Live - Island Princess Oktoberfest cruise Sept. 27 - Oct. 7

[Rick&Jeannie]

We are in Gothenburg,  Sweden this morning.  From what I can see  (opposite side of ship from the pier) it is a very "industrial " type port. Rather chilly...definitely light jacket (or heavier) weather.  We booked excursions too late for this port...we initially thought we would just get off the ship and walk around a bit but when we discovered the nature of the port we were too late to get the one we really wanted! Oh well, you snooze you lose!  Anyway, we're "stuck " with the "Easy Gothenburg " tour....not really expecting a lot from this one but I will report back later today.

[Rick&Jeannie]

We were very impressed with our Dolphin deck mini suite. We generally book a mini suite on the larger ships but this one has a very nice layout (in our opinion). In the middle of the cabin there is a cabinet that "bumps out" in a semi-circle where the older/smaller TVs were located as well as the fridge.  With the TVs now mounted on the walls this gives us a lot of flat storage space for our loose items. 

 

Also, the balcony is twice the depth that we generally see. I don't know that we'll really get to use it much since it's so chilly but it's still nice to have that much room.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Well, Gothenburg is a nice little port town but to be honest...there's not really a lot to do here. We did a very short excursion which apparently hit the absolute highlights. Total time was about 3 hours so that should tell you something! Still, it was a nice break from the crazy long "Best of Berlin" that lasted 12 hours!

 

Tomorrow: Copenhagen 

 

Entertainment still seems a bit like it's being presented on the "budget". It's not bad by any means but it's definitely not what we have experienced on Princess in the past.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Two observations:

 

1) I thought that all of the ship's had fully embraced all of the technology that we've seen on the bigger ships. The Island is definitely "old school" as far as the photo gallery goes.  They still print out the hardcovers of photos for you to browse through instead of viewing them on a screen. That would seem to be in contradiction to cost saving policies. 

 

2) I was very surprised to learn that neither main dining room is open for lunch. I don't think I've seen this on any ship/any cruise line.

[Rick&Jeannie]

On 9/30/2022 at 2:14 PM, phabric said:

What time are the shows?

 

How is the service in the dining room?

Sorry for the late reply! I missed your post the first time around. 

Shows are at 7:30 & 9:30.

Service has been mostly good, though tonight in Provence (early) things got pretty slow. I had to ask twice for a Diet Coke (not a big deal but it was obvious that the waiters were very busy).

[Rick&Jeannie]

For those interested in the electrical outlet layout...we were surprised to see standard US style 110volt outlets in the cabin as well as located up and down passageways.  Behind the bed(s) you can find a European style 220 volt outlet. I used one of the 220 v adapters to supply my CPAP as well as keep the lamp plugged in. 

[tjcox9]

39 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

For those interested in the electrical outlet layout...we were surprised to see standard US style 110volt outlets in the cabin as well as located up and down passageways.  Behind the bed(s) you can find a European style 220 volt outlet. I used one of the 220 v adapters to supply my CPAP as well as keep the lamp plugged in. 

What about USB plugs, any available? THX in advance.

[Level six]

2 hours ago, tjcox9 said:

What about USB plugs, any available? THX in advance.

Not in our balcony room last cruise. 

[tjcox9]

51 minutes ago, Level six said:

Not in our balcony room last cruise. 

Wow, can't believe those didn't get added at some point. Haven't been on a ship (any line) in some time that didn't have at least a minimum number of them! Thanks.............

[Level six]

53 minutes ago, tjcox9 said:

Wow, can't believe those didn't get added at some point. Haven't been on a ship (any line) in some time that didn't have at least a minimum number of them! Thanks.............

Yeah, Only two outlets  on the desk and that's it. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

11 hours ago, tjcox9 said:

What about USB plugs, any available? THX in advance.

Nope. As @Level sixstated, no USB. I always bring a multi-port charger when traveling so it's not a problem for us. 

[js1357]

15 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

For those interested in the electrical outlet layout...we were surprised to see standard US style 110volt outlets in the cabin as well as located up and down passageways.  Behind the bed(s) you can find a European style 220 volt outlet. I used one of the 220 v adapters to supply my CPAP as well as keep the lamp plugged in. 

Can you tell me whether a Type C adapter or Type E/F adapter would work?

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

4 hours ago, js1357 said:

Can you tell me whether a Type C adapter or Type E/F adapter would work?

 

I believe I have the E/F style.

[venussuz]

On 10/2/2022 at 8:34 PM, Level six said:

Yeah, Only two outlets  on the desk and that's it. 

You might want to check behind your tv, as our cabin steward showed us an extra outlet there. It was great for plugging my adapter in, leaving the desk port to charge my scooter. 

I think there's also one or two outlets behind the beds, but they're pretty much inaccessible to the average person. 

[venussuz]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:03 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Two observations:

 

1) I thought that all of the ship's had fully embraced all of the technology that we've seen on the bigger ships. The Island is definitely "old school" as far as the photo gallery goes.  They still print out the hardcovers of photos for you to browse through instead of viewing them on a screen. That would seem to be in contradiction to cost saving policies. 

 

2) I was very surprised to learn that neither main dining room is open for lunch. I don't think I've seen this on any ship/any cruise line.

Dining rooms not open for lunch? Was that only on port days or every day, as both dining rooms were open for lunch during our TA. 

As you said elsewhere, service slowed toward the end of our cruise, due to staff being out with Covid. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

6 hours ago, venussuz said:

Dining rooms not open for lunch? Was that only on port days or every day, as both dining rooms were open for lunch during our TA. 

So far they have been closed every day...at least for the days that we have actually been on the ship and not on an excursion.  Seems very strange to me. I've not been keeping up with what the Patter says but DW says every time she has looked it says both open at 5:00pm.

[Rick&Jeannie]

I'm back to playing catch-up again! I meant to mention this about our Gothenburg stop.

 

My "southern boy voice " kept wanting to mispronounce the name in the time leading up to the cruise.

 

It is NOT pronounced Go - thin - berg

 

It's  Goth - in - berg.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Well phoney! I just had a long posting describing our tour in Copenhagen disappear when I clicked "Submit". I'll try to recreate it...

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 days ago we were in Copenhagen and did the "Copenhagen City Drive and Canal Cruise" excursion.  This was a fairly nice tour...easy with not much walking. 

I was beginning to get a bit upset for the first portion of the tour when we spent about an hour just driving around in a bus. I had forgotten that the tour name was "City Drive"...but that's on me! We saw some very interesting sights that would have been great to get some pictures.  However,  traffic was TERRIBLE! This just happened to be the first day that Parliament was back in session so there was security everywhere and many streets were blocked off for "official vehicles ". Understandable since the King himself would be in attendance! (We certainly didn't get to see him...) The bus driver really earned his pay that day.

After about anhour or so we got to stop at a few spots for pictures; fountains, picturesque squares, the opera house and such so I was liking the tour much better.

The real highlight of the tour was the Canal trip. It more than made up for any perceived shortcomings (on my part only,  I'm sure) since we got to see many of the sights that we had seen from the bus, only from the viewpoint of the Canal. It was rather chilly but the sun was out and not too much wind so it made for a very nice water trip.  We had good guides (both on the bus as well as the Canal boat) that were quite knowledgeable of the areas we were visiting/seeing.

This was a good tour...I don't think anybody would be disappointed by booking it.  Just don't fall into the trap that I did (at first) by not realizing that it was billed as a "City drive" for the first portion.  The "real tour" is the Canal boat trip!

When the internet allows I will try to post some pictures...but it probably won't be today (sea day).

[Rick&Jeannie]

Just a couple of random thoughts before I forget them...

 

As I've said before,  this is our first time on the Island. It's really beginning to grow on us. One thing we particularly like is the positioning of the 2 MDRs. All you have to remember is "which deck tonight". Both the Bordeaux and the Provence are in the exact same place right behind the Plaza..just on decks 5 and 6 respectively.  Unlike on some of the larger Princess ships where you have to go on a safari ti find that "hidden " dining room at the back of the ship behind and on the same level as another dining room! That really gives some first-timers ahead scratching trying to find it, having to go up, over and down behind that first DR.

 

Second...and I don't know if this is the same for all cabins with a shower/tub combos...the tub is positioned about 4 inches above the bathroom floor. It's a  bit of a surprise to step in and up into a tub...but the *real* surprise is when you step out! You are expecting the floor to be at the same level as the tub and when it's not you feel like you are flying...and not in a good way! Grab hold of that towel bar just to steady yourself. I wouldn't depend on the bar to hold your weight but it's OK just to stabilize yourself. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Pub lunch today! I know these appear to be very popular but we've never been able to experience it on Princess. We've done NCL a couple of times where you can get pub food anytime at O'Sheehans but we've never been on a Princess ship that had it before...or at least at a time that we could partake.  Looking forward to it!

[Rick&Jeannie]

I need to do better about keeping notes and items that I want to point out...

 

We didn't know what to expect at the Little Mermaid  in Copenhagen.  It was wall to wall people! I think probably 5 busses along with some walking tours, so you can imagine.  As far as the statue itself, it was smaller than we expected.  It's almost life-sized (as far as whatever life-sized would be for a Mermaid! Can't back that up with any facts!)

There were so many people there you just had to grab whatever angle you could get for a picture. We were a bit lucky in that we came in by Canal boat so I was able to get some good video albeit from the back and extreme sides.

[Rick&Jeannie]

As I said...I need to take better notes! The bit I posted about Copenhagen (with the info about traffic, Parliament and the King) was NOT Copenhagen! So sorry! That was yesterday in Oslo, Norway.  Apologies...I'll try to do better!

[Alcairns]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Alcairns
Deleted now clarified by OP

[Rick&Jeannie]

Besides Berlin (Hamburg) I think maybe this has been one of our favorite ports...at least as far as excursions go.  We did "The Best of Oslo" which is about 7.5 hrs long. We were worn out when we got back to the ship! 

After a couple of short stops by bus we visited the Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park. I'll be the first to admit that I am not much one for sculptures and art and such, but this was really a cool place to see.  It is a 110 acre outdoor public park showcasing the over 200 sculptures of Gustav Vigeland.  It's quite a park just by itself...the sculptures make it doubly so.

From there we drove to the Holmenkollen ski jump. I've never been this close to a real Olymic style ski jump before (except maybe about 6 feet from my TV!) Besides the interest from the sports angle, it is a construction marvel. The site hols 70,000 spectators! There is a small tram car that can take you to the very top but we did not have the time to do so. I would have loved to have been able to get some pics from such a viewpoint.  The jump itself has been rebuilt 19 times and was first built in the late 1890s.

From there we went to the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.  Again...not a fan of typical museums...but this is not your typical museum. The focal point here is an "outdoor museum" where they have literally reconstructed or moved original buildings from across all historical periods of Norway. Very interesting to see how buildings were built using only hand tools such as axes and bow saws.

On to the Maritime Museum and the Fram museum. No, the Fram museum does not articulate the history of automotive filter products! I had no idea that the Fram was  wooden sailing vessel that has sailed to both the North and South poles. You can actually climb up on the deck and see up close the ship's rigging and such. Very interesting. 

Back to the ship after 7.5 hours.