Tag Archives: cruises

Hebridean Island Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

Now that we’ve been on a Regent cruise… are we converts?

I have long maintained that when it comes to cruises, I am strictly a “small ship” person. I like to be able to get around the ship easily, and get outside to get the best photos. I like really good food, personalized service, and all inclusive pricing. I don’t care much about ship based Broadway shows, shopping on board, lots of restaurants, casinos, coffee bars, waterslides, or marble bathrooms.

I do appreciate spas, hot tubs, and pool areas, but they aren’t a must for me. I like having the chance to meet new people, but that’s also not an absolute must. I mainly just want to get through the week without constantly running into people who are annoying, or annoying other people myself.

I resisted trying Regent Seven Seas Cruises for a long time, because I figured the ship would be too big for me. I also read some reviews of their older ships that made me think they would disappoint me. Even though Splendor is a very new ship (for me, it’s extremely new), I was still kind of skeptical that I’d love it.

And… well… to be honest, while I had a great time on Splendor, I didn’t fall in love with it. I wasn’t wowed by the experience the way I was when I got off my first SeaDream or Hebridean cruises. Some of that may be because now I’ve done a few luxury cruises. It no longer blows me away to be able to order a cocktail on a ship and not have to worry about what it costs or what the tip should be. I’m older, and maybe I’m a little jaded. It’s been awhile since we were last “broke”. šŸ˜‰ (knock on wood)

Maybe I’d be a confirmed Regent “cheerleader” if our most recent cruise was my first luxury experience. But it wasn’t, and there were some things I didn’t like about Regent. I think the main thing I noticed was that it wasn’t a very personal experience. Almost none of the crew knew our names or preferences. While that’s not a big deal to someone like me, it also doesn’t fit my definition of what a luxury experience is. One of the quickest ways to impress me is to call me by my preferred name… and not my legal first name! Call me Jennifer, and you’ll definitely annoy me. No one who actually knows me, calls me that.

Another thing I noticed was that the wait staff had some lapses in table maintenance. They were pretty good about replacing silverware and removing dishes in a timely manner, but they often neglected to pick up things like used sugar packages or other trash. Only one or two servers used a table crumber after the main course. Granted, table crumbing is a little thing, but I think if a line wants to bill itself as “luxurious”, that’s a necessary part of service. Especially when there are obvious crumbs that need to be swept up.

Regent had a lot of buffets. I don’t mind buffets, and what they offered was fine. In some cases, it was a real treat. I don’t get to enjoy a lot of fresh shrimp cocktail or prime rib these days, for instance. Regent’s buffets didn’t have a lot of lines, which is a good thing. However, table service, really, is more luxurious to me than going to a buffet. SeaDream and Hebridean both have the occasional buffet, but they are much less pervasive. Hebridean has a cold seafood buffet that is positively decadent and put Regent to shame. But then… the ships are much smaller!

I think, what Regent offers is a very comfortable ship. There aren’t huge crowds, and most everything is taken care of in some way. That’s a good thing, and I think their product is excellent quality. I would not balk at cruising with them again in the future, especially for the right price and itinerary. I probably wouldn’t book Regent for a common itinerary that I could find on a smaller ship. I never see my usual lines going to the Baltic Sea, so that’s why we tried Regent. It worked out great for that purpose. Moreover, I can’t deny that our superior suite on Regent was fabulous. It was the most comfortable room we’ve ever had at sea, and it wasn’t even their top category.

This couple was on our cruise, and they had a much fancier suite than we did!

I also think that I probably prefer land based trips to cruises. I usually only choose cruising if I want to cover a large area in a short time, or there’s limited or difficult accessibility by land means (say visits to islands). Sometimes, cruises simply work best for certain itineraries. Our last trip, for instance, was in an expensive area where there’s a lot of water and not too many land based options for travel. Cruising is good for the Baltic and Nordic countries, especially if you don’t have an electric car! But, given a choice, I’d generally rather arrange a road trip and stay in a really lovely hotel or self-catering place.

We didn’t cruise in Norway (where some people are actually discouraging cruising), but I noticed that most of the cars there are electric. Gas is expensive! Actually, just about everything in Norway is expensive, save for things like education and healthcare! I would have loved to have traveled by land, though, so I could see more of the country and explore its hospitality from locals. Ditto to Sweden and Finland, although we have driven in Sweden and Denmark. I am especially interested in doing some land travel in places like Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. I’m hoping that when the new Baltic train is completed, we can try it out.

I don’t know if or when we’ll cruise again. I suspect we will. I’m still dying to try a French Barge cruise, and I’ve seen some smaller lines that I think we’ll like, like The Majestic Line in Scotland. I’m also curious about certain unique ships like Sea Cloud, and Europa and Europa II, even though they aren’t all inclusive. I still love SeaDream for its friendly and service oriented staff and amenities, although I don’t think I enjoy the clientele as much. Of the lines we’ve tried so far, Hebridean has my favorite mix of crew and fellow passengers, but doesn’t go to as many places as other lines do.

Anyway… I do like Regent, and although I did say I wasn’t sure if I’d cruise again, the truth is, I probably will do another cruise with them someday. But I definitely haven’t joined the Regent Seven Seas “cult”. šŸ˜€ Some people get personally offended when people have anything negative to say about their favorite cruise lines! They all have their drawbacks, though, and it’s not a bad thing to point out a cruise line’s plusses and minuses. After all, these trips are expensive! Most people don’t want to gamble with $10,000, especially if they aren’t wealthy!

No line is perfect, but some lines suit certain people better than others do. I’m just glad there are so many choices to be made, and fascinating places to see. And I’m grateful to have the freedom and be in a position in which we can do these trips and enjoy them to the fullest. It’s a privilege to experience these travel adventures and get to write about them candidly. I could certainly be doing worse things with my time!

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Champagne Bucket trips, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

July 2… time to go HOME.

On the morning of July 2, it was time to start the process of ending our big trip of 2023. Again, I can’t say that I was sad about it. I love going on vacations. I enjoy traveling– seeing new things, buying new stuff, meeting people, eating different foods, and drinking different beverages… especially the adult varieties. But it all has to end eventually.

I missed Noyzi. I craved having access to my washing machine. I worried about the pile up of mail. I even had fond memories of my bed, which really needs a new mattress. And, even though not that many people want to read my blog posts about our travels, I was really itching to write and upload all of the photos I took over the two weeks we were gone. I prefer to write on my desktop computer, which is at home. So, home was where we needed to go.

Bill checked out of the hotel, while I went to the handy self check-in kiosk in the hotel lobby. I printed our luggage tags and boarding passes, and we made our way to the luggage drop off point, which was actually a pretty stout walk within the airport from the hotel. It was especially rigorous, since we had heavy bags. I was thanking God that I booked business class on the plane, because it got us into the short security line, and we were able to get through and into the SAS Lounge (which also serves Lufthansa passengers) in no time.

Glad Bill likes cheese!

The Copenhagen Airport has a pretty decent lounge, although I didn’t make full use of it. I just sat in a nice chair and drank sparkling water while we waited until it was time to make our way to our gate. Once we got there, we found it backed up with a lot of passengers and not enough seating. Typical! šŸ˜‰

I was a little worried that maybe our plane would be like the one we flew out of Bergen on… two by two seating in a very narrow aircraft. But it was a nice spacious plane, with three seats per row. Since we were in business class, we had an empty middle seat, and we even got served “breakfast”… which was mostly stuff I don’t eat. But they did have warm croissants and orange juice, which was fine for me. I also appreciated the chocolate they gave us afterwards!

The flight was perfectly lovely, and we landed on time in Frankfurt. It took forever to get our bags, and I think we might have even been the only ones who checked baggage. We were the only ones we noticed from our flight waiting for bags, which took over a half hour to get to us. While we were waiting, we encountered more Americans. One was a woman who looked a little annoyed when I sat down in a chair near her luggage. She changed her tune when she started wondering aloud about transportation and Bill helpfully piped up with local insider info. She asked us where we were from, and we answered America… but now we live here in Germany, and boy has it changed us in profound ways.

I don’t know what the woman and her husband were here for. The way she was dressed and the amount of luggage she had suggested that maybe she was going to go on a Rhein cruise or something. But those usually start in Basel, Switzerland or Amsterdam, Netherlands. They do pass through the Rheingau, though, and I often watch them and think… maybe I’d book one of those if I didn’t live so close to so many of the stops!

We found the Volvo and drove home, quickly unpacked, and I started doing laundry. I turned on the robot mower to deal with the very high grass. I checked out our rain barrel, which was full of nasty critters I’ve been killing all week. And I’ve been writing on this blog for a solid eight days. I’ve still got some more to write about, but the actual blog series on our big Nordic trip is over now. I hope some of you enjoyed it.

For those who are curious… This trip ran us approximately $22,000. We don’t usually come close to spending that much on a vacation, and we spent more than we had to. This was not an economy trip, by any means. We were also gone for two weeks, traveling in style in a very expensive area of the world. So…

*Cruise was about $12,000 or so… Concierge E on Regent Seven Seas Splendor, which is a luxury class, all inclusive cruise ship.

*Business class plane tickets from Frankfurt to Oslo, Bergen to Stockholm, and Copenhagen to Frankfurt, probably about $2,000 or so.

*A compartment on the train to Bergen from Oslo, about $500

*Hotels for eight nights, about $2,000 or so. Those, we paid at the hotel, rather than ahead of time.

*Trip insurance for a year about $1,000 (covers all trips all year)

*Food, booze, shopping, transportation, tickets to activities etc. about $4,500

I also havenā€™t factored in how much Noyziā€™s boarding was. We had to prepay that in cash before we left.

If we’d wanted to, we could have pared down costs considerably. This summer, we really just wanted to enjoy ourselves. We definitely aren’t alone. Europe is teeming with people this year, and prices are pretty high. I’m happy to report that most of these costs were paid off before our trip started. We just need to work on paying off the stuff I didn’t pre-pay or pre-book.

It was a special pleasure to visit Finland and Latvia, two places I had never been to before, and learn about other places I’d never heard of, like Visby and Bornholm. It really was a good time, albeit very different from our usual road trips south!

So, that about does it for this series. I have to close now, as workmen have just shown up to replace the windows in my house. Hope to see some comments at some point!

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Champagne Bucket trips, Finland, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

Our first impressions of dinner on Regent Splendor…

Our first night aboard Splendor, we had dinner reservations in Prime 7 (the steakhouse) for 8:30 PM. We don’t usually eat that late in the evening, but there were no earlier times available. Since I wanted to try all three of the specialty restaurants, I took that time. It wasn’t a bad plan, as a lot of people don’t book the specialty restaurants on the first night. Also, at this time of year in Scandinavia, the sun still shines brightly at 8:30 PM.

Bill could have put an eye out when he opened our sailaway champagne!

We had plenty of time to kill before we went to eat dinner, so Bill and I went to the Observation Lounge on Deck 11 for the welcome party. As we were sitting there listening to a guy name Rick “tickling the ivories” and sipped wine, we heard someone call our names. We turned to our left and there were Gail and Ger, whom we met on our second SeaDream Yacht Club cruise in November 2011.

We got up and hugged them, then moved to their table for four, where we caught up on things. Ger and Gail live in England, and like us, they’d moved since our last in person meeting. Ger is a pilot and is about to retire. When I asked him if he was okay with that, he seemed very honest and happy when he reported that he truly is. Now he can travel for fun even more often!

Gail and Ger were also booked in Prime 7, but they had an earlier reservation. So after a little more catching up, they took their leave, and Bill and I hung out in the lounge a little bit longer. Rick, the pianist, had packed up and left by then, so we listened to the easy listening/jazz/mellow R&B that seems to be piped in all over Regent Splendor. I didn’t mind some of the jazz selections they were playing. I even Shazamed some of them. As I type this, I’m listening to music by Diane Kirkwood, a jazzy singer I discovered on Regent Splendor. I even downloaded her album.

Some of the other music they piped in was decidedly “elevator music” style, which I like a lot less, and sometimes even find a little “triggering”. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but some of you haven’t been forced to ride for hours in the back of a van with a hyper-controlling musician wannabe father who hums, and it shows. šŸ˜‰ While it’s true that Regent has a number of “senior” folks aboard, most of them seemed far from needing a nursing home. I think if anyone from the cruise line asked me for my opinion, I’d advise Regent to ditch the “beautiful music” style tunes and stick with a more adult contemporary sound. But, that’s just me.

When it was time for our reservation, Bill and I headed to Deck 10 on the starboard side, where we were met by a smiling man named Aras who said he had a table, but not one that was by a window. We said that was okay, since we were there to eat, rather than look out the window. Bwahahahaha… Actually, I like looking out the windows when I travel, but I knew we would certainly survive dinner without direct window access. So we sat down and enjoyed a very beautiful meal… See below!

A couple of selfies with my main man…
I always manage the best smiles when Bill is by my side.
The outside area of Prime 7. There is a bar in the vicinity for those who have to wait for their table. I never saw anyone using it.
A local military ship.
I think this was pork cheek with a scallop.
And beef carpaccio for Bill.
Prime Rib with mashed potatoes for me. The mashed potatoes were delicious.
And Bill had a strip steak with bearnaise and fries.
I was a bit stuffed, so I had a half portion of their “special” 14 layer chocolate dessert with pistachio sauce. It was delicious.
Bill had red velvet cheesecake. We shared candies.

After dinner, we waddled back to Suite 964 and watched the sunset as we left Sweden for Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki is, of course, the original place we were going to visit. Finland won the champagne bucket draw, after all. I was looking forward to seeing a new place in a country I had never visited before. But first, we had to get there, and it would take all night, as Regent Splendor gently made her way…

We tucked ourselves into bed and soon fell fast asleep. No joke… Regent Splendor’s linens are absolutely exquisite. It took no time before we were sound asleep.

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Welcome to Copenhagen…

Bill and I were among the last group to disembark from Regent Seven Seas Splendor. We were later in getting off, because we had hotel reservations at the Clarion Airport Hotel, which attaches directly to the airport. We arrived here after a lengthy cab ride– maybe 40 minutes or so– and were greeted by a huge, modern hotel. It’s definitely not like the Clarion hotel we stayed in when we visited Bergen a couple of weeks ago.

Fortunately, the hotel is not fully booked, so we were allowed to check in early with a 500 Danish Crown upcharge (about $70). That was fine with us, because Bill and I are pretty tired and in need of some relaxation. Isn’t it crazy to have to need to relax after a vacation? We have a room on the 11th floor, which offers a view of Copenhagen. This hotel also has a spa and a restaurant, so we’ll be okay today. Maybe tomorrow, if the weather is good and we’re up to it, we’ll venture into the city and see what’s going on there. We might go out today, too, if the mood strikes.

Our Regent cruise was pretty busy, as we had excursions every day that took up several hours. Most of them involved a lot of walking, which was good for me. But when you aren’t used to being around a lot of people on a daily basis, it can get kind of tiring. Also, I’m still doing some hacking and wheezing from my recent cold.

We managed to say goodbye to our friends, Ger and Gail, whom we met on SeaDream in 2011. We also said goodbye to a nice Scottish couple from Dundee we met on our Tallinn tour. Unfortunately, the husband had a health issue that required him to use Regent’s medical facility. He said it cost about $6000! I didn’t ask what the issue was, as it was none of my business. He did look relatively well as he was walking off the ship. I had heard about insane prices for cruise ship medical care, and Regent is an American line. Still, what a shock! He says his insurance will pay when he makes a claim. I sure hope so!

The other couples we met were also from Europe– two from Germany and one from Belgium. We spent no time talking with our countrymen. I will delve more into that when I begin writing my series for this trip.

We almost skipped yesterday’s excursion to Bornholm, which would have been a mistake. I think it might have been my favorite of all the places we went. I could see myself coming back there for a vacation and exploring the island. But I was tired yesterday, and the excursion didn’t start until 4PM. I’m glad I stuck it out and went on the tour, even if the guide wasn’t the best speaker I’ve ever heard.

I may start writing my series today or tomorrow, if the mood strikes. But for now, I think I’m going to take a nap. šŸ˜‰

The featured photo is our view from the west wing of the Clarion Airport Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. It’s a nice view, isn’t it?

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The cruise portion of our vacation is now winding down…

We will be disembarking from Regent Seven Seas Splendor tomorrow morning, and heading to an airport hotel in Copenhagen. Originally, I had planned to book a stay in town, but decided it would be easier to base us near our airport and take Copenhagen’s handy public transport into town. I think I was having trouble deciding which hotel would be best for us and finally just said “fuck it”.

Overall, we’ve had a really great trip! There have been a few minor annoyances, but in the grand scheme of things, this has been a wonderful Scandinavian holiday. I just wish I hadn’t gotten sick. I’m mostly better now, but I’ve had a cough and congestion all week, and there’s a scab under my nose from all the nose blowing. I’m certainly not the only one who got sick, though. I’ve been hearing people hack and wheeze all week.

Now that I’ve tried Regent, which is regarded as a true “luxury” cruise line, I’m ready to do a comparison of our cruise experiences so far. In some ways, this cruise was very luxe. In other ways, it wasn’t so much. No matter what, we’ve done a lot of eating, enjoying of adult beverages, discovering new places that need further exploration, and crossing off bucket list items. I feel relaxed, and ready to get back to everyday life. I especially look forward to seeing Noyzi.

Today, we’re on an island off of Denmark called Ronne. Our excursion starts at 4PM and runs until about 8. I kind of want to skip it, because I’m a little toured out, but that would probably be a mistake. So we’ll check out Ronne, then come back and finish packing up so we can move on to the next hotel. In retrospect, maybe it would have been better to go home tomorrow, since it’s not so far. But, I hate to pass up the chance to see Copenhagen. I don’t know how enthused we’ll be about it, but maybe I’ll get some pictures.

As they say in Britain, “ta ta for now”…

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Hebridean Island Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

I’m looking forward to writing up this cruise…

As someone who usually opts for small cruise ships, I’ve definitely been noticing a lot of pros and cons related to being on a much bigger ship, like Regent Seven Seas Splendor. To be honest, I think I prefer the smaller ships, and will probably stick with those, unless there’s a specific destination I want to visit.

I do want to comment, though, on an experience I had a few years ago. I even blogged about it here. There was a thread on Cruise Critic about luxury lines. I had mentioned that I was surprised Hebridean Island Cruises was not listed as luxury. Some snobby woman argued with me about my classification of Hebridean as a “luxury” line. Her reasons that it wasn’t mainly had to do with things like the ship’s lack of a spa or casino, or lower thread counts on the sheets (although the Princess has wonderful linens). I thought her definition of luxury was pretty limited and said so. She’d never been on Hebridean Princess, and I have. Now I’ve been on Regent, which is her favorite line. And, I gotta say, I think I much prefer Hebridean and, yes, even though it lacks a spa and a casino, I think it’s more luxurious by far.

When I have more time, I will explain my many reasons for feeling this way. To be sure, Splendor is a BEAUTIFUL ship, and most everything has been very good. But in many areas, Hebridean Princess and even SeaDream (although it’s been ten years since my last SeaDream cruise) outshine Regent. But… I also realize that both Hebridean and SeaDream might be different post COVID. I’ll just have to cruise them again to know for sure. šŸ˜‰

Anyway, for some reason, I’m having trouble linking the post I referenced, so here’s an ugly link if you’re interested in that original discussion. I’ve been thinking about that exchange a lot, though, since we’ve been on Regent. I intend to flesh it out some more when I’m not so pressed for time. Maybe I’ll even get to it today, since we have a shorter excursion planned.

Luxury is personal and subjective…

I think this trip will keep me busy blogging for a long while…

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Latvia

A quick glimpse of Riga, Latviaā€¦

We are waiting for our excursion to begin. Right now, weā€™re on the 12th deck of the Splendor, gazing at Riga, Latviaā€™s old town skyline. I think our tour will take us out of the city for a few hours.

I really enjoyed Tallinn yesterday. We definitely need to plan a trip to stay there at some pointā€¦ but there are so many other places I still want to see! Here are a couple of photos for now. The stories are piling up quickly.

Riga!
Tallinn, Estoniaā€¦
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We arrived in Stockholm, slightly delayed…

Bill decided that we should get to the Bergen airport with plenty of time to spare, so our day got started pretty early this morning. We were up at 6 AM, packed our bags, had breakfast and checked out of the hotel by 7:30. Our cabbie was a little early, too, so we got to Bergen’s small, but modern airport well ahead of our scheduled 10:45 AM flight.

Bergen used to have a lounge, but it looks like maybe they closed it. It was no problem, though, because there was plenty of seating and lots of outlets for phones and such. Our Scandinavian Airlines flight was delayed, because the small aircraft wasn’t released at the optimal time. We were about 30 minutes late getting into the air. The plane was very cramped and crowded, and so many people had checked bags, or had their bags gate checked, there was some time spent rearranging things so everyone’s luggage would fit.

The flight itself was pleasant enough, though, once we got going. Because we were flying SAS Plus, we got a “meal”, which was basically a veggie wrap with cheese. I am very picky about cheese, so I didn’t eat mine. I ate cashews and drank water instead.

Upon arrival at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, we went to get our bags. I stopped in the ladies room and somehow cut my finger when I was trying to flush the commode. I was dripping blood when I came out of the stall, but of course, they use air dryers instead of paper towels at the airport. So I grabbed some toilet paper and applied direct pressure while we waited for our bags to appear.

A very friendly Kurdish cabbie noticed me and asked if we needed a cab. I gratefully nodded yes, and soon we were on our way to the city center, where Nobis Hotel is. That’s where Regent has put us up for the night. Check in was quick, friendly, and efficient, our bags were brought up for us, and they even gave us vouchers to help offset the cost of lunch.

Bill and I enjoyed a nice meal and beer, and now I think I’m going to take a nap. I did get some photos of our journey from Bergen to Stockholm. Tomorrow at this time, we’ll be on the ship, and my updates will probably be less frequent.

These are arranged from the most recent photos first…

That thing over the sink does come off.
The shower is very nice.
Pre-flight…
Those chairs were actually comfortable. Much better than our flight.

We will be off to the ship tomorrow at about 11:00 AM. I expect to be in pure chill mode in 24 hours.

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Champagne Bucket trips, trip planning

In case you needed a reminder… Scandinavia is EXPENSIVE.

The featured photo was taken on a day cruise we took in Oslo, Norway, back in 2009.

It’s not so often that I travel blog during the work week. We have the pandemic to thank for that, as it made taking normal trips a lot more difficult for the past couple of years. In 2023, things are pretty much back in full swing. I expect Europe will be, once again, teeming with people this summer. In fact, I expect there will be more people than ever.

A week ago, we did a champagne bucket draw, and Finland won. That meant planning a trip that included a stop in Finland. I marvel at the changes our plans have undergone within about ten days. We went from planning a Helsinki based trip that would include land based stops in the Baltic countries, to pulling the trigger on a luxury cruise, with a week in Norway beforehand.

When you see the words “luxury cruise” in my blog post, of course it goes without saying that this trip is going to be pricey. We are going to sail on Regent Seven Seasā€™ newest completed ship, Splendor, in June. An even newer ship, Grandeur, will be sailing this year, but I don’t think she’s had her maiden voyage yet. So, as of this writing, Splendor, which was built in 2020, is Regent’s newest. This will also be the newest ship we’ve ever sailed on, as we usually opt for either SeaDream or Hebridean Island Cruises, both of which offer luxury on much smaller and older vessels.

One of many Regent Splendor cruise ship tour videos on YouTube.

I chose this particular cruise on Regent mostly because of the itinerary, which includes a stop in Helsinki, as well as most of the Baltic locations we wanted to visit, along with a couple of other stops. It’s not our first Baltic cruise, though.

Our very first cruise was on Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas, back in 2009, and that was also a Baltic cruise. It was only four nights, and included stops in Tallin, Estonia and Copenhagen, Denmark, with embarkation in Oslo, Norway, and debarkation in Stockholm, Sweden. On that trip, we spent a couple of nights in Oslo, which we both really enjoyed. The cruise was loaded with Norwegians, and we found that we really enjoyed their joie de vivre. šŸ˜‰ Later, we encountered a friendly bunch of them on our second SeaDream cruise and vowed we’d visit Norway again. So that’s why we’re doing a week in Norway, too… and staying longer, so we can see more of Norway than just the city of Oslo. Below are a few photos from our cruise from Norway to Sweden in 2009… As you can see, I need to take more photos of beautiful Norway, at the very least! That was before I had an iPhone.

When I saw Regent’s June 23 Stockholm to Copenhagen cruise, I knew it was a no brainer to book it, because I was finding it very difficult to plan a land based trip including Finland and the Baltics… And yes, before anyone comes at me, I know there’s a large body of water we’d have to cross to get to the Baltics. I was planning a few days in Finland, then a ferry ride to Tallin, where I naively thought we could arrange train travel or maybe rent a car or something… At this writing, a train route is being constructed to make that vision come to fruition in the future. As of now, though, it’s just not convenient. šŸ˜‰ I also realized Bill wouldn’t want to be driving so much, and I wouldn’t want to be flying so much.

The cruise solution was simply more practical, and it was available during the time we wanted to travel. And– we had the money to pay for it, thanks to a big tax refund. Even better was the fact that the sailing I found was on sale… which was a damned good thing. In fact, I should have waited another week, because the price went down again, and it was quite a significant drop! Some people would probably tell me to cancel and rebook, but I’ve already had lots of words with my bank. Oh well… you win some, you lose some.

Anyway… last night, we were trying to decide how long we wanted to stay in the places we’re visiting before the cruise, and how we wanted to travel to them. It didn’t take us long to decide to visit Bergen, which is a very beautiful city on Norway’s west coast that offers enchanting scenery, fresh seafood, and lots to do. However, from Oslo, it takes seven hours to drive there or take the train. We could also fly; that takes just an hour. But if we fly, we’ll miss the incredibly beautiful scenery on the way, and have to deal with everything that flying entails nowadays.

I thought maybe we’d drive and stop somewhere on the way, maybe do some exploration. Unfortunately, renting a car in Norway, especially for a one way trip with drop off in another city, is VERY expensive. Gas and food are also very expensive in Norway, plus there are tolls on the road we’d be using.

The route from Oslo to Bergen is also rather devoid of places to stay. There are a lot of apartments to rent, and a few hotels that are either in the middle of nowhere or have dodgy reviews. I wouldn’t mind renting an apartment, but I’d hate to do that for just an overnight. Most of the ones I found were pretty bare bones, too. I did manage to find several hotels that allowed me to book now and pay later, and can be canceled up to the day of arrival. Clarion Hotels for the win! They even have a hotel out in the middle of nowhere that I considered booking, but then I thought again.

Finally, I think we decided we’d just take the train… which means we now have to decide if we want to leave at 8:23AM or 12:05PM. The later trip is notably less expensive, but slower. I suspect we’ll go for the morning time, so we can get to Bergen in the afternoon. If we wanted to spend another night in Oslo, we could get a really (relatively) cheap train fare… but then we’d be paying for another night in Oslo, which is legitimately a nice city, but one we’ve already seen. It’s not a super pretty town, either, although I do remember enjoying the day cruise we took on the Oslo Fjord in 2009.

So, once I found a hotel that offers parking, in case we drive after all, I went to book plane tickets. A flight from Bergen to Stockholm takes one hour and twenty minutes. I found seats on SAS– Scandinavian Airlines (although when I hear SAS, it reminds me of a cursed statistics program I had to use in grad school). I tried to book with my PenFed card, but for some reason, PenFed refuses to send texts with codes to overseas phone numbers, nor will they send the confirmation codes to emails. So that means I can’t authorize charges through their stupid two factor authentication program.

I went to USAA, which did successfully send me a text. But, even though I entered all of my information, gave them a fingerprint, and tried to authorize the charge, they still declined it and blocked my card. At 10PM, I was calling USAA– for the second time in a week– to ask them to unblock my card and authorize payment, so we can get from Bergen to Stockholm. The lady I spoke to last night was very nice and professional, unlike the other person I talked to a few days ago, who was quite rude to me.

We finally got the plane tickets sorted, and now we just have to confirm where we’ll be sleeping for our night in Stockholm. I had wanted to stay longer in Stockholm, since we never really got to see the city when we were there in 2009, but that would have meant arranging for another night there. Our night in Stockholm is already included in our cruise fare, so adding another would mean going to another hotel or paying more to Regent. I think we’d prefer another night in Bergen, anyway.

All that’s left to do now is buy train tickets, or arrange for a car to get us from Oslo to Bergen. I’ve even mostly paid off the credit card companies. I paid off the deposit and Lufthansa tickets last week, which I booked through PenFed. Then, this morning, I accidentally paid USAA for the rest of the cruise fare. I had only meant to send them $1000 today, but ended up requesting to pay the whole bill. Luckily, there was enough money to pay for it. Thanks again to Bill’s decision to pay taxes all year and get a refund, we had the cash available. Edited to add: I just got us our train tickets… good thing, too, because the seats were already sold out, and I had to get us a compartment for six people instead. That was another $500. At least it’s changeable and refundable.

Living in Germany sure has been good for us…

But dammit… the fares went down 2,000 euros this week!!!!

Oh well. We’re sure to have a great time. I look forward to blogging about it, and experiencing new places on a different cruise line. I’ll be surprised if I’ll want to give up small ship cruising for Regent permanently, but we’ll see. I suspect that if I ever spot a hot deal like the one they’re offering right now for our cruise, I’ll want to jump on it. Especially if we have the money!

If you’re curious about what we’re in for on our journey from Oslo to Bergen, have a look at a couple of videos… I think it will be unforgettable.

Let’s hope for sunny weather!
Looks good!

And yes, I know we don’t have to spend this much money to have a good time… but I have definitely done my fair share of cheap traveling. It’s nice to have an upgraded experience, and I’m grateful we have the opportunity. We never thought the day would come.

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Negligent actions have consequencesā€¦

This post is also appearing on my regular blog. I’m cross posting it here, because it’s about travel, and my travel blog can always use extra content during a pandemic and “lite lockdown”.

Yesterday on my travel blog, I posted an article about SeaDream Yacht Clubā€™s unfortunate COVID-19 situation. SeaDream, for those who donā€™t know, is a fantastic all inclusive luxury cruise line. It has two identical ā€œsuper yachtsā€ and itā€™s known for being an awesome cruise experience for couples. Bill and I have sailed with them three times. Our last voyage with them was in May 2013, when we sailed from Rome to Athens with a trip through the Corinth Canal.

Bill and I love SeaDream, but circumstances have not lined up for us to sail with them again since Bill left the Army. I still follow their message board on Cruise Critic. Ever since the COVID-19 crisis hit, Iā€™ve been anxiously wondering if this line will survive the pandemic. Things were looking hopeful over the summer, when SeaDream managed to complete several Norway centric cruises without anyone getting sick from the virus.

After their success in Europe, SeaDream came back across the Atlantic and, last Saturday, attempted their first round trip Barbados cruise. In order to pull this off, SeaDream had to change a lot of its standard operating procedures. Prospective passengers had to get a negative COVID-19 PCR test at their own expense 72 hours before flying to Barbados. They had to take another COVID-19 test before getting on the ship, as well as have an interview with the shipā€™s doctor. Their luggage and shoes were cleaned with ultrasonic technology. Halfway through the voyage, they would have had to have another routine COVID-19 test to satisfy the rules for returning to Barbados. And, while they were cruising, they visited empty beaches, took catamaran cruises, and engaged in activities that did not allow them to be in contact with any host country nationals.

Having been on a SeaDream cruise, I can tell you that Iā€™m sure it was just fine even without the freedom to engage with locals, shop on the economy, or go exploring. Iā€™m not sure if the piano bar was open, but that was my favorite part of a SeaDream cruise anyway, besides the many cocktails and endless champagne.

Unfortunately, someone DID get sick with COVID-19. As of Wednesday morning, the 53 passengers have been stuck in their staterooms, which I can attest to being really nice, but not very large. The windows donā€™t open and there are no balconies. Itā€™s a nice cage, but itā€™s still a cage.

A video done by a couple of Geordie lads who have been blogging about SeaDreamā€™s voyages. They are on the ship as I write this.

The person who got sent to a Bajan hospital with COVID-19 was part of a group of six who evidently decided to overnight in Miami on the way to Barbados. From what Iā€™ve read, other passengers heard the afflicted one talking about partying in the south Florida city for a night. Four others in that group also had positive COVID-19 tests, but evidently arenā€™t showing symptoms. The fifth personā€™s test was inconclusive.

Nowā€¦ in thinking about this, it occurs to me just how many people have been affected by this groupā€™s decision to overnight in Miamiā€¦

  1. 47 people have had a very expensive and luxurious vacation ruined.
  2. 66 crew members have had their livelihoods directly threatened.
  3. 113 people have had their health threatened.
  4. The entire cruising industry has had another blot on it regarding health and safety standards.
  5. Hundreds of future passengers will be affected because SeaDream will be cancelling upcoming cruises.
  6. All of the businesspeople depending on support revenue for the cancelled cruises will lose moneyā€“ ie; pet boarding, taxi services, airlines, etc.
  7. People watching SeaDream to see if cruising during a pandemic could be done safely will be affected.
  8. A whole lot of people have been affected by thisā€¦ I hope that night out in Miami was worth it.

It really is a shame that this happened. As I wrote in my travel blog, I wonā€™t consider cruising again until thereā€™s an effective vaccine against COVID-19. I donā€™t think cruising while fretting about a virus on a luxury ship is a lot of fun. Hopefully, weā€™ll get this virus under control before too long. On the other handā€¦ Iā€™m not holding my breath.

Hopefully, those who got sick wonā€™t get too sickā€¦ and the passengers will be able to get off the ship and go home without too much trouble. Weā€™ll see what happens. Actions have consequences. But, on the bright side, by undertaking this experiment, SeaDream has provided some valuable data for others. Perhaps that will help some smart people figure out the best way to get back to a life approaching normal at some point.

ETA: the count is now up to seven COVID positive.

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