Goldenagetravellers

We are on the 2023 Christmas and New Year Victoria cruise to the Canaries.  We have holidayed in Lisbon before, and were thinking of taking the Castries excursion (I cannot cope with much walking for the Castles tours) but if there is a shuttle into Lisbon, it looks like it might be very pleasant just walking around and stopping at cafe's when walking defeats me.

On 12/8/2022 at 4:47 PM, LadyL1 said:

 

We arrived in Lisbon around 8.00am this morning, and fortunately the ship did not turn ready for departure so we have had the December sun on the balcony for most of the day. A pleasant surprise after seeing the forecast a few days ago. The waterfront by the cruise port has been improved so much over the past few years and there were constant free shuttles to the top of the city. A few pax just ignored the request for masks: all the places we have visited require masks on public transport. Enjoyed the colours of the city, purchased some excellent white port, walked miles and had a thoroughly good day. 

This afternoon I visited the forward pool for what could be my last swim: it really could have benefited from a few extra degrees of heat. Needless to say I swam alone, and the heavy rain shower was not exactly encouraging others.

Most evenings we have been to the atrium for a while to listen to the “strings” and it is also a good place to people watch. The dress code seems largely adhered to, but there are always a few who buck the trend. I do not like to see T-shirts worn in the evening, but such attire not evident in the theatre. 

In front of us is the AIDAStella: not sure which ship is leaving first this evening, but our back on board time is 6.00pm. I wonder what the Bay of Biscay will hold for us tomorrow?

 

We were there last June and privately booked the North Cape Tour with KO Sand. We did the morning tour and it lasted longer than the advertised time. We were the only people on the tour, so ended up with a private tour.

We went out to remote villages, got to see the King Crab (and hold it if we wanted to), and to the North Cape. It is an excellent tour, our guide was Monika.

I cannot recommend it highly enough as you get to find out about life and living in the North of Norway and see more than just the North Cape.

So, I have a similar question and don't want to start a new thread (even though I know this one is 9 months old).

 

I will be in Molde in June on HAL Koningsdam. Our cruise does not have a stop in Alesund, so if I want to do the Troll Road tour, this is my only choice. The port times were previously 7-3 but I looked again recently and it's now 7-4 and the cruise line is now offering a "Molde & the Troll Path" tour leaving at 7:30, lasting 8 hours I found a provider who is able to offer a private tour with the time constraints, and told me that they are the company offering the cruise line's tour so I should not worry about getting back on time. Even better, this company is only charging ~$125 vs $300 that the cruise line is charging (HAL includes lunch but it's not worth $175!).

 

Now, complicating things is that I contacted another tour provider who normally does not do the tour from Molde but does from Alesund. They checked to see if they could offer a private tour and said that they would not be able to because of the timing. We're in port on Sunday and although we get there at 7, the first ferry is at 8:15, and the provider felt that the tour would be rushed, nothing more than driving around and pointing.

 

I appreciate their honesty, but given that this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us, I feel that a rushed tour would be better than none at all (especially since those who have done other tours here have said they wished they did the Troll Road).

 

Any options?

We had the same decision to make, pay the tour price for the cruise company, find another provider, and we also costed up and planned a self drive with a one day rental. In the end up we chose to stay with the cruise company tour as then there was no chance of missing the boat, and my husband could enjoy the trip without having to worry about navigation and missing ferry connections (from Molde there is a ferry out and ferry back as part of the trip).

Certainly do the Troll Road, it is excellent, we thoroughly enjoyed it and would not have wanted to miss the opportunity.

We did Alesund, Trondheim, Tromso, Geiranger, Bergen & Molde all DIY. Booked excursions in Geiranger before our cruise & booked funicular in Bergen the night before to avoid queues. I spent a lot of time on CC & the relevant towns tourist info sites planning but was well worth the time

Hi, what did you arrange to do in Molde?

Sadly the Path of the Trolls is booked up but may have availability to book on the ship. Our other plan is to hike to the viewpoint and look around the museum, and a bit of shopping as there is a good local yarn store in town - I am a keen knitter. If we have time we will take the local bus round trip to the Atlantic Ocean Road.

We spent a morning in Molde before sailing to Andalsnes for our afternoon shorex to Trollstigen and Trollvegen. A ship tour as we could not get the local buses to work with our timings. We were incredibly fortunate that day as the weather was perfect and the drive in both directions and the views were stunning. Although early summer (mid-May) there was still a little snow at the summit viewpoint. We would have liked a little longer at the top but the group had limited time there.

 

Molde itself is an attractive town in a scenic location and some nice walking around the town and along the waterfront if you have a couple of hours to spare and the weather is good. Those who did the Atlantic Road shorex, that morning were, I seem to remember, rather underwhelmed so I suggest you have a look at photos on Tripadvisor or google something like "Trollstigen images", the same for the "Atlantic Road images". Might help you decide because of course you do take a chance on weather in Norway as you risk seeing almost nothing in poor weather. Also, do you not need to travel Molde/ Andalsnes/Trollstigen/Andalsnes if using the public bus? If so would you have time?

 

 

You did not say which shorex you were doing from Geiranger but I hope it is Mt Dalsnibba. We were equally lucky there with perfect weather for our shorex up to the summit. More stunning views, another twisty road, still some snow up at the summit there too.

 

These were the two best (and I think only) shorex we did on that itinerary, both were expensive and views and the overall experience of both were weather dependant so we really were lucky. I hope you are too whatever you decide.

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Thank you. We have found that the Troll Path tour is now booked up online, it went within a day of coming on line, and the only option is to book it as soon as we board the ship. The Helleyset to Gerainger tour includes Mt Dalsnibba.

We have had quotes for car hire in Leknes for a cruise stop in June of this year (2017) and from reading this cruise review we have decided to drive to A and then make our way slowly back to Leknes. Where do you suggest we stop on route back to make the most of our short road trip. We will have the car from 8.30 to about 16.30. The car hire companies are quoting for pick up and drop off at the port in Leknes. Many thanks.

We are torn between just taking the HOHO bus, walking around the town to take in the beauty of the place (maybe doing the 1.5 hour tourist office walking tour at noon), going up to the viewpoint on the HOHO and visiting the outdoor museum on the HOHO.

Otherwise we could take a tour (not via the ship) which visits Giske, Godoy, the outdoor museum, the viewpoint and the town - although not with a lot of time to wander around the town.

We are in port from 9.00 - 17.00.

Are we better to spend more time in Alesund or see more with less time in Alesund.

Thank you.

Hi, we are in Harstad from 12.00 to 18.00 on a Tuesday and have found the X35 bus to the Adolfgun is not running until 15.00 so will not be back in time to sail. They say they are not running the 13.00 bus unfortunately.

None of the ships tours interest us, we just want to see the town, maybe the Adolfgun and the church. What has anyone else done and how have they arranged it when in Harstad? I believe it may be possible to rent a car for the afternoon, but where would we drive to between 12.30 and 5.30 for instance?

I checked the fabulous looking swimming pool centre but the timings do not work.

Many thanks.

The city center is quite small and easily walkable. Polaria is only a few blocks from the Ølhallen pub. They pretty much mark one end of the sights in the city center, and the Polarmuseet and bridge to the Arctic Cathedral mark the other. It's about 1km between them, so it takes 15-20 minutes to walk between them.

 

The bridge across to the Arctic Cathedral is deceptively long, so it actually takes about 15-20 minutes to walk from one side to the other. And from there it's another 10-15 minutes over to the Fjellheisen cable car.

 

My first visit to Tromsø was on a port call, so we walked through the city center past the Domkirke and over the bridge to the Arctic Cathedral. Then we walked over to the Fjellheisen and spent about an hour walking farther up the mountain to a higher viewpoint and back. To save time, we caught a city bus back to the city center, where we did the original Mack brewery tour (this was back before the brewery moved out of its downtown location next to Ølhallen, and the tour ran daily at 13:00) and finished the day at Polaria for the seal feeding. I went to the Polarmuseet on a more recent trip, and it's interesting if Arctic life and exploration appeal to you.

Thank you, brilliant post. We are in Tromso in June this year. From reading this we will look to maybe take the litte train, visit the Polaria, then take a local bus from the cruise terminal (centre of town, I have checked) to the viewpoint, particularly if it is a clear day, and then back via the Catherdral. We are in Tromos from 8.00am to 17.00 on a Sunday. Is this realistic?

we are trying to choose between booking the ships tour of the Troll Road from Molde, or using the local bus to the Atlantic Ocean Road, going up to the viewpoint and seeing the museum instead.

We will have previously taken a ships tour between Hellyset and Gerainger.

Reading this page is fascinating, I am torn between the ships tour of the islands then a walk around Alesund, or just staying in Alesund and taking the HOHO bus but stop at the museum.

Any recommendations for the deluxe cabins on deck 8?

My daughter and her husband to be are honeymooning on a transatlantic crossing on the QM2. My future son-in-law is fine about a dark suite and tie and a dark dinner suit, but what does he where for the theme formal nights such as the black and white ball? Should he get a white dinner jacket to wear with this black dinner trousers? They want to do things right for there first cruise.