Baltic, Iceland, Norway and the U.K.on a cruise

[scubacruiserx2]

31 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We lost quite a few volunteers and some professionals as well. A US water bomber went down a few days ago in a fire down by the coast and all three crew also passed. Very tragic for them and their families.

 

That fire is really taking a toll .

[scubacruiserx2]

As we approached the viewing area we saw this small house

 

 

The viewing area next to the waterfall

 

 

The waterfall cascades 300 meters. At the top of the picture you can see 4 houses. The viewing platform is a small brown spot at the base of the grey house on the left.

 

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

That fire is really taking a toll .

The problem is/was it isn't just one fire it was over 200 at one stage just in NSW and some were out of control bush fires threatening towns and others were in impenetrable escarpments. 

[MicCanberra]

25 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

As we approached the viewing area we saw this small house

 

 

The viewing area next to the waterfall

 

 

The waterfall cascades 300 meters. At the top of the picture you can see 4 houses. The viewing platform is a small brown spot at the base of the grey house on the left.

 

In any case, I much rather look at your photos than the news lately. Pat is looking very grand.

[scubacruiserx2]

16 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

In any case, I much rather look at your photos than the news lately. Pat is looking very grand.

 

It seems like she always looks that way , even when she was in the hospital .

[scubacruiserx2]

The last viewing platform

 

 

How many of the 11 hairpin turns can you count ?

 

 

The 4 houses that we saw in the distance

 

 

 

Driving the hairpin turns past the waterfall

 

 

 

After leaving Trollstigen we continued South on 63 to Valldal . Turning on to 650 we went North and West until we reached 136 West to Alesund. We didn't stop for lunch and time begain to run out for our return. Just outside on Alesund we ran into grid lock at a traffic accident and there was no way to get through. It looked as though we would miss the boat. We finally got through after about 25 minutes. Diane decided to drop us off by the ship and we were going to try to stall the departure. As it turned out one of the ship's buses had not returned. We were in port from 9- 6 P.M. so if you drive , allow extra time for your return.

 

Leaving The Port of Alesund.

 

 

As we were sailing away we were greeted by this fire boat. Did they know something that we didn't ?

 

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

When doing a private excursion, we always try and allow a time to be back at least 90 minutes or so before scheduled departure. It can be pretty nerve wracking other wise which is not what you want you wonderful day exploring to finish as, and while the guides can often be a bit relaxed, and often say take as long as you want, they are not the ones missing the Ship.

[ikesyd]

On 1/18/2020 at 2:14 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

There was a group of people seated in the garden to learn about and watch a demonstration of Falconry

 

http://www.dunrobincastle.co.uk/garden.html#falconry

 

After showing and teaching about the Falcon he unmasked the bird and sent it flying 

 

 

 

In a dive the Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal in the world attaining speeds of 240 mph !

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_falcon

 

The bird circled overhead before diving on a target that the handler would swing around his head at the end of a rope . 

 

 

 

Your photos are great! Was Matthew a private guide? How did you book this day trip - looks great!

[scubacruiserx2]

49 minutes ago, ikesyd said:

Your photos are great! Was Matthew a private guide? How did you book this day trip - looks great!

 

Thank you . Yes Matthew was a private guide that we found on Tours by Locals . We did book him again on May 12th . You can contact him directly at thetoursscotland.co.uk  also Tetts Highland Experience Tours . Please tell him that Pat and Joe said hello .

 

These are our next cruises and we will review them on Princess and HAL after we return .

 

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by scubacruiserx2

[ikesyd]

12 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Thank you . Yes Matthew was a private guide that we found on Tours by Locals . We did book him again on May 12th . You can contact him directly at thetoursscotland.co.uk  also Tetts Highland Experience Tours . Please tell him that Pat and Joe said hello .

 

These are our next cruises and we will review them on Princess and HAL after we return .

 

 

Thank you for the information - will do some research!

[scubacruiserx2]

We also have a trip planned in August from Copenhagen to Boston . We have 6 new ports planned if we can make them all . Last year the same ship encountered a hurricane in September while doing a similar cruise 

 

[MicCanberra]

Greenland is on my "go there list".

[scubacruiserx2]

On 2/2/2020 at 3:08 PM, MicCanberra said:

Greenland is on my "go there list".

 

I think that larger ships only have a year or 2 before they are banned from going to Greenland .

[MicCanberra]

6 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

I think that larger ships only have a year or 2 before they are banned from going to Greenland .

Yeah, we may need to do a fly /stay.

[ela05]

On 1/24/2020 at 5:18 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

The first time we went to Alesund we did this . We met Diane and Larry on our Roll call on Cruise Critic. They wanted someone to share the cost of a car rental to Trollstigen. It was about 1/2 the price of the ship's excursion. We were some of the first off the ship and had a nice walk to the car rental.

 

 

We drove East on 136 out of town. The sky looked like it may cloud over so we stopped at the view point at Aksla before the tour buses. The view was amazing !

 

 

It was so nice for Diane to drive and being an avid photographer, we could stop when the view moved us.

 

 

We were moved a lot to stop and breathe the clean air and the views.

 

 

 

Hi, we'll be in Alesund next august with the Brilliance OTS and I was wondering ...I'd love to do exactly what you did (renting a car and driving to Trollstigen and back), the ship will dock at 7,00 AM and will leave at 4 PM: do you think we can make it? We don't need to stop for lunch but we'll make many stops for photos, I guess...

Thank you!

[scubacruiserx2]

33 minutes ago, ela05 said:

Hi, we'll be in Alesund next august with the Brilliance OTS and I was wondering ...I'd love to do exactly what you did (renting a car and driving to Trollstigen and back), the ship will dock at 7,00 AM and will leave at 4 PM: do you think we can make it? We don't need to stop for lunch but we'll make many stops for photos, I guess...

Thank you!

 

Well Hello . The drive is 2 hours each way . It was about a 1.6 Km walk to the gas station where we had rented the car and with a small line in front of us it took about an hour to rent the car . Maybe if you walk fast or take a Taxi to the rental area you may the first one in line . We too will be in Alesund on August on the HAL Zuiderdam . 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Sounds like a Cab may be the best way to beat that crowd and have more time.

[scubacruiserx2]

14 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Yeah, we may need to do a fly /stay.

 

We did consider a stay in Iceland and Greenland but  all things considered we opted for the cruise that goes there and Norway as well .

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Sounds like a Cab may be the best way to beat that crowd and have more time.

 

In hindsight that's what we would do . We were cutting it close getting back to the ship so Diane dropped her dad and us at the ship and we waited for her and explained to the crew that she would be there in 15 or 20 minutes time . We and they waited for her .

[MicCanberra]

Glad it worked well.

[ela05]

On 2/4/2020 at 3:19 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Well Hello . The drive is 2 hours each way . It was about a 1.6 Km walk to the gas station where we had rented the car and with a small line in front of us it took about an hour to rent the car . Maybe if you walk fast or take a Taxi to the rental area you may the first one in line . We too will be in Alesund on August on the HAL Zuiderdam . 

 

 

I was thinking about reserving  the car in advance but the website has no english translation and Google translator helps but I can’t see if cancellation is free of charge, just in case...anyway now I know we can make it... thank you!

Edited February 5, 2020 by ela05

[scubacruiserx2]

 

21 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Glad it worked well.

 

A little off topic but did we tell you that we also booked the 5 day cruise after the Transpac ?

Edited February 5, 2020 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

A little off topic but did we tell you that we also booked the 5 day cruise after the Transpac ?

I think so, we looked at that but decided the two weeks we have post cruise is to go to SanFran and then work our way back up the coast through Oregon (visit with our friends near Eugene) and Washington.

BTW, we booked B2B Equinox cruises for late October and November (21 nights). The first goes to the ABCs and the second does eastern Caribbean, out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

I think so, we looked at that but decided the two weeks we have post cruise is to go to SanFran and then work our way back up the coast through Oregon (visit with our friends near Eugene) and Washington.

BTW, we booked B2B Equinox cruises for late October and November (21 nights). The first goes to the ABCs and the second does eastern Caribbean, out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

Sounds great . Is that this year ?

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Sounds great . Is that this year ?

2021 -

Oct 29

Cruise Itinerary: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (29 Oct d1600); George Town, Grand Cayman (31 Oct d1600); Oranjestad, Aruba (02 Nov d2359); Willemstad, Curacao (03 Nov d2200); Kralendijk, Bonaire (04 Nov d1600); Fort Lauderdale, Florida (07 Nov)

and Nov 7

Cruise Itinerary: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (07 Nov d1600); St Croix, US Virgin Islands (10 Nov d1800); St Johns, Antigua (11 Nov d1600); Castries, St Lucia (12 Nov d1800); Bridgetown, Barbados (13 Nov d1800); St Georges, Grenada (14 Nov d1800); Roseau, Dominica (15 Nov d1800); Basseterre, St. Kitts (16 Nov d1700); Fort Lauderdale, Florida (19 Nov)