EJMcruiser

Definitely a must do. We just bought the tickets on the quayside from Olden Adventures and there was a shuttle bus running there and back all day. Stay as long as you like. Middle of summer holidays (both Norway & UK) and not very busy at all (despite two big ships in) Yummy waffles at the top which wasn’t as expensive as we thought they would be. Also kids picked lots of juicy blue berries at 3000 feet. 

Me too. Fingers crossed 🤞 

You should really consider Johnny’s quad rental tours. Easy to drive and he takes you all over the island incl Mano. Brilliant day out. Otherwise there are taxis at both ends and about $50 for the return journey. Don’t forget to check airport arrivals for the large planes. It’s not far but if you are there on a day when they have 10,000+ cruise passengers it can be a slow journey. St Marteen badly hit by last years hurricane and things are still being rebuilt. Got friends heading for St Marteen right now so hoping for a good report from them. 

Yes you will be able to watch your downloaded shows without any problems while you cross the Atlantic. You will not be able to download or watch any new shows during the crossing hence no need for VPN as WiFi onboard is not strong enough.        

Amazon Prime give you a 48 hour window to watch any downloaded show. So once you click on it it will tell you “offline watch mode” you now have 48h to finish this particular show.

On a separate note Netflix blocked VPN about a year ago. Hence you cannot hide which country you are in with them once you get to the US. Unlike say BBC Iplayer when you are in New York you can use VPN to trick them into thinking you are in the UK. Netflix will however allow you to access the American offering on Netflix when in New York. If you want to guarantee access to all your Netflix shows you need to stay off the satellite WiFi offered onboard. 

It would be up to the hotel manager I suppose but can’t see why not as they are always keen on people trying a higher grade as many people then come back for more. Having said that family holidays can be tricky already and in this case wouldn’t you have to pick your favourite of the two haha.

We tried Britannia recently and loved it but I would say you need to be reasonably fit as lots of walking around a very large ship. We were midship but the lack of lifts and no stairs meant we often walked all the way back and then up and across back again :-) But it was very smooth despite rough weather.

The captains do 200 days a year on a 90 days on followed by 90 days off. They also do 20 days on various training courses to make up the 90+90+20 = 200

The British daytime program Homes under the Hammer used to be a favourite of mine so when I bumped into the host onboard I couldn’t resist having a chat and he was ever so friendly and approachable. I then saw him daily by the pool with his two young kids obviously looking less approachable so guess it’s about picking your moment:-) But he was on holiday. I think a guest speaker is very different and I think it’s fair to approach them while they are onboard in the same way you would approach a crew member with a question, comment or just a general chat. They are there as a part of the entertainment team in my opinion.

Yes agree completely. Just had a fabulous two weeks onboard and the only negative feedback we gave on the form was value for money on drinks. On the plus side though it’s easier to find a nice seat in the commodore club now. Love those tables for two up there but found myself sipping a rumless mojito on more than one occasion :-)

Thanks for sharing this ClanMcLean :-)) They updated our account accordingly. £35 per day is too much when you then want to single out those that really made your cruise special in addition.

Interesting as I have just had my bill under the door yesterday and it says auto gratuity times 4 despite my kids being very young.

I have cruised a fair bit over the years and I hate to say it but the Azura was the one ship that made me really sea sick :-( The Aurora is really nice. Since you have done the Ventura perhaps worth trying something different? Also I made the decision a few years back that sea day equal sea sick tablet and never looked back. All you need is one in the morning and they last all day. Enjoy your cruise wherever you end up going.

They had three shows on Britannia a few weeks back and the early 6pm show was packed but only just as it was about to start so no need to show up early. Really good show :-)

I’m also curious if there will be any change in the embarkation procedure?! We went on Britannia from the Ocean Terminal and had to wait 2.5 hours in an extremely hot and VERY packed terminal (we arrived at the correct time). Such a fantastic trip onboard but with small kids it was worse then waiting at an airport as there was no room to move. Add another 1500+ people and if the set up is the same that would really put us off.

We had Martin from Homes under the Hammer on the Ventura and he was really good but might have been because the topic was of interest to us. Also enjoyed the niece of the guy who did Downton Abbey on Aurora. She was brilliant and obviously had a close relationship with her uncle. Best ever was Terry Wogan on a Cunard cruise about 10 years ago. He seemed so sweet and it might have been an act but he came across like he was genuinely really pleased to be there.

Looks like the Norwegian government will ban cruise ship in both Nærøyfjord (Flam) and Geirangerfjord in the next 5 years so now is the time to go. As others have said the other ports will not give you the same majestic fjord feel :-)

Summer 2018 return fare on the cable car is 505 kroner for an adult, about £50. You will pay to get there as well. It is expensive but if a nice day well worth it IMO

Thanks. We are doing it in mid Aug but have small kids so too far to walk and taxis don’t take kids without car seats in Norway so have to do the package deal. Everything is expensive in Norway so just have to accept it :-) On the plus side they said kids will go free so 140 Euro for the family which we can live with.

Definitely number one. Make sure you go to Olden Adventures website and book the Loen Skylift. It opened in 2017 and is one of the steepest cable cars in the world and the area at the top is amazing. 70 euros pp but they pick you up at the ship and you can stay up there as long as you want.

Yes it would have been interesting to sit in on the meeting where they decided that Britannia should have no promenade deck and no stairs midship. Oh and let’s make the dedicated kids pool 165-225 cm deep lol.

We are using the West Quay multi-storey car park for £5 per day. Husband just drop me and the kids and he is usually back within 15-20 min. No need to book, safe and you keep your own keys. £35 per week is not that bad :-) They are open 24 hours / day.

We are going with Cunard (same company) to Iceland in August and booked over a year ago at £2100 and it’s now at £4850. For us booking early has always worked well but I think that is partly because we are very specific about where, when, ship etc. Bargains to be had I’m sure if you don’t care where and when :-) Personally not a fan of booking onboard as focus is on current trip but I’m sure the two full time crew members handling bookings will be on commission and keen to get you a good deal :-)

We always do a drive by and drop off the bags at whichever terminal and then park at West Quay shopping centre multi-storey, buy a few last minute things, have coffee and then stroll down to terminal at our checking in time which is usually quite late in the day. It’s £5 per day, very secure and no need to book beforehand:-) When we get back my husband walks over there to get the car and pick us up. One of these other companies once lost our keys so like holding on to them now :-)

Yes we love Emirates too. What you described above though sounds very much like Qatar Airways. We flew with them once and they left us with small children in a VERY hot bus on the tarmac for ages while we waited for the upper class passengers to arrive in posh cars. They obviously didn’t want us to be in their way but it took so long that there would have been plenty of time to get us onboard and seated. We said NEVER again :-(

When we arrived at the kids club on the morning of our daughter’s birth the place was covered in balloons and they made a really big deal of it :-) I hadn’t requested anything. We had the cake in the cabin though just in case there were kids with allergies in the kids club.

The aquarium in Bergen is fantastic :-) It’s about 20 min walk.