DREAMing of the Fjords: 8/19/23-8/26/23 (Completed)

[Geomom]

8/22/23: Skjolden, part 6

After the kids got back on, they got lunch, did Pixar Trivia, Inside Out Memory Orbs (DH found them then), the kids found a duck, and all 3 of them decorated Can Koozies. I think I was on the verandah writing up trip report notes…but after I saw their finished crafts, I wished I had joined them!



Looking back at Skjolden as we sailed away:

Dinner tonight was the Freezing the Night Away menu in all the dining rooms. We were in Royal Palace tonight.
I had Pearfection and 19 had Ice Palace to drink.

19, 23, and I had Fried Pierogies

DH had Arendelle Gravlax

23 had Sven's Carrot soup

I had Oaken's red and yellow beetroot salad

19 had Andersen's baby field greens

 

[Geomom]

8/22/23: Skjolden, part 7
23 had Anna's honey mustard marinated salmon

19 had herb roasted chicken

I had Bulda's vegetable turnover

DH had Alesund smoked trout salad

Ratna made origami frogs for the kids and gave them kids' menus, so they could use the game board on the back to have a jumping frog competition. Ricardo brought us all the desserts…no dessert menus for us!
Sitron mousse

Pannekaken (2)

Oaken's warm apple pudding cake

Elsa's chocolate and raspberry tart

Olaf's white chocolate floro dome

Frozen yogurt Romanoff sundae

 

[Geomom]

8/22/23: Skjolden, part 8
After dinner we watched some of the sail out of the fjord.






A ferry that links towns across the fjord:

Then we went to the Pete Matthews: Juggler show in the Walt theater. We got the theater box seats again tonight and enjoyed the show.


Elephant towel animal.

 

[Geomom]

8/23/23: Nordfjordeid, part 1

Before we went to bed last night,we filled out the room service breakfast order card and hung it on our door handle. We asked for delivery between 6:30-7AM and it arrived closer to 7AM. We wanted to have breakfast while getting ready. The one thing I wish they would add to the order card is yogurt, as that's my normal breakfast at home.

A pic after we started picking at it…. We also got a carafe of coffee and tea (carafe of hot water/tea bags), apple juice, and milk.

While we were getting ready, we heard a 'Brightstar' announcement calling crew to Cabanas. I found out after the cruise that it was a member of our cruise Facebook group. A man passed out when he got out of his chair at Cabanas. He's fine now, and said that he received great medical care from the ship's Health Center and from the Stavanger hospital in a follow up visit the next day.

I packed up my windbreaker vs my raincoat as the ship forecast said 'possible' rain showers vs rain. (I really need to go with my gut…it drizzled all day…my windbreaker was water resistant enough to keep me from getting soaked, but I'd have been more comfortable in my raincoat.)

Today we were doing the Disney Briksdal Glacier excursion from 8:55AM - 3:40PM for $149/person. We met in the Walt Disney theater. The crew miscounted stickers, and there weren't enough seats on our bus for everyone. There was a group of 15 who didn't want to be separated, so the rest of their group got off the bus and they were going to get them another bus. We were given a water bottle upon boarding the bus. Our tour guide was originally from Italy. Apparently Norway doesn't have enough citizens who wish to be tour guides, so they're importing tour guides from other countries. Our tour guide told us about the area and Norway in general. When we arrived at the resort area, we immediately went in for a cake buffet with coffee/tea. They were delicious, especially the Kvaefjordkake.

Restrooms were free for cruise ship passengers (already paid for with our excursion) and we used them when we got off the bus, before the hike, and after the hike.

We now had less than 2 hours of free time before we had to be back on the bus. We all started up the steep gravel trail. 23 and I fell back, walking slower. 19 tried to keep up with DH, but couldn't. We caught up to 19, and 19 felt sick to their stomach and worn out from walking too fast trying to keep pace with DH. I gave 19 some meds to carry and take as needed–Rolaids and Ibuprofen, told the kids to stay together, maybe go as far as the waterfall if they could. They sat on a bench and rested and I continued up to the glacier. I was definitely hindered by a belly full of cake…I'd rather have cake after the hike, but with the different pace everyone has, I understand why they do it first. It's only 2 miles round-trip (45 minutes each way), but it's mostly up (gravel and rock steps), with only a few flat areas of the trail. I finally met up with DH near the glacial lake. We took a bunch of pics, and walked all the way to the roped off area. As we started back down, we encountered the kids. I told them, "you're almost there, you have to finish! We'll go with you!". So the kids made it as well.

 

[Geomom]

8/23/23: Nordfjordeid, part 2

Back on the bus, we stopped for 10-15 minutes at 2 picture spots in Olden/Stryn.





Back at port, we sent the kids back to the boat and DH and I went into the shop to buy a couple Norway magnets as I didn't think I'd have another chance to go shopping in Norway. There was a long checkout line. We had a long wait to get on the ship and saw a stretcher going onto the ship.

Pics of our sail out of the fjord:

 

[Geomom]

8/23/23: Nordfjordeid, part 3

Dinner was in Animator's Palate with the Animation Magic menu/show.


Our drawings/animation:


I had the drink of the day (Captain's MainTai?) and 19 had Kisses

I had Porcini Sacchetti

19 and I had Tomato Caprese

DH had a Northern specialty item–smoked salmon on knackerbrod

DH shared the chicken satay with 19 and 23

23 had the Romaine wedge salad

 

[Geomom]

8/23/23: Nordfjordeid, part 4

23 and I had Beef Wellington

DH had Wild mushroom and sweet onion strudel

19 had Sesame crusted sweet and sour tofu

Ricardo brought out ALL the desserts again including a specialty kids one!
Orchard peach tart

Cappuccino mousse

Amaretto cheesecake

Celebration cake

Chocolate decadence

Very cherry chocolate sundae

Kid's specialty

 

[Geomom]

8/23/23: Nordfjordeid, part 5

Tonight was supposed to be the Mickey's Color Spin Dance party at 7:30PM on the pool deck. We didn't go to it, it was a bit drizzly out, and instead sat on deck 4 promenade looking at the ocean. We went back in and caught the end of a set by a talented violinist in the atrium. (Apparently they ended the deck party early due to weather and then held it in the atrium on the last day at sea…and apparently there was a lot of bad guest behavior (shoving and verbal fights) both times…but we didn't go to either and avoided all that!)



The Walt Disney Theater had the new movie 'Haunted Mansion' as the show tonight. We decided to skip it. The weather had cleared up, so 19 and I went to the adult pool. 19 was questioned by a cast member because they look young. 19 was already in the pool and I was just getting in, so I grabbed 19's card to show them the A on the card. It was no problem and we had seen a child (maybe 8-10?) in the adult hot tub earlier in the week with cast members trying to get her out, so I'm glad they're checking ages. We had the adult pool to ourselves. I did some swimming and 19 mostly sat on the benches. There were a lot of waves due to the ship motion, which we found funny, as we were being pushed around the pool. We watched the sunset from the pool. (No pics as the air was too cold to run and grab my phone for pics.) A couple of bundled up cast members (maintenance workers) came to work on the chairlift, so we moved to the other side of the pool, with me saying "you must think we're crazy being in the pool.", because temps were maybe in the 60s...or high 50s…but the pool is heated, so it's wonderful underwater…it's getting out that's hard! I put my cover up on and got olives/cheese/bread sticks from Cove Cafe before they emptied the case at 9:30PM, put them on a table by a couple lounge chairs with our stuff, and we went into the adult hot tub. We had one side all to ourselves.

Meanwhile, DH and 23 stood in a long line to meet Stitch, and finally came up to join us and have a snack.

Towel animal: Bear

 

[Geomom]

8/24/23: Mekjarvik (Stavanger), part 1
Today was my birthday. When we were figuring out port adventures, I decided I wanted to hike to Pulpit Rock, and DH would like to as well. I told the kids they did NOT have to be with me on my birthday. I didn't want to hear them whining on a 5 mile round-trip hike and I didn't want to worry about them falling off a cliff. They could choose their own port adventure. 23 decided on the adult only Surroundings of Stavanger bus tour and 19 agreed to go with her. The good thing is that theirs was an afternoon excursion, so they could sleep in and eat lunch before leaving the ship. The bad thing is that neither kid remembered to bring a debit card with them (discovered this halfway into our cruise)…and they were planning to go shopping at their main stop. DH gave them US cash as the ship only carries Euros and US $, and the shop at the Nordfjordeid port said they took various currencies, including US. We hate being 'those' people…but we had no choice at this point. I told the kids to apologize when they asked if they could pay with US currency.

We put out the breakfast room order form the night before again, with an earlier drop off time as our 'Hike to Pulpit Rock' excursion was from 8:45AM - 4:45PM. ($139/person) I had granola and milk to have a little protein before our hike, some croissant, fruit, and coffee.

We left some pastries for the kids and headed out with our backpacks (I had used a DCL sling bag from a past cruise for our other excursions) and met in Animator's Palate. Our tour guide, Gaea/Gaia?, told us about the area, including the new 9 mile tunnel we would be traveling thru that cost $50 for a bus to go thru one way. It was an hour trip to the base camp resort where we would get our bagged lunches to pack up and our last chance to use the restroom until we finished the hike.

We started the hike as a group but were allowed to go at our own pace…just meet at the bus at 3PM. The tour guide was very happy that we actually got to the base camp sooner than expected, so we had more time for the hike. It was, thankfully, a beautiful, sunny day, as DH had threatened not to go if it was raining after yesterday's rainy hike. The trail was built by Sherpas. Lots of steep rocky steps making up the majority of the hike with a few flat boardwalk stretches over marshy areas, and some down bits…and then up…and then down, and then up…. I am not so good with lots of up, my knees/thighs were burning from the steep rocky steps, but I could make it as long as I took a bunch of short rests.


The tour guide took a pic of us near the halfway point (and halfway up another set of nasty stairs.)


Mountain ponds



We made it to Pulpit Rock in 2 hrs. There were markers along the way saying how many meters you had gone/had left to travel. It is 4000 meters each way.

 

[Geomom]

8/24/23: Mekjarvik (Stavanger), part 2
I sat near an edge for lunch. Lunch was a very hearty sandwich on a thick brown bread with oats on top with turkey (or ham), cheese, peppers, lettuce, cucumber, and lots of mayo (I hate mayo..but I managed to eat the side with more mayo first, and enjoyed the sandwich despite the mayo ). There was also an apple, a candy bar, and a bottle of water. We brought extra water and I ended up drinking 3 bottles during the entire hike. Sorry, I was too much in need of sustenance to take any pics of lunch.


There was a huge line of people on top of Pulpit Rock, waiting to take 'THE' picture.



We did not wait in the line and just took pics nearby.



We eventually headed back down. Pic of locks on a chain near the top:

We heard a lot of German on the trail as an Aida ship was in Stavanger that day as well. There were some inconsiderate people on the trail as well. I had stepped aside to let people go up the trail (and so I'd have more choices of foot placement going down the steep steps), and people behind me would go right past me. There was also a family not using earbuds listening to music…so everyone has to listen to it. I purposely let them go far ahead, so I didn't need to listen. We got to the bottom with plenty of time. We went in a shop and got some magnets and candy bars and then I bought a Passion fruit Orange Creamsicle from the main building and sat at a stone table to rest and enjoy the views.

Everyone was on the bus before 3PM, we hit some traffic on the way back, but still had plenty of time. Since my knees hurt from the hike, I told DH that I'm taking elevators the next 2 days vs the stairs (99% of the time we take the stairs, up to 11, down to 3, etc.). We took showers in the room, and headed to dinner at 6PM with no sign of the kids yet. (I left them messages in the cruise app, saying we'd meet them at dinner.)

 

[Geomom]

8/24/23: Mekjarvik (Stavanger), part 3
While we were hiking, the kids had a lazy morning, ate the pastries we left them, went to an empty Cabanas for buffet lunch, and 19 saw Ricardo by the desserts. (At dinner he told me he saw 19 and hid from them, and then said 'hi'.).



Their adult only excursion was $89/person, and was running from 1:15 - 5:45PM. The tour met in Animator's Palate. The tour guide, Kitty, is from the Netherlands, this was her first season in Norway. They had a scenic bus ride to Byrkjedalstunet Lys where they ate lapper in a cave used for functions.




They walked around the property, saw the goats, and shopped.



They bought a Snowflake candle from the candle factory there, and packaged sweets. They did indeed take their US cash, they spent $40, and got a little Norwegian currency back as change.

 

[Geomom]

8/24/23: Mekjarvik (Stavanger), part 4
Now comes the part I'm not happy about…the tour description said they would have picture stops at the biggest boulder field in Norway and at Solas beach…they didn't stop at either, and the kids were looking forward to taking selfies at both stops. They drove by both places…they couldn't get any pics of the boulders, but have some pics of a beach.


Bus views



Then they stopped at some other location not listed in the description, Ullandhaugtarnet with rocks from the top of the old tower (Harald's Cairn), and a view of Stavanger




They eventually made it back onto the ship and to dinner by 6:40PM. One thing slowing them down is that this was the only port that had someone come on all the excursion buses to check everyone's passports before being allowed off the bus to board the ship. I did think that this tour needed to be longer based on the description as there would just be time to drive everywhere with no traffic and have the hour resort stop.

 

[Geomom]

8/24/23: Mekjarvik (Stavanger), part 5
Dinner tonight was in Enchanted Garden with its second menu, aka Prince and Princess menu. When we were chatting with Ricardo, he noticed I got a bit of a sunburn today, despite putting on SPF50. But we were out all day, and I was definitely sweating…and the northern latitude in the summer can make the sun stronger. I also mentioned that my knees were killing me after the hike and he gave me a tip he learned after sports injuries –sleep with your legs up on a pillow. We had lots of time to chat with our servers today as many people were either late or missing dinner that night with the 8PM all aboard.

I had the drink of the day (Sunken Treasure?)

I had the slow cooked Green Lentil soup (and let 23 have a bite when she arrived.)

DH had salmon gravlax.

The kids arrived after we got the first set of appetizers and they were allowed to order an appetizer as well as dinner.

DH had the Enchanted Garden platter

19 and I had the Coronation of mixed greens

23 had Pancetta Salad

I had the Portobello ravioli (a favorite of mine!)

DH had the Grilled Fillet of Turbot

23 had NY Strip Steak

19 had the chicken pita salad

 

[Geomom]

8/24/23: Mekjarvik (Stavanger), part 6
As always, Ricardo got us all the desserts.
No sugar added Tiramisu

Kvaefjordkake (Northern specialty)

Forest berry sundae

Creme brulee cheesecake

White chocolate bread pudding

Sacher torte

And the kids' menu custard

Ratna tried to explain about the survey we would get, and Ricardo tried to stop her saying that we get it, you don't need to explain it to them. (We had started saying everything is 'excellent' early on, so he was aware that we know that anything less than an excellent on anything dinner related, including taste of food, will count against them on the survey.). He joked that we know that he and Ratna make all the desserts. Later Ratna noticed a card on the back of 23's phone case, a 'Stray Kids' card, so then Ratna started talking K-Pop with 19 and 23 for the last 2 nights.

Ricardo gathered a bunch of servers and they sang/clapped Happy Birthday to me and gave me the celebration dessert.

The Walt Disney Theater show tonight was a magician, Danny Buckler. We sat in the balcony, front row. So…normally we enjoy magicians, but this one was too focused on kids, bringing lots of kids on stage. (Every magic bit has kids from the audience, and it dragged on too long.). It felt more like going to a kid's magic show like the library summer reading shows we used to see when the kids were little.

In the room I opened up a birthday card that the kids' made me before vacation. DH did a placeholder booking on the app for my birthday. ($250 deposit gets you 10% off a future cruise within 2 years). I can't remember if we did anything else, other than just hanging out in the adult pool deck area and having some pizza/fries.

Our towel animal: frog

 

[Geomom]

8/25/23: At Sea, part 1

I did indeed sleep with a pillow under my legs which helped my knees after yesterday's hike, but they were still sore. I checked the app to see what time the adult hot tub opened, 8AM. I took the elevator up to deck 11 and at 8AM, I soaked in the hot tub. I sent DH a chat message through the app, saying "if you're coming up for coffee, could you get me a cup?" So he did, and hung around for a few minutes while trying to buy the mid level Internet package for the day at $28. Our flight check in would be at 4:55PM UK time, and we wanted to pick out our own seats for 'free' (or for the $28 internet fee…but that's cheaper than the $50+/seat British Airways charges for advanced seat selection!). He got me another cup of coffee, and some pastries from Cove Cafe for the kids, and left me alone in the hot tub. There was 1 man in the other hot tub, doing the same thing…enjoying it before the crowds came out. DH might have walked/exercised on deck 4 promenade? By 9:15AM, we were both showered and sitting down to breakfast at Royal Palace (after taking the elevator for my knees–trying to let them recover vs making it worse.)

Pastries


DH had Kiwi fruit plant based yogurt parfait.

I had blueberry/raspberry yogurt parfait.

I had sliced fruit

I had a chorizo/tomato/pepper/cheddar cheese omelet, and a hash brown.

DH had Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. ("To make me happy." I was surprised he didn't order it the last time we had breakfast here…and I had told him that.)

We probably went for a walk on the deck 4 promenade?

 

[Geomom]

8/25/23: At Sea, part 2

At 10:30AM I met up with 19 in D Lounge for the all ages Anyone Can Cook Apple Strudel cooking demonstration. DH and 23 went to Evolution to pay for the 11-Noon Bingo session and find a seat. They paid $80 for the family set of 2 electronic machines and 2 sets of cards. They didn't win anything. 19 and I came by for a few minutes after the apple strudel class, and then just sat in loungers on the deck 4 promenade until Bingo was done.

19 and 23 got the free mystery charm (crab) from White Caps, then they went to Royal Palace for today's lunch menu

19 had Bruschetta with caponata

23 had Mulligatawny soup

19 and 23 had Thai chicken lettuce wraps

23 had the Nurnburger (sausage in a pretzel roll)

19 had an Impossible burger

23 had Red Velvet cake

19 had Apple pie

They split the Mint cookie crunch sundae.

Meanwhile, DH and I went up to deck 11 to grab some lunch to eat in the adult section. I had a panini with fries and a salad with chicken…I don't know what DH got. I also ordered myself a drink of the day from the Cove Bar. I think this is the day that the app's drink of the day didn't match what the bartenders had been told. I showed him the app, got the drink at the lower price, and then he contacted management to tell them about it, so the other bartenders would know what the app drink of the day was. After lunch we went back to the room to start packing.

At 2PM, DH and I went to Towel Folding in Evolution run by stateroom hosts. DH was much better than I was at this…but he got down on the floor, so he was able to tightly roll the towels vs my half hearted attempts on the little table. We did bring home instructions...so maybe I'll improve.
Monkey

Dinosaur

 

[Geomom]

8/25/23: At Sea, part 3

The kids came in at the end of our towel folding session. DH and 23 went to some paper craft in Pub 687.

19 just wanted to rest somewhere but our room was being cleaned,and it was too noisy on the Promenade with some Scavenger hunt going on. I said, "I know the perfect place to rest." I took 19 to the loungers at the front of the ship, behind the plexiglass wind shield, near Satellite Falls on deck 13. It was very quiet here, with lots of napping older adults, so we also got a little rest/napped.


When we were done, I got a couple free bags of pretzels from the Currents bar and we went back to the room…where 19 complained that they wanted chips not pretzels…so I went back to Currents bar on deck 13 and got 2 free bags of potato chips. Everyone was in the room at this point. Both kids ate chips while DH and I finished packing up the bags to put out at night.

I went to Pink for my 4-5PM Stem to Stern wine tasting ($50). This was my first time doing the wine tasting, but I had read that they give you a pin as a souvenir…I was so happy to see that they still do this!

The Palo Sommelier ran the tasting. We blind-tasted 6 wines. Learning about color, alcohol content, scents, flavors, etc, and then revealing each wine after we tasted them. I enjoyed the class and I was very happy at the end of it.








I just looked up retail prices online and the most expensive bottle was the Lasseter White at $55. The others range from $11-$30/ bottle. Surprisingly, the whites we tasted were the most expensive ones...and I liked those better than the reds.

 

[Geomom]

8/25/23: At Sea, part 4
When we left the room, we left the tip envelope for our stateroom host, Mark, on the bed, as we never really saw him to give it to him personally.

At 5:55PM DH went into the British Airways app and chose our seats for the flight home. Being an hour ahead messed us up a bit, we thought we needed to check in at 3:55...but it was 5:55 since we were in Central European summer time.

Tonight was semi-formal night, so we got dressed up.



Dinner was in Royal Palace with their 2nd menu (Captain's Gala aka Lobster night…our least favorite menu). Apparently the physical menus were a bit different from the app menu, so there was some confusion tonight. The physical menus had some Northern specialty items and some of the regular menu items were not on there. I had hoped to try the Fava bean and Pea Risotto for my entree, but it wasn't on the physical menu, but I did have a second choice in mind.

19 had the Star Night and I had the Tuxedo

23 had the Braised oxtail soup

I had the white onion soup

DH had the 'Regional Inspiration', Smoked Salmon Timbal

19 had a garden salad

I had the beefsteak tomato and Vidalia onion salad

 

[Geomom]

8/25/23: At Sea, part 5

I had the oven roasted pork tenderloin

23 had the pan seared venison medallions

DH had the fettuccine with Parmesan crusted chicken

19 had the 'lighter note' roasted chicken breast

Ricardo brought all the desserts!
Honey cake (regional inspiration)

Chocolate lava cake (Ricardo came by and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it…"because it's too chocolatey.")

Captain's table sundae

Chocolate cheesecake

Raspberry vanilla creme brulee

Then I asked about the Apricot Trio on the app as 19 enjoyed it on previous cruises (since we don't get dessert menus anymore, I didn't realize it wasn't on the physical menu…just the app version). Ricardo somehow managed to get one for us though!

 

[justafigment27]

The scenery is so pretty in the fjords! I would love to do this cruise!

That’s a bummer about your excursion being cancelled though. I had never considered letting my college kids choose their own excursion (of course, we’ve only been on one cruise with them as adults … and it was a 4 night Wish, so not really an excursion-y cruise), but I think it’s a great idea - nice that they let you use their pictures for the TR!

I swear I want to go on a cruise right now just for the food. Not really a foodie, but I love just being able to have all my meals prepared without even having to think about logistics or prices.