Hi Everyone!

Just a quick update for you on the trip so far. Met up with everyone on Sunday after the lifeboat drill - it's nice to put faces to names. We had dinner with Ngaire, Ken, Penny and Ray. Ngaire was handling the missing luggage event with a great deal more calm that I would have been able to muster.

The ship is in its usual great shape and the crew is friendlier and more professional than ever. The seas were very smooth the first night and day. The sea day was a great way to start the cruise after the marathon journey to arrive in Copenhagen. Sandra Bowen is on board as the enrichment lecturer and is interesting as always.

They have changed the internet policy since the last time I was on board. You now buy an access pack which is good for a certain number of hours. (1 hour/$6 5hr/$25 10 hr/$40 20 hr/$75). The clock starts one minute after you log on and is completely time based. Use of the computers for word processing or for digital photography is still free.

Formal night had about 50% of the guys in tuxes, the rest in dark suits. The ladies looked fabulous as always....everything from evening gowns to cocktail dresses to black pants outfits with dressy tops and jewelry. Most passengers are very experienced cruisers (lots of Song of Flower alumni) and seem very relaxed. The lobster was excellent.

We went to the glacier in Olden - it's a fairly strenuous walk up the side of a mountain. There is a graded path most of the way that the horses and little electric carts travel on, but at the end you have to walk up very slippery rocks and scree to actually reach the glacier. If you do this, you will definitely want to wear shoes that enable you to walk on very uneven and slippery surfaces. It is much faster to walk down of course and they serve some coffee and tea with some sweets at the Briksdalen Inn. The drive to the glacier along the lake is quite scenic. It was a bit misty and their was some light rain during the early part of the walk, but everything cleared up by the time we reached the glacier.

The sail out of the Nordfjory was wonderful - the sun was shining brightly and you could see for miles up into the mountains. On the way out of Olden last night, Captain Dag met up with a local fishing boat and brought fresh salmon on board - they served it last night in Compass Rose and today at lunch in the Veranda. Absolutely delicious!

We ate dinner in Latitudes last night. They have two menus on this cruise, both with an Asian fusion theme. I have to admit that the Compass Rose is my favorite restaurant on board eventhough I've always enjoyed the other venues. The seas picked up a bit once we reached the open ocean - nothing alarming at all but the ship had a pronounced roll and the suite was creaking. We have not noticed any vibration problem, but we are midship in 643 (an excellent centrally located suite).

Today we are in Trondheim. It's an easy walk into town and Radisson also provided a free shuttle bus to the market square. We walked around on our own - it's a very small city. Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop's Residence are worth a stop. We walked up to the old fort which has fabulous views over the city and fjord. Then back down the hill through the old section of town. There were many coffee shops and places to have ice cream and waffles. Lots of cute shops too - I'm not quite sure what there is actually to buy here unless you need some of those ugly little trolls or some very expensive Norwegian sweaters - but I'm not much of a shopper so others will probably have better information about this than I can provide.

That's all for now. We're off to the Lofoten Islands this evening and then the North Cape. I'll post more the next time we have a decent connection.

m'ellen

Mary Ellen, Thank You for your review. Please keep posting and having a great time!

M'ellen, Glad you are enjoying your cruise. Thanks for taking the time to post. Sounds as if you are having a great time. Enjoy!

Betty

M'ellen,

Thanks for the update on your cruise. I am looking forward to reading more updates. That is a cruise Jim and I really want to take, but will have to wait for at least 2 years because of scheduling conflicts.

Enjoy!

Did Ngaire and Ken get their luggage yet?

Ginny

m'ellen - thanks for posting! The glacier sounded beautiful. Fresh salmon off a fishing boat? Yummmmmmmm.

Masaki

m'ellen, I really enjoyed your post. Thank you for taking the time from your cruise to let us hear about it. I am so anxious to do this next June, as it is an itinerary I have been wanting for a long time! Looks like they've changed the policy on the Voyager from our trip in early June. I think that "bundle" thing works a little more to our advantage when in places where the internet is slow. Keep us posted!

M'ellen -- It's great to hear from you. We will be doing the shorter Voyager fjords cruise starting July 23, so I'm hanging on every word! Enjoy!!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by m'ellen:
[qb] Hi Everyone!

They have changed the internet policy since the last time I was on board. You now buy an access pack which is good for a certain number of hours. (1 hour/$6 5hr/$25 10 hr/$40 20 hr/$75). The clock starts one minute after you log on and is completely time based. Use of the computers for word processing or for digital photography is still free.---"

Here's a question: are the hourly charges billed by person or cabin?

Thanks,

Jim

"BREAKDOWN" jim in Cleveland, ITS JUST PENNIES AND NICKLES TO YOU!

Maybe, but the pennies and nickels can add up QUICK...especially when the computers are slow.

Jim, when I was on the Diamond, it was by the person. My daughter and I shared as a person, as I remember

You have an account. Unused time can be used on future cruise within a year (at least that is what I was told). Pat had extra time and so did I. We provided the account number and password to those sailing after us. I think it would be great to set up a page here for us to list leftover time and contact info so others can contact us to get password.

I just asked her, and we each had our separate account. Your password is your birthdate. On the Voyager in June, I never got the computer guy to sign me in, and went under her account. However, that was under the old system of $.75 per minute of upload time. Things seem to have changed.

Marc - I've just been passing it along to people that were on the ship after me and hopefully they'll continue to pass it down if they don't finish off the remaining time. Do you want to formalize it a little more?

Masaki

Happy Fourth of July everyone. Internet access has been somewhat spotty due to the mountains and fjords - there are just limited windows when it's up and I generally seem to be doing something else during those times.

You buy the internet access and charge it to your suite. You could share the access code and password among several people. It's been very slow when it has been up.

This is a WONDERFUL cruise. The midnight sun is something to behold - we haven't been getting much sleep at all as the sun at midnight looks like 4PM at home in Boston. We were blessed with absolutely amazing weather in the arctic. Mostly clear skies with high clouds and no fog for most of our time there with occasional clouds and drizzle. The weather can change rapidly - alternate from beautiful to wind and rain in a matter of minutes.

We had dinner with the hotel director Lars Ollson along with Ray and Penny and two other couples who are also friends of Ngaire. He has his family on board with him. Captain Dag's children are also on board. Lars told us all about provisioning ships and how they place orders and store perishable goods. He also arranged a galley tour - really fascinating if you have not been on one yet.

The Lofoten Islands were beautiful. Jim and I did the hike (Ray and Penny were also on it). This turned out to be a 7.5km trek up the side of a very large hill. The scenery reminded us of Wales - steep green hills with sheep everywhere. Also lots of goats. There were beautiful views to fjord and the ocean and some of the little fishing villages. The weather alternated between warm and extremely windy with some spits of rain. The walk down was on a narrow track through a farm. We finished up with homemade waffles with cream and cloudberry jam. If you are doing the outdoor walks I highly recommend good walking shoes and a Goretex (or some other wind and water proof material) jacket. These islands are mainly populated by fishing villages - there are huge drying racks for the arctic cod everywhere - they call them fish cathedrals. In early spring they are filled with hundreds of thousands of drying fish. Apparently this is the source of bacalao for most of Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

Bard Kolltveit is one of the enrichment lectures and a former director of the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo and a personal friend of Captain Dag's. He is giving a series of lectures on the history and topography and traditions of Norway. He also has been creating beautiful line drawings of the sites we have visited. They are being distributed to the suites with the Chocolates and Passages each evening.

The next day was for all purposes a sea day - we sailed to the North Cape in the most glorious sun. We had the opportunity to take pictures of the Cape and the surrounding headlands from the sea. The North Cape itself is the world's northern most tourist trap - but you have to go since you are already all the way here. The drive from Honningsvag to the Nordkapp Centre takes about 40 minutes through an absolutely barren landscape. After you climb the hills out of the port there are no trees just the windswept, lichen and moss covered arctic plateau. The Sami tend their reideer here in the summer and we did see numerous deer dotting the landscape. The Centre has a short film on the North Cape through the seasons and there are viewing points outside overlooking the Barents Sea. There is also a bar/restaurant, ice cream concessions and a big tourist shop and post office. We spent most of our time outside as the midnight sun was shining brightly. The ship had a party on the pool deck with the band and hot chocolage and glugg when we returned. We all stayed up until 2AM dancing under the midnight sun.

Tromso is a compact university city. We wandered around on our own and took in the sights in town. We did not take the Cable Car but everyone who did said the view was wonderful. They also have the world's northernmost botanical garden which was not too far from the port. The plants were surprisingly lush - lilacs and tulips were still in bloom as were the peonies. The Gulf Stream keeps everything ice free so the variety of flowers and plants is much greater than what you see in Alaska.

Today is a sea day and the weather has been foggy with occasional rain. We crossed the artic circle today so no more midnight sun. Sandra Bowern gave an excellent talk on the history of Scandinavia - her talks are not to be missed. They had a traditional American barbecue for lunch. Tonight is the Seven Seas Society party and also the second formal night so it's time to go get ready!

Mary Ellen, thanks for taking the time to write such a descriptive post of your experiences. Once this is over, I am going to have lots of sources to print impressions of the various lct'ers aboard. Waiting for the next one!

thanks for the continued details. Your efforts are appreciated! Your enrichment lectures sound great!

Masaki

Mary Ellen ...

MANY thanks for your posts. We will not go north of Trondheim on NorFjor723, but we love hearing about each person, event, experience, and detail.

Luke
NorFjor723

The Seven Seas Society party was last night on the fourth along with our second formal night. They had over 400 society members on this cruise so it was held in the Constellation Theater. The couple who won the award for most nights travelled had over 500 nights! Don Camp sang "Love Changes Everything" at the party for Janet G. Everyone seemed more dressed up than for the first formal event - the mix of tuxes to suits was still about 50/50 but the ladies were in full evening wear with lots of sparkling jewelry.

The dinner featured Norwegian specialties. Appetizers included whale and gravadlax and fried Camembert with cloudberries and lingonberry sauce. Reindeer was an entree choice. We had dinner with Steve and Arlene from New York. He reported the whale as being similar to carpaccio. Jim tried the reindeer and said it was excellent - the whole idea of Rudolf for dinner just was not appetizing to me......

We had another lovely night with a glowing sunset around midnight. It came right back up again around 1AM so it wasn't really night. Unfortunately, the real Norwegian weather decided to put in an appearance today. It was very foggy with lots of low clouds and periods of mist for most of the day. Temps were in the mid 50s but the damp made it seem colder - our Polartech vests came in really handy.

We sailed up to Hellesyt to drop off the folks who were taking the full day excursion today and then made our way to Gerainger. You simply must be on deck to experience the voyage through this fjord. Even in damp, overcast weather it is truly magnificent. I will post our pictures of the waterfalls and the mountain farms when I return and have access to a high speed connection. Captain Dag turned the ship in the middle of the fjord so that we were perpendicular to the Seven Sisters waterfall. We were probably 30 feet or so away from the wall of the fjord but it felt like it was only inches - he truly has confidence in his ability to maneuver this ship!!! All the passengers who were still on board and a fair percentage of the crew were up on the top decks to see this - it is truly not to be missed.

Fred organized a taxi in Gerainger and Pat, Jim, Ngaire, Ken and I joined him for the trip. The weather was extremely foggy so once we got above the Flydalsjuvet view point there really wasn't much to see except the fog. In my opinion (and it is just my opinion) renting a taxi with a small group of people is preferable to doing the ship's excursions by bus in Gerainger. You can call yourself (the number is 48 14 94 80) or have the concierge call for you. I copied the following information from the taxi stand in Gerainger - the rates are fixed and seem to be a better value than from the ship. Of course, the taxi fair does not include coffee and waffles at the inn at the lake, but it only takes 90 minutes to see everything including the fjord center as opposed to the 3.5 hour bus trip....

The rates are kroner for the various view points - you can even go to the mountain farm. The first number is for four people, the second number is for six people. We paid 1500Kr total for the six of us(including tip)and went to Flydalsjuvet, Dalsnibba, the lake (which I cannot remember how to spell but it's on the way to Dalsnibba) and the Norsk fyordcenter. The trip is not ideal for people with a fear of heights - the road is a series of switchbacks up the mountain - it is two lanes, but narrow and there are NO guard rails!

Dalsnibba 900kr 1350kr
Flydalsjuvet 300kr 400kr
Ornesvingen(Eagle's Turn) 350kr 500kr
Herdalsetra 1500kr 2200kr
Minitour (Flydalsjuvet, Westeras Farm, Norsk fjordcentre) 600kr 800kr
Price pr hour 480kr 700kr

I can highly recommend the Norwegian Fjord Center (Norsk Fjordcentre). It is very well done and provides an excellent overview of life in the fjords and on the fjord farms. The signs are in Norwegian and English. They have a marvelous collection of photographs of life in the fjords in the early part of the 1900s. They also have exhibits on various aspects of fjord life that you can walk into/on/through. The cost is 75kr/person. You could walk there from the ship - it is an uphill walk but it's on the paved road. Not a big deal at all if you feel like walking. Also there are nice views over the fjord on the way up. It would take 15-20 minutes for a person in relatively good shape and it's a nice walk up through the little town. They also have an excellent gift shop with non-tacky Norwegian gifts (no trolls!) including some excellent glass pieces.

Gerainger itself is small and tourist oriented. There were 5 ships in the fjord today - a Norwegian traffic jam? There is a nice art gallery about a 3 minute walk to the right of the pier where the tender docks along with the usual collection of trolls/sweater/postcard shops. There are also some cafes for coffee and ice cream. We noticed a lovely hotel on the way to the Norwegian Fjord Center called the Union Hotel - it seemed to have a very nice place to have tea and drinks with a killer view over the fjord. You could have a nice day with a walk up to the fjord center and a look around inside, a stop at the hotel on the way back down, and a meander through the village.

The weather started to clear around 6PM this evening so we had excellent views coming out of the fjord and into the sea. It is very calm inside the fjords of course and the sea seems calm tonight as well - just a very gentle roll.

They have an excellent pianist on board - her name is Veronica McSwiney and she is from Ireland. She played a lovely concert this evening filled with pieces from Chopin and Grieg. Even if you are not a fan of piano concerts she is well worth hearing - she plays beautifully and takes time to explain the genesis of the pieces she has chosen. Seeing the Norwegian landscape in person makes Grieg's music so much more accessible.

That's all for now. We are doing the marathon seven hour overland tour from Gudvangen to Flam tomorrow.

Mary Ellen,

Thanks so much for all your wonderful trip reports; I can't wait to read about Gudvangen-Flam, it's just gorgeous! :D

Great report Mary Ellen....

"The dinner featured Norwegian specialties. Appetizers included whale and gravadlax and fried Camembert with cloudberries and lingonberry sauce. Reindeer was an entree choice."

In my case, thank goodness for room service!!

I don't know if I could have eaten the whale ... but the other dishes sounded interesting!

Masaki

M'ellen -- Loved your latest report! I hope we can duplicate your experience for good weather, and I'm really happy to get the information for doing Gerainger on our own. That may be what we decide to do since it sounds as if taxis are manageable; we would prefer that to a bus tour when possible.

The lecturers you have mentioned sound excellent. We love to get detailed information on the places we will be visiting, so I'm happy to hear about the high quality of the onboard lectures. Would it be possible to find out if the same lecturers will be on our July 23 sailing also? I hope so.

Thanks again. I'm eagerly awaiting your next post, if your schedule permits.

Yesterday we did the Gudvangen to Flam 7.5 hour overland marathon. The day started off with a beautiful sail up the Naeroyfjord - it is definitely worth getting out of bed for. This is apparently Norway's narrowest deep fjord - the channel is quite small and the sheer mountain cliffs seem to close in on you. Gudvangen is a tiny little place at the head of the fjord - we didn't see anything of it but the inevitable souvenier shops on the way to the tour buses.

We left the ship aboard the tenders at ~9:30. The tour started with a drive up the Stalheimskleiven - Norway's steepest road with 19 hairpin turns. There were lovely views over the fjord and the valley as we went up the road. The view is fine from both sides of the bus because of the switchback turns. The Stalheim Hotel is at the top of the road - we did not stop but the view is lovely. We drove along a lake through pretty farm country to the Tvidefossen Waterfall - a scenic photo opportunity with the hundreds of other people on tour.

We then drove on to Voss and stopped at the Molstertunet Museet which is a folk museum showcasing life on the Sognefjord and its surrounding farms. The inside had some ok exhibits of crafts and village life. The best part was the open air farm museum with buildings from the 16th to 19th centuries. It's quite scenic and there are good guides who explain the buildings and life on the farms to you. Also a nice view over Voss.

Voss is a pretty little town that was mostly destroyed by allied bombing during WW2 so most of the buildings there are new. The one exception is a 13th century stone church.

We arrived in Voss around 12:45 for lunch at the Park Hotel. My advice is to eat a good breakfast and skip the lunch completely. A better use of time is to walk around Voss - it's actually quite pretty and there are nice views around the lake. We went to the stone church which is called Vangskyrkja. Admission is 15kr. The church was built in the 13th century and has 6 foot thick stone walls. The spire is an unusual octagonal wooden structure which was rebuilt after the war. The interior is splendid. There are folk paintings from the 17th century decorating the ceiling (clouds and cherubs who increase in concentration as you approach the alter). If you need a bite to eat there were some cafe's in town and a very nice looking hotel called Fleischer's next to the train station.

We had to be at the train at 2:15 and it left at 2:35. We had two reserved cars for the tour. It was a regular Norwegian train - be sure to get a window seat. The views were best from the right side. It's a 50 minute ride to Myrdal through the mountains.

We had a 20 minute wait at Myrdal before we boarded the Flamsbana for the ride down to Flam. Radisson had reserved 3 cars for us. It's a 50 minute ride to Flam with great views from both sides because of the switchbacks. There is a stop midway down at a waterfall - a girl in a red dress appears in the middle of the waterfall and sings to you. You arrive in Flam and can walk through the souvenier shops to go back to the ship - it's maybe a 5 minute walk if you don't stop. The ship was docked so no tender.

I am not a fan of bus tours so my opinion is somewhat shaded by my dislike of being herded around with a hundred other people. The 3 hour Gudvangen to Flam tour was not offered on our sailing. I would think it is the better choice as you see all the sights above but avoid lunch and minimize waiting. I would recommend one of the land excursions because Norway is so beautiful and you just can't see everything from the ship. Folks who went on the Stalheim-White Caves trip seemed to enjoy it. That was a morning tour and you would then be able to do the Flam train in the afternoon. The Flamsbana train is not to be missed. There is an option to simply take the train up and down. You can buy the excursion from the ship or simply walk to the train station on the pier and buy your ticket there. The ship does have reserved cars so you can get a window seat, whereas you take your chances if you buy direct from the railroad.

We had dinner at Compass Rose last night with Ngaire and Ken, Ray and Penny, and Fred and Pat. Excellent as always. It was Dover Sole/Rack of Lamb/Steak au Poirve night. Ngaire has an amazing capacity for lamb!

On the way out Captain Dag made a side excursion into the Fjaerlandsfjorden to drop off a troup of Norwegian folk dancers who did a little show on the pool deck at the sail away from Flam. This is a beautiful fjord. He showed us the village of Mundal which has two arms of the Jostedalsbreen glaciar bracketing the mountain in back of the town. The sky was turning red behind some spectacular clouds while we were admiring the view.

We're in Bergen today and it is currently pouring down rain. It was sunny on the way in but now it is miserable - the internet is up so I'm catching up with e-mail. Sun is supposed to be out around lunch time so we're off to explore.

Thanks Mary Ellen,

Did you see any hangliders over the lake at Voss or was the weather not conducive? That and the church are my most vivid memories of Voss.

Our trip was in the opposite direction so the road to Gudvangen was DOWNhill, hoping the brakes and transmission were in good order!! :ohmy:

Just reading Mary Ellen's post and I am happy to report that by the time we dragged ourselves out of bed the sun had come out. We had a nice lunch on board and walked Bergen and went up the Funiclar in gorgeous weather. We heard about the rain but never saw it. Bergen rains ALL the time and this is the third time we have been here. This was a remarkable sunny afternoon. Now we PRAY for a good day tomorrow so we can visit Captain Dag's home town.

We did the train trip on our own. Only problem is the first train with the Radisson group was sold out but we caught the one that left one hour later. It was not a problem and half the cost of the ships train tour. We ended up picking up the Radisson tour people on our way down.

I have been doing reports in Word on my lap top and I will post all of these when I return and we have faster connections.

Ngaire, always working! Can't wait to hear your trip report on your return. Will you post it to your website?

Mary Ellen - Thanks for the reports. They are excellent and practical. Hope you continue to have a great time! Give Jim our best. Cheers, Anne & Gary

M'ellen and Ngaire, I am enjoying your posts. Thanks for taking the time. Sounds as if you are having a wonderful time. Waiting to hear more!

Betty

The rain did stop in Bergen and we had a lovely day. It's a lovely city. Radisson ran a shuttle from the pier to the city but it's only about a ten minute walk. On the way into town you pass the Bergenhus fortress. Most of it is a reconstruction from the 19th century and the rest was rebuilt after WW2. The stone tower called Rosenkrantztarnet does have some of its original stone work dating from the 13th century.

Bryggen is the original settlement of Bergen built by the Hanseatic merchants. Most of it was built in the early 1700s following a disastrous fire but they used the original medieval plans. Be sure to go down the alleys between the buildings to get a sense of the place. There are a lot of troll/pewter/sweater stores here, but also some really nice galleries and craft stores. Some of the best shopping is in the little back alleys.

The Hanseatic Museum is at the end of the Bryggen wooden buildings – it's worth a stop if you need to get out of the rain. It's basically a well preserved merchant's house that gives you a sense of how the upper class lived.

There's a pretty church called the Mariakirken which is the oldest building in Bergen. Parts of it date from the 12th century. It's basically gothic but does have an elaborate pulpit and alter put in by the Hanseatic traders.

The Floibanen funicular (60kr return) is worth a ride as you have spectacular views over the city. You can walk down but it's a rather steep path and can be very slippery if it's been raining.

The Torget has the fish market which is not to be missed. There are piles of fresh fish, smoked fish, prawns, lobsters etc. Also some very tasty fish soup and sandwiches are available from the various vendors – probably the only bargains in all of Bergen!

We had a lovely dinner with Sandra Bowern in Latitudes on Wednesday evening. The menu is Asian inspired – not to everyone's taste but we enjoyed it.

Thursday brought perfect weather for our trip to Nevlunghavn. It's a picture postcard perfect fishing village. The local high school band played for each tender and got a tour of the ship in return. They served fish soup on the pier and then provided buses for the ride to the Captain's house. His wife Christina greeted every single visitor to their home. I don't know of many wives who will entertain 600 people for champagne and cake in their garden! It's only about a 10 minute walk to his home through the town and there are great views to the harbor with the ship anchored off shore.

This was a perfect end to a wonderful trip. We are in Copenhagen now to begin the trip back home to Boston – I'll post pictures when I return home.

Once again, wonderful insights and descriptions ... especially for those of us on NorFjor723 ... we anxiously await your photos upon your safe return.

Luke
NorFjor723

Can't wait to see your pictures! Let us know where they are posted!

M'ellen, I can't thank you enough for all of your informative posts. I will be printing out this entire thread to take with us to the fjords week after next. Thanks again!

A few comments on Mary Ellen's wonderful posts: We (my partner, Pat, and I) certainly agree with Mary Ellen and Jim that bus (call them "coach" or any other name - they are still buses) tours are usually pretty lame. There is always far too much time waiting around to load and unload the bus (oops, "coach"). Further, the times allotted for the mediocre lunches are usually twice what is needed. Therefore, we recommend that you try to organize your own little "private tours". In groups of two - eight, you can usually get a taxi or mini-van which will take you on the itinerary of your choice. And even though it would in fact be well worth it to pay twice what the tours charge for the flexibility of such private arrangements, they are usually (shocker of the day!!!) cheaper per person than the bus tours. It takes a bit of work to arrange sometimes, particularly in small towns; but it can well be done. Indeed, in Geiranger there are quite a few taxis and minivans available. The Concierge on board Voyager can arrange the whole deal for you. (Thanks, Ray & Penny, for pointing us to the Conciege to do the telephoning.)

Regarding the LCT dinner the infamous night of Dover Sole and Rack of Lamb, let it never be said that the LCT group let down the team. Ngaire herself consumed a prodigious number of chops, some sort of primordial channeling from her New Zealand roots, I assume. She also introduced us to the delightful idea of having a fish course (the above-mentioned Dover Sole)when otherwise we would have had to make the dreadful choice between that tasty main dish and the lamb. As it was, several of us had the equivalent of three or four main dishes, in addition to a few barriques of quite decent vino.

Finally, we will assure you that one could hardly find a more compatible group of fellow travelers (in the good sense, rather than in the McCarthy Hearings sense) than the LCT folks.

Thanks, Ngaire & Ken, Mary Ellen & Jim, Ray & Penny, and Steve & Arlene, for adding enormously to the enjoyment of this memorable cruise. So I will close before I become so teary-eyed that I risk rusting out the keyboard.

See you on another great cruise, Fred & Pat

Fred:

Well done. Give a "howdie" to Pat for us.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
Richard Bach

Does anyone know if Capt. Dag will be on the 7/23 cruise?

Iteach -- I'm not sure but am speculating that Dag may be on as of 7/23 because I believe he just returned to the ship within the past month or so. I only think that because I recall some fairly recent Voyager sailors talking about Capt. Knut (sp?).

So, now I must ask, are YOU going to be on the 7/23 cruise? We are getting a nice little group of LCTers together, and I hope you can join us!

Captain Dag will not be on the 7.23 trip it will be Captain Knutt. He is great too.

Ngaire, Do you know what nationality Captain Knutt is? Thanks!

Priscilla,
Yes, my husband and I are on the 7/23 cruise! we are looking forward to every moment!

Iteach - We had the great fortune of sailing with Captain Knutt on our Stockholm to Rouen cruise last summer. He is delightful. He suffers from being in the shadow of the glamorous Captain Dag, unfairly. He is extremely charming and competent (we didnt't run into anything we were not supposed to). He came up to the Observation Lounge (now renamed the Song of Flower Lounge) several times to just chat with passengers. He loves to talk about nautical matters and spent a solid half hour with us discussing the dynamics of the ship. If you can engage in a discussion of seagoing stuff, he is yours for the taking. (Otherwise, you are on your own, since we did not discuss the current trends in Eurotrash denims or why ABBA never got back together.) In any event, you are not getting "Second Chair" when you get Captain Knutt. Cheers, Fred