Live From Emerald June 18 North Cape & Summer Solstice

[MawganTr]

This thread is making me all the more excited for our cruise with the same itinerary on 6 August. Six weeks and counting. :)

 

 

 

I'm on the 6 Aug too and getting more and more excited by the day! Reading this blog is really whetting my appetite.

 

 

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[seamwoman]

On a tour in Britian our guide called them ABC Tours - another bloody church,

Another bloody castle and another bloody cathedral!

[ccrain]

Glad of the explanation. I thought it was another supermarket chain! Lol.

 

 

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ABC is the chain "7/11" in Hawaii, but here it does stand for one more church, cathedral, castle, etc.

 

Although I have to admit, most of the great artworks and impressive architecture are embodied in the churches.

[Just love 2 cruise]

Just wondering if anyone can post a picture of the back of the ship. I am sailing on the Emerald in 2018 and looking at a vista suite at the back of the ship for those lovely sea days. I am told there is some obstruction beams.

 

 

If anyone is staying in C737 or D751 and can provide their comments as there is nothing posted on the cabin compilation spreadsheet for me to review.

 

Thank you for this lovely blog, I am already feeling comfortable with my way around the ship and what to expect.

[janetcbl]

This is a post from the Ruby that I believe is similar to your ship....great pictures, including the dreaded beam which doesn't look so bad and might even provide sun protection. We will be on this ship in three weeks, so can check it Out. It is Vista D736:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/julielucasphotography24/sets/72157626223689300/detail/

[ccrain]

Above the Arctic circle. No midnight sun, just midnight gloomy glow from behind the clouds. Mid level clouds this morning like a high marine layer. A little misty, breezy and chilly. Doesn’t look too promising for blue skies. So we’ll be prepared with layers and raincoats. Decided to book the Princess bus (200A - not guided) to North Cape just to ensure seats. The public busses will be crowded for sure. We dock at 0800 and all aboard is 2030, so it’s a long day in port.

 

Not our favorite port. Let’s get that out of the way. It’s interesting and intriguing to be above the arctic circle, at the ‘furthest northern point in continental Europe’, but the combination of wind and fog really put a damper on the day. We did get about 20 minutes of horizontal clearance to take pictures of the statues, the building, the cliffs, the monument, but the wind was howling and biting. We retreated inside the center to see what the film was all about. It was ok, sort of a videolog of life in the area. We also checked out the tunnel. Quite frankly the construction of the tunnels under the center were more fascinating to me than the dioramas and light show. After about 30 minutes in the bowels of the visitor center we went back upstairs to fog so thick you could not see 100’ outside the building, and wind so cold and biting it drove me back in after just a few photos – and then it was time to leave. We had about 2 hours at the center. I’m not sure another hour at the center would have been any better. The only entertainment was watching people try to stay upright in the wind – those that you could see.

 

This far north there are no trees. It’s a windswept, harsh looking landscape with lichen and grasses as the major flora, birds and reindeer as the major fauna. This area was completely bulldozed by the last ice age. Rounded hills, broken piles of rock, natural lakes here and there. It would be a beautiful place to hike and picnic in nicer weather. And the views are spectacular. This far north, the air is crystal clear. You can see, virtually, forever, and depth perception without references can be so difficult. Was that lake a mile away or 3? Are those cliffs really 1,000 feet high? Is that point of land really 6 miles away?

 

Glad we went? Absolutely. A must on this kind of itinerary. And if it was a day like we had at Trondheim and we had been able to get out into the fields and grasses, it would have been much better. Weather is always chancy in northern climates like this – anywhere actually as St Petersburg on the last cruise proved.

 

After we got back to the ship we walked the town, found the coop market and looked for the one restaurant I had saved on Tripadvisor – The King Crab House. Probably the best crab bisque I have ever had. Just a hint of spice, loads of crab flavor (probably from the King Crab they use), it was fantastic. Judy had the Spicy King Crab in Coconut sauce and I had the Reindeer Stew, veggies and mash. The Reindeer stew was good, more like a sautéed reindeer in a wine sauce, much thicker than a stew, very flavorful and perfect with the mash. But Judy’s crab in spicy coconut sauce had a hint of Thai flavor in all that crab. Probably the best king crab we’ve had since one night in downtown Anchorage at Simon and Seafort’s 15 years ago. Along with a pint of pilsner and we were all set. It is a popular place, but that could be misleading as it only has on the order of 30 covers, and its one of the few restaurants in town – I was not going to have Pizza or Nachos in Honnisvag, Norway!

 

The market was much bigger inside than it looked. Yes, prices were higher, as you would expect, but in line with the previous coops we’ve been in on this trip. We picked up some chocolate bars for Ann, our room steward. She doesn’t get a chance to get out much so we like to bring here back something when we go out.

 

For those of you coming up later this year or next, I would highly recommend you get into a private tour or possibly a car hire with other people. Two hours at North Cape is all you really need. But there are a lot of other sites around the island that are worth seeing as well. The little fishing villages, the Sami villages, the herds of reindeer. The bus trip was just not appropriate to see these types of sites and there were several times I wish we could have stopped to look at a lake, or a particular rock formation or a village or tidal pool. Oh well, woulda, shoulda, coulda….

 

BTW - The patter this morning does say there will be a shuttle bus in Tromso to the Polar Center for $5 each way or $10 round trip. Tromso we have scheduled as a full DIY. Later…

[ccrain]

Just wondering if anyone can post a picture of the back of the ship. I am sailing on the Emerald in 2018 and looking at a vista suite at the back of the ship for those lovely sea days. I am told there is some obstruction beams.

 

 

If anyone is staying in C737 or D751 and can provide their comments as there is nothing posted on the cabin compilation spreadsheet for me to review.

 

Thank you for this lovely blog, I am already feeling comfortable with my way around the ship and what to expect.

 

Try this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=808951

 

Crown, Ruby and Emerald are essentially identical.

[janetcbl]

For those of you coming up later this year or next, I would highly recommend you get into a private tour or possibly a car hire with other people. Two hours at North Cape is all you really need. But there are a lot of other sites around the island that are worth seeing as well. The little fishing villages, the Sami villages, the herds of reindeer. The bus trip was just not appropriate to see these types of sites and there were several times I wish we could have stopped to look at a lake, or a particular rock formation or a village or tidal pool. Oh well, woulda, shoulda, coulda….

 

BTW - The patter this morning does say there will be a shuttle bus in Tromso to the Polar Center for $5 each way or $10 round trip. Tromso we have scheduled as a full DIY. Later…

 

Sorry you had such poor weather.....the view is amazing when it is clear, abut the weather in that area changes quickly and is hard to predict. Don't know if you noticed, but there are people who go there to camp in their vans and I can't imagine what that experience is like in bad weather. Because of th changing weather, I would not want to hire a car....a car plus driver/guide would be a great idea.

The Polar Center is walkable from the port an gives you a chance to see some of the town if you head a bit away from the coast......Don't miss the Arctic Church...lthat's a longer walk over the long bridge, but the views from the bridge are great and the church a bit different from ones that you usually see. I am enjoying your blogs! Thanks so much....glad you enjoyed Trondheim, one of my favorite places.

Edited June 25, 2016 by janetcbl

[Gismo]

Hi All

 

First time in Honningsvag went on King crab safari, first thing to say not cheap but nothing is up here but lasted three and half hours took high speed rib around to bay where they pulled in crab pot full of crab, once on land got to hold crab talk about crab then the kill knife through brain of crab legs of and then we walked to big tent sami style log fire started and crab legs put into pot offered free water tea coffee etc after a while legs cooked so washed in sea water and served with bread lemon and butter, amazing taste meat just melted away was good to chat to locals they shop in Finland 4 hour drive away because Norway to expensive, they learn English for 11 years while at school while at university in Oslo classes taught in English what was nice was one girl going to Singapore to study for a year two of our group lived there for years so where able to chat about Singapore we also had one of the front desk purser s with us enjoying a little free time, sitting around camp fire chatting away eating crab was very relaxing on way back crew of rib opened up the throttles and showed us what these boats can do turning and twisting at high speed good fun so long as you have a good grip the survival suites were not needed as no body went over board but if they did these suites allow you to float, in early hours of morning we were wakened by medical alarm call not got any details but they do not put these things out ship wide at that time unless they have a good reason,some folks have seen whales dolphins etc all we have seen is seagulls, however have seen u boat pens and a fare bit of old gun in placements as we have sailed around. Off on tour again tomorrow,

 

Chat more later

 

 

 

Yours shogun

[ccrain]

What a great day ashore. Weather could have been a little better in the morning, but we’ll take it. No rain, light clouds, but by 1300 it was blue sky, sunshine, light breeze – just a gorgeous day.

 

And there is a LOT to see and do in Tromso. The Emerald docked at the cruise port about 2 miles from the docks near the bridge. One of those Holland America ‘dam’ ships were in the downtown cruise terminal. A shuttle ride was essential, although taxi’s were available at both the port and the downtown area. The shuttle drop off was at the Radisson Blu hotel. From there everything was in every direction. The local tourist information offices provided very nice maps of the area, and the outlying areas like the arctic cathedral and the cable cars.

 

Oh, and BTW, the mystery of the strange RIB deepens. On the sea day to Honningsvag we encountered a strange RIB in the middle of nowhere. No other ships around, it was about 100 yards off the port side just sitting in the water. I just happened to look out the window and there it was. Grabbed my binoculars and looked it over. Outboard motor, a big white antenna thing, like cell phone antenna, in the center of the boat, and no one on board. One whip antenna out the rear. It was just floating as if abandoned. The bridge was looking it over as well. Several officers with binocs, including the staff captain, looked it over and shrugged their shoulders. We continued on and it was lost in the fog to the stern. Now today, in port, is a Norwegian frigate with an identical RIB tied to the back helicopter deck. I’m absolutely positive it has something to do with the lack of Sasquatch sightings in Norway. Oh wait a minute, I’m conflating the show ‘Hunting Bigfoot’, showing on one of the Princess channels, with a strange sighting. Sorry, my bad…

 

So back to Tromos. We took the first shuttle in. Nothing opened until 1000, but by the time we got into town and straightened out, walking along the waterfront headed for the Polaria, it was close to 1000, and the Polaria opened early. Really neat place, complete with touch tanks, seals, King Crab, and their cousins, movies, displays and a lot of neat stuff to see and do. We did the movies, watched the feeding of the seals, saw the life and times of King Crabs (an invasive species planted in the Barents Sea by the Russians from the Bering Sea), Snow Crab and Rock Crab. Saw the singing clams, touched a few sea clams, crabs and anemones. Great place, highly recommended. But don’t forget to read the various info-boards outside the building about Snowhow. Good stuff. (Admission was 125K each BTW.)

 

From the Polaria we re-traced out steps to the bridge and walked over to the Arctic Chapel. It being Sunday, the place was packed for services and there was at least one baptism going on, so we opted to take a quick peak inside, but not to linger. We took a break outside and people watched, photographed the view, which was fantastic – as the weather had cleared and it was blue sky.

 

Back over the bridge, we headed to a couple of restaurants I had saved in Tripadvisor. Just across the street from one of the many burger kings I used the closest to me app to find the Hildr Gastro Bar. Rated #8, we decided to try it. I was not disappointed, but Judy didn’t care for her dishes except dessert. The chicken and sweet potato soup I thought was great, she didn’t care for it. With her mayo allergy she could only have the soup and the caprese salad, which she didn’t care for either. I loved the soup. Very different. Some might have thought it was a bit oversalted, but I like that part of the soup. I had the roast beef sandwich served open faced over a thick slice of bread, a lettuce leaf and a scoop of potato salad (where the mayo came from that Judy couldn’t eat.) I liked it as well. Dessert for me was a rhubarb and crème concoction and Judy’s was a chocolate cake with all kinds of nuts in it. She did like that. I loved the rhubarb concoction as it was very tart, but mellowed with the crème. I had coffee while she had her second beer, and the restaurant had free wi-fi, so we used a lot of time updating apps as well.

 

After lunch we headed over to the wooden Tromso Cathedral, stopping on the way for some window and souvenir shopping. Lots of pretty flowers blooming everywhere, the sun was warm, there was almost no breeze, it was great. Caught the shuttle back to ship and here we sit having tea in the IC after a nice dinner in the HC. Judy found some veal liver and I went all veggie tonight with cabbage, zucchini, carrots, parsnips and a fruit bowl for dessert.

 

Now that was a great day!

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Sitting offshore at loften islands full sun temp 24degress according to temp on bus, tendered in free shuttle to down town, had to go shopping got up this morning and broke my belt so needed a new one got one but not cheap, so a few things yesterday was Tromso a great day at huskie camp 300 dogs and puppies was able to have a good talk about feeding raw meat dried fish etc as this is what Shogun eats, now if you are not into dogs this is not a tour for you if you are then wear clothes that you are happy to get mucky huskies are not pets they smell so take hand wipes, last night hundreds on deck watching sunset at midnight while in the tour bus the guide said on your left battle ship Tirpirtz but it’s a few hundred feet below the water, apart from an engine that provides power to North Cape.

 

Lots of people been asking why no midnight deck party, why no king crab legs etc Princess should of had a party may be put movie like star wars on to finish at 11.30pm so folks would be on deck,

 

Been a few media calls yesterday when we docked ambulance waiting for passenger then our departure was slightly delayed as another ambulance arrived to take away another passenger, again today was told of another,

 

Folks at IC were talking loud enough that all could hear saying that there are number of people on this cruise that Princess should not have allowed on board, which does raise an interesting question many of travel with medical conditions some we need to tell Princess about but let wonder if Princess needs to make sure we travel with a high enough level of medical insurance,

 

Have seen so little wildlife on this cruise then last night middle of nowhere some small grassy rocks to small to call them islands reindeer a herd of them munching away,

 

Last couple of nights past salty dog again only one table in use but crown grill half full

 

As to new beds do not like them, room steward has turned changed etc, however may not take another Princess cruise lines hate a soft bed may well start sleeping on floor,

 

Advise time, for those doing this cruise plan your days ashore so many ports where there are no local tours or taxis waiting for cruise ships so you need to have booked ahead, get a good camera and binoculars the best move we made was to move from an inside to an outside

[ccrain]

Beautiful day. 28C outside. Blue sky. Light breeze. Beautiful green hills – almost the color of Irish hills – the kind and amount of green against blue sky and dark blue water that makes for a tourist brochure photo day. The peaks are jagged here. Apparently the glaciers did not bulldoze them all down, so you have hundreds of feet sheer cliffs and large boulders that were broken off the sharp peaks. A very interesting place that I would really be interested in coming back to and exploring a bit more.

 

But unfortunately I screwed up again and should have DIY’ed it with a rental car. Several other couples rented cars from the local Avis dealer and were thrilled with their day. There really is nothing close or walkable from the port except for rocks, some beach, sand and grass. The ‘town’ is over 2 miles away and there just isn’t anything to see – really.

 

Because I absolutely hate to drive on vacation I opted for a half day Princess excursion going to Nusfjord (a UNESCO fishing village [tourist trap]) and Lofoten Viking Museum (205). Not good. Not recommended. Get 2 other couples together, or heck even on your own, and rent a car. You can see far much more for about the same price if you can split it between 2 couples.

 

The problems with the Princess excursion – 1) Malfunctioning A/C on the bus and a driver who just didn’t care – as he had an open window. It was a public bus shanghaied into site seeing service so the A/C was probably bad to begin with. On the other public bus at least the driver opened up the emergency escape hatches on the roof to provide for ventilation, and the other busses were all professional tour busses with much more adequate air flow. It got up to 27C outside and 32C inside along with a very stuffy atmosphere. 2) Poor schedule planning. When you have a group of older clientele meet in the theater at noon, and most show up 15 minutes early, tender them to shore and have them move quickly to the busses, then drive for 30 minutes and give them only 30 minutes to see something, guess where you spend half of your allotted 30 minutes? In the WC line of course. So most of us only got about 15 minutes to see Nusfjord. It might have been more interesting, but only having 15 minutes to explore it was just too short. Running through a tourist attraction is not my idea of fun. 3) The Viking Museum started out really good with the intro lecture, the whole site can be visited in 1 hour, but 2 hours on site were not long enough to walk down to the Viking Ship display at the water. Just poor planning.

 

For those coming up in August. Rent a car. Or get in with some people that are renting a car via the roll call. The roads are very simple, but cell coverage is spotty, so don’t depend on cell navigation. Either map it or bring your own GPS. On the road to Nusfjord there are at least half a dozen spots to stop with breathtaking views. There are several road side pubs as well. And the tunnels are simply not to be missed. This is the way to do Gravdal!

 

Avis was the most visible rental car at all the stops we did and they had cars waiting for people as they came off the tenders. Drop off was at the port and there was a fuel station in the town to the east about 2km from the port. As I said I talked to several people who rented cars and vans, one a 10 person van, and were really happy with the prices and service.

 

Check it out….

[janetcbl]

ccrain: ...I'm so sorry your time in the Lofotens wasn't what it should be. I have spent time there and it is a magical place, but where you were is sort of nowhere...I wonder why Princess would choose it when other areas to the North are much more interesting. You seem to have really enjoyed Norway; you might enjoy the Hurtigruten Line Coastal Voyages if you ever decide to sail with a different company.

[ccrain]

ccrain: ...I'm so sorry your time in the Lofotens wasn't what it should be. I have spent time there and it is a magical place, but where you were is sort of nowhere...I wonder why Princess would choose it when other areas to the North are much more interesting. You seem to have really enjoyed Norway; you might enjoy the Hurtigruten Line Coastal Voyages if you ever decide to sail with a different company.

 

I am going to look into that, as well as a train/rental car hotel hopping trip as well. This is a very beautiful country with lots of interesting things to see and do...and a lot of history as well.

[Shogun]

Hi All

The free bus ran all day and dropped you off down town next to taxi office and tourist office folks who rented car said that company would allow you to collect and return to pier but better to check with local company's, as to Hurtigruten folks on board have cruised with them and have said amazing ports of call but you need to do your home work,

Overall this cruise has so much to offer for those active sporty types endless fun to be had, for those just wanting to look at amazing views and take photos endless opportunities and for those wanting something in between this cruise can offer today final saw whales OK in the distance but still saw them,

Today's weather was amazing first time in Aalesund well worth returning to

 

Yours Shogun

[ccrain]

Everyone, and I mean everyone we’ve met ashore during these fantastic blue sky port days have been saying how lucky we are on the weather. Only Stavanger and North Cape have been affected by weather. All the others have been gorgeous. Alesund was no exception. Weather was near perfect. It did cloud up in the late afternoon, but was actually quite warm by midday. Judy’s sweatshirt came off for the later bus rides. I should have worn a short sleeve shirt actually.

 

There is a major public bus station right on the dock. (BTW, we docked on the south side of the city, not the north side as indicated in the port guide they gave us in the patter. I don’t think a cruise ship can dock on the north side.) One of the larger AIDA ships were in port with us. Our choices were public bus, Hop On Hop Off, Tourist Train and Taxis.

 

All the public bus signs were in Norwegian and I’d not studied the system beforehand. However, I saw several cruise passengers using the public busses and they did go everywhere we wanted to go, and more frequently. And they were nice looking busses as well, with large windows. The train did not go to the aquarium, taxis were too expensive, so we opted for the Hop On Hop Off red bus.

 

The ship docked at 0800, the bus started running at 0900 and the aquarium, our first target, opened at 1000. The aquarium was also the last stop on the HOHO bus tour, so the HOHO was a perfect choice. Absolutely fantastic views from the top of Aksla. (Amazing the tight spots they can get those busses into.) Had we an extra hour I would have hiked to the top via the stairs. The HOHO was running 3 busses, 30 minutes between busses at each stop, and the round trip was 1 hour and 20 minutes.

 

The Tripadvisor reviews on the aquarium are spot on. Small, but a great visit. Plan at least 2 hours unless you want to catch the feeding times, then plan at least 3 hours. Follow the suggested walking path along the smaller tanks which then end up at the huge tank – which will take your breath away. Then outside into a beautiful blue sky day with seals and penguins in the outdoor tanks. This was a WOW place to visit. Very well done and a must do. BTW – there is no taxi stand or que at the aquarium, or at least there wasn’t when we left around noon.

 

We got back on the bus and went to the Viking museum, more like a living museum on the east side of town. Only the HOHO, public busses and taxis get you there. (No taxi stand or que either.) The museum was interesting in that it had a collection of recreated buildings from various historical periods. The various Viking boats in the water and in the various warehouses were pretty fascinating as well. Unless you are really into this and want to go into all the houses and see all of them, plan on about 2 hours here. There was an additional ‘excursion’ on a Viking sailing reproduction ship that we opted out of, hoping to get to the top of the mountain one last time for photos instead.

 

We had scheduled dinner with some past cruising friends, so we skipped lunch shore, but still had time to get around the downtown area and do some shopping. There is a small walking mall with shops and restaurants, as well as a small indoor mall with a variety of shops. Everything in the downtown area is easily walkable.

 

A really great day in Alesund…

 

So later!

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Captain has been on to say we are sailing into a storm sea conditions rough wind 45 he advised to secure lose items in cabins etc, with so many older folks on board any rough conditions will be a challenge for them,

 

While in IC an older man was leaning with his back to the wall well got things wrong and loud bang and he was flat on the floor well in the time it took other passengers to work out what had happened a number of waiters had rushed to the man’s aid, he was unhurt was given a chair and comforted for some time but very impressed with speed of waiters,

 

Tried crown grill with folks who have never been before they thought service setting etc was fine we had a window seat, however they thought sea food lacked taste meat was OK but would have been better flame cooked thought desserts too sweet overall meal was fine but had had better in main dining room,

 

As to salty dog still only seen one table each night in use, spoke to some crew who are coming to end of contract they plan an evening in crown grill as they miss sabatinis

 

Still ongoing battle with the new beds got up the other day and back went, we have not booked or taken out any future cruise credits can not put into words how much l dislike this bed, now have seen folk carrying on there own pillows before if you see a guy carrying a mattress it will be me for just now no plans to risk my health with these beds again.

 

Overall this has been a fine cruise amazing weather passenger mix older than normal shows standing room only etc, on board feeling a little different due to high number of baits on board, again not being from our age group means you do not mix as much as we would on other cruises.

 

Ship running plenty of drills bridge keeps you up to date of what’s going on, we are on deck 8 had a man outside our window today which was a bit of a surprise.

 

Yours shogun

[toberman]

Shogun and ccrain... Thanks for an enjoyable 2 wks. I made it more interesting by going to AIS Vessel Tracking to see where the ship was at any given time and the destination. I then went to Google Maps to look up the location in Norway and looked thru the pictures Google has. Other than for the beds (haven't experienced them yet) I also know the ship very well.

Again thanks for the ride-along.

[Floflegs]

Sorry to hear the beds don't suit you, Shogun. We were on in April and I found them great. Best sleep I had on a cruise ship.

[ccrain]

Our last port. (awwwwww) Rainy, cloudy, chilly to start. It was a shame that we were only able to stay about half a day. We docked in the southernmost container port area as the Aurora was up in the dock area near the fortress. Getting out required a short shuttle bus trip out of the container area to the southernmost cruise drop off area on the Bergen tourist guide map. A really good map. And all you had to do was follow the white arrows and white dots on the sidewalk to the main pedestrian shopping area.

 

From there the piers and fish market are just a few blocks north, the Hanseatic wharf area a few blocks around the inlet from there and the fortress just a few hundred yards past that. Very, very walkable. Not a lot of tourists to start the day as it was raining when we docked and exited the ship. The rain and low clouds killed any plans we had of trying to do the funicular. We did want to check out the fish market, the Hanseatic wharf area and the fortress.

 

The Bryggan was very interesting with the warped and leaning buildings. Interesting to walk through the narrow alleys and wonder whether or not the wood on the wall was original or reproduced or repurposed from an older building somewhere else. Some of it was obviously modern, like pressure treated timbers hand axed to look older, but some of the support beams were definitely hand worked and much older. So they were either repurposed or original in some way.

 

The Bryggan has a main bus junction right in front of it. Lots of local busses and they looked in really good condition, with large windows. I played around with one of the ticket machines. It appeared that a daily travel pass was 36 Kroner for an adult. If we would have had more time, and had done my homework a bit more, we would have hopped on a public bus for a while. Like Alesund, the busses were pretty frequent.

 

The fortress gardens and outer areas are free to walk through early in the morning. Roses bushes in bloom, trees freshly washed in the rain. A free and accessible WC. Great views of the pier area from the ramparts, old foundations. Pretty interesting and the sun came out, for about an hour, while we were wandering around the place.

 

Going back through the fish market we stopped and tried one of everything. A shellfish platter with all kinds of fresh North Sea shellfish (mussels, king crab, stone crab, shrimp and north sea langoustine). We also had a salmon platter, a halibut platter and a whale steak platter. The whale tasted completely different as it was cooked a bit more and had no sauce on it. It had a slight liver taste. I liked it. Judy did not like it as much as the first steak in Stavanger. (We also tried whale sausage and I did not like it at all, but Judy did. Go figure!) The salmon was completely different from Pacific Northwest salmon, as was the halibut. The mussels were very mild, the shrimp, with the heads on, fresh and tender, the crab really good. We really enjoyed it.

 

After breakfast/lunch we found the local liquor store and bought a sampler pack of Aquavit. And this one had the Linae Aquavit in it. This stuff is cured in a ship that goes around the world for a year. Theoretically the rolling motion of the ship ensures a consistent aging of the liquor. Once again Google maps saved the day by showing the exact location of the shop. Which was good since the road we were on was an overpass over the road we needed to be on!

 

It started to pour and we headed back to the ship as all aboard would be 1330 today.

 

A rough start to a partial day in Bergen, but easily done DIY and well worth the effort. Great places to have lunch as well.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Re beds

I have found only one other person with a very bad bed, I can not believe that this is a new bed it has a hole in the middle of it once in you almost need help to get out, it has a new topper but this must be an old mattress, anyway it has done back in, so will need to be careful for next few weeks,

 

So a few thoughts on this cruise if you ever get the chance to do then take it, will most likely do this type of cruise again in a few years may be not on Princess

but will return to this part of the world.

 

Our room steward worst ever nice enough guy to speak too but just did not do his job, every day things not done, supplies not replaced, towels missing, glasses, tissues, soap etc

As to cleaning on day one broke of a plastic tag of a new shirt was still lying in same place on carpet when we left do not think cabin was ever hoovered,

Now I drew a smiley face on the mirror in the bath room every day when it steamed up there it was again right up until day 12 when mirror got cleaned,

Dust on top of desk etc wrote Shogun in it.

 

Heard some new cruisers asking why we need room stewards saying they must cost a lot and do nothing they were asking why not just have carts of clean linen and empty ones for dirty towels etc

 

As to menus did not see any one pick the curtis stone item, so can not advise if any good, however did think menu was poorer than last autumn in that on a few nights in the autumn I had a main dish with something on the side as an extra as choice was so good,

this time round did not do this, picked the salmon option a couple of nights as did not see anything I really wanted table mates thought food was very good overall however they all did return at least on meal saying not good, and on many nights they requested extra this or that plus extra spices etc

 

Salty dog couple of folks I spoke too tried it and liked it but would not rush to do it again, but would do it again some time, however never so more than two tables in use passed it every night,

 

can not advise about share did not get a chance to talk to any one that went to it,

 

As to Emerald ship is in fine condition she is not new and you will find a rust spot a cracked tile etc, but everything works ship is clean and well run,

one thing we did notice is when walking on some carpets you find a hole depression the size of a small plate been told these are rust spots in the steel work that have been fixed,

 

casino has had major make over loads of new machines do not like the newer style machines, many with an Asian theme may be Princess Casino guys know something we do not. What was worse was the machine that paid me $350 was scrapped the next day,

 

Not sure when they returned but like the bing bong of the cards being scanned

right up until mrs shogun tried to get off ship and it went errrr

 

disembarkation very smooth could not be better, as we walked out of terminal car parking agent standing there saying your car is less than 100m away

drive home hard work almost nine hours.

 

for us we will take time off from Princess unless we get a silly price like this cruise, just now princess is offering this cruise at 4 times what we paid no way I will pay that rate for the product being offered,

even the flowers I bought for mrs shogun last normally to almost end of a cruise this time end of week one and they were gone.

 

loads of complaints about no movie guide, however good selection was shown,

 

mrs shogun enjoyed the cruise being refereed to as young ones does that,

 

if folks have any questions just ask

 

yours Shogun

[caber]

Hi Shogun,

Why didn't you ask to have the mattress replaced? We had a really saggy one once and got it changed the same day we asked.

Enjoying the review.

Bye the way, you're not THAT young. :p:p

[toberman]

Thanks Steve... enjoyed following along with you and Charles.

Doug

[Shogun]

Hi Caber,

 

I did ask ever other day, I was told mattress was turned, swapped etc

 

When your table mates have been married longer than you have been around,

 

talk about things before you were even born, you are young ones,

 

yours Shogun

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Before cruise I was concerned to find out football was being shown, after bad experience a few years ago, just to advise due to age of passengers there was no issues with good numbers watching the games but no foot ball colours, drunks, swearing etc,

 

yours Shogun