Our Magical "Fjords, Vikings and Castles" Norway Cruise - June 2015 - w/ pics - Completed!

[disneyfaninaz]

Whew! What an amazing European adventure we had on our 7 night inaugural Norwegian Fjord cruise and visit to Copenhagen. I can’t believe how fast the time flew.

We just got home last night and while I catch up on laundry and start downloading my 1000s of pictures, I thought I would get started with my trip report. Sit back and enjoy!


Back Story:

Back in early 2014, as we were eagerly anticipating our upcoming Alaska cruise on the Wonder, rumors were flying that Disney would be returning to the Baltic and possibly Norway in the Summer of 2015. Our regular cruise buddies, and neighbors, had already indicated that if DCL did in fact go to this part of the world, they would be booking. I would jump at the chance to go to Norway as I had visited Oslo in 1991 and loved it. Our neighbors were planning to do both the Baltic and Norway. Well, my DH was a little hesitant about traveling all the way to Europe for a cruise so his first reaction was “No.” Well, my neighbors, DD and I worked on him for a few weeks and he finally relented to one cruise the night before I could book, with the caveat “We can always cancel.” Well, it was a no brainer, we decided on Norway. Needless to say, we didn't cancel!

One early morning in February, I got on the computer at 6:00 AM MST and booked a 7A Navigator’s Verandah for the June 6th, 7 night Norway cruise.

On our Alaskan cruise, I visited the Onboard Booking desk to “reshop” my Norway cruise. The booking agent was able to reshop my category and save me several hundred dollars. He made me a new reservation with a different stateroom and I had to pay a new 10% deposit. Upon returning home I was able to cancel my old reservation and move my stateroom over along with my previous deposit. Over time I kept checking the room availability for a “Secret Verandah” room. One day, I found stateroom 6134 available on deck 6 and was able to snag it for Norway. Now my reservation was finalized!

I flew Scandinavian Airlines to Oslo 24 years ago. I had such a great experience that I wanted to fly them again. My DH had heard many stories from family flying to Europe about the cramped seats and close quarters for over 8 hours. Therefore, he insisted that we fly economy plus, which provides for a bit more seat and legroom. In January, we contacted our friend who is a Travel Concierge and he was able to get us great flights from Phoenix to Dulles, Washington D.C. and then to Copenhagen on SAS Plus.

We went to Alaska with 11 people, this year we would be traveling to Norway with 9. In addition, we plan on staying in Copenhagen for 3 days after the cruise to tour that wonderful city, which I was also fortunate enough to visit in 1991.

Thus this latest adventure begins.

Cast of Characters:

ME: Proud band mom, fan of everything Disney and avid travel planner.

DH: My wonderful husband who indulges all of my Disney dreams.

DD: Our 14 year old daughter who just finished her freshman year in high school where she performed in the marching band and the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show with Katy Perry.

DNeighbors:

Our neighbors with whom we share an affinity for Disney with and cruise with.

DNC – Bosom buddy, walking partner and all around partner in conspiracy (especially involving Disney trips).

DNJ – DNC’s husband and all around good egg.

DNDDC – Just finished her first year of grad school.

DNDDM – Huge Peter Pan fan.

DCousinC: DNC’s cousin from Georgia. 4th Disney cruise.

DSisterJ: DNJ’s step-sister. 3rd Disney cruise.

Our Plan:

We decided to fly in to Copenhagen a day early, arriving on June 5th. Our flight on SAS out of Dulles International arrived in Copenhagen at 7:15 AM. I went ahead and booked the Tivoli Hotel through DCL and arranged for DCL to take us to our hotel from the airport and then for transportation to the port the next day. Our plan was to go to the Carlsberg Brewery, a canal boat tour, The Round Tower, the Stroget and Rosenborg. All before we collapse from sheer exhaustion Friday night.


Day 1 – Thursday, June 4, 2015 – Travel Day

Day 2 - Friday – June 5, 2015 – Copenhagen: Carlsberg Brewery; Tivoli Hotel

Day 3 - Saturday, June 6, 2015 – Copenhagen – Get on Disney Magic; Sail Away

Day 4 - Sunday, June 7, 2015 – Sea Day

Day 5 - Monday, June 8, 2015 – Stavanger, Norway; Lyesfjord; Walking Around Town

Day 6 - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 – Alesund, Norway; Sunnmøre Museum; Mount Aksla; Runde Island & Town

Day 7 - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 – Geiranger, Norway; Overlooks; Waterwalk; Onboard

Day 8 - Thursday, June 11, 2015 – Bergen, Noway; Troldhaugen; Fantoft Stave Church, Bryggen; Mt. Floyen; Freezing the Night Away

Day 9 - Friday, June 12, 2015 – Sea Day

Day 10 - Saturday, June 13, 2015 – Copenhagen; Little Mermaid, Changing of the Guards; Marble Church, Rosenborg Slot

Day 11 - Sunday, June 14, 2015 – Copenhagen; Roskilde; Frederiksborg; Kronborg

Day 12 - Monday, June 15, 2015 – Copenhagen; Amalienborg, Nyhavn, Strøget, Christiansborg; Tivoli Gardens

Day 13 - Tuesday, June 16, 2015 – Return home

Next: Our adventure begins!

 

[michellekcm]

We were on that cruise too - can't wait to read your thoughts!

 

[elena_n2o]

We were there too!! I'm looking forward to reading your report

 

[HookedonMagic]

We were on board, too. Looking forward to reading about your experience. We loved it!

 

[Flossbolna]

Looking forward to reading your experiences, we were on the same cruise and are planning to do a trip report as well!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Looking forward to reading your experiences, we were on the same cruise and are planning to do a trip report as well!

We were on board, too. Looking forward to reading about your experience. We loved it!

We were there too!! I'm looking forward to reading your report

We were on that cruise too - can't wait to read your thoughts!

Hey guys! Welcome to my trip report. I hope to bring back some great memories for you too! Still working on downloading those photos!

 

[pillow]

I remember reading your Alaska TR and loving it! So great that you have friends/neighbors that are game. Can't wait to read more and to see those pictures!!

Jodie

 

[elena_n2o]

How many photos did you come back with? I have just over 4000 to go through... Plus those from my parents, who were also travelling with us, not sure how many they have!!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I remember reading your Alaska TR and loving it! So great that you have friends/neighbors that are game. Can't wait to read more and to see those pictures!!

Jodie

Thanks for joining. It's more like our neighbors lead and we follow. They are Platinum members after this cruise and have done twice as many as we have. This was our 5th and just became Gold! Finally!

How many photos did you come back with? I have just over 4000 to go through... Plus those from my parents, who were also travelling with us, not sure how many they have!!

As of this morning I have downloaded just over 6500 pictures between the 3 of us. I have yet to download DD's phone pictures which are in the 100's as well. Once they're all downloaded, I will need to go through them and choose which ones to include in my report. Between catching up on laundry and just crashing in the afternoons from jet lag, I will eventually get them up.

I am going to try to have a short segment up later today.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 1 – Travel

Thursday, June 4, 2015

After 15 months of anticipation, planning, researching websites, reading Cruise Critic, watching Rick Steves videos, selecting excursions, and booking airfare and hotels; our adventure is finally beginning. I have to say though, I felt at a loss. Because this was Disney’s first trip to Norway, I had no trip reports to read so I felt I was going into this blind.



We were up at 4:00 AM to get ready and put last minute items in our luggage. We had ordered an Execu-Car from Super Shuttle to pick us up at 5:00 AM to get us to the airport for our 7:30 flight to Dulles. I tried to check in online 24 hours before our flight, but SAS wouldn’t let me since we had a leg with another carrier, even though SAS booked it. Anyway, when I got to the ticket counter, I couldn’t use the self-serve kiosk and had to have an agent print my boarding passes and luggage tags. Evidently SAS did not release the reservation to United. No bother, it was all sorted out and we had our boarding passes for both legs of our journey. We then went through TSA, pre-check so we didn’t have to take off our shoes or show our 3-1-1 bags. Very nice! However, I was randomly selected to have my hands swabbed. We then went to our gate and waited to board. We had 3 seats together for the 4 hour flight to Dulles. Our flight was uneventful and landed on-time. It was raining when we landed in Dulles. We had to take what looked like a rover with a subway car on top across the tarmac to the International terminal to catch our SAS flight.

The terminal was truly international with almost every international airline represented. We saw British Airways, Saudi Arabia Airlines, Thai Airlines and some airlines I had never heard of. We didn’t eat much breakfast so we were hungry and decided to grab some pizza in the terminal. We had people from several different nationalities eating next to us. There were flags hanging from the ceiling from various countries and it was fun trying to name the countries. It didn’t even feel like we were still in the U.S., except for the Washington D.C. souvenir kiosks.

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After eating we found our gate and waited for our flight to board. Boarding was done from 2 gates with SAS Business an SAS Plus boarding separately. Boarding was very easy and quick.

We found our seats and were very happy with the extra room they afforded us. We were also thrilled to have individual TV screens, pillow and a care package including ear buds, eye mask for sleeping, toothpaste and toothbrush and a bag to put our shoes in. During the entire flight, you could track our progress and we flew over the Atlantic. It was pretty cool. As you can see, we took a northerly route to Copenhagen just flying south of Iceland.



Shortly after take-off, the flight attendants came by with hot wash cloths so we could refresh ourselves. We were then served beverages and dinner. We had a choice between an Asian chicken dish and ravioli. We chose the ravioli. After dinner, the lights were dimmed in the cabin and passengers were encouraged to sleep. DD and I had not seen Cinderella when it was released in the theaters and was hoping to see it on the ship. As it happened, Cinderella was one of the featured movies we could watch free on the plane, so we both watched it. I liked it. After the movie, I tried to get some sleep. It wasn’t easy with DD poking my arm and telling me she couldn’t sleep. We have been through this before. Evidently, if she can’t sleep, none of us can.

DH had to wake me up as the attendant’s came by with warm wash cloths before they served breakfast, so apparently I got some sleep. Anyway, a traditional Norwegian style breakfast was served with meat and cheese and fruit.

We didn’t have window seats. The plane was equipped with a camera in the front and below so we could see what we were flying over, but at night, there wasn’t much to see until we approached Denmark.



It wasn’t long after breakfast that we landed in Copenhagen at around 7:15 AM. When we got off the plane we were directed to Passport control. We made our first encounter with somebody else coming to sail on the Magic while we waited in the passport line. The agent stamped our passport and we went to retrieve our luggage. DCL was waiting at the luggage carousels to greet us and arrange our transportation. We met Jessica and talked with her while we waited for our luggage. We were then led to another part of the terminal to wait on our Sprinter mini-bus. Once the bus arrived we were escorted out with our luggage and loaded the Sprinter. We waited a short time for another family of 3, our second encounter with fellow cruisers.

At around 8:30 AM we headed towards our hotels. The other family was dropped off first at the Radisson Blu. Then we were dropped off at the Tivoli Hotel.



I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the hotel. It has a conference center too so it is large and currently going through construction for even more expansion. Obviously, our rooms (we had to book 2 rooms for 3 people) were not ready this early, so we gathered what we needed for our first day of sightseeing, checked our bags with bell services, got directions to City Hall from the concierge and set off for our first full day of exploration in Copenhagen.

Next: A full day in Copenhagen.[/URL]

 

[Cruisingwiththefam]

We are booked on this same cruise for June 2016. I can't wait to read the rest of your trip report and view your photos. Thanks for sharing!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 2 - Copenhagen

Friday, June 5, 2015

We are staying 3 days after our cruise to tour Copenhagen and the surrounding area. We are on our own our first full day in Copenhagen, as our partners in crime are finishing up their Baltic Cruise. We wanted to do things that our neighbors did not want to do or were not able to do with a wheelchair. Also, my DH is a big beer fan; therefore, we had to visit Carlsberg Brewery. We also wanted to take a canal boat tour.

It was partly cloudy and windy when we set out from the hotel towards City Hall shortly before 9:30 AM. Our goal was the Strøget, Copenhagen’s walking mall, which was the quickest way to the canal tours.

We walked around the expansion construction, past the Post Office,



in front of the central train station, past the Radisson Blu hotel



and around 2 sides of Tivoli Gardens before arriving at our destination.



It was Constitution Day in Denmark. So, all government offices and stores, except souvenir shops it seemed, were closed. They had some sort of street festival going on over the weekend and were setting up for it as we walked by City Hall.



If any of you watched Rick Steves’ travel video on Copenhagen, you will recognize this fountain.



We passed the Lego store.



We passed the Disney Store.



We came to an area with a big fountain and kind of a fork in the road.



The street signs are hard to find sometimes, but they are usually on the side of corner buildings. We weren’t sure which direction to go and ended up turning up one street.



We stumbled upon the ticket booth for The Canal Tours Copenhagen, which was the tour we were looking for. We would later discover that we bought tickets for the tour starting at the Gammel Strand instead of Nyhavn. Anyway, we purchased our tickets and got a discount to Tivoli Gardens, so we also purchased a voucher for there, since we were planning on visiting after our cruise. We had a little less than an hour before our tour started so we went into the corner store and purchased some water and sat on a bench to wait.



We watched some Kayakers navigate the canal.



It was turning into a cool windy sunny morning and we were glad we had our jackets. While sitting on the bench, I noticed this structure behind me.



I had a pretty good idea what it might be, but we weren’t sure until we happened to look behind us and saw 2 of Copenhagen’s finest using it. Yes, that’s right, it is a street urinal, or Pissor. Only in Europe! My DD was totally embarrassed and DH and I were laughing. Evidently, these are temporary structures used for street festivals and such.

Finally, it was time to get on our tour. Unfortunately, there was no orderly way set up to board the canal boat and there was a lot of shoving to get on the ship and get the seats that weren’t inside. It was very sunny by the time of our tour and DH was able to get seats on the back of the boat. Just before we left, a couple came back looking for seats and ended up sitting near us. During the cruise, they asked if we were going on the Disney cruise (I was wearing my DCL visor). This would be our third encounter of somebody else going on the Magic.

Unfortunately, for us, this tour would be provided primarily in German. Occasionally she would interpret in English, but I could never hear her from where we were in the boat. There was also a loud party on the other side of where we were sitting which also made it difficult to hear. I just sat back and took pictures, when the people in the other group weren’t standing up. Otherwise, it was a great way to see the city.

The first thing we saw was old stock exchange building next to Christiansborg.



I remembered the entangled dragon’s tails on the spire from my last trip.



We passed the Danish Royal Playhouse.



Another off shoot of the canal



The spire of the Church of our Savior. You can climb the 400 steps around the outside for a breathtaking view of the city.



We saw the Opera House,



The place used for the Royals to board their yacht,



The Little Mermaid statue.



The Marble Church.



Houseboats,



and somebody having fun waving their legs through the front of their boat.



The Black Diamond, or extension of The Royal Library.



An interesting bridge.



I was taking pictures and didn’t see the entire situation, but just before we passed under one of the many bridges, a resident of Copenhagen decided to drop trou, bend over and “Welcome us to Copenhagen” with a full moon. Again, DD was very embarrassed and my DH just laughed, I saw the “tail end” of the display and was aghast.

Next: Carlsberg

 

[DMMarla07860]

hopefully you'll write the Carlsberg part before I leave on Thursday. I wanted to check that out too, so wanting to see how it it

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 2 – Copenhagen (Continued) – Carlsberg Brewery

When the canal trip was over, we decided it was time to head over towards the Carlsberg Brewery. I had read on their website that they offered a free shuttle from The Royal Hotel (Radisson Blu) every hour from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Since we planned to eat lunch there, the timing was right. We retraced our previous path and walked back through the Strøget to the Royal Hotel. We found out from the visitor center that the red bus would in fact be out front as we had read. While we were waiting, another man came up to wait. He asked if we were going to be on the Magic. It turned out that he was a former CM for DCL until 2007. We discussed CMs that we both knew. He currently worked on RCL and was going to be on the Serenade of the Seas. At 1:00 the bus arrived and we were taken past the zoo and to the brewery.

When we arrived at the brewery we purchased tickets in the gift shop and were given stickers.

It must be tradition when you leave the museum to place your sticker on a wall outside the gift shop. We also found stickers on lamp posts outside the brewery as well. We also encountered the same phenomena in Bergen outside of Grieg’s home. Anyway, we decided to do the self-guided tour and headed out. The actual size of the brewery was smaller than I expected and doesn’t take long to go through.

The first stop was the extensive beer bottle collection. Unfortunately, it was entirely behind glass so you couldn’t see the bottles on the inside shelves, but it appeared to be all European beers, specifically Carlsberg beers through the ages.

We then went through a variety of rooms showing the different steps taken in the brewing of beer. They had a hops room, the brewing rooms and labs. DH seemed to enjoy it.

After coming out of the brewery building, we came across a sculpture garden with a miniature rendition of The Little Mermaid on a fountain. Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg Brewery, actually commissioned The Little Mermaid to be sculpted and donated it to the city of Copenhagen.

We then came upon the stables where the draft horses that pulled the beer wagons were kept. They also had old wagons and delivery vehicles.

You could take wagon tours around the grounds, but we opted not to.

We then had lunch. They had a grill and bar set up outside with plenty of shaded picnic table seating available. With paid admission you were given 2 beverage tickets for beer or soft drinks. DD and I ordered a burger while DH ordered sausage. He enjoyed them with both a Carlsberg and Tuborg brew.

I enjoyed a Coke and DD had a Coke Zero. Interesting note, they do not serve drinks with ice unless you specifically ask for it and they do not serve plain Diet Coke, just Coke Zero.

The one thing that I was looking forward most to seeing was the Elephant Gate. The gate stands at the original site of the Carlsberg brewery. You don’t have to pay for the tour to see this gate as it on a public street and cars and bikes actually drive underneath it. We had to walk a short way to them, but it was worth it. They were truly magnificent. Each elephant represents one of the 4 children of Carl Jacobsen.

I was so impressed by the art work and decorations of the buildings.

We noticed this rope course on the way to the gate. It looked like fun.

I also noticed these elaborately decorated buildings.

After walking back to the brewery we had just missed the 2:40 shuttle back to the Radisson. The last shuttle was at 3:40, so we went back to the stables and then just waited at the curb. We ran into a family of 3 also waiting for the bus. As it turned out they were also getting on the Magic the next day. This was our 4th encounter of the day. Ironically, they had also been on the same DCL Alaska cruise with us last summer. It truly is a Small World.

Next: The Tivoli Hotel

 

[cheermom2four]

Love following this so far!!!

 

[DMMarla07860]

following along, since I'm also staying at Tivoli and good reading about the brewery

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We are booked on this same cruise for June 2016. I can't wait to read the rest of your trip report and view your photos. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading. I know this report will be too late for this summer, but hopefully it will help people plan for next summer.

Love following this so far!!!

Thanks!

following along, since I'm also staying at Tivoli and good reading about the brewery

Glad that the brewery segment was of interest to you. You'll have to tune in tomorrow for my Tivoli Hotel installment. It should also be of interest.

 

[Flossbolna]

We thought about visiting Carlsberg, but had other things that we wanted to do more. And had to re-arrange our Tivoli time due to rain. I see that I need to put a visit to Carlsberg on the agenda for my next visit to Copenhagen!

 

[elena_n2o]

The brewery looks really good! We didn't visit it either, but I'll put it in the top of my list for next time... We loved Copenhagen and hope to go back sometime!!

Really great read and beautiful pictures, looking forward to more

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We thought about visiting Carlsberg, but had other things that we wanted to do more. And had to re-arrange our Tivoli time due to rain. I see that I need to put a visit to Carlsberg on the agenda for my next visit to Copenhagen!

The brewery looks really good! We didn't visit it either, but I'll put it in the top of my list for next time... We loved Copenhagen and hope to go back sometime!!

Really great read and beautiful pictures, looking forward to more

Thanks!.

Here are a few more pictures from our Canal Tour and Carlsberg.

This is the Marble Bridge and it is behind Christiansborg. When you enter between the 2 gates are you entering into the Riding Ground Complex.

Here are the sculptures on top of the entry gates. I was attracted by the gold crowns on top. (OOH! Shiny things! )

Here are some details on the bridges.

Here are a couple of more from Carlsberg.

Hoping to have another installment up today.