MSC Orchestra, June 6th 2015 | Fjords, Norway & Northern Germany

[Elmartellama]

Approaching the narrowest part of the Fjord towards Flam. What's that man on the lower right side doing in a Polo? :S

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the cool bathroom with waterfall views!

 

[Elmartellama]

We explored a bit the upper deck that is reserved for Aurea members or something. Just jumped the cord.

 

 

 

I didn't see the point in making it exclusive, it seems a very normal area. Not even Jacuzzis.

 

 

 

And we finally reach Flam

 

 

We went to the cabin to change and rest for a while. There is a Flam train museum and shops, but we did not venture out since we had to be at the theatre in a short time. After the excursion we were tired and did not visit either.

[I-Cruiser]

Are you looking for this key "å" :D

These might be handy too: "ø" and "æ".

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Enjoying your review -thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pluto_fan]

 

I have never said "Wow!" so many times while reading a trip report as I have reading yours! :)

[alexkrn46]

wonderful review, we did this cruise 2 years ago.

[I-Cruiser]

As much as I love the pictures of the ports. Will you also post pictures from the ship?

I keep wanting to try MSC but....courage fails me...:D:D

[Elmartellama]

As much as I love the pictures of the ports. Will you also post pictures from the ship?

I keep wanting to try MSC but....courage fails me...:D:D

 

:D Well, I must admit I focused on the scenery!

 

I'll make a new selection of pictures from the ship when I finish the review. What part of the ship are you most interested in?

 

The thing is I have a selection of pictures, then I run a batch process to automatically resize them into 950px width, and finally I upload all of them together to Dropbox. So, I post pictures in that chronological order, since it saves a lot of time.

[Elmartellama]

wonderful review, we did this cruise 2 years ago.

 

Than you, I'm sure it brings happy memories ;)

[Elmartellama]

I have never said "Wow!" so many times while reading a trip report as I have reading yours! :)

 

Then wait for the real thing!

[Elmartellama]

Julia's Journey's

 

Enjoying your review -thanks

 

Thanks!

[Elmartellama]

I-Cruiser

 

Are you looking for this key "å" :D

These might be handy too: "ø" and "æ".

 

That symbols are so cool, we don't have anything like that in Spanish, it's very boring! In Catalan we have ç like in "Barça" and a little point in between two l, like in "il.lusió".

 

I studied 3 months of Swedish, not that I remember anything, but loved the º above some of the vocals.

 

Also in German the umlauts are a bit difficult for me, I tend to ignore them. A customer of mine always tell me I should stress the ö in möchten, and he says "moooooochten". He doesn't speak any local language, so I'm like...:confused: :D

 

Also we found it curious how Flam actually sounds, we would write it more like Floom :eek:

Edited July 12, 2015 by Elmartellama

[I-Cruiser]

That symbols are so cool, we don't have anything like that in Spanish, it's very boring! In Catalan we have ç like in "Barça" and a little point in between two l, like in "il.lusió".

I studied 3 months of Swedish, not that I remember anything, but loved the º above some of the vocals.

Also in German the umlauts are a bit difficult for me, I tend to ignore them. A customer of mine always tell me I should stress the ö in möchten, and he says "moooooochten". He doesn't speak any local language, so I'm like...:confused: :D

Also we found it curious how Flam actually sounds, we would write it more like Floom :eek:

 

Floom does sound better then Flam.

We used to live 4 years in Spain so I have bumped into the ç and ó on occasions. Also the upside down question and exclamation marks.

My DH is Cuban (with 15 years in Madrid) so I can say more then cerveza in Spanish:D..(but not much:D)

 

As for MSC. I would like to see pictures of the restaurants and lounges if you have them. I would appreciate that lots.

[Elmartellama]

Ok then. Let's start with Flam!

 

The day was foggy and overcast. We would be visiting several sites during the excursion and didn't have to walk too much. We were a bit indifferent with cold weather, and it finally never rained, so no complaints.

 

We gathered at the theatre for our excursion, and soon after we took our bus. This is the Flam train heading up, we would be taking it the other direction later in the day. The Flam river has special properties that make a good habitat for salmons, so many fishing enthusiasts visit the area. According to our guide, however, fishing licenses in some areas can be very expensive, so that the salmon population does not decline.

 

 

There were many people taking excursions that day, and I later found out that we skipped a part of the excursions that my parents and sister did when they were there (in different trips). I was quite disappointed in that. Not that it was the end of the world, but considering how much you pay they should do the whole thing.

 

We would be leaving Flam and heading to the Oppheim Hotel in Stalheim. The first 30km or so were endless tunnels

 

The problem in Stalheim was that there were so many buses that we could not stop to take pictures. It was very unfair, since other groups did.

 

The bus stopped in the middle of the old Stalheimskleivi road for us to take pictures though. This is the old and dangerous road with 20% grade and hairpin turns. It was quite dramatic and I liked it

 

 

You could also see the Stalheimfossen from the bus

 

 

Then we continued our route towards Voss, through cold Norwegian fields

 

 

After a while we arrived to Tvindefossen or twin-waterfalls

 

 

They are very beautiful and funny enough its water is believed to have aphrodisiac properties!

 

Quoting wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tvindefossen

 

In addition, in the late 1990s the water at Tvindefossen acquired a reputation for rejuvenation and revival of sexual potency that made it one of the most important natural tourist attractions in western Norway, with as many as 200,000 people a year from the U.S., Japan and Russia visiting and filling containers with the water.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tvindefossen#cite_note-8][/url]

 

LOL

 

The guide told us that specially Japanese took many bottles of water. We saw no one doing that. and can't comment on its effects actually ^_^

 

Edited July 12, 2015 by Elmartellama

[Elmartellama]

I loved that shiny happy people pose

 

 

A lovely brief stop which I recommend. We had almost 30 minutes, enough for a relaxed visit.

 

 

Then we continued to Voss. There are many farms along the road, and the guide told us many interesting facts about Norway, and the area. I think he did a great job.

 

 

In Voss we had an included excursion lunch in a restaurant near the train station. It was an excellent buffet with many salmon options in all kind of cooking methods. It was so delicious!

 

After that we had an hour or so to kill before taking the train to Myrdal. So we went to the lake and made several unpretentious pictures, to put it mildly :-D

 

 

I loved that giant letters!

 

 

Here I tried doing the funny sign of German pedestrian traffic lights, without too much success ^_^

 

Edited July 12, 2015 by Elmartellama

[Elmartellama]

Aside from the lake and the church, Voss centre has not much more to offer, since the town is very spread.

 

 

The station is in the Bergen - Oslo lane. We had to take a train to Myrdal, which is a little station in the middle of nowhere, where you have to change trains to Flam.

 

 

So for the first leg of out train Journey we used the public train. They attached three wagons to the normal train until Myrdal. The capacity was not enough for the many people who had to take the train. I somehow saw that coming, and when they announced that we had to take the wagons that were further away everyone started an stampide to take good seats.

 

We were faster than everyone else xD Oh boy how I run that day!

 

As a result we had excellent seats by the windows, but many people had seats with no window at all, and a few were standing for better views. I thought it was stupid, they could have added an extra wagon, again you pay a high price for that excursion.

 

 

We were seated next to two couples of Catalan retirees that gave us some fun conversation.

 

 

It was a great ride, and the landscape suddenly changed from Autumn to Winter, even though it was late Spring!

 

 

Edited July 12, 2015 by Elmartellama

[Elmartellama]

You could not just believe your eyes!

 

 

It was like the Frozen movie for the second consecutive day!

 

At one point I saw a little waterfall of blue cobalt water that was incredible, didn't have time to picture it. What an amazing moment.

 

 

 

 

We finally reached...

 

 

... and had to wait for 15 minutes or so for the next rain. It was quite cold, brrrr. As you can see we had ascended 800 meters, that would then descend with the next Flam-bound train.

 

 

So that's it for today. Swim time now ;-)

Edited July 12, 2015 by Elmartellama

[Elmartellama]

I-Cruiser

 

Floom does sound better then Flam.

We used to live 4 years in Spain so I have bumped into the ç and ó on occasions. Also the upside down question and exclamation marks.

My DH is Cuban (with 15 years in Madrid) so I can say more then cerveza in Spanish:D..(but not much:D)

 

As for MSC. I would like to see pictures of the restaurants and lounges if you have them. I would appreciate that lots.

 

Cuban-Norwegian, what a lovely combination ;)

 

I will rescue as many ship pictures I can. Next year the cruise we took will be offered by the MSC Fantasia, a ship on which we sailed last year. So if you are interested, you can tell me and I will post a few pictures as well.

 

You can find my other MSC Fantasia review link in my signature :cool:

[I-Cruiser]

Cuban-Norwegian, what a lovely combination ;)

 

I will rescue as many ship pictures I can. Next year the cruise we took will be offered by the MSC Fantasia, a ship on which we sailed last year. So if you are interested, you can tell me and I will post a few pictures as well.

 

You can find my other MSC Fantasia review link in my signature :cool:

 

Yeah, I think "they" call it exotic:D:D

 

I will have a look at your other review.

(Did I mention we are planning on moving back to Spain..? ...yes. soon I hope)

[Julia’s Journey’s]

After seeing your pictures I'm getting nervous about packing warm enough clothes for August/September - yikes:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Frode]

Thank you so very much for your great review and the outstanding pictures! It has been great to follow you :)

I am a Norwegian myself (though living in Stockholm, Sweden), and we did the same cruise onboard MSC Musica in June 2013.

I am very surpriced about the snow conditions you met during your trip - however, the winter has obviously been a tough one up there.

 

When we went on the same cruise, the weather was really nice & sunny; in fact I was wearing shorts during every stop the whole week... But that it - I would say - typical Norwegian summer weather :eek:

 

I believe that you returned back to Kiel (Germany) this weekend.

Because today (Mondag 13th July) MSC Orchestra is here in Stockholm :D

 

Looking forward to follow your cruises even in the furure! Thanks again!

Edited July 13, 2015 by Frode

[Elmartellama]

Yeah, I think "they" call it exotic:D:D

 

I will have a look at your other review.

(Did I mention we are planning on moving back to Spain..? ...yes. soon I hope)

 

Really? Good for you! (I guess :D )

[Elmartellama]

Julia’s Journey’s Julia’s Journey’s is offline

 

After seeing your pictures I'm getting nervous about packing warm enough clothes for August/September - yikes

 

Well, take into account that we went up to 1.500 meters above sea level in Geiranger, and almost 900 meters in Flam. At sea level temperature was around 10ºC. But yes, you better take layers and warm clothes just in case.

 

I wore a wind stopper jacket mainly, it was not that warm so I wore a thick pullover bellow. I use it at home during winter, when it's not too cold with a light pullover.

 

If you have a thermal / nordic thin pullover it can be a good idea. Also it's very important to bring a waterproof jacket and boats, in case it rains.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Elmartellama

[Elmartellama]

Thank you so very much for your great review and the outstanding pictures! It has been great to follow you :)

I am a Norwegian myself (though living in Stockholm, Sweden), and we did the same cruise onboard MSC Musica in June 2013.

I am very surpriced about the snow conditions you met during your trip - however, the winter has obviously been a tough one up there.

 

When we went on the same cruise, the weather was really nice & sunny; in fact I was wearing shorts during every stop the whole week... But that it - I would say - typical Norwegian summer weather :eek:

 

I believe that you returned back to Kiel (Germany) this weekend.

Because today (Mondag 13th July) MSC Orchestra is here in Stockholm :D

 

Looking forward to follow your cruises even in the furure! Thanks again!

 

We did our cruise starting the 6th of June, I talk just as if it was yesterday to make it more realistic :D

 

Since it was a very cold may we found a lot of snow at the beginning of June. That was very nice to us, since we are not used to it, not even in Winter.

[Elmartellama]

Let's continue with Myrdal

 

Like I explained, the last leg of our excursion would be the Flam train on the way down. You can book this excursion on your own. It's not cheap either, but it is cheaper than the cruise excursion.

 

Here we were in Myrdal waiting for the train

 

 

There were many free seats in the train, so we could move from one side to the other, or at least stand up and take pictures from the opposite side windows.

 

After 5 minutes or so from Myrdal, you can get off at the Kjosfossen Waterfall, there's a small power station bellow, that powers the Flam train.

 

It was quite cloudy and cold, I guess this waterfall is more spectacular in better weather. Even the trees were not green yet!

 

 

A part of the train stops in the middle of the tunnel

 

 

The we continued down and there are many more waterfalls along the train track

 

 

The landscape was quite beautiful