let's go cruising

So, yes. I, over two years out still, can we do the Mousa Island Hike AND see Sumburgh Head?

It is my dream.

We are booked on this cruise as well!

Has anyone seen puffins in June on this cruise itinerary?

Our BIE isn't until June 2026. 😞 What excursion advice does anyone have for active people who do NOT like bus tours. A bus to get you to a great place is ok, but not seeing everything from a bus as you drive by. Thanks!

Hi! We are booked on Carnival Horizon December 21, 2024 and are scheduled to be on Aruba on Christmas Eve. Does anyone have experience of what is open/closed on Christmas Eve? Thanks!

Hi! We just got a Chase Sapphire and I've very interested in the Travel Insurance it comes with. In 2023, we had a claim with our travel insurance because our flights were delayed (not by weather) so that we missed our cruise. Everything worked out in the end, but reading the coverage on Chase Sapphire, this would NOT have been covered. Is it possible to buy supplemental coverage for just the things our Chase Sapphire doesn't cover? I've been careful to have insurance and don't want to have a VERY expensive mistake. Thank you!

Any updates after December 26, 2023? We’re going to be there that day in 2024.

I thought this WAS the ports forum.

I sailed on Carnival Pride June 10, 2023 to the Norwegian Fjords. Where are the ports for Azamara? We went: Bergen, Alesund, Molde, Olden, Skjolden, Haugesund. Olden was EVERYONE'S favorite. We had sea days going to and from London. None in between. It was tiring. It was VERY beautiful. We enjoy hiking, so we hiked everywhere except for Haugesund. This was the smallest ship we've ever taken. I think it's about 2000 passengers. I would love to try Azamara for the Mediterranean because I feel like getting into the smaller ports would be much better there. Renee

Thank you for your kind reply. I will follow your advice. PS I fixed my signature.

I don't have a "good" travel agent. I have also never asked TA's to compete. I don't even know how to start.

That is a very good itinerary. I teach elementary school, so I'm looking for just after school finishes, however.

Hello! We have cruised several times in the Caribbean; once in the Mediterranean and most recently to Norway. I am looking at booking a cruise to Greece in 2025. We would like to cruise in June and would also like to visit Italy a little bit. We have cruised on Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. I am attracted to Azamara because of the size of the ship. Our most recent cruise was Norway on Carnival Pride. What advice does anyone have on booking on Azamara? It does not look like the June 2025 cruises have been announced yet, so I have time to get prepared. Thank you so much!

I am American, and our credit cards aren't as advanced as the Canadians or Europeans. We have a chip, but the readers in the UK preferred to tap. The subway readers could ONLY tap. We were able to use our credit card in stores and restaurants, but they would not have worked for the subway. We absolutely could have gotten an Oyster card when we got to Heathrow, but I had too much to think about already. The cost to have them sent was worth the convenience for me. I wish I had gotten a credit card I could use to tap before we went.

We found out that our credit cards wouldn't have worked with the readers. The Oyster cards worked great for us!

Again, I posted this report on the port in the Northern Europe posts forum. Trip report for Haugesund, Norway, June 16, 2023 Sunny and about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Breezy along the water. This was the final port out of 6. There were no sea days between ports, so we were tired. Our plan was to walk the trail along the coast. When we arrived in port, we saw that the ship was docked on an island. I'm not sure how far you have to walk to get off the island and into the city center. Carnival had transportation available when we got off the ship. There were several options. We chose a bus that cost 70 kr each roundtrip to the Information center. That saved us a lot of walking along he 100% sunny road. We decided that we did not want to have to walk 4 miles round trip to get the the 3 1/2 mile coast road trail that day. Other people did do that walk and enjoyed it. Instead, we walked around the City. There was a map available at the Information Center. There was a nice pedestrian area there too. The issue was that the only open WC in the area was at the City Library, so we didn't travel far from there. We did end up walking 3 1/2 miles around town. This might have been a better day for a bus tour.

Trip report for Haugesund, Norway, June 16, 2023 Sunny and about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Breezy along the water. This was the final port out of 6. There were no sea days between ports, so we were tired. Our plan was to walk the trail along the coast. When we arrived in port, we saw that the ship was docked on an island. I'm not sure how far you have to walk to get off the island and into the city center. Carnival had transportation available when we got off the ship. There were several options. We chose a bus that cost 70 kr each roundtrip to the Information center. That saved us a lot of walking along he 100% sunny road. We decided that we did not want to have to walk 4 miles round trip to get the the 3 1/2 mile coast road trail that day. Other people did do that walk and enjoyed it. Instead, we walked around the City. There was a map available at the Information Center. There was a nice pedestrian area there too. The issue was that the only open WC in the area was at the City Library, so we didn't travel far from there. We did end up walking 3 1/2 miles around town. This might have been a better day for a bus tour.

I thought I had what I needed from Google Maps, but I just didn't. The leather good store was around here: Bellgården 1, Jacobsfjorden 6, 7 D, 5003 Bergen, Norway

The service was good everywhere. I have never been on the Pride before, so I don't know how it used to look. I only went in my cabin, so I don't know have they all were. I took a video of our cabin. I'll try to post it.

10:30 is the earliest I heard of. The menus were the same people have posted elsewhere. The thing that surprised me was that there were no items special to the ports like they do in the Caribbean.

I posted this in the port forum as well. Bergen trip report from June 11, 2023. The weather was sunny and about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. We were on the Carnival Pride. Our plan was to walk to the funicular and ride it up, walk around and ride it back down. Then, we planned to walk to Bryggen before walking back to the ship. Another ship, Viking I think it was, was docked near Bryggen at the Bergen Harbor. The Pride was docked at the Bergen and Omland Port Authority. That was some distance away. That is I expected that when we debarked, there would be road signs pointing us toward the City Center, Funicular, Mt. Floyen and/or Bryggen. The reality is that we struggled with directions. We walked some distance up hills before we could see Bryggen to try to orient ourselves, but we needed to use our data to bring up a map to locate the Funicular. We did make it over to the Funicular and rode it up quickly. It cost 170 kr each for one-way. We then walked to the lake and then followed some trails at the top of the mountain for about 2 miles. We found our way up to the Commune where we ate the lunch we brought with us. The older man manning the Commune building recommended that we take a short-cut back down. The short-cut worked great. We then took the Funicular back down and then walked over to Bryggen. We expected nothing to be open because it was Sunday, but many stores and cafes were open. There was a market selling fish too. The shopping in Bryggen was the best of the cruise. There were several sweater shops and even a shop selling hand-made moose-leather items. I wish I had bought things there, because I never had any other opportunities as good. What I learned: I wish I had a better map before we started. The walk on top of Mt. Floyen was wonderful. I'm glad we did it. We should have brought shorts on our cruise. I wish we had shopped in Bryggen.

The one we bought said that it was TSA approved on the side. It, of course, didn't have a blade. The agents really liked it. It was in a bag on the way TO London, and they pulled the bag to check it. We smartened up on the way home and just put it in the bowl. The agent showed it to his coworkers because he liked it. No problems.

Bergen trip report from June 11, 2023. The weather was sunny and about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. We were on the Carnival Pride. Our plan was to walk to the funicular and ride it up, walk around and ride it back down. Then, we planned to walk to Bryggen before walking back to the ship. Another ship, Viking I think it was, was docked near Bryggen at the Bergen Harbor. The Pride was docked at the Bergen and Omland Port Authority. That was some distance away. That is I expected that when we debarked, there would be road signs pointing us toward the City Center, Funicular, Mt. Floyen and/or Bryggen. The reality is that we struggled with directions. We walked some distance up hills before we could see Bryggen to try to orient ourselves, but we needed to use our data to bring up a map to locate the Funicular. We did make it over to the Funicular and rode it up quickly. It cost 170 kr each for one-way. We then walked to the lake and then followed some trails at the top of the mountain for about 2 miles. We found our way up to the Commune where we ate the lunch we brought with us. The older man manning the Commune building recommended that we take a short-cut back down. The short-cut worked great. We then took the Funicular back down and then walked over to Bryggen. We expected nothing to be open because it was Sunday, but many stores and cafes were open. There was a market selling fish too. The shopping in Bryggen was the best of the cruise. There were several sweater shops and even a shop selling hand-made moose-leather items. I wish I had bought things there, because I never had any other opportunities as good. What I learned: I wish I had a better map before we started. The walk on top of Mt. Floyen was wonderful. I'm glad we did it. We should have brought shorts on our cruise. I wish we had shopped in Bryggen.

We brought this with us too. We only brought carryon luggage. I recommend when you fly with it, you should put it in a bowl with your keys/phone. If it is packed in your bag, they will set your things aside to check on the corkscrew. If you set it out for them to check, you will breeze right through security. https://www.amazon.com/Compliant-Corkscrew-Bottle-Opener-Stainless/dp/B0BQJTR6NS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1JCBL1VRAKUD7&keywords=tsa+approved+corkscrew&qid=1687194337&sprefix=tsa+approved+cork%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1