Fjords and food

Well, I am finally back in the land of wifi that works - hello Copenhagen airport!

When I last left you I was resting my tired feet after a day of climbing in Alesund. Back on board, it was time for dinner! Tonight was a little hit and miss in the dining room. The first course, a duck terrine, was lovely.

Next was an abomination. This was so bad I ate two mouthfuls and could not do anymore. It was supposed to be chilli. 

I tried to redeem the meal with dessert - soufflé - but sadly it was really chewy. I ended up going to get a sneaky snack from the Windjammer instead. 

I was really struggling to go to sleep, despite a 7:35am meeting in the theatre the following morning. The trip down the fjord was spectacular, and the midnight sun meant you could continue to enjoy the view well into the wee hours.

The following day we arrived in Geiranger (along with our stalker, the Norweigan Star). The Star was given a tender, where as we got the moving dock. Basically the dock comes to the ship.

This may be one of the most amazing places I have ever been. I can't talk more highly of this port. I did an excursion to the glacier, and I think after talking to others who went on different excursions, it was the real winner. We started by getting in the bus and starting the climb up into the mountains.

Before we knew it, we were in snow! And, it was actually snowing at times as we drive through the peaks (which were about 3000 feet above sea level). 

There were even a number of frozen lakes along the drive.

Eventually we started the drive back down the other side, and out of the snow. Before we knew it we were at the park around the glacier. The excursion included lunch, so we sat down to three courses in the resturant there. We had soup, and salmon and crepe for dessert. Then we had the hike up to the glacier itself. This was all at your own pace. You could take a 'troll car' most of the way if you chose, but I am so glad I walked. 

Once you started getting closer the scenery became more amazing.

Then, the glacier was in sight. 

Seriously, how pretty is that? When we finally got to the glacier it was cold, and windy, and raining, but worth it. 

The walk back was all downhill, so pretty easy, though you did need to watch out not to get run over by a troll car! 

Back in the bus we drove back through the hills, stopping several times for pictures. It really was a day where your camera got a good workout! 

Once back on board, we basically had an epic three hour scenic sail away as we went back through the fjord and into the North Sea. We also got to see a number of great waterfalls along the way, including the famous 7 Sisters waterfall. 

I was a little peeved I didn't get to enjoy that much of it, as the Murder Mystery Dinner I had booked had been moved to the Friday night (was supposed to be Thursday). We were apparently the smallest group the cast had ever had. It was all good fun. One of the girls wigs came off early in the piece, so it became a running joke that was cracking up cast and audience as no one quite knew where the jokes were going at times. It was really interactive (both between cast and audience during the dinner portion and with your fellow guests). The food in giovannis was great (no pictures, I was having too much fun!).  We were all chatting with the cast afterwards who told us the scenario changes all the time. Talking to the 'victim' he was just cranky his character was the one who died so he didn't get to have as much fun as the others. 

I was greeted that evening by a new cabin mate.

Saturday was a sea day. And a miserable one at that.

The constant rain meant everyone was inside, and the ship felt really crowded. There were announments in the windjammer at lunch about eating and leaving quickly so everyone could come in. 

I was supposed to do the All Access Tour that day. Booked it months ago and was really looking forward to it. I went to Guest Services to ask where I needed to go. They informed me it was cancelled (as only five people had booked it) and had no idea why nobody had told me. At this point I realised every single thing I booked on Cruise Planner had been cancelled or changed by RC. Everything. Fair to say I won't be bothering to book anything in advance for my next RC cruise in December as a result. 

I struggled to find things to do (given I had planned the day around the tour). I watched the movie in the cinema (Room, pretty depressing for a holiday flick), and went to bingo, though when I got to that they were also about to cancel due to lack of interest! They ended up playing one game only, fully card only. There were a few women in there who looked like they may roll the bingo caller if he hadn't done that! 

Sea was a bit rocky, so the aerial show was also cancelled, but thankfully they put on some live music instead. Show that night was a juggler (balls, rings and hats - no knives or chainsaws - though I had talked to him previously on the ship and he did tell us that he did have a routine involving knives). 

Had probably the best meal of the trip in the MDR. Started with eggplant tartare. 

Followed by turkey (this was unbelievably tender).

And key lime pie that they told me they smuggled from Florida.

This mornings disembarkation was a debacle. There was a delay in getting us cleared despite arriving pretty much on time (almost an hour delay I think). For reasons I don't understand they basically announced every group at once, and then announced that they needed the people on the airport transfers to come immediately. It would have made more sense to get the airport people off first, then everyone else if they wanted us off quickly, because having almost all groups at once just created congestion. They were yelling in the baggage area for the airport groups to be quick, but then when you got outside, there were no busses for the airport, they had been filled and gone and we needed to wait for the next batch. People were pushing and being rude. Knowing my flight was not for quite a few hours I dropped back and tried to let the madness past. There was almost a revolt on our bus when we were about to leave and the bus was waved down because a woman on the bus had taken someone else's luggage! She denied it, but what was hilarious was I saw the bags get swapped and they looked nothing alike! What was she thinking? I think we ended up leaving over an hour after our assigned disembarkation time. 

So now I am at the airport. I've realised my cruise account statement doesn't add up (going to need to get that sorted) and I am already crafting my narky email to RC about them falsely advertising streaming capable Internet that can barely load Facebook. 

Now for the long flight(s) home.