Just off the Pearl - Trip Report

[ighten]

Jun 2019 - NCL Pearl - Northern European Tour - Part 1 Departing Amsterdam

 

 

 

Every now and again you browse the NCL website and wonder why on earth you didn't spot this itinerary before; how could we have missed it and at such a bargain "sail away price". It could have something to do with the terrible design of the website or it could be that some of the reposition/one off cruises don't get released to the UK/EU markets at the same time as the US.

 

Ever since we sailed on the Favolosa from Copenhagen  we have always looked for any excuse to return to Norway and see more. Geiranger has always been a must see so when this cruise on the Pearl suddenly caught our attention it was an absolute must.

One slight headache was the fact we booked this as a 'sail away' price whilst  NCL were offering the old "all inclusive "offer; they then changed this completely the following week. To summarise, same base price but now drinks are included and five premium dining choices for £99pp + grats, but way cheaper!

Day 1 Fly to Amsterdam
 

 

We flew Flybe airline early on the morning of the cruise from Manchester. Its a short hop across (1hr) and on a normal day should give you the easy option of jumping on the train to Amsterdam Central and walking to the Cruise Terminal. A full on storm meant we had to sit on the tarmac at Manchester for about an hour waiting for a slot as Schipol had become backed up  with traffic due to the weather.

On landing in Amsterdam the same storm had decided to deluge the entire city in a months worth of rain so we took a taxi (A gullwing model X Tesla no less). Embarkation is smooth and the storm we are reliably informed has passed (though not the gusty winds)

[ighten]

 

 

We take lunch onboard - unpack - meet the cabin steward (the excellent Haj) - complete the muster - explore the ship (its basically the same as the NCL Jade (Jewel Class) which we have traveled on twice before. Before you know it, its time to head on to the promenade deck and watch the sailway..... Or maybe not... We can tell watching the tug boat that there area few issues with the wind and its not long before Captain Paul is on the PA telling us its a bit too windy for the ship to tackle the tight canal and locks back out to the North Sea and we will try again at 7pm.

 

 

By 7pm we are in the MDR enjoying a lovely dinner washed down with a few glasses of Malbec when we have a further announcement to tell us we will be leaving at 2am. Having been up since about 5am I think we'll give this sailaway a miss. In fact we are fast asleep by 10pm.

Day 2 Sea Day Amsterdam - Newhaven, Edinburgh UK
 

 

Captain Paul has told us this morning that despite the late departure nothing will be affected as we have a sea day for the first day and there is ample time to catch up the lost time. Who knew a storm passed through yesterday as the North Sea this morning is like a mill pond with bright blue sky to match.

[ighten]

It's a usual relaxing sea day. Lunch, wine, cocktails and a nap in the afternoon and a good book (Peter Swanson). Tonight we eat at Cagneys on deck 13.
 

 

Oyster Rockefeller for myself and Lobster Bisque for Jack followed by rack of Lamb and the Veal cutlet.

 

Everything is superb ( I would like to say as usual but I do find Cagneys can vary in quality from ship to ship and sometimes the setting/position of the restaurant can just feel wrong)

 

 

Hopefully this is all working fine and the pics are showing - It is taking a while though I apologize as the forum doesnt seem to like the pics size I'm using on the  blog.

 

You can keep up to date HERE

Whilst I gather the energy to convert the next day.. 🙂

[ighten]

Jun 2019 - NCL Pearl - Northern European Tour - Part 2 - Edinburgh - Glamis Castle - St Andrews

 

Day 3 - Newhaven (Edinburgh)
 

 

We are tendering at Newhaven so the NCL Pearl does its transformer routine to create the dock which can be accessed from deck 4. Its a sunny morning and we have breakfast in the MDR - smoked salmon eggs Benedict - to start the day with a wee taste of Scotland.

 

We are holding position quite some distance from the port (20mins or so) but luckily we dont have to rely on just our lifeboats for tender. Two passenger ferries have also come alongside to help shuttle the passengers to shore.

 

 

 

We have previously visited Edinburgh so have a private tour that will take us to Glamis Castle (pronounced Glarms - because us Brits like to do that with the English language - Belvoir Castle anyone?). Glamis was a home of the Queen Mother, the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth and birthplace of Princess Margaret. Its about an hours drive north of Edinburgh.

 

 

[ighten]

 

 

Its a beautiful and architecturally Scottish/French looking building and is still the private home of the 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Simon Bowes-Lyon.
 

Guided tours take place on the hour so we have a little time to explore the gardens first. Once inside for the tour there is strictly no photography. Definitely worth a visit, a great guided tour through  several rooms.
 

After a coffee in the cafe we set off towards St Andrews on the coast road stopping off at Easthaven for a walk on the beach where Princesses Elizabeth & Margaret used to play as children, then onwards to Broughty Castle a 15th C keep on the banks of the river Tay

A short drive brings us down to St Andrews, the university town where Will met Kate - you can even visit the cafe they first met (allegedly). Most foreign tourists  are taking advantage of the exchange rates and buying golf clubs from the plethora of shops dedicated to the sport.

 

[ighten]

At the end of the main street stand the 12th C ruins of St Andrews Cathedral.
 

 

 

A fleet of lifeboats await us at Newhaven for the trip back across the Forth which has now decided to get rather choppy. An officer in whites from the engineering team has decided he wants an afternoon driving the lifeboat. He spends most of the time bobbing back in and out from the top hatch as  wave after  wave crashes over the bow of the lifeboat. Do they have lifeboats for the lifeboats I find myself thinking.

[Astromaid]

Great pictures!

[tanyaewa]

Fantastic itinerary!! Thanks so much for doing a trip report.  This is my new bucket list sailing!

[ighten]

Thanks - I'll keep moving the reports from the blog to here as quickly as possible  though Im confusing myself at times as to where I am.. Blogs nearly finished (3or 4 days to go so I should be able to speed it up.)

 

 

[ighten]

Jun 2019 - NCL Pearl - Northern European Tour - Part 3 - Invergordon, UK - Haugesund, Norway - Flam, Norway.

 

Day 4 Invergordon, UK, Day 5 Haugesund, Norway & Day 6 Flam, Norway.
 

 

A lovely meal in the MDR last night and another excellent breakfast finds us gliding smoothly up the Moray Firth into the Cromarty Firth to dock at Invergordon. Firths and Forths are slightly confusing as they mean different things depending on the use of the word. For instance Firth is estuary and Forth means a place (which could be an estuary). Just to muddle it up even more you have a river called Forth that runs into a Firth. Aaarrgghh.

 

 

We booked a scenic tour via WOW Tours which must be authentic because all the drivers wear kilts.

Our first stop is the partly ruined, Beauly Priory - a sturdy red sandstone church, built around 1230AD by a little known order of French monks. It's rather oddly famous now as it is a location used in the Amazon series "Outlander".
 

Our driver takes us to higher ground for a view of the Cairngorm mountain range to the south.Wow indeed!
 

We had been to Inverness before (from Lancashire via London but that's another story click here). We spend an hour here which is quite a decent time to at least explore the cathedral (we missed last time) and do a little shopping. I now have a Harris Tweed wallet!

 

Hope that worked - Any missing pics and txt is on the blog

Edited July 5, 2019 by ighten

[ighten]

We had visited Loch Ness before from Urquhart Castle on the north side, but this is the south side which looks totally different (I think).
 

 

Next we are taken to the Clava Cairns. A group of bronze age circular chamber tomb cairns, surrounded by standing stones that have stood so long its estimated that at least another third of the stone must reach underground. They are a bit of a mystery for despite their size only one or two  human remains have ever been found inside - totally at odds with normal Neolithic practice.

 

But enough with fact; more importantly its also another major site that has a connection to Outlander  and even I know from episode one its where the posh lady falls through the stone, goes back in time and presumably meets someone less boring than her husband.
 

 

 

Jack gave it a try (as did practically everyone else) - but I'm still here.  Apparently these are the exact stones that are described and used in the original books but apparently when the location crew turned up they decided they weren't pretty enough so they filmed some plastic ones near Perthshire.

[ighten]

 

Next stop is Culloden battlefield where the Jacobites faced the final battle. The Jacobites wanted to reinstate the House of Stuarts as Great Britain's monarch rather than the Hanover House which we still have to day. Here the Stuarts were defeated  and it was the last battle ever fought on British soil.
 

 

We leave Invergordon at 4pm, piped off by a local band who we salute with a glass of malt whisky. Bistro for dinner tonight so we head to the Magnums to enjoy live piano music with Campari & sodas.

[ighten]

Day 5 Haugesund, Norway

 

A relaxing morning as we arrive into Haugesund, Norway at 11.00am. A shuttle is available to take you into the town centre but its a pleasurable walk  if you want some fresh air. A nice little town and one in which we have decided  to have a day off from traveling and just relax in the town.

 

 

Its a pretty town with a cute little museum devoted to life around this area - notable for its shipbuilding, fishing and rural life and those Vikings in general.
 

 

Haugesund is very proud of its ship building complex (blue building), there's even a scale model in the museum and it was quite odd this morning as we walked past it to see all the parts of a huge ship laid out like some Airfix kit in the yard - it dominates the town (its taller than the ship) but in some ways it seems to just fit and not spoil the look of the town.

 

 

The large brick church of Var Freslers sits in the centre of the town - red brick and in some ways quite austere. Its an important building to remember though because this is where the free shuttle drops and picks you up.

[ighten]

The large brick church of Var Freslers sits in the centre of the town - red brick and in some ways quite austere. Its an important building to remember though because this is where the free shuttle drops and picks you up.

 

 

Built in 1901 its a quite domineering structure with  its arrow straight spire and redbrick exterior but is worth visiting for its very Norwegian mix of simplicity and complexity in the ceilings hints of maritime architecture.

 

 

Haugesund has been a great place to relax - this is quite an intense cruise with 10 ports & 3 sea days.  Tomorrow we will be in Flam.

Day 6  Flam, Norway
 

Next morning we sail down the Sogne-fjorden and dock in Flam. We were in Flam last year on a Norway/Danish cruise (you can click here for details and the train info etc) - that time we rode the iconic Flam railway and if you have never been before it is an absolute must. This time we are the only ship in port, so were able to dock at the pier right in the centre of town.  If there are multiple cruise ships during your visit to Flåm, you may need to tender.

 

[ighten]

 

From the bow of the ship halfway up the mountainous valley side can be glimpsed the Brekkefossen waterfall. From the Tourist Office/Railway Station you can tear off a hiking map with several routes laid out including the climb up to this falls.
 

 

It is quite a climb up and can get muddy the higher you go - the views though are worth the journey. Allow yourself an hour to complete the circular route  or an hour and a half if you intend to do the climb up to the falls.

 

 

 Back in the tiny town we explore the little railway museum and the cake and pastry shops.

 

 

 

click for next page

Edited July 7, 2019 by ighten

[ighten]

The sail out of Flam this evening is every bit as exciting and magnificent as we remember. There are times when the  sheer cliffs of granite tower above the ship; the perspective making it appear the fjord walls are within touching distance of the sides. 

 

 

That evening we have dinner on the top floor seated against the floor to ceiling windows just watching life in the fjords go by.
 

There is something amazing about being on an ocean cruise liner but sailing in such close proximity to land.
 

 

The fjords are a constant hive of activity as ferries are the most accessible means of transport to reach some of the more isolated towns. Passing the town of Unredal, we have a long way west still to go tonight until we reach the open sea again to head north along the Norwegian coast to the UNESCO fjords areas of Hellesylt and Geiranger.

 

Click here for part 4

[ighten]

Jun 2019 - NCL Pearl - Northern Europe - Part 4 - Geiranger Norway, Sea Day

 

Day 7 - Geiranger Norway
 

Early this morning the Pearl entered the Storfjord making a quick stop at Hellesylt to drop off an overland tour to Geiranger. Personally I think they have made a mistake as today the weather is too beautiful for bus travel. At 9am we are all invited to the top decks as we pass though the UNESCO site and the Seven Sister & Bridal Veil waterfalls. Wow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The snow is still topping the mountains and the air is crisp and clear. Its just heaven on earth. You can also tell where people are from based on how they are dressed. Once again there are only a handful of British people on board. The rest are mainly American or Australian (most of whom tell us its colder than their average winter. In fact its a very pleasant 20 degrees C) - in fact we are told the guests onboard this ship amount to over  60 nationalities.

 

The Seven Sister Falls (Knivsflåfossen) consists of seven separate streams, and the tallest of the seven has a free fall of 250 metres (820 ft). The mountains themselves topping a whopping 1700metres  

[ighten]

Geiranger like Flam sits at the end of a fjord - our Captain decides to spin the ship 180 degrees for a smooth exit.
 

Unlike Flam the water is too shallow alongside the little port so like Nynashamn (for Stockholm, Sweden)  a Seawalk snakes its way out to us. The Seawalk can only handle one ship, so you may need to tender at Geiranger if multiple ships are in port.
 

We are going to follow the fast flowing Storfossen up to the viewing platform. Its a nice well laid out hike that involves a lot of stairs and probably getting wet.

 

Next

[ighten]

We are going to follow the fast flowing Storfossen up to the viewing platform. Its a nice well laid out hike that involves a lot of stairs and probably getting wet.
 

 

Simply breathtaking views as you climb higher and higher out of the town.

 

 

 Jack's clinging on with white knuckles as heights are not her thing.

 

 

The power and force of the water is simply breathtaking.

 

 

The temperature of the water will also take your breath away!

 

That evening we have an early dinner in the MDR; tonight we will pass over the top of the Shetlands and then have a relaxing break at sea for the day.

[ighten]

Day 8 - At sea 
 

A second day to relax at sea - and to be honest, not a moment to soon. Lots of reading, a few walks around the promenade deck, and a most excellent lunch in the MDR allows us to regain some energy. Tonight we will point South and head towards Ireland taking a route between the Western Scottish Highlands and Lewis and Harris (if you haven't yet read the Peter May Lewis Trilogy then you really should). 

 

 

This evening we dine in the Italian restaurant La Cucina. A first for us but I have to admit these were the best fish dishes we had on the entire cruise. A Sea Bass in broth for Jack and a beautiful Red Snapper dish for myself. Service was slightly below par compared to Bistro or Cagneys but the food was excellent - as was the wine. You can also just step straight outside for glorious top deck views of the many Scottish Highland Islands we are currently passing. Stunning stuff.

 

 

Oh! and did I mention the desserts are not bad either. Tomorrow Belfast - Northern Ireland.

 

[bonstersd]

What a spectacular review!  Thanks for sharing!

 

[Arzeena]

I have to say what the above poster did......spectacular review! Love the pictures!

Looking forward to reading more. Thank you for posting.

[Scoreboard2017]

I was thinking about taking this cruise next year on the Star, but have been on that ship before (nothing wrong with the Star, just like to experience different ships). I was convinced I was going to do a MSC itinerary instead that only focused on Norway, but this looks so much better.

 

Anyhow, your review may swing me back to NCL. Thanks for sharing

[ighten]

Thanks for the response... It was a superb Itinerary (even for someone who lives in the UK) -- And on we go.. If your impatient you can keep in front here

 

Jun 2019 - NCL Pearl - Northern Europe Tour - Part 5 - Belfast & Dublin

 

Day 9 - Belfast Northern Ireland, UK

 

 

 

We awake in Belfast port, the cruise terminal is on the small side 🙂 So we sit outside for breakfast and wait for port authority clearance to disembark before finding our driver. We have a private tour booked covering the north east area of N. Ireland.

 

The Dark Hedges, Ballymoney, our first stop of the tour. You can park at the hotel nearby for a small fee & walk over to the Hedges.  So atmospheric & romantic, plenty of people even though we were quite early.
 

 

 

 

 

By the way; you may (like myself) be wondering what on earth is all the fuss about regarding this avenue of beech trees. Well as pretty and atmospheric as they are, they were also a location in HBO's Game of Thrones which has boosted them to the level of a major tourist attraction.

 

 

They were planted along the entrance road to Gracehill house (originally over 150 stood along the track) in the 18C by the then owner James Stuart.

[ighten]

They were planted along the entrance road to Gracehill house (originally over 150 stood along the track) in the 18C by the then owner James Stuart.

 

 

Next we head North to the coast and to take in the view of Dunluce Castle. This is also a Game of Thrones location (Seat of the House of Greyjoy). Northern Ireland must be quite sad the HBO series has finished as it seems to have created quite a tourism industry of its own & many jobs. The surrounding beaches are vast and stunning.

 

 

A short drive to our next stop is the iconic site of the Giants Causeway. Be prepared for some walking, to reach the actual site from the National Trust centre is 0.6 miles, although there is a bus.

 

 

You are given an audio guide which gives geological information & explains the myths and legends of Finn the giant! Most enjoyable climb & visit.

 

 

Further along the coastal road near Ballintoy is another National Trust site - The Carrick-a-Rede. Once again its quite a walk ( 0.6 miles, no bus!) from the gate entrance to the actual bridge so give yourself plenty of time. It's not for the faint hearted, us! so we sat this one out to admire the magnificent views.