Trip Report - July 18 - August 1, 2015 Ocean Princess to Scotland, Iceland & Norway

I’d like to start with a cruise A-Z to summarize this 14-night cruise with its pros & cons: adventurous (lava field off-roading), breathtaking (fjords), compact (ship), dandy (Princess dancers & singers), expensive (everything in every port), fabulous (Ocean Princess Library), gorgeous (turf houses & Grieg Museum), horrendous (excursions’ itineraries), incredible (glaciers), jovial (ship staff), kind (CC buddies), luxurious (free mini-bar, WIFI & laundry for elite guests), memorable (cruise experience), notable (our dining room waiter Dennis), overcast (11 out of 14 days), picturesque (scenery), quaint (little towns), rip-off (Princess shore excursions), spectacular (waterfalls), terrific (mud pools & hot springs), unprofessional (Princess “tour expert” & some tour guides), venturous (climbing & hiking), well-pampered (elite status), x-tra relaxing (Myvatn Nature Baths, Princess Lotus Spa), yippee (3 sightings of puffins in Scotland & Iceland) and zealous (captain). This was truly a relaxing trip loaded with magnificent views, even though the shore excursions were totally disappointing, some entertainers were worse than amateurs (except the Princess dancers and singers who were wonderful performers in such a small space with no stage & poor lighting) & food was just average! I must admit, our elite status and spacious mini-suite helped tremendously to a more enjoyable cruising experience on such a small ship.

July 17, 2015 – Toronto to London to Canterbury (Pre-cruise)

Our 7 hours’ flight from Toronto to London arrived LHR at 9 am. At 10 am we were at the Enterprise car rental counter in the arrival hall to pick up the car we reserved (Large Compact (Class D) £85 for 2 days – pick up at London Heathrow & return in Dover). At 10:40 we drove the car out of the Enterprise carpark…very efficient and highly personalized service! An unusually sunny sky awaited us so we were very glad to get a free upgrade to a Fiat 500 with a panoramic sunroof.

We had to lower down the back of one rear passenger seat to accommodate all our luggage (2 big suitcases, 2 carry-ons & 2 backpacks).

The drive to Canterbury was amazingly smooth for London traffic.

DH was so happy to drive a manual car again after 8 years! To drive on the other side of the road was not a scary driving experience for him as we both got our driver’s licenses when we were studying in University of London, England.

Canterbury City Walls were founded in Roman times, probably between 270-280 AD, rebuilt in the 14th century

As soon as we arrived at Canterbury, we first went to the train station to buy a 2-Together Railcard (£30 for 1 year) to get 1/3 off train fares and London travelcards. In order to get the photocard that goes with the railcard, I brought from home a 1” x 1½” passport sized photo for each of us to stick on the card. (For those who have no photos, I would suggest cutting it out from the photocopy of your passport, something that you should always carry with you while travelling abroad). We then checked in at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge (£135 per night for room & breakfast, with free parking on cathedral grounds and complimentary unlimited entries to the cathedral during our stay).

All rooms of the Lodge had fabulous views of the cathedral. The twin room (with beds pushed together to make a queen) was more spacious than the double room. Beautiful bay windows with comfy seats were perfect for enjoying the cathedral views both day & night.

Nice!! :)

Nice!! :)

You are so fast!

Sightseeing started at 2:30 pm. First we went on the Canterbury Historic River Tours on Kings Bridge by the Old Weavers Restaurant (5 minutes’ walk from the Cathedral, £9 per person). It was a very informative & relaxing 40-min boat tour.

Then we walked along High Street and visited the Cathedral.

We had an early dinner at 5 pm at Deeson’s (Cathedral Lodge guests got 10% off), delicious British food! We were lucky to find a table without reservation. It was packed when we left after dinner. As it was almost midnight N. American time, we went back to the Lodge to take a nap before getting some night shots of the cathedral.

We had an early dinner at 5 pm at Deeson’s (Cathedral Lodge guests got 10% off), delicious British food! We were lucky to find a table without reservation. It was packed when we left after dinner. As it was almost midnight N. American time, we went back to the Lodge to take a nap before getting some night shots of the cathedral.

Enjoying your report.

England is 5 hours ahead of Toronto time, so midnight in Toronto would be at 5 AM in England.

That must have been a very long meal.

Enjoying your report.

 

England is 5 hours ahead of Toronto time, so midnight in Toronto would be at 5 AM in England.

 

That must have been a very long meal.

After a 7-hr red eye flight & a day of driving and sightseeing, our body clock told us it's midnight! Hahaha!

Looking forward to your review and will have this thread bookmarked since we're taking this cruise in 2016.

Thanks!!

Thanks for your review. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it. Along with Michael, we shall be on this cruise next year, so your review is likely to be very useful to us.

As I type this, I'm at my son's house near Canterbury. It is indeed a wonderful and interesting city. Its proximity to Dover makes it an ideal place to visit before or after a cruise from that port.

Thanks for posting. Your pictures are terrific.

OH YAY! Thanks in advance for your review. Can't wait to get started!

Thanks for your review. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it. Along with Michael, we shall be on this cruise next year, so your review is likely to be very useful to us.

As I type this, I'm at my son's house near Canterbury. It is indeed a wonderful and interesting city. Its proximity to Dover makes it an ideal place to visit before or after a cruise from that port.

Looking forward to your review and will have this thread bookmarked since we're taking this cruise in 2016.

 

Thanks!!

You are so lucky to be close to Canterbury. It's indeed a beautiful town. We've been to Dover many times but never went to Canterbury.

Hope my review will be helpful to you. I did spend a lot of time looking for information about the ports and private excursions. Basically, other than Akureyri and Reykjavik, there was no private tour available or the companies would charge a lot. Although I never liked ship excursions, I had to book them, or take a chance to form some groups on the ship and get a taxi tour.

Don't hesitate to ask me if there is anything you'd like to know after reading my review. I am a teacher so I still have 2 weeks before school to finish it. Be patient! I'm getting there.

Marina

Thanks for posting. Your pictures are terrific.

DH likes photography. That's why we chose to go to Iceland & Norway. He had to stop for at least 15 minutes at each "famous" waterfall to take pictures with his tripod.

OH YAY! Thanks in advance for your review. Can't wait to get started!

Thanks for reading my review! Will you be going there?

Thanks for sharing this with us.

I am looking forward to seeing one of my favorite ships again and for this less-traveled itinerary to open up before my eyes.

Thanks for the photographs!

Norris

July 18, 2015 – Canterbury to Dover (Day of Embarkation)

Another sunny day greeted us on our 28th anniversary!

After a yummy English breakfast at the Cathedral Lodge, we checked out & started to drive to Dover Castle.

The drive was supposed to be 40 minutes long but we were stuck on the highway for 1.5 hours, with trucks and cars blocking even the roundabouts!! It was the strike on the French side that caused the problem as the trucks were not able to board the Dover ferries to cross the English Channel to France. We had no choice but to cancel the visit to Dover Castle since we didn’t want to miss the cruise! We drove directly to the port where Ocean Princess docked & dropped off our luggage, then got out of the port to fill up the car before returning it to the Enterprise office right opposite the port.

Do allow extra time when returning the car as the road might be closed to make an opening for the boat to pass by.

View of Dover Castle from the Enterprise Parking lot.

Free shuttle was there to take us back to the port. The journey was only 5 minutes by car but it would take more than half an hour if we had to walk. That’s why dropping the bags off first before returning the car would make things easier…just in case we had to walk when there was no shuttles available! Sometimes there was only one person in the office. That one person had to lock up the office to drive us to the port. Excellent service! The rep there used our car that we just returned to drive us back. The picture shows the entrance of the Enterprise Car Park.

Yay! So excited to get on the ship!

Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

I am looking forward to seeing one of my favorite ships again and for this less-traveled itinerary to open up before my eyes.

 

Thanks for the photographs!

 

Norris

You must be sad to see it go next March! Sail her again when she becomes Oceania.

Embarkation couldn’t be easier as there were only a few guests at the arrival hall at 1:10 pm. We were on the ship in 10 minutes. As the dining room closed for lunch at 1:30 pm, we went to eat in the Panorama Buffet. Food was really just average with nothing interesting. Then we went to the spa to book our treatments.

Our bags arrived as we entered our mini-suite #8010 after lunch.

Our stateroom attendant, Ricky, was awesome and he decorated our room with anniversary balloons, poster & brought us fresh fruit.

Our spacious balcony was 3 sliding doors wide.

We could use the balcony only when the weather was not too cold or wet, about 2/3 of the days were OK to sit outside, having a drink or two and enjoy the beautiful scenery when we left the ports. Thanks to the captain that he always left earlier than the set departure time, as soon as all guests were on board, he would set sail. Big kudos to him so we could always enjoy the beautiful scenery before going to dinner at 5:45 pm (1st seating). The 8 pm seating was just too late for us.

We could see the legendary white cliffs of Dover.

It’s important to have a room on the Port side of the ship (left looking to the front of the ship) for this cruise.

Wonderful!

Wonderful!

Thank you!

Gprgepis pictures!

Yeah!! What ever Tracie said! :D

Really enjoying it. ;)

One of the many perks being elite was the free mini-bar ($73.4 if ordered separately). Lots of non-elite members have always been wondering what it includes. Here is a picture of the alcohol products in 50ml miniature bottles that DH really enjoyed (Courvoisier V.S., Beefeater Gin, Skyy Vodka & Dewar's Scotch Whisky).

These were in the fridge: 2 bottles of Perrier, 2 bottled water, 2 cans of Coke, 2 cans of Sprite, 2 cans of Tonic Water & 2 bottles of Dos Equis Beer. I called room service to switch to those I liked.

As we couldn’t pre-book any specialty dining ahead of time, we went to Sabatini’s to book a table for our anniversary. Only Sabatini’s was open that night as Ocean Princess never had both specialty restaurants opened for dinner at the same time during our sailing. They alternated every 2 nights so if one was for dinner then the other one would be the Elite & Suite Lounge for pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres between 5 & 7 pm. In my opinion, the Happy Hours would be happier if free alcoholic drinks were offered like RCI & Celebrity.

We then went to explore the ship.

My favourite spot was definitely the library, which was huge in proportion to the size of the ship. The ceiling was especially attractive!

Gprgepis pictures!

I have to give credits to DH for providing the gorgeous pictures...in whatever way you view them.

We were informed by the Captain that due to bad weather he had to switch our two Scotland ports around so we could enjoy the ports safely with better weather. Huge kudos to the Captain although we had to go crazy trying to switch things around the very last minute. Lesson learned: NEVER book anything that is non-refundable or non-changeable when you are on a cruise. I had to use my phone while on the ship to call the car companies to see if we could get our reserved cars on different dates. It was very frustrated as no one answered the phone on a Saturday afternoon so we had to send emails to confirm. Good job DH & I each had 250 free minutes on the Internet as elite members. We were so relieved that both car companies in Scrabster & Lerwick got what we reserved on different dates. I highly recommend both companies: William Dunnet & Co. in Scrabster (you need a European driver’s license to rent from there) and Bolts Car Hire (Avis) in Lerwick (N. American license was fine there since it’s an Avis Affiliate).

Dinner at Sabatini’s was a bit better than the dining room and it’s just slightly above average. I would say it’s what I expect the dining room food should be like. Anyway, Princess’ food never appeals to us and we just eat in their specialty restaurants to get better food and not to get any specialties. It’s never like the specialty restaurants onboard RCI’s Oasis & Allure or Celebrity’s, not to mention the 6-star Crystal, where every meal was like a special meal (we got lobster tails delivered to our penthouse EVERY afternoon for snacks…how luxurious!!).

Do you call these special?

The sunset was absolutely beautiful that evening, and that’s the only beautiful sunset that’s worth taking pictures of in the entire cruise.

Anniversary treats awaited us in our stateroom, plus the 2 buckets of beer we purchased online.

After spending 10 minutes on the slots in the casino, we were told that it’s time for our last drink orders at 10:50 pm. Are you kidding me? Our night life had just started. Well, I guessed we would have a healthier lifestyle on board the Ocean Princess by going to bed before midnight EVERY DAY.

Enjoyed your review. I was on the Ocean August 9.