DREAMing of the Fjords: 8/19/23-8/26/23 (Completed)

[Geomom]

Disney Dream Norwegian Fjords cruise 8/19/23-8/26/23
Background info:
We are a family of 4 Disney loving adults from Massachusetts: Myself, 19, 23, and DH.

This is our 4th Disney cruise…and 4th Disney ship! (Completely unplanned as itinerary comes first for us.)
2016 Wonder: Alaska
2018 Magic: Baltic Sea
2022 Fantasy: Western Caribbean
2023 Dream: Norwegian Fjords

We used our placeholder booking from our June 2022 cruise to get 10% off the Norwegian Fjords cruise (a dream cruise for 23). 19's college starts classes after Labor Day, so we were able to book a cruise that ended on 8/26 and still had time to pack for college. We booked on 7/3/22 with our Dreams Unlimited TA. We chose stateroom 7048, category 5B verandah at the forward elevators. We had felt too much motion on deck 9 last year, so decided to try deck 7 and didn't feel any movement there! Airfare was crazy high to go to Europe this summer…I kept waiting for it to drop and gave myself until PIF date to book airfare or cancel the cruise. For months, it was sitting at $1200/person for economy with a checked bag…even with a stop! On 3/16/23, airfare suddenly dropped to $815/person (economy with a checked bag), non-stop flight from BOS to LHR on British Airways, so I grabbed it. Disney changed 2 of our ports before PIF, which extended the time in port by 3 hrs each and dropped port fees by $181 for our party of 4. They switched from Amsterdam to Rotterdam and from Sandnes to Mekjarvik (both ports are 'near' Stavanger, but Mekjarvik is an industrial port). Neither one mattered to us, but I know some people weren't happy with the changes.

Finally I could plan everything else! I booked the Moxy Southampton: 2 rooms for 2 nights, 370 GBP with AAA discount! I was looking for a hotel within walking distance of the bus depot. Next I booked a full day private tour with Laurence of Oldbury Tours that included a morning Stonehenge inner circle tour and he would pick us up/return us to Southampton. I booked all our Disney Port adventures at the 90 day (Silver) mark, and I managed to grab myself a 'Stem to Stern' wine tasting a month before. I booked National Express bus transportation from Heathrow to Southampton for 92 GBP for 4 people with the 'change and go' option (go on any bus within 12 hrs of your chosen time). We got our Dreams Unlimited gift basket…and then it was finally time to go!

Trip report links:
8/16/23 Boston
8/17/23 Southampton 1, 2, 3
8/18/23 Southampton 1, 2, 3, 4
8/19/23 Dream 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
8/20/23 Rotterdam 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
8/21/23 At Sea 1, 2, 3, 4
8/22/23 Skjolden 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
8/23/23 Nordfjordeid 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
8/24/23 Mekjarvik (Stavanger) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
8/25/23 At Sea 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
8/26/23 Travel Day 1, 2
Final Notes

 

[Geomom]

8/16/23: Boston,MA
We had lots of traffic (with many inconsiderate and idiotic drivers) on the way to our friend's house where we were leaving my car and getting a lift to the airport. Our friend drove us the back way to the airport avoiding the Sumner Tunnel closure. We had 4 suitcases (we struggled to get them all under the National Express 20kg weight limit) and 4 carry on backpacks…and a tote bag with travel pillows.

We did self check-in at the airport…but there was only 1 British Airways 'economy'' line to drop luggage off…which was also check in for anyone who hadn't done it yet…and they were training people. Took forever to get thru, but security was super quick!

We got 1st dinner from Wow Bao. I had the Kung Pao chicken bowl with Fried rice and Hibiscus iced tea. DH had the same bowl plus ginger chicken potstickers and the Hibiscus iced tea. 19 had Orange chicken bowl with fried rice, potstickers, and Hibiscus lemonade. 24 had a Teriyaki chicken bowl with jasmine rice, beef Bao buns, and lemonade

Then we sat near the gate and waited to board our 9:40pm flight. The kids and I each took a Bonine to prevent motion sickness as red eye flights just make everything feel worse and 19 has had issues on flights before.


Our flight left a little late. We were able to pick seats for free at online check-in 24hrs before and chose 2 sets of twin seats at the back of the plane, avoiding the last row. It was great having the extra space (and no one next to us), but a bit noisy being near the galley and a restroom. Each seat had a blanket, pillow, and earbuds for use on the flight and a screen for free entertainment (movies, music, games, etc.). Really cool design for the tray tables too. They served free dinner at 11:30pm Boston time (our 2nd dinner…getting ready for the cruise!). The kids had the chicken/mashed potato entree, DH and I had the veggie pasta. Both meals came with an Israeli couscous salad, cheese, crackers, roll, butter, chocolate mousse, and a water bottle. You could have beer/wine/cocktails for free, but we didn't order anything. Unfortunately, no one really slept on the overnight flight, but I expected that and had no real plans for the next day.

 

[Geomom]

8/17/23: London and Southampton–part 1
1 hr before landing (3 hrs after our 2nd dinner), they came by with breakfast sandwiches (cheese/egg or ham/cheese/egg)... definitely getting ready for the cruise with all these meals!

We somehow landed 40 minutes early at 8:30am UK time, parked on the tarmac somewhere as we're too early to get a gate, walked down a staircase off the plane and onto a bus which drove us to the terminal. We were the last off the plane…not a bad thing as passport control was quick for the kids and I…but DH was asked to seek assistance (maybe due to his glasses)...but it just took an extra 10 minutes in line for him to talk to a human and get cleared. We gathered ALL our luggage (yay!) and walked right thru the 'nothing to declare' for customs. It was 9:40am…and I had booked the 12:20pm bus to Southampton never thinking I'd get to the bus this early. We went to the info station and they switched us to the 10:30am National Express bus at no extra cost as we had booked the change and go option…well worth the extra 5 GBP/person! The bus was on time. We napped on the bus and were in Southampton by 12:15pm. It was a sunny day, so we walked the ½ mile to the Moxy. (Ikea was a great landmark to help get us going the right direction). My kids complained a bit while pulling luggage, but it really wasn't that bad!

You check in at the bar at the Moxy, are given a free drink coupon each for their special naughty (alcoholic) or nice cocktail. Our rooms were thankfully ready at 12:40pm, so we went up, showered, rested, unpacked the 'Southampton' stuff, had instant coffee from the in room kettle, and left the rooms at 3pm.

The Moxy:



The rooms:

 

[Geomom]

8/17/23: Southampton–part 2
So…looking at the pictures, it looks like we did a ton of stuff…but all we did was 'go for a walk' by the medieval walls, then went shopping at Primark for Stitch clothes for 23. Basically trying to adjust to the time zone by getting outside.

Mayflower Monument...I actually took pics of all the plaques on the monument as my Dad grew up in Plymouth, MA.

Medieval walls:






Bargate:

 

[Geomom]

8/17/23: Southampton–part 3
Went to the West Quay Mall and had 1st dinner at Wagamama:
We split chicken gyoza.

I had the Cha Han Shichimi Tofu donburi bowl and a Yuzu Lychee Tonic

23 had the Teriyaki chicken donburi bowl and cloudy lemonade.

19 had steak teriyaki soba (steak was tough and the dish was spicy) and peach iced tea.


DH had chicken curry firecracker and power juice


After dinner, we went shopping at the Marks and Spencer grocery and bought biscuits, crackers, and sweets to bring home.

We stopped at Bubbleology for bubble tea. 19 had mango with lychee gelees and 23 had biscoff with tapioca pearls.

We walked back to the Moxy. I got a naughty and a nice free cocktail with the coupons…I had the naughty, DH drank the nice back in the room. Then we were feeling peckish…and went down and ordered food (2nd dinner…really getting ready for the cruise) from the bar at 8:30pm.

I had a Moscow mule.

The 4 of us split the Mozzarella/tomato salad, BBQ chicken flatbread, Margherita flatbread, and Nutella flatbread.

We got to bed by 11pm UK time after setting alarms to be ready to meet our tour guide at 6:30am!!!

 

[Geomom]

8/18/23 Southampton–part 1
We had decided not to do London on this first trip to the UK…we're not big city people and I'd rather just head straight to the port when arriving 2 days before the cruise. I knew Stonehenge was a Portland port adventure…so I looked at a map to see how far it was from Southampton…about an hour. None of us wanted to rent a car and drive on the "wrong" side of the road, so I went looking for a private tour guide who would pick us up in Southampton and show us some other Neolithic sites and some nature. For Stonehenge, I knew an inner circle tour would be more interesting to our family…a chance to walk amongst the stones. Unfortunately the evening tours were full and I was worried about being awake for the morning tours if we weren't adjusted to UK time (5 hr time difference)…but after talking with the family we decided to go for it…there were just enough morning tix left for us and the tour guide. Laurence from Oldbury Tours would pick us up at 6:30am…amazingly we were ALL ready to go. It was, of course, raining. Laurence was about 10 minutes late due to unexpected road closures. I had been waiting just outside the door to keep an eye out. After saying 'hi', I went into the lobby to get the family…and DH was missing. I sent the kids out to Laurence and DH showed up a couple minutes later. Laurence was setting up the 3rd row, thinking we were 5, so we decided DH could sit there and we'd all have a window view that way…but the seatbelt was stuck, so Laurence had to pull over and fix the seat. We had torrential downpours on the way to Stonehenge that miraculously cleared up when we got there. Laurence had kindly brought us coffee and biscuits for breakfast, but we decided to wait until after the tour. We had the 8-9am time slot, right before it opens to the public. We took the shuttle to the site, everyone took pics outside and then we were allowed inside the ropes to walk (no touching) amongst the stones.


The tallest Sarsen stone vs my 5' tall child.





Slaughter stone--named only for the rust colored water in the puddles, nothing else.

Laurence pointed out a variety of things you can't see from the walkway, including the axe carvings.

He explained where the stones had come from, what type of stones they are (as a Geology major I was curious about it…the tallest ones are sandstone). He was very knowledgeable and has a degree in Archaeology.
Towards the end of our time it started drizzling.
Stonehenge sheep:

We took the shuttle back, shopped in the store for Stonehenge stuff. I like to get magnets to remember places we visit. I also got myself a Stonehenge bookmark to cross stitch. 23 got earrings. We got a couple other things as well including a nanoblock kit. We had breakfast of biscuits, jaffa cakes, and coffee from the back of the van; then did a quick walk through of the exhibit at Stonehenge.

As we were driving to the next location I pulled my sunglasses out of my bag and discovered that one of the temple pieces broke at a hinge point. Tape would be a good temporary fix...and while I didn't have tape, I had a first aid kit and used a small bandaid to hold the glasses together until I could buy new ones...which took longer than I hoped. (I used my bandaged glasses until the first sea day when the Dream's shops were open all day...and then decided to wear the bandaged ones for hikes vs breaking the new pair )

 

[Geomom]

8/18/23 Southampton–part 2

I apologize for any facts I get wrong…Laurence was extremely knowledgeable, with visual aids…but we were a bit jet lagged, got up early, and didn't absorb as much as we'd like…so any incorrect information is all on me! Next we headed towards Avebury. Stopping at West Kennet Barrow to see the tomb.

An interesting fact is there was a large stone placed in front of the tomb to block the sun. It was placed by the Beaker People.

Laurence pointed out Sillbury Hill which is an artificial chalk mound, used as a beacon for people who were coming to Avebury.



We also stopped at the Sanctuary with markers representing post holes and stone sockets.

Running late for our pub lunch reservation (Laurence called to let them know we would be arriving late), we did a quick stop at Avebury, Laurence pointing out the enormous scope of the site including the avenues leading to it.

 

[Geomom]

8/18/23 Southampton–part 3

My kids had requested animal sightings, so we drove by a farm to see Highland cows, sheep, and piglets.

On our drive we passed Salisbury Cathedral.

We had lunch at the Royal Oak in North Gorley. We were interested in dining in a traditional English Pub.

I had the Pimm's Sundowner

and Homemade Meat Pie (basically chicken pot pie.)

DH had Ginger Beer and Fish and Chips with Mushy Peas.

19 had a pulled pork burger with Apple juice (looked more like our Fall apple cider than American apple juice, but it was good!)

23 had Leek and Sweet Potato Wellington with apple juice.

We drove thru the New Forest on the way back to see the wild ponies. Laurence took B3078 and that route delivered on the animals!
Wild ponies in the road,

donkeys,

and deer that ran across the road. It was like being on a safari.

Laurence returned us to the Moxy around 4pm and we paid up our tab with him. He does incredible tours, tailored to your interests in the area. We highly recommend him/Oldbury Tours! This was a highlight of our trip that DH had been greatly looking forward to and Laurence delivered

 

[Geomom]

8/18/23 Southampton–part 4

After the tour, DH and I walked over to the Coop on Harbour Parade and bought more British treats.

Our haul from the past 2 days;

We decided to just have dinner at the Moxy again, sat in the games area.
We ordered chicken gyoza,veggie gyoza,

Chicken Caesar salad, the charcuterie board, and used our last 2 coupons for the free Moxy naughty (me) and nice (19) cocktails.
Treacle Tart from the Coop

Lemon tart from the Coop

 

[Geomom]

8/19/23 Dream Day 1, Southampton, part 1

I woke up and looked out the window.. it's here, our ship is here!

We decided to just finish any open cookies for breakfast, checked out of the Moxy at 11:30am, and started walking (with our luggage) to the Horizon port terminal (.8 miles)...with a few more complaints from the kids. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had an 11:45AM PAT, and got to port right around then. Checked our luggage, got into line, and waited to be let into the building. They checked our docs, put a wristband on us, and we went thru security. Then waited and waited for boarding group 9 to be called. While waiting , we connected to the app, checked out our dining rotation (RAERAER), checked the show schedules, etc.

We boarded around 12:45pm.

DH stopped at guest services and applied our Disney Visa Rewards $ to our account. We had saved up enough to just about cover all our Disney excursions.

Some random deck 3/4 ship pics






We then went to Animator's Palate for the sit down embarkation lunch.

 

[Geomom]

8/19/23 Dream Day 1, part 2

I had the drink of the day. ($7.25, 18% auto gratuity brought it to $8.56..about $2-$3 cheaper than the regular prices.)

And the Muffaletta Sandwich

19 and 23 had the Beef Empanada.

DH had the sliced smoked salmon

23 had the Leek and potato soup

DH had the Grilled Salmon salad

And 19 had Grilled chicken salad (19 asked as only the salmon is listed.)

For dessert we had cookies and cream cheesecake

Carrot cake (DH and I fed each other a bite as our wedding cake was carrot cake and we were celebrating our 30th anniversary on this trip..a little early, actual date is 10/2.)

And the welcome aboard sundae.

 

[Geomom]

8/19/23 Dream Day 1, part 3
By the time we finished lunch the rooms were ready. So we checked out the room and luggage was delivered minutes later!!! We met our stateroom host Mark from the Philippines (I think...not positive of the country...he was very magical and we didn't often see him, but our room was always taken care of 2x a day.)





Silver Castaway gift (plus the silver Mickey lanyards)

The kids decorated the door. (I can't believe I never took a pic!). Then we started unpacking…and I kicked the kids out of the room because they were in the way and annoying me. The kids apparently went to get soft serve ice cream…and maybe fries. We met up outside of our muster station of the Walt Disney Theater before 4pm. I watched part of the sail away party (back away from people) and not too far from the soft serve…which I helped myself to.

I stopped at Cove Cafe for free pastries to bring back to the room.

Then we all watched the actual sail away from our verandah until it was time to go to 6PM dinner at Royal Palace. On the way to dinner, the kids got their first free charm from White Caps–a ship. (I got 1 too and promptly lost it somewhere along with a hair scrunchie.)

 

[Geomom]

8/19/23 Dream Day 1, part 4

Our serving team was Ricardo from Portugal, Ratna from Indonesia, and head server Aziz from Turkey. We loved Ricardo and Ratna! The best serving team we've had. It was Ricardo's 2nd cruise on the Dream after being on the Wonder for 5 yrs. We got our private table and were seated in the raised center of the room.



Royal Palace served their Main menu tonight.
I had the Imperial Illusion and 19 had the Princess Delight

I had the breaded and deep fried brie (and shared with 19 who was curious about it.)

DH had Gaston's Escargot Gratinee

19 and I had the red wine bosc pear salad.

I had the crispy roasted duck breast (it was not crispy…but I don't eat the skin, and the meat was tasty.)

DH had the oven baked Salmon Royale

19 and 23 had the Chateaubriand.

 

[Geomom]

8/19/23 Dream Day 1, part 5
We got all the desserts…we always get all the desserts…4 people means we can share and try them all…but not the Grand Marnier Souffle…that's all mine!

Apple tarte tatin

Tahitian vanilla creme brulee

Strawberry shortcake sundae

Classic opera gateau

Duo chocolate slice

After dinner we went to the DVC member event, got free cans of water (saved them for excursions), and I had a free alcoholic drink, a shimmering seas sparkling cocktail. And met Stitch!

Then we went to the 8:45PM Golden Mickey's show. We sat in the balcony, which we enjoyed doing on the Fantasy last year…fewer people. After the show we sat near the adult pool, got free olives, cheese, breadsticks from Cove Cafe, and fries/pizza from the quick service area.

Turn down service and first towel art!

 

[Geomom]

8/20/23: Rotterdam, part 1:

The clocks went forward 1 hr overnight. We grabbed some coffee from the beverage station (and noticed that they were running out of tea bags with the large number of Brits on the cruise.). We brought some Cove Cafe pastries back to the room for the kids. Then DH and I went to Royal Palace for a sit down breakfast.
We started with pastries and coffee.

I had a pineapple mango papaya yogurt parfait with passion fruit drizzle,

And a spinach/tomato/onion/cheddar cheese omelet with hash browns and bacon (way too much bacon!)

DH had Smoked salmon

And a power crepe.

We watched the sail into Rotterdam from our verandah. There were people lining the shore to see the maiden visit of a Disney ship and waving at the Dream.

 

[Geomom]

8/20/23: Rotterdam, part 2:

We met for our excursion at the Walt Disney Theater, it left about ½ hr late. (And while we waited the cast members managed to put the women's soccer game on the screen for all the Brits cruising.). We were doing the Delft Pottery Workshop and Delft City from 12-6pm, $149/person. We were each given a water bottle as we boarded the bus due to the hot sunny weather today. Our tour guide was great! She talked about the Netherlands during the drive to Delft.

While on the bus 23 discovered that her refillable water bottle had gotten stuck in the theater cup holder…and the cup holder came with us on the excursion.

We had a tour of the Delft Pottery Museum



The tulip vases became very popular

Each tile was painted by hand, 2 people worked on this, starting at each side and meeting in the middle.


This was discovered behind white bricks during a renovation:

The factory originally made building tiles, and this was the showroom.

 

[Geomom]

8/20/23: Rotterdam, part 3:

Delft Pottery Tour continued




Then we had a painting workshop.

You could pick a tile with a charcoal pattern or make your own using a blue pencil to draw. It was really hard to water down the blue paint to make light blue…I was never successful.

23 and I made our own. 23 designed Stitch and I did the windmill. DH did the butterfly pattern and 19 did the flower pattern. I think 19 was the most successful with making various shades of blue. DH was very frustrated doing his. DH and I were hoping to do the windmill excursion but it sold out before I could book it, so we had decided to just go with 19 and 23 instead. We had some free time to shop or walk thru the museum some more. We bought a couple magnets, an ornament, and a pair of earrings for 23.

Then bought some delicious pastries from their cafe.
19 had Orange cake.

23 had Stroopwaffel cake.

I had a hazelnut pastry.

 

[Geomom]

8/20/23: Rotterdam, part 4

We then drove near Delft center, and walked about 10 minutes to the center. We had 30 minutes of free time, so we walked around and took pics.
The church bells were ringing and as we stared at the bell tower it felt like the church was going to fall on us...nice optical illusion due to the tall tower and the moving clouds.







We met back up with the group, walked back to the bus, and got returned just in time for dinner.

 

[Geomom]

8/20/23: Rotterdam, part 5:

Dinner tonight was at Animator's Palate with the Crush show and the main menu for the restaurant.

I had the Great Reef, 19 had the Bora shake, 23 had the Lava smoothie (non alcoholic drink of the day).

I had the tomato tarte

And arugula leaves

DH had the smoked salmon tartar

23 had baked potato and cheddar soup.

19 had chicken and walnut salad

I had Ginger Teriyaki dusted Angus beef tenderloin

19 had lemon thyme marinated chicken breast

23 had Pennette Bolognese

DH had grilled tuna steak

 

[Geomom]

8/20/23: Rotterdam, part 6:

For desserts we had
Crunchy walnut cake

Cookies and cream sundae

Lemon icebox pie

Apple crumble rice pudding

And chocolate fudge cheesecake

Ratna made the girls fish origami.

After dinner we finally dropped our bags off in our room. We had decided not to watch "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" which was tonight's entertainment in the Walt Disney theater. 23 was hoping to go to the late night adult only juggling show…laid down on her bed and fell asleep…and stayed asleep until morning.

DH, 19, and I decided to go to the deck 4 promenade and watch the sail out of Rotterdam at 8PM. The ship backed up for a long time…at least 45 minutes, before we could turn around to go forward.