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

[Flossbolna]

That is the Horizon!! I was on that ship back in I think it was 1999 when it was part of Celebrity Cruises, really nice ship!

Oh, I wonder if in 20 years time someone is going to see the Disney Magic sailing for a different line and be reminded of their wonderful cruises in 2015! I imagine cruising in 1999 to be quite a different experience. The ship looked considerably smaller than the Magic.

I am glad to hear it was plastic fish too, I thought to myself, that would be a stinky tour, LOL!

I don't think they would be successful if they had real stinky fish there!

Crazy that it is still that light out at 11:00pm!

That is one of the great things about Scandinavia: summers are amazing. I once visited Stockholm in winter on the other hand and that is not fun...

What an adorable town! Nice that you were able to manage to see so many things.

It was quite lovely and the perfect size to explore in one day.

Saving my comments until the top of the next page. Otherwise you seem to miss them..............

Did not find any on top of page 7. Do I now have to wait until page 8??

Oh, I want to go back to Stavanger!!! So many memories l reading your beautiful report and seeing those gorgeous pics... We visited Stavanger by ourselves in the morning, but went on an excursion in the afternoon so didn't have time for much.

Great to hear that you are enjoying the report!! There were a few excursions that sounded interesting from Stavanger. But just walking around there seemed to be the easiest option and it turned out great.

Good thing we didn't go to the Petroleum Museum though, don't think we would have managed to get our daughter out of that funky looking playground...

That's why I took a picture. Not to warn people away, but to let people know that this would be a great place to go to to let the kids run around. I keep thinking that if you have a very active kid, being on the ship for days and days might get to confined for some kids. A place like that would be great for those kids.

Looking forward to Alesund!

Coming up!

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm guessing you didn't jump in the pool.

I did not that morning, but I had some pool time during the cruise!

Uh oh. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Well, you saw the revenge later on...

Neat! I'd probably try for that one every time.

The large windows in Cabanas were our first choice every time as well.

Yuck. I don't think there's much rhyme or reason with motion sickness. I took pills every day on my cruise and was glad I did!

That is one strategy of course. From the reports I have read on the DIS I am getting the impression that sea sickness and typical motion sickness that you get from being a passenger in a car are somehow different. There are numerous people who report that they always have trouble in cars, but not on the ship. Different type of motion affects people differently it seems.

Aw, where's the sense of adventure?

I think there was an age limit for Toddler Time and unfortunately Katharina exceeded it by a few years.

Seems like they're not really built for cold weather destinations.

No, that is certainly a draw back. I don't know if other ships are better in that regard.

Great! When I rode the Wonder in 2009 it already seemed a little dated.

Yes, that's the disadvantage of cutting edge technology. Nothing ages quicker. Just think of the dinosaur of Disney Quest that is finally closing now.

Things you never think about when planning. I remember rough seas and the closet door constantly sliding open and closed.

Oh, I have gotten up at night to take down the empty hangers in the closet! Now, I routinely take them all down on the last night back into Port Canaveral. Everything is packed, they are all empty and because of the currents, there always is quite a bit of motion during that night.

Wow. Wish my government would be pro-active like that.

The Norwegians really have it figured out. It is amazing how they were able to turn their country from one of the poorest in Europe into one where everyone profited from the riches they found when they discovered the oil.

Darn. Guess I won't be traveling there for a little while!

No, if you thought a family trip to Copenhagen was not for you, Norway is even worse.

He didn't get an award for inventing the internet?

Well, Norway was occupied during the way. I'm sure many felt the need to play along and avoid suffering reprisals.

I think those were from WWI and before WWII. So, no occupation going on. But during WWII, I agree with you that it would be understandable.

It's not often you can say that Epcot's prices are comparable with the outside world.

Yes. I think France would be another candidate (at least with regard to drink and food in comparison to Paris prices).

Interesting! They must have some different suppliers around the world.

Yes. It is not that surprising when you think about it. I just wanted to mention it for the DCL regulars in the audience who might be planning their first European cruise.

 

[Flossbolna]

I love that the School Bread looks exactly the same in EPCOT as the original in Norway.

Yes, we were impressed, too!

I don't think I'd like those choppy seas. It's so different in the Caribbean.

On our 2014 November cruise on the Fantasy we had seas that were nearly as bad. I actually really enjoy the choppy seas! It was just a shame on the Fantasy that because of the high winds the Aqua Duck could not be used.

Looking lovely ladies!

Thanks!

I'm sure it's a regulatory requirement, but it makes sense. You don't want to use a hose that was previously used for fuel, or worse.

Yes, that would not be tasty! I just thought it was cute that they chose such a bright color. But again, that has a warning effect as well.

"Okay fish, I have bad news and good news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Great picture, and again perfect for a ringtone! The hat gives you really good posture, like you were trying to keep it from falling off.

Yes, the hat was not that stable on my head!

 

[Flossbolna]

The architecture of the town is quite interesting. Thanks for showing us all those pictures of the town!

I really liked the town. It is very typical for Scandinavia.

I'm sure using plastic sardines made the tour so much more pleasant than it could have been. Not being a fan of sardines, I'd never considered how they would have been packaged.

I am not a fan of sardines either and since my mother hates fish, we never had canned fish at home. But it was interesting as it was part of the local culture.

The Petroleum Museum sounds very interesting. I've toured a number of facilities that drill for oil. We have "oil islands" off the coast in Long Beach, plus we have several other oil fields throughout the state.

Yes, I know about the oiling California! I saw some oil drills when we were there in 2015.

Carioca's looks like a fairly innocuous dining room. I haven't been on the Magic since it was redone.

I really like Carioca's now. It has a light and airy feel to it and just is quite pleasant.

Your report is getting me so excited for my trip!

And now the trip is over already! Hope you had a great time!!

 

[Flossbolna]

That is a real shame. I used to really enjoy them.

I think the larger the DVC membership gets, the less exclusive it is and the more expensive those things become for DVC. So they are scaling back with what they are doing.

I love this pin.

I really loved that design, too! I have it on a mug as well. However, I recently discovered that the mug is not dishwasher safe and some of the design has already washed away. So, now it is in the back of the mug cupboard and I never use it anymore because I hate hand washing single mugs.

I really liked Cabanas on the Magic.

Yes, I think it is better than on the Fantasy!

The motion on a cruise ship is very different. I suffer really badly from motion sickness on land, but we have been in some really wild weather on cruises and I was absolutely fine.

I was just saying something similar in a previous comment.

What a shame. Was he a "professional boredom", too?

I think it was more a question of us knowing too much about Norway and him covering the very basics.

I think I would have really missed the Outlook Cafe on that sailing. It was so great to have that option on our Alaska cruise.

I was thinking all the time how vital the Outlook is for Alaska. But now of course they have taken the largest part away from it, so the Wonder only has a slight advantage over the Magic anymore.

We usually spend a fair amount of time in the Promenade Lounge.

We really liked it there, too. As long as they were not having toddler time there.

That was really lucky and I love the resulting photo.

Thanks!

I think this is better on other cruise lines. Both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean serve sparkling wine for the occasion.

I would prefer that!

I have never rated the pre-refurbishment Animator's Palate, but I loved the new version on the magic.

They only changed a little, but it made so much of a difference.

I had not realised that he had headed back to the Magic.

Commodore Tom is from Norway, so he made a point about being the one to take the first Disney ship ever to his home country. I think there was even a post on the Disney Parks Blog about this. I can tell you that nobody could tell that he was excited about this from the way he was talking in his announcement though... Now he is back on the Fantasy. We had him in November. And found out that the week before our cruise Captain Fabian was on the Fantasy. Would have preferred him much more!

I think it is cheaper for the cruise lines to take it on in port than making it on the ship. The fact that the tap water tasted chlorinated indicates that this was water that was taken on in port.

That does make sense!

That photo will soon be piece of history as this cruise line either just has been wound up or is about to be.

Interesting. So the experiment with a French line did not work out? It appears that the German version with TUI cruises is going really strong on the other hand.

Starvanger looked like a very interesting and pretty kind of place.

It was really neat!

What a fantastic opportunity to meet somebody who was on the original launch team.

Yes, the stories she was telling us were far more fascinating than the talks about Norway. They should have let her do some talks!

My personal favourite in that category is The Beast's Potato Soup from the Prince and Princess Menu, which had plenty of lentils in it, but no potatoes

What are they thinking??

 

[Flossbolna]

Loved the pix and narrative about the Canning factory, unlike you I love canned sardines especially the mustard ones . The town or village looked really nostalgic . I have never tried school bread as I do not like coconut !! I know sardines but not coconut ,

At least one reader likes sardines!!

This makes no sense, no sense!!

I agree. How can someone like sardines, but no coconut???

We're fine as a group-a trip with just the two of us though might go south sooner rather than later. Very different personalities

That makes sense!

I am sorry that you were unwell. I hope you had a great time in Florida.

I am feeling better now (today is the first day I am starting to feel normal again). And Florida was wonderful, but too short. Michael wants us to do a quick and short TR about the few days in Orlando. I am seriously considering it. I just took so few pictures, so not sure if it is worth it. The best part (besides seeing Michael) was the sunshine and the warm temperatures! From 2007 through 2010 I did a February trip every year. Exactly in order to escape the dark and cold Germany. And I think I need to go back to this tradition!!

 

[Flossbolna]

The next update is coming and I am not going to post the whole day as I have done so far. I am going to split it because it is so many pictures. You will get the second part of our Alesund day later this weekend! I hope everyone enjoys the first part!

 

[Flossbolna]

Cruise Day 4: Smashed Windows and Trolls in Ålesund - Part 1

Today was going to be a big day. The only day we had booked a DCL port adventure.

We woke up a little bit before our alarm, saw on our TV that the ship was getting close to our port for the day: Ålesund. The A with the little circle on top is pronounced like the vowel in “thought”. We quickly got ready and headed up to have a look around:

It was a bit of a gloomy day.

We then continued on to have breakfast in Cabanas with a view of the outskirts of the town.

This is why we loved Cabanas on this cruise. It has such great views. I tried to capture them a little:

I had some muesli:

Katharina had some egg and other things:

She thought she would get a donut for us to try since she had read so much about the donuts on the ships and how wonderful they were:

Well, we did not deem this donut to be wonderful. You could tell it was not fresh (as far as I know, they never are, they are brought on board frozen and then thawed. At least this is what the DISboards say, it might be an internet myth though.).

Once breakfast was done, we went to watch the docking maneuver.

Ålesund is an interesting town. It was devastated in 1904 by a fire that destroyed nearly the whole inner town. The fire was so bad because all the houses were built out of wood. Think of all the wooden houses in the Norway pavilion at Epcot. Beautiful to look at, not really good to have in a fire. The news of the fire got to one person who was a big admirer of Norway and who was in a special position to help out. It was the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II. Yes, the same one who foolishly started the First World War just 10 years later. He used his personal wealth to send 4 ships with goods to help and which could shelter the towns people who had lost their houses. The city was rebuilt with a lot of financial help from around the world, but especially Germany. To make the city safer, it was ordered that there were no more wooden houses to be built. And the city was rebuilt in the current fashion of that time: Art Nouveau – or to be more precise, in the German version of it: Jugendstil. It is quite exceptional in that regard as it is not only a few buildings, but since the whole city was rebuilt in the span of a few years, it is all very concentrated.

Ålesund also has a very striking feature, a very steep hill right there in the city, called Aksla. Here you can see it:

There is a café on top and you are supposed to have an amazing view.

All this really made Ålesund another great candidate, to just hang out in the town and do the same as we did in Stavanger. However, there was one excursion offered that sounded really interesting. This is the official description (now, I have a suspicion that it was different when we booked it and Katharina and I might be the cause of that change as you will find out later):

Path of the Trolls and Leisure Time - Adult-Only Departure (AL16)
Marvel at awe-inspiring mountain ranges, valleys and scenic lookouts on this breathtaking drive.

Prices: $107.00 (ages 18 and up)
Activity Level & Duration: Mild, 8 to 8.5 Hours
Experience Type: Sightseeing

Jagged Peaks, Soaring Heights, Thrilling Drives
Enjoy the stunning beauty of this region as your guide maneuvers hairpin turns through the dramatic mountain valley.
On this adventure you will...

• Board a motorcoach and travel approximately 75 minutes across Ålesund, through the scenic Størfjorden and on to the medieval Stordal Church.
• Arrive at the Stordal Church for a 15-minute tour that includes historic frescos and rose paintings before reboarding the motorcoach and heading 30 minutes to Valldal.
• Spend 30 minutes at Valldal, a valley famous for strawberry and other commercial fruit production, which extends from the fjord in the south to the Trollstigen—commonly called the Troll Path—in the north. Explore the lower valley area on your own before heading to lunch.
• Travel through the valley and the Troll Path to the gorgeous Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge for a brief photo stop as you overlook this narrow yet deep gorge with the foaming river below.
• Arrive at the Trollstigen viewpoint, where you’ll have some 75 minutes to enjoy the breathtaking views (weather permitting) and purchase lunch or a snack. This is also a great stop to shop for souvenirs.
• Take a breathtaking one-hour scenic drive that winds along the Troll Path’s 11 hairpin turns on your way to the Isterdalen Valley. You’ll pass the 585-foot Stigfoss Waterfall en route to Troll Wall.
• Arrive at Troll Wall, the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, for a photo stop and about 20 minutes of self-guided exploration. Soaring nearly 3,600 feet, the wall was thought to be unclimbable until a Norwegian and American team summited in 1965.
• Reboard your motorcoach to continue along the Trollstigen on your 2-hour return to Ålesund.

As you can see, this is a long day and a lot of time spent on a bus. We debated back and forth and then decided that this would give us the opportunity to get a little bit away from the coastal Norway and experience the amazing mountains that make up most of the country. As wonderful as cruising is and how well suited Norway is to cruising as being a country where most of the civilization is along the coast, we felt that we would miss a large part of makes this country so unique: The sparsely populated mountain regions.

Looking at prices for DCL excursions, we also felt that 100$ per person for a tour that would be the full day was not too bad.

We also had the possibility to ask someone we used to travel a lot with and who had been to Ålesund recently, whether he thinks it would be okay to not see Ålesund – our Dad. And if I remember correctly he said it was a nice enough town, but as we have lots of Jugendstil buildings where we live or travel often, he would go for the excursion. That helped me with the decision as well.

So, we got ready and went to the Walt Disney Theater as this was our designated meeting point for our excursion. We had to check in at the entrance, where we showed our excursion tickets and then got a sticker with the number 14 in exchange. Normally, you get a sticker with a Disney character for DCL Port Adventures. But maybe because we were an adult only excursion, we just a stylish DCL Port Adventures sticker with a number. We were number 14. I guess they do not give out 13, so ours was in reality number 13 – and in hindsight that was very fitting.

We were told in which row to sit as they sorted people in the theater according to their stickers. We ended up sitting next to a very nice couple from Illinois, Terri and Paul. We ended up chatting quite a bit with them during the day and ran into them a few times over the rest of the cruise as well.

Somehow we ended up waiting quite some time in the theater while other groups were being led out. Then it was finally time for us to depart as well. Outside on the pier were plenty of busses, but our group was then just stopped somewhere where there was no bus at all. There appeared to be quite some confusion and several CMs were talking to port people and rushing around. It was not warm at all and I think it was even drizzling a bit. In the end we were finally walked to a coach. However that coach did not look very encouraging at all!

And here we finally found out what had happened. Because of all the bus congestion on the pier, another bus had backed into the front of our coach. The result you can see in the picture. Obviously this meant that we would not be able to travel on that coach. However, they were able to find a replacement bus for us, but it would be a little while until that would be able to collect us. So, we were able to wait inside the damaged coach to get out of the weather if we wanted. Katharina and I decided to stay outside as the air inside the bus was rather sticky.

About 15 minutes later we finally had our bus! However, instead of being a nice motor coach, it was a public transportation bus. It was certainly one of the nicest public transportation busses I had ever seen and it was far more comfortable than for example the WDW transportation busses. But still, the seats were not that comfortable, the bus did not have the large panoramic window that coaches usually have with the bus driver being lower so that everyone in the coach can see out through the whole front window. Instead half of the front window was blocked with the driver’s cabin.

But we were happy to have a bus at all! You could tell that in order to get everyone off the ship, they had to get busses and coaches from other areas. Ålesund is not large, it only has 45.000 inhabitants. There are no other large cities around. So, getting coaches for such a large ship as the Disney Magic (yes, compared to many other ships cruising in Norway, she was large) was a logistic feat in itself.

We finally got started with a very long delay. It was obvious that the all aboard time was definitely less than 8 hours away from now and we were wondering how this would work out. Then, just before we were finally about to leave the port, the Port Adventures Manager himself came onboard the bus to say sorry for what happened and told us that they had arranged to delay our departure from Ålesund until we would be back from our excursion so that we would be able to get our full excursion as planned. This was definitely appreciated!

To be honest, I had been wondering for a long time what the Disney Magic would do between departing Ålesund at 4:30pm today and arriving at Geiranger the next morning considering that Geiranger was less than 100 miles away. So, waiting for us would certainly not put the ship in danger of missing its arrival time for the next port.

So, we finally got started and soon left Ålesund behind. I had looked up the route for the excursion on a map before our cruise and figured out that the right hand side of the bus ought to be the one with the better views as this was the side that would have water next to it, while the left hand side of the bus would have the mountain next to it. And I was right. So, anyone considering this excursion, make sure to sit on the right hand side of your bus.

I was very happy with my personal trip planner, not only on this occasion!

The bus windows were very clean, so taking pictures through the window worked quite well and I kept taking a million of them.

We had a quick stop at a view point.

And then the first stop was Stordal Church.

This is a wooden church that is know for its interior with rosemåling (Norwegian for rose painting), which is a Norwegian floral decorative style. All the flowery decorations and even Elsa’s ice in Frozen are heavily inspired by this.

It was in a beautiful valley with a waterfall and lovely views.

This area is known for its berry production. But when we were there, it was rather cold and miserable and I could not really imagine fields of strawberries thriving there. But I guess they are.

There was also an old very picturesque graveyard:

And some houses, the village hall and the vicarage:

Our guide also told us about the grass roofs. They actually have goats eat the grass on the roof to keep trees and such from growing on top of the house. Unfortunately our guide turned out to not be the best guide. He often was very superficial with his explanations, there was no real depth to them. For example he only told us that we would stop at a church now, he did not mention what made the church so interesting and what the significance of the decorations were. Often he would not be able to answer questions. He was spouting out random facts on Norway sometimes without any rhyme or reason as to why he was talking about this. Somehow he gave of the impression that he was bored himself and not really interested in the topics he was talking about. Which seemed weird for someone working in that profession. He also seemed to be a bit confused about how our tour was supposed to be structured, did not give us enough information about how long stops were going to be and such. The only thing he was putting a big emphasis on was where you could use a restroom. We were definitely disappointed in that. One of the reasons why we booked the adult only excursion was that we were hoping for a more adult oriented experience where we could learn about Norway and what we saw. Katharina made a note about our guide saying that it seemed that he was as much a last minute replacement like the public transportation bus that we had the pleasure of travelling on.

He made the impression that he just got the itinerary of the excursion, but no background to the stops. The description of the excursion on the DCL website was definitivly more informative about why we stopped there than what he told us. But we learned a lot about frozen pizza as we stopped somewhere, which was not a stop in the official description of the excursion, as there was a good viewpoint of some lake. (We obviously had time for that) On the other side of the lake was the largest factory for frozen pizza in Norway or something and he kept on about frozen pizza as the most typical Norwegian dish nowadays. He talked very sterotypical about Norway and I guess it was supposed to be funny, but it was exactly the opposite for me. I admit that because of my studies, my work and living abroud I might be more sensible than others to the ise of national stereotypes and I acknowledge that they are useful and funny sometimes, but definitely not in the way he did it.

At the church we caught up with the other busses doing the same excursion. There were actually three versions of our excursion. One that included lunch (ours did not) and then ours for families and the adult version we took. It seemed that for every version there were several busses. I think I counted around 10 busses or so in total. The little church was quite overrun at first, but since we were the last bus to arrive, we were also the last bus to leave and at the end could enjoy a quite peaceful atmosphere there. One thing I noticed was that some of the other busses had some of the ship’s photographers with them. They would take pictures of anyone from the ship who wanted one. I thought that this was a nice service, but I am not sure if this happens on every cruise, or whether it was something that was done because of the inaugural cruise and DCL wanting pictures from the excursions.

Continued in Part 2

 

[Flossbolna]

Cruise Day 4: Smashed Windows and Trolls in Ålesund - Part 2

We continued the drive, still following along a fjord:

As you see above, we were about to enter a tunnel. Norway has plenty of tunnels, including the longest road tunnel in the world which is over 15 miles long.

We then came to our next stop, Valdall. I am really not sure why we stopped there (the only thing our guide told us about were the public restrooms).

It was a little village at the end of the fjord with nothing really much to see. Katharina and I saw a small supermarket though and decided that now would be a good time to try to find something to eat.

They had some baked goods:

And we ended up with a salad and a pastry.

There were picnic tables at the waterfront and we met up with Terri and Paul there who were eating lunch as well. They had been smart and brought food from the ship. Normally on all my previous DCL cruises there were big signs about how you are not allowed to bring food off the ship into the country you are visiting. I had been wondering about this with regard to Norway. With Norway being a member of EEA (the European Economic Area) it is participating in the European Union’s single market. This means that there is no customs between Denmark (as a EU member state) and Norway as there is free movement of goods between all the EEA member countries. So, if there was no customs official concerned with what came off the ship, why would it be forbidden to bring food off the ship? Anyone travelling from Denmark to Norway can bring food for personal consumption into the country (with the exception of meat that originates outside the EEA). So, bringing food off the ship is possible on the Norway cruise and for this excursion Terri and Paul did the smart thing.

Normally I am not a fan of people who think that a breakfast buffet is also where they can get a free packed lunch. But with the cruise I think it is different. Getting lunch on the ship would actually be included in the price of the cruise fare. So, it is not as if I would get an additional meal that I have not paid for from them.

The view during lunch was quite nice though.

From here we drove on to Gulbrandsjuvet. This was a spectacular waterfall. You visit the top of the waterfall and see how it falls down in many different areas. There is an interesting pedestrian bridge construction from where you have amazing views.

We really enjoyed our break there, this was a highlight for us on that day that we did not expect.

Will be Continued in Part 3

 

[dolphingirl47]

And I guess at RCCL you cannot board at 10am either?

You can not even check in at that time unless they are handling your air arrangements and you arrive that morning, but then check in is at a hotel rather than at the port. I think the earliest check in time is 11:00 and you can board at that time.

Corinna

 

[Flossbolna]

You can not even check in at that time unless they are handling your air arrangements and you arrive that morning, but then check in is at a hotel rather than at the port. I think the earliest check in time is 11:00 and you can board at that time.

Corinna

See, this just makes much more sense. Don't open the port until you can have people come on board. Michael and I always try to be at the port around noon and by then it usually is open boarding and it is exactly as you said. Katharina and I were just impatient and thought sitting at the port was better than sitting in our hotel room in Copenhagen.

However, if DCL were to change their procedure they would have masses of people lining up outside the port as their customers are now conditioned to being there as early as possible.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Well, we did not deem this donut to be wonderful.

I have recently read a lot of similar reports, which is a real shame as they to be wonderful. I wonder what has changed.

And the city was rebuilt in the current fashion of that time: Art Nouveau – or to be more precise, in the German version of it: Jugendstil.

Oh, I would have been in my element there.

I guess they do not give out 13, so ours was in reality number 13 – and in hindsight that was very fitting.

That does not sound good at all.

Somehow we ended up waiting quite some time in the theater while other groups were being led out. Then it was finally time for us to depart as well. Outside on the pier were plenty of busses, but our group was then just stopped somewhere where there was no bus at all.

It looks like this time round they had a legitimate excuse, but we have often found that they were quite disorganized when it came to shore excursions.

However that coach did not look very encouraging at all!

Oh dear.

About 15 minutes later we finally had our bus! However, instead of being a nice motor coach, it was a public transportation bus. It was certainly one of the nicest public transportation busses I had ever seen and it was far more comfortable than for example the WDW transportation busses. But still, the seats were not that comfortable, the bus did not have the large panoramic window that coaches usually have with the bus driver being lower so that everyone in the coach can see out through the whole front window. Instead half of the front window was blocked with the driver’s cabin.

It was nice that they were able to source a replacement on such short notice, but it looks like that this was not really suitable for the kind of excursion you were doing.

Then, just before we were finally about to leave the port, the Port Adventures Manager himself came onboard the bus to say sorry for what happened and told us that they had arranged to delay our departure from Ålesund until we would be back from our excursion so that we would be able to get our full excursion as planned.

It was nice that they were able to adjust the departure time.

This is a wooden church that is know for its interior with rosemåling (Norwegian for rose painting), which is a Norwegian floral decorative style. All the flowery decorations and even Elsa’s ice in Frozen are heavily inspired by this.

This looks stunning.

One thing I noticed was that some of the other busses had some of the ship’s photographers with them.

This was a nice touch.

I thought that this was a nice service, but I am not sure if this happens on every cruise, or whether it was something that was done because of the inaugural cruise and DCL wanting pictures from the excursions.

The only cruise where we have experienced this was on our Med cruise on the Magic in 2010.

Corinna

 

[TestingH2O]

They actually have goats eat the grass on the roof to keep trees and such from growing on top of the house.

I would love to see this just to say I had.

Gulbrandsjuvet

Woah. So amazingly beautiful.

 

[dizneeat]

I was going to say how "European" your photos looked until I remembered that this was where you were.

Well, we did not deem this donut to be wonderful

Never ever tried one on the ship - they need to be REAL fresh (or freshly microwaved) to be real yummy.

Ålesund also has a very striking feature, a very steep hill right there in the city, called Aksla. Here you can see it:

There is a café on top and you are supposed to have an amazing view.

Ah, would love to have a cup of tea up there, looking down on the water.

 

[nodnol]

Hello everyone over there in the US and especially Wyoiming (in case we have any readers there), just wanted to say thank you, as we were treated today to a IMAX screening of "America Wild: National Parks Adventure" for FREE, curtesy of Brand USA and Visit Wyoming (both seem to be partially state or federal funden, so some of your taxes have made it over to Berlin). We even got a plush fearsome critter (they obviously roam Wyoming) although we had no kids with us, but I guess my husband has a really convincing sad look. The film was so-so, but ignoring the very constructed unnecessary backstory, there were nice shots of various National Parks and FREE Popcorn!

 

[TestingH2O]

Hello everyone over there in the US and especially Wyoiming (in case we have any readers there), just wanted to say thank you, as we were treated today to a IMAX screening of "America Wild: National Parks Adventure" for FREE, curtesy of Brand USA and Visit Wyoming (both seem to be partially state or federal funden, so some of your taxes have made it over to Berlin). We even got a plush fearsome critter (they obviously roam Wyoming) although we had no kids with us, but I guess my husband has a really convincing sad look. The film was so-so, but ignoring the very constructed unnecessary backstory, there were nice shots of various National Parks and FREE Popcorn!

I was in Wyoming last summer for work at Grand Teton and Yellowstone. I thought for sure the photos and movies were amped up, but it really is that beautiful and breathtaking in person. Which fearsome creature did you get? Bison? Elk?

 

[Poolrat]

Because of all the bus congestion on the pier, another bus had backed into the front of our coach.

Not the way to start.

The bus windows were very clean, so taking pictures through the window worked quite well and I kept taking a million of them.

Well you took some great pictures so I for one am very happy the window is clean.

This is a wooden church that is know for its interior with rosemåling (Norwegian for rose painting), which is a Norwegian floral decorative style. All the flowery decorations and even Elsa’s ice in Frozen are heavily inspired by this.

Wow I can see the influence. What a pretty church.

At the church we caught up with the other busses doing the same excursion. There were actually three versions of our excursion. One that included lunch (ours did not) and then ours for families and the adult version we took. It seemed that for every version there were several busses. I think I counted around 10 busses or so in total.

Makes me think they could have maybe combined your group with another if needed or necessary? Seems like the way you both describe the guide, he was a last minute sub or just a dud.

Very Pretty ladies!!!!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I hope that's a good thing. ;-)

Absolutely!

I hope that that's a typo....

Well, I'm doing much better now, when eating something I shouldn't. As I don't have real allergies, just don't do well with a lot of stuff. But usually small amounts don't matter so much, not like with allergies, where also small amounts are risky. And then of course the sea air is good for all my other allergies, so I don't suffer so much because of them and stand the food stuff better as well.
So I did quite well. The buffets were very easy of course. In the restaurants I just picked the dishes that were least problematic. We actually didn't put anything food related in the reservations, because I wanted the freedom to chose whatever I fancied for the meal and live with the consequences...

The last time Pat went to do more allergy tests I think they changed the wording for her from allergies to food sensitivities, so sounds about the same as you.

Thank you very much Marv! I actually saw this the day you posted it, but didn't get around to reply, because I had a very busy birthday weekend:

I knew you did...........I saw the "like."

I share all critical comments my sister makes - I think they are quite amusing!!

Yes, I agree. And you can imagine that being a German I have a very distinct view on walls...

Yes, I think we have talked about this previously. Partly why I mentioned it.

soft pretzel bread beats hard pretzels?

Very much so!!!

No, if you put the salad inside a bread, it is called a sandwich. Might be a salad sandwich though... I think it was something with grilled veggies and goat cheese.

So.....toast the bread and slice it up into croutons and still sounds like a salad to me...........

I don't think the Faroer Island farmers were in danger of air raids...

Well, you know all those birds can do a lot of aerial bombardment damage.

Michael always claims that of us two sisters one has a sense of humor, the other does not. I think you can guess whom he assigned the humor to.

Now HOW would I be able to guess THAT???

Oh! I wonder what went wrong?!? You were supposed to get it!!

I don't know, but while you were in Florida I sent you a text assuming you have the same SIM card as you did in December, but got no reply. Guessing possibly you didn't get it for the same reason.

The Match Your Mate is quite dangerous. Even though it is Disney they do not hesitate asking "interesting" questions.

Sounds right up our alley.............

The A with the little circle on top is pronounced like the vowel in “thought”.

The "o" or the "u"? Just kidding..........

We then continued on to have breakfast in Cabanas with a view of the outskirts of the town.

This is why we loved Cabanas on this cruise. It has such great views. I tried to capture them a little:

Nothing beats a good meal with a view!

Katharina had some egg and other things:

"and other things:" That is some useful shorthand I need to remember for future use!

Well, we did not deem this donut to be wonderful. You could tell it was not fresh (as far as I know, they never are, they are brought on board frozen and then thawed. At least this is what the DISboards say, it might be an internet myth though.).

Okay, if we DO manage to meet up in October, having a car with us, we need to take you to Krispy Kreme when the Hot Donuts Now light is on!

There is a café on top and you are supposed to have an amazing view.

Supposed to? Guessing you didn't venture on up to the top..........

It was not warm at all and I think it was even drizzling a bit. In the end we were finally walked to a coach. However that coach did not look very encouraging at all!

There's a problem?

Then, just before we were finally about to leave the port, the Port Adventures Manager himself came onboard the bus to say sorry for what happened and told us that they had arranged to delay our departure from Ålesund until we would be back from our excursion so that we would be able to get our full excursion as planned. This was definitely appreciated!

Okay, now THAT is Disney service you expect!

The bus windows were very clean, so taking pictures through the window worked quite well and I kept taking a million of them.

A million? Hope you didn't run out of film! You got some great pictures throughout the day for sure!

As you see above, we were about to enter a tunnel. Norway has plenty of tunnels, including the longest road tunnel in the world which is over 15 miles long.

Hope they never run out of gas half way through. On a positive note, you can take one picture of the scenery..... and just save it a million times.

They had some baked goods:

Is that TRUE (authentic) School Bread in the middle?

 

[tiggrbaby]

Whoa that bus was a mess!

The painted church is stunning!

What a strange guide; why would you do that job if you aren't passionate about sharing information?

Love the pic of the two of you on the bridge!

 

[Flossbolna]

I have recently read a lot of similar reports, which is a real shame as they to be wonderful. I wonder what has changed.

I have no idea. This was the first ever DCL donut that I tried. Of course it could also be a European supplier issue?

Oh, I would have been in my element there.

Ok, I need to make a mental note that when you come to Nuremberg to visit the lovely jewelry shops that I need to take you through my neighborhood with the impressive Jugendstil facades.

That does not sound good at all.

It could have been worse...

It looks like this time round they had a legitimate excuse, but we have often found that they were quite disorganized when it came to shore excursions.

Yes. I am quite over cruise ship excursions. But sometimes they make sense. Like this one. Doing this on our own would have required either a rental car (not interested in driving that road on my own) or a private driver which in Norway would have been quite pricey.

It was nice that they were able to source a replacement on such short notice, but it looks like that this was not really suitable for the kind of excursion you were doing.

It really was not. And I feel that they could have pulled a bus from a shorter excursion and given that to us and the uncomfy bus to the shorter excursion. There will be more to this story on another day...

It was nice that they were able to adjust the departure time.

Yes, I was very pleased! But really they did not have any other option since this was loop that we had to drive and it would have been very difficult to shorten the time.

The only cruise where we have experienced this was on our Med cruise on the Magic in 2010.

Interesting. I think it must be a Europe season thing.