Sailing to see Santa (almost) —- Jewel of the Seas Arctic Circle voyage - June 17, 2023

[Dorh]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

And so it has…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hotel was an easy 10 minute walk so my son and I brought five of the bags over at about 10:30 and gave them to the porter. We then went back  to the hotel to get the remaining bags and remaining people 😜, and the wheelchair. We made a stop at the hotel bakery, which is wonderful, for a snack, then made our way back to the terminal. 
 

Check in was very quick, and by about 12:30 we were on board. We went up to the Wild Wild West Windjammer and circled it a few times before we could find a seat. I  not a fan of the Windjammer, as I find the crowds and usual lack of seats “un-relaxing”. 
 

We haven’t been on a Radiance class ship since 2018 when we did the Brilliance TA, also from

Amsterdam. Our last cruise was on the Celebrity Beyond, so the difference is great. But this trip is about the itinerary and we find the size of the Radiance class more manageable than Oasis class, and so far it appears to have only a few kids. 
 

Excursion, room and dining up next…..

 

 

mac_tlc

Following. Fabulous pictures. I’m enjoying your posts.  What Hotel did you stay at in Amsterdam?  We will be there in August, then sailing on The Jewel.  
Have a Great Cruise!!

[mac_tlc]

16 minutes ago, Dorh said:

Following. Fabulous pictures. I’m enjoying your posts.  What Hotel did you stay at in Amsterdam?  We will be there in August, then sailing on The Jewel.  
Have a Great Cruise!!

Thanks! 
 

We stayed at the Hotel Jakarta. It was a reasonable price as where others such as Movenpick and Doubletree Central Station were very expensive, 300-400 euros and even higher as the date got close. We would definitely stay there again if the price was right.
 

It is a little bit of a walk to the City Center, but close to cruise port. 

[mac_tlc]

So we have two aft balcony cabins on deck 7. A few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cabin shows it’s age in the furniture, such as the nightstands, closet doors an dresser. Lots of scratches, nicks, etc. 

 

However, it will be great to have an aft balcony sailing into the fjords. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited June 17, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

For those keeping track, such as @wolfcathorse and @DELTABLUE : 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by mac_tlc

[fl_native]

This is making me both nostalgic and eager for my next cruise!  We sailed out of Amsterdam on Jewel last summer on the Iceland and Ireland cruise and absolutely loved it.  First trip to Europe and we enjoyed every second in Amsterdam - spent one day prior to the cruise getting acclimated to the time change, and then 3 days afterwards touring the city.  We now have a Norway cruise on Anthem out of Southampton booked for next summer, and it can't get here soon enough!

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

So we have two aft balcony cabins on deck 7. A few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cabin shows it’s age in the furniture, such as the nightstands, closet doors an dresser. Lots of scratches, nicks, etc. 

 

However, it will be great to have an aft balcony sailing into the fjords. 
 

mac_tlc

I really thought the corner aft on deck 7 was a lot smaller, really it's very much like the one on  deck 9, just a little narrower.

[mac_tlc]

10 hours ago, Jimbo said:

I really thought the corner aft on deck 7 was a lot smaller, really it's very much like the one on  deck 9, just a little narrower.

I was surprised at the size of the balcony, it wraps around a bit. On the deck plan it doesn’t appear to wrap around. Nice surprise. And the room is plenty big enough with the bed placement by the balcony. 
 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there! Remember that all your efforts really make a difference to the youngsters !!!

 

So, where are we ? Here:

 

 

 

The North Sea is calm, a little cloudy but not too cold. Don’t need the blankets on the balcony ….. yet!

 

 

 

Last nights dinner was at Chops. All four of us are D+, so we do the BOGO.

 

INFO ALERT: It was no problem being able to use our second BOGO on another night. We asked when we made the reservation at Chops, got Giovanni’s on night 4. Just had to process the payment last night so we signed both meal slips. Excellent. We because my wife and I are already lamenting that the French onion soup is not available all nights, and we did not want to miss it on night 2. Some things have a disproportionate impact on us 😂😂🤪.

 

Later today I will post on our plans in the 6 Norway ports!

 

Thanks for following!

 

mac_tlc

Edited June 18, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

So, here are our plans in port:

 

Geiranger - no set plans. We pick up the pilot at 5am, with arrival about 10am. From our aft balcony we hopefully will get a great view, weather permitting. I will set my alarm for 4:45. Sunrise is about 3:38am, sunset 11:26pm !!!!!

 

Honninsvag - We arrive 6/21 at 3pm, we have a tour booked with Blue Puffin to go to the North Cape. We toyed with doing the 9:30pm one, but by the time I was willing to change it, there was no room so we are doing it at 3:30pm  Sun is up all day!! We overnight in Honninsvag and depart 6/22 at 4pm. June 22nd is my birthday and it is also my wife’s birthday. Nice to celebrate it at the top of the world, well almost! 
 

Alesund — We booked a tour with aviator to tour around the area. About 4 hours as I recall.

 

Flam — Gotta do the railway! This is the only tour we booked through Royal. I booked it awhile ago, before the train tickets were available for purchase on your own. We decided to just keep what we had. Includes a snack and visit the hotel at the top of the fjord. 
 

Olden — We booked the Loen Skylift, with transfers, through norwayexcursions.com .

We plan on having lunch at the Hoven restaurant at the top. Looks cool. My son and DIL will probably disappear down some hiking trail at some point before we head back down. 
 

Molde — nothing booked here, hopefully an opportunity to just wander.

 

Our excursions are heavily influenced by the need to bring the folding wheelchair along. Most of the excursions offered are not compatible with that. Since the attractions in Norway are the fjords and scenery, we will use our aft balcony a lot! 
 

This is our current location:

 

 

 

And this is the current view off the starboard side:

 

 

 

 

The ships horn is blowing about every 5-10 minutes. 
 

Next up: Geiranger ! 
 

mac_tlc

Edited June 18, 2023 by mac_tlc

[westwood65]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

So, here are our plans in port:

 

Geiranger - no set plans. We pick up the pilot at 5am, with arrival about 10am. From our aft balcony we hopefully will get a great view, weather permitting. I will set my alarm for 4:45. Sunrise is about 3:38am, sunset 11:26pm !!!!!

 

Honninsvag - We arrive 6/21 at 3pm, we have a tour booked with Blue Puffin to go to the North Cape. We toyed with doing the 9:30pm one, but by the time I was willing to change it, there was no room so we are doing it at 3:30pm  Sun is up all day!! We overnight in Honninsvag and depart 6/22 at 4pm. June 22nd is my birthday and it is also my wife’s birthday. Nice to celebrate it at the top of the world, well almost! 
 

Alesund — We booked a tour with aviator to tour around the area. About 4 hours as I recall.

 

Flam — Gotta do the railway! This is the only tour we booked through Royal. I booked it awhile ago, before the train tickets were available for purchase on your own. We decided to just keep what we had. Includes a snack and visit the hotel at the top of the fjord. 
 

Olden — We booked the Loen Skylift, with transfers, through norwayexcursions.com .

We plan on having lunch at the Hoven restaurant at the top. Looks cool. My son and DIL will probably disappear down some hiking trail at some point before we head back down. 
 

Molde — nothing booked here, hopefully an opportunity to just wander.

 

Our excursions are heavily influenced by the need to bring the folding wheelchair along. Most of the excursions offered are not compatible with that. Since the attractions in Norway are the fjords and scenery, we will use our aft balcony a lot! 
 

This is our current location:

 

 

 

And this is the current view off the starboard side:

 

 

 

 

The ships horn is blowing about every 5-10 minutes. 
 

Next up: Geiranger ! 
 

mac_tlc

Just wanted to give a heads up about Molde. 

 

There are two cruise ports there, one right downtown and the other further down in a bit of industrial area. We where expecting to dock in the downtown area but for what ever reason we where at the other one. It is a bit of a walk to get to downtown from there. (there where of course taxis avail)

 

Unfortunately for some people this caused  frustration for people who booked private tours as the pick up points changed and some where not aware. We saw a email from the tour operator about the change the evening before we got there so where prepared, others did not see the email.  We where missing 10 people for our tour so the tour operator did drive into town and they where waiting at the original pickup point.  

Anyway hope you have the downtown port as it will make it much easier for you to get around.

There did not appear to be any other ship in town that day so not sure why the change of dock.

 

 

[mac_tlc]

We have begun the long trip to Geiranger. I got up around 5:30 . A few pictures of the early portion. 
 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Our current position:

 

I wandered up to the WJ to grab a coffee at 6:30, lots of folks milling around..

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Almost there:

 

 

Taken from the bed:

 

 

 

Love the aft cabin:

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

We have arrived! Tender ticket #6. We are about an hour earlier than posted arrival time. 

 

@Norwaylady , what a beautiful country , and we have much more to see!

 

Current conditions:

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Norwaylady]

🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴 Welcome 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴

So happy you tagged me🤩 

I have worked 24/7 since I returned home from INF, X⚓️

 

The weather is promising😎👍🏻

So happy you got the aft cabins. They are perfect for this itinerary😉

 

Enjoy Geiranger❤️

[travelling8]

We are doing a very similar itinerary next May on the Jewel. Looking forward to reading your reviews of ports and POI.

[michst8alum]

Thank you for this!  It is adding to my excitement as we are doing this cruise on the 11th of July!  A few different ports, but love the photos! Could you report the high temps to help with packing? Thanks! 

[mac_tlc]

58 minutes ago, michst8alum said:

Thank you for this!  It is adding to my excitement as we are doing this cruise on the 11th of July!  A few different ports, but love the photos! Could you report the high temps to help with packing? 

 

Today in Geiranger the high is about 61 or 62 Fahrenheit. No rain , a few clouds, a great day. What a spectacular sail in. The pictures really don’t do it justice. 
 

We just got back onboard. Last tender was scheduled for 3:30 but given the line at the pier, it won’t be that quick. 
 

We walked around the town, got a light snack at the Hotel Geiranger. Great and beautiful time. 
 

A few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Norwaylady]

On 6/16/2023 at 2:06 AM, Giantfan13 said:

 

And don't forget to get out when the skies are completely dark and try to see the Northern Lights. We had the great fortune of seeing them 4 times.

 

Cheers

Len

 

Just to make it clear, it's MIDNIGHT SUN over the artic circle for the moment.... So the sun always shine, it never gets down;) 

So it's NO northern lights for the moment. 

 

The midnight sun shines in Honningsvåg from 12.may to 29.july. (so it means light 24/7;) 

 

Her in Oslo, that means darker, not dark for only 2-3h every night.

[mac_tlc]

It really is difficult to convey in words or pictures just how spectacular the past 14 hours have been. I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit what has to be one of the most spectacular places on the planet. 
 

On the sail out from Geiranger, the captain stopped and did a 360 at the Seven Sisters waterfall. Wow. Just as spectacular as the Seven Sisters is a waterfall that is on the opposite side of fjord. Here are some pictures that don’t do justice to the site.

All of these pictures were taken from our aft balcony. 
 

Seven Sisters:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other side 😂. I’m naming it the one lonely brother: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by mac_tlc

[westwood65]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

It really is difficult to convey in words or pictures just how spectacular the past 14 hours have been. I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit what has to be one of the most spectacular places on the planet. 
 

On the sail out from Geiranger, the captain stopped and did a 360 at the Seven Sisters waterfall. Wow. Just as spectacular as the Seven Sisters is a waterfall that is on the opposite side of fjord. Here are some pictures that don’t do justice to the site.

All of these pictures were taken from our aft balcony. 
 

Seven Sisters:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other side 😂. I’m naming it the one lonely brother: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your first paragraph explains our thoughts as well from our cruise last month. Norway is stunning. There where so many moments that we sat there looking out and could feel the beauty and the calmness and just tried to take everything in.  I must say that you did have a better image of the falls. When we went the water was not coming down as forcefully.  Not enough snow had melted I guess.

Looking forward to more of your posts and photos. 

[A&L_Ont]

Mac, amazing photos. Beautiful weather to match the location. 

[mac_tlc]

16 hours ago, michst8alum said:

Thank you for this!  It is adding to my excitement as we are doing this cruise on the 11th of July!  A few different ports, but love the photos! Could you report the high temps to help with packing? Thanks! 

According to the Cruise Compass, todays high will be 52F/11C. We are at sea today heading north.

 

mac_tlc

[Cherful59]

@mac_tlc Your pictures look wonderful.  Thank you for sharing.

[perfect match]

Beautiful pictures. I think a Norway cruise in an aft balcony needs to go on our cruise bucket list.😎