LIVE from Scandinavia on the Voyager of the Seas July 31-August 10, 2022 with Dragon of the Seas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

A couple of days ago I got up early and took some pictures before anyone was there. 
 

 

I noted several were out of order. 

 

 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Last night we went to the Headliner show with Greg London.  He is a performer that does impressions of other singers.  He was pretty good--but, not as good as Tony Tillman.

 

ZZ Topp  

 

 

Rod Stewart

Tonight, was the ice show.  Those ice skaters are amazing.  They are skating, jumping and twirling on a moving ship with a small rink.  DH said the ladies have a lot of trust in their partners.  This is always one of my favorite entertainments on the ships that have rinks. 

 

It is one of only 2 places I have seen a crowd.  [the other was in the Tavern watching Tottingham play Southampton in Soccer on the big screens] You can see the stands are full.  

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Irene is very accomplished with towel animals.  Check these out. 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

On 8/4/2022 at 9:35 PM, John&LaLa said:

 

John--the Suite Concierge says there are 2035 passengers on the next cruise.  700 more than we have but still a pretty good number.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Time for bed.  We gain an hour of sleep tonight.  Yeah!  We may need it.  

 

The Cruise Planner that was distributed tonight for our visit to Visby, Sweden tomorrow did not mention a shuttle.  It specifically said transportation is limited and that it is a pleasant 15-20 minute [1.5 kms] walk into town or call a taxi.  My research found that there was a paid shuttle.  I am not sure why there will not be one tomorrow,  

[flamingos]

The Tavern - it sounds like a nice place. Can you get a picture of that?  And the towel animals are great!!!

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

John--the Suite Concierge says there are 2035 passengers on the next cruise.  700 more than we have but still a pretty good number.

 

Thanks for asking 

 

Seems like a good number

[flamingos]

1 hour ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

We gain an hour of sleep tonight.  Yeah!  We may need it.  

 

I was thinking they would do add the hour at night. When we traveled eastbound, the captain chose to deduct the time change hour at noon, so that staff didn't lose any sleep.  So we went from noon to 1 p.m. each day of our sea days.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Thanks for asking 

 

Seems like a good number

Yes, I thought that since the next cruise is 11 days there would be more than that. 

[Another_Critic]

8 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

John--the Suite Concierge says there are 2035 passengers on the next cruise.  700 more than we have but still a pretty good number.

Do they have a tentative number for the Sept. 4 Transatlantic?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I know this is going backwards a bit.  But this is a map I found for Tallinn.  It really gave me a visual for the city that the other maps did not.  It helped me plan my route.  

 

I was sorry I had not printed a copy to take along. [download and enlarge]

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

3 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Do they have a tentative number for the Sept. 4 Transatlantic?

I will ask and see. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

On 7/31/2022 at 4:22 PM, Broons77 said:

Could you please keep an eye out to see if there are any family bathrooms on board?  My research is leaning towards there not being any but would like to confirm.  Thanks and can't wait for the rest of your trip!

Actually, there are a few that I have found.  There is one on deck 13 next to the basketball court.  There is a men's, women's and a unisex family/handicapped restroom.

 

There are two on deck 12 as you enter the hall that leads to the Adventure Ocean.  I asked them if these are for the children, and they said no they are for the general public.  There is one near the spa.  You have to go all the way down the hall to get to this one.  I would pick the adventure Ocean side. 

 

I did not find one on deck 14 near the Viking Crown Lounge and Suite Lounge.  However, the women's restroom is arranged in such a way that the entrance to the handicapped stall is immediately across from the door before you enter the main area.  This one should not be too awkward for you. 

 

I have not seen them on the lower floors.  

 

Good luck--I hope this helps. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

10 hours ago, flamingos said:

The Tavern - it sounds like a nice place. Can you get a picture of that?  And the towel animals are great!!!

It is on the fourth floor right at the entrance to the casino from mid ship.
 

 

It has a large TV screen on either end and a few smaller screens around. But there is really very little on the TV to watch. There is one 24-7 sports channel that shows mostly soccer.

 

 

 

 

but it is a good bar with quick service and a friendly staff.

 

last night there was a crowd, or at least with passes for a crowd on the ship with 1300 passengers. Ha ha

 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Here are our first view of Visby, Sweden. It was a Viking strong hold in the middle ages. You can tell from this picture of one end of the island why it was so easy for the Vikings to defend these cliffs are pretty high. 
 

 

here is a picture looking toward old town. it looks pretty far away. Our waitress this morning said that there will be a shuttle. I’m hoping she’s right because there’s a lot of elevation here. 

 

 

here is a closer view

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Are you tired of looking at sunrise and sunset pictures? Good news is that I wasn’t up in time to get the sunrise this morning. So here is last night sunset.

 

 

 

Last night we had the most beautiful red sky.  This doesn’t look very red but you’ll have to trust me it was. “ Red sky at night sailors delight.“

[Broons77]

6 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Actually, there are a few that I have found.  There is one on deck 13 next to the basketball court.  There is a men's, women's and a unisex family/handicapped restroom.

 

There are two on deck 12 as you enter the hall that leads to the Adventure Ocean.  I asked them if these are for the children, and they said no they are for the general public.  There is one near the spa.  You have to go all the way down the hall to get to this one.  I would pick the adventure Ocean side. 

 

I did not find one on deck 14 near the Viking Crown Lounge and Suite Lounge.  However, the women's restroom is arranged in such a way that the entrance to the handicapped stall is immediately across from the door before you enter the main area.  This one should not be too awkward for you. 

 

I have not seen them on the lower floors.  

 

Good luck--I hope this helps. 

 

I can't begin to tell you how much this helps DW and I, thank you SO much.  This seems to be similar to where they were located on Anthem (as well as other cruise ships in general) in that there's a few on the upper decks, and not so many (or none) on the lower.  Kind of funny in that we have an accessible panoramic ocean view forward on deck 12, probably not too far away from the family bathrooms on that deck, lol.  We'll take what we can get, thanks again for taking time to poke around for us!

 

And thank you also for the review and all of the pictures.  A Baltic/Scandinavian cruise is on my bucket list, but I need to find one that spends some time in Norway.  I have family in Bergen and Stavanger I would like to visit as well as to see the fjords.  To be honest, I need an unknown rich uncle to pass and leave me a bundle so I can roll it all in to one big Europe cruise from the Med all the way up through Scandanavia and the Baltics.

 

I hope you had a great day in Visby and didn't walk yourself into exhaustion.  My feet are sore just reading this review!  🤣  Continue to have a great time and safe travels the rest of the way!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

8 minutes ago, Broons77 said:

 

I hope you had a great day in Visby and didn't walk yourself into exhaustion.  My feet are sore just reading this review!  🤣  Continue to have a great time and safe travels the rest of the way!

Your welcome.
 

My feet are sore writing it. 😂

 

Visby is a beautiful city, but it is hard on the knees and the feet. 

[Broons77]

4 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Your welcome.
 

My feet are sore writing it. 😂

 

Visby is a beautiful city, but it is hard on the knees and the feet. 

 

I'll be sure to do the knee replacement I'm planning prior to said cruise then!

[flamingos]

6 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

But there is really very little on the TV to watch. There is one 24-7 sports channel that shows mostly soccer.

 

Ah, but football is great to watch!  🙂

 

Thanks.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Just now, flamingos said:

 

Ah, but football is great to watch!  🙂

 

Thanks.

My younger son would agree with you. Me, not so much.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

Visby is the largest city on the island of Gotland 100 km off the coast of Sweden.
 

 

 

 

The population is 60,000 people. It is known for its sunshine and beaches and has a favorite vacation spot for the Swedish. And today was a beautiful sunny day but a little chilly for me. The high was going to be 61° I used a fleece jacket all day. 
 

this is the map that you’re given at the visitor center and on the shuttle bus. I Cruise Planner had not mentioned shuttle buses but they were available to buy through shore excursions or on the pier they were €12 round-trip.

 

if you look at the map the shuttle bus dropped us off right beside the park called Alamedalen. 
 

my usual strategy is to go to the highest location first if it’s a hilly city. And Visby qualifies as that.

 

I walked up to the visitor information center which is located at the Green “I.” Donnersplats. 
 

next I walked up to the highest point Oster port. This means Eastport. And I went outside the city wall. This is a large modern shopping area. There a taxi stands there and if you choose not to do the shuttle bus I would take a taxi up here and walk down to the rest of the city. 
 

then I went to all of those areas on the left side of the map that you can see. Ruins of churches, The current church was having services when I got there so they let people peek in the door but obviously no pictures and we didn’t go inside. It was quite beautiful.

 

then I went to the Nordeport which is the Northgate And walked outside to look at where the people really live. I didn’t think that was just got an idea when I had to walk back up the hill to get back through the city gate.

I followed the city wall down after the water and walked through the pond botanical garden. The flowers they are incredible. St number three on the map I climbed the stairs to look over the city wall. 

 

And then back to the shuttle bus.  11,000 steps on my Fitbit.

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I had a happy accident as I was walking up to the visitor center. I stopped on a corner and was looking at the street signs and my map.. Probably looked confused. And this guy asked if I need help. 

Here is Theodore he’s a student at Stockholm University in Uppsalla.

 

I told him I was trying to find a visitor center and he said he was walking in that direction. He had on a medieval costume and so I asked him if I could take his picture. Little did I know that I was going to get a small tour on the way. 

 

 

I told him these couple stones on the smaller streets were hard to walk on. He told me that look at the center of the street and you can see the flatterstones. The rich people got to walk on these and the peasants had to walk on the uneven rocks on the side.

 

here are a couple of other people in costume. You’ll note that they’re all looking at me because I asked for permission before I take their picture.

 

 

The medieval festival is going on in Visby Sweden right now, it started today and goes on for eight days. They always commemorate the battle of Visby. 

 

you’ll notice that any street signs or anything you see is only written in Swedish. And almost every other place we have been there’s been a fair amount of English. but here there’s few signs in English along with Swedish.

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

here’s a little information on the city. it is a world heritage site. 
 

this is the little park by the shuttle stop. It’s a nice place to rest for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

there are many flowers all over the city. In parks and peoples houses. 

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Here are some views of the city streets. You can see the flowers next to the houses. It must be late in the season here. Because the roses were beginning to die off.