Indy - Norwegian Fjords cruise 18th-26th May review (lots of pics!!!)

[newcruiser1573]

We got onboard and were hungry...so we hit the Windjammer!

 

After which we fancied a cocktail, so we went up to the Olive or Twist bar to take in the panoramic views of Skjolden.

 

Hard to believe that less than 2 hours previously we were up in deep snow covered mountains!! Very surreal......

 

Let's drink to that! Cheers!

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5456/8981304153_0a5ce2d4fe_b.jpg' alt='8981304153_0a5ce2d4fe_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

What's the name of this drink. It looks so good!

[drummerdavebmth]

On the way to our stateroom, we made a reservation for the evening in the MDR. This was to be our last night there as we'd booked a table for Chops Grill on the last night (stay tuned for more food porn pics!)

 

 

There was only one thing for it...

 

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[drummerdavebmth]

Have had a lovely time "sailing" along with you! We did a similar cruise on the Brilliance years ago and loved this part of the world. Indy is one of our favorite ships, also! Congrats on your engagement! When will you get married?

 

Thank you....we're planning next September :)

[drummerdavebmth]

What's the name of this drink. It looks so good!

 

I can't remember what it was called...although it was one of the ones they had a photo of in their drinks menu.

 

Someone else might know....I'm sure I've seen a PDF of their cocktail menu floating about somewhere.

[drummerdavebmth]

OK, so with our bellies full, we waddled up to our room to get ready for the pool.

 

We walked about on Deck 12 first....out came the trust iPhone!

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2821/8982641726_b448db94ee_b.jpg' alt='8982641726_b448db94ee_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[drummerdavebmth]

Wish I was back there..

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

The Seagulls were getting up close and personal...

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[dmackay46]

Drummerdave....are all these photos taken with your iPhone?

Reason I ask is that we are on the Indy in little over 2 weeks and are taking our iPhones for pics.

Really love your review..many thanks.

BTW..think you got the last Primark t-shirt :D

[drummerdavebmth]

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

We settled into our seats (enjoying the wine we'd brought down with us), looking forward to what was to be another great show in the theatre....

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[drummerdavebmth]

Drummerdave....are all these photos taken with your iPhone?

Reason I ask is that we are on the Indy in little over 2 weeks and are taking our iPhones for pics.

Really love your review..many thanks.

BTW..think you got the last Primark t-shirt :D

 

Hi,

 

Yep, all the photo's in this review were taken with my iPhone 5. I put it on Aeroplane Mode and just used it for photos and video.

 

I never knew I owned such a sort after, limited edition Primark T-shirt (maybe it will be worth loads of money on the Antiques Roadshow in a century or two?) :D

[drummerdavebmth]

When we came out of the theatre, I thought I'd take a couple of photo's before dinner...

 

 

Can you spot the Rabbit?

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[drummerdavebmth]

We ended the night up in Olive Or Twist....drinking some B-52's and enjoying the laid back vibe up there.

 

We were truly out at sea now, heading down into the North Sea.

 

I took this pic just before I hit the sack....on our way home (booooo!!)

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2842/8981463017_96d8c7d02c_b.jpg' alt='8981463017_96d8c7d02c_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

Tomorrow is our last full day (sea day)

 

Night folks :)

[peteukmcr]

I can't remember what it was called...although it was one of the ones they had a photo of in their drinks menu.

 

Someone else might know....I'm sure I've seen a PDF of their cocktail menu floating about somewhere.

Looks to me like one of my favs, a Lavaflow.

[peteukmcr]

We finally managed to find the Petroleum Museum....a nice way to spend a couple of hours and was more interesting than I thought it would be.

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

 

This photo makes me laugh. I took 3 attempts to take this because the light wasn't good so I had to keep moving to a better position. By the time I took a photo I was happy with, Jen's patience was running thin...

 

 

After this, we decided to head back to the ship. Seeing as it was such a nice day, the pools/hot tubs were calling us!

 

I like this photo :)

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/8982627662_d09175af84_b.jpg' alt='8982627662_d09175af84_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

I want to say thank you for your photos of Stavanger, they are stunning, and this is one of the best, such a great photo.

 

What I can't get over is how close the houses are to the dock.

[peteukmcr]

On the way to our stateroom, we made a reservation for the evening in the MDR. This was to be our last night there as we'd booked a table for Chops Grill on the last night (stay tuned for more food porn pics!)

 

 

There was only one thing for it...

 

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

Oh no, more temptation, those burgers and that apple pie, stop it :D

[drummerdavebmth]

Looks to me like one of my favs, a Lavaflow.

 

Thant's the one!

[drummerdavebmth]

I want to say thank you for your photos of Stavanger, they are stunning, and this is one of the best, such a great photo.

 

What I can't get over is how close the houses are to the dock.

 

Thank you...I was very pleased how all my photo's came out - and look even better on a monitor than they did on my phone!

 

With regards to the houses being close to the dock, Jen and I were discussing this. I wonder what the inhabitants think everytime a huge cruise ship looms over them, blocking their view!

[crafty sue]

Hi Dave

 

Another T-shirt question - My Husband is a Drummer - where did you get the drummer t-shirt ?

 

love the photo's by the way I want to talk DH into a Norway cruise will show him and then tell him to book !

 

regards

 

sue

[RavaRiles]

Great review Dave, congratulations to you both, I also proposed on my first cruise but on explorer, and we have booked our honeymoon on freedom in January. I bet you are already planning your next cruise !!

If you don't mind me asking mate how much was the upgrade from balcony D1 balcony to JS.

Also did you find Norway to be expensive when buying souvenirs or eating in the local ports/villages ?? I have heard rumours that a beer costs in the region of £6 !!! Not that this would put me off just would be good to know so could save more spends when booking a fjords cruise.

Glad you had a great time.

Kind regards mate

Cheers Ian

[drummerdavebmth]

Hi Dave

 

Another T-shirt question - My Husband is a Drummer - where did you get the drummer t-shirt ?

 

love the photo's by the way I want to talk DH into a Norway cruise will show him and then tell him to book !

 

regards

 

sue

 

 

Hi there.

 

I bought that T-shirt whilst at the 'Drummer Live' show in London (Olympia) last October. It was on one of the stands and made me chuckle :)

 

You'll definitely love Norway if you go!

[drummerdavebmth]

Great review Dave, congratulations to you both, I also proposed on my first cruise but on explorer, and we have booked our honeymoon on freedom in January. I bet you are already planning your next cruise !!

If you don't mind me asking mate how much was the upgrade from balcony D1 balcony to JS.

Also did you find Norway to be expensive when buying souvenirs or eating in the local ports/villages ?? I have heard rumours that a beer costs in the region of £6 !!! Not that this would put me off just would be good to know so could save more spends when booking a fjords cruise.

Glad you had a great time.

Kind regards mate

Cheers Ian

 

Hi there and thanks!

 

The upgrade to JS was £500, I did everything through Bon Voyage (online TA). I can't praise them enough, were very helpful.

 

Norway is expensive. To be honest, we didn't eat/drink anything locally (other than stuff which was included in excursions). I feel a bit bad about that because we usually love eating in foreign countries - part of the experience. But it is expensive, so chose to go back and eat on the ship.

 

The only souvenir we brought was a fridge magnet where we were in Flåm!

 

We are already planning for our next cruise (Western Med on Liberty in September....very exciting).

 

We are also considering a cruise for our honeymoon next year - although haven't decided where yet.

[RavaRiles]

Cheers Dave,

Thanks for your quick reply mate. If money weren't an option I would never doa land based holiday again !!!

All the best, keep us posted when you decide your honeymoon cruise

Cheers

Ian

[drummerdavebmth]

Day 8 (Sea Day - cruising towards home)

 

Most mornings we'd switch on the TV to catch a little bit of the 'Morning Show', not particularly because we enjoyed it....but I found it fascinating in a painful kind of way.

 

Our CD (Rob McNally) was standing in for Joff Eaton who was on holiday (I think he returned the cruise after ours). I was a bit disappointed because I'd seen quite a few clips of him on YouTube whilst researching the Indy prior to our cruise and he seemed like good fun.

 

It wasn't like Rob was terrible....but I wished we had Joff!!

 

 

Anyway, here's Rob with his side-kick

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

We had breakfast in the MDR again before going to the theatre to see James Bond 'Skyfall'

 

Here's a pic I took after nipping out to the toilet halfway through (no, I didn't forget to wash my hands!)

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7398/8982663652_c2c35534e6_b.jpg' alt='8982663652_c2c35534e6_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[drummerdavebmth]

Cheers Dave,

Thanks for your quick reply mate. If money weren't an option I would never doa land based holiday again !!!

All the best, keep us posted when you decide your honeymoon cruise

Cheers

Ian

 

No worries.

 

I know what you mean.....we'd still do some land based holidays (we love Dalyan in Turkey, for example). But now we've tried cruising and loved it, we'll definitely include it in our "holiday mix", so to speak!

[drummerdavebmth]

After the Big Band concert we got ready to spend a couple of hours on the pool deck.

 

We had a great time....chilling out in the overhanging hot tubs, swimming and then sitting in the main hot tub (the uncovered one) in the main Pools area...watching the big screen (which was never too loud) and drinking a beer. This was the life!!

 

Back at our stateroom we showered and got ready for dinner...we had a reservation for Chops Grill tonight (I was looking forward to trying the steak I'd heard so much about!)

 

I thought I'd check to see whereabouts we were on the TV...

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

 

 

We didn't get around to drinking the Champagne from the other night, so we thought we'd enjoy it whilst getting ready for dinner...

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2874/8981472669_b4b7619e10_b.jpg' alt='8981472669_b4b7619e10_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

[drummerdavebmth]

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

 

Cheers!

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7343/8982674232_2175e8cb58_b.jpg' alt='8982674232_2175e8cb58_b.jpg'> Independence Of The Seas - Norway 18th-26th May 2013 by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]