Cruising the Norwegian fjords without Disney! COMPLETED - Page 32 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Were those pictures taken at 10PM. I am amazed at the amount of daylight...but I might've misread.
The scenery is just stunning. I am in the works of trying to do something in Sept that will hopefully take me through some stunning scenery myself and I just keep thinking about all your pictures and I hope to get something half as decent as what you have taken over the past year. I just need the stars to align right for it to work out for me.
Were those pictures taken at 10PM. I am amazed at the amount of daylight...but I might've misread.
The scenery is just stunning. I am in the works of trying to do something in Sept that will hopefully take me through some stunning scenery myself and I just keep thinking about all your pictures and I hope to get something half as decent as what you have taken over the past year. I just need the stars to align right for it to work out for me.
Those photos weren't taken at 10pm, that's how long it was going to take us to get out of the fjords - but you wait, you'll see in due course just how long it stayed light.
Those photos weren't taken at 10pm, that's how long it was going to take us to get out of the fjords - but you wait, you'll see in due course just how long it stayed light.
Wednesday 2 May – part nine: a dinner to remember....
We started to get ready for dinner, and headed out early, as there were a few things we wanted to do first. Our first stop was the photo gallery, where we finally managed to get a copy of our missing formal night photos, and it’s just as well we did, as when we compared them to the ones that were out originally, we preferred the new ones. We ended up getting one formal shot, and still at the £2 off offer as promised along with the shot we’d had taken as we left the ship this morning, and the four of us on formal night.
From there, it was up to the spa, although we discovered first hand the problem that others had been complaining about with the elevators, as we went up, and then despite having another floor further up requested, we went back down again. A number of people had told us this had happened to them, but to be honest, I thought they were making it up. Obviously not...
We finally made it to the spa, and I went to have a look around their thermal suite, which is their equivalent of the Rainforest, as I was thinking about spending some time in here. It’s almost identical in terms of facilities to what’s offered on the Dream, with the exception of that hot tub with the glorious view.
That done, we headed back down for dinner, going via deck 15. Oh my goodness, that was a mistake. By now, it was freezing out there.
Now that we had the cobwebs blown away – literally – it was off the Peninsula restaurant. It was to be a night to remember....
I will say that, at first this evening, it was quite quiet around the table. I think we were all quite tired from our first day of formal excursions. I know I certainly was. I will also say that when I first looked at the menu, I was pretty horrified by what I found on it.
To me, anything that has as one of its options for appetiser.... haggis and swede puree in an oatmeal tartlet... and another as egg mayonnaise with baby gem lettuce leaves and water cress (and let’s be honest, a five year old could make this.... ) then you know you’ve got a problem..
Well, little did we know.... oddly enough both Mark and I went for the one remaining appetiser on the menu, Irish rope-grown mussels with garlic, white wine and parsley sauce. It was very nice, although the mussels were very tiny, and annoyingly they didn’t provide you with a spoon to mop up the sauce, which was wonderful, so I was uncouth and used my soup spoon!
Here’s where it started to go rapidly downhill, when the soup arrived. We’ll turn to Mark’s first. He went for the Highland game and vegetable with port soup, which didn’t seem to go down too badly, although there were some jokes around the table about which game was included and whether it was roadkill from earlier today on the coach journeys, so I guess it wasn’t that great then...
Well, it couldn’t be anywhere near as bad as mine, which was gazpacho with oven-toasted garlic croutons. Now I don’t know how many of you are familiar with gazpacho here, but it’s a cold soup made from vegetables, and it’s meant to taste of vegetables. Usually, it’s lovely. However, not tonight... I took one mouthful and my immediate thought was “goodness, that’s spicy”. I thought I was being stupid though, as there’s no way a gazpacho should taste like that, so I took another mouthful, and that was it, it nearly took my mouth. There was no way I was eating another mouthful of it.
I wasn’t the only one. Madeline had also ordered it and was having similar issues with it. Mark tried a bit of mine, as he thought it was just me, and came to the conclusion it was disgusting, and then Cheryl tried a bit too, and her face was a picture! Gradually, bit by bit, I think just about everyone around the table tried the gazpacho, and everyone had the same reaction to it. It really was appalling.
We spoke to the head server about it, and I was shocked by what he said to us. “That’s how gazpacho is made.” I give up! For starters, the customer is always right, no exceptions. Secondly, having had a French grandmother, who used to make this, oh and my mother who’s French-Swiss has regularly made this too, this is not what gazpacho should taste like at all. As Madeline said to him, “this is Indian gazpacho with the entire stock of spices poured into it....”
Well, for me at least things did get better with entree. I went for the wild mushroom Madeira truffle cream herb tart with pine nuts, vegetable straws, and garlic-fried rice, and this was absolute perfection, and could have easily been served up in a restaurant with a cover charge, it was that good.
Mark had the butter-roast Norfolk turkey with sage and onion stuffing, goose fat roast potatoes, cranberry sauce and pan gravy. Although those who had the turkey on our table agreed it was very nice, there was a lot of discussion about the stuffing and what was actually in it. Apparently, according to who you talked to, it tasted of “recycled cardboard” and “this morning’s leftover toast”. So it was good then? I did suggest getting the chef out to explain what went into it, and then everyone could make their suggestions to him personally....
Still, they hadn’t got the worst deal. Once again, it was Madeline who suffered that fate. After the nightmare of the gazpacho, she went for the lamb brochette with saffron rice and garden vegetables. I think she managed about a mouthful of it and then declared it was awful and she didn’t know what it tasted of, but the flavours just did not go together at all. She was not having a good time of it.
By the time we got to dessert, it was a standing joke that everyone wanted to know that Madeline was getting, so that they could ensure they avoided it. In truth though, four of the table went for the classic tarte au citron, and fortunately at least this course was decent for her.
Mark got the Spanish oranges in caramel syrup, and when they arrived, it looked as if he’d been a bit short changed.
I went for the coconut and vanilla panna cotta with tropical fruit and basil compote. The panna cotta itself was a lovely flavour, but the basil compote was a bit on the odd side for me.
I also got some coffee ice cream, which was very nice.
The whole meal was rounded off by some cheese and cups of tea or coffee. Considering how quietly the meal had started, we had probably had the best laugh of the cruise so far, sadly much of it down to poor Madeline and her appalling dinner, but at least she was able to laugh about it in the end.
Dinner:
Appetiser 8½ 7½
Soup 1 8
Entree 10 8
Dessert 8 8
Average score: 7.38
With that, we headed back to the room. When we got back there, I got some photos outside. By now, it was past 10:30 pm. It still amazes me to see it so light that late in the evening.
The weather today was hot, sunny, with temperatures in the mid 60s. The best thing today was the Flam railway ride. The worst thing today was the gazpacho soup. The funniest thing today was the disaster at dinner. Today we tried the Norway in a Nutshell tour And the result was it was a superb tour to take and I loved every minute of it. The most magical moment today was the Flam train ride with its stunning scenery outside.
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I guess they're trying to get you to go for the extra-charge restaurants on that ship! At least your entree was nice. The stone loungers in the spa are calling to me!
So sorry about the food at dinner. Once, we were on a cruise with Royal Caribbean, and I got the chilled watermelon soup having never tasted it before. Well, I didn't really like it, but I didn't complain or say anything. When our server came to clear our plates, he noticed I hadn't touched my soup, and asked me if I liked it. I politely told him that I didn't, and he insisted upon getting me something else. To me, that's how service should be, and I am shocked that your head waiter acted like you were the one's with the weird taste buds.
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along with the shot we’d had taken as we left the ship this morning, and the four of us on formal night. 
) then you know you’ve got a problem.. 
I took one mouthful and my immediate thought was “goodness, that’s spicy”. I thought I was being stupid though, as there’s no way a gazpacho should taste like that, so I took another mouthful, and that was it, it nearly took my mouth. There was no way I was eating another mouthful of it. 
Gradually, bit by bit, I think just about everyone around the table tried the gazpacho, and everyone had the same reaction to it. It really was appalling. 
For starters, the customer is always right, no exceptions. 
Secondly, having had a French grandmother, who used to make this, oh and my mother who’s French-Swiss has regularly made this too, this is not what gazpacho should taste like at all. 
I did suggest getting the chef out to explain what went into it, and then everyone could make their suggestions to him personally.... 
Glad you could all laugh about it though! 
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