Capt_BJ

nothing ruins an early try at snorkeling like a mask that doesn't fit well ....

our VO cruise last July had a M&M and 'someone' had taken the initiative to coordinate and collected name via Roll Call ..... VO host just like pre-covid

there is a WIDE range of price in the 'drink package' across various lines. On my current preferred line it is $25 per day .... last time I sailed RCCL when it went 'on sale' at a reduced price it was $65 per day . . . 😬

verified

this pretty much shows everything in FLAM ... at the top of the mountain is the train station (connect to Bergen <> Oslo) and that's it ... On the Flam railway is one ski resort near the top and a zipline attraction. One popular activity is to take the train up then bike DOWN which can be combined with the zip ... but the bike ride is not ALL on roads so be aware . . .

I just ran it for UBERXL and get $109 .... Terminal 1 to Contemporary ..

where are you going when you get off? Straight to the airport <probably not as you'd not need bag storage!> airport same day but time to kill <no good idea from me on this one> hotel for an 'extension' but too early to check in: our hotel took our bags and held them while we went out and explored .... came back, claimed our bags while checking in and all happy happy. different answers for these situations . . . in general I'm not aware of a storage option at the port or near by save a hotel that would hold your bags ... a booked tour MIGHT have space to carry your bags but I rate that as LOW probability and would VERIFY ahead of time and STILL be dubious . . .

we did this picked up and returned to our hotel <FOSS> restrooms were available at every stop and food at least 3 times available for purchase . .

editorial comment. our cruise ended in Rey' last July and we extended for a couple of days and booked a 'Golden Circle' on our own. This may be obvious to you but I found that 'Golden Circle' can still have a lot of variations not only in the type of transportation but the places visited. Our tour vehicle was a large tourist van sort of thing with maybe 16 total folks .... "small group" in addition to the standard Golden Circle sites of the geysers, water falls, rift we stopped at Secret Lagoon, a smaller thermal pool area were a swim was included in the tare. So shop around .... they are NOT all the same . . .

we had one rolling bag and small back pack each. Kept our bags with us ... there were racks on the train but everything stayed in sight. Bought tickets from the machines with a tap VISA

we did this last July encountered no 'serious' seas .... but I may not be a fair judge . . . I patrolled the Bering Sea for a while .... summer and winter ...

I'd pick FLAM for the train ..... been to most place mentioned ... Flam train Flam with no cruise ship<s> But then again I'd not pick a Norway cruise with begin / end in South' ... 2018 we did return as Bergen Flam <over nite> Oslo via train/bus/ferry/train/train <Norway in a Nutshell> 2023

we took the train and did a similar walk .... it is totally flat. Only problem I had was getting my bearings for directions. And a wee bit of traffic in immediate vicinity of the station . . Hint, use google maps or earth and 'street view' ... you can 'walk' your entire route virtually!!!

cuz the port is SMACK downtown in a big city ....... when Norfolk was trying to establish a cruise port the problem was NO PARKING AVAILABLE as the pier is smack down town. how's the parking around port of New York? On the other hand a place like Canaveral is a sleepy tourist town OTHER than the port ..... which is not to say parking is free ... but there are a BUNCH of off site parking options which don't exist in Miami, Lauderdale, Tampa .....

park off site ... this is a better option in Canav' then many other ports ...... there are several options less than 10 minutes from the terminal. They are building some new garages at the port ... and this tends to screw up the parking .....

when the 'Schengen Area' came into being in 1995 it eliminated the need for individual passport inspections when crossing boarders of individual member countries. One simply gets 'Schengen' entry stamp and until you visit outside of Schengen (like the UK) you're good ... no country stamps .... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area ...... Editorial comment: find a better way to document your travels ..... a 'false stamp' in your passport can be a problem :: "a 59-year-old woman from the United Kingdom, thinks of herself as a well-traveled person. And really, she’s got the ticket stubs and passport stamps to prove it. However, as she recently learned while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight in Thailand, some of those stamps can really get you in trouble. “An excited traveler, I presented myself and my passport at Qatar airways last night to be told I couldn't fly because of the Machu Picchu stamp in my passport,” Sibley shared in a Facebook post. “I thought the guy was having a laugh. But no.” On page five of each and every U.S. passport international travelers will find that “Alteration or Mutilation of Passport,” is unauthorized and “only authorized officials of the United States or of foreign countries may place stamps or make notations or additions to this passport.”

there was a time we sailed Princess but today Viking is our line of choice ... once you sail smaller ship it is hard to go back to BIG ... We've done it to join family but when it is just use, Viking Ocean or River or Windstar sailing

I watch 'em from my pool ....

given the average age of a VO pass' <and no kids> despite having a room adjacent to the elevators I have NEVER been wakened by them ... and I am a VERY light sleeper . . .

as recent as 200 years ago lobster was fed to prison inmates ...... considered a cheap food

Was that included in the „complimentary inclusive wines, beers and soft drinks at mealtimes“? We've cruised both ocean and river and experienced differences 'tween BUT in every case the 'included wine' was a choice of the day - a red and a white - but ONLY that one and not anything from the wine list. On our river cruise the included beer was the 'tap' beer which was Carlsberg as I recall. On subsequent ocean trips it appeared they would provide any beer they had (can) at lunch/dinner under 'included'. At both meals on both o and r at lunch and dinner no charge for coke, coke sugar free, <sometimes 'zero' some times the EU product of Diet Coke ...> can not comment beyond other to say they have ice tea which I always take unsweetened

Did this cruise last July. We were scheduled to tender but at last minute the port changed us to the floating dock which had the impact of actually slowing us down so far as getting off as SATURN had never used this dock and was all set up to tender so there was some regroup actions required as they figured out how to park and connect to the pier (floating pier ...) . . . Not our first time to this port in prior visits my perception/observation was the largest ship got the floating pier . . . We were not the only ship last July but sizes were similar. We were the first ship to arrive that day ... July 2018 .. VIKING is 'anchored' <actually a fixed mooring buoy> and tendering .... less than a mile ride ....

binoculars are a primary tool for the bridge watch on a Coast Guard Cutter. When I was a CO this was the 'standard' https://www.steiner-optics.com/binoculars/military-marine-7x50

as I recall we met some folks at grills on mother's day a couple of years ago ... maybe it was some other holiday but it was a Sunday. They don't do reservations so we put our name on a list. It was a good 40 minutes but we were a a group of seven . . .