Norwegian Fjords

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Norwegian Fjords

A Norwegian Adventure

Tom

January 12, 2025

Guest contributors: Acescruising

Norwegian Fjords 2024

Ship: Celebrity Silhouette

In June of 2024 I ventured out for a massive 8 country European trip that started in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The first night, started by staying at an Airport hotel (NintyNine Hotel) near the airport. This was a great place to stay. The next morning, I took an UBER to Rotterdam, that was about $80USD. I dropped my bags off at the ship and just walked around the area. A few sights to see, coffee to be had and then onto the Silhouette around 1pm.

The cruise sails down the river for a while and passes by the beautiful Hoek Van Holland park and beach. Don't miss the views!

The first day of the cruise is sailing in the North Sea towards the Fjords, so, its a good chance to rest and take in some of the scenic views. Enjoy the ship, eat well.

Molde, Norway. Our first stop. I did a coastal hike with the cruise line. They drove us out to Farstad to explore the coastline and the burial mounds at Nordnest. An easy hike, beautiful scenery and some morning movement. Once we returned, I walked around the small town and explored some of the shops and pubs. Molde is a nice city to shop, eat and walk around.

Olden, Norway - Olden has to be one of my favorite places I have ever been. Deep in the Fjords, the scenes are Majestic! First, I did an excursion/hike to a glacier. This was a walk in the park but a great sight to behold. Once at the park, the hike to the glacial pool is easy because you take a trollcar up to the top!! The trip in the trollcar is short and its fun. Its hard to describe the majestic beauty of this area. You will see waterfalls, glaciers, beautiful blue waters and amazing mountains. This port and this experience is what my minds eye says "this is Norway." See my instagram or flickr to see more pictures of this area.

After I got back to town, I went up the cable car to view the fjords from high above. A beautiful clear day and you get to see both fjords converge for a wonderful sight. Stop in at the pub afterward for a local beer, an elk burger and take a look at the tables! The owner of the pub carved them by hand.

Alesund, Norway - Home of the famous Trollstigen! This is the famous switchback road you see in travel magazines and on internet pictures and videos from Norway. I took a VIATOR excursion that took us about 90 minutes from the port to see the famous road. There is a guest area, gift shop, food and a viewing area. Such a beautiful walk and view from high up the mountain. You'll probably see a few goats as well! Dont forget to look up, the mountain tops are majestic to behold.

Stavenger - I really wish the cruise line would have given us about 3-5 more hours in port. I felt like they could have. I went out to the Geysers, which was about an hour ride. It was OK. I would try and do something else if I had a second chance at it.

My favorite things to do on this itinerary were;

1. Hike to Pulpit rock - Tough, but rewarding. Please dont attempt if you have foot, leg or back issues! The views were stunning.

2. Olden. Really great views, sights, the cable car and Olden pub (Molla Guesthouse) really cool across the board. My favorite port on this itinerary.

3. the Trollcars - Briksdall glaciers and the trollcars were really fun and a sight to see.

I loved this cruise. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Id love to do it with a smaller ship, but the Celebrity experience was great. I did see a Ponant vessel in Olden, that must have been a great cruise as well. I only saw them once along our cruise. Probably had a longer itinerary and could get even deeper into the fjords because of it being a much smaller vessel. I highly recommend a Norwegian Fjords cruise!

To see pictures: Norway Pictures

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Europe Travels 2024

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The Norwegian Fjords trip came to an end and I disembarked the ship in Rotterdam. I decided to take a taxi to my hotel in Amsterdam. The Grand, which is a luxury historical property near the "red light" district. Let me take you through the next few days as I make my way to Prague.

Day one in Amsterdam

After dropping my bags off at the hotel, I used the spa facilities for a bit, using the early afternoon to catch up on some rest and relaxation. The Sofitel Grand was an amazing hotel, I highly recommend it.

After getting rested and cleaned up, I walked around the city a bit and just enjoyed the sights and sounds of Amsterdam. The Leidseplein had plenty of music, food & bars and sights to fill the day.

The following day I did a bike ride around the city with VIator. We had about 8 people in our group and explored the city sights via bike. We rode through the Vondelpark and some of the "hidden" neighborhoods of Amsterdam. I enjoyed seeing the city. Of course you will see the Vangogh museum and the Anne Frank house. In the evening, I had a private walking tour though the red light district with an expat from Iowa. He had been living in Amsterdam since college and had good knowledge of the area. After a short walk around the red light district with some historical points, We ended up just grabbing a few beers and talking about Amsterdam and how things around the city function. The city of canals did not disappoint.

The next day, I hopped on a train to Brussels.

In Brussels, I stayed at HOTEL DES GALERIES

A nice, but quaint hotel in the city center. I dropped my bags and then went and found my tour. This was an all day walking tour that included; chocolate, whisky and waffles. The Belgium trifecta! I wasn't really a believer until the tour where I tasted some of the best chocolate I have ever had. It was very smooth and flavorful. The beer and whisky really have an interesting history, brewed and distilled by monks, the story is really interesting. The tour was kinda long, but it covered a lot of the area and culture of Brussels.

The next day I just used as a relaxing day and walked around and enjoyed the sights. I had to leave early the next day on a flight to Berlin.

I arrived in Berlin and stayed at a Max Browne for two nights. I happened to stay in a quiet area away from the hustle and bustle, but it worked out.

My first tour was a 3 hour bike ride around Berlin, checking out the major sights; The Berlin Wall, Check point Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, TV tower and the Holocaust memorial. It was a nice ride and gave a good quick glimpse around Berlin. After the tour, I decided to join up with some other people on the bike ride and do a pub crawl. It was a bit too full, but it was pretty fun.

On my final day in Berlin, I decided to go to the UEFA Soccer match at the OlympiaStadion between Italy and the Netherlands. Quite the match which the Netherlands won 2-0. My short time in Berlin was coming to an end. I had to get up early the next morning to catch my car to Prague.

As I left Berlin, I kinda felt like I had missed out on some of the sights, and sounds, but it was nice to see Berlin. My ride picked me up from the hotel and we had about a 4 hour ride to Prague. We stopped in Dresden, which was leveled during world war two. A lot of the grounds had been rebuilt, and it was interesting to see some of the world war two history. I also stopped at Moritzburg Castle, lots of horses and locals bustling about.

Early that evening, I reached Prague, which I will discuss in the final part of this series as it connects to my river cruise and bike riding tour through the Danube river valley. Stay tuned!

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/raffles/albums/72177720324454980

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Tom@Acescruising

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In March of 2024, I took a cruise aboard the Scarlet Lady, the first ship in the Virgin Voyages fleet, Here is my quick review of that cruise and ship!

For those not familiar, Virgin Voyages is a fairly new cruise line with a different approach to cruising and its ship builds. Focused on a romantic feel, with smaller venues on board the ship, its certainly is a new take on cruising.

The Scarlet Lady launched in 2019 to much fanfare. A new cruise line with a new concept, giving even more options to a growing industry.

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The balcony staterooms have the same issue as the bathrooms and shower are tiny. The living space is alright, typical in the industry with a new twist on lighting and layout. Id certainly be comfortable booking a balcony again.

The 5 night cruise went to Puerto Plata Dominican Republic and Bimini island, which has a beach club exclusive to VV guests. It has a great beach and pool area. A nice itinerary with a lot to do.

In closing, VV has great service and food, a cool, hip and romantic atmosphere and interesting events and entertainment on board. Very unique and exclusive to VV.

The drawbacks are smaller venues and new twists on dining that some people don't care for. (switching dining rooms every night).

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Tom@Acescruising

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Acescruising

In January, I sailed a 7 night cruise on the Celebrity APEX.

Full Pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/raffles/albums/72177720320151217/

This review will be a quick overview of what cruiselife is like on board. I will also briefly discuss the ports we visited; San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Puerto Plata, and some activities you may want to try in each port.

The Celebrity APEX is part of the EDGE class series Celebrity started in 2018. The APEX started sailing in 2019.

APEX still feels brand new, is well maintained and is easy to navigate.

One of the big differences for the Apex are the infinite balcony cabins. These cabins do make your room larger, however, the trade off is you do not have the traditional balcony experience. You can see an example of an infinite balcony here: INFINITE BALCONY

This cruise I had to stay in an ocean view. It was a nice room, really convenient to get around the ship. You can view that here: MIDSHIP WINDOW

Some of my favorite venues on the ship are Raw on five and the Martini bar. The Martini bar has a wide open feel and is great for socializing.

Generally speaking the APEX has a lot of nice spaces to relax, such as the magic carpet and the rooftop terrace, however, some spaces leave you wondering why more space was not allocated. Craft Social is way too small, as is the casino and the sunset bar is so crowded, it's hard to enjoy. I often found myself wondering why so many of the most popular places are too small.

The food and dining areas are excellent, lots of selection at the buffet and plenty of places to sit. The smaller dining venues add to the dinner experience, which was nice.

We visited four ports on this cruise, which was nice.

San Juan - I did a city bike ride with Shore excursions group. The guides were amazing, the tour was fun and informative, the bikes were kind old but they worked. I would do this tour again if it was a different route so I could see more.

St, Maarten - I did a bike ride here as well. It went around the city and some of the popular viewing spots. After that, I went to BIG BASTARDS and rented a chair. Its right on the beach and I would love to go back. I also saw about 15 turtles while I was swimming right off the beach.

St. Thomas - We docked at Crown bay, which is kinda away from where I liked to be, so I stayed on board. There are tons of things to do in St. Thomas. From beaching to snorkeling, there is something for everyone in ST. Thomas.

Puerto Plata DR - I rented a private van here and went up the coast about 30 minutes to Cabarete, where I used to live. I just walked around and enjoyed my surroundings. DR is another place that has a lot of different things to do and try, a very active port. Lots of people go hiking and waterfall diving.

See all of my cruise info and reviews here https://cruisetalk.locals.com/

Check out sailings on the APEX here: SAIL THE APEX

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