Hello from Oslo!
I tried to post last night, but nothing was working. It's fine this morning. We pulled into port at about 6:30 and it's just an incredible morning. The sky is clear and the forecasted high is 73. We're right in front of Akerhaus (sp?) castle and fortress, and City Hall is just down the road, where the ferry docks are to go to the ship museums. Really close, looks like a pretty short walk. We're doing Oslo on our own, so I'll report on that later on.
Yesterday was just a terrific day. The DDs didn't wake up until 2:15, and that was just because we woke them. DH and I went to the DVC meet at 1 pm, which was a lot of fun. The discounts to buy more points are really good, so we're thinking about it. Also special discounts on buying in early for the new resort in Hawaii. I had a seaweed wrap and 1/2 body massage in the spa at 3 (ahhhhhhhhhhhh) and DH and the girls went to see Up. The show was Twice Charmed, and it was formal night, so we did our pictures with Captain John and had a very good dinner in Animator's Palate. DH and DD 12 had the lamb, which looked really good. I heartily recommend the banana bread pudding for dessert.
The adult show last night was the magician, Jason Bishop. It was PACKED in Rockin Bar D, and we wound up in Diversions, where they did a video feed of the show. That was full too. He's really impressive.
Let me try to answer some questions: I think the ship is pretty full but not sold out. Some people on our meet thread upgraded, so there was room. Looks like fewer younger kids than usual and a lot more older kids, including what looks to me like large groups of people in their late teens and early 20s, which I don't remember seeing that much on the regular cruises.
I saw TDC Nala yesterday, and her toe was much better. She said she was taking lots of food porn pictures.
No Weetabix in the cereal selection, at least as far as I could tell this morning.
A word on formal night because I know people have been asking about clothing. We saw every range of dress code, from full-on formal to pretty casual. But we all felt that, on balance, people were more dressed up than they had been on our Western. There were a lot of women in full, floor length gowns, some pretty spectacular ones, actually. It was striking. Lots of tuxedos, including DH (who I thought looked very dashing). So anything goes, but if you feel like dressing up, you'll be in good company.
I have to mention the sun, because it's so amazing. When we left dinner at about 10:15 last night, the sun was still up over the horizon. After the magic show, the sky was turning pink. We deliberately left the blinds open while we slept, and I am pretty sure that it never got completely dark. I think sunrise was at a little after 4. My system is pretty confused, and we didn't really sleep that well last night -- probably still working through the jet lag. Still, it's very, very cool. We are really far north.
DH and I were up at around 5:30, in time to see part of the trip in through the fjords. It's just spectacular. We got coffee at Cove Cafe and then went over to Topsiders for breakfast. The DDs ordered room service so they could sleep a little later (they are next door -- we have 2 connecting Category 6s). Our plan is to get off the boat pretty early, pick up our Oslo Passes and head over to the ferry. I'll try to check in again before we pull out of port, as the internet connection seems pretty good from here.
maybe I do that next month 
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