After our over indulgent, but fabulous evening of food, music and dance, we retired to our cabins for a good nights sleep. By the time we had risen, had the obligatory morning cuppa, and opened the curtains we were, thankfully, once again safely docked.

 

We had arrived in Flam, and the view from our cabin balcony was breathtaking. The mountain peaks were covered in a morning mist, but we were hopeful it would lift before we set out for the day.

 

Flam is a tiny port at the end of a branch of Sognefjord. It has a population of around 350, but today that multiplied to around 3350 as we all started leaving the ship 😳.

Deciding to walk off some of our previous evenings dinner, we set off to explore. Such beautiful scenery, and as the mist continued to lift, we could see and hear a waterfall cascading down the mountain side. A fast flowing river trundled its way through the village, and nestled in the valley were traditional Norwegian wooden houses. Such a tranquil setting.

Having booked tickets, from the Uk, for the scenic railway up the mountain, we made our way to the station, just a stones throw from the ship. Although we did not have allocated seats, there was plenty of room and we easily found seats together.

Climbing higher, we passed several waterfalls, and looked down on villages in the valleys below. There was a 10 minute stop at Kjosfossen Waterfall. Absolutely spectacular. As the water thundered down the mountains, spraying us on the bridge, we were entertained by dancers on the hill. A little bizarre but amusing.

Reaching the top of the line, we did have time to hop off if we wanted to. Some of our fellow travellers departed for onward travel, but the platform was full with new travellers waiting to join us, so we quickly changed seats to enable views from the other side as we made our way back down to Flam.

In our block of five seats, we had a spare and were joined by an American lady, whose Grandfather was Norwegian and had moved to the States. She and her sister were touring Norway catching up with relatives, such a lovely lady.

Our views on our journey down were as gorgeous as those on the way up. More waterfalls travelling down the mountains and more villages nestled in the lush green valleys. A perfect way to spend a couple of hours.

There was still time for a walk up into the hills overlooking the town. The view down to the port was incredible, such a huge ship in such a tiny port. The towns people made their visitors very welcome and provided plenty of things to see and do, with the railway, boat trips, water sports, a small market and a visitor centre with lots of information and a huge souvenir shop. Very enterprising.

We were due aboard by 6.30 pm ready for scenic evening sailings through two fjords. As we sat on our balconies waiting to set sail and enjoy the views, we were aware that the gangways hadn’t lifted and heard a bit of commotion on the dockside. Not sure what was going on, we waited and waited.

It turned out, some our fellow passengers were missing. However as they had taken a P&O coach tour, we were obliged to wait for them. At 7.30 a cheer went up as they arrived and were hurried onto the ship.

There are many tunnels through mountains in the area and it seems there had been a landslide in one of them which meant a huge detour for them to get back to the ship. All safely aboard we were able to set sail. Unfortunately being over an hour later than scheduled, darkness was falling and the scenic views we were anticipating were somewhat curtailed.

Never mind, we were still able to have a drink on deck, a lovely dinner and musical entertainment in the Live Lounge.

The following day we were due to visit Nordfjordeid, but on opening the curtains, expecting to be in port, there was further disappointment. We were advised that due to, expected, high winds the decision had been taken by the Captain and Port Authority that it would be unsafe to dock. We therefore had an unexpected day sailing further in then back out of the fjord.

Fortunately we hadn’t pre booked any tours, and the onboard entertainment team, busily put together a multitude of activities. We enjoyed the day, touring most of the bars, drinking hot chocolate, moving on to cocktails, cider and beer, whilst enjoying the scenery. We joined a couple of quizzes and spent a bit of time on deck watching the World go by.

Not quite the day we’d had planned, but once again the evening show was great, with music from West End musicals.

Waking next morning, excited to find we had safely arrived in Haugesund. Unexpected days at sea can give you a bit of cabin fever, so we were eager to set foot on terra firma.

Although we had nothing booked, we had seen the town had a little dotto train taking trips from the cruise terminal, and around the town with a stop at a national monument. What’s not to like.

We climbed aboard and chugged our way across the bridge, through the town hearing a little about various statues and buildings, deciding where we would visit when our journey ended.

We had a ten minute stop at the Haraldshaugen national monument, which was built and opened in 1872, to commemorate 1000 years since the unification of Norway.

It looks like a large burial mound. A granite wall with 29 standing stones, surrounds it. Each of these stones represents one of the old Norwegian counties. A tall obelisk stands at the top of this mound, making it stand out for miles around.

We climbed a small adjacent hill for magnificent elevated views of the monument, the town of Haugesund and across to the port where our ship stood waiting. Then heading across to the monument, we wandered around the stones looking at the names and didn’t hear the bell calling us back to the dotto train 😬. Fortunately the Besties were already onboard and held it for us as we scampered back across the grass . Oops 😅

We chugged our way towards the town, waving back at the nursery school children out for a walk, hearing more about Haugesund and making a note of more sights we wanted to see. Alighting at the park, we went in search of the statue of King Harald Fairhair, renowned as being the man who unified Norway. There seems to be statues and stories about him in every town.

Haugesund is a pretty little town, with some pedestrianised cobbled streets. There is a statue trail, and although we didn’t follow it, we discovered many of them during our walk, from the fishermen looking out to the harbour, to Marilyn Munroe (not a great likeness) perched on the promenade, to a magician and a little boy holding his toy boat.

The town hall is a magnificent building at the top of a hill, looking down on a beautiful park and the rest of the town. The sculptures and water features continued in this area too. The sun was shining brightly today, so we stopped for a drink and a pastry, sitting outside the cafe just watching the World go by.

 

Refreshed, we strolled down to the busy harbour walk. A hub of cafes and restaurants servicing the cruise tourists and people moored in the marina. A stunning, vibrant, welcoming town. And there were more stunning views as we walked over the bridge back to the ship.

Back home we found a lovely spot up on deck to enjoy the sunshine, a pint and the views. There seemed to be a medical incident on the deck below, with the ships medics making their way to the deck. But it didn’t seem too bad as shortly afterwards they headed off and the ship started turning to exit the port. It is an amazing manoeuvre, seeming almost to be able to spin on the spot. From our vantage point on one of the upper decks, we had a fantastic view as we made our way slowly through the many islands and out to sea.

That evening as we prepared for our second gala night, the ship’s Captain, unusually interrupted us by making an announcement into the cabins that, due to a medical emergency we had changed course towards shore to enable a helicopter evacuation. We were not allowed on decks and were asked not to go onto our balconies or take any flash photography. The patient was to be lifted by line into the helicopter. Not sure if it was related to the earlier incident, but such a sad way to end someone’s holiday.

For us, fortunately the party continued, spruced up we once again took the obligatory gala night photos. Taking some for other parties too so they could get group photos. There is always a happy atmosphere on these occasions. We were treated to another sumptuous 6 course dinner, partnered with equally delicious wine. The restaurant was alive with glamour and laughter as everyone enjoyed this special evening.

Too full to attempt the stairs, we took the lift, up 10 floors, to enjoy a pre show g&t at the crows nest bar. It was buzzing and the only seats available were the stools at the bar. The hubby had to give me a hand up 😂, but once secure, we could enjoy the pianist playing and serenading us, performing requests for other guests.

 

As she completed her last song, we took our leave. We had a date in the theatre to listen again to ODY.C, a group we’d heard earlier in the week. Their voices worked so well together, we loved them and they entertained us through till late, giving us just enough time for a night cap before making our way back to our cabins.

Tomorrow would be our last day and all at sea, but we would also be celebrating the hubby’s birthday 

Sea days can be long, but there is always plenty going on around the ship, if you want to join in. We had a little lay in, and the hubby opened gifts whilst having his first cuppa in the cabin. We could head down to have a leisurely breakfast, not having to rush ashore.

He had an equally leisurely day, watching a ‘home made’ hat competition. Hilarious but very inventive. We had some on board spends left on our account, so made our way to the duty free shop to purchase some rum and gin to replenish our cupboard at home. We toured the ship to explore areas we hadn’t yet seen and had a hot chocolate out on deck. Just the one though as it was a little chilly in the North Sea. There were quizzes and people watching and generally chillaxing with two of our favourite people.

The birthday boy had requested we eat at the Indian restaurant to celebrate his day. The restaurant, of course, attracted an additional charge, but he’s worth it 🥰. With pre dinner drinks, first in the Besties cabin, where we cracked open a bottle of bubbly, then in the restaurant bar, it was the perfect start to his evening. Such a beautiful ambiance and although the menu wasn’t vast, there was a good choice.

We all tried the East Indian cocktail, but one was enough and we reverted to wine afterwards. As dinner arrived it was exquisitely presented and delicious. My main, Kolhapuri Gosht, was a beef tenderloin, with a bhuna masala sauce and was possibly the most delicious Indian food I have ever tasted. Absolutely devine. I’m not normally a dessert kinda girl, but as we were celebrating decided to opt for a small chocolate tart, which turned out not to be so small, but again heavenly.

It had been a nice leisurely dinner, to complete a lovely leisurely day. We had time for a final stroll through the tax free shops, before taking our seats for the last time in the theatre.

Well . . . . the entertainment team had saved the best till last. It was an all action, singing, dancing, acrobatic medley encompassing all things circus. Wow what a way to end our week.

All that was left to do was ensure we used the last of our onboard spends. It’s a case of use it or lose it 😂. We did our best in the bar before bed and left just 35p 👍. Once a banker always a banker 😂

 

And with that we headed to bed, our friend, at home, waving to us as she tracked us passing by 🥰.

We had seen some beautiful scenery, visited some lovely towns, watched some great performers, come nowhere near winning any of the quizzes 🥴, dressed up and dressed down, eaten some delicious food, drank a little too much and laughed an awful lot.

A great time had by all. Looking forward to the next adventure.