Cruise Ports Archives - OnePennyTourist

Oct62015 by PennyNo Comments

Stavanger Norway: A Step Back In Time

If you've missed the story so far, this summer I went on an 11 night Disney Magic cruise. Leaving from Copenhagen, we then travelled to Oslo and Kristiansand before arriving at Stavanger Norway, our third and final port of call before heading to Iceland. Our all ashore was at 7:30am and all aboard 12:45pm, making it our briefest port of call. We didn't want to do the ship excursion to the famous Pulpit Rock as we prefer to do that sort of thing DIY and the short time in port made that too risky. Instead we planned to find the cathedral and explore Gamle Stavanger. This compact port is perfect for cruisers who like to stay independent - we didn't even have a map. Stavanger Norway: A Step Back In Time Heading in the direction of the Petroleum Museum required walking beside a fair...

Aug142015 by Penny10 Comments

Kristiansand Norway: The surprising port

Cruise Ports, Cruising, Europe

The story so far. I've taken a Disney Cruise, I've been to Copenhagen and Oslo and I've been super impressed with both. Could our next port, Kristiansand Norway live up to it's predecessors? Read on to find out friends, read on. Our All Ashore today was an earlier 8:15 am, with All Aboard at 4:45pm. Once again, we'd opted to explore by ourselves rather than take an organised excursion (that's a bit of a theme for us) and we anticipated a rather relaxed day ahead. Of all our ports, for some reason this was the one I'd been the least excited about. I don't know why, I just guess somewhere had to be 'last'. Our plan was to have a short wander, visit Fiskebasaren, then take the opportunity to relax and enjoy the ship for the day. But let me not keep you in suspense. We docked with...

Aug52015 by Penny17 Comments

Oslo in 8 hours: Making the most of our day trip

Cruise Ports, Cruising, Europe

My Nordic Adventure continues with our first port of call on our Disney Magic cruise and a visit to Oslo. And what a visit it was - with blue skies and sunshine, even the weather seemed to welcome us to Norway's capital with open arms. Disembarkation was scheduled for 10:30am. It was nice to sleep in after our busy weekend in Copenhagen so were still enjoying breakfast when the gangway opened early, oops. Our All Aboard time was at 5:45pm, so that meant Oslo in 8 hours - we needed to get moving! Oslo in 8 hours: Making the most of our day trip Fortunately our ship docked central to the city, literally next to Akershus Fortress. No prizes for guessing where we were heading first. Akershus dates back nearly 700 years, and being a fortification it naturally res...

Mar92015 by Penny2 Comments

Castillo San Cristobal in San Juan: DIY cruise excursions

Cruise Ports, Cruising

Last year I had a couple of cruising firsts. One was that after years sailing with Disney Cruise Line, I expanded my horizons (*gasp*) and sailed with Royal Caribbean on board Freedom of the Seas. I'll post separately about her but in case you're wondering, yes, she impressed! Another was that I visited a new port of call; San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Personally I prefer to "DIY tour" if I can (for example see my St Thomas DIY tour, and my visits to Oslo and Kristiansand) and as long as your cruise ship docks at the Port of San Juan then it makes for a great DIY friendly port as Old San Juan is within easy walking distance of the cruise terminal. After researching San Juan to within an inch of it's life, I decided that our main mission for the day should be to visit the ...

Feb172015 by Penny2 Comments

St Thomas Skyride to Paradise Point: DIY cruise excursions

Cruise Ports, Cruising

One of the many things I love about cruising is going to sleep each night and waking in a new destination without having to pack and unpack each time - floating hotels, they're kinda cool. A cruise ship will occasionally overnight in port but it's rare so that means ashore time is precious and usually counted in hours not days. Needless to say I was happy when I found the St Thomas Skyride to Paradise Point when researching my cruise to St Thomas USVI. Located just a few minutes walk from Havensight Cruise Terminal, it's very easy to get to. Close proximity attractions are perfect for independent touring rather than taking a ship excursion which is usually expensive. I'm also not keen on the herd mentality of organised excursions and value my freedom to bumble around like a fool and ge...