June 1st It should have been an exciting occasion. This evening we were scheduled to join my parents in Philadelphia where all four of us would continue on to England and begin our anticipated two-week Baltic Cruise aboard Celebrity's Constellation. However, Lynn (my husband) and I were off to a bad start: Stuck on the runway at the Pittsburgh Airport for 3 hours because of bad weather. Now we would miss our Philadelphia connections to London and the June 2nd sailing of our ship from Dover. The final "nail in the coffin" was the pilot's announcement that he was returning to the gate where all international travelers' luggage would be off-loaded. Unceremoniously "dumped" from the plane at 9:30 that night, we resentfully collected our baggage. After waiting in a long line to rebook, we were told to come back in the morning. By the time we got home, it was almost 11:00 p.m. I was despondent, although Lynn took the turn of events better than I. (Always expecting the worse, he had fretted about the short connections in Philly for months and, on some level, actually felt vindicated). Thanks to Tylenol p.m. I drugged myself to sleep, but Lynn was awake most of the night.

June 2nd and 3rd Obviously, we had missed the Dover embarkation and would now need to meet the ship by June 4th in Oslo Norway, the next port of call. Since our air-travel arrangements had been booked through the cruise-line, I foolishly believed a phone call to them would remedy the situation. No such luck: Celebrity insisted it was now the airline's responsibility and we must get US Air to issue new tickets to Oslo. Back at the airport again, we serendipitously found ourselves in the capable hands of William, a US Air ticket agent who, with unbelievable patience, spent almost two hours rebooking us. The problem: Our original reservation only authorized two legs of flight (Pittsburgh-Philly and Philly to London) and now we required three. Worse, since it was a weekend, the Celebrity group-travel agency was closed. But William persevered stating, "I will NOT give up!" and eventually got us booked through Philadelphia, then on to Frankfurt Germany and finally via Lufthansa Airline to Oslo. (Best of all, the Lufthansa tickets were business class). We called Celebrity and notified them of our new schedule, urging them to inform my parents who were already onboard the ship and undoubtedly frantic with worry. (My folks never carry a cell phone and there was no way of contacting them). Our flight to Philadelphia was scheduled to leave at 5:10 p.m. that evening and it was a long, tense wait at the airport, since thunderstorms were again predicted. Fortunately, everything went well and though exhausted, we could sleep on the overnight flight to Frankfurt. One small "glitch" occurred in Germany: Over Lynn's objections, I mistakenly led us out of the international area, thus forcing a lengthy re-entry through their security lines. (Lynn was not pleased with this turn of events, but couldn't overtly express his annoyance for fear of attracting unwelcome attention from airport personnel). Fortunately, with a several hour layover in Frankfurt, no real harm was done. Approaching Norway by plane was really delightful, with an aerial overview of the islands and fjords. Unfortunately, the local Celebrity agent supposed to meet our flight was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, an attendant at the airport visitor center located him by cell phone. It was almost an hour before the agent, Bjorn, appeared. He denied any prior notification of our arrival and spent an additional 20 minutes searching for lost luggage of another cruise passenger before we were finally on our way. Oslo is quite a distance from its airport and Bjorn was most loquacious. We would be staying at the Grand Hotel close to the harbor. It was very difficult to get reservations there, but as the Oslo port agent, he "had connections". Grand Hotel was expensive, but not to worry: The cruise-line "pays for the room." Furthermore, someone would pick us up the next morning and make sure we "got on the ship before anyone else disembarked". He even made dinner suggestions. Arriving at the hotel, Bjorn held a long conversation in Norwegian with the desk clerk and then handed us our room key with a flourish. As he left, we tipped him generously for all his help. The hotel was lovely, and our room graciously appointed. We took long overdue showers and headed off to see the sights. Even though it was early evening, the northern latitude provided plenty of sunlight. Oslo extends along a beautiful harbor lined with marinas and restaurants. The ancient castle/fortress of Akershus, perched on a cliff, overlooks the port. Sidewalks were crowded with people enjoying an evening stroll or sipping beverages at outdoor cafes. Across the water excited shrieks emanated from a gaily lit ferris-wheel. Following Bjorn's advice, we located the Lofoten Fiskerestaurant. Not many patrons were at this restaurant and after seeing the menu prices (and converting them to the dollar) we knew why. Service was impeccable and our fish delicious. But despite splitting a salad and dessert and having only one glass of wine, the bill (including tip) was almost $150.00. After dinner we walked up to the Akershus, only to find the fort closed for the evening. Choosing a different route back to the hotel, we paused to admire an attractive park with fountain and reflecting pool. Once in our room, sleep came within minutes.

June 4th That morning in the hotel lobby we encountered another couple also awaiting transportation to the ship. They, too, had missed their air connections and worse, all luggage was lost. They were not happy with Celebrity. Arriving at the dock, a behemoth of a ship loomed above us. Finally, our cruise on the Constellation could begin! But wait: A big chain-linked fence prevented any access! Without the "ship identity card" issued to all passengers back in Dover, the port security guards would not let us onboard. I saw Bjorn through the fence, but he made no effort to remedy the situation. By now a third couple had joined us and everyone was getting upset. Finally, I informed the security guard that if someone from the ship didn't let us on within ten minutes there was going to be a big riot on the dock. She murmured into her walkie-talkie and the ship's front-desk manager "miraculously" appeared to escort everyone onboard. He was checking us all in when Bjorn arrived to insist that the two couples who stayed at the Grand Hotel needed to pay for their rooms. This was the last straw! The desk manager got quite an earful about Celebrity's shabby treatment. However, he quickly rose to the occasion, escorted Bjorn out of the area and assured us no payment was necessary. We dropped off our bags in the room and rushed off to locate my parents. They were having breakfast and delighted to see us! We exchanged horror stories: Nobody had informed them of our whereabouts for almost 36 hours. Worse, my father had fallen down ten escalator steps in the London airport and emerged covered with blood. (He was still terribly bruised). My parents had visited Oslo on a previous trip and with my father in pain, decided to stay on the ship for the day. However, they knew Lynn and I were anxious to see more of the city and urged us to "go have fun". Lynn was hesitant to use the local ATM machine and instead had the ship's bank exchange twenty dollars for local currency (in hindsight an insufficient amount). We bought tram tickets to get to our first attraction, Vigeland Park. The place is famous for its 212 monumental nude sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland, who died in 1943. Arriving at the park, we were amazed to see the sculptures, which depict the whole cycle of human life from birth to death, displayed along an impressive promenade and amongst lovely flower and water features. Masses of lilacs were in bloom. It was just the peaceful antidote we needed after the last two days. Next, stop: Bygdoy Peninsula, an affluent section of Oslo that also is home to a number of museums. To get there, we needed ferry tickets which we attempted to purchase dockside. Informed they were only sold on the boat, we dashed onboard just as the ferry was departing. But surprisingly, during the entire crossing, tickets were never mentioned by any of the crew. Once there, it was a long walk from the dock to the museums and we were thirsty. The purchase of a cold Pepsi wiped out the remainder of our Norwegian money. Fortunately, the Kon Tiki and Fram Museums accepted charge cards. The Kon Tiki houses the balsa wood raft Thor Heyerdahl used to prove his theory that the original Polynesians could have sailed from Peru. Also on display is his papyrus raft that sailed from Morocco to Barbados. The Fram contains the famous ship which took Nansen to the arctic in 1893 and Amundsen to the South Pole in 1910. Visitors can walk throughout the ship and numerous polar artifacts are on display. Both museums were very interesting. On the return ferry, the crew was more organized and tickets were required. Too late we learned only local currency was acceptable. This created an embarrassing predicament. Since our Norwegian money was depleted, they hesitantly agreed to accept the equivalent value in American dollars. We ate a quick lunch back on our ship before our final visit of the day: Akershus Castle (closed the previous evening). Now the Constellation was berthed right beside it and the huge ship towered over the castle grounds. The old stone walls and cannons, set amongst shaded lawns and lilac trees produced an immediate response of tranquility. From the ramparts, incredible views of the Oslo harbor stretched beneath us. Concerned about the possibility of missing the boat again, the ship's proximity allowed Lynn to really relax for the first time all day. We were back onboard in time to join my parents who were attending a lecture about Copenhagen, tomorrow's port of call. Afterwards, I approached the speaker concerning an internet tidbit I had previously gleaned. "Isn't tomorrow a National Holiday in Denmark?" I asked. "I don't know," was his response. "If so," I persisted, "will the museums be closed?" He was clueless. The ship sailed at 5:00 p.m. In our room was a letter of apology from the front desk offering a $500 onboard credit for our "inconvenience". At dinner, my parents introduced us to our fellow table-mates, Paul and Bilha (a nice middle-aged Canadian couple) and we bought wine for everyone to celebrate our arrival. The food was very good and the evening's entertainment by Brooks Aehron, a talented concert pianist, excellent. Read more