Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

[Gracie115]

 

I just saw that Cruise Critic ranked their top five Baltic and Scandinavia ports

 

 

 

 

1. St. Petersburg

 

2. Tallin

 

3. Stockholm

 

4. Oslo

 

5. Copenhagen

 

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/destination-awards/baltic/

 

 

 

Would anybody care to see our visit to Oslo ?

 

 

Heck yes, I'm up for all your pictorial reviews!!!:D

[MicCanberra]

I have been to Norway but only the coast and fjords, so seeing Oslo (through your eyes and lens) would be good.:D

Edited September 14, 2016 by MicCanberra

[Hydrokitty]

We're doing Baltic capitals and Russia B2b with Norway in August but won't be going to Oslo this time so YES show us your pictures. If they're anything close to your shot of the Church of

Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg they're magnificent!:D

[scubacruiserx2]

So a quick trip to Oslo before returning to Stonehenge . Oslo was our last stop of 4 in Norway on the Carnival Legend . We had mostly overcast conditions and rain at the first 3 , but in the late afternoon just before diner we saw some interesting clouds .

 

 

 

The sail in to Oslo was beautiful. The funny clouds had disappeared and the sky was clear in the morning for the first time this trip. There was another cruise ship ahead of us and I had the video camera.

 

 

 

As you may see , the sky was pink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched as we passed the other ship The ADIA bella , and went down to the cabin to see if Pat was awake . I told her that we had just passed another cruise ship that had two lips on the front of the ship.

 

 

 

 

" Tulips " she said, "oh they must be Dutch" . Another senior moment with the Scubacruiser times 2 (scubacruiserx2).

 

 

 

The " Dutch " cruise ship

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Love that photo of the cloudy sky and the sun peering through.

[scubacruiserx2]

Love that photo of the cloudy sky and the sun peering through.

 

Thanks Mic , a pre dinner treat . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

We got off the ship early on a Saturday morning hoping to beat the crowds and got a great seat on the Hop on hop off bus that was waiting for us. Our plan was to go to Vigeland installation in Frogner Park first - because it was the first thing open. They seemed to be waiting for the bus to fill before leaving so we inquired about taxi prices to the park. In an Amazing Race moment we jumped the cab and figured that we would have a hour , in the park , before the hoho bus arrived.

 

 

 

Gustav Vigeland Sculptor :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Vigeland

 

 

 

 

It worked ! The park was empty and the light was nice.

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the statues were very touching

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fountains were off until 2014

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It was fun to figure out what some of the statues were doing.

 

 

Touchdown !

 

 

 

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Angry baby

 

 

 

 

 

Piggie back rides and doggie piles

 

 

 

 

 

Catching butterflies

 

 

 

 

 

 

The monolith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is such a strange , strange place - and it's beautiful ..... Eleanor McEvoy Vigeland's Dream

 

 

 

 

 

[Hydrokitty]

LOVED your captions!!! You have a wonderful sense of the absurd and I respect that! Thanks for the day brightener :D

[AntjeG]

 

I watched as we passed the other ship The ADIA bella , and went down to the cabin to see if Pat was awake . I told her that we had just passed another cruise ship that had two lips on the front of the ship.

 

 

AIDAs 11 ships all have the smiling lips. They are an artwork made for AIDAcruises by Rostock-based artist Feliks Büttner. They call their own ships "smiles for the waves" and their advertisement says (translated - original is German) "where the smile is at home".

AIDAs on-board language is German only (Crew speaks English of course but dailies and entertainment and excursions are German only) so maybe you wouldn´t have such a great time but I love them. Sailed on AIDAbella twice. Unfortunately, AIDAbella will be removed from the German section and be their first ship with on-board language Chinese only from next year.

Oh by the way - AIDAs headquarter is in Rostock. The brand is part of Carnival corporation but they do their own thing - like Costa for the Italian part.

Edited September 15, 2016 by AntjeG

[scubacruiserx2]

LOVED your captions!!! You have a wonderful sense of the absurd and I respect that! Thanks for the day brightener :D

 

Vigeland has that effect on some people . ;)

[AntjeG]

Love Vigeland, too.

[scubacruiserx2]

AIDAs 11 ships all have the smiling lips. They are an artwork made for AIDAcruises by Rostock-based artist Feliks Büttner. They call their own ships "smiles for the waves" and their advertisement says (translated - original is German) "where the smile is at home".

AIDAs on-board language is German only (Crew speaks English of course but dailies and entertainment and excursions are German only) so maybe you wouldn´t have such a great time but I love them. Sailed on AIDAbella twice. Unfortunately, AIDAbella will be removed from the German section and be their first ship with on-board language Chinese only from next year.

Oh by the way - AIDAs headquarter is in Rostock. The brand is part of Carnival corporation but they do their own thing - like Costa for the Italian part.

 

Thank you AntjeG for interesting information , I will now smile when I think of :)AIDA ! It seems like Carnival has investments all around the globe .

 

That cruise in September of 2013 was our only cruise on a Carnival ship in Europe and was the first time that we had seen an AIDA ship that I recall . And only a couple of months later we saw the AIDAcara in Ushuaia , Argentina . And since then , our sightings have become more frequent .

 

 

 

 

And on our harbor tour which was the last one conducted in English on that day, most of the people were from the cara and spoke mostly English during the tour .

 

 

 

My wife had 2 years of German in High school which useful near Michigan's " Little Bavaria " , Frankenmuth , where she grew up .

 

 

 

And of course we learned Spanish here in Florida . Dos mas cervezas , por favor :cool:

[scubacruiserx2]

At the monolith you are naturally drawn to look up

 

 

 

 

Or take a close up photo

 

 

 

 

The bridge is lined with sculptures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like this

 

 

 

 

The museum in the park did not open until noon and the first Ho ho bus had stopped, so we boarded the empty bus to our next stop , The Norwegian Museum which will open at 10 AM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember the Nobel Peace prize medal on the wall of the Stockholm City Hall ? Gustav Vigeland designed it .

 

 

[Hydrokitty]

 

Remember the Nobel Peace prize medal on the wall of the Stockholm City Hall ? Gustav Vigeland designed it .

 

 

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That must have been one of his sober moments!! :D:D:D

 

I have a feeling the theme of his work is very sad....what is the underlying theme?

[MicCanberra]

Wonderful pictures and tastefully presented and captioned. Love your work.:D

[MicCanberra]

I too have seen the Aida ships all over the world and would like to try it at least once if the itinerary or price was good. We just don't get any advertising for them down here in Australia.

[perfect match]

I know, I know! I've wandered off again! I really haven't gone far. I'm back again, and once again I'm all caught up. :D You have done a wonderful job, as always.

 

While I know you have a couple of cruises already planned, I can't wait to see where you'll be taking me next. I will, as usual, be travelling virtually. If only I could take our cats on cruisesI would be able to cruise more, but then I think about the logistics of taking our cats on a cruise! :eek: That is not going to happen even if the cruise lines would allow it, which, of course, they wisely do not. So for now we will continue to cruise when we can, and take virtual cruises when we can't get away ourselves.

[scubacruiserx2]

We received the following Email this morning of an increase in Tips for our upcoming cruise :

 

 

 

Princess Cruises

 

Important Update Regarding Your Cruise

 

 

Dear Princess Guest:

 

To ensure our guest service on board remains among the best in the cruise industry, Princess Cruises has increased the daily gratuity charge for all voyages departing on or after December 15, 2016.

 

The new daily gratuity amounts are $13.50 USD per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms (including children), $14.50 USD per guest for mini-suites (including Club Class), and $15.50 USD per guest for suites.

 

The gratuity rate increase is comparable to cruise industry standards and underlines our commitment toward our crew for the excellent service they provide our guests.

 

You have the opportunity to prepay your daily gratuities at the current rate through November 15, 2016 at 11:59PM PST. You may prepay through your Cruise Personalizer or contact us at 1-800-PRINCESS . Guests booked with promotions that include paid gratuities will not be affected by this rate increase.

 

Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you aboard.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

Princess Cruises

 

 

 

 

I know that this is a Celebrity thread and so here's their tipping guidelines from the CC article , Cruise Line Tipping Policies: Big-Ship Lines

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=266

 

 

Celebrity Cruises

 

The Process: Celebrity Cruises automatically adds gratuities to the onboard Seapass account. The "suggested" gratuities added to your account will be $13.50 per day, per passenger ($14 for Concierge Class and AquaClass cruisers). Suite passengers will pay $17 per person, per day.

 

Alternatives: If you wish to adjust the amount you pay, this can be done onboard at guest relations.

 

Extra Charges: An automatic 18 percent gratuity is added to all bar bills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

That must have been one of his sober moments!! :D:D:D

 

I have a feeling the theme of his work is very sad....what is the underlying theme?

 

I don't know , but I suspect that being an occupied country during the war may have had some influence . My wive showed me a Washington Post article which may shed some light on his inspiration for the monolith :

 

However, when Vigeland was asked to explain the meaning of the work, he was cryptic: “He replied, ‘This is my religion,’ ” says Stromodden. “To me, this is both an interesting and an irritating response.”

[scubacruiserx2]

Wonderful pictures and tastefully presented and captioned. Love your work.:D

 

Thank you Mic . I do enjoy recreational photography , but when you type at the speed of molasses like I do - it is work ! :rolleyes:

[scubacruiserx2]

I know, I know! I've wandered off again! I really haven't gone far. I'm back again, and once again I'm all caught up. :D You have done a wonderful job, as always.

 

While I know you have a couple of cruises already planned, I can't wait to see where you'll be taking me next. I will, as usual, be travelling virtually. If only I could take our cats on cruisesI would be able to cruise more, but then I think about the logistics of taking our cats on a cruise! :eek: That is not going to happen even if the cruise lines would allow it, which, of course, they wisely do not. So for now we will continue to cruise when we can, and take virtual cruises when we can't get away ourselves.

 

Thanks Nancy and welcome back . The next up is a Cozumel stay just before your cruise and a CB cruise in December . :) :D

[Gracie115]

Like this

 

 

 

Oh, I would love this area.....sculpture my favorite art form.....lovely pictures...

[scubacruiserx2]

Oh, I would love this area.....sculpture my favorite art form.....lovely pictures...

 

Oh , there was plenty to be seen in this park ! ;)

Edited September 16, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

We received the following Email this morning of an increase in Tips for our upcoming cruise :

 

 

 

Princess Cruises

 

Important Update Regarding Your Cruise

 

 

Dear Princess Guest:

 

To ensure our guest service on board remains among the best in the cruise industry, Princess Cruises has increased the daily gratuity charge for all voyages departing on or after December 15, 2016.

 

The new daily gratuity amounts are $13.50 USD per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms (including children), $14.50 USD per guest for mini-suites (including Club Class), and $15.50 USD per guest for suites.

 

The gratuity rate increase is comparable to cruise industry standards and underlines our commitment toward our crew for the excellent service they provide our guests.

 

You have the opportunity to prepay your daily gratuities at the current rate through November 15, 2016 at 11:59PM PST. You may prepay through your Cruise Personalizer or contact us at 1-800-PRINCESS . Guests booked with promotions that include paid gratuities will not be affected by this rate increase.

 

Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you aboard.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

Princess Cruises

 

 

 

 

I know that this is a Celebrity thread and so here's their tipping guidelines from the CC article , Cruise Line Tipping Policies: Big-Ship Lines

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=266

 

 

Celebrity Cruises

 

The Process: Celebrity Cruises automatically adds gratuities to the onboard Seapass account. The "suggested" gratuities added to your account will be $13.50 per day, per passenger ($14 for Concierge Class and AquaClass cruisers). Suite passengers will pay $17 per person, per day.

 

Alternatives: If you wish to adjust the amount you pay, this can be done onboard at guest relations.

 

Extra Charges: An automatic 18 percent gratuity is added to all bar bills.

 

As with all things, they all go up sooner or later.:D