The Foosa's First (and Second!) Cruise

So the husband and I decided we couldn’t stop traveling just because we had a kid. Especially cruising. And since most cruise lines make you wait until the kid at least six months old (the exception being Disney, but I can’t picture myself ever cruising with them because they are soo much more expensive than any other mass market line) we booked a two back to back cruises in Northern Europe for almost immediately after the six month mark. Most people thought I was crazy when they found out we were doing this. From so many people I heard, ‘Wait, you’re taking a baby to Europe?’ Eventually I just started replying, ‘Do they not have babies in Europe?’

Sure, it could have been a disaster, but we decided to risk it. I promised to keep an account of our experience, and thus, I present you the tale of our journey.

Day 0 - Chicago - The Plan: Get ourselves and our luggage successfully to O'Hare in time for our 8:10 PM approximately 9 hour overnight non stop flight to Copenhagen. Hopefully don't forget anything too important when packing. Bassinet should be provided for G3 to sleep in on plane!

What Actually Happened:

Arrived at airport in plenty of time. Flight time was bumped up by 10 minutes to 8:00. Had not eaten dinner yet so we visited Rick Bayless's Torta Frontera for some food. It was acceptable. Went back to the gate and flight was already boarding. Bassinet was not at the seats, so I asked the flight attendant. Was told it would be provided after take off. In the interim we were given a special seat belt that connected to mine for him to wear. Also were provided with a baby sized life jacket. I freaked out at take off because the tv screen showed the view from a camera that was mounted somewhere at the front of the plane. Yikes. Greg says it was cool and he was very impressed by it. I watched a bit during taxiing and then had to look away, but he watched it all through take off. Shortly thereafter the promised bassinet arrived. It bolted into the bulkhead. I'd like to say we then swaddled G3 and he went right to sleep, thanks to the delightful white noise of the engines, and slept until meal time. But I'd be lying. Big time. The flight did not go well. Sleeping was minimal. Very minimal. And since it was minimal for G3, it was also minimal for G2 and T1. (Hey, they get numbers, why not me too?) Story of our lives. Oh well. The others in our immediate row had the fancy Bose noise cancelling headphones - very smart! Others nearby probably hated us, but no one said anything. Also of note on the flight - we were flying SAS, where cocktails are included with a full dinner, even in economy. Sadly, apparently Europeans don't drink cranberry juice, so I could not get my usual vodka cranberry. So I just had plain orange juice. Greg had a Carlsberg, which is brewed in Denmark to get into the spirit. (A visit to the brewery is actually on our to do list for the day in between cruises.) The dinner was quite the spread, and tasty, at least in my opinion. I was not as impressed with breakfast. Apparently sandwiches with cheese and meat are common in Denmark and/or Europe in general. Odd. So breakfast was a turkey and cheese sandwich, or relatively dry bread. Anyway, flight landed a little bit earlier than expected, and our vacation had really begun!

Day 1 - Copenhagen  - The Plan: Clear customs, claim luggage, and catch train to hotel. Drop off luggage and check in if possible. Make a quick stop for waffles for lunch at Vaffelbageren. Visit Amelienborg Museum and Rosenborg Palace. Take canal tour. Visit Round Tower. Have hot dogs for dinner. Visit Tivoli Gardens. Return to hotel and try and get a good nights sleep.

What Actually Happened:

Customs was a breeze, and G3 got his first passport stamp. All bags arrived as scheduled. (Sigh of relief. I haven't checked a bag in almost 10 years due to the fear of it not arriving. And the cost. Carrying everything one was simply not an option with a baby in tow, and fortunately each passenger gets one free checked bag, plus the stroller. I had read online SAS didn't gate check strollers and they had to be dropped of with other bags, so G2 wore G3 in the carrier. Turns out they would have let us take it to the gate, but it was already nicely packed in the bag, so we just checked it anyway.  Transportation was painless. Got a little turned around when exiting the station because the stop is in a square and I wasn't sure which of the streets we were supposed to walk down as they weren't well marked. Walked a couple blocks out of our way before seeing a street sign that let us get our bearings and locate ourselves on my map. Our room was ready when we arrived, so we were able to check in. Some notes on our hotel. It had stairs to get into the main lobby. A lot of stairs, which seems rather impractical since hey, it's a hotel, so people probably have luggage. Hauling three suitcases and a stroller was a bit of a pain. The girl at the front desk was rather abrupt and not at all friendly. The price that she tried to charge was also 30 DKK more than I was quoted via email, which isn't really a heck of a lot of money, but it was kind the principal of the thing. I had the email confirmation, and she actually checked their original copy of the email to be sure I hadn't altered it before giving me the lower rate. Wi-fi was free but slow and spotty and the included breakfast had very few choices - like the plane it predominantly featured meat and dry bread. The room was fine - I'd read the room sizes were small, but since we had a larger family sized room it was much larger than expected. Compared to the teeny tiny inside cabin we were about to spend two weeks in, it was huge! Ice was also not provided by the hotel, which I knew, but I was also under the impression that I could get some from a nearby convenience store. I had seen one, and when I asked at the front desk the much friendlier gentleman who was working seemed very surprised by my question, didn't know what I was talking about, and suggested I ask the nearby bar if I could buy some. We decided it wasn't worth it. Overall, the hotel was adequate, and in a very convenient location, but overall I don't understand all the positive reviews on Trip advisor and likely would not stay there again.

Moving on - as I mentioned previously, the first items to check off the list were Rosenberg Castle and Amelienborg Museum. I had been told the former takes about two hours and the latter only about 45 minutes. Fairly close together and closing at 4pm, I assumed if we were at the first location by 1pm we could easily see both in three hours, dependent on G3 fussiness. However, after the long exhaustive flight and the hauling of the suitcases up far too many stairs, G2 was tired and required a nap, so we really didn't set out on our way until a little after 2. In another phase of my life I would have been insanely frustrated, but I've become much more go with the flow.

Oar first stop was Rosenberg Castle, home of many Kings over the years and also home to the crown jewels. Photos weren't allowed without paying extra, so here are some stock shots of things we saw. The dates on just about everything predated the USA's existence, which fascinated me. Other countries have a much more interesting history than we do. I really liked the emerald crown jewels too and was disappointed when G2 said I couldn't take them home for souvenirs. G3 had his bottle on the walk over, and that kept the fussiness to a minimum. It took about 1.5 hours to see everything. We probably would have lingered longer if we had been sans baby, but I think we were both a bit nervous he might lose it at any moment, so we moved at a quicker pace. We finished up at shortly before 4, not enough time to get to Ameilinborg before it closed, but we decided to walk over there anyway to take some pictures of the outside. The walk through the park that is behind Rosenberg was very pretty. Took some pictures and then continued back down the waterfront to Nyhavn, where our hotel and the waffle stop were located. We had skipped the waffles for lunch, but had worked up an appetite with all the walking, so we stopped for a snack. Belgian waffles with 'soft ice' aka soft serve ice cream for G2 and T1, banana that we had brought from home for G3, who was cross that we didn't share our waffles with him. Lately, he always reaches for our food, no matter what we are eating. It's cute until he realizes we aren't giving him any, then he gets very upset. When he first started solids a few weeks ago, he would inhale them. Now he is not as thrilled, convinced that we are eating something better.

After our snack we walked up and around the canal. Also traded in the stroller for the carrier, as our next activity was a boat tour of the canal. We bought our tickets and had about a half hour before the next departure, so we decided to walk to an ATM to get a little bit of Danish money. I wasn't sure if the hot dog cart I planned for our dinner was going to take credit cards, and the carts that we had seen thus far didn't seem to, so I wanted to be prepared. Took me three tries to remember my randomly assigned pin that I got with my new debit card. I'm pretty shocked the machine let me three times. At some point, G3 fell asleep in the carrier. He woke up as we boarded the boat, fussed a little, and then went back to sleep. Here are some pictures from the canal tour.

We picked up the stroller again and had some coffee at the hotel, and then our next stop was The Round Tower. It was built in the 17th century by Christian IV as an observatory. We got there with only 15 minutes to closing, but that is really all we needed. Here are some views from the top.

Next was supposed to be our hot dog stop, but it seems the hot dog man had already packed up his cart and gone home for the night, because he was nowhere to be found. (He was supposed to be right outside The Round Tower.) So we headed to our last stop of the day, Tivoli Gardens. Walt Disney supposed was inspired by it when he created Disney Land. G3 was too little for any of the rides, but they are purchased separately from admission, so we went anyway. The goal was to be there after dark because that's when it is all lit up and pretty, and since the sun sets so late this far north we had a bit of time to kill. Since we failed to locate the hot dog cart, we decided to eat at the Tivoli instead. After some wandering around we selected Madklubben. After being seated we were informed of the Friday special - shrimp cocktail, 250gram steak, with salad and potato wedges and chocolate mousse. Sounded good enough to us, so we both ordered it. And it did not disappoint. The shrimp cocktail was delicious and large enough to be a meal in itself, and the Danes idea of cocktail sauce is way better than America's (and I love American cocktail sauce)! The steak was cooked to perfection and was melt in your mouth tender...G2 says it is one of the best he has ever eaten, and I am inclined to agree. The salad was nothing but a bowl of lettuce, literally nothing else, and no dressing, but that must be the norm here as the 'salad' served on the plane was the same. Potato wedges were delightful, and the sauce served with them was quite good...and quite unique. I can't put my finger on what it was made from, but wow, was it good. One minor hiccup at dessert, a member of the kitchen staff brought out my dessert, but nothing for G2. The place was packed, so it took a while to flag down our waiter and get the second one. But it was worth waiting for. All in all, an exceptional culinary experience, and G3 behaved himself nicely for the majority of the meal. 

After dinner the darkness we had waited for had arrived, so we took some pictures and then headed to the station across the street to catch a bus back to the hotel. It was a short wait soon we were on our way. G3 fell asleep in my arms just about immediately. As we approached our stop, I turned around and discover G2 had fallen asleep too! It took me so long to wake him that we missed our stop and had to get off at the next one. :) Oh well. I call the day a success, and on the fussiness scale I give G3 a score of 4.

G2 Commentary: Tiff thought I was faking sleep.  Nope, I was just that exhausted.

Day 2 - Copenhagen  - The Plan: Visit  Christiansborg Palace and Ruins. Return to hotel for luggage, take bus and train to port. Board ship by 3:00PM. Be on deck between 12:30 and 1:00 AM for sailing under Great Belt Bridge.

What Actually Happened: Left Hotel as scheduled, leaving luggage in lobby. Walked to Christiansborg. Toured Palace and Ruins as planned. (The current palace is built on top of the remains of the first two Christiansborg that burned down, and several other palaces that stood in the same spot prior.) Looked at time and realized that we had been inside longer than planned, and that it was 1:30 and thus the stables that I had not anticipated seeing were open. Yay! Saw some horses and old carriages. Thought it was interesting that there was no one around to check to see if we had tickets, but didn't think much of it beyond that.  Returned to hotel, retrieved luggage, caught bus that was literally right outside the hotel. Took it to S-Tog (like the L) station. Realized that the station was under construction and thus had to haul all of our stuff down lots of stairs. G2 was not amused, but to his credit did not complain. G3 took it all in stride. Caught train just about immediately. (Love the public transit system here!) Destination station did have an elevator, which made it much better. When we reached the station, our ship could be viewed in the distance, but it was far away. I think G2 was afraid I was going to make him hike all the way to the pier, but there was actually a shuttle that left from just inside the main gate right across the street from the station. Once we settled in and waited for the shuttle to fill up, I happened to notice a clock at the front of the bus. It said it was 1:57pm. I knew that couldn't possibly be right if we had been at the stables at 1:30...that was easily over an hour ago. (We got stuck behind a parade on the bus for at least 15 minutes, just for starters.) I consulted my ipod, which confirmed the time. So all we can figure is that we had misread the clock previously when we thought I was 1:30, and that's why no one took our tickets at the stables...they weren't actually open yet!

Shortly after the fastest checkin/security scan/boarding process I have ever experienced, we were on board! Stateroom had the pack n play I requested, but did not have the fridge. Stateroom attendant brought one when I asked her to. Very cramped quarters with two adults and a baby with two weeks worth of stuff in a tiny cabin. As a result of this, after a quick lunch at the Windjammer, where G3 made a bunch of new friends in the form of crew members, we returned to the cabin, G2 and G3 took a nap, and I did something I have never done in any of my 10 previous cruises-I unpacked! Usually just choosing to live out of our suitcases, this was very strange to me. It felt like we were moving in. Very strange. It was only after I finished organizing everything that I reached for my ipod to check the time. And it was gone! Stupid women’s pants that never have any room in the pockets and my stuff always falls out of. A quick glance around the minimal square footage confirmed it - it had fallen out during lunch. Drat. To add insult to injury, since I'm so used to my phone etc, falling out of my pocket when sitting down, I ALWAYS check my seat and the area around it when getting up from a seated position in any public place. This happened to be the ONE TIME I failed to do so. I was in luck, however, because some honest individual found it and returned it to guest services. Thank you, honest individual. I will also add that despite the mandate that 'All Guests Must Attend' the muster drill, we were told that since we had G3 with us only one of us had to go - since the G's were taking a nap at the time of the drill, I went and represented us.

We had 'Stateroom TV' on throughout the day. I was stunned that one of the channels available was not Animal Planet. It's not a cruise unless you watch at least episode of Meerkat Manor, so I'm not sure if this trip will be a success. Between that and the relatively recent change to the gratuity video that had been the same since about 1975, apparently nothing is sacred anymore. :P

The only hitch in our day was when we tried to go to the show tonight, but G3 was having none of it, so we had to leave to avoid disturbing other guests. We did make it to the sailing under the bridge, however, which was well worth it. G3 slept in my arms the whole time. Fussiness score: 6

Day 3 - At Sea  - The Plan: Eat a lot, relax!

What Actually Happened: There was a lot of sleeping and a mild amount of eating. Fussiness score: 5

Day 4 - Tallinn, Estonia  - The Plan: Get Euro at the pier, self guided walking tour, lunch at Kompressor (pancakes!)

What Actually Happened:

Everything went very well! G2 said at the end of this leg of the trip that Tallinn was his favorite port. We got Euro as planned at a gas station near the pier. Walked all around using a walking tour I had found online. The map was not the best, and lots of times the directions were backwards, but we figured it out. We veered slightly off the route for our lunch. The planned pancake stop did not disappoint. Very large portions and tasty. We also had a little bit of extra time at the end of the day, so we stopped for drinks at cafe. Sat in the outside seating area and enjoyed the perfect weather. G3 did great! Fussiness score: 2

Day 5  - St. Petersburg, Russia - The Plan:  Private tour, visiting Hermitage, hydrofoil, Petergof fountain park, St Isaac's cathedral, Spilt Blood church, Peter and Paul fortress and cathedral (Catherine's Palace is closed on Tuesdays...guess we'll just have to come back someday!)

What Actually Happened: Clearing customs/immigration took ages, but after that we met our tour guide and successfully visited all planned sites. There was some drama from G3 at times, but since our tour was private it didn't stress me out near as much as it would have if we were with a group. Fussiness score: 4

G2 Commentary: In former Soviet Russia, blog writes YOU!  I don’t know what I was expecting in Russia, but St. Petersburg seemed little different than any other major city.  Well, okay, the traffic may have been worse.  Seriously, I don’t know how anyone can drive there in rush hour when they have an efficient train system.

Day 6 - Helsinki, Finland  - The Plan: Take tram to Market Square, then ferry to Suemolinna Fortress. Return to Market Square, Greg snacks on reindeer. Take tram to Olympic Tower, then to Rock Church.

What Actually Happened: Didn't get to spend as much time at the fortress as was initially planned due to getting a late start and then getting lost after getting off the tram due to a cruddy map. Also, missed the tram we planned to take because there was only one machine to buy tickets from and the first guy in line decided to buy tickets for half his cruise ship, it seemed. And he had no idea what he was doing. Neither did the people after him. Much like the self check out at the grocery store, I feel you should have to pass an IQ test before being permitted to use one. Unbelievable. Anyway, not quite what I pictured when I hear the word fortress...perhaps because we didn't have time to explore all of it. At Market Square, Greg got his reindeer and I was horrified to have to admit that it was quite good. Visited Olympic Tower and got to go inside the stadium as well. Missed our tram stop for Rock Church because people just shoved on instead of waiting for others to exit first. Made it to the door just as tram operator (who looked to be about 15 years old) closed it and then claimed she couldn't open it again until the next stop. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something very impolite. Got off at the next stop and walked back to the Rock Church. Unfortunately, after about three minutes inside G3 had a meltdown and we had to leave. Poor little guy was hungry ahead of schedule. Once he ate a little he was fine. Having recently learned (from Topi, our Finnish cruise director) that Angry Birds originated in Finland, and though I don't play the game I love the cartoons, and I especially like Red, I was thrilled to find a cooler filled with beverages in decorative cans featuring the characters on our way back to port. Had to buy one, of course! Fussiness score: 6

G2 commentary: True facts about our visit to Helsinki.  Tiff was extremely gung ho about eating some reindeer.  I don't know why.  I was a bit apprehensive about it.  I mean, what would Rudolph think?  And then I thought to myself, well, with high power halogen lamps, Santa didn't have much use for Rudolph anymore.  And well, waste not, want not.  So we ate some reindeer meatballs.  Which were quite tasty.  I would eat again.  And I think Tiff would, too.  Om nom nom.

The ferry ride to the fort was a nice little trip.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous which was nice.  At times, I was a bit worried about the sea gulls flying around the ferry: I did not want to get pooped on.  I mean, I know it's happened to Tiff before, but it hasn't happened to me and I'd like to keep it that way.

G2, signing off.

That was lovely. A blatant lie regarding our opinions on the eating of the reindeer, but if it helps him sleep at night, who am I to begrudge him?

Day 7 - Stockholm, Sweden  - The Plan: Ferry to Vasa Museum, ferry to Gamla Stan for changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. Self guide walking tour. Walk to Ice Bar.

What Actually Happened: Ferry company was selling tickets right next to where the tender dropped us off, but only took cash (Swedish Krona). Was able to purchase tickets on the boat using Visa card. Entrance to Vasa was under construction, so we had to go around the back side of the building. This was not evident, had to be directed there by a construction worker. Spent longer than planned at the museum. They had really creepy facial reconstruction heads of bodies that were retrieved from the wreck. Missed changing of the guard because of the extended visit. Arrived just as the guards who were being relieved were marching away. Did a little walking, but G3 got hungry and had a meltdown, and T1 was fighting a really bad head cold (I ALWAYS get colds on vacation - I blame the airplane ride), so we stopped to rest and feed the little guy. Continued on to the Ice Bar, was early for reservation, but they were not crowded so they let us in early. A little hokey, but an experience nonetheless. G3 slept through the whole thing. Headed back to the ship. Hungry, we stopped at McDonald's to see if they had Big N Tasty's. They did. Spent far too much on one just to be able to take a picture of it for Rob. T1 still ailing, we trooped back to the ship. Fussiness score: 4

Day 8  - At Sea  - The Plan: More eating, more relaxing.

What Actually Happened: Had to go to a consecutive cruisers meeting at 10am. Wasn't really worthwhile, but we did receive confirmation that there would be a special lunch for us in the dining room at noon. A fair amount of time was spent on the procedure for changing rooms, which I only half paid attention to because I specifically booked the same room for both cruises. Thus the unpacking for the first time ever. Why would anyone want to change rooms, I wondered...and then, later, while relaxing in our minuscule all we could afford if we wanted to do two weeks cabin while G3 napped - I got the call. Claudia from guest services wanted to know if I would like to be upgraded to an ocean view room, which is also larger than our current inside cabin - at no charge. Ummm, yes please. Didn't even consult with G2, bad wife that I am. :P

We also attended the farewell show tonight...the act that performed at the Welcome Show performed a new bit for this one. Los Pampas Gauchos. Argentinean drums and dance. It was excellent, and we quickly realized that if we had stayed for the first show no one would have actually heard G3 fussing because the drums were so loud. But that's the beauty of a back to back...you get another chance! They were so good we saw them at the welcome show the next night and a repeat of this performance on our last night. Fussiness score: 4

G2 Commentary:  Free upgrade, sweet!

Day 9 - Copenhagen  - The Plan: Enjoy watching everyone else get of the ship while we stay on. Then take train to Carlsberg Brewery. Return to ship in time for consecutive cruisers lunch.  Go to loyalty desk and get upgraded to our newly attained Diamond status, then enjoy the best perk of said status - the Diamond Event.

What Actually Happened: Got a late start, again because G2 is even less of a morning person than T1, and that's really saying something. Collected new Sea Pass cards and were on our way. Had to use three different credit cards to get one to work at the 711 for the purchase of our train tickets. (If the USA would speed up the roll out of Chip and Pin cards, this would not have had to happen. And when I say the USA, I really mean Capital One, as they are the only credit card company I know of that does not have a foreign transaction fee imposed on international purchases.) Train was crowded...a local said that there were some problems had caused some cancellations and that's why there were an unusually high number of people on the train that morning. Signs lead the way to the brewery, so I didn't even need the map I used internet time to print. (Good thing the minutes were free with our previous Emerald status - otherwise it costs $0.65 per minute!) Brewery tour included two beverages each - I don't like beer so I just got a soda and then gave my other ticket to G2, who was then able to try three different types. His favorite was the Carlsberg Dark Lager. Made it back to the ship just in time to go to the lunch, which was very nice. Was then properly awarded our earned Diamond status. Yay! Only took me 10 years. Highlights of our new level: a bunch more free internet minutes, free photo of our choice, larger balcony discount for future bookings, and, on most ships, the Diamond Lounge. The lounge offers free specialty coffees all day and free cocktails in the evening. However, our ship is older and won't be refurbished until this winter - so it is lacking in a Diamond Lounge. As a general rule, ships where this is the case offer a special area of the dining room where specialty coffees are served at breakfast, and then a lounge is borrowed for the 'Exclusive Diamond Event,' where wine, beer, and soda are free, and everything else is discounted. However, in the case of the wonderful Vision of the Seas, the Event is held in the 2nd level of the Viking Crown Lounge (my favorite spot on the ship!), and not only did the comp all drinks, there was a delightful spread of snacks put out each night as well-fruits, veggies, cheeses, a selection of hot appetizers, and desserts. Awesome perk! The time we spent there over the next week was wonderful. For G3 though, today was a very fussy day! Fussed on the train, fussed at the brewery, fussed during meals, fussed during the muster drill (which all three of us attended because he was awake I didn't feel right skipping out without a real reason), fussed during the show, fussed during the Diamond Event. Then fussed all.night.long. Sigh. They can't all be winners. Fussiness score: 9.5 (threats of putting him off the ship at the next port of call started at about 5pm...by 2am those threats progressed to not waiting until the next port of call and just tossing him overboard...all said very lovingly of course)

G2 Commentary: Please note I would not actually toss a baby overboard.

Day 10 - At Sea - The Plan: Yet more eating and relaxing

What Actually Happened: We didn't do a heck of a lot. And it was great. G3 made a bunch of new friends among the new set of cruisers. The only issue we had today had nothing to do with him. Our tour tickets had failed to have been delivered the night before, so I went and waited in a very disorganized line the get them reprinted. The agent at the desk acted as if I had inconvenienced her with my request. After she basically threw the tickets at me, I then had the audacity to inquire about our two tours I had booked for Geiranger, since it was to be a tender port I wanted to know if we had to come all the way back to the ship to meet te second tour. (There was supposed to be 45 minutes between tours.) She yanked the tickets back from me, glanced at them, and snapped 'These tours overlap, you can't do both. Pick which one you want to cancel and then come back.' And then basically threw the tickets back in face. Not on vacation me would have gotten in her face and demanded her supervisor, but the desk was mobbed and on vacation me  didn't want to start a huge scene. So I took the tickets back to the room to revise my plan. I did mention this incident on my comment card, and I hope the offending agent is reprimanded. Not the usual smiling, over the top service I am used to. Fussiness score: 4

Day 11 - Aalesund, Norway  - The Plan: Path of the Trolls excursion through cruise ship.

What Actually Happened: Very nervous about this one, as it was our first large group tour. And 8 hours long. I almost cancelled it a half a dozen times over the past week, every time G3 got really fussy. I kept saying, 'we can't do this tour - he's going to fuss on the bus!' G2 promised me all would be fine. And he was right. The tour was wonderful, and G3 was such a good little boy! People kept telling us how cute and well behaved he was. A few minor fits over the course of the 8 hours, but in general he did marvelously. Ran out of steam at the end and had a mini meltdown, but I think that was to be expected at the end of such a long day. Fussiness score: 2

G2 Commentary: The scenery was absolutely stunning.  The pictures don’t do it justice.

Day 12 - Geiranger, Norway  - The Plan: Geiranger Mini Highlights tour, returning just in time to catch Mountain Farm tour. Turns out the Farm Tour not only had a time change, but a destination change as well, so I cancelled both tours and rebooked a more extensive highlights tour. Planned to do some hiking in the morning before the afternoon tour.

What Actually Happened: Got a late start again because G2 wouldn't roust, and never did find the hiking path. Oh well. G3 was fussier today. It got so bad when we went to the fjord center we had to watch the photo slideshow presentation separately. I went first, while G2 dealt with the screaming, and then I took over. During my shift I walked through the exhibition hall, and the only thing that calmed the screaming child down was an area that mimicked an avalanche with wind, fog, and a great deal of noise. He would stop screaming and cling to me. I ended up skipping the rest of the exhibit and standing in the avalanche area for the duration. The viewpoint was gorgeous, but he fussed during that experience too. He finally fell asleep on the way to the top of the mountain, where it was 1500 meters above sea level and snowing. I hadn't had much of a breakfast due to our late start and was really hungry, so we ended up buying two candy bars at the little shop at the summit - for $8. Ludicrous. But I was really hungry, and they were quite good. Not $4 a piece good, but tasty nonetheless. After the tour ended we walked to the main street in the 'town'. It takes one minute to get to and about 15 seconds to walk the length of. I think there are six businesses on it. The last one was a chocolate shop that was giving free samples of chocolate made with cheese. This was supposed to be one of the things we sampled at the farm, so between that and the copious amounts of goats that we saw throughout the day, I'm glad I redid the tour plan as I did. (The chocolate made with cheese didn't taste like cheese...I don't know what it tasted like. And I'm not sure if I liked it or not. It was very strange.) Fussiness score: 7.5

Day 13 - Flaam, Norway  - The Plan: Flaam Railway in the morning, Fjord boat tour in the afternoon.

What Actually Happened: Almost had problems...twice. Again they had nothing to do with G3. I had pre-purchased our rail tickets, and had confirmed about three times all we had to do at the station was show them to the conductor, skipping the whole ticket purchasing masses. We were about 12th in line. When boarding began about 15 minutes later the conductor stopped us and told us the tickets needed to be validated first. G2 ran back to the station to have it done. Fortunately they let him skip the line because he already had a ticket. We were able to make that train, but were told that the return we had planned in taking was sold out, so we had to wait an hour at the top station. I was a little nervous because that didn't have us back to Flaam until 1:05...and the boat tour left at 1:20. (And you were supposed to arrive 15 minutes early.) But it all worked out. The ride up and down was just breathtaking, the time at the top allowed us to walk around a bit and have a snack, and even though our return was late (arrived back at the original station at 1:12) the train platform was literally adjacent to the boat dock, so we made that tour without a problem. We started out on the top deck, but it was rather windy so we moved inside. Turned out to be for the best because it rained at one point (just for a bit) and everyone came rushing inside - and not all of them got a seat. More beautiful scenery. Pictures don't do it justice. The second almost problem came at the end of the boat tour. The shuttle that was supposed to take us back to Flaam again was not waiting as it was supposed to be. There was a sign indicating the shuttle times, but no shuttle bus. And we seemed to be the only people looking for it. The departure time was listed as 4:00, and it wasn't that late yet, but it's kind of hard to depart when you haven't arrived. I knew we weren't far from Flaam by car (unlike by the boat that we had just taken that was a two hour trip), but definitely too far to walk. I was getting very nervous the shuttle had been canceled due to lack of demand. There were several other tour busses that were bound for a destination beyond Flaam, and I was just about to beg one of the drivers to give us a ride when, at about 3:59, the shuttle bus arrived! And about 20 other people came out the woodwork and got on it with us. I have no idea where they all were. It was only about a 20 minutes drive, basically through a tunnel the whole way, so we made it back in plenty of time. I worried for nothing. Fussiness score: 4

G2 Commentary:  Flam!  It’s just fun to say.

Day 14 - Bergen, Norway  - The Plan: Walk around town, visiting Rosenkrantz Tower, Fish Market, Tollbad Viewpoint, Festplassen park, and take Funicular ride. Snacks at Pingvinen. (Penguin in Norwegian!)

What Actually Happened:  Cut out the viewpoint because our ship didn't dock where I thought it would and thus would not have been visible from there. It was a bit out of the way, and it gave us more time to walk around after the funicular ride. A very nice day. The sun even came out. We had ridiculously nice weather the entire trip, and even though we were told it 'always rains in Bergen' we got lucky. Fussiness score: 3

Day 15 - At Sea  - The Plan: Whatever!

What Actually Happened: Last day of the cruise! Sigh. Very relaxing though. Again, didn't do a heck of a lot. Purchased an open booking for another cruise. :D Fussiness score: 6...though most of this stems from an epic meltdown in the evening. Guess he didn't want the trip to end either.

Day 16 - Copenhagen/Chicago  - The Plan: Leisurely walk around town, perhaps visiting a previously scheduled site that was missed. (Luggage to be stored if necessary.) Get ourselves and our luggage successfully for our 3:40 pm flight. Gain a bunch of time on the flight back, home by 7pm.

What Actually Happened: At some point I had the somewhat brilliant idea that instead of either a) hauling our luggage all over the city or b) going out of our way to store it in lockers at the central train station, it made the most sense to take the 15 minute metro ride to the airport, check our bags, and then return to the city. So after one final Diamond Breakfast, we bid farewell to the ship we had called home for two weeks. Dropped off the luggage as planned, and returned to the city center. Walked to the Little Mermaid statue for a photo, then took a break in a nearby park. Walked to the Botanic Gardens, which had free admission. Strolled the grounds. Still had the 100 Danish Kroner that I withdrawn at the beginning of the trip that needed to be spent, and since we didn't have the hot dogs back on Day 1, we decided to seek them out. There happened to be a cart right next to the metro station. (Which, as it turns out, took credit cards, so I didn't really need to have withdrawn the money. Oh well.) Two very large hotdogs and two cokes with real sugar came to 83, so we still had 17 to unload. There also happened to be a 711 cart next to the hot dog cart, and we were able to purchase a large croissant for 16. Not bad. :) Full of hot dogs and Coke, we, and our croissant, proceeded to the metro and back to the airport, where a fit of G3 fussiness allowed us to skip to the front to the line at the security checkpoint. As of this moment we are at 34000 feet, a little less than three hours from our landing at O'Hare. The handy in flight status tracker indicates we are over Canada, position approximately 56 39 N, 73 03W. The meal served shortly after takeoff was quite yummy - salad (with dressing this time, a cute little bottle of premixed oil and balsamic), chicken with lemon risotto, a roll, cheese, crackers, and a custard type dessert. Plus (free) vodka and Sprite, and later, coffee with most adorable little packages of milk I have ever seen. G2 has his personal TV set to a camera mounted on the plane and aimed downwards, which, while terrifying in some ways, is actually quite cool to watch. There are a lot more children on this flight, and many of them have done their fair share of screaming. Except our munchkin. This flight is quite literally night and day from the last one. He was been asleep almost the whole flight, either in the bassinet or G2's arms, waking only to eat, be changed, and snuggle with T1. Absolutely marvelous. Fussiness score: 1!

Some general notes on the cruise and everyone's reaction to G3. He was extremely well received. I think I was more put off by his occasional bouts of fussiness than anyone else. We got tons of glowing compliments from other passengers, a lot of whom asked his name and would stop to say hello to him whenever they saw us. (Not going to lie, there were a very few number of people who gave him the evil eye, but it was always when he was totally behaving, so they were probably just of the uptight 'why on earth would anyone want to bring a baby on a cruise' crowd. I chose to ignore them. There was one woman who gave us dirty looks for the first three days or so in the dining room at dinner time, but by day 4, presumably when she realized he was not being at all disruptive, she started to smile at him. Way to convert the haters, son!) And the crew adored him! I had heard 'the crew loves babies,' 'the crew misses their family and thus wants to interact with babies,' etc, when I was researching, and it really seemed to be true. Everyone, from the security offers to the dining staff to the senior officers, knew his name and came out of their way to say hello. Everywhere we went, 'Oh, it's Gregory!' 'Hi Gregory!' 'There you are, Gregory! How was your day?' And on and on and on. It was great! Yes, I know they are *supposed* to be nice - but they didn't have to be that nice. All in all I declare the entire trip a grand success. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope my traveling companions agree.