Ports of Scandinavia - LIVE from the Voyager 6/28 - 7/27/2014

[macbest]

TRAVELCAT2

 

I have to say that i have thoroughly enjoyed your posts, following along each day to your new musings. Thanks so much for taking the time to share with all of us. We too are Regent junkies but have not sailed anywhere as much as you have (yet!). Our next is on the Voyager through Ireland and Scotland in August (2015).

 

Thanks again for taking the time to let us live vicariously through your posts!

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for your kind post. We continue to enjoy this cruise and it's unique ports.

 

Today is a busy sea day. I think my DH is going to a lecture and maybe a pastry demonstration while I go to a martini demonstration. The bartender in the Observation Lounge, Jan, did a great demonstration on cocktails the other day. He does more than simply make drinks, he gives a lot of important information that is helpful to anyone that prepares and/or enjoys cocktails.

 

We are having lunch with Peggy (xrvlcruiser) and are looking forward to that. We have both been so busy that we had to set the time up via email.

 

This afternoon there will be a "Liar's Club". This is the first time that we have seen this done in the afternoon and also the first time in the Constellation Theater. For those of you unfamiliar with Liar's Club, there is a panel of three people that are given a word that no one has ever heard of. The panelists take turns at giving the audience their version of what the word means. Depending upon the acting talents of the panelists, this can be very funny. The one word that I will always remember is 'kloop" (possibly misspelled). No one believed the person who gave the correct definition of the word which is the sound the cork makes when it being pulled out of a wine bottle:D

 

Later will be Krew Capers -- we will attend for sure as we didn't at the conclusion of the last segment. Then we have dinner with the G.M. and will once again have Beef Wellington. The beef used for this dish as well as for Chateaubriand has been some of the best we have ever had. We are looking forward to it.

 

I would also like to mention the food in Prime 7. We are not typically fans of this dining venue (or Signatures). However, this time we have had five opportunities to dine in Prime 7. Twice I had the Porterhouse steak (small size), once I tried surf and turf, once the double-cut lamb chops and last night the Maine Lobster. Each and every dish was perfect.

 

Tomorrow we are going to what may be the most beautiful fjords in Norway (you may have noticed that I have now know how to spell fjords:-) We will be in Hellesylt, Norway in the morning and Geiranger, Norway in the afternoon. Geiranger in particular is supposedly breathtaking. After reading a description of the drive to the top of the mountain, my DH thought that we should reconsider taking an excursion. While I am happy to do it if he wants to, inside I'm thinking that I'd rather eat snakes than go into the theater and be stepped on -- then get into the tender and finally the bus with hoards of passengers. We'll see what happens regarding the excursion.

[Zqueeze1]

Really enjoying all posts and comments and thanks for sharing your cruise with us. Is anyone planning to post their photos on a web site and share with us? I would love to see the them. Thanks.

 

Z and TB

[Pepc]

I've enjoyed your posts. Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed.

Just curious, how were you able to get reservations to eat in Prime 7 five times so far?

That has got to be a record!

We were on-board for a month recently (back-to-back) and were only able to get two reservations (one for each segment)!

We were open as far as table size and time, but no go!

[RachelG]

When we were at Geiranger, we took what is still one of my favorite excursions ever. We got off the ship at Hellesylt and hiked overland to Geiranger. A bus took us a very short distance from the pier at Hellesylt to the trailhead. It was really fun and not difficult. We encountered all sorts of sheep and other livestock as well as beautiful views. At the end of the hike, we were at a small hotel and served refreshments. Then a bus took us to the top of the mountain above Geiranger for photos and to see the views. Then back to the ship. I still remember how beautiful it was.

There was also a kayaking excursion that some people enjoyed.

[Mudhen]

OOOOO! A martini demo! Now that's an activity! With samples, I would hope!

I know you're headed for some "to die for" scenery in the next day or so. Hope you have beautiful weather.....

Loved hearing about KLOOP! I'll have to remember that one!

We're continuing to enjoy all your posts! Looking forward to the next one,

L&L

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I too remember the views of Geiranger Fjord from up high--spectacular!

[Travelcat2]

Zqueeze1, I am not into posting photos, but plan on posting the huge crab when I get home and perhaps a few more pictures.

 

Pepc: As many readers know, we tend to make friends with the officers and crew on board. So, four out of the five dinners in Prime 7 were with officers. One reservation was made online. We cancelled our second reservation for Prime 7 (on the last night) and changed it to Signatures. If we did not have invitations, we would have been able to dine in Prime 7 only two times (unless we did a walk-in and they happened to have an open table).

 

Mudhen: The martini demo was the best we have seen on board. If you have any interest in an in-and-out martini, a "twisted martini" a martini with "dirty ice cubes on the side", etc. I'll be happy to tell you about them.:p

 

Really wish we could hike tomorrow but my knee prevents me from doing that. We will take a tender into both ports and will be taking photos. The weather is expected to be beautiful and around 70 degrees.

 

There is a possibility and there will be a sunset and sunrise in the next two days. While having 24 hours of daylight is strange, I cannot imaging living in total darkness for 2-3 months out of the year.

 

Tonight we had dinner with the General Manager, Andreas. After having fairly strong feelings against G.M.'s from Oceania transferring to Regent, Andreas has changed my mind. It is important to note that he and other Oceania transfers recognize the differences in the two products. Andreas embraces the differences while some officers do not. As I have posted previously, on Oceania there is no emphasis on officers and crew interacting with guests or having officers "host" dinners. Obviously, this is not the case on Regent where the officers, crew and guests consider themselves to be one big family.

 

One more comment on this...... when we had difficulty with the pastries made by the pastry chef on our December/January Voyager cruise it was Donald, a long time Regent employee and now F&B Director that fixed it. He acknowledged that the pastry chef was from Oceania. Although the pastry chef was given Regent recipes, the result was unrecognizable desserts. The pastry chef on this cruise is from Regent and the pastries are what we have had for the last 10 1/2 years on Regent.

 

Will report more tomorrow night. We are anxious to see these two ports but need to get up early in the morning to do so.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Travelcat2

[Suite Travels]

Thank you for posting your port adventures. We have done a similar cruise but not to some of the ports you have visited. It's funny you mention pastry and we don't eat them anymore but some look so good but looks are deceiving even in our bakery. I have no interest in doing that myself.

[DeepFreeze63]

TC2 -"There is a possibility and there will be a sunset and sunrise in the next two days. While having 24 hours of daylight is strange, I cannot imaging living in total darkness for 2-3 months out of the year."

 

It's strange but beautiful - living 6months in "darkness"! I spent about a year at McMurdo Sound and remember the long night very well, even 50 years later. The stars and greenish glow were mesmerizing.

 

Thanks, DW and I are taking this cruise in 15' and enjoyed immensely your posts (as always). Spitsbergen is as far North as McMurdo is South.

[Travelcat2]

DeepFreeze63: As always - enjoyed your post. You're right -- sunset tonight is close to 11:00 pm. and sunrise will be close to 4:30 a.m.

 

Lots of information to share but do not have notes in front of me so there will be some misspellings.

 

The ship docked in two ports today..... the first is something like Hellsfjit (check the itinerary on rssc.com) and the second was Geiranger (also misspelled). We were only scheduled to be in the first port for three hours and it is a tender port. People with long excursions left at the first post and returned at the second one. For some reason, we were told by the C.D. over the loudspeaker this morning that there was nothing really to see in the first port and that stores were closed so we may as well stay on board. The best port was the second one.

 

Since we are excursioned-out (made up word - not a misspelling:-), we decided to take the tender into the port to see what it was like. The fjord was absolutely stunning. The port was beautiful -- calm and peaceful with a couple of hotels, stores and a magnificent waterfall (several waterfalls that combine into one). The tourist store was open and had wonderful things. I would guess that there were only 25-30 Regent guests in port. My DH and I walked hand and hand around the town ..... it was very romantic and beautiful. While I understand that the C.D. was simply reporting on what he heard, the information given to us in the morning could not have been more wrong!

 

At 10:00 a.m. the ship moved to the second port (not far away). We sat on our balcony with mimosas (had breakfast around 7:00 a.m.). It was beautiful and I took some time to pack since I would rather not rush it tomorrow night.

 

When we entered the next fjord, I could see where the waterfalls had been but most were dried up. I suppose it could be blamed on the time of the year or maybe the change in the climate. It reminded me somewhat of our trip (not a cruise) to New Zealand when we spent time at Milford and Doubtful Sounds where we were surrounded with gorgeous waterfalls. It is possible that they, too, are not flowing at this time of the year. In any event, it was quite lovely.

 

We found two other ships in port. One was a German ship (owned by Royal Caribbean). In fact, the ship was an old Royal Caribbean ship. The other was a MSC ship. Together they probably held 5,000 - 7,000 passengers. The town's population is only 300. So, when we arrived by tender, there were wall to wall people. It was almost like Disneyland during the summer when you cannot move. We went into one of the many gift shops but my DH left because it was too hot (80 degrees outside and no air conditioning inside) and the people were pushing and shoving. I purchased a couple of things and headed back to the tender. After the glowing reports we heard about this port, we were extremely disappointed. Had there been no other ships and if the waterfalls had been flowing it would have been magical!

 

The Voyager was scheduled to leave at 4:00 p.m. At 4:30 p.m. we were still in port and were sitting on the balcony when we heard two loud noises. They sounded like gun shots but, being surrounded by mountains, things tend to echo. At 5:00 p.m. we were still there. Around 5:20 p.m., a tender showed up with passengers from one of the long excursions. We assumed that the excursions were late.

 

A short time later I heard that the port went into a "high alert" mode a which ships must pay strict attention to. Tenders were not allowed to leave -- roads were blocked, etc. Apparently it was some young people hunting in the forest (shooting guns). The event stopped everything. We ended up departing over 2 hours late and are now expected to arrive in Copenhagen approximately 1 hour late. We won't know details until tomorrow.

 

While this will not affect our flight on Saturday since it is 2:00 p.m., it could affect earlier flights. Further details to follow.

 

I must say that Regent ships pay strict attention to both safety and health issues. We are very impressed!

[Travelcat2]

Well, it is the last full day of the cruise. The Voyager is sailing at 19 knots (quite fast for this ship -- using lots of fuel) trying to get to Copenhagen at soon as it can. I find it interesting how things work out sometimes. The one time that there was a problem that caused the ship to depart late and it was the last port. Had it been any other port, we simply would have been a bit late to the next port. In this case, it will probably affect some passenger's flights.

 

I spoke to Andreas (the G.M.) this morning and they have plans in place and will proceed with the plans as soon as the Captain is able to give them a more precise time that we will be docking in Copenhagen. Last night we had over 700 nautical miles to go. Once an arrival time is announced, passengers that booked through Regent that have early flights will be contacted and assisted with changing to a later flight (I do not believe that there are many people affected).

 

Once the passengers booked with Regent are taken care of, they will assist passengers who booked their own flights. Hopefully everything will proceed smoothly.

 

In the meantime we have very smooth seas and a sunny day. Not sure if I mentioned that approximately 90 passengers will be on the next cruise and many the following one (that Mark Conroy will be on). For us, we are looking forward to being home tomorrow and have enjoyed every moment on board!

 

Will post this afternoon - once we have a docking time in Copenhagen. Once we get home I will post a couple of photos.

[Travelcat2]

Most Cruise Critic members are so wonderful. I just learned that the information I posted earlier about why we were delayed in Norway is incorrect. Those of you that are interested, here is an article that explains what happened: http://www.businessinsider.com/terror-threat-against-norway-2014-7

[findacruise]

Jackie - a final thank you for taking us along on your voyage. Your posts have been wonderful; most appreciative that you took time out to share. Wishing you and Denis a safe and on-time journey home. I know your furry family will be as glad to have you back as you will to be there.:)

 

Joanna

[NJBelle]

Hi all, this has been a great cruise. Best weather possible. Really unbelievable (in fact, a little too hot for me!). Anyway, so glad Jackie gave you reports along the way. I spent my internet time doing emails, texts with my daughter and Facebook. And of course, occasional lurking on CC!

 

My plan right now is to do an overall post about our experience on this cruise after we get home. We will see how energetic I am after I deal with laundry - and, oh, the 5 relatives visiting in our home as I write! But I do have good intentions...

 

Wishing safe travels for all the CCers on this cruise!

 

Best, Janice

[Patti22]

Thanks to TravelCat2 and NJBelle and others who have allowed me to follow along on this cruise. We are now aware of what was going on in Norway yesterday and continuing on. So, very safe travels to all. Patti

[Sunprince]

I have really enjoyed reading this thread. Thanks to TC and all who have taken the time out of their vacation to post their experience. I would love to do this itinerary, but have shied away from it as I am a warm weather person and avoid vacationing in the cooler climes. But it seems this was not the case (at least this year) so there might be hope for me in the future. It certainly seems like a unique experience. Glad to hear things are top notch on the Voyager

[Mr Rumor]

Just received via snail mail a packet of great photos of the Voyager's Oslo sail away on July 10 from my old Royal Viking Line pal Jess, a longtime area resident. Jess and his brother-in-law Justein were on Justein's boat in Oslo harbor to witness the Voyager's departure. Enjoy!

 

Here she comes! (You can see Oslo's imposing City Hall at the bottom left.)

There she goes!

Farvel! (Farewell!)

[Travelcat2]

Have a lot to share about our 'interesting' debarkation but it will have to wait until we get home. In the lounge at Terminal 5 - Heathrow where they will have another chance to lose our luggage (just kidding - we like British Airways)

 

My friend emailed me about the threat against Norway. That is really sad -- such a lovely country with great people! As mentioned previously, we left the last port 2 hours late due to the threat. Capt. Green put the 'pedal to the metal' and we arrived in Copenhagen only 7 minutes late. We've never seen the Voyager move so fast:)

[RachelG]

Glad you made it pretty much on time. And hope everyone made heir flight.

[Joanandjoe]

Safely home, and totally exhausted. We'll send a longer post in the next few days. What a great cruise, despite the snafus with shore excursions.

[Travelcat2]

Joan and Joe, happy to learn that you are back safely (as are we). We got through customs and immigrations in a flash (due to our Nexus pass), got our car, drove through the Canadian border and arrived at Trader Joes 10 minutes before they closed (to pick up turkey as a surprise for our kitties). We were home 2 hours after disembarking from the plane (I only exceeded the speed limit by a few MPH:-)

 

Although I am determined to post the "crab" picture, I'm not quite ready for that yet so I can talk about the challenging disembarkation. The only thing that I will criticize Regent for is putting continuing passengers in the theater at the same time as disembarking passengers (will explain further in a minute). There were 90 continuing passengers that could have easily fit in the Horizon Lounge.

 

The dock in Copenhagen that Regent used both for our port stop during the first segment and disembarkation is near town -- great location. But (big "but") there is a very narrow street next to the ship where passengers in two buses can almost shake hands as the buses are within inches of each other when the buses pass each other. Add to that the never ending "Hop On Hop Off" buses (usually empty) that insist on adding to the traffic jam, it is difficult for everyone. Passengers needing taxis had to be very patient as buses have priority on that tiny road.

 

The way Regent has been disembarking passengers is a bit tedious. You must be in the theater while they take "roll call" for each bus. They wait until everyone is there before you depart the ship for the bus. While not a great method, I cannot think of other ways (other than perhaps letting people that are there go to the bus however the bus still couldn't leave and make room for more buses). This might work fairly well if everyone was actually in the theater at the time they were supposed to. Since people were not there on time, the delays got longer and longer...... and, more people were arriving in the theater at their specified time (along with the people on tours). When we arrived at 8:35 a.m. (10 minutes ahead of schedule), you could not get inside of the theater -- it was packed. So, we stood slightly outside the door where we really couldn't hear anything that was going on. Eventually (around 9:00 a.m.) we could enter the theater. "Roll Call" wasn't taken for our bus until 9:50 a.m. - a little over an hour after we were suppose to be there. We were the last bus to depart since our flight wasn't until 2:05 p.m.

 

The last tidbit regarding disembarkation was the luggage. The good part was that the luggage you needed to identify was outside of each bus. This alleviated going into a large room (which doesn't exist at this dock) and identifying your luggage amongst hundreds of others. The unfortunate part is that between the luggage and people, we could not walk down the sidewalk to our bus and instead waited until there was no traffic and walked down the street.

 

So, my tip to those of you disembarking in Copenhagen later this summer, make sure that your flight is not too early in the morning.

 

Thankfully we received our luggage at the end of the flights and will be making our claim for expenses to British Airways this week.

 

Still have some closing comments and a picture or two to come.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Travelcat2

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Any idea how independent disembarkation was handled? Could people just walk off and collect their luggage somewhere?

[nana541]

Not much has changed... I to remember a zoo in Copenhagen!

 

 

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[NJBelle]

Hi there, just checking in to say that we got home safely as well. And to say that Global Entry is a beautiful thing. Anyone who travels outside the US at all should really consider getting one if you don't have it already. Lots of planes landed in Newark around the time that we did last evening (about 7 PM), but we zipped through Passport Control in no time, waited for our baggage (thankfully all arrived pretty quickly) and then zoomed through the Customs line (they have a special Global Entry line that had no one in it). Car was waiting for us and we were home in Princeton by 9 PM.

 

We were "independent travelers" - learned long ago that we like to do our own travel plans and not ride on buses with lots of other people to get to airports. We finished breakfast and headed down to disembark. Exited quickly, found our luggage easily - and fortunately hooked up with an assertive, seasoned luggage guy who flagged down a cab for us. So, for us, it was pretty quick, but do agree that it was crowded once you exited with your luggage and there was really no one there to "direct traffic". Would have been nice to have a Regent rep (someone local who is hired for this) to coordinate the taxis.