Ship To Shore: The Ovation in Norway

[Fletcher]

4 September 2018 - Alesund

We spent the day in Alesund, which the Norwegians pronounce as Ollysund because the A has a little ring above it. That’s one of the three extra letters of the Roman alphabet the Norwegians have created for themselves. Isn’t that interesting?

There was monster ship berthed next to us, the Independence of the Seas, but Alesund still seemed fairly empty of people and, in the grey drizzle, it had a sense of season’s long gone. We liked that and we liked the architecture. There had been a huge fire here in 1904 which destroyed 800 traditional wooden buildings and the town’s architectural students who were studying abroad came back and said, ‘Forget vernacular, let’s go all Art Nouveau!’ So they did. While a few examples of 70s brutalism down by the dock undermined the coherence, it was still a magnificent scene.

After an early lunch in the Colonnade we took a ship’s tour to the Giske islands. Before that our coach climbed up to a famous viewpoint overlooking the town and the surrounding mountains, islands and inlets. The topography here is complicated and delightful. I even managed, I think, a decent HDR shot of the vista. Our ship looked tiny beside the Independence of the Seas. Seabourn might think of laying on a complimentary shuttle up to this viewpoint.

The Giske islands were reached through some of Norway’s legendary undersea tunnels. One of these was having some major roadworks which closed one lane, so we had to sit in the coach for 45 minutes before we were allowed through. This is when we learned about the three extra letters of the alphabet and a lot of other stuff from our guide. I think I could answer questions on Norway on the Mastermind show.

The islands themselves were gentle, rural and residential, full of nice white wooden houses and rose gardens. Probably a pleasant place to live, though given the outpourings of Scandinavian TV I guess it’s riven with murder and mayhem. One island had a lighthouse, a wild beach and a modernist cafe. The second island had a gorgeous white church. Because of the roadworks we didn’t have enough time in this church and I feel we rather offended the woman who told us its wonderful history. She was wonderful, too, like Liv Ullmann in her heyday.

When the tour got back to the ship at 5.40pm we were surprised to see that Seabourn laid on a major welcome home thing - staff all lined up clapping and cheering, hot chocolate, hot towels, even the Captain and Cruise Director Handre in all his finery. I think I even spotted Bill Clinton clapping us all back. The things Seabourn do to delight their guests.

Tomorrow we are at sea, crossing Arctic Circle, and then it’s the Lofoten Islands which I am expecting to be the highlight of the cruise. I’ll be back in a few days to tell you all about it.

 

[Fletcher]

6 September 2018 - Lofoten Island magic

The Lofoten Islands were always somewhere I wanted to visit. The landscape looked unreal, like a matte painting from an old Fritz Lang movie of the 1920s. It had a sort of artists’s impression appeal of exaggerated peaks which didn’t really exist. This was the land of sword and sorcery and Norse mythology. In fact, it’s just a string of islands with holiday homes, fishing villages and fish farms. It’s also Europe’s answer to the Marquesas.

The day began, as is often the case, with a sunrise. Off the decks of the Ovation was a wonderful vista of deep red and gold with the black outlines of the islands seemingly surrounding us on all sides. It looked like all my fears about the weather here were needless; this was going to be a wonderful day.

And so it was. We tendered ashore in Svolvaer and walked across to the Hertz office. We had pre-booked a Volvo V40 but the incredibly nice and helpful guy upgraded us to a V90, the classic Volvo estate with a distinctly luxe leather interior. It was a hybrid, the first I have driven, and it was quite weird starting it up and not hearing the faintest rumble of an engine.

We were on the E10 in minutes and planned to drive down as far as Reine, stopping every now and then for photos. It was about a 140-mile round trip without detours. The scenery just never let up - around every bend the mountains erupted into fabulous shapes, many of them perfectly reflected in the lakes and inlets. This was geology at its most frenzied. Back in the 1950s this trip would have taken an age and might not have been possible without a few ferries. Nowadays there are tunnels and bridges connecting islands and leaping across inlets. And as you’d expect from Norway, the road was beautifully built, perfectly smooth. And virtually empty of traffic, only a few large trucks, motorhomes and cyclists. I suspect if you came a month earlier the road would be much busier. And the Hertz guy also told us that this past summer had been so hot the climate created a lot of fog and also a blizzard of insects.

We got to Reine in about two-and-a-half hours and did what everyone does, photograph the pretty red houses and the awesome backdrop. Reine is a travel magazine cliche yet it still surprises and delights. We turned the Volvo around and headed back to the ship, making a couple of detours en route. We were having a cup of tea in Seabourn Square by 3pm.

The Ventures team were running a zodiac trip at 4pm when the ship would leave Svolvaer and cruise around and pick the zodiacs up at Trollfjord three hours later. This imaginative plan turned into one of our greatest cruise experiences ever. We didn’t do the zodiac trip but stayed on the ship and watched incredulously as this huge ship inched its way into the fjord. Our Captain said we had just over 50 feet of clearance on each side. The fjord was a real squeeze, steep-sided and at the end was a sort of natural amphitheatre where the Ovation performed a perfect pirouette. The zodiacs were there, waiting for us, and I was a bit envious of the zodiac riders because of the shots they would get of this huge white wraith-like ship in this crushing grey fissure. Later on the ship slowly inched its way out of the fjord and then just sat there for the next two hours.

This was where we had dinner on the terrace of The Colonnade, gawping at the view and laughing at the very idea of us having dinner al fresco, wearing only light sweaters, way above the Arctic Circle. Apparently the smaller Seabourn Quest had been unable to achieve this tricky manouevre this earlier in the year so one must salute the seamanship of our bridge team and Seabourn’s willingness to go the extra mile. Our evening on the Ovation at Trollfjord was unforgettable, a Lemaire Channel moment, if you know what I mean.

Tomorrow we are in Tromso.

 

[rols]

This was where we had dinner on the terrace of The Colonnade, gawping at the view and laughing at the very idea of us having dinner al fresco, wearing only light sweaters, way above the Arctic Circle. Apparently the smaller Seabourn Quest had been unable to achieve this tricky manouevre this earlier in the year so one must salute the seamanship of our bridge team and Seabourn’s willingness to go the extra mile. Our evening on the Ovation at Trollfjord was unforgettable, a Lemaire Channel moment, if youknow what I mean.

 

That sounds amazing. For anyone trying to imagine this, google maps not only has a satellite view of the fjord but if you drag the little yellow man figure .. it has street view of it taken from a boat showing a ship entering the fjord. You can navigate backwards and forwards and look 360 degrees just like land-based street view.

Try to imagine Ovation there, there's room, quite a lot, but it would certainly keep the bridge crew on their toes.

 

This link https://www.google.com.sg/maps/@68.3640207,14.9706757,3a,75y,81.94h,72.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAF1QipPnOZ4nbdF3NcDc3nYHiKnRj3k2VrJLT4VPQxfS!2e10!7i5760!8i2880 may work for you, else just search.

[SLSD]

Fletcher, reading your wonderful report was a fabulous way to start my day! It's only 4:36am in Dallas, but we have an early flight to catch. I wish it were to a cruise port, but it is just a quick trip to New England for a family wedding.

 

Your descriptions have convinced me that we MUST take your Norway itinerary.

[lincslady]

The Trollfjord is an almost other worldly experience, if you are able to be somewhere peaceful with the right company - or none even. I love fjords and waterways; others we like, though of course not dramatic, are the Kiel canal and up the Seine to Rouen. We managed to have a window table for dinner as we left Rouen, and that was a lovely dreamy experience.

 

Glad you are having good times to make up for the duff ones, Fletcher.

[margbem]

Wonderful travelogue, Fletcher, thank you. Carry on enjoying your cruise!

 

 

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[Fletcher]

7 September 2018 - Tromso

I had imagined Tromso to be a fairly nothing place, merely a transit lounge for people going north to Svalbard. A place like Ushuaia in Argentina perhaps. But Tromso was surprisingly charming and this impression is only partly due to the miraculous weather - a peerless blue sky and temperatures in the high 60s F.

The Ovation docked in a dreary container port so they laid on complimentary shuttles to a city centre hotel. This enabled us to sample the city’s remarkable road system. Almost all of our ride to the downtown Radisson Blu was on the subterranean highways. We even went through three roundabouts.

Seabourn were offering a city tour for $149. We walked it and paid just $15 for entry to the so-called Arctic Cathedral. This church was across the fjord which meant walking across the impressive Bruvegan Bridge from where you get some good views of the city. The church looks extremely modern yet it was built in the mid-60s and has, it is claimed, the largest stained glass window in Europe.

Tromso itself has some fine wooden buildings of the sort we will be seeing in greater numbers next week in Bergen. Because of the weather there was a real buzz about the place with the many cafes and restaurants offering outdoor seating. My wife bought some woollen gloves with a moose design and we bought a mug with a moose design for our neighbour. And I suddenly realise this is reading like a report from Macon Leary, the suppressed hero of Ann Tyler’s novel The Accidental Tourist. So I’ll stop right now.

Have I mentioned the Ovation’s Observation Lounge? A fabulous space with a Cinerama view, just like the Quest, only bigger and it gets very crowded by 6pm. After a drinkie there we went down to the Colonnade for another Keller effort. We don’t care about the food because it’s still quite warm outside and the scenery is incredible. Nowhere else on this ship offers a view like this. And this is in Europe. I thought you had to travel thousands of miles to see stuff like this. But it’s all here. Better than Chile. Better than New Zealand. On our backdoor.

And did I tell you this? We haven’t had so much as a ripple on the sea and yet here we are on the North Cape. The water has been so calm it’s been comatose. And something else. The skipper has just said we might see the Northern Lights and he’s determined to wake us all up at whatever time the trolls flick the switch.

 

[galeforce9]

And I suddenly realise this is reading like a report from Macon Leary, the suppressed hero of Ann Tyler’s novel The Accidental Tourist. So I’ll stop right now

 

 

Not lost on me. None the worse for it 🤪. Enjoying your reports. I’ll stick to pictures. You stick to words. Carry on!

[MightyQuinn]

Great stuff Fletcher. This is such a winning itinerary and you're so lucky to have wonderful weather this late in the season. We took a similar cruise this past July and also scored with glorious sunshine and clear skies. My DH even wore shorts and Tevas at the North Cape! I hope the trolls switch the Northern Lights on for you. That's a treat that I'd be happy to be awakened for at any hour.

[Fletcher]

8 September 2018 - The North Cape

At five minutes past midnight when your humble reporter was in a deep sleep, Cruise Director Handre suddenly erupted into my ear and announced the Northern Lights were on view on the port side, our side. I groggily went to the veranda, noted a glimmer of light in the sky and went back to bed. My wife, who has a far more acute astronomical bent than I, actually got dressed and went to the Observation Lounge. The lights weren’t green, they certainly weren’t red or amber. So she came back to bed and the next thing I knew was that I too was in the Observation Lounge some five hours later having a croissant and a coffee and watching six zodiacs heading for a hunk of rock called Storstappen.

This rocky outcrop on the North Cape is famous for its millions of nesting puffins, razorbills and other seabirds. Now I know a bird colony when I hear one and smell one and this place was as silent as a morgue. And as odourless as Julia Roberts's armpit. We know that the puffins left a few weeks ago and are now wintering in Boca Raton, or Bognor Regis for my English followers. So because of the lack of puffins, the zodiac trip was being offered with a $50 discount. However, the several hardy souls who couldn’t be deterred from going saw gannets and several spectacular white-tailed sea eagles. I’d say one eagle is worth a thousand puffins any day of the week.

Five hours later we were off to the North Cape which, as you will know, is famous for its terrible weather. Out there on the cliffs the fogs roll in, the rain is horizontal and the wind can snap your spine in two. So imagine our disappointment with our weather which was in the mid-60s with blue skies and no wind. Utterly amazing. The Ovation just can’t shake off this fabulous weather. It follows us like a troll.

We set off on a ship’s tour from the small port of Honningsvag which is on the island of Mageroya. The landscape here is of epic wilderness, a deeply fissured plateau raised by 1000 foot cliffs. It’s rolling moorland, no trees, lovely wild wild flowers and reindeer which are bred for their meat and hides by the local Sami people. The reindeer were everywhere but none I saw had a red nose or was wearing tinsel. They don’t do that for another three months.

The road up to the North Cape was Norway in a nutshell - brilliant, no pot-holes, for 30kms an engineering triumph. The visitors’ centre was a little utilitarian for our tastes but we spent most of our time wandering around the cliff tops ogling the vista. We encountered an English couple who had cycled here from the UK with their dog! Of course, this is not the most north you can get on the European continent but don’t tell the manager of the gift shop. He will call you a smart ass and sell you a naff fridge magnet. The furthest north in Norway is nearby but they don’t have room for parking or a gift shop. And if you count Russia as Europe, then all your calculations about northerlymost have to be thrown in the waste bin.

This was a great day. Again. Sorry to be so repetitive. Last night the captain crept out of Honningsvag, did an anti-clockwise spin around the cape and headed for home, headed south at last. We now have two days at sea before our big 8-hour excursion on Tuesday. Do we still have pray for the weather? Or is God on our meteorological side?

 

 

[SLSD]

Fletcher, I'll be so disappointed when your voyage ends as I have become accustomed to your great reportage.

[Chairsin]

Fletcher I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I do wonder if all of these warnings of lousy weather at the North Cape we have all been told over the years is to lower our expectations such that when we do experience lovely weather we are doubly thrilled. I might add that on our North Cape visit some years ago it was sunny, clear and 70’s degrees. So perfect that my friend, Mrs. Stamfordian, was heard to remark as she stretched out on a chaise in white capris “Darling I don’t know why people complain about arctic weather.”

 

 

 

 

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[SLSD]

I do think that there is a conspiracy afloat. Here's why I think that. On our June trip into St. Petersburg, we were told that we were there on three of the best weather days of the entire year. It WAS lovely weather, but SB was telling us we were among the most fortunate!

[Fletcher]

11 September 2018 - Our waters have broken

Hello again, I’m still aboard the Seabourn Obesity. I’m sorry, that should have read Seabourn Ovation.

After leaving the North Cape on Saturday, we’ve had one day at sea and then another. And that was when our waters broke. The miraculous weather we had been enjoying so far disappeared as the Norwegian weather god said, OK now it’s payback time. Today, deep inside the Nordfjord at a tiny place called Loen, we started off with flashes of sunshine and low-hanging cloud, creating a beautiful landscape. That was when we set off on our eight-hour excursion to Gerainger Fjord, one of two fjords given UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

To be upfront about things, we loathe coach tours, anything organised and we only took this tour to eat up some of our on-board credit. Our guide was a nice guy who looked fit and outdoorsy, a little like Richard Branson. So it was a bit surprising that he took every opportunity to sneak a cigarette. Another guide also wreaked of fag smoke.

For the first two hours we drove maybe ten miles and had two coffee and comfort breaks (or cigarette breaks) in two dreary towns which had closed for the winter. Then we arrived at Hesselyt and took a public car ferry down the fjord to Gerainger. A one-hour trip in mist and drizzle. Despite its UNESCO status we could tell Gerainger was no better and no worse than any other fjord we had seen. We were lucky that there were no cruise ships in town today. We’ve been monitoring webcams here and have sometimes seen three monster ships blocking the view. Apparently the Norwegian government is to take steps and ban big ships from this fjord in the future.

At Gerainger we had a buffet lunch at the Union Hotel, a stop of one hour which became much longer because one passenger fell asleep in the lobby and no one spotted her. While she enjoyed a 30-minute power nap everyone on the bus got a bit impatient. Then we were off again and climbed up and up and up and got to a viewpoint where it snowed horizontally, the wind howled and it was freezing cold. Hardly anyone got off the bus yet we stayed there for 20 minutes. The landscape up here was extraordinary, a massive slag heap cake with glacier icing, and in good weather I could have taken dozens of great photos. Today I didn’t take a single one. Then it was a 90-minute drive back to the ship. On balance, I wished we’d never gone. At least it was only Monopoly money.

In bad weather the Ovation’s drawbacks and compromises become apparent. As people cannot take to the pool deck they flock to Seabourn Square and the Observation Lounge. Both areas became uncomfortably crowded and the service staff seem stretched. We had lunch in the MDR and saw the room again in all its white plastic ugliness. It looks like Santa’s Grotto in a cheap department store. The food was bland and the service once again chaotic.

We think the passengers on board this cruise are appreciably older than our other Seabourn trips. And there are lots of people with significant mobility issues. And there are a fair number of smokers. And it’s not dressy at all. Very few tuxedos on formal nights and even several denim jeans in the Colonnade. Now that I approve of.

Tonight the Captain warns us of an angry North Sea. We should tie down our wives. Tomorrow it’s Bergen in the rain.

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Fletcher

[SLSD]

Ok. We get the picture. I'm with you on guides that smoke. I always cringe. We have been on some excellent shore excursions planned by SB. A few have not been great, but mostly good.

 

I remember the first time I saw the ceiling on the Encore and I agreed at that time with your description. I've gotten used to it and just ignore it now. In May, I will be able to compare the ceiling of the MDR on Sojourn. I'll report back.

 

I assume so many really elderly took this itinerary as the views have been fabulous. On the other hand, many of the excursions include small boats that they would not be able to board.

 

Please describe what bland food means to you. Not seasoned enough? Or, just a very bland/not interesting menu.

 

I've enjoyed your reports!

[Mr Luxury]

Thanks Fletcher

You should know better than to take a ships tour by now [emoji3]

Any casualties of the rough seas should hopefully make the Observation lounge and Seabourn Square more bearable.

Not long before your home,just grin and bear it.

 

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[Fletcher]

12 September 2018 - Bergen

Have I mentioned the internet and other info-stuff on the Ovation? The TV system has all but replaced The Herald and other daily scheduling. This works extremely well and is easy to navigate. However, TV reception has been patchy to say the least - channels freeze or don’t ever exist, like the BBC. Sky News has been more reliable but only for about one day in three, quite surprising for a new ship equipped with the latest technology.

The internet has been weird. I use a MacBook Air and never figured out how to set it up whereas on other ships, like the Quest, it’s been easy-peasy. This ship seems to have a completely different and more complex system and it took two blokes from the Seabourn Square Staff to set me up. For a few days it worked well and the internet browsing speed was one of the fastest I’ve known at sea. Then something happened - for two days I was locked out of my email system and any site where I use a password and that includes Cruise Critic of course. And then yesterday, inexplicably, it all came back and I was reconnected to the world. I’ve overheard some grumbles about this from other passengers.

In the morning and again in the afternoon we splashed around central Bergen, dodging the downpours as best we could and grabbing the fleeting rays of sunshine to get some nice photos. I’d always fancied seeing this UNESCO World Heritage zone of Hanseatic high gabled wooden warehouses and despite some obvious tourist tat it didn’t disappoint. There are some lovely buildings in this town and they really glittered in today’s fickle weather. We also had the town largely to ourselves; I’ve heard horror stories of what it’s like in July and August when five ships show up at once. This was a bit like Whitby on a bleak November’s day.

We found a fish market and marvelled at the quality and variety of the produce - huge live crabs, live lobsters, prawns, langoustines, fabulous cod and turbot, even locally caught sea urchins, a delicacy I’d rate above caviar any day. We marvelled at the quality and gasped at the price of it all. Cooked lobster was 900 krone per kilo. That’s about £70 for one small lobster. It’s the price you pay in Paris and have Alain Ducasse cook it for you. And we can buy this stuff from the fish market in Norwich for about £12. Turbot, my favourite fish, was about £80 a kilo in Bergen.

The fishmonger, who spoke excellent English, said the Norwegian economy is crazy. He’s right. It’s as crazy in its own way as the Venezuelan economy is in their way. Norway is an oil producer and has the third highest fuel prices in the world. It’s not a member of the EU yet pays Brussels handsomely to get all the free trade deals. The EU tells them what, where and when to fish. Of course, the country has a massive social welfare programme and takes more than 60 percent in taxes plus VAT on everything you buy. Yet it does seem to work. The whole country looks affluent. People obviously buy those lobsters. The roads are great, the bridges and tunnels speak of oil wealth spent wisely not squandered on stupid wars and every third car in Bergen seemed to be a Tesla. We haven’t come across any poor housing - even in the far north it’s all spick and span, nothing like the chronic deprivation and squalor you find in Greenland.

There were a few migrant beggars sitting on Bergen’s soaking pavements but that crisis doesn’t yet seemed to have reached this far north; maybe it affects Oslo. There is some graffiti but nothing like the graffiti covering every flat surface as there is in Italy and Germany these days. We walked around Norway with fancy cameras feeling totally safe and secure, unlike sections of central Bologna earlier this year. Alesund, Tromso and Bergen all seem like clean, healthy and pleasant places to live, apart from the climate and the 20 hours of darkness a day in the winter though I guess you can tolerate that if you are borne into it, conceived in it.

A lovely pre-dinner drinkie tonight in the Observation Lounge and then dinner in the Colonnade, both spent with Americans who had identical opening gambits: ‘What’s going to happen with Brexit?’ And we give the same answer. ‘We don’t know.’ And then it goes from there. And this time it doesn’t leave a sour taste in the mouth.

Tomorrow we’re just a bit further south, in the oil boom city of Stavanger.

 

[ab21au]

Wonderful commentary, thank you.

[SKP946]

Love your work Fletcher (and your sense of humour ;) )

[Fletcher]

13 September 2018 - Stavanger

I knew three things about Stavanger. Firstly, Richard Hammond and James May arrived here by ferry from Newcastle and hoped to get to Oslo before Jeremy Clarkson. Secondly, in the 1970s the old port had become the centre of Norway’s oil industry and had greatly expanded. Thirdly, there was a dramatic-looking sculpture with three enormous swords on a rocky beach, commemorating some Viking bloodletting in the 9th century. I wanted to see that if I could. It was in an outlying suburb.

We walked to the tourist office where a young woman said we needed to walk to the bus station, buy two tickets for 35 krone each, get to bus shelter number 20 and take bus number 16. She said if we bought the tickets on the bus it would be much more expensive. At the bus station the woman said the 35kr tickets were valid for only one hour so we would have to buy returns. No, she could not sell them to us, we had to use the machine. It did not take cash. It did not issue returns.

We bought two singles using our bank card. I went back into the station to ask where shelter number 20 was. ‘It’s over there by the Radisson Hotel,’ she said, ‘but the bus left one minute ago so your tickets have only half an hour validity. I will refund you your money.’ We now had 70kr more in cash than when we started.

We took a taxi for 170kr. The driver refused to wait five minutes for us. We saw the swords. We liked the swords. They still had Viking blood on them. It started to rain heavily. We walked two minutes to a bus stop. We waited 15 minutes when bus number 16 arrived. We asked to buy two tickets to Stavanger. No charge, said the driver, it is free. Maybe that was because today is my wife’s birthday. Everyone on the Seabourn Ovation knows it and maybe this bus driver did too.

I can honestly report that the Norwegian bus system is the best in the world!

Stavanger was a surprise. We had an image of factories, cranes, petrochemical plants, convention centres, vast numbers of apartment blocks and, yes, all that exists as you approach the city. But the area right beside the cruise berths is arguably the equal of Bergen and much less touristy. There was a park, a pond with swans, a Norman Cathedral, some timbered warehouses converted into galleries and cafes, a few smart clothing boutiques, a Specsavers and a Burger King. At various places it was hard to tell which was the pavement and which was the road. All those silent Teslas and pedestrians just mingled together on the beautifully laid stones and cobbles.

The old town consists of many restored 200 year-old wooden houses on the hillside, a sort of cobblestoned, window boxy artists’ colony like St Mawes or Sausalito perhaps. It made for a pleasant stroll before the ship sailed away at 4pm.

We were left with just over $200 in credit to use up. And the Ovation’s shop didn’t help at all, being a pale shadow of the boutique on the Quest. My wife bought a Bric bag she didn’t need and I would have bought a Ralph Lauren shirt I didn’t need if they had one in my size. I am 5’10” tall and weigh 11 stone and every shirt was slim fit which was far too tight, even for me. I don’t think they will sell many of those shirts on the good ship Seabourn Obesity. So we might be reduced to buying a fancy bottle of wine chez Thomas Keller’s Grill this evening . . . will the food be worth it?

 

[Fletcher]

14 September 2018 - A summing up

The Thomas Keller Grill . . . was not an experience I want to repeat. It was as bad as I remember it from the Quest nearly three years ago. We sat for a full 50 minutes and were offered only raw carrot and bread. When they realised we didn’t want to buy expensive wine they lost interest in us. Eventually we ate a nicely timed dover sole, skilfully filleted at our table, but not a coherent dish. It was just a slab of protein. We left without eating desserts as we wanted to see the show at 8.45 and had run out of time and patience.

We disliked the whole design and ambience of the MDR. We liked the Colonnade a lot and every day for breakfast and lunch they do a good job. Dinners can be terrible - one of the worst steaks I’ve ever left uneaten, for instance. They really do throw a good buffet; it’s when they think they are a restaurant things fall apart. We never went to Ocean and Earth because the weather just wasn’t right. Sushi didn’t really register with us.

We went to most shows given by the Seabourn Singers and Dancers. Without exception these were hugely entertaining and performed with a high level of professional skill. The Evening with Tim Rice was a newer version than the one we saw earlier this year on the Quest and was much sharper, we thought. The show called Push The Button was very imaginative. The Grand Salon itself has the usual problems with sightlines but you can juggle yourself around and have a great time. There are two shows per evening on these bigger ships - hats off again to the performers for doing that. Because of these shows we didn’t mind missing Strictly back home!

As always on Seabourn, the staff are fantastic. Our cabin stewardess, Christiane from Brazil, was outstanding. We particularly appreciated how Captain Pedder and Cruise Director Handre were regularly seen in the public areas, chatting to passengers. They somehow personalised the big ship experience.

Many areas of the ship were unknown to us - the casino, the spa, the gym, the terrace at the back of Keller and something huge called The Retreat. We walked by that once or twice and it looked empty and sad. The Retreat should be Zen Central and maybe Seabourn should sign up the Dalai Lama to give therapy sessions in there. Seabourn Square and the Observation Bar are excellent spaces but can get crowded when the weather is poor.

We did three ship’s excursions because we had $1300 in onboard credit. All three trips were vastly over-priced. We spent a lot of time hanging around, waiting for fellow passengers, whizzing past interesting-looking places and parking up at yet another comfort break. These trips were extremely frustrating and should be avoided by keen photographers.

In Norway you can do your own thing easily as the country is totally geared to tourism. We rented a car in the Lofoten Islands and had a wonderful day. Tromso is also easily walked or ideal for a car rental. In Stavanger one couple thought a ship’s excursion, Lysefjord Cruise to Pulpit Rock, the best of the trip. Seabourn charge $139 for it but you can walk five minutes and get on the same boat for $50. However, I guess most Seabourn passengers don’t do much research and like to be led.

For us the absolute highlight was the Lofoten Islands. The towns of Alesund, Tromso, Bergen and Stavanger were all good to visit. The fjords were exactly as I expected them to be - steep, deep, unfailingly picturesque. Norway is safe, everyone speaks English, it looked very clean and tidy and affluent. A cruise like this is heavily weather dependent - we had a great first week when it mattered most and the second week was a bit of a wash-out. That’s par for the course here. Many people said to us that the September cruise made no difference to the weather but a big difference in terms of tourist numbers. In all but two of the ports we visited there were no other cruise ships. The only serious tourist trap is Bergen but it was wet and empty when we were there.

Today we are steaming south to Dover where we leave the ship tomorrow morning. So this is my last posting on this thread. Thanks everyone for following me and for your appreciative comments.

Next stop: Silver Galapagos in January.

 

[Isklaar]

Thank you Fletcher. It's been a pleasure to read.

I'd very much like to see some of your photos from this trip, will you be posting any? (I have noted that you said the previous would be your last post on this thread)

[teamflames]

Fletcher I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I do wonder if all of these warnings of lousy weather at the North Cape we have all been told over the years is to lower our expectations such that when we do experience lovely weather we are doubly thrilled. I might add that on our North Cape visit some years ago it was sunny, clear and 70’s degrees. So perfect that my friend, Mrs. Stamfordian, was heard to remark as she stretched out on a chaise in white capris “Darling I don’t know why people complain about arctic weather.”

 

 

 

 

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We were there in June (not Seabourn) the weather leading up to the cruise was unbelievably sunny and warm but unfortunately turned from the moment we boarded, we never saw the sun until the last day (let alone the midnight sun), our trip to the Cape they considered cancelling as too dangerous but luckily went ahead. Our guide begged us not to go outside due to the risk of being blown off the cliffs, we did anyway but I had to hold my wife (I am 100kgs) or she may well have blown away and you had to hold onto the globe or you would not have survived, it was stupid but so exhilarating.

 

 

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[seacruiser123]

We have enjoyed your reports Fletcher and look forward to your next installments in the future! Now we cant wait to board the Ovation in a few weeks!

 

 

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[teamflames]

We have enjoyed your reports Fletcher and look forward to your next installments in the future! Now we cant wait to board the Ovation in a few weeks!

 

 

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We board in December but I haven’t taken a lot of solace from this report?! [emoji848]

 

 

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