Norway - Land of the Midnight Sun on Sapphire Princess June 15, 2019

[PurpleTraveller]

When updating my signature I discovered that I am only able to have three URL addresses in my signature which meant I had to remove the link to my Baltic Heritage Photo Review. To help anyone who may be interested in reading any of my other reviews in the years to come I thought I would put the links to my reviews at the end of this review. Thanks.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

cheers

[Brismarg]

I have enjoyed reliving our cruise through your review and photographs. You certainly made the most of your time in port and we were so lucky with the weather. Our daughter is about to return from her small vessel cruise from Dubrovnik to Split and they thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[RedEarth]

I really enjoyed reading you great review, I was on this cruise too, and it's interesting to read about the different things you did and saw in the various ports, especially those stunning views at Geiranger! We only walked up as far as the fjords centre above the waterfalls. We did take the cable car to the viewpoint in Tromsø though, remembering what our tour guide from Honningsvåg told us - if you arrive in thick clouds you only have to wait a few minutes for them to clear, and it was true here! I agree that the on board internet was very hit and miss, it almost seemed as though it couldn't cope with the amount of users? Maybe (hopefully) there's still more upgrade work to be completed. Other than this I thought Sapphire was a great ship, and I really enjoyed the cruise.

[Walt fan]

I just found your review from reading another review, down the rabbit hole I went.  I enjoyed spending time in Norway through your eyes and review.  Such beautiful photos!  Thank you for taking the time to share.  When you went to London before, was it through a land trip or cruise?  Do you have hotel recommendations in London?  

 

Thank you again! I so enjoyed reading.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Walt fan said:

Do you have hotel recommendations in London? 

I will jump in with a suggestion. A travel agent friend recommended Premier Inns in the UK. They are not expensive and they are by far the best value for money. Bookings have to be done direct with the hotel as they do not work through the usual booking sites.

[phabric]

2 hours ago, Walt fan said:

Do you have hotel recommendations in London?  

 

 

I have stayed 4x at Premier Inn Waterloo.  The hotel has A/C, bar, restaurant, walking distance to London Eye, Thamas river, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster, Abbey, regular bus, tube, Waterloo train, HOHO, pubs, restaurants. Staff very friendly and helped us daily with transportation questions.

 

Premier Inn County is near to Premier Inn Waterloo (Westminster Bridge) but it has a few stairs to get to their front door and does not A/C.

 

www.premierinn.com

 

Park Plaza Westminster Bridge and Park Plaza County Hall are in the same area.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by phabric

[PurpleTraveller]

15 hours ago, Brismarg said:

I have enjoyed reliving our cruise through your review and photographs. You certainly made the most of your time in port and we were so lucky with the weather. Our daughter is about to return from her small vessel cruise from Dubrovnik to Split and they thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 

Thank you for reading and I'm glad you were able to relive the cruise. We certainly were very lucky with the weather and got to enjoy much that Norway has to offer! It was lovely meeting you and sharing the tour with you in the Lofoten Islands. Good to hear your daughter enjoyed her cruise. We are looking forward to our next adventure! 

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, RedEarth said:

I really enjoyed reading you great review, I was on this cruise too, and it's interesting to read about the different things you did and saw in the various ports, especially those stunning views at Geiranger! We only walked up as far as the fjords centre above the waterfalls. We did take the cable car to the viewpoint in Tromsø though, remembering what our tour guide from Honningsvåg told us - if you arrive in thick clouds you only have to wait a few minutes for them to clear, and it was true here! I agree that the on board internet was very hit and miss, it almost seemed as though it couldn't cope with the amount of users? Maybe (hopefully) there's still more upgrade work to be completed. Other than this I thought Sapphire was a great ship, and I really enjoyed the cruise.

 

Thank you and I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the cruise too! I also like to hear about the different things others do in port. It gives me ideas in case I ever return to the same place in the future. I'm glad you were able to see the view from the top of the cable car in Tromso. If I ever go back there I will go up to check out the view. I agree that Sapphire is a great ship and I hope I'll get to cruise on her again. 

[PurpleTraveller]

3 hours ago, Walt fan said:

I just found your review from reading another review, down the rabbit hole I went.  I enjoyed spending time in Norway through your eyes and review.  Such beautiful photos!  Thank you for taking the time to share.  When you went to London before, was it through a land trip or cruise?  Do you have hotel recommendations in London?  

 

Thank you again! I so enjoyed reading.

 

Thanks so much! I am really pleased that you enjoyed the review. 

 

My previous trips to London (nine I think) have all been land trips ranging from a couple of days to ten days. I just love London and can still find new things to do and see and also enjoy going to favourites. This last visit we stayed at Premier Inn Waterloo as I got a great rate but we usually stay at Premier Inn County Hall right near the London Eye. I really like being so close to two tube stations (Waterloo and Westminster) and being able to walk to many interesting sites (Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Convent Garden and many others) and there are a number of restaurants nearby as well as a small M&S supermarket. 

 

The Premier Inn Waterloo is only a block away from the Premier Inn County Hall so both are in great locations. We were very comfortable at the Premier Inn Waterloo and would be happy to stay there again. Premier Inns are reasonably priced, no frills but clean and comfortable. 

 

The previous time we were in London to watch the Trooping of the Colour my husband ended up in hospital (very dramatic medical evacuation from the Mall in the middle of the Trooping of the Colour but he recovered very quickly and we were able to continue our trip to Ireland and cruise in the Mediterranean) and the staff at the Premier Inn County Hall were wonderfully kind and compassionate, helping me with faxing to the travel insurance company and making sure I didn't have to move rooms as I had to extend our stay by a few days. 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I will jump in with a suggestion. A travel agent friend recommended Premier Inns in the UK. They are not expensive and they are by far the best value for money. Bookings have to be done direct with the hotel as they do not work through the usual booking sites.

 

It looks like we all have the same recommendation! 😀 I have stayed at three Premier Inns (Southampton twice, London County Hall four times and London Waterloo once) and been very happy with them all. 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

 

I have stayed 4x at Premier Inn Waterloo.  The hotel has A/C, bar, restaurant, walking distance to London Eye, Thamas river, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster, Abbey, regular bus, tube, Waterloo train, HOHO, pubs, restaurants. Staff very friendly and helped us daily with transportation questions.

 

Premier Inn County is near to Premier Inn Waterloo (Westminster Bridge) but it has a few stairs to get to their front door and does not A/C.

 

www.premierinn.com

 

Park Plaza Westminster Bridge and Park Plaza County Hall are in the same area.

 

 

 

Definitely we all have the same recommendation for Premier Inn! 😀 I agree that that staff are always friendly and very helpful. 

[Walt fan]

PurpleTraveller and phabric - this is exactly what I was looking for, within walking distance of all of the must do's and transportation, thank you both so very much for replying!

[tommui987]

 

On 7/23/2019 at 5:59 PM, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Thank you. I'm glad that you enjoyed the review and hope it will be of some help when you are planning for your cruise. Norway is wonderful and I hope you have a great cruise. 

 

On 7/23/2019 at 5:59 PM, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Thank you. I'm glad that you enjoyed the review and hope it will be of some help when you are planning for your cruise. Norway is wonderful and I hope you have a great cruise. 

 

I truly enjoyed reading your reviews and looking at your photos.

I am going on a trip up to Norway on a B2B (Holland America) from Amsterdam to Rome.
I would certainly would like to create a review for my family and was wondering what program did you use in creating your review and pictures?

[dickinson]

I just finished reading this review from the beginning.  Thank you so much for the detailed review with fantastic pictures!

[Bimmer09]

On 7/15/2019 at 12:16 AM, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Thank you. I love taking photos and took nearly 3,500 on this trip! 

 

Your love shows in the photos and thanks for being so generous in sharing. 

You are showing me some parts of Norway I won't get to see in 3 weeks when I visit Bergen, Flam, Alesund and Stavanger but I imagine it won't be "one and done" for us as far as Norway is concerned but a cruise longer than our 7 day trip will have to wait until retirement.

 I am very much enjoying following along on this fantastic adventure.

Kudos!

Norris

 

[PurpleTraveller]

11 hours ago, tommui987 said:

 

 

 

I truly enjoyed reading your reviews and looking at your photos.

I am going on a trip up to Norway on a B2B (Holland America) from Amsterdam to Rome.
I would certainly would like to create a review for my family and was wondering what program did you use in creating your review and pictures?

 

Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed them. 

 

For my last two reviews which were after the Cruise Critic website update I have simply used the Cruise Critic site to type up my reviews and post them. I find it easiest to use my phone to type my reviews (which is why there are sometimes typos 😀) and upload my photos directly from my phone. While I miss the Cruise Critic phone app I find it very easy to write my reviews and upload photos using the CC website. Almost all the photos have been taken with my phone and for the few I have used which I have taken with my camera with a good zoom, I simply email the photo from my computer to myself and save the photo to my phone. It is also easy to upload photos to posts using a computer but I just happen to prefer to use my phone. 

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

[PurpleTraveller]

8 hours ago, dickinson said:

I just finished reading this review from the beginning.  Thank you so much for the detailed review with fantastic pictures!

 

Thanks so much! I'm pleased that you enjoyed the review and photos as I really enjoyed writing it. 😊

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

 

Your love shows in the photos and thanks for being so generous in sharing. 

You are showing me some parts of Norway I won't get to see in 3 weeks when I visit Bergen, Flam, Alesund and Stavanger but I imagine it won't be "one and done" for us as far as Norway is concerned but a cruise longer than our 7 day trip will have to wait until retirement.

 I am very much enjoying following along on this fantastic adventure.

Kudos!

Norris

 

 

Thanks Norris and thanks for reading along! I definitely want to go back to Norway as I just love the country, the people and the scenery. There is so much to see and do that it was hard to make choices so I'll just have to return one day!

 

I'm looking forward to reading your review of your cruise to Norway - you are going to do one aren't you?

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise and that you have great weather. 

 

Allison 😊

 

[rocklinmom]

Love this review! Thanks for all of your detail and photos. I am looking at the same cruise in 2021 (will be on the Grand) and it is not showing Stavanger, Flam, or Geiranger as ports. Looks like different ports that summer. The Land of the Midnight Sun cruise is before a similar 14 day one that also goes to Iceland. If you had to choose, which would you do, all Norway ports or half Norway and half Iceland? Your review makes me want to go all Norway and do the Midnight Sun, but we've never been to Iceland (did a 7 day Norway in 2015). 

[Coral]

15 minutes ago, rocklinmom said:

Love this review! Thanks for all of your detail and photos. I am looking at the same cruise in 2021 (will be on the Grand) and it is not showing Stavanger, Flam, or Geiranger as ports. Looks like different ports that summer. The Land of the Midnight Sun cruise is before a similar 14 day one that also goes to Iceland. If you had to choose, which would you do, all Norway ports or half Norway and half Iceland? Your review makes me want to go all Norway and do the Midnight Sun, but we've never been to Iceland (did a 7 day Norway in 2015). 

Norway is implementing restrictions on which ships can go to Flam and Geiranger. Not sure about Stavanger. Honestly  - Stavanger and Geiranger were my favorites and I wish I had gone to Flam. Maybe look at other lines.

[rocklinmom]

Yes NCL has a similar itinerary and I assume will in 2021 as well. If they have Stavanger and Flam would prefer that. My family still talks about the waffles they had in Stavanger four years ago (you can see their priorities LOL).  But as always it will come down to price, dates, airfare, etc. 

[tommui987]

12 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed them. 

 

For my last two reviews which were after the Cruise Critic website update I have simply used the Cruise Critic site to type up my reviews and post them. 😀

 

 

Thank you so much!

[Bimmer09]

22 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Thanks Norris and thanks for reading along! I definitely want to go back to Norway as I just love the country, the people and the scenery. There is so much to see and do that it was hard to make choices so I'll just have to return one day!

 

I'm looking forward to reading your review of your cruise to Norway - you are going to do one aren't you?

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise and that you have great weather. 

 

Allison 😊

 

 

Alison, we will be on Celebrity Silhouette on September 1 for just 7 days. Just 4 ports.

The review will kick off on the X board September 9 when I get home. It will be a very long review, that much I know, as we will be in London before and after and we are both excited about that. The Silhouette is also our favorite ship to date and I have a better camera than I had on my first trip on her and a better grip on taking pictures. So I am psyched!

 

Thanks for the kind wishes!

Norris

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

16 hours ago, rocklinmom said:

Love this review! Thanks for all of your detail and photos. I am looking at the same cruise in 2021 (will be on the Grand) and it is not showing Stavanger, Flam, or Geiranger as ports. Looks like different ports that summer. The Land of the Midnight Sun cruise is before a similar 14 day one that also goes to Iceland. If you had to choose, which would you do, all Norway ports or half Norway and half Iceland? Your review makes me want to go all Norway and do the Midnight Sun, but we've never been to Iceland (did a 7 day Norway in 2015). 

 

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

I looked at the Norway/Iceland cruise for this year but preferred the Midnight Sun cruise itinerary as it only has four single sea days throughout the cruise whereas the one to Iceland has three consecutive sea days at the end of the cruise as well as others during the cruise. It is disappointing that Stavanger, Flam and Geiranger are not on the Princess itinerary for 2021 as I loved all three. Geiranger was my favourite port and the scenic cruising in and out of Flam was outstandingly beautiful. I really wanted to cross the Arctic Circle (one of my bucket list items) so that was another reason for choosing this cruise. I would love to visit Iceland as it looks beautiful but I will probably go on a land trip to avoid the extra sea days.

 

If you like sea days and want to stick to Princess I would seriously consider the Norway/Iceland cruise. Otherwise I would look at other cruise line itineraries for Norway to try and go to Stavanger, Flam and Geiranger as they were wonderful. If you can, go to Honningsvag to see the Midnight Sun as that was amazing. As Norway is so beautiful I daresay the other different ports on the Princess itinerary are beautiful too.

 

It will be interesting to see which cruise lines will be cruising into Flam and Geiranger in the future. No matter which cruise you choose it is a beautiful part of the world and you will have a wonderful cruise. 😊