Jul 2007

Thursday, June 14

Vik and Flam, Norway
Sunrise: 3:57AM Sunset: 11:05PM
Temperature: 58°, Cloudy and chilly

Flam, Norway

6:30AM Rise

7:30AM Breakfast in the La Fontaine dining room: (Table service here) O.J., Cereal with banana, Scrambled eggs with bacon, potato, and toast, coffee or French toast, V8, Yogurt.

Very good view of mountain sides and waterfalls. Low clouds, scattered buildings, a few pasture meadows on the hillsides, clear, deep colored water.

Fjord: A long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by dramatic, craggy mountains and displaying scattered waterfalls. We were fortunate to see many very scenic falls, especially in Gerainger, thanks to the very heavy snowfall the previous winter.

Our destination is located in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the 126 mile long and 1308 meters deep Sognefjord, which is Norway’s longest fjord. Situated at the end of a fjord, Flam is located between steep peaks and deep water, famous for its electric railway the zigzags through mountaintops and many tunnels. Prior to arriving, the ship made a brief call at Vik to accommodate guests who would be departing on a land excursion between Vik and Flam.

9:30 - 11:00AM From our ship we took a tender to shore and, fortified with a good local map, we took a walking trail north of the town. This was very scenic and quiet. We could see a few falls and plush green meadows with many wild flowers. There was good view of a major water fall: “Brekkefossen”. This is also a tourist area for locals, as we saw numerous trailers and campers at a few camping areas.

11:45AM We returned to the Rotterdam for lunch: Salad, Chowder soup, Pasta, Hot berry cobbler (hmm, good), cheesecake, coffee.

12:30 - 2:30PM We returned to shore and walked along the north side shoreline of Flam for several miles to a point which was directing us up a 900 meter long steep hillside climb to the Otternes Farmyard consisting of 27 clustered houses dating from the 17th century. Needless to say, we not meet this challenge at this time - the walk and seaside views were enough.

3:30PM Back on the Rotterdam we settled down for some sherbet/ice cream!

5:45PM Dinner time: (Smart Casual Dress) Dutch fruit cocktail, pea soup, dutch pot pie, strawberry cheese cake or Tomato/Mozirella appetizer, hot berry cobbler. minestrone soup, wine, coffee.

8:30PM Showtime: Pete Matthews. UK’s premier comedy juggler.

Walk today: 9 miles

Arrival at Stavanger, Norway (Pop. 111,000) 8:00AM 57° and Sunny

Sunrise today 4:25AM Sunset: 10:49PM

We are up at 6:30 AM

7:15AM Breakfast in the Lido: Cereal, rolls, pancakes and sausage, O.J., coffee.

9:00 - 11:30AM We explored the city of Stavanger. It is a bit chilly and a jacket felt good.
We walked through the “Old Town” located on the hillside, where there were a number of restored 18th century white wooden houses and lots of flowers and narrow streets. Stavanger is the “capital” of Norway’s off-shore oil industry, and as a result there were quite a few banks and financial buildings in the city central area. Norway is the world’s third largest exporter of crude oil.

12:00PM We returned to the ship for lunch in the Lido: Pasta with mushrooms and carrots, fruit - heavy on the fresh pineapple, “farmer’s” soup, tea and a few pastries.

2:00-2:45PM One last walk for some photos shots in the nearby “Old Town” area. We must have seen all of the restored homes, as we made our way over cobblestone, narrow streets and walkways.

4:45PM We attended a cocktail gathering given by the Ensemble Travel host who will be handling our land tour in Trondheim on June 19. It was an opportunity to get some details about the tour and meet others who will be with us.

5:45PM Dinner in the La Fontaine Dining Room: (Smart Casual Dress) Chicken noodle soup, iceberg lettuce, argula with oranges and pecans, salmon, chocolate cake (a gift from Helen, our travel agent), pear sundae delight, coffee. Dress this evening was “Smart casual”: Men-slacks and colored shirts; Ladies - Casual dresses, slacks and informal wear.

8:30PM Showtime: Guitarist - Justin MIller

9:30PM We checked out the Classical group in the Explorer lounge

Walk today: 5.4 miles

Skagen, Denmark 68° and Sunny

*

7:45AM - a bit of a plumbing problem, which occurred intermittingly throughout the cruise.

Breakfast: Cereal, rolls, O.J., banana, De-caf.

9:10 Wajang Theater to await our number (Group 9) to take the tender into Skagen, Norway.

10:00- 11:30AM We walked through the town. Generally cream colored buildings and red tiled roofs. All signs were in Danish, which made it difficult to see what we were looking at, etc. It was nice day for an easy walk. Skagen is the most northern tip of Denmark.
They say that on the tip you can stand with your feet in two different seas = the Baltic and the North Sea!

12:00-12:30PM Back on board and lunch at the Lido: Soup, chicken salad sandwich with potato chips, fresh fruit, bread pudding, tea.

After a short rest in our cabin we went to the Explorer Lounge to sit, enjoy the scenery of Skagen area and read.

3:00PM The Rotterdam sets sail for Stavanger, Norway

3:30PM Afternoon tea in the La Fontaine Dining Room 5. Sit down service by white gloved waiters who served your choice of flavored tea and several pastry items.

4:00PM Mass in the Wajang Theater. Vincentian Father Thomas Dudley, a retired professor at Niagara University for 47 years, age 82. There was a very small group to attend 10-12, which was generally who attended later Masses. A various change in times and locations did not help attendance.

5:45PM Dinner in the La Fontaine Dining Room: This was a Formal Dress affair - Gentlemen to wear jackets and tie - Dark suit/tuxedo suggested. Ladies, cocktail dresses or suits are appropriate. We had Tropical fruit, Caesar Salad, Salmon/Rack of Lamb, Bombe for dessert, Coffee.

8:30PM Showtime in the Queen’s Lounge 4&5, starring the Singers and Dancers of the Rotterdam: Love songs from Broadway, Costumes from Mackie.

9:30PM We listened to the “Black Pearl Strings” classical” players in the Explorer Lounge - a pianist, violin and cello. They played light classical and pops-type pieces.

Monday, 11 June

After immigration and baggage claim we were escorted by Holland America personnel to their check in facility - a very organized procedure to accommodate the crowd. Here we were checked in with our voucher papers, had our photos taken and received our plastic boarding passes, which we would be using extensively during the tour. We needed them to enter our cabin, leave and reenter the ship when we were in port. A bar code quickly displayed your photo on a TV monitor, so ship personnel had no doubt that you were authorized to leave and reboard the ship when in port. We did obtain early seating for dinner in the upper level of the La Fontaine Dinning Room, located in aft of the ship. Our table #42 was an round 8-seater - but we generally ate with four other passengers. We boarded the Rotterdam at 12:15PM

Our cabin #2556 was located on the port side of the main deck, about midship. Our cabin was typical: A narrow entry with a bathroom on the left. opposite several closets, then a wider space with couch, chair, small table opposite a mirrored dresser with a TV mounted high on a shelf; then beyond was our bed beneath the porthole.

We went to the Lido (8th level, aft) for lunch: fruit, linguine/salmon, barley soup, tea and a few pastries. We rested a bit and walk on the Lower Promenade deck, until our luggage was finally delivered to our cabin. We had little time remaining before we had the mandatory life boat drill, when we had to don our life preservers and proceed to our assigned life boat area on the Lower promenade deck. This was a very exact drill, and all had to be accounted for, as they checked off your cabin numbers. Fortunately, we did not have one of these for real!

Our first dinner in the La Fontaine: (Smart Casual Dress -Slacks and collared shirts for men; casual dresses, slacks, informal wear for ladies) Fruit, Kansas City Vegetable soup, Salmon, Cod fish, Apple strudel w/ice cream. Dinner time was always 5:45PM and lasted until approximately 7:00/7:15PM - plenty of time to sit and chat about the days activities and learn the habits of our table partners: Eleanor and Barbara - who have been traveling together for 10 years; Kaye or Barbara (never could quite figure out which name she went by) - a widow from Iowa and a little quirky at times; Alec, from California - his wife does not like long flights, etc - so he was solo and added a good balance to our group. We were all in the “senior category”. of course.

6:00PM While we were having dinner the Rotterdam set sail for Skagen, Denmark.

8:30 PM: This evening we went to the Wajang theater on Deck 4 to see “Wild Hogs”, a very good comedy, and a fitting end to our long day

Walk today: 3.2 miles

Sunday, June 10

Dan is borrowing our Toyota and is driving us to the airport today. Arrived 11:10AM. check in through security - had to dispose of our SEALED water bottles! Our Delta flight #745 departed 1:30PM for our Atlanta connection. Plenty of time to wait here, as we departed 6:25PM on Delta flight #68. (B767-300ER) - a very crowded airplane. Estimated flying time: 8 hours and 55 minutes; distance: 4,597 miles to Copenhagen, Denmark. There was a 5-hour difference in time.

Dinner on board: Choice of Grilled breast of chicken or Farfalle Pasta, bread and butter, Cheese and crackers. Complimentary wine. Brownies for dessert!

A mid-flight snack.

A good morning meal of Orange juice, banana, granola bar, croissant with butter and preserves.

We arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark 9:15 AM. 11 Jun 2007.