I try to start each day with a picture of Claire and Mum at dinner so you can see if they are dressing for the occasion. I took one of our adjacent table to show you that we are in the Queens Grille. We definitely cannot complain about the food on this cruise its as good or better than most. The rooms are also very good and the general cleanliness around the ship is second to none. The two things that you can complain about is the price of the drinks package and the price of the trips. I guess that they don't want people to do any trips or have a package so they price it out of the equation. Nobody seems to take the trips, everyone finds their own way around. I have only spoken to one guy that took the drinks package. He is a big guy traveling on his own and the only time I have ever seen him is sitting at the bar by the Lido drinking Grolsch. I guess its the only way to save money; I will try to remember to get a picture of him for you.
We woke up this morning to wind and rain, summer over in Norway, they had that last week. Still, at least I am gradually sleeping better; first morning I woke at 2am, second at 4am and this morning at 5.30am. I will be missing breakfast by the end of the week. When I got up for the toilet, it was rockin’ and a rollin’. Our toilet is playing up a bit as well; maybe from all the action it has been seeing. This morning it was full up. the water at the back has a very slow leak. Sometimes it wont flush. When I got up the other day at 4.30am it wouldn’t flush however many times I pressed the button. Its one of those like in an aircraft that sucks it out. Because the bottom is closed and only opens when it sucks it out, if there is a leak it just keeps filling up until it overflows. Anyway, as I couldn't sleep, I was reading then at about 6am I heard it flush all on its own.
Claire was awake a little later than me today so we drew the curtains and put the lights on to read until about 7am when we went for Mum. She had been up for ages because the rough weather has woken her. We docked quite early while we were in for breakfast. Our restaurant doesn't open for breakfast so you have to go to the Lido which is very good. Its almost self service. It looks like self service but you cant get anything yourself, you have to ask for whet you want and they serve you. They do really nice Eggs Benedict to order. You can chose all different styles. The normal one is ham, poached egg and hollandaise sauce on an english muffin. The others have either salmon, mushrooms, spinach or even Italian style. Omelets made to order, fresh fruit, traditional fry, honey roast pork and every sort of muffin and Danish you can imagine along with all the dried fruits and cereals, etc etc. Their bread is particularly nice whether it be for breakfast lunch or dinner. They also have every fresh squeezed fruit you can think about. As the weeks going on, our portion sizes are decreasing as you feel constantly stuffed.
It stopped raining shortly after breakfast so we headed off the ship and immediately spotted a city train tour. Those little ones that the kids like. It wasn’t cheap at £15 each but it was compared to the ships tours. We hopped on and the people next to us said that they had just done the complete tour and it lasted about half an hour. They go every 20 minutes so they were heading back to where all the shops are and thats what we did. We were hoping to find an internet cafe so I could put the blogs on. Just like yesterday, we walked and walked and never found anything. We had been told that they are few and far between so we even tried Mc Donald's without luck. In desperation Claire asked in Wayne’s Cafe as they were not advertising it. The lady said that of course they do, as if everyone does it. We just bought a coffee each and I set about getting the last 3 blogs on. Sorry they are a bit here and there regarding the photos but time was very limited with a slow connection trying to upload all the pictures was a nightmare. The coffees weren't cheap at £12 for three. Still better than $55 on the ship with there even slower connection via satellite.
It was quite a nice little town with another fish market and all the little wooden houses. Most of the windows were triple glazed to keep the cold out. The guy said that they have over 70,000 separate flower arrangements around the town; almost as many as they have people. I tried to get some more Norwegian Krone from an ATM. They had 1000, 2000, up to 7000 on the keyboard so I hit 3000 and it wouldn't give me any. It did let me have 2000 though which made me think. 2000 Krone is the best part of £300 so I guess that the 3000 pushed me over my daily limit. That means that the 7000 must be the best part of £1000. Our ATM’s only go up to about £200; it just shows you how expensive things are here. While we were waiting for the train we looked at the prices in the restaurant by the stop. They wanted £23 for a burger and about £38 for a steak. Even the starters were about £15 and it was only an ordinary place. We didn't even see a bottle shop; I suppose that nobody can afford to drink here.
By the time we got back onboard, it was almost time for lunch. Today they sat us on a large table by the window and an American couple joined us from Georgia. They had just been on the previous tour that this ship did. They have been on the same table for dinner and had the same cabin the entire time. The first two week tour was also around Norway but mainly higher up where the sun never set. They had mainly been around very small town and Fjords in the first two weeks. The only town that overlap are Oslo and Stavanger. They had stayed on the ship all morning and were walking off after lunch and asked us what we recommended. I told them that we had been on the train around town and handed them our three tickets because we wont do the same thing in the afternoon. He was very grateful and when Claire ordered her wine, he insisted on paying. He spotted their dinner table friend and went over to give her the third ticket so at least they will be getting some use. They said that they have enjoyed it but will never be coming back to Norway ever again because of the expense.
Back to our room so Claire could go to the gym then take mum to the spa while I download my days photo’s write the blog, change the DVD and maybe, if I’m lucky, get a few minutes to read my book. Still a good boy - me.
Last nights DVD was “The good shepherd”. Not brilliant and I had seen it before once it got started. Not sure what to get tonight; do I take another chance or do I get something we have already seen, or both like last night? They do have some series such as the Soprano’s seasons 1-6. We have seen them all and loved it so maybe I will get that out. They have Prime Suspect season 4-6 and Mad Men season 1-3. Anybody know if they are worth a watch?
Just realized that I have brought my wrong phone charger. Might be using Claire’s camera tomorrow. See you all tomorrow; if we can find another internet Cafe.t each day with a picture of Claire and Mum at dinner so you can see if they are dressing for the occasion. I took one of our adjacent table to show you that we are in the Queens Grille. We definitely cannot complain about the food on this cruise its as good or better than most. The rooms are also very good and the general cleanliness around the ship is second to none. The two things that you can complain about is the price of the drinks package and the price of the trips. I guess that they don't want people to do any trips or have a package so they price it out of the equation. Nobody seems to take the trips, everyone finds their own way around. I have only spoken to one guy that took the drinks package. He is a big guy traveling on his own and the only time I have ever seen him is sitting at the bar by the Lido drinking Grolsch. I guess its the only way to save money; I will try to remember to get a picture of him for you.
We woke up this morning to wind and rain, summer over in Norway, they had that last week. Still, at least I am gradually sleeping better; first morning I woke at 2am, second at 4am and this morning at 5.30am. I will be missing breakfast by the end of the week. When I got up for the toilet, it was rockin’ and a rollin’. Our toilet is playing up a bit as well; maybe from all the action it has been seeing. This morning it was full up. the water at the back has a very slow leak. Sometimes it wont flush. When I got up the other day at 4.30am it wouldn’t flush however many times I pressed the button. Its one of those like in an aircraft that sucks it out. Because the bottom is closed and only opens when it sucks it out, if there is a leak it just keeps filling up until it overflows. Anyway, as I couldn't sleep, I was reading then at about 6am I heard it flush all on its own.
Claire was awake a little later than me today so we drew the curtains and put the lights on to read until about 7am when we went for Mum. She had been up for ages because the rough weather has woken her. We docked quite early while we were in for breakfast. Our restaurant doesn't open for breakfast so you have to go to the Lido which is very good. Its almost self service. It looks like self service but you cant get anything yourself, you have to ask for whet you want and they serve you. They do really nice Eggs Benedict to order. You can chose all different styles. The normal one is ham, poached egg and hollandaise sauce on an english muffin. The others have either salmon, mushrooms, spinach or even Italian style. Omelets made to order, fresh fruit, traditional fry, honey roast pork and every sort of muffin and Danish you can imagine along with all the dried fruits and cereals, etc etc. Their bread is particularly nice whether it be for breakfast lunch or dinner. They also have every fresh squeezed fruit you can think about. As the weeks going on, our portion sizes are decreasing as you feel constantly stuffed.
It stopped raining shortly after breakfast so we headed off the ship and immediately spotted a city train tour. Those little ones that the kids like. It wasn’t cheap at £15 each but it was compared to the ships tours. We hopped on and the people next to us said that they had just done the complete tour and it lasted about half an hour. They go every 20 minutes so they were heading back to where all the shops are and thats what we did. We were hoping to find an internet cafe so I could put the blogs on. Just like yesterday, we walked and walked and never found anything. We had been told that they are few and far between so we even tried Mc Donald's without luck. In desperation Claire asked in Wayne’s Cafe as they were not advertising it. The lady said that of course they do, as if everyone does it. We just bought a coffee each and I set about getting the last 3 blogs on. Sorry they are a bit here and there regarding the photos but time was very limited with a slow connection trying to upload all the pictures was a nightmare. The coffees weren't cheap at £12 for three. Still better than $55 on the ship with there even slower connection via satellite.
It was quite a nice little town with another fish market and all the little wooden houses. Most of the windows were triple glazed to keep the cold out. The guy said that they have over 70,000 separate flower arrangements around the town; almost as many as they have people. I tried to get some more Norwegian Krone from an ATM. They had 1000, 2000, up to 7000 on the keyboard so I hit 3000 and it wouldn't give me any. It did let me have 2000 though which made me think. 2000 Krone is the best part of £300 so I guess that the 3000 pushed me over my daily limit. That means that the 7000 must be the best part of £1000. Our ATM’s only go up to about £200; it just shows you how expensive things are here. While we were waiting for the train we looked at the prices in the restaurant by the stop. They wanted £23 for a burger and about £38 for a steak. Even the starters were about £15 and it was only an ordinary place. We didn't even see a bottle shop; I suppose that nobody can afford to drink here.
By the time we got back onboard, it was almost time for lunch. Today they sat us on a large table by the window and an American couple joined us from Georgia. They had just been on the previous tour that this ship did. They have been on the same table for dinner and had the same cabin the entire time. The first two week tour was also around Norway but mainly higher up where the sun never set. They had mainly been around very small town and Fjords in the first two weeks. The only town that overlap are Oslo and Stavanger. They had stayed on the ship all morning and were walking off after lunch and asked us what we recommended. I told them that we had been on the train around town and handed them our three tickets because we wont do the same thing in the afternoon. He was very grateful and when Claire ordered her wine, he insisted on paying. He spotted their dinner table friend and went over to give her the third ticket so at least they will be getting some use. They said that they have enjoyed it but will never be coming back to Norway ever again because of the expense.
Back to our room so Claire could go to the gym then take mum to the spa while I download my days photo’s write the blog, change the DVD and maybe, if I’m lucky, get a few minutes to read my book. Still a good boy - me.
Last nights DVD was “The good shepherd”. Not brilliant and I had seen it before once it got started. Not sure what to get tonight; do I take another chance or do I get something we have already seen, or both like last night? They do have some series such as the Soprano’s seasons 1-6. We have seen them all and loved it so maybe I will get that out. They have Prime Suspect season 4-6 and Mad Men season 1-3. Anybody know if they are worth a watch?
Just realised that I have brought my wrong phone charger. Might be using Claire’s camera tomorrow. See you all tomorrow; if we can find another internet Cafe.
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