BnCTcruising

Liberty of the Seas

As with any cruise, prepare ahead of time and map out what you may want to do. Walk the ship once boarding to get a feel for the layout. Escape from your every day reality and enjoy yourself, try new things, try new experiences. Life is short. Also, remember to be patient as there are many people on these ships all trying to have a great vacation.

Allure of the Seas

Book specialty dining and show reservations as soon as the windows open up this is a very large ship with upwards of 6000 people. It didn’t ever feel too crowded. However, reservations will fill up quickly.

Stavanger, Norway

Stavanger was a very cool town. We decided on the Rodne Forge cruise that took us into the Lysefjords. We got to see beautiful waterfalls and Pulpits rock from water level. This was a great experience. Walked around the town after this and took in the sites and did a little shopping.

Flaam, Norway

Flåm was really cool. The Flamsbana train was great. The stop at the waterfall halfway up was impressive. It takes you up to the Vatnahalsen Hotell, where we were served waffles with jelly and sour cream. The scenery up there is amazing. My advice here would be to book this through the train company as the cruise ship excursion was packed and they slightly overbooked it. Was tight in our car. The station is a five minute walk from the ship. There is a zipline too which we didn’t do but looked incredible. Those that did it say you rent a bike at the end of it and ride down. For beer drinkers don’t miss the Aegir brewery, get a flight and sit in the beer garden.

Olden, Norway

We did the Loen Skylift. This is the most amazing experience I have had. Absolutely beautiful up there and the journey up and down on the lift is incredible. We booked with Olden Adventures and were in a small group first up the mountain. Highly recommend booking with them as you will be in a much smaller group.

Anthem of the Seas

Book the North Star on embarkation day or port days as it’s free. They charge a fee on sea days. It is a longer experience but about $90 pp

Southampton (London), England

Stayed one night here before the cruise. Seemed like an average port city. A word of caution is the hotels don’t normally have AC unless you get a 5 star hotel. We didn’t hang around in Southampton much though, we spent most of the day in Salisbury visiting Stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral. An easy 30 min train ride but well worth it. A lot to do up there.

Cruise Glacier Bay

A true natural beauty to see firsthand. We were there in June 2023 and I loved every second of it. Although our weather wasn’t good as it was rainy and cloudy, just being there was so moving. Would love to go back again and see this beautiful place. My advice to anyone going to Alaska for the first time would be to pick an itinerary that goes here. To my knowledge only 3 lines do: Holland America, Princess (which we took) and Norwegian.

Ketchikan, Alaska

We had a fantastic time in Ketchikan. We visited the Rainforest Sanctuary and that’s where we finally saw a bear and cubs on our trip. Also walked around the town, went through Creek Street and ate at 108 Taphouse and Burger Bar which was phenomenal. Would love to go back here one day but truthfully, I don’t think we would do an excursion as there’s so many things to do and see there in town.

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway was one of the ports we visited last June. We had such a good time there. Skagway is really unique and it’s like taking a step back in time. We went on the Whitepass railroad and got lots of great photos and videos. We got really lucky with the weather that day, was beautiful. Would love to return here one day.