LIVE from the Rotterdam’s Best of Norway: August 17-31, 2024

[0106]

Just now, twosit said:

I’m interested to know what has worked for clothing

I brought a North Face fleece that I wear under my waterproof Columbia rain jacket when it is cold and wet.  It really hasn’t been that cold, just very wet and windy. Layers are the best idea. 

[FLCruiser97]

15 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I brought a North Face fleece that I wear under my waterproof Columbia rain jacket when it is cold and wet.  It really hasn’t been that cold, just very wet and windy. Layers are the best idea. 

This was my question. Wondering along with the rain and wind if the temperature was cold. Loving the pics.

Edited August 24 by FLCruiser97

[Bkguy]

As an alternative to the excursion to Kinderdijk a city representative at the cruise terminal suggested we check out the windmills (5) at Schiedam, a district of Rotterdam and very easy to get to via the RET (trams).  While we didn't see the workings of the windmills like at Kinderdijk the area was very cool.  Had an old town look and feel.  We were glad we went there.

Edited August 24 by Bkguy

[Bkguy]

@0106 Any suggestions for excursions on the remainder of the cruise?  

[VMax1700]

Did anyone take a trip to Zandvoort for the F1 practice and qualifying?

 

[Erekosse]

Thanks for posting the review! We are on the Rotterdam next summer at some of these same ports. So, I'll be following along for a preview.

[0106]

8 hours ago, Bkguy said:

Any suggestions for excursions on the remainder of the cruise?

In Copenhagen, we have decided to explore the city independently beginning with a canal cruise from Nyhavn.  Our friends will be going to Tivoli but we are just going to relax at a waterfront restaurant or maybe go to the market

 

In Oslo we have arranged a private Tour by Locals to the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Fram and  Kon-Tiki Museums

 

In Gothenberg we are going  to the Botanical Gardens.

 

In Mandal (Kristiansand) we have no plans and are open to suggestions

[0106]

6 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Did anyone take a trip to Zandvoort for the F1 practice and qualifying?

I don’t know but all aboard was 2:30.  They will be showing the race today.

Edited August 25 by 0106

[Bkguy]

1 hour ago, 0106 said:

In Copenhagen, we have decided to explore the city independently beginning with a canal cruise from Nyhavn.  Our friends will be going to Tivoli but we are just going to relax at a waterfront restaurant or maybe go to the market

 

In Oslo we have arranged a private Tour by Locals to the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Fram and  Kon-Tiki Museums

 

In Gothenberg we are going  to the Botanical Gardens.

 

In Mandal (Kristiansand) we have no plans and are open to suggestions

Thank you @0106

[Erekosse]

7 hours ago, 0106 said:

In Mandal (Kristiansand) we have no plans and are open to suggestions

I'll be interested to hear about your experience in Mandal. When we originally booked our cruise for summer 2025, we were supposed to port in Kristiansand proper. We got a notice of some schedule rearrangements and a change to Mandal a few months after booking.

 

We don't see any posted HAL excursions available for booking. Google does find a HAL page talking about Mandal excursions, but none of those are posted yet as available to book.

Edited August 25 by Erekosse
added time frame for our cruise

[0106]

16 minutes ago, Erekosse said:

We don't see any posted HAL excursions available for booking.

At the port talk this morning, we were told that we were the first cruise ship to ever visit Mandal.  It is a tender port and will be a long ride.  Here are the excursions available on our cruise.

[0106]

Sea Day Daily

[0106]

We went to the Old World wine tasting. Stephen was an excellent presenter.

 

 

[0106]

The officers

[grannyshell]

We're docking in Kristiansand and plan a leisurely stroll about town. It looks fairly compact. Sometimes it's nice not to have to rush off to an excursion and just have a chill day.

[0106]

1 hour ago, grannyshell said:

We're docking in Kristiansand

Unfortunately, we are docking in Mandal ( not Kristiansand) a port that has not had cruise ships in the past and requires a 45 minute tender ride. I will report back after my experiences.

[Erekosse]

8 hours ago, 0106 said:

We went to the Old World wine tasting. Stephen was an excellent presenter.

This looks really nice. We have been trying to do a wine tasting on each of our cruises. Were you able to book ahead of time? Or, was it something you have to book onboard?

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

6 hours ago, grannyshell said:

We're docking in Kristiansand and plan a leisurely stroll about town. It looks fairly compact. Sometimes it's nice not to have to rush off to an excursion and just have a chill day.

 

We were in Kristiansand many years ago, and IIRC, there was toutist train that mainly went from the dock to town.  Kristiansand is a very walkable town.  We enjoyed our day there.

[0106]

12 hours ago, Erekosse said:

Or, was it something you have to book onboard?

We received an invitation onboard and did not make a reservation, just walked in.  It was listed on the Daily.

[0106]

A sunny day in Copenhagen!  We were going to take public transportation but decided since there were four of us, we would share a cab $36 to Nyhavn, a canal with many old houses and sailships.

 

 

Nyhavn is one of the oldest parts of the Copenhagen harbor and dates back to 1673. We used the Netto-bådene canal boat company; the tour was $9.  All the sites below were seen from the boat on our one hour tour.

 

Frederik's Church known as The Marble Church 

Our Saviour’s Church with the famous, twisted spire.

 

The Little Mermaid, illustrating one of the fairy-tales written by the Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

Opera House

Nikolaj Kunsthall, a modern art gallery inside a former church. 

Circle Bridge for pedestrians & cyclists 

Edited August 26 by 0106

[Haljo1935]

Great pictures @0106 does indeed look like a beautiful day and seems you saw a lot in an hour. $9 - I think you got a bargain!!

[REDSONJAMN]

On 8/23/2024 at 4:32 PM, Bkguy said:

Missed signing up in time for the Rotterdam excursion to Kinderdijk.  Looks like we can do it using the Waterbus.  

I am doing this excursion next year---on my back to back in NORWAY---please post what you thought if you end up going----

[REDSONJAMN]

On 8/24/2024 at 5:51 AM, 0106 said:

Awoke to a rainy turn around day in Rotterdam.  Today we did a HAL tour The Windmills of Kinderdijk, built in the 1700s, collectively a UNESCO World Heritage Site for $139.

The 19 windmills that remain intact today are lined up along the riverfront and were used to pump rising water to the canal and keep the village dry.

Beautiful garden outside  We were able to go inside inside one of them for an up-close appreciation of how these simple machines harness the power of the wind in order to work. ( Kept the video short to be sure it would post.)

 

IMG_1389.mov 2.25 MB · 4 downloads

It was interesting to watch the drawbridge to the windmill go up so a canal boat could pass through.

 

 

The guide was good.  There was a brief movie, a coffee shop and a gift shop.  
 

Looking forward to Sailaway and our next adventure.

THANK you so so much doing this excursion next year on my back to back in NORWAY--loving all your posts so much---

[ottahand7]

11 hours ago, 0106 said:

A sunny day in Copenhagen!  We were going to take public transportation but decided since there were four of us, we would share a cab $36 to Nyhavn, a canal with many old houses and sailships.

 

 

Nyhavn is one of the oldest parts of the Copenhagen harbor and dates back to 1673. We used the Netto-bådene canal boat company; the tour was $9.  All the sites below were seen from the boat on our one hour tour.

 

Frederik's Church known as The Marble Church 

Our Saviour’s Church with the famous, twisted spire.

 

The Little Mermaid, illustrating one of the fairy-tales written by the Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

Opera House

Nikolaj Kunsthall, a modern art gallery inside a former church. 

Circle Bridge for pedestrians & cyclists 

Beautiful weather!

[tigervixxxen]

On 8/23/2024 at 2:39 AM, 0106 said:

Friday- Sea Day in the rainy North Sea as we journey back to Rotterdam.  Really wish this was an actual 14 day cruise instead of a B2B.  I don’t mind sea days but would prefer to see more Norwegian ports.

 

We went to breakfast in CO at 9.  There was already a line waiting for the Scandinavian Brunch which is from 9:30-12:30.  Still a line when we left CO at 9:45.  Here’s the menuOther activities schedule for this afternoon include The City at Sea, Cake Me Away, Royal Dutch Tea and Deal or No Deal game show along with the usual trivia and bingo.

 

Happy to answer any questions about the ship or the ports.  You’ll need to wait until tomorrow for more pictures.😉

This is the first I’ve heard of such a Scandinavian brunch. Is this once per Norway cruise? You said it’s in the CO dining room, is it just for CO guests? I have booked CO so that’s fine but just trying to gather the logistics of this.