Norwegian Honeymoon - Trip of a lifetime!
Norway
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Nov 8 - Nov 15, 2024
I am a very type A person who likes to be in control so I was hesitant to use an agency to plan a trip for me. I have to say Kimkim far exceeded my expectations! Ana helped plan and then fine-tune the trip based on our interests and was very knowledgeable with her recommendations. We went from Oslo to Bergen to Tromso. When she was out for vacation someone else stepped in to make sure I knew they were here to help me and everyone as so communicative and transparent (shoutout to Tom and Tricia). They were on top of things even when it was too early to book something they had alarms on when new dates were released to make sure we got to do everything we wanted to do. The way the itinerary , booking confirmations, and tickets were delivered to us was so organized. it came with a lot of extras like how to use public transportation and an ethical travel guide. One thing I didn't realize before the trip that all of the excursions that were booked were with ethical and sustainable agencies and a few run by the indigenous Sami people of Norway. I really liked that aspect!
During the trip we did have one part of an excursion get canceled because of the lack of snow and Tom messaged us 2 days before to let us know and gave us options to rectify the situation. There was another time where there was an issue with one of our excursions when we got there and we messaged and Tom jumped on it right away and figured out the issue so we didn't have to waste any time of our trip figuring out logistics.
Overall I would definitely recommend Kimkim's services!
Hotel Reviews
This hotel was so easy to get to from the train station and was super cute! The architecture and décor was great and the breakfast had a lot of variety and was very good. Of the 3 hotels we stayed in on our trip this was our favorite one. It was the nicest as well. This was the only hotel of the 3 that acknowledged our honeymoon and had laid out a cute fruit and chocolate plate with a very nice note!
This hotel was centrally located and walkable from the train station which was a big plus! Staff was helpful with our questions and the breakfast was very good with lots of variety. The room itself I would describe as fine. It wasn't bad by any means but it was also nothing to write home about. It was comfortable for our 2 night stay.
The location of this hotel is the selling point for me. The bus to and from the airport stops right in front of it and multiple excursions use this hotel as a meeting point. If you have a room facing the correct side you would have a great view. We unfortunately did not have a nice view in our room. The staff were very nice and helpful but the room left a little something to be desired. I liked that they are sustainable so there was little notes around about how to conserve water, and you need to use keycard to work the electricity so you aren't wasting it while you aren't in the room. They also don't clean your room unless you sign up for it which I think is a good system. However, our room didn't seem like it was cleaned well before we got there because we found numerous pieces of trash around the room including a candy wrapper and empty water bottle. The first time I tried to shower the drain was so clogged the water immediately started overflowing. I had to get re-dressed and go downstairs. To their credit someone came immediately up and cleaned the drain out but it was an inconvenience. This hotel was the only one of 3 that we stayed in that didn't provide body lotion and had only a 2in1 shampoo/conditioner combo which is terrible for my hair. This hotel is located in a place that had the harshest weather so not having lotion was horrible on my skin. I didn't pack any because I was traveling from out of the country trying to pack light with little liquids. It didn't seem worth it to go out any buy lotion either since we stayed here at the tail end of our trip and would have had to throw it aw which would have been wasteful. Of the 3 hotels we stayed at this was my least favorite. Maybe I wouldn't have been so critical if I didn't have the other two recent comparisons because it was a fine stay but that is my honest review. This hotel did have the biggest breakfast of any of the 3 and it was good!
Activity Reviews
This was our favorite thing we did in Oslo. Views were amazing! The food was good and the bar on board was nice as well. It was nice to relax in a warm boat while still because able to see the scenery.
We showed up early and the captain never showed up so we wasted about an hour of time just standing around in the rain. That being said, when we got in touch with the captain he was very apologetic and said our booking had slipped through the cracks and offered to immediately rig up the boat but we declined because by then we had already ventured on to do something else. We got a full refund for this excursion. We did see the boat and it looked nice and like it would be afun time.
This was our favorite excursion of the whole trip. Not only was it incredible to travel next to a pod of orcas for a little over and hour but the views to and from port are incredible! The staff are very knowledgeable about the sea life and they even put on some presentation via slide shows on the tvs and verbal audio over the loudspeaker about whales, orcas, birds, etc. That was a fun extra. The snacks on board were great too. Boat was warm and comfortable.
Unfortunately we didn't get to do the sledding part of this activity because of a lack of snow but the rest of it was great! Feeding the reindeer was so fun and I loved learning about the Sami culture. The transportation was great and so easy with clear meeting points in town.
The owner/tour guide really went above and beyond driving all the way to Finland to find clear skies to see the northern lights! The excursion went longer than expected to make sure we all got a chance to see the lights and take pictures with them. Guide was very knowledgeable and a talent photographer. Bus was brand new and cozy as well. The guide also shared cultural stories on the ride too and is a Sami indigenous person herself. She was very funny and entertaining as well. Meeting place was easy and convenient.