Bergen, Norway

I LOVE waking up in the morning and opening up the curtains to our cabin and seeing the beauty we are surrounded by. This is the first thing I saw this morning... not bad ;) 

We arrived in Bergen around 9am and took a bus into the city from our cruise ship. We made a beeline to the Tourist information to ask about directions to the tram and get a map. We took the Bergen Light Rail from Bergen to Fantoft. As soon as you get off, you will walk towards the store front next to your left and turn left and another left. You will soon see signs for Fantoft Stave Church (Fantoft Stavkirke) and walk up a hill and through a forest for about 10-15 minutes. Tickets to get in are NOK 50,-



The old Fantoft stave church was originally built in Fortun in Sogn in 1150 and moved to Fantoft in 1883. The church was burnt down on the 6th of June 1992. The Fantoft Stave Church has now been rebuilt just as is was before the fire.

*The train ticket is good for 90 minutes so if you time it right, you will not need to buy another ticket to get back. 

When we got back into Bergen, we had a lot of time to explore. Our first stop was the fish market. We enjoyed our seafood lunch. 

 On our way back to the ship we came across this fountain and it reminded me of Rand :)

Back on the ship

 Farvel Bergen!

MSC Orchestra Cruise

Last year we went on our first cruise to the Greek Isles, Croatia and Italy. It was an amazing experience and we just loved traveling on a ship. Traveling with a toddler is not easy but being able to see so much and not have to lug all your bags around every destination is HUGE! We have been wanting to explore Norway and when I saw a deal on another MSC cruise, we just had to book it!

I know there are a lot of MSC haters on the internet cruise forums but we really enjoy this cruise line. Yes, we haven't cruised with anyone else but we have no complaints with them. The rooms are comfortable and the food is great. They have lots of activities on the ship AND (something new) they have childcare for kids under 3 for FREE. We didn't know about it till the last day but Rob and I got to enjoy Bingo for an hour alone while Rand got to play in a room full of Chicco toys and also an hour of dinner later that evening. Chicco sponsors the little kid's activities so you will see Chicco toys and baby gear everywhere. You can also borrow Chicco baby gear (strollers, carriers, etc) while on the cruise. MSC is VERY children friendly and has tons of activities for any age.

Our cruise left on a Saturday out of Kiel, Germany which is an 8 hour drive away. We left 2 days early to explore Northern Germany in Kiel and Hamburg.

While we were on our cruise, I booked ahead of time at Port Parking and we literally parked right next to our cruise ship. We were able to drop off our bags and start the check in process which went pretty smoothly.

~ Our Route ~

~ Our Ship ~