Island Princess - Part 1

16 Day Land of the Midnight Sun & Summer Solstice Cruise - June 12, 2023

Island Princess in Trondheim, Norway.

Norway has always been at the top of our bucket list. Over the last few years, we’ve both mentioned wanting to visit Norway for our 10th wedding anniversay in May 2023. In April 2021 (during the cruise shutdown) we booked our first Princess cruise for November 2021 on the Sky Princess. That July, we received an email from Princess advertising their newly released 2023 itineraries, and we saw a cruise to Norway with a port stop in Longyearbyen, one of Jay’s bucket list destinations. We took a leap and booked our second Princess cruise, before even knowing if we actually liked cruising with them. Thankfully, we loved our first Princess cruise, which made us all the more excited that we already had our second booked, even if it was years away.

In the meantime, we joined our very active Cruise Critic roll call, researched and booked tours, flights, and transportation. Right after final payment, Princess adjusted our itinerary, which now no longer included the stop in Longyearbyen due to Norwegian governmental regulations. Though very disappointed, we were happy that Princess replaced the port stop with Lofoten Islands and added another in Edinburgh, Scotland, so we decided to still go on the cruise.

Almost two years after booking, we flew to London, England. We spent a few days in Southampton at The White Star Tavern. We explored Southampton, toured English wineries in Hampshire, and visited the SeaCity Museum for their Titanic exhibition. Then we packed our luggage back up and went to sleep, excited for embarkation day!

Itinerary

Mon - June 12th - Southampton, England, UK

Tue - June 13th - At Sea

Wed - June 14th - Haugesund, Norway

Thu - June 15th - Olden, Norway

Fri - June 16th - At Sea

Sat - June 17th - Tromso, Norway

Sun - June 18th - Honningsvag, Norway

Mon - June 19th - At Sea

Tue - June 20th - Gravdal, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Wed - June 21st - At Sea (Summer Solstice)

Thu - June 22nd - Trondheim, Norway

Fri - June 23rd - Andalsnes, Norway

Sat - June 24th - Skjolden, Norway

Sun - June 25th - At Sea

Mon - June 26th - Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Tue - June 27th - At Sea

Wed - June 28th - Southampton, England, UK

Embarkation Day

Check-in and boarding was an absolute breeze (probably due to almost half the passengers from the previous cruise staying on for this 16-day cruise to Norway).

After boarding the ship, we stopped by the first bar we saw, Good Spirits, for our first cruise drinks! We both have the Princess Premier package with up to fifteen $20 drinks included each day, so I ordered a glass of champagne and Jay ordered a rum & coke. We went to drop off our carry-on bags at our room, only to find it already done!

We spent some time walking around the ship and exploring. When we made it to the Lotus Spa, we took a spa tour and decided to sign up for pre-sailaway massages. After the tour, we went down to the Bordeaux main dining room for lunch.

After eating, we went back up to the spa for our massages. It was a very relaxing way to start off a cruise! The ship had begun sailaway near the end of our massage, so we walked back down to our cabin and watched as we continued to sail down Southampton Water from our balcony.

For pre-dinner drinks we spent some time at Crooner’s. Then we walked over to the Provence main dining room for our dinner reservation at 7:20pm.

We finished dinner in time to make it to the second showtime in the Princess Theater for a comedy show. After the show we walked over to the Explorer’s Lounge to watch karaoke, but unfortunately they were having system difficulties so they canceled it for the evening.

At that point, we called it a night and went up to our room for bed. We really enjoyed our first day on board the Island Princess and are looking forward to 15 more!

Sea Day #1

We enjoyed a very chill day at sea for our second day on board the Island Princess!

For breakfast, we went down to the Bordeaux main dining room.

At 10am, we went over to the Wheelhouse Bar for our Cruise Critic meet & greet. This was the busiest Cruise Critic roll call we’ve ever taken part in, and the meet & greet was well attended! We enjoyed meeting crew from different departments and hearing what they do on board the ship.

We ran over to the Bayou Steakhouse for the spa raffle, but unfortunately we weren’t winners this cruise! It’s okay though, we’ve already enjoyed some spa services already, though we wouldn’t have said no to more!

At noon, we met back up with our Cruise Critic roll call members for a group lunch in the Bordeaux main dining room. It was really nice putting faces to the names we’ve talked with online for the last two years.

After lunch, it was quiz (trivia) time in the Wheelhouse Bar. It’s very popular on this cruise, it was so packed the staff had to call someone to bring extra chairs.

Before dinner, we went to the Captain’s Circle Elite Lounge (for platinum, elite, and suite guests) for drinks & nibbles.

Tonight was the first elegant night this cruise, but we forgot to send Jay’s suit for pressing, so we decided to skip it and go to the buffet. There’s 3 elegant nights in total this cruise, so we didn’t feel like we were missing out on too much.

We ended the night in the Wheelhouse Bar watching the sun set slowly at 10:30pm. We had fun watching everyone dance, there’s some dedicated dancers on this ship!

Tomorrow’s our first port day of this cruise: Haugesund, Norway!

Haugesund, Norway

We had a perfect day for our first port stop in Haugesund, Norway!

For breakfast, we went to the Bordeaux main dining room. Then it was time to meet our tour group in Good Spirits. We got off the ship and met our tour guide at the bus around 10:30am.

Our ride took about an hour and half to Fjæra, Norway. Once there, we stopped at Rullestad for a lunch of local specialties. We even tried Brunost, Norwegian brown cheese! I liked it, it was slightly sweet and caramelly, with the texture of a soft cheese. Jay thought it was interesting. After eating, we walked outside to see the Sagfossen waterfall. Everything was so serene and beautiful.

Next, we drove over to Eljarvik Farm to see the Langfoss waterfall and Åkrafjord. Then we went up even closer to the Langfossen. It’s considered one of the world’s 10 most beautiful waterfalls.

On our way back to Haugesund, we stopped at Akrafjordtunet and bought a local beer and reindeer jerky.

When we made it back to the city, we stopped at two historical landmarks. Haroldshaugen is Norway's national monument in honor of the unification of Norway. Krosshaugen is a thousand year old stone cross that has stood here since the time of Christianization, about the year 1000.

We got back on the Island Princess around 5pm and headed over to Good Spirits for some cocktails. Jay ordered the Apple Delight and I had the Sandia en Fuego (it was so refreshing & spicy).

We looked over tonight’s MDR menu, but nothing excited us, so we went up to the Horizon Court buffet for a quick dinner. After eating, we ended the night with Music trivia in the Explorer’s Lounge. A nice couple from England joined us and we got half the questions right (which is way better than we all expected).

We’re back in our stateroom, enjoying the views from our balcony. We have an early morning in Olden, Norway tomorrow. We dock at 8am, but are expected to get into Nordfjorden around 4am. So excited to explore more of this beautiful country!

Olden, Norway

I didn’t think anything could top our perfect day in Norway yesterday, but somehow today was even better! Everywhere we looked was so beautiful, it became overwhelming!

Our ship had a port call in Olden at 8am, but we entered the Nordfjord around 4am. We ordered room service breakfast to be delivered around 6am, so we wouldn’t miss all of the beautiful scenery!

We met our tour group downstairs at Good Spirits at 7:30am. We docked a little early, so we were in our bus and pulling out of port around 8:15am.

We drove along the Innvikfjord through the villages of Loen and Stryn. We stopped and enjoyed the serenity of the beautiful Oppstrynsvatnet lake at the Jostedalsbreen Nasjonalparksenter.

Our journey continued uphill and the landscape rapidly changed from a rural and picturesque countryside to rugged scenery with high mountains and snow (in June)!

We visited the top of Mount Dalsnibba, 1500 meters above sea level, where we enjoyed a spectacular view over UNESCO’s Geirangerfjord. On our way back down, we stopped at the iced over Djupvatn, a lake situated at 1000 meters above sea level.

Next, we rode up the famous Eagle Road with its eleven hairpin bends and grazing goats on the steep sides. We enjoyed the view over the fjord including the Seven Sisters waterfall. Then it was time to head back to Olden and our cruise ship!

We watched sail away and Olden’s special send off from our balcony. Then we visited Good Spirits for a couple pre-dinner cocktails. Soon, it was time to head back to our room for our first Ultimate Balcony Dinner as we sailed out the Nordfjord toward the Norwegian Sea.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and loved the special attention from our private waitstaff. We’re seriously considering booking another one this cruise, maybe for sail away from Skjolden since we’ll have more beautiful fjord views as a backdrop. It’s $110 total, and we think it’s more than worth it!

After dinner, we went to trivia at the Explorer’s Lounge, then ended the night talking to new friends at Good Spirits!

Tomorrow’s a sea day on the way to Tromsø in the Arctic Circle!

Sea Day #2

Today was a very relaxing day on board the Island Princess!

We stayed up late last night, so we slept in a bit this morning. For lunch, we went up to the Horizon Court Buffet.

At 1:45pm we met up with some of our Cruise Critic roll call members for a pub crawl starting in the Wheelhouse Bar. We then visited the Lotus Bar, Lido Bar, Explorer’s Lounge, and Crooners for toasts, drinks, and stories. We crossed into the Arctic Circle around 3pm.

At 5pm we went back to the Explorer’s Lounge for the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party. After the party we went to Good Spirits for pre-dinner cocktails.

Then it was time for our dinner reservation in the Provence main dining room. I ordered the seared flounder grenobloise and Jay had the barbecued pork ribs.

After dinner we went back to the Explorer’s Lounge for the Officers vs Guests: Mind Duel trivia! We hung around after trivia to watch karaoke. Jay decided to sing, but he missed the cut-off for signups, so next time!

We finished the night with a walk around the Promenade Deck, then night caps and Formula 1 FP2 at Crooners.

Tomorrow, we’re in Tromsø, Norway (in the Arctic Circle)!

Tromsø, Norway

We had another lovely day in Norway today, this time in sunny Tromsø! We’ve been so lucky with weather on this trip (our tour guide today said it’s rained for 2 straight weeks, so we were very glad to have had bright, sunny skies).

We ate a quick breakfast at the Horizon Court buffet, then met up with our tour group at 8:45am.

During the first part of our tour we saw deep fjords, steep mountains and sandy beaches at Grøtfjorden and Ersfjord.

Our favorite part of today’s port stop was visiting huskies (& puppies) at the Tromsø Wilderness Center. Jay made it his mission to meet every dog there, with 150 we just didn’t have time, but he got close! We also had tea and coffee cake at the Husky Cafe. They served the tea in traditional Scandinavian kuksa cups. We really liked them, so we bought two as souvenirs.

On our way back to the city we saw reindeer just grazing by the road!

Next, we visited the Arctic Cathedral. Then we took the Fjellheisen cable car up the Storsteinen mountain to see panoramic views of the city and fjords. While there, Jay ordered a reindeer sausage to eat. He really liked it!

We got back on board the Island Princess around 4:30pm. We grabbed some nibbles at the Captain’s Circle Lounge then went to watch sail away from our balcony.

We enjoyed a leisurely dinner at the Horizon Court buffet, then grabbed nightcaps at Good Spirits. We decided it was time to get some laundry done, so we did a few loads in the self-service laundry machines and called it an early night.

Tomorrow, we’re in Honningsvåg, the northernmost city in mainland Norway!

Honningsvag, Norway

Today, we were in Honningsvåg, the northernmost city in mainland Norway!

We visited a couple fishing harbors and learned how they hang dry cod to preserve it. Then, we stopped at Tufjordhøyda for the view.

We attended a king crab presentation at the northernmost fishing village of Skarsvåg. After that, we met a Sami family and one of their 1000+ reindeer.

We finished our tour at the Nordkapp, the northernmost point of continental Europe. We visited the North Cape Hall, where we ate a freshly made waffle with more Brunost (Norwegian brown cheese), walked through the exhibitions and watched a movie about a year in the life of the North Cape.

As our tour group got back to the Island Princess, we spent some time walking around the city of Honningsvåg.

Jay took a late afternoon nap, while I visited the Captains Circle Lounge for a snack. Then I went to Good Spirits for a pre-dinner cocktail.

I woke Jay up for an early dinner at the Provence main dining room, so we could then watch the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix at the Princess Casino Bar.

After the race ended, we watched karaoke at the Explorer’s Lounge then went for a walk around the Promenade deck. We ended the night talking to a new friend at Crooner’s.

We were actually awake past midnight finally, but couldn’t really see the midnight sun due to the fog. Tomorrow we’re at sea while we sail to the Lofoten Islands.

Sea Day #3

We had a very serene day at sea on board the Island Princess today.

We slept in a bit and went for a late breakfast at the Horizon Court buffet. I spent the morning reading around the ship. Then, I booked the Wines of the World lunch at Sabatini’s for us later in the cruise per recommendations from other guests on board.

Soon it was tea time in the Bordeaux main dining room. After that, we rushed to trivia at Wheelhouse Bar, but weren’t even close to winning. We hung around after just talking with some friends we’ve made on the cruise.

We grabbed some pre-dinner drinks at Good Spirits. Then, we went to the Bordeaux main dining room for our dinner reservation (after going to Provence first, oops). We really enjoyed tonight’s Chef’s Dinner of Rack of Lamb and Beef Wellington!

We ended the night with the “On the Bayou” New Orleans themed production show and then karaoke at the Explorer’s Lounge. The gorgeous views from the midnight sun didn’t hurt!

Tomorrow, we visit the Lofoten Islands in Norway!

Second Half

Part 2 of our Island Princess cruise blog coming soon!