Inaugural Norway Fjord Cruise 6.6.15 with new pics

[SwimMom2]

The Magic in Gerainger. This was taken from halfway up the stairs to the viewpoint walkable from town.

DS 9 and I did the RIB Boat excursion here...spectacular. You will see the Seven Sisters, the Suitor, plus several other waterfalls and tiny cliffside farms. Such a great deal, too. DS 3 and DH did the Hadaelstra Mountain Farm port adventure, which got high marks. They brought back the most amazing bruntost caramel. They also visited the 2 viewpoints that the HOHO bus visited. They are also stunning, but you will not be disappointed if you only have time for the walking viewpoint. The Eagle Road stop is a much different, higher vantage point. On my next trip to Gerainger I am going to spring for the helicopter tour. Did not think it would be worth it with a 3 year old, but I bet this is the best way to take in the views. And take them in you must...this is why you are in Gerainger.

As far as shopping, Gerainger was the easiest port for tourist shopping. We bought our chocolate here. We got better chocolate at a shop in Osterbro back in Copenhagen, but still it's worth a few kroner.

The Magic was the only ship that had a floating dock (no tender! woohoo!). This rather justifies the Disney price premium IMO. We always had the best slip for a ship our size.

 

[SwimMom2]

The aforementioned floating dock; pic taken from our verandah. I spent a lot of time out there...

 

[SwimMom2]

Olaf chilling in a porthole seat in After Hours (during the day- no rules broken!). This is why I booked an 8A for our Fantasy Eastern cruise in '16. I think my kiddos actually preferred the portholes. They asked to relax in them several times. My 9 year old actually took a book there and read for like an hour of his own free will. He likes to read but usually not on vacation.

 

[SwimMom2]

View of the Suitor from our verandah (again...). The dark part at the top is supposed to be the bottle from which he is drinking after getting rejected by all 7 sisters.

ETA: Wait, this is not the Suitor; a random unnamed waterfall. I will leave the story up there for those of you who see the suitor. It was port side on our way out; this was taken from our verandah, starboard, but it is not the Seven Sisters.

 

[SwimMom2]

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Good morning Bergen!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

She was marvelous and could tell she was passionate about her playing, but how does she play in those heals!

 

[SwimMom2]

In the morning, we visited Rosencrantz Tower together. This was so fun as a family; without my kids I probably would have spent less than 3 hours there. With them, we were busy playing Knights and Ladies for ages. It rather ate up our whole morning. When I am an old lady I will remember this morning in vivid detail.

Bergen is probably the best port in which to do your own thing, regardless of your party's composition. If you can walk faster than a 36 inch tall Olaf who keeps getting stopped by random cruise passengers for pictures, you can walk to the fiske market (I envy you!), the Aquarium, and countless other treasures that did not tempt me given present company. As it was, we saw the tower, the neighboring Hall (Hosen's Hall), and the Bryygen Museum. Ask for a coupon at the first of these and you will get 50% off your admission to the others and a dozen other locations that we did not have time to visit. Must more economical than a Bergen Card for cruise passengers.

 

[SwimMom2]

We are not in Epcot anymore! Bryggen!!! We got a Norwegian cinnamon roll here. 3 and I were on our own at this point as DS9 and DH had returned to the ship for their port adventure to Grieg's home. 3 and I wandered around Bergen on our own for a little over 2 hours. This was also where I did my shopping...a Norwegian sweater for my mom, a t-shirt for my dad, and 2 stuffed animals for my boys. It was a chain tourist shop but had a nice inventory of authentic sweaters and made it easy to get your VAT refunded once on the ship, if you are not a local. I didn't quite catch the exact requirements other than that I qualified. Olaf is really outgoing and loved to hijack the conversations I had with tellers.

 

[SwimMom2]

A reconstruction of a Viking ship, 11th-12th centuries, Bryggen Museum. If you can't make it to the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum in Denmark, this is a nice miniature version. They also have a lovely permanent exhibit on this time period in Bryggen, including excavations of the oldest tenements in Bryggen. There is a modern rotating exhibit upstairs:

Olaf and I had a talk about walking very slowly in here. This is all cut paper art. Amazing.

 

[SwimMom2]

Olaf and I walked up to Mariakirken, which was in the neighborhood. It was closed for restoration but we still walked around the outside. Stunning.

At this point, Olaf was getting into that quasi-hyper, nap denial state. As I wanted him to walk back to the ship under his own power, we headed back at this point. An adult could probably do this walk in 3 minutes. I think it took us 20.

 

[SwimMom2]

When we got back to the ship, Olaf insisted on ice cream. Hard to argue when it's only one deck up.

 

[SwimMom2]

YoooHooo! Family! Oaken's Cousins had a maypole dancing party shortly after all-aboard time. DS 9 and I went. Olaf passed out in the stateroom at this point, so DH stayed with him while DS 9 and I went to the party. So fun!

This night was Freezing the Night Away. DH had to order room service because Olaf was still sleeping. This was the only night that DS 9 and I went to dinner without them. I did not discourage this as I knew Olaf would not want to miss the party at 10:15. The most useful aspect of traveling halfway around the world with a preschooler is that his sleeping was entirely thrown off. At home, I can't ever get him to be awake at 9, let alone 10:15. It worked and we made it to the party. It was a blast. If I did not have children, I would have skipped it. With children, it was totally worth blowing bedtime.

 

[SwimMom2]

I will always remember Freezing the Night Away as the night DS 9 said he liked liver pate. At times the effort to incorporate local ingredients seemed more authentic than others. I actually liked the menu, but I love smorrebrod, salmon, and anything with berries.

Worth noting: at Bergen, before we departed, a local marching band played for us. This happened at other ports, too, but I recorded it from our verandah in Bergen. Oh dear verandah, how I do love thee...

It really did seem like Norway in general was beyond thrilled to have the Magic visit. I felt like they rolled out the red carpet for us in a big way.

 

[HookedonMagic]

It really did seem like Norway in general was beyond thrilled to have the Magic visit. I felt like they rolled out the red carpet for us in a big way.

And we onboard the Magic were thrilled to visit Norway! A country of beautiful people and breathtaking scenery.

Your pictures are awesome. And little Olaf is adorable! Thanks for sharing. Your report is a joy to read.

 

[Chirple]

Your pictures are inspiring. I need to book a Norway cruise. Love Olaf popping up in the photos! Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[SwimMom2]

Yes you do, Chirple. Norway and Denmark are amazing. This was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime, but now there is talk of 'next time we go to Copenhagen...'

 

[Chirple]

After our 4 days in Copenhagen, I loved it so much that I told my husband I could move there. Definitely on the short list for a return visit.

 

[elena_n2o]

Just finished catching up on your report. I love your pictures!

 

[Alohagirl73]

Another terrific report. Love Olaf. He's darling especially with his ice cream (my DD loved getting her ice cream on our cruise). Great pictures. Adding Norway to the bucket list.

 

[SwimMom2]

After our 4 days in Copenhagen, I loved it so much that I told my husband I could move there. Definitely on the short list for a return visit.

Copenhagen is fabulous- we are going back too someday.

Just finished catching up on your report. I love your pictures!

Thank you so much! I confess these are some of the pics from my phone. We took 3K pics with our camera. Such a picturesque location!