Live from Nieuw Statendam - Legends of the Fjords, May 28 to June 9

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, Analog187 said:

If we had time we would but we don't have the time.  Trust me, I want nothing to do with that place in the morning.  

Ok thanks.  It didn’t sound like you were doing a lot of shorex but maybe I misread.  I think I’d rather go hungry than deal with the cafeteria in the morning.  I do get room service in the morning when doing a early shorex.  It works quite well if you fill out the card.  I get ready while I waiting for it to show.

[ExpatBride]

On 5/31/2023 at 1:16 AM, singleflyer said:

@Analog187 Random question; but are the milkshakes at Dive In an up-charge (or count against your 15 drink limit with Have It All)?  Or are they free for everyone?  

This is being discussed on FB and it seems to vary by ship and venue (i.e., the gelato place vs. Dive In). It's probably worth asking onboard. There's definitely an uncharge, but some ships/venues are allowing them on the HIA package. I wouldn't have thought to ask because while smoothies are listed on the "included" items, milkshakes aren't.

Edited June 4, 2023 by ExpatBride

[Analog187]

Day 8 - Haugesund

 

We got off the ship without too much of a plan but the wife wanted to go to the Viking village.  Research indicated that this was probably not going to happen and we were right.  Tourist office said that it was only open for ship tours so if we took the bus and then walked the very long walk there, we wouldn't be able to get in.  There was really not much being offered in terms of tours right there so we decided to walk over to town.  You can take a shuttle bus, a fake train thing or you can walk.  I heard those first two options are expensive for what is a 5 minute ride so we walked.  Gotta walk off these pounds.  It's about a 10 to 15 minute walk mostly over this big bridge.

 

Since it was a Sunday, almost nothing at all was open.  We walked over to the main street and we found this really wacky shop full of weird things.  Hard to even describe but it was fun to check out.  It was also one of the only things open.  We also stopped in two tourist shops which weren't that impressive.  We took a few pictures and walked back to the ship as there was literally nothing else to do and our feet were killing us from all the walking we've been doing.  Much like Molde, no complaints though because we need breaks from walking 5 to 6 miles a day.  We did over 6 yesterday.

 

So after lunch it was back to the pool area to relax.  Despite it being about 48 outside, they opened the roof a little, then a lot, then a little again.  Not sure what they were doing but it got pretty cold out by the pool from them keeping the roof open.  I alternated between the pool and the sauna.  You can always tell when the port isn't exciting by how many people are on the ship.  The pool area was pretty busy and after an hour or so it got full.

 

After a few hours of that it was time to nap again.  I've never taken so many naps in my life but we keep wearing ourselves out.  We then went to get some dinner but we stopped at the pool area first because they were giving away a bunch of prizes.  Despite them giving away about 10 of them, we won nothing.  We literally never win.  On our last cruise we finally thought we were going to win something at the jewelry raffle because there was no one else there!  The only question was, would it be me or my wife?  Wouldn't you know that another couple came at the very last second and yup, they won.  Not only that, it was the second time that cruise that the woman won.  Oh well, we keep trying. 

 

There was nothing in the MDR we wanted so we went to the buffet to grab a few things.  Glad we did too because they had a section that had foods from Norway.  Now maybe that was mentioned somewhere but I didn't see it so if it wasn't they should have said that because I'm sure a bunch of people missed it.  The goat cheese was really good although I didn't like the brown goat cheese that is so famous here.  My wife really liked it thought.  Maybe I just couldn't get over the color.  Then we went upstairs to get pizzas which were again pretty good.  I completely forgot that they also make sandwiches so I'll have to try one of those at some point. 

 

Everyday at 7 is a raffle at jewelry store and we've tried to go to all of them.  And yes, we lost again.  There was no real show tonight but there was the City at Sea presentation that is being shown on other HAL ships.  I've been to other "behind the scenes" presentations and I really like them but this one didn't do it for me.  It's kind of a weird thing.  It's created by corporate so its the same show on every ship.  Half of it are a series of quick videos, pictures or diagrams on the screen and the other half is scripted narration on behalf of the cruise director and a few others.  It doesn't feel authentic probably because they are just reading the teleprompter and the videos are really short and some are repetitive.  I'd rather have a Q&A thing or I'd rather just want a 20 minute video followed by some discussion.  But maybe that's just me.  My wife produced theater and she agrees and wanted to add that it felt stilted.  If you've never been to one of these things, you probably found it interesting.  If you've been to others, perhaps you'd agree with me.  

 

I should add, this was probably the most popular thing that has been on this ship as there wasn't an empty seat available.  About 50+ people were standing.  Pretty crazy.  Probably because there was only one showing as the 9:30 slot is Deal or no Deal.

 

After that we went to guest services because we were charged for Pinnacle Grill when that was part of our package.  Gotta check those statements.  I really don't know how those GS employees handle these passengers.  One guy held up the line because his jacket was missing and we was convinced that someone stole it and was freaking out.  So when I got up there I said "someone stole my jacket, where is my jacket!!!".  I made her laugh so hard so hopefully she appreciated that.

 

We went to the casino for a bit and had mixed results.  We've played a bunch and we are only down about $25 so that's a win for me.  Although I really like watching Deal or No Deal on cruises, we have to get up early to get on the hop on, hop off bus.   We stopped by the store so my wife could get a scarf she's been wanting.  We've been looking in the stores and they don't have this exact one and they are pretty expensive so the price was about on par with what you'd get in a shop.  We have the on board credit to spend so why not?

 

Another nice relaxing day and probably our last until we get home.  Oh, and the internet was finally fixed so the app works again!

[Florida_gal_50]

I can remember winning the jewelry raffle one time.  It was some cheap stuff.  Can’t even remember what it was.  You aren’t missing much.

[Analog187]

6 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I can remember winning the jewelry raffle one time.  It was some cheap stuff.  Can’t even remember what it was.  You aren’t missing much.

Of course it's nothing good.  It's just the point that we never win. 

[Tigrou]

As you say, that ‘Weird & Wonderful’ shop is difficult to describe but great fun. Very different from the souvenir shops all selling the same stuff.

 

I agree with you about the ‘City at Sea’ show being stilted. For some reason I expected it to be a film, not the mix of (too much) scripted talking and video clips. Although it was interesting, I felt it could have been much better produced. In particular I found the whole bottle of champagne bit completely unnecessary.

 

You have my sympathies and understanding about not winning raffles. I’m so unlucky that I’ve often said I wouldn’t win a raffle if I had the only ticket!

[Analog187]

Day 9 - Stavanger

We had tickets to the hop on, hop off bus so we had to get up early.  I was a little concerned at first because Google Maps said everything was closed on Monday.  I thought I was going crazy because I surely looked all this up already and I would have seen that.  Thankfully Google Maps was wrong (they don't update their hours) and almost everything that would normally be open was except the City Museum.  No big deal there.  There are other things to see like the Royal Residence that are closed seasonally which includes now.  Not sure when they are actually open.

 

If we were docked in Stavanger I would not suggest you do this bus but we were docked in Sandness.  There are three ways to get there, that I saw anyway.  You can either take a shuttle and have less than 3 hours, walk, take a train and then walk some more or take this bus.  Glad we opted for the bus because it gave us more time.  Keeping with the rudeness theme, some lady on our tour was going off on one of the crew as we were boarding the bus.  I continue to be amazed at people like this that go on vacation just to get all upset.  Most of them are older too.  I'm pretty chill for my 40s so I hope I'm even better when I'm older.  Anyway.

 

The bus ride there was uneventful, about a half hour.  We then started the route.  Since everything doesn't open until 10am, we decided to do the entire route which takes about 50 minutes. It gave us a good layout of what there is to see including things like the Royal Residence that we wouldn't have walked to.  There was this really nice neighborhood we went through over there as well.

By the time we completed the route it was about 9:50.  The driver wasn't going to go anywhere again for 20 minutes so we walked over to the Petroleum Museum.  Seemed pretty busy for just opening so maybe it opened earlier?  It was pretty interesting and not normally the first thing I would have chosen.  Norway was a rather poor country for most of its history until it found oil in the North Sea.  That finding dramatically changed the country as the government has made an absolute fortune from oil.  I had no idea.  There were also some interactive exhibits like being able to go down an escape chute.  If you go, I suggest skipping the film.  It's really weird.  

 

With that ticket, we got half off the other city-run museums.  This is a really cool city and it was a much better stop than yesterday.  There's a really nice harbor which functions as a city center.  A cruise ship was docked there which is why we weren't.  There's a ton of shops and restaurants.  It's only a few minutes between there and the Petroleum Museum but the neighborhood you walk through is really cool.  Very funky with buildings painted all different colors.  If you saw my pictures, there's a few of them from this neighborhood.

 

Walked the opposite way from the city center and up a flight of stairs brings you to Gamle Stavanger or the Old Town.  This was really cool.  Literally just steps away from the busy harbor is this neighborhood that time forgot.  Perfectly restored wooden houses from the 1800s line cobblestone streets.  Windows are decorated with antiques and flower pots. It's a fantastic place to spend some time.  Although there's a couple shops and a cafe, it does not feel touristy.  It's very authentic because people actually live there.  It's not a gimmick.  The main street was a little busy with tourists but there were several side streets to explore that had no one on them.  Again, if you saw my pictures you can see how awesome this place is although pictures don't do it justice.

 

Right there is the canning and printing museum.  This is one of the museums that you can get in for half price with that other ticket.  The museums are connected so you can walk right from one to the other.  The Printing Museum was OK but it didn't really interest us much.  The Cannin Museum was actually pretty cool.  Never really knew much about sardines but Norway was once the biggest producer of sardines so this is how this section of the country made money.  It was really cool to learn all about how they did that in the early 1900s.  

 

With that ticket, we were then able to get in for free to the Maritime Museum which is down the block near where the bus pick up is.  The first floor was a little boring but then we went upstairs.  There were several rooms that we set up for what the rooms in a shipping company would have looked like in the 1800s.  We love stuff like that and it was very well done.

 

None of these museums would have probably been worth the price of admission by themselves, but all three for half price was worth it.  By the time we were done, it was almost 1pm which is when the bus is gonna bring us back.  So yeah, 4 hours flew by.  It was probably the right amount of time for us but if more was open I would have wanted more time.  I was going to check out this tower but then I saw all the steps (see pictures) and said nope.  

 

Back on the ship we had a late lunch and I finally got to try one of those sandwiches at the deli.  It was ok, but it would have probably been better without the turkey.  After that we took a nap.  Not sure why we are so tired this cruise.  Lack of sea days maybe.

 

We left the dock around 5pm so we went up to the Crows Nest to watch us sail away.  Not exactly the sail out from Flam but it was still nice.  Very busy and hard to find a seat.  Luckily we got there just as someone was leaving.  

 

Since we had a late lunch we didn't want to go to the MDR so early but we knew that if we went around 6, we wouldn't get a table for 2.  My wife was bummed about that but we just don't like eating with other people so we went to the buffet.  Glad we did because they had dutch food including dutch mini pancakes.  They were amazing but there was a little bit of a line since they were scooped up almost as soon as they were done.  Best thing we've had so far.  They also had what seemed like zeppoles but they had raisins in them.  Would have been perfect without raisins.  

 

The show tonight was Musicology by the dance company. It was pretty good. For the most part, it was a dance associated with a musical instrument.  Most of it was good and this one modern dance part towards the end was amazing.  There was one dance part that was really weird and didn't fit the theme at all. Not sure what was up with that.  Once again there was over 20 people standing.  Not sure why people can't get there on time but I highly suggest getting there at least 10 minutes early if you want a seat.

 

Right when that ended we had to rush over to music trivia.  This is normally my wife's thing and not mine but Jose does such a good job he made this a ton of fun.  It was the officers vs the passengers so they had about 30 officers there from different departments.  They must not get to do stuff like this often as they were really ready to go.  It was more like a party than a trivia especially when Jose went through the answers.  So much fun.  He's a star.

 

The Orange Party was right after that but we weren't interested so we went up the casino to lose more money.  Our luck from earlier in the weeks really died out.  We'll try again tomorrow.

Really great day. Two random observations.  A lot of people have hiking sticks instead of canes.  I've never seen that before.  We were on 3 cruises last year and we didn't see any of that and now a lot of people have that.  So that's interesting.  The other observation is that a lot more people are coughing as the cruise goes on.  Some people sound really bad. 

 

Can't believe we have 3 more days. When we get home I'm gonna sleep all weekend.  

[polySeraph]

2 hours ago, Analog187 said:

If we were docked in Stavanger I would not suggest you do this bus but we were docked in Sandness.  There are three ways to get there, that I saw anyway.  You can either take a shuttle and have less than 3 hours, walk, take a train and then walk some more or take this bus.  Glad we opted for the bus because it gave us more time.  Keeping with the rudeness theme, some lady on our tour was going off on one of the crew as we were boarding the bus.  I continue to be amazed at people like this that go on vacation just to get all upset.  Most of them are older too.  I'm pretty chill for my 40s so I hope I'm even better when I'm older.  Anyway.

 

The bus ride there was uneventful, about a half hour.  We then started the route.  Since everything doesn't open until 10am, we decided to do the entire route which takes about 50 minutes. It gave us a good layout of what there is to see including things like the Royal Residence that we wouldn't have walked to.  There was this really nice neighborhood we went through over there as well.

Hi, I’ve really enjoyed your review. I’ll be visiting Norway aboard the Rotterdam in July so I’ve been taking good notes. Thank you for all the great info!
 

Could you tell me a little more about how you got to Stavanger from Sandnes? You said you took a bus…. Did you book the bus through HAL? Did the bus go all the way to Stavanger? The reason I’m asking is because the only shuttle I can see on HAL’s shore excursions page for my itinerary goes from the pier to the tourist information site in Sandnes and HAL hasn’t been exactly forthcoming with how we are actually supposed to get to Stavanger. 
 

Any details you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

[Analog187]

8 hours ago, polySeraph said:

Hi, I’ve really enjoyed your review. I’ll be visiting Norway aboard the Rotterdam in July so I’ve been taking good notes. Thank you for all the great info!
 

Could you tell me a little more about how you got to Stavanger from Sandnes? You said you took a bus…. Did you book the bus through HAL? Did the bus go all the way to Stavanger? The reason I’m asking is because the only shuttle I can see on HAL’s shore excursions page for my itinerary goes from the pier to the tourist information site in Sandnes and HAL hasn’t been exactly forthcoming with how we are actually supposed to get to Stavanger. 
 

Any details you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

You book the hop on, hop off bus right through HAL. And yes, goes to Stavanger and then does a loop.  HAL will add more excursions at the last minute.  Very annoying.  

[LadderCo2]

On 6/5/2023 at 12:46 AM, Analog187 said:

Of course it's nothing good.  It's just the point that we never win. 

I hope you find some happiness on this cruise!  My wife and I are having a blast, so much so we haven’t found anything to complain about. 

[polySeraph]

4 hours ago, Analog187 said:

 

You book the hop on, hop off bus right through HAL. And yes, goes to Stavanger and then does a loop.  HAL will add more excursions at the last minute.  Very annoying.  

Thanks! This is good news. We enjoyed the Petroleum Museum and (weirdly enough) the Sardine Museum on a previous visit to Stavanger and were looking forward to doing it again. We thought Stavanger was very walkable but, hey, the Ho-Ho Bus works as well.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[vjblk]

5 hours ago, Analog187 said:

 

You book the hop on, hop off bus right through HAL. And yes, goes to Stavanger and then does a loop.  HAL will add more excursions at the last minute.  Very annoying.  

What time did you catch the hop on hop bus? Sounded like you were in Stavanger before 10 so it must've been early. 

 

Really have enjoyed following your cruise. Thanks for all the info.

[Analog187]

10 minutes ago, vjblk said:

What time did you catch the hop on hop bus? Sounded like you were in Stavanger before 10 so it must've been early. 

 

Really have enjoyed following your cruise. Thanks for all the info.

Thanks, I'm glad some people get it.  Not sure why others don't but that's the internet for you. We had to get to the theater at 8:10.  Boarded the bus at 8:30.  Got into town right around 9am. 

[Analog187]

53 minutes ago, polySeraph said:

Thanks! This is good news. We enjoyed the Petroleum Museum and (weirdly enough) the Sardine Museum on a previous visit to Stavanger and were looking forward to doing it again. We thought Stavanger was very walkable but, hey, the Ho-Ho Bus works as well.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

It is walkable.  That's why I don't recommend if you are docked right there.  Since we weren't, it was the best option for us.  

[Analog187]

Day 10 - Kristiansand

We got off the ship with a rough idea as to what we wanted to do but nothing really planned out.  This is a cool little town.  As soon as you get out of the port area there's just flowers everywhere.  It's really nice.  If you head to the right there's a bunch of old wooden boats that are part of a museum there.  We didn't bother to go into the museum or even check if was open as we just liked checking out the boats.  From there we went to McDonalds!  It's a McDonald's in an old bank so its supposed to be one of the fanciest McDonalds in the world but they are working on the fancy part so we didn't get to go inside.  We then checked out the cathedral and walked through the old town.  Like several of the towns we've visited on this trip, there's a section of town with really old wooden houses.  Once again, it was great to walk through this area which was a pretty good size.

 

We then took the bus to Lillesand which is about a half hour away.  Unlike the towns that have a historic area, this whole town on the water is a historic area.  Tons of old wooden houses, almost all of them painted white with awesome flowers everywhere.  The smell is awesome.  A number of the houses are from the 1700s and 1800s.  It's clearly a well to do area as most people seemed to have a Mercedes or an Audi.  I think we were the only tourists in the area but wow, it was a great place.  Can't recommend it enough.  

 

We took the bus back and then we walked by the fortress and headed back to the ship.  At this point we walked over 6 miles for the day so we were wiped out.  Nothing at the MDR really excited us so we opted for the buffet again.  It was better than other nights and not nearly as crowded.  I had the steak which is supposed to be the same as in the MDR.  It had a nice flavor so I was surprised.  

 

We then went to the Crows Nest to have some drinks and watch the view until it was time to go to the show.  Here's another example of rudeness on this cruise.  This older couple behind us had this really wacky argument about the busiest shipping channels in the world.  The guy was wrong the woman went off on him, yelling at him, cursing at him, etc.  This went on for over 20 minutes.  It was was really crazy and inappropriate.  

 

On the way to the show we stopped by the Dutch Cafe for a beer.  They ran out of the beer I wanted and had no idea if they had any more.  We then went next door to get luggage tags and they ran out of all the luggage tags except the earliest ones.  I really feel like things are not being run right on this ship.  I've never heard of anything like this in 30 years of cruising.  We want to get off the ship late so I don't know what we are going to do.  Guess we'll figure that out later.

 

The show tonight was the Pianist with the Hair again.  He was even better than his first show.  This is one of the best shows I've ever seen on a cruise.  He's incredibly talented and he should be very famous.  Can't say enough about how amazing he is.  The rudeness continued of course.  The couple next to us was on their phones the entire time.  They were pretty old too as the guy had a hearing aid.  As if that wasn't bad enough, he took a phone call and had a loud conversation with someone.  We gave it 30 seconds to make sure it wasn't some quick thing but nope, he was planning on having an entire conversation during the show.  Since he has a hearing aid, his phone is super loud so despite him being 6 feet away, I heard the person on the other line like she was yelling in my ear.  We yelled at him to get out of here with that and he never came back.  Again, 30 years of cruising and I've never encountered this.  Not sure if HAL just attracts a certain type or what but this is pretty incredible.  

 

Anyway, we went to the casino and we did very well.  Well my wife was the one that really did great.  Probably brought us back to even or maybe even a little ahead.  

 

So really fun day.  One more full day left.  

 

 

[catlet]

1 hour ago, Analog187 said:

Day 10 - Kristiansand

We got off the ship with a rough idea as to what we wanted to do but nothing really planned out.  This is a cool little town.  As soon as you get out of the port area there's just flowers everywhere.  It's really nice.  If you head to the right there's a bunch of old wooden boats that are part of a museum there.  We didn't bother to go into the museum or even check if was open as we just liked checking out the boats.  From there we went to McDonalds!  It's a McDonald's in an old bank so its supposed to be one of the fanciest McDonalds in the world but they are working on the fancy part so we didn't get to go inside.  We then checked out the cathedral and walked through the old town.  Like several of the towns we've visited on this trip, there's a section of town with really old wooden houses.  Once again, it was great to walk through this area which was a pretty good size.

 

We then took the bus to Lillesand which is about a half hour away.  Unlike the towns that have a historic area, this whole town on the water is a historic area.  Tons of old wooden houses, almost all of them painted white with awesome flowers everywhere.  The smell is awesome.  A number of the houses are from the 1700s and 1800s.  It's clearly a well to do area as most people seemed to have a Mercedes or an Audi.  I think we were the only tourists in the area but wow, it was a great place.  Can't recommend it enough.  

 

We took the bus back and then we walked by the fortress and headed back to the ship.  At this point we walked over 6 miles for the day so we were wiped out.  Nothing at the MDR really excited us so we opted for the buffet again.  It was better than other nights and not nearly as crowded.  I had the steak which is supposed to be the same as in the MDR.  It had a nice flavor so I was surprised.  

 

We then went to the Crows Nest to have some drinks and watch the view until it was time to go to the show.  Here's another example of rudeness on this cruise.  This older couple behind us had this really wacky argument about the busiest shipping channels in the world.  The guy was wrong the woman went off on him, yelling at him, cursing at him, etc.  This went on for over 20 minutes.  It was was really crazy and inappropriate.  

 

On the way to the show we stopped by the Dutch Cafe for a beer.  They ran out of the beer I wanted and had no idea if they had any more.  We then went next door to get luggage tags and they ran out of all the luggage tags except the earliest ones.  I really feel like things are not being run right on this ship.  I've never heard of anything like this in 30 years of cruising.  We want to get off the ship late so I don't know what we are going to do.  Guess we'll figure that out later.

 

The show tonight was the Pianist with the Hair again.  He was even better than his first show.  This is one of the best shows I've ever seen on a cruise.  He's incredibly talented and he should be very famous.  Can't say enough about how amazing he is.  The rudeness continued of course.  The couple next to us was on their phones the entire time.  They were pretty old too as the guy had a hearing aid.  As if that wasn't bad enough, he took a phone call and had a loud conversation with someone.  We gave it 30 seconds to make sure it wasn't some quick thing but nope, he was planning on having an entire conversation during the show.  Since he has a hearing aid, his phone is super loud so despite him being 6 feet away, I heard the person on the other line like she was yelling in my ear.  We yelled at him to get out of here with that and he never came back.  Again, 30 years of cruising and I've never encountered this.  Not sure if HAL just attracts a certain type or what but this is pretty incredible.  

 

Anyway, we went to the casino and we did very well.  Well my wife was the one that really did great.  Probably brought us back to even or maybe even a little ahead.  

 

So really fun day.  One more full day left.  

 

 

You can get off the ship whenever you want as long as its not before the assigned tag time. The luggage is unloaded and is piled together by the colored tags, so no problem being later, you just cannot exit earlier than assigned time.

[vjblk]

I was curious if you needed much NOR Krone on your cruise? Did most place take credit cards?

[81Zoomie]

10 hours ago, Analog187 said:

Thanks, I'm glad some people get it.  Not sure why others don't but that's the internet for you. We had to get to the theater at 8:10.  Boarded the bus at 8:30.  Got into town right around 9am. 

How much did HAL charge for the HOHO bus?  Really appreciate your cruise blog!

[Iamthesea]

We were on the cruise before yours.   Although I have enjoyed reading your review, I have to wonder if we were actually on the same ship.  Our cruise was very enjoyable.  We did not have the issues that I am reading about on this review.  The ship, food, service, and crew were all wonderful!!!  The entertainment was mostly good.  I do agree with you about the World Stage, and some rude passengers on phones.  Most of the time we were sitting either to the side, or the backs of the guest entertainers because the "good" seats were already taken by the time we arrived after dinner.  The theater is too small and the seating arrangement very odd.

[Analog187]

9 hours ago, vjblk said:

I was curious if you needed much NOR Krone on your cruise? Did most place take credit cards?

It's a cashless society so credit card is accepted everywhere 

[Analog187]

8 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

How much did HAL charge for the HOHO bus?  Really appreciate your cruise blog!

I think it was $45 each which is pretty much the same price.  I'm glad you enjoy it!

[Analog187]

6 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

We were on the cruise before yours.   Although I have enjoyed reading your review, I have to wonder if we were actually on the same ship.  Our cruise was very enjoyable.  We did not have the issues that I am reading about on this review.  The ship, food, service, and crew were all wonderful!!!  The entertainment was mostly good.  I do agree with you about the World Stage, and some rude passengers on phones.  Most of the time we were sitting either to the side, or the backs of the guest entertainers because the "good" seats were already taken by the time we arrived after dinner.  The theater is too small and the seating arrangement very odd.

I never said our cruise wasn't enjoyable but I'm gonna call it as I see it.  I could have gone on a very similar cruise with Carnival for about $2000 less.  So am I getting $2000 worth out of this cruise?   I don't see it.  I'm sure the food is better but I don't think it's $2000 worth.  The bed feels like an army cot.  I've been on almost 40 cruises so I know what to expect.  Maybe our bed is the one on the ship that is horrendous?   No idea.  

 

But none of this really feels premium to me and we were just on two small NCL ships last fall.  While the food and drinks are pretty bad, everything else was great and I'm not even a NCL fan.  

 

There's been other things I haven't even mentioned.  My wife asked for a Miami Vice.  It had just a little strawberry on the top.  I explained it should be half and half. The waiter said "well that's how he made it" and walked away.  So is that me being difficult or should I expect drinks to be made the right wait and for wait staff to correct mistakes?

 

I'm sure different people will have different experiences but I just don't think I fit HALs demographic.  

[Analog187]

Just now a guest was giving one of the excursion staff a problem and she called her rude.  The staff member said "actually I think you're the one being rude".  I asked  her and the other guy if this normal or just this cruise.  They indicated that people have been extra rude this cruise.  So this isn't just my opinion.  

 

Since some of you don't understand my reviews, I need to emphasize that these people in no way impact my cruise.  I'm just really surprised that people on this cruise are so angry.  So glad my mother (similar demographic) is the complete opposite of these people.  She's been on 7 cruises this year already and is having an amazing time.  

[jakkojakko]

The rude people, is it predominantly one nationality? And if so, which?

[niknot]

Just answering a couple of questions for Sandnes (Stavenger area).

 

We docked at the Somaneset port.

 

HAL offered the following options once on board:

1. Stavanger on your own. -$44.95 Departure times offered 9:30 or 11:30. The information provided indicated that you will be dropped off at the Concert Hall parking lot and that you will have two hours in Stavanger.

 

2. Hop On, Hop Off Stavanger - $44.95

 Departure time 8:30

 

3. The last option appeared on the daily program the night before our port stop. It was a shuttle to the Sandnes Tourist Information Building. $19.95. The first departure was at 8:30, running every 30 minutes. The last shuttle from Sandnes to the ship was at 3:45.

 

There were plenty of taxis available on our stop. I have a GoPro set up on our balcony and it recorded a line of taxis in the morning.

 

A public bus stop is also located nearby.