Finally; B2B Norway & Northern Europe - June 2015 - Loads of Photos

[hygienist999]

Northern European Cruise aboard the Disney Magic - Saturday, June 6, 2015
Copenhagen, Denmark - Partly Cloudy with a high around 62 degrees Fahrenheit. All aboard by 4:00pm.

First cruise of our B2B for my DH and myself.
We booked this cruise one year out and thought we had forever until it would get here. We were very wrong, life was very busy with expecting our first grandchild (Brielle arrived June 30th, 2015), our other two children, DD & DS, both graduated from College the same weekend but different days thank goodness, and many other things as well. We did not book our shore excursions until late because we forgot about it. There were several we were not able to get as they were sold out and Palo’s was also booked up for Dinner on the nights we would have wanted to go. Lesson learned I guess.

So the day arrived for our departure. Speaking of that, I was a little upset with my husband for not booking us a flight earlier and arriving in Copenhagen the day before boarding. I have horror stories from past vacations, which include taking almost 24 hours to get home from Paris on a direct flight that should have taken 10 hours. So, I was very nervous. Anyway, we put the finishing touches on our packing, said our goodbye’s, prayed our Granddaughter would not arrive while we were gone, then left for Atlanta Airport, which is about a 2 hour ride from our home in Georgia.

Couple pics of us telling our DS and our DP (Dear Puppies) goodbye.

I can’t remember what times our flights were, but we left Atlanta bound for JFK, changed planes and took off for Amsterdam, changed planes a final time and arrived in Copenhagen around 9am on June 6th, day of departure. I was so glad and so exhausted to have finally make it to Copenhagen. I could relax a bit knowing we would not miss the ship. We took the Disney transfer from the airport to the Port. The drive to the port was about 25 minutes and they handled all of the luggage. Speaking of luggage, here is a photo of ours for two weeks.

We were extremely tired, me more than my DH. I did not sleep any on the plane so I was running on fumes. We went thru the normal check-in and took a seat to wait. We waited a good hour before we could board, and it could not have come soon enough. I was getting snippy as I really needed a nap and sitting down was not helping keep me awake. So, we took our boarding photo, not feeling or looking our best for the photo.

Once we boarded we went directly to Carioca’s for a good lunch buffet. This was the first time we had seen the re-imagined Disney Magic. I missed the old Chandelier that was hanging in the Atrium, the new one was pretty, but not as pretty as the other one, in my opinion.

 

[hygienist999]

Carioca’s has a Brazilian theme. Looked like they changed the color of the room and put in new light fixtures. Plus they added a wall sized curtain of the city of Rio. I kinda thought it was tacky, but others liked it. It had a purpose I guess. My favorite restaurant has always been Animator’s Palate with Lumiere’s being second. But here is a photo of Carioca’s.

After eating we made our way to our cabin hoping the hallway would be open. Alas, it was not.
After waiting what seemed like hours, we were allowed to go to our cabin.

For this B2B we chose to get an inside cabin. We are the type of people who are only in our cabin to sleep and get ready to go somewhere, so this more than Ok for us. We had a balcony on our Alaska Cruise on the Wonder and I maybe went out on it 4 times. I rather be where the people are and see what is going on than stuck in a cabin watching TV. I can watch TV at home. So I’m posting a few pics of our inside cabin, which was more than adequate for us.

 

[hygienist999]

I laid down and took a nap until time for us to go to the Muster Drill. Ours was outside off of deck 4 and it went very quickly. Afterward we walked around a bit and as everyone was making their way up to Decks 9 & 10 I was able to snap a photo outside of the Walt Disney Theatre.

After returning to our cabin to grab our sunglasses and my camera of course, we made our way up to Deck 10 to watch the Sail Away Deck Party. I enjoy the Cast Members doing their little song and dance stuff, but for me, the hi-lite is when Mickey and his gang join the party. Everyone gets very loud at this point because the Disney Magic has begun.

We grabbed a coke from the handy dandy self serve drink machines (BEST perk Disney has, in my opinion.). There is also a coffee and hot chocolate station. We don’t drink coffee, but on cold days the hot chocolate was very good.

We went back to our cabin, where our WONDERFUL room attendant Pa, had brought our luggage in. We unpacked and got ready for dinner. Our rotation was Animator’s Palate, then Lumiere’s, and finally Carioca’s. There were three other couples with us at our table. This was hands down the worst table we have ever had. One couple was a young Asian couple who came maybe 4 out of the 7 nights and they only spoke to each other and never once acknowledged anyone else at the table. Another couple was European and they were very nice but could speak limited English. The wife spoke and understood English better than her husband, although he did try. They were the hi-lite of table. The other couple was nice enough, but still mainly into themselves. We dreaded dinnertime and on a couple occasions we ate in Cabana’s, where we had excellent service and food.

We did go to the All Aboard! Let the Magic Begin show. Although we have seen it many times, we still enjoyed it. The act after the skit was the Comedy and Juggling of Pete Matthews. We was pretty good, I’m just not a juggling fan and I could hardly hold my eyes open, so we left early and grabbed another coke and turned in for the night. We were very thankful that the next day was a Sea Day.

 

[hygienist999]

Day 2- Sunday, June 7, 2015 - Day at Sea - Partly Cloudy, High of 54 degrees.

We really wanted to sleep late, but could not because someone decided it would be a great idea to have the DVC Members Celebration at 8:30am.
I needed a coke so I ran up to Deck 9 and since the area’s were empty I snapped a few pictures.

 

[hygienist999]

We gathered in Fathoms and were given many goodies. We had cookies and muffins, along with juice. I was so glad to see the food as we had not eaten Breakfast because we wanted to sleep as long as possible. One of the Cast Members, Jo, helped get the party started with some music trivia. Stitch was there as well greeting everyone. So of course we had to get our photo made with him. We all had a great time. We received a tumbler mug and cap each.

We took our goodies back to our cabin and grabbed our iPad (for DH), and computer (for me) went up to Deck 4 to people watch. I worked on downloading photo’s and watching the kids have their photo’s made with characters. The line to book another cruise was always long. At 11:30 am we were pleasantly surprised to enjoy Jack Jack’s Incredible Diaper Dash that was in the Atrium. We really enjoyed it.

 

[hygienist999]

We made a mad dash ourselves up to Cabana’s for a quick lunch

We didn’t have long to get back to Fathoms for the Castaway Club Meet, Disney Cruise Line Gold and Platinum Members. Servers were passing around fruits and fru-fru bites, and Mimosa’s and champaign. I like the Mimosa’s The Captain, which for this first cruise to Norway was Commodore Tom, spoke to everyone. I forget which ship Commodore Tom captains, but he was the first Captain of the Magic and he is from Norway, so he came back to helm the Magic. He seemed to be thrilled to do so. We were all given Mickey Ear’s Rice Krispy Treats, which I took with us on excursions later in the week.

We spent the majority of the afternoon sitting and watching on Deck 4. This is a great place to catch characters.

 

[hygienist999]

This Sea Day for the day for the Captain’s Reception, where you can have your photo made with Commodore Tom and meet some of the officers on the ship. Drinks were passed out and there was live music provided by Dreem Duo. This all took place in the Lobby Atrium, Deck 3, Midship, 5:30 & 7:45. We went to the 5:30 as we had early seating for dinner.

After another draining dinner, we looked thru some of the stores, but they were still to crowded. So, we went up to our cabin and changed into comfortable clothes and made our way down to the Walt Disney Theatre for the Twice Charmed show. We had never seen this show put on and thought it was pretty good, not as good as Dreams, but good. After having such a full day we went back to our cabin, after getting a coke, to our little towel friend.

End of Day 3, next our First Port - Stavanger.

 

[hygienist999]

Day 3 - Port of Stavenger, Norway - Monday, June 8, 2015, Partly Cloudy at 54 degree’s.

DH and I booked all of our excursions through Disney, it was just convenient for us. So for this port we booked, “Hike to Pulpit Rock”, price was $195 per person - 8 to 8.5 hours long - Very Strenuous.

We left the ship early, can’t remember the exact time, but between 7:30 & 8:30am. We boarded a bus and set out. We had to get on a Ferry to get across the water, once across the water we made our way to our destination.

We finally arrived and we couldn’t wait to get started, but I had a bid of anxiety about it. I recently was told I had asthma and that I probably should not do the hike until I saw the appropriate doctors and such. I had an inhaler, so I used it. Thank goodness I did or I would never had made it. Yeah, I didn’t listen, and almost a year out, I’ve yet to see a doctor. I really need to do that.

When we got off the bus we were given a box lunch. The lunch had a sandwich and a candy bar that was like a Kit Kat here in the U.S. The bus driver told us we had 2 hours to hike to the top, then 30 minutes at the top, then 2 hours to hike back down to the buses. My DH and I are in decent physical shape and it took us every bit of the 2 hours to make it to the top. We only stopped a couple times for water. This hike was very strenuous. We saw many people turning around and going back down to the buses. When we got to the top we took photo’s, looked around as quickly as we could and ate our candy bar. Our 30 minutes at the top went by very fast. The hike back was harder than the hike up. The stones were wet and slippery, the trail was steep, and sometimes you had to sit down and ease your way down. Also, there were people still climbing to the top along with people hiking down. Because we had to concentrate on each step we took we could not enjoy the scenery. We passed a group of people helping a lady who had fallen and was hurt. I was thrilled when we reached the bottom as my knees were killing me and others around me were saying the same. We only had time to go to the bathroom and board the bus for the return trip.

We were so exhausted that we skipped dinner in the main dining room. If I remember correctly we both showered and rested a bit before heading to Cabana’s for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised with the service and quality of food. Our waiter was outstanding and we made a note of it on our comment card at the end of the cruise. The food was excellent also.

We did not go see “Hector is Magic” that night. We were too tired. We went to bed early.

Thoughts on Pulpit Rock Hike. I’m very glad we did it, but I was disappointed that it was so rushed, which it had to be in order to make the all aboard. It took every minute of 2 hours to make the top and the 30 minutes you have flies by and then its time to hike down. Usually a hike is harder going up, this was not the case here. The hike down was much worse, in my

opinion and others I spoke to agreed. As far as beauty, it was gorgeous at the top. The hike itself had a few places to view beauty, but you had to pay attention to where you were stepping so it was hard to enjoy the beauty around you. As a side note for those that love hikes and gorgeous scenery - Go to Glacier National Park in Montana. The Grinnell Glacier Hike is beyond words. Its 6 miles up and gorgeous scenery every step of the way. Maybe Adventures by Disney will add that to their list. Every hike in the park is wonderful.

Here are a few pics of the hike so you can see what it was like.

More following next post.

 

[hygienist999]

 

[hygienist999]

more pics from the hike.

 

[hygienist999]

The next 3 will be the last of the Hike to Pulpit Rock. The next post will be the next port.

 

[hygienist999]

More tomorrow.

 

[FamilyHolidayPlanner]

I am very exited to read another Norway report- we are on this cruise 29 June .
Pulpit rock looks fabulous!
Can't wait to read more

 

[hygienist999]

Day 4 - Alesund, Norway - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - All Ashore 9:30am - All Aboard 5:45pm - Overcast with high of 48 degrees.

The excursion we took for this port was “Path of the Trolls with Lunch”. Excursion was to last 8 to 8.5 hours and the cost was $159.00 each. The following is what Disney had listed for the excursion - Travel across Alesund through the Storfjorden and to the Medieval Stordal Church - approx. 75 minutes - short tour of the church then travel on to Valldal. Enjoy about 30 min. free time. Continue along the Trollstigen to the Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge for a brief photo stop. Arrive at a local restaurant for brief lunch. Take the drive that winds along the Trolls Path’s 11 hairpin turns on your way to the Isterdalen Valley - approx. 60 minutes. At Troll Wall have a photo-stop and free time, about 20 minutes. Then return to Alesund -approx. 2 hours.

The views while on the bus were amazing. I know it is a long time on a bus, but it was worth it. We loved this excursion and would highly recommend it to others. We arrived back on the ship only minutes before the all aboard. Here’s some pics.

The following picture I took while on the bus driving thru the countryside. The drive was absolutely gorgeous and time went by very quickly.

Our brief stop at the Medieval Stordal Church. We did not spend 75 minutes here, more like 30 minutes. Which was plenty.

We boarded our bus again for more scenic entertainment. We drove thru Valldal to our next stop, which was a little town for photo’s and a quick run to a store. I bought several of those candy bars that were like Kit Kats. You can never have to many snacks. And always remember to take snacks with you on your excursions. We have been very thankful to have them many times. When we did the Disney 11 night Med Cruise, our excursions were ridiculously long and tiring. First port day I was stuffing snacks in my back pack and my DH laughed, he didn’t laugh when the tour was so tight there wasn’t room to grab a bite to eat or drink and he didn’t care for the Lunch that was provided. He always makes sure I have things he likes packed now, lol. By the way, I’ve been all over Europe and back-packs have been completely safe for us. I use the sack that draws up like a drawstring and the strings are the straps. So, no zippers unless inside or on the backside. Never been bothered by anyone and we walked all over Paris 5 days in a row with our backpacks.

 

[hygienist999]

Next was Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge. DH and I really enjoyed this stop, but we LOVE waterfalls and anything with water.

Scenery that we passed along the way.

 

[hygienist999]

The High-lite of the tour was stopping at Trollstigen. We could eat lunch there, DH and I did not find the fare appealing, but we are very picky eaters. So that was on us, thankfully I had my handy dandy back pack with snacks. Just bought a Diet Coke and was set. There is long walkway that winds up the mountain so you can see the views of the hairpin turns into road down below. It was extremely windy and cold, but oh so beautiful. Loved this stop. Here are a few pics.

 

[hygienist999]

As we made our way down into the Isterdalen Valley , we had a brief photo stop at the bottom of all of the turns.

Our next and last stop was the Troll Wall. We had about 20 minutes there. It is mainly a large flat faced mountain, so they called it the Troll Wall, I guess. I was too busy getting a Diet Coke, then snapping a few pics on the way back to the bus. From here we enjoyed my scenery on our way back to the ship. Still very beautiful and the time went by very fast. We were thankful to be getting back to the ship at a decent hour.

Here are a few pics at the Troll Wall stop.

 

[hygienist999]

More photo’s of the scenery we passed on the bus.

A photo of the Disney Magic waiting to greet us back. A lovely sight indeed.

Because we returned to the ship at a decent hour, we were able to enjoy some of the things going on Some of my favorite, and DH humors me in this, is the characters in the costumes of the country we are in. Here are some cuties.

 

[hygienist999]

As we made our way back to our cabin to change for dinner we were greeted by Cinderella coming up the stairs. The girl who portrayed Cinderella on this cruise and the following one was OUTSTANDING. She made time for each and every person, she always stopped for children, whether she was coming up a flight of stairs or walking down the hallway. She would kneel on their level and talk with the kids and allow as many photo’s to be taken. All of this would take place not at her scheduled time. This would be when she was going to or coming from the Character Meet and Greet. Disney would do well to hire more like her. Several of the other Character’s would hurry along out of the crowds.

We walked out on deck before going up to the cabin, to look one more time at the Port.

Dinner tonight was Animator’s Palate and we always enjoy the show that is provided. Here are a few photo’s of the cute table setting and one of my desert. One of the only nights I did not get a Hot Fudge Sundae.

 

[hygienist999]

The show was “Villains Tonight” in the Walt Disney Theatre. This is one of my favorites, usually because of the two little characters Pain and Panic. The people playing the parts were better than the ones that played them on the Wonder in 2014, but still not as good as the people (boy and girl) who we have seen play the characters on shows past. Still, very entertaining.

After the show we went back to the cabin to get in more comfortable clothing. Pa had already turned down the bed and left the Navigator for the next day. Inside we had the forms for Anna’s Scavenger Hunt, which I played for both cruises, and I enjoyed it. You had to solve 3 clues that would be in the Navigator on 3 consecutive nights, find the magnet, write on form where the magnet was and what the picture was on the magnet. On the last day of the hunt you would leave the forms for your Room Steward and the next morning you would have a nice treat. I’d say that was well worth playing a kids game. I also had fun with the other kids playing, we struggled with a few, lol.