is the picture that comes up on my phone when she calls or texts me… However, it is nothing compared to the one she uses for me, which is also from this cruise and which you will see later…

And then we settled on some loungers with several blankets:

(This was at the beginning, in the end we had three blankets each)

We had a beautiful spot and with the right clothes and the blankets we were comfy and enjoyed the view, the sun and our books. It was really very nice!

After a while we were getting hungry and according to Katharina’s note I was telling her the wrong time, so we decided to go to lunch, only to discover that they were just about to open. So, we had a very early lunch.

We got a table in the new part of Cabanas that sticks out a little and you have a fantastic view:

We got various things from the buffet:

We made a brief stop in our stateroom where we saw that we had moved quite a bit since the morning:

I think the reason for the short visit to the stateroom was that Katharina kept talking about she was starting to feel more and more off and that the movement of the ship was affecting her. I don’t think she was feeling sick, but I think she was afraid that she might start to feel sick soon. So, I gave her one of the motion sickness pills that I had been taking with me on every cruise so far and never needed them. I was fascinated that I was fine, but she was not. Normally I am the one who has big issues with motion sickness while she is normally fine. Maybe more experience with being on ships helped me or maybe the way a ship affects you is different from how other types of motion effect you?

We headed to Fathoms for a talk on our first two ports, Stavanger and Ålesund. It was called Stavanger and Alesund – From Viking Stringholds to North Sea Oil Centers (I think “Stringholds” is a typo in the navigator and it was supposed to be “Strongholds”).

The speaker was a former professor from the US and to be honest, Katharina and I did not really enjoy his talk. Both of us have travelled to Scandinavia in the past, our family usually tries to learn quite a bit about the history of places we go to, so we did know quite a bit about Scandinavian history. And then we both had read a book that our father had given us about Norway. My parents had been on a cruise in Norway, all the way up to the northern end, earlier in the year (in February, they ended up in a winter storm with hurricane strength, but wanted to see Northern Lights). My father had gotten that book for their cruise and had passed it on. It’s a German book and the title could be translated into “User Manual for Norway”. I thought it was a great book that gave you an overview over history, society, important issues and common beliefs in Norway. And between what we already knew and what we had read in that book, the talk did not really offer anything new to us. It was definitely geared towards people who had no clue about who the Vikings had been…

We then decided to leave a little early because we wanted to take part in the Art of the Theme Tour, which is a guided tour around the ship that tells you about the design of the ship.

We started in Palo:

However, by the time the tour started it was clear that there were masses of people. Since we knew the tour would be repeated again later on in the cruise, we just abandoned the tour and decided to go on a walk on our own. We headed down to walk around deck 4. On the way I took a picture of the new shop corridor:

I really love the carpet there!

However, it turned out that deck 4 was totally closed due to the high winds. So, we decided to walk around on deck 10, where we found the perfect spot for a picture with the mirrored windows of Palo:

The adult pool was still not very crowded:

If you see how Katharina looked like, you can understand the lack of people lounging in the sun:

However, on deck 10 we were not able to make the full round either:

The forward part with the sports deck was blocked off.

If they did not want us to walk, we decided we would just drink instead and tried to find a bar where we could sit and drink the drink of the day. This turned out to be more difficult than we expected!!

First we thought we would go to O’Gills. But there was some kind of craft session ongoing, so it was noisy and crowded. Katharina suggested the Promenade Lounge and I had to tell her that there the “Toddler Time” event was ongoing and I was sure that she would not want to take part in that.

We took some pictures while wandering around in search of a place to sit:

It seems that Keys was empty, not sure why we did not go there? I guess because it was either not operating, about to start an event or we just did not want to go for a fancy drink there. Now I know that we could have ordered the drink of the day in there as well, I think at that time I was not aware of that.

Continued in Part 2

 

[Flossbolna]

Cruise Day 2: Stormy Sea Day - Part 2

We ended up going up to the bar at the adult pool to pick up our drinks.

But since it was really uncomfortable outside, we tried to find some seating anywhere in the atrium area and finally found a spot on deck 5 overlooking the atrium.

I have to say that this was definitely one of the points we both did not like about the cruise: The lack of indoor quiet seating. Every venue seemed to have some kind of noisy event going on. If you don’t want to sit in your room, the only “quiet” spots were outdoors. I never minded this on the warm weather cruises that I had been on. Even on hot days there was usually some shade and a slight breeze to be found. I am usually not someone who would hang out in the cabin during the day, but now it would have been nice to sit with our drinks in our cabin IF we would have had a view from there. So, the lesson I learned from this: On a cold weather cruise, the upgrade to an oceanview cabin would very well be worth it for me. I think we actually discussed just that while sitting in the atrium and enjoying our drinks.

But besides such serious talk, we also had a lot of fun people watching. Katharina made a comment about how amazing it is that they offer an event where toddlers can socialize with another until we figured out that she thought the toddler event was called a “Toddler Mixer” and obviously imagined some kind of cocktail party for toddlers instead of them just setting up a toddler playground in the lounge…

Once the Toddler Mixer was over, we saw that it should be relatively safe to relocate to the Promenade Lounge as there was a half hour break there with no events until the live music would start.

We took one of the tables along the large portholes and had a nice view:

I went off to take some pictures while Katharina ordered some coffee for us:

I had never spent much time in this space on previous cruises, but actually thought that it was a really nice place to sit (IF there was not the next loud thing going to happen).

Our coffee came and we both were shocked that we got it in paper cups. They had real cups there, we were definitely settled in with our books. Why would I want to drink my coffee out of paper??

Well, we quickly found out that not only the presentation was lacking… I let Katharina elaborate on her opinion of the highly praised DCL specialty coffee.

I don’t really remember very much about it, except that I was not impressed at all. The coffe they served in the dining rooms was better! I even wondered whether maybe the macine was not working properly… I just decided to not spend any more money on “special” coffees on the ship.

But despite the coffee disappointment we had a great seat, read our books and enjoyed being there. At some point the music started and we also started to see the first guests being dressed up for formal night and the Captain’s reception.

We discussed what we wanted to do with the evening and Katharina decided to start getting ready first while I wanted to hop into the adult pool and hot tub for a little bit. Yes, it was cold outside but the pool was actually quite nice and warm!

I think it was today that I ended up chatting with a nice couple who was living close to San Francisco. In the end it turned out that he was working at the Lasseter Family Winery. If you have read my Californa trip report, my BF and I ended up visting the winery later that summer, but we did not happen to see him there since we were visiting on a weekend.

While we were getting ready for formal night, we saw that the weather had improved, the bridge cam on our TV was showing sunshine:

Once we were ready, we headed to the atrium. Katharina demanded that she was going to lead the way as she needed to learn how to find her way around the ship. She picked the wrong deck at first, but this led to a very lucky coincidence: We came across Minnie without any line!!

She was standing outside the theater and had just arrived. While we were taking our picture, the show ended and Minnie was quickly mobbed with people coming out of the theater.

We had long thought about what to pack for formal night and I was unsure as to what to expect in how dressy it was going to be on a European cruise. And I found the evening to be slightly less formal than on the other DCL cruises that I have been on. I felt that we fitted right in. People were more dressed like going to a summer party than to a ball. However, I found that more people made an effort to dress up. On other cruises there were plenty of people who obviously did not bother at all. Here, already the weather made shorts very uncommon in the dining rooms.

We moved on to the Captain’s Reception. This is being held before first and second dinner service in the atrium. There are servers bringing you free drinks and many officers are around to talk to the people. Also, if you want the ships photographers to take your picture with the Captain, that is the night to do that. We got some drinks, which turned out to be not very good (according to Katharina’s notes the cocktails were too sweet and the wine was too sour) and then ended up chatting with the staff captain, Jason, for quite some time. The staff captain is the second in command of the ship and he was really nice and we asked all kind of questions about the ship. Katharina found the whole event a little too crowded for her taste. And after speaking to Jason, we started to move towards dinner and ended up being there too early, they had not opened the doors yet!

Didn’t we talk to some one else and learned about the special thing on his name tag? Or was this Jason? I don’t remember… But it was something quite impressive.

This was the next evening. Yes, it was a CM with a blue name tag instead of a white one. And it meant that they had been given an award for excellency that his fellow CMs had voted on (so not given my the higher ups, but by the peers).

This was tonight’s menu:

If you want to read a better version, you can find that here: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/wp-...er-Complete-Menu-Magic-July-2015-700x1024.jpg

But it was only a couple of minutes until we were led to our table in Animator’s Palette. We had a nice table at the edge of the room. I gave Katharina the seat with the better view so that she could enjoy the show.

Animator’s Palette was kind of the pinnacle of technology when the Magic premiered in 1998 with walls changing colors and pictures appearing magically. With modern screen technology it was nothing special anymore. I have seen the old version of AP on the Wonder. So, with the refurb things were freshened up and screens were installed and in my opinion this made the room really magical again. I really love the décor in there as well, the black and white is very stylish and in my opinion a great fit for formal night! We liked it much better than Lumiere’s which just seemed too dark and stuffy to me – amazing how different the same room is on the sister ship, Triton’s on the Wonder might actually be my favourite dining room on all the ships!

I am very sorry, but Katharina’s notes don’t tell me who ate which dishes, so I can only tell you what the different pictures are with the help of the menu, but not who ate them.

This is the Jarlsberg Cheese and Carrot Soufflé with Watercress Salad and Apple Compot:

This was one of the Regional Inspirations.

And this is the Smoked Salmon Tartare with Dill, Capers, Onion, Pickles and a Horseradish Cream:

It was also under the Regional Inspirations, but it is a standard appetizer on the AP menu.

I’m quite sure, the Somekd Salmon Tartare was mine. But maybe we agreed on ordering to different things and switching over after eating half of it?

The next picture is a Regional Inspiration salad: Spinach Leaves with Red Beets, Orange Segments and marinated White Beans with Mustard Dressing:

I think we might both have ordered the same salad. I do remember not being thrilled with this though.

For our entrees we went with the Regional Inspirations again.

Here I know who had what. Katharina had the Lemon-Thyme Marinated All Natural Chicken Breast on top of Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables and Grain Mustard Jus:

Once again, they are only telling half the truth as this is also a regular dish on the AP menu.

I had the Pork Cordon Bleu – Breaded Pork Loin stuffed with Ham and Gruyere Cheese served with Snow Peas and Roasted Potatoes:

I was surprised by the way it was being presented, I had never seen a roled up version of this dish. So, I took a cross section:

It was really good! I love cordon bleu and this one was definitely very tasty!

The dessert menu was presented:

And I think we might have shared – or Katharina did not get anything? – at least I have a picture of the regionally inspired dessert: Helsinki Blueberry Crumble Tart served with Vanilla Frozen Yoghurt:

I remember this being a little too light on the blueberries and too heavy on the pastry. Once again one of the typically a little uninspired DCL desserts, however, it was on the better side of average.

All in all this was a lovely meal. I remember Katharina really loving the transformation of the room. Also, arriving early meant that we were ahead of the large table and today service was really quick, nearly a little too fast for us! This kept being a theme during the cruise. One evening we tried to stretch out dinner and somehow that just resulted in speeding up our servers even more. It was never so fast that we felt that this was bad. And we did appreciate that our servers were trying to avoid us being caught behind the large table. I also really enjoyed the variation that the regional inspirations brought to the menus. Even though that cruise was only number 4 to me, I was starting to get to the point where I thought the menus were getting a bit boring.

Katharina also got to celebrate her birthday tonight:

Since the cruise was her birthday present for turning 40, I had our travel agent make a note on the reservation. So, tonight our servers and some of the servers from the tables around us came and sang Happy Birthday to Katharina and gave her her birthday cake:

I think we already guessed something would happen that night and that’s why I didn’t order desert.

After dinner we wanted to head outside since the weather had calmed down. But it was very chilly, so we had to get changed first. We were greeted by a dinosaur in our bedroom:

And then missed the sunset because of the clouds:

(Yes, sun was setting after the end of second dining).

We walked around deck 4 a couple of times. This is always fun as you cross through an area where you can see a little of the workings of the ship.

We also saw some stored carpet in case they need it:

There was even a little map of the area that you could see:

After our walk we were getting really tired and headed to bed.

Up next:
Cruise Day 3: Oil and Fish in Stavanger