Sept 1, 2015 Oslo, Norway

I boarded the tour bus and we drove by the 13th century Akershus Fortress which is a national landmark and military building. We then drove past Stortorget the big market square. I saw the magnificent Oslo Cathedral with it's ornate bronze doorway built in 1697, the Parliament Buildings and then proceeded down Karl Yohan St, named after an early 19th century Swedish-Norwegian king. We passed by the oldest part of Oslo University which dates back to 1813.
The Royal Palace then came into view.This beautiful new classical building was originally built in 1848 and has now been upgraded and modernized with the advent of a new monarch and is now the primary residence of the Royal family.
We drove past the gates to Vigeland Sculpture Park which holds the largest and most noted sculpture in the world and then began the climb up Holmenkollen Hill. Perched high above Oslo Holmenkollen is the cradle of ski jumping and was the site of the 1952 ski jumping competition. Returning to the town center we passed the Bygday Penninsula where all the seafaring museums are located; the Viking ship Museum, the Fram Polar ship Museum and the Kon Tiki Museum. We then had a pic op of the Oslo harbour. Travelling back we passed we passed the City Hall which is renowned for it's unique architectural design and it is here that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year on Dec. 10th. Each hour a 49 carillon can be heard cheerfully ringing from the east tower. The tour guide was very good; his commentary informative and interesting. Besides the history and politics, royalty and stats on everything he also talked about general life and issues of the average people. The Norwegian people seem happy and content with their lives and I think Norway would be a great place to live.
Back onboard the ship we we headed for the buffet as we hadn't had time for breakfast yet. I ate a lot of fruit that included very tasty melons of all sorts and then I tackled the deserts.....oh my....rum balls,Neapolitan squares, pavlova and ice cream. Hey, i'm on vacation! After resting awhile I walked the entire Lido deck taking pics of the beautiful harbour of Oslo both from the windows and the very wet deck outside.

Aug. 29 - 31st About the Regal Princess

We stayed in balcony cabin #B439 on the starboard side. Excellent quiet midship cabin near the elevators

Christened by HRH The Dutchess of Cambridge Kate in 2014

142,229 tons   1082' long   126' wide   3600 - 4000 passengers + 1300 crew

Lifeboat tenders hold 350 people each

Royal Princess and Regal Princess are sister ships and they have the largest outdoor video display screens at sea @ 33' wide x 20' high

A Skywalk extends 128' beyond the ships edge and 128' over the water

The Piazza is the social heart of the ship and is 50% larger than other Princess ships

International café for soup and sandwiches, pastries, cookies, tea, coffee and mocktails

Celebrations is the place for candy and flowers

Gelato store with many interesting flavours. My fav. was apple

Bellini's wine bar

Photo's are easy to find by scanning your ship card (this is a great improvement over the "just look for your face") Actually this turned out to be not true, at least for me but maybe does for portraits or for those who welcome the photographers enough that they recognise them.

Laundromat on every deck

Awesome casino with lots of fun slots including my fav.Game King machines

Beautiful staircase leads to the Calypso Cove shops for perfume, jewelry, watches, clothing etc.

Princess Live! is a live tv studio with cooking, game shows and demo's that are filmed and shown on the cabin tv's on the ship

Vista Lounge showroom for movie theatre,art auctions, and misc.

Eat at Horizons buffet, the Pastry shop, Horizons Court. Beverages are brought to your table

Outriggers bar, Prego pizzeria, Swirls ice cream

Wheelhouse bar and grill on deck 5

Alfredo's Italian deck 5 and pizza deck 6

Anytime dining at Symphony dining room deck 5 and Concerto on deck 6
Allegro dining room for traditional dining at 5:45p.m. and 8:15p.m.

Princess Theatre is the largest showroom at sea (no balcony; it's all on one floor) Acoustics are fab!

Every evening there's an outdoor dancing water show called Watercolors which is co-ordinated with music videos on the big screen. Popcorn is provided and blankets available to keep the chill off.

Bread is baked fresh 3 times a day 24-7

Steaks are aged and hand cut onboard

The Regal chefs make homemade ice cream every day

Food ranges from Asian noodle dishes to Alaska seafood, South American and South Pacific and more with new and unexpected flavours.

Sea Witch craft beer, an award winning craft beer is brewed exclusively by local breweries and available only onboard Princess.

Chocolate drink menu includes a chocolate chill margarita, a salted caramel rum cake and a chocolate bacon bourbon creation

The decks were called 4 - Gala,  5- Plaza, 6 Fiesta, 7- Promenade,  8-Emerald,   9 Dolphin, 
10- Caribe, 11- Baja, 12- Aloha,  14 - Riviera,  15 - Marina,  16 - Lido,  17 - Sun,  18 - Sports
19 - Sky

There's 16 decks for food and dining;  18 decks with Entertainment and bars
13 decks with pools, sports and spa;  9 decks with gifts and memories
and 10 decks with other services (medical, internet, Library, wedding chapel etc)

                                                              The B stands for Baja

                                                                    Giant outdoor screen

                                                                     Dancing waters

                                                                        Skywalk

                                Dancing watercolor show is set to music videos on the big screen

                                                            Princess LiveTheatre

 

Aug 28, 2015 Off i go cruising again. Am i lucky or what!

I flew into Copenhagen to rest and deal with the jetlag for a couple days pre cruise and then will  embark the Regal Princess. I'll tell you all about the ship tomorrow.
Copenhagen is situated on the island of Zealand, dates back to 1043 and is the oldest city in Scandinavia. One thousand years of history awaits in the medieval streets, the same streets walked upon by every generation of the worlds oldest royal family.

We found the hotel shuttle and rode to Bella Sky Medium Center Boulevard 5. The décor was much like walking into an IKEA, in the lobby as well as our actual room with triangular floor to ceiling windows, black furniture, lush white down quilts and pillows. The bathroom walls were clear glass with a white dotted pattern midway up, the hand soap was white and round and everything very plain, straight, neat and cold feeling. Not a sound was heard and we thought we were the only guests until we went for the smorgasbord breakfast and saw a lot of people there already dining on fried fish or pickled herring, cheeses, cold meats, salads and veggies as well as the typical bacon and eggs, toast, pancakes etc. I drank a juice of dark fruits and ginger and ate a very good homemade strawberry yogurt and an apple of which the variety was unknown but it was crisp and delicious. There were cakes and cookies and nut and seed breads and several delicious melons and the watermelon was the best i'd eaten in many years. The coffee was great also and served with brown sugar. The staff there were all friendly and they spoke English very well. Outside in a garden near the entrance I noticed fig, cherry and crab apple trees growing and nearby were several bicycles that could be used by hotel guests. Also nearby I saw several modes of transportation including a skytrain very similar to Vancouvers as well as regular rail trains, lots of buses, cabs and of course cars which all appeared to be newish and in good shape. The city of Copenhagen is a mix of old and new with some areas very colourful while other areas were old and grey with narrow streets but lots of nice parks and interesting statues everywhere. The architecture of Copenhagen is very beautiful and I hope to see more when my ship returns after a week for the day.
Bella Sky Hotel

 It was such a cool hotel

 very glassy

 the local paper. I would have loved listening to someone read it but they all spoke english

 I liked this good luck frog

 guest bikes

 out front they grew fruit and I heard that they kept bee hives on the hotel roof

 needed 2 days in here to get the strength one needs for cruising

August lunch with Jen, Hailey and Emily

Somebody new has joined our little lunch group in the corner booth at Boston Pizza. Emily is such a good baby; she didn't fuss or cry at all. Hailey is such a big girl now at going on 3 she orders her own main course for lunch along with her favourite beverage and desert.

 

 

 Such cute great granddaughters with their little matching dresses

 Can you tell Hailey had ice cream with strawberries?

 Hailey has her own camera and does all her own photography now

I really enjoyed my fun lunch with my favourite great granddaughters!