Live solo report from the 22 day European Splendor and Voyage of the Midnight Sun on N. Statendam

[bennybear]

I am really enjoying your trip,too!

[cruising sister]

Good morning from the NS. We are on day 2 of sea days. We woke up to some fun towel animals around the pool.  The seas are rough and I was rocked to sleep last night. 
 

Unfortunately the Dutch cafe has called my name and I have responded!  The forecast for tomorrow calls for snow. I can’t complain as we have had better than expected weather so far.

 

Have a great day. I know I will. 

[oakridger]

Those have to be the cutest and most original towel animals I've ever seen!  How fun!

 

~Nancy

[3rdGenCunarder]

Wow! That's amazing! Those crew members must have been working all night.

 

 

[jcnick]

What fun! Thanks again for sharing your marvelous trip. For me, it was the next best thing to being there.😊

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Add me to the list of those who have been enjoying reading about your adventures on the NS.  I've enjoyed all the pictures from the various ports and especially the latest ones of the towel creatures.  The crew out did themselves this time.  

[jimbri]

Great review and pictures.

[BetsyS.]

cruising sister - Thanks for posting the pictures!!!  😊

3rdGenCunarder - I agree with you that the crew must have been working all night!

[SusieKIslandGirl]

@cruising sisterThanks for sharing the photos of the zoo. We didn't get up early enough I guess, to see them. I read your statement about organizing for a long cruise. I have a couple of things that I've found very helpful. Could you give me a call so maybe we can get together before we arrive in Amsterdam? Cabin 7098. Thanks, Susie

[cruising sister]

Good morning,

Internet was not the best yesterday so no report from me.  I had a great day in Geiranger despite the cold and spitting moisture. The scenery was magnificent and pictures do not do it justice.  Of course I did some more shopping and wonder if all will fit in my luggage to go home. Today we are in Bergen and I have a walking tour.  I think the rain will hold off until later this afternoon. I have really enjoyed meeting people on the cruise and have only encountered a few curmudgeons. I would have no hesitation doing this itinerary again.

[niknot]

Enjoying your report. Thanks for taking the time to post. 

 

 

[BetsyS.]

cruising sister - Thanks for posting the beautiful pictures!! 😊

[jcnick]

I wish HAL offered this exact itinerary again! I was so looking forward to it, even more so now after reading your blog & seeing your photos! To get all these ports & fjords now, though, it will take a 21-day cruise in July (a 14-day July 12th w/o Geiranger/Geirangerfjord or Alesund, followed by a 7-day that includes them). You have really inspired me to book it! Thank you!

[cruising sister]

Good morning,

We had a rainy morning in Bergen yesterday which is normal for them.  Our guide on the walking tour said it rains 280 days a year.  I am glad it was only a 2 hour tour as the rain got old fast.  At least my new waterproof shoes and jacket worked great.  I found a little artist gallery and met the artist and bought a couple of miniatures that reflect my time here in Norway.  The colors will go great in my house.  

 

Now the task of packing.  I packed way to much even after taking several things out.  I was not in the right frame of mind going into the trip and was not on my packing game. I am so glad I did this cruise as I met some very nice people who I am sure I will see again. 

 

I am staying one night in Amsterdam before heading home.  I have a canal tour booked and I will walk around the rest of the time.  Thanks everyone for coming along with me on this trip!

Lorraine

[3rdGenCunarder]

11 minutes ago, cruising sister said:

Good morning,

We had a rainy morning in Bergen yesterday which is normal for them.  Our guide on the walking tour said it rains 280 days a year.  I am glad it was only a 2 hour tour as the rain got old fast.  At least my new waterproof shoes and jacket worked great.  I found a little artist gallery and met the artist and bought a couple of miniatures that reflect my time here in Norway.  The colors will go great in my house.  

 

Now the task of packing.  I packed way to much even after taking several things out.  I was not in the right frame of mind going into the trip and was not on my packing game. I am so glad I did this cruise as I met some very nice people who I am sure I will see again. 

 

I am staying one night in Amsterdam before heading home.  I have a canal tour booked and I will walk around the rest of the time.  Thanks everyone for coming along with me on this trip!

Lorraine

 

Thank you for taking us along! It's wonderful to see another cruiser successfully graduate to solo travel. I think overpacking may have been part of the adjustment. When you're on your own, there's a tendency to worry more about "just in case." 

 

It's nice that you bought some local art. I do that, too. A lovely reminder of a good trip.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, cruising sister said:

Good morning,

We had a rainy morning in Bergen yesterday which is normal for them.  Our guide on the walking tour said it rains 280 days a year.  I am glad it was only a 2 hour tour as the rain got old fast.  At least my new waterproof shoes and jacket worked great.  I found a little artist gallery and met the artist and bought a couple of miniatures that reflect my time here in Norway.  The colors will go great in my house.  

 

Now the task of packing.  I packed way to much even after taking several things out.  I was not in the right frame of mind going into the trip and was not on my packing game. I am so glad I did this cruise as I met some very nice people who I am sure I will see again. 

 

I am staying one night in Amsterdam before heading home.  I have a canal tour booked and I will walk around the rest of the time.  Thanks everyone for coming along with me on this trip!

Lorraine

 

Thank YOU for all of your wonderful posts, Lorraine.

 

You will be amazed how many people you may see again on another cruise 👍 

 

Have a lovely time in Amsterdam.  A canal tour is lovely.  Enjoy!

 

Thank you again for a great LIVE thread and safe travels home 🙂 

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you for giving me some wonderful reading and pictures to view while sitting here in the rain in Melbourne, Aus.  It has been so nice to read!  

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

Thank you for sharing your adventures. I'm glad your solo voyage was a success.

[cruising sister]

Ok, one more post. I spent the day in Amsterdam.  I had pre booked a 2 hour canal tour that had a max of 12 passengers.  It ended up being about 1 1/2 mile walk to where I needed to board but was worth every step.  While I was waiting for the tour the french fry restaurant opened up and a huge line formed within minutes. People waited patiently looking at their phones to get the fried delight.  I went to the cookie store next door.  I found the city kind of dirty and the canal had trash floating in it. We sailed past the zoo and the giraffes were visible from the water. I enjoyed the day and will come back when I have more time to explore the area. I hope the nightmare of an airport does not materialize and I will have no problems tomorrow.  I am staying at the Hilton connected to the airport so hopefully that will help. 

[Cruisercl]

@cruising sister, thanks for the great review!

Loved all of your pictures. I am always interested in solo cruising experiences too.

I certainly will put this cruise on my list; I have not been there before.

Safe travels home . 😊

 

[cruising sister]

I woke up to an email that flight over booked and to call this number between 8am and 5 pm CST. Well that won’t work as I will be in the air. At 9 AM I got a call from United begging me to switch. I said ok as long as I still had business class. Problem was I needed to be through in an hour. I was at the Hilton and willing to try. They said to meet the at the ticket counter and they would escort me through security and passport control. So I rushed over there to find out they did not have a business class seat!! Long story short I am on original fight. At least I got a great workout in this morning. 

[Iamthesea]

Hope you made it home OK.😀. We also enjoyed the cruise and meeting others on our travels. 👏

 

DH and I are currently at the Hilton for the night after staying and touring in Belgium for a couple,of nights.  Funny that you mentioned seeing a zoo in Amsterdam.  We visited the Antwerpen zoo this morning after having to check out of our hotel and before our train back to Amsterdam.  Never thought that visiting a zoo on our European trip would be on the agenda, but it was a great way to spend our time waiting.

 

We are very impressed with the Hilton and the convenience to the airport.  Our room is very nice and we have a great view.  We had drinks, and then dinner at the restaurant.  Had some of the best salmon ever!  After dinner, we walked back down into the airport and purchased some pastries and juice  for the morning.  Highly recommend the Hilton Schipol.

 

We will leave the hotel around 8:30 for departures.  Already checked-in, in person, this afternoon.  We received an email from Delta saying that we had to check-in on the KLM website.  We were unable to do, after many attempts of the website not recognizing our booking number.  Very frustrated, so after getting off of the train at the airport, we went over to the KLM counter.  We were afraid that Delta had changed the flight to KLM but we’re assure that was not the case.  I don’t know why Delta makes things so difficult.

Thanks again for the lovely review of our cruise!

 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Thanks for the heads up about checking in with Delta at the airport. I think we'll do the same tomorrow afternoon for our Thursday flight (although we have to leave the hotel around 6:30 am-ugh!).

[Iamthesea]

I will be curious to hear if you receive the same message when trying to do your online check-in.  I am not convinced that our flight will be with Delta.  We have had a Delta flight before where they switched us to KLM.  We also lost our seats for that flight.  At least our boarding passes show our original Premium seats for tomorrows flight. 

 

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

I will be curious to hear if you receive the same message when trying to do your online check-in.  I am not convinced that our flight will be with Delta.  We have had a Delta flight before where they switched us to KLM.  We also lost our seats for that flight.  At least our boarding passes show our original Premium seats for tomorrows flight. 

 

We would be interested in hearing your flight experience once you get home. We will be departing AMS on Delta in July.