First cruise
Columbus Cruise Review by Bannball
- Sail Date: Jun 2018
- Destination: Norwegian Fjords
My dad and I were going away together, he wanted a cruise with no flights hence the fjords.
He had been on a cruise before I was a cruise 'virgin'. He told me how it would be pretty 'posh' and the food and entertainment would be amazing. Unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations.
The staff were amazing, couldn't do enough for us and so friendly all the time. The food was good, varied but not a lot of veg dishes that weren't in sauces, though plenty of salad. Unfortunately the bistro didn't seem to be able to cope with the numbers and constantly ran out of glasses, mugs and on the last breakfast, toast! We were told they didn't expect so many?? There were 1400 on the ship at all times so how could they not expect so many to the last breakfast?
The ship to me looked tired in places even though it was refurbished last year, the shower room was a bit grubby and the tv didn't work properly (not really a problem as we spent most of the time on deck). One lift was broken the whole trip as was the ice cream counter, which in the heat we had, would have made a killing!
The main show was unfortunately on a similar level to butlins, though when singing individually elsewhere on the ship they were pretty good. The lady singer in connexions was amazing! We spent most evenings listening to her.
In the main restaurant we had a German couple sat at our table and he told us he was told he couldn't sit at our table because it was an all English table! Shocking!!
Having said all that it was an experience I wouldn't of missed and the fjords are breathtaking!
Cabin Review
The cabin was basic, smaller than I expected for a deluxe with balcony, the shower was grubby, not dirty just very worn. The room was spotless, the cabin steward was great. She couldn't do enough for us and was so friendly
Port & Shore Excursion Reviews
We booked the Flam railway trip at the tourist info, excellent! Gorgeous scenery and a lovely pancake with coffee up the top!
Again we booked our own trip once we got off the ship. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone on the landing area to give us directions and we headed the wrong way. Found a tourist info office but it was empty! Eventually a 'hop on' bus turned up and the driver took us to the port where we booked his trip :) again beautiful scenery
The tourist info office was in the station (but not obvious at first). We booked a tour to the troll wall and up the mountain. This was excellent! The driver was our guide and he was great! Full of information and humour! This trip is one of the best we didn't!
We booked the hop on bus with a combined ticket for the furnicular. Both were excellent! We had soup from the cafe, one of the best soups ever!
We booked our own 1 hr cruise on the canals, this was very good, informative and interesting commentary. Well worth doing