blakejared

They kept running out on the Statendam earlier this month, and they only had the sweetened version.

I wonder if the waiters have more tables to oversee post-pandemic. We were in Anytime dining, so often could not get our usual table (which was also strange, since we were sometimes told it was already booked by someone else, but no one sat there the whole meal), so we experienced several different waiting teams. They were usually very busy and often did not have time to check/refill water except at the start of the meal. Not having to come back to take dessert orders would likely have saved some time. I did not know this. At the Q&A period about the ports on the Sea Day, someone asked why Bergen was replaced with Gothenburg, and the cruise director said the reason was that Bergen, like many other ports, overbooked ships this summer, since this was the first full season of cruising post-pandemic. I wonder what other ships were in Bergen on that day that took up all the dock spaces?

I was on the same sailing as you, plus the 7-day sailing the week after. It was interesting to read your thoughts. There were even more kids the second week and I observed several rounds of tag amidst the scenic cruising. I mostly ate at the MDR in the evenings. I too was surprised dessert was ordered right at the start, but they did wait for everyone to finish each course before bringing the next. The Lido food didn't seem too appetizing in the evening. I was a bit disappointed that in the second week, the MDR menu was almost identical to the first week, so it felt like deja vu. Ditto for some of the shows. I had been to Gothenburg before, so was disappointed we didn't get to go to Bergen, and then charging almost $20 for the shuttle bus. I ended up using public transportation though it was confusing. The second week, they had replaced Stavanger, so we got to visit Eidfjord again. It was a nice place, but visiting a different place would have been preferable. Overall, the weather was beautiful for most of the 2 weeks (except at the very end, for a rainy day in Flam), so I'm grateful.

I was there 2 weeks ago and saw one of those red City Sightseeing buses that stopped at the Fjord Center which is across the street from the Hotel Union. I think that bus also goes to one of the other viewpoints (Flydalsjuvet?). There are stairs that follow the Fossevandring waterfall. The walk up didn't take that long. We booked a bus tour that visited Mt. Dalsnibba and 2 other closer viewpoints - Eagle's Road and Flydalsjuvet (I wish we had more time at each stop!). The roads were packed with cars (often cars would need to wait while a bus navigated the turns). We saw some of those little electric cars amongst the congestion between the large vehicles. They would be fun but not on a busy day.

When I was there last week, there were 2 ships in port so it was extra busy. There were still spots for the buses to the Stegastein Viewpoint. Not a huge number, but not Sold Out (the train journeys were sold out when I got to the ticket center at 11am). Though I spoke to someone on the ship who was able to get a train ticket that morning (they left the ship earlier than I did). Apparently, there were still a few spots left that morning (even though online, the night before, it said the train journeys were all "sold out"). Another thing I realized is to keep checking the Norway Best website for tickets. I had checked every day for a month before my plane trip, but a few days before the Flam stop, finally, some train seats opened up. It was just a bit difficult to buy with spotty public wifi.