Norwegian Fjord Cruise Vacation - 06/30/24 (Afterthoughts)

 

Having had a good bit of rest from the day before, I figure that it is time to collect my thoughts about my recent cruise.  It is truly a "once in a lifetime" cruise for, as the UN has declared the Norwegian Fjords to be a World Heritage Site and Norway is using this (for its own reasons) to eliminate conventionally powered ships from entering the fjords to reduce CO2 pollution.  Next year, it will be virtually impossible for us to go to Flam or Geiranger with the cruise lines of our choice because Norway is gradually banning cruise ships from their fjords, a process which will be complete by the end of the decade.

This was our first time traveling internationally by air.  For the most part, my worries were unfounded.  However, it was something well worth thinking about, as we would not be protected by US law while we were overseas and we might make mistakes that would be tolerated in the US, but not overseas.  If anything, the mistakes we could make are violations of custom, and not of law.  Most of these mistakes would identify us as uncouth foreigners and not as lawbreakers, such as when I raised my voice at the Tower Bridge.

London itself, proved to be a place that we need to explore when we have the time to do so.  To do this, we would need to visit in the early spring or in late autumn, so that we could ride the tube without needing to be cooled by non-existant air conditioning.  (We'd also have to corral my niece into being a tour guide for a few days for this.)  Like the fjords, we would need several large capacity memory cards for the photos we'd be taking on this trip.

I found that having a universal travel adapter to be an essential part of my travel kit.  I needed it for my CPAP machine in London, as well as for an extra electric socket on the ship.  (Thinking about my CPAP unit, it is time that I schedule an appointment with the sleep doctor, as my machine has reached end-of-life.)  Having extra USB-A to USB-C cables also helps, as most of my electronic gear uses the newer cabling standard.

The fjords are must-visit places, awe inspiring wonders that people should see at least once in their lifetimes.  If possible, the Flam railway is a must if you can get to Flam. (it will not be accessible in the future to most cruise ships.)  If in Alesund, one must take a cruise into the fjords, as we were gobsmacked there as much as we were on the Flam railway.

After Norway, we arrived at the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium.  It's about 45-60 minutes from Ghent, which I consider a place worth spending a long weekend, instead of a short day.  60 minutes touring the old town plus a 60 minute canal cruise is not enough.  As much as I wasn't impressed with the idea of stopping here, instead of stopping at another Norwegian port, I was glad that we came here.  Too bad that the port is so far away from Ghent, otherwise more people might have taken this excursion.

Finally, we had to return home.  If one can avoid returning to the USA in an airline that goes to JFK Terminal 4, do so.  If the weather is bad, this can be a taxing place for one's return home.  (Avoid Delta and Virgin Atlantic flights for this trip.)  I can't make any excuses for Terminal 4, nor should I try to do so.  The Port Authority of NY and NJ has no excuse for allowing any airline to subject passengers to this poor excuse for the international arrivals process for airlines using Terminal 4.  But then, JFK has been a mess from the time it was called Idlewild, and it will remain a mess long after I have passed from the scene.

Norwegian Fjord Cruise Vacation - 06/28/24 (Zeebrugge, Belgium)

Today is our last stop in mainland Europe, and our last shore excursion.  We have been choosing relatively low energy shore excursions, as neither of us have the energy for strenuous activities such as mountain hikes or long bike rides.  We'll leave those activities for the younger folk.  One of the nice things about a 14-day cruise is that it filters out many younger people.  On 7-day cruises, we find a lot of families with young children.  Although most of these children are well behaved, a small few are not.  Most of these families cannot afford to take 2 weeks off for a cruise of this length.  So, they choose shorter cruises which fit their vacation needs.  However, this means that a higher percentage of older people (mostly in our age range) are onboard, and we've encountered many people with mobility problems.  Too bad that these people are often unable to get off the ship and enjoy many of the excursions available to the rest of us.

Our excursion for today was the Ghent By Canal Cruise.  Luckily, it was scheduled for the afternoon, as we ended up getting moving later than usual in the morning.  This would be our last breakfast in the buffet, and we both had hearty meals before our excursion.  We would both feel that this would be a blessing, as we didn't have another meal until we got back from the excursion 5 1/2 hours later.

Once on the tour bus, we were taken to Ghent, where we boarded a canal boat for a 60 minute tour.  We got the history of this city, and (maybe) a smidgen of a sunburn.  The tour guide told us that there would be a "Wow!" moment, and she was right.  There was a castle built along the canal that took us by surprise, and this was the WOW! moment she told us about.  Sadly, the above pictures cannot do this city justice, as I should have been shooting with a proper DSLR camera with appropriate lenses.  It is a place where one should spend several days to get the true vibe of the area.

Unfortunately, we could only spend 60 minutes walking around the city.  So we didn't go far from the canal boat that took us to the tour bus that returned us to the ship.  Even so, we were the last people to board the ship.  Once onboard, we picked up our "free" photos from the photo center, then went for dinner.  Sadly, both of us left our phones in the cabin to charge, and we were not able to get pictures of the pilot boat coming to the ship to guide us into Southampton harbor.

Once back in the room, it was time to finish packing our large suitcases and put them out for porters to deliver them to the pier tomorrow morning.  Sadly, our cruise has come to an end, and now it's time to go back to reality.