I have never been on a cruise before; the cost for a solo passenger and the fleeting port excursions put me of. What changed my mind was knowing that my old friend Dave had loved to go on cruises with his late partner Bryan. So I mentioned to Dave if he ever wanted to go on a cruise, he could count on me to go with him. This year, David asked me if I was still interested…and replied in the affirmative. I am approaching my 85th birthday…so the timing was perfect. Dave took charge on making the arrangements…and we decided on a cruise with Fred Olsen Line to the Norwegian Fjords. Neither of us had been to any of the destinations on the scheduled route. Dave’s friend Alan took us to the port of Liverpool where the cruise ship Bolette was moored.
Compared to ocean cruisers, Bolette is considered small. With 10 decks, two swimming pools, a gym, fitness centre, a fully equipped theatre and five restaurants…not to mention countless bars and lounges…Bolette, in my estimation was a big ship. It took a while to get my bearings…but by the end of the trip, I was confident in finding my way to wherever we needed to go. I thought we would stay in Liverpool for our first evening meal…but we set sail and were well out to sea before we sat down to eat.
We were designated places on the second sitting in the main Bloomsbury restaurant. However, neither Dave nor I wanted to eat late…so we chose to dine in the View restaurant on deck 8. In fact this was a wise decision…not only could we eat at a time that suited us both… but we could also chose what and how much to eat. We tried most of the other places…but the View became our favourite restaurant…where we became well acquainted with the staff. Wherever you went the food was excellent. There was a ever changing variety of dishes with generous portions and you could go back for more if you wished. By the end of the cruise, I had gained 3 kilos in weight.
Our first port of call was Åndalsnes, where we arrived after two days at sea. Dave had booked us on Trollwall and Cable Car excursion. After breakfast, we enjoyed a stroll through the small town and investigating the wares on sale in the shops. After returning to the ship for lunch, we disembarked and exchanged our vouchers for tickets that included a coach ride to Trollwegen at the end of the Romsdalen valley. The towering cliffs on either side of the valley were impressively dramatic. It was easy to imagine the shapes of trolls embedded into the mountainside. The ticket also included a round trip on the Romsdalen Gondola which was a sort of communal cable car. It was standing room only and we were packed in so tight that there was no chance to be scared at the steep ascent to the summit. The views from the top were stunning…but it was wet so we didn’t spend too long outside. We learned that rain is a common part and parcel of summer in this part of Norway. It wasn’t torrential…and we soon felt better after mugs of hot chocolate in the summit restaurant and quickly dried out once back down the mountain and onboard our vessel.
Saturday morning we woke up in the harbour of Ålesund, famous for its unique collection of Art Nouveau architecture. We learned from one of the excellent talks in the onboard Dolphin Lounge that Ålesund was raised to the ground by a devastating fire in 1904. The timber structures combined with gale force winds saw a small fire swiftly rage through the entire town, burning everything in its path. It was declared a national disaster which made headline news across the globe. The response was amazing. Funds poured in from around the world …but especially from Europe. The local dignitaries invited the finest European architects to rebuild the town employing the latest styles. The result was the superb assemblage of Art Nouveau buildings unrivaled by any other city in the world. Dave and I paid a visit before and another after lunch…and we still didn’t see all that we wished to see. However, we took a welcome break from the wet inside an old apothecary which is now a museum.
Olden on the Nordfjord was our next port of call. It is a beautiful village with sparkling green fjord framed by rolling meadows and towering cliff faces. Dave and I explored the village with its old timber church which has no electricity. It had a small reed organ which ran on human pedal power. The new church, further up the valley, was a bigger, more elaborate stone and timber construction with electricity and toilets. We climbed up the narrow wooden staircase to the west gallery where there was a fine looking pipe organ. Unfortunately, like at the old church, the console was locked and there was no one around to ask if I could play it.
We returned to the ship for lunch and afterwards took the coach which took us away from the village and through a mountain tunnel to the foot of the Sky Lift. This was a similar contraption to the gondola at Åndalsnes, maybe a bit bigger…but definitely steeper. The ride was almost vertical. Needless to say, the views from the summit were breathtakingly stunning. From the top, you could look down on fjords radiating out like points of a compass. Because the skies were clear and the sun was shining…this was by far the most spectacular panorama of the trip. Truly awesome.
Whilst Dave explored some of the pathways to different view points, I went inside the summit complex to browse the offerings in their gift shop. I bought a book of Norwegian traditional tales that was beautifully illustrated. Dave joined me for a delicious mug of hot chocolate, before descending the sheer drop and picking up the coach back to the boat.
The sun was shining again for our final shore stop Skjolden…an idyllic village located at the end of Norway’s longest fjord. We took a short coach trip to some scenic view points looking back at the village as well as a visit to a magnificent waterfall.
The final two days at sea passed in a flash. We enjoyed another formal evening when we dressed up to attend the captain’s farewell cocktail party. We also attended the final talk by David Nikel, an accomplished speaker who researched topics thoroughly, made effective use of illustrations and engaged with his audience. He also had a delightful dry sense of humour. Altogether, he was a bit of a star attraction and always had a full house.
David and I got on well throughout the cruise. However, Dave is becoming a bit forgetful and needs looking after. He appointed me his unofficial carer for the duration of the voyage…. a role I undertook to the best of my ability. I kept an eye on his ship’s card, his glasses which were forever ‘disappearing’. There was a touch of panic when Dave couldn’t find his new dental plate. After turning the cabin upside down…he suddenly realised that he had fallen asleep with the plate still in. No wonder we couldn’t find it…the plate was in his mouth!
I thoroughly enjoyed my first cruise…although cruising, for me, will never the thrill of solo adventuring. The shore visits on a cruise allow a taste of each place, and some places I would very much like to revisit in order to get to know the layout, explore its history and culture. Above all, I need to time to get to know people, spend time with them, listen to their stories and sometimes forming new and lasting friends. However, my short shore visits allowed me to form a most positive view of Norway and its people. it is a clean country and Norwegians respect their environment…nowhere did I find any discarded bits of rubbish, no fly tipping either. It is a flourishing country: no empty spaces on the high streets, no charity shops. Norway is safe…everywhere, I felt comfortable walking on my own and with my same sex companion. Norwegians are friendly and trusting. This was best seen at the Art Nouveau museum in Ålesund, where visitors made their own drinks and selected whatever they wanted to eat from a wide range of edibles in the self-service cafe…then, whenever it suited them, they told the person in reception what they had bought and paid the bill. No hassle, no pressure…just smiles and kind words..
Maurice Greenham 