Mike's solo Norway adventure!

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Day 2 - Sea day

 

We only have two sea days on this cruise.

 

 

 

I ordered a traditional English breakfast in the Dining Room this morning. This came with either sausage or English bacon, but as you can see, I ordered both. As for the scrambled eggs, I was expecting them to be more edible than they are in the Windjammer, but they're really just the same.

 

 

 

I spent the morning walking around the ship, seeking to get good YouTube footage for the ship tour that I posted.

 

First up is Splashaway Bay, which replaced H2O Zone during the refurbishment, though Independence isn't the first ship to do this.

 

 

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Main pools.

 

 

 

 

Johnny Rockets. Unlike every other cruise, I didn't go here this time.

 

 

The Flowrider is nothing new, though just about everything surrounding it is...

 

 

...like these two water slides, called the Perfect Storm. The blue one was my favorite.

 

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The Sky Climber.

 

 

 

 

The Sky Pad offers a virtual reality experience. Unfortunately, I never took the time to go here on this cruise. Those who did go on the Sky Pad, what did you think about it?

 

 

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And then of course we have the rock wall and basketball court.

 

 

Independence Dunes. I'm not good at sports, and I don't usually use the mini golf courses on these ships, but this cruise I had quite a bit of fun with it.

 

 

I would show you what it looked like in there, but it was closed every time I tried to go up. From what people were saying, I think it would've been fun.

 

[Grenouille21]

Following along! Thanks for sharing your experience so far. Looking forward to reading more!

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Tonight was a formal night, but we don't bring formal attire to cruises anymore. More importantly, the captain's welcome aboard reception was held in the Promenade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we're in Bergen. The captain pretty much said that it would be cloudy and rainy as it typically is over there, but after that, the weather would be much better. I couldn't wait to get to Norway for the first time.

 

The night still isn't over - I went to tonight's production show as well. If only they allowed more than six pictures at a time.

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This production show is Invitation to Dance. A lot of my pictures were a bit blurry, so here are some of the better ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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First towel fold of the cruise. Tomorrow we finally reach Norway! 🇳🇴

 

I will be taking a walking tour of Bergen that includes a ride up the Fløibanen (funicular) and even a visit to the Hanseatic museum. Again, thanks everyone for following along so far - I can't wait for the pictures either!

 

[boontj2003]

Anxiously waiting!

[robin13]

Thanks for posting this. I was on IOS twice but they were both Caribbean cruises and it was several years ago. Your pictures brought back great memories as I really enjoyed the ship. I am doing a 14 day Norway/Iceland/Scotland cruise next May on a different cruise line but will be touring some of the same spots you did. Will be taking notes as to where to go.

[cpshaye]

This would be an amazing cruise Maybe someday ..

[nlcentralchmps03]

Thanks for posting your review! We did a similar itinerary on Serenade in August.

 

If anyone is considering this itinerary, do yourself a favor and book it right now. Norway is truly magical.

[Suzcruz57]

We did the British Isles, including Norway, many years ago on the Splendor of the Seas. It was also a Solar Eclipse cruise. Can't wait to see your pictures 👍🏻

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Day 3 - Bergen

 

This morning I went back into the dining room for breakfast. Fried eggs - much better than the scrambled.

 

 

Sailing into Norway looked all gray at first.

 

 

 

 

 

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It soon began to clear up.

 

 

 

Now that's what I'm talking about!

 

 

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For the most part, I was on the bow of the ship with a lot of other passengers, watching us sail through the fjords.

 

 

 

 

 

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Independence has definitely been to the Norwegian fjords before, but this was her first time in Bergen. I didn't think we would fit under this bridge, but we did.

 

 

 

 

It started raining again once we pulled in. The rain would be practically on and off throughout the day. Our original time here was noon-7pm, but sometime before the cruise, they changed it to 11am-6pm.

 

Keep in mind that larger ships, like Independence, dock further away from the town center than you may be used to. You could still walk if you wanted, but free shuttle buses were always right by the ship. After trying out some of the Norwegian I learned and taking one of these buses, I first decided to walk all the way to the fish market.

 

 

 

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Now that's expensive!

 

 

$6.13, or £4.70, for a wrap.

 

 

Whoa!

 

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I planned on eating here. These grilled shrimps were good, but I struggled to get the shells off a lot of them.

 

 

After this, I walked all the way over to take a bus back to the ship, just to catch the excursion I was going on - a walking tour that includes the funicular.

 

 

 

 

Our tour guide was from Spain. Here was Den Nationale Scene, Bergen's largest theater built in 1850 by violinist Ole Bull.

 

 

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The front of the theater.

 

 

 

 

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As expected, there would be lines in front of the funicular. We were given tickets. There's actually a limit on how many people can go on per day, and you can buy a ticket online in advance, but an excursion is the best way to go for cruise passengers. If you're actually staying here in Bergen, it might be a lot easier when there are little to no ships in port.

 

The funicular is open day to night, 365 days a year, and in 2018, it is 100 years old.

 

 

Some people hike Mt. Fløyen from these steps.

 

 

It took at least a half hour before we were on.

 

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OK, maybe the videos do the ride better justice than these pictures.

 

 

No, neither do.

 

 

But here we are up top!

 

 

 

There's the ship.

 

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City Park, as seen from up here. I thought maybe the excursion would stroll through there, but that wasn't the case.

 

 

It's starting to rain again.

 

 

 

 

We had about 20 minutes to hang up here and enjoy the panoramic views.

 

There was also a souvenir shop. My dad's friend who is of Norwegian descent asked that while I was here in Norway, I buy her a T-shirt that says Norway or has the Norwegian flag on it. With there being a souvenir shop, I had the perfect opportunity to try finding her a T-shirt. Not today did I find the best one. The next day in Geiranger, I did. What I did buy here was some Norwegian chocolate to try. I got a couple kinds of Freia milk chocolate, along with:

 

Kvikk Lunsj - Norway's KitKat.

Japp - that's pretty much a Mars bar (almost like what we call Milky Ways here, but not exactly), especially its wrapper.

 

Tomorrow or the next day, I will be posting pictures of the Hanseatic Museum and Bryggen. Thanks everyone for following along so far.