Friday 15th September- A day in Bergen

The phone started ringing at around 08.00 from the Medical Centre to say that they had booked a Dentist appointment for in town and that I should be available to leave at 0930.
There was a slight communication with regard where to find the Taxi but we did and he took into town which was already showing lots of white entertainment tents etc., but more of that later. We arrived at the Dentist and after a wait of around 30 minutes, we did arrive early, the lady dentist took a peek and then quoted me a price to fix it of around £90.00 which I thought was quite reasonable. Half an hour later all was complete and we left the building and started to walk around the old port area.
We were aware from the news that there was going to be cycle races in and around Bergen over this weekend but its a much bigger event that we thought and even Chris Froome was due to make an appearance in the time trials for Team Sky. However the negatives about the racing is that they were putting up pedestrian safety barriers everywhere and of course the white marquees everywhere and beginning to close off some roads to cards and and pedestrians, this is not the Bergen we know, even some of the famous waterside fish restaurant had to be moved to make way for this big event. We stopped and had a tea and a cake, an early morning and quick breakfast makes you feel a  little hungry late morning.
We continued walking about the area for about another hour and then decided we would go to the fish market for lunch and chose one of the outdoor restaurants in a large gazebo with heating and enjoyed a large bowl of fresh shrimp with salad and bread roll and a glass of Chardonnay. Noel was still having trouble from the split pea soup and the effects it can have on the system and realised he was safer back on board the ship than walking around streets hoping for no problems but with all the tourists from the boat and others for the cycling finding ‘the gents’ might be a challenge whilst Jennifer opted to go on the hop–on hop-off bus tour . So we phoned the taxi company that brought us to the Dentist and fifteen minutes later he arrived but not in a taxi but a 15 seat minibus as they had run out of Taxi’s. I chatted to the driver on the way back to the port and he said that due to the cycle race some cruise ships had to be diverted away, which was not good for business whilst there were still Hotel bedrooms still to be had so perhaps having this event may not bring the money expected. When we arrived at the Ship I undid my seat belt and was reaching for my wallet and he said ‘NO CHARGE’ as according the laws re taxi fares there must be a meter in the Taxi and as this was one of their minibuses used without meters he could not charge me, well that saved me £15.00.
Jennifer returned about 90 minutes later and we sat on the balcony overlooking the town in the sun until it was getting a little cooler and time to dress up for the evenings formal event. On the P & O Arcadia which we used two and half years ago their ‘formal night dress code’ was very organised, if you wore fomal wear than the ship was yours but if you did not then only the café and associated bar was available. On this ship there seemed to be no such rule,  so in the bars you have people in the finest sitting next to a  couple in holey jeans and tea shirts and trainers, not good. So you wonder why that have this formal night at all?
We had a nightcap in the observatory and then headed down to bed whilst noticing that the swell was increasing due to that fact we were now on the high seas heading for Newcastle. Tomorrow is a day at sea and then off the ship, no doubt early

Thursday 14th September- We arrive in Olden- An Up and Down Day

We arrived in Olden overnight and we awoke to the sound of rain on the balcony, oh well, it is Norway in the late Summer early fall.
We had our usual breakfast just in time before they close the buffet. Noel is still watching diet and has the same boring breakfast each morning of a little bit of Muesli and two Weetabix and a yogurt. Of course all around are people starting with fruits and yogurts and then moving on to the full English, Its far to much for me and Jennifer. Likewise at lunchtime we eat lightly but there are people with plates full of food and we wonder if they do the same at night.
Noels tummy, for the want of a better word, is playing up due to the soup from yesterday and so we are spending the morning on the ship and we might go away ashore this afternoon if things have improved.

I forgot to mention that that when we had our first night on board and we were complaining about the seating arrangements and timing, there was an Elderly American and his daughter travelling together on his ‘bucket list’ and they had booked through and agent in California and it seems like the agent screwed up badly with their arrangements. First of all they could have travelled from from San Francisco to London and then up to Newcastle about 14/15 hours but they were put on flights from LAX to Portland Oregon and then to Amsterdam and then on to Newcastle taking almost 36 hours and from arriving at Newcastle Airport they went straight to the ship. That was tiring enough and then they checked in to the room and of course someone assumed that with a male and female travelling with the same surname they were a married couple and so they gave them a double bed instead of two singles as requested and this was only corrected the next day as the crew was to busy. Ridiculous and so one can understand why they were so upset when we sat down to dinner. Did I mention how noisy the restaurant was? you could hardly hear yourself speak with table so close to each other .

So after a light lunch we decided that we would stay on board as it was safer for Noel in his current state and so we stayed in the Cabin and passed the time of day by sleeping and Jennifer doing some sewing and reading. Later in the day they delivered the canapés which looked good although when chewing on the smoked Salmon on toast came across a very hard bit??? which after a bit of investigation turned out to be a part of one of Noels rear Molar teeth, Damn.
So off we went to the Medical centre where they could arrange a referral to a Dentist in Bergen, and from there back to cabin to arrange an appointment with my Dentist on Monday and also phone the travel insurance company to let them know of this new occurrence.So tomorrow in Bergen we will visit a Dentist at some time during the day and also the port to try and sample some seafood for lunch, all being well. I forgot to mention that whilst as Guest relations we checked on the cabin account and yes the web based cabin account does not work due to poor Internet Wi-Fi, which seems strange for a ship based

programme and the other bill which showed us reaching nearly £ 200 has now been reduced to about £60.00 which is about right.
In the evening it was ‘British Night’ and all the food was of British heritage but with a German Chief Chef and Asian cooks you can guess how the Bakewell Tart turned out, nothing like the real thing. Noel had the roast beef and Yorkshire pud which was very good whilst Jennifer had the best British dish of them all Chicken Curry Marsala and rice.
We spent about 45 minutes in the observatory lounge watching the mountains and villages slide by in the Nordfjord and then headed back to the cabin just after nine pm for some blogging and reading.
So an exciting day tomorrow a visit to a Norwegian Dentist, cant say that I am looking forward to it.

Wednesday 13th September- Hellesylt and Geiranger

We arrived in Hellesylt early in the morning , as usual, and after breakfast we walked in to town, more of a village really with very little in the way of shops, I think there was one tourist shop, a Hostel and a Church on a hill.
Anyway we went for a walk around the area and took a few photographs and Jennifer wanted to visit the Church which was on a steep hill, I can go up but not down so easily with my knees, and so Jennifer went up the hill to the Church and I sat around and admired the view for a while and then headed back to the ship. Jennifer returned at about 12.00 and shortly afterwards to ship was got ready to sail away.
We went for lunch in the Palms Café and we both had the split pea soup, which was excellent although it cam back to haunt Noel all afternoon and evening. The ship then sailed through the fjords for about 90 minutes and reached Geiranger where you have to use a  float out walkway to get to the shore. This was good as in the past it was by boat transfer which is not good for many people.
This is a much bigger town and we know that we have been here before when we did our road trip many years ago in Jennifer MGF. This place has three Hotels and lots of shops and two camp grounds for Caravan and Motor homes right by the side of the Fjord and of course with stunning views, and a great place to stay if you want some piece and quiet.
So we walked around for a couple of hours and then it started to rain and we headed back to the ship for a cup of tea and rest before Dinner. Jennifer had the Red Snapper with scallops and Noel the Lamb Shank and both were excellent and washed down with a couple of glasses of Merlot. After dinner we went up to the observation lounge to see us us depart Geiranger Fjord which we did until it got to to dark .
When we arrived at the lounge it was quite empty but at about 9.30 pm it started to fill up and then shortly afterwards they had to have a quiz ??? why, which leads me on to a moan.
There are almost thirty items listed on the ships newspaper outlining all the entertainment for the day, from quiz to talks (one about a murder) and one asked why is this all necessary when you are sailing through some of the most attractive scenery in the world. In every bar and lounge there seems to me music played all the time and the only place for peace and quiet if the Library which is often full. Can’t people just enjoy their own company and and the views.
Another moan is the inclusive wine deal, each time you have a drink you hand them your ships identity card which states that you have the ‘all inclusive’ but you keep on having to sign chits with your name, cabin and signature, why???. Is it  not possible for the ship to use the card only. Also you can access your on-board account through the TV or through the ships internet portal, if you compare them they are different and both seem to be wrong. We seem to being charged for drinks which are included in the package anyway we will have to sort this out later today before it gets worse. I did try to access the Ship Wi-Fi portal this morning but that is not working- say no more…

Tuesday 12th September-We arrive in Kristiansund

We awoke to clear skies at around 0830 and following a quick cup of tea in the cabin headed upstairs for breakfast. The room was a little more busy this morning as nobody could leave the ship for any tours as we don't arrive until around 14.00.
Following breakfast we returned to the cabin and Jennifer started to catch up on her sewing and Noel on some magazines that we had brought with us. We also watched on the TV the ravages left by the Hurricane in Florida but we understand that Sarasota where we have stayed before, missed the best part of the storm, as it veered East again. Not sure how it affected Rotondo West where we have booked a house to stay in late December for five weeks. It also depends on how the infrastructure is coping before we finally commit to going and then if we decide to cancel what will we do then, Cape Town???.
So an easy morning followed by a slightly early lunch, we usually have a sandwich and a soup but as Noel’s last night dinner was quite small he decided to try the beef with oyster sauce and broccoli with rice which was very good, but only a small portion.
The boat arrived in the harbour on time and by 14.00 you were free to go ashore and so off we went and did a reasonable walk along the harbour front for quite a a way taking the odd photo. We also discovered a, what we call a ‘Chinese Shop’ which will sell anything and in this case we found a very cheap plastic computer mouse for about £ 8.50 and so plus batteries it cost just under a tenner. Thank heaven’s as using the computer to try to adjust photos without a mouse when you are not used to is is difficult. We also found a SPAR food shop where we acquired some salt free nuts.
The weather was holding up quite well and the outside temperature is due to reach 17c degrees this afternoon with the possibility of rain later but it was mostly blue sky with clouds
The town is composed of multiple islands which are all served by ferry boats and some of the ship tours include this ferry ride but somehow it will never compare with the Hong Kong Star Ferry crossing of Kowloon Harbour. There were quite a few shops compared to the other towns including a shopping mall which was quite nicely laid out. The amount of housing overlooking the Harbour entrance would indicate quite a large population for Norway and there appears to have been a lot o conversions from old warehouses in to apartments.
After a couple of hours of walking and sitting watching the world go by we adjourned back to the shopping mall to test out the cake shop and was very pleased with the result. Jennifer had apple pie with ice cream and a Noel bun, both were good. Then we returned to the ship at about 17.30 and spotted the Hurtegraten Passenger Ferry which visits all the ports up the West Coast of Norway just leaving town . It looked quite busy.
So back on board ship we tasted the canapés before heading off to the restaurant for our 18.15 sitting. So far the preplanning of Noels Low Irritant high fibre diet with NO Garlic, tomatoes and fatty cheese BUT ITS GETTING BETTER.

Monday 11th September- Flam and cruising Sognefjord

Umbrellas to fore

It was a bit colder this morning and there was rain around and there were lots of people going on organised tours. One of the main tours and the major reason people visit here is the famous ‘Flam Railway’ which travels through some of the most beautiful parts of Norway. We had been on this trip some years ago when we did a self drive holiday in Jennifer's MGF  open top sports car and fabulous weather and so we decided not to do it again.
If you wish to know more see following link
The Famous Flam Railway

However we decided to have the day walking around the town and taking a few photos. Flam is quite a nice but small place and there is only about 400 residents and so often when a couple of cruise ships arrive they dwarf the local population several times over. The lake and the mountain here are quite stunning and although the weather was not good we were able to walk around for a while and find a free Wi-Fi signal where we could pick some emails and Noel for to download to hopefully regain some lost photos.
By mid afternoon we decided that Noel would go back to the ship for a sleep and then Jennifer would go for a walk around as she wanted the exercise.
So we both enjoyed the day and were ;looking forward to an early evening dinner with a couple of glasses of wine and watch the world go by as we left to cruise through Naeroyfjord in the early evening light from the observatory lounge.
The back to cabin to check out the latest news on the storms in the Caribbean and Florida. Boy these storms look really bad and wooden homes will never survive winds of the speed predicted.
Oh well that was a pleasant day.

Sunday 10th September-A morning in Eidfjord

The Ship arrived in Eidjfjord overnight after sailing through Lysefjiord and then up through the islands, which we could not see as it was dark, and finally arriving at about 0730 which for those anxious travelers with tours meant an early start to the day. For us it meant a late'ish breakfast, they close at 10.00 and then we did some walking around the very small town with one of everything viz Hotel, Café, Tourist shop and a Loo plus a few houses dotted around.
The Fjords are really quite beautiful with lots of inlets etc. , the river that runs from the hills down in to the Fjord is well known for its salmon fishing which you could do as a tour but extremely expensive. This tour includes the possibility to eat you own catch for lunch but as the boat has to sale at 13.30 its pushing it a bit.

So having walked around the town, Jennifer wanted a longer walk so of she went whilst Noel stayed behind and watched the world go by. We re-joined the ship and had a sandwich lunch as we sailed off down to the Fjord and now we are heading for Flam where you can take the famous railway, again at extra cost but as we have already been on this train some years ago we decided to forgo this trip. For the rest of the afternoon we let the scenery slip by as we slowly passed by mountain villages and lakes but no big towns. There was in places still snow on the high outcrops.
In the evening Noel loaded his photos from his camera on the PC and then found they had all been deleted, all 47 of them including video, not sure why this happened but it is very annoying as I now don't have any photos of the first part of the trip which is extremely annoying. In addition my little computer mouse has packed up so times are tough in the technical departments at the moment.
In the evening it was Formal night so we put on our finest and as we had booked at the ‘Grill’ for a good steak we were quite surprised that perhaps only about 40% of the guests bothered to dress up which was quite unusual really. The dinner was very good the steak, we both had Rib Eye was very tasty and tender and together with a glass or two of Merlot it went down a treat. We thought about testing out the evening show and already thirty minutes before it was due to start there were several hundred people waiting so we gave up on that idea and went to a lounge bar for another glass of wine. The Fred Olsen rules about an inclusive drinks cost is that is strangely does not include tea or bitter lemon, you can drink yourself silly with wine, beer or spirits ,all included, but for a cup of tea you have to pay £2.00 , bloody silly really.
We went up to bed and had a quick look at the news from Florida and if it carries on this way there is a strong chance we will have to cancel our trip at the end of the year  as based on what happened to the Islands there may not be an infrastructure left, we shall what happens

Saturday 9th September- Crossing the North Sea to Norway

We awoke in the morning with the sun streaming through the windows and had a cup of tea whilst the sea rushed by. Breakfast was being served between 0800 and 1000 in the Spey restaurant which is where we headed for our first taste of cruise breakfast.

Sea, nothing but Sea

Well the restaurant was already very busy with the majority of people tucking in to their eggs and bacon etc with some plates piled very high and however can they eat that amount god only knows. By comparison we were very stringent in knowing that we should not eat to much and put on weight and also Noel has to watch what he eats particularly;y having discussed the requirements with his Dietician it was important to follow this through. So Noel had some muesli and and Weetabix and yogurt and Jennifer some fruits and a yogurt quite light really by comparison.
Noel had a meeting planned with the Maitre D and Chef to discuss his dietary requirement and was rather surprised when he got to the meeting place to find about another 50 or so people with all sorts of eating disorders. There was a presentation by the zee German chef, who was difficult to understand, and then the another member of the service crew, this time in part Indonesian and part English, also a little difficult to understand, but it became clear you could have most things and if you tell them your allergy they will adapt the meal to suit. This sounded very good, perhaps to good to be true, but to be fair it did work well.

After this little excitement we went back to the cabin and watch the world go by from the balcony until lunchtime where we both had a sandwich, self made, and a little tea cake and yet again people were walking around with large plate full of food, ughh!!
The afternoon was spent listening to music and Jennifer spending some on her sewing and then before dinner we received some canapés in the cabin and so enjoyed same on the balcony with a glass or two of Chardonnay. We tried our new table for two in the lower restaurant and the service was far better than upstairs and the room was much quieter and as it was still light it was pleasant looking out of the window's whilst enjoying dinner. Following dinner we headed up the observatory bar which was busy and noisy and then found another bar which was a lot quieter but still that musac playing.
So around 1030 we headed back to the cabin for some light reading and a quick look at the news.

Friday 8th September-A Norwegian Cruise starting with a visit to Costco

After  a good nights sleep and  a breakfast in the Hotel we had some time to kill and had decided that as we would need to purchase some fuel for the journey home, where better to buy this but at the fuel station at Costco Gateshead which is not far from the departure port.

A welcome aboard drink

So we headed of to the store and filled up the car and then did a walk around the store for a while before leaving for the Port of Newcastle upon Tyne where we arrived at around 12.30. We had pre-booked our car parking space and this was quite well organised and the porters came to collect our luggage from the back of the car and take it direct to ship and we would only see them later outside the cabin door.
We had to wait for about 45 minutes before boarding and we went directly to the cabin which was of a reasonable size and the good thing was it had a walk-in shower rather than a shower in a batch which we don't like when the seas are little rough.

Having changed we went to the bar for a pre-dinner drink or two on our prepaid drinks plan and then went up to the restaurant for out 20.30 table booking only to find that the table for two that had been requested could not be honoured, according to the head waiter, Head office always offer more tables for two that we have and it not our fault, This annoyed me even more when the staff start blaming each other and so I asked the see the Maitre D only was told he was busy, this made Noel even more annoyed. The food however was good but the service was extremely slow to the point where we had to ask for water after 15/20 minutes and how about some and wine and bread. Not good Mr Fred Olsen and his shipping company
So finally we settled for a table of four with the other two guests being an American guy and his daughter who were quite nice really, he was a retried engineer and his daughter was studying to be a nurse. They were also upset that after a very long flight from San Francisco to Portland, then wait for the flight to Amsterdam and then wait for the flight to Newcastle apparently took about 30 hours to find that the cabin they had requested with two single beds was in fact set up as a double. They were even more annoyed when they said they could not change it till tomorrow!!! not good.
First impressions of the ship is that it rather old, 1988 actually and the new paint does not fully cover the rust and broken bits whilst the upholstery in our Superior Suite, they called it, looked a bit mucky. Oh well let s see how we get on

Going up, to that there ' North' !!

Well we leave this morning to head 'Up North' , to Newcastle actually where we will spend overnight in the Doubletree Hotel at Newcastle Airport before boarding our Cruise ship in the nearby Port

.
The journey will take about five hours, if we go non-stop, which we wont, as we will need to stop for lunch and the occasional Loo stop whilst taking a break.
We plan to share the driving to make it easier. Today was all about packing bags and getting the house ready for leaving but just to complicate matters the toilet in our bedroom decided to pack up so with our local plumber on the job it was fixed within a couple of hours.
Its nice having built in units but it makes it very difficult for the plumber to repair and in this case what he thought was a quick change of the plunger meant to complete removal of the toilet and then refit all taking about two hours.
However with that complete we could continue with packing until the Denovan-Smith clan arrived full of spirits and ready for anything. Katherine speech is improving by the day whilst Christopher just sits and there smiles and makes noises, absolutely wonderful and the kids are so happy and a credit to their mum.
We hope to leave Weybridge around 09.30 and get to our Hotel at Newcastle Airport around 17.00 hrs and hope we have a good journey up the M25 and A1M.

Our route to Newcastle

This blog will be updated on a daily basis whilst we are travelling but may not get published due to lack of Wi-Fi on our travels.
Speak to you tomorrow

Just a week to go before we leave for our cruise

Well the excitement is mounting perhaps just a little bit as we start to consider packing our suitcases next week but we have a Wey Road Street party tomorrow which if the weather is great should be a lot of fun.

The link below is a Norwegian produced video of the Fjiords. Take a peek.


/A visitors guide to the Fjiords

A Bacon Sandwich and walk alongside the River Thames

The sun was shining and what better can you do but head down to the bridge at Walton on Thames and go to GINO's Cafe for an excellent Bacon and egg sarnie.

A view along the river towards Walton Bridge

Satisfied after bacon sandwich

This was followed by a walk along the river until Noel needed a rest due still having problems with knees, chemotherapy has made my knees worse unfortunately, however we fight on and hope they will improve but I have stepped my walking activity quite a bit in the last month so as to be able to get the best out of the forthcoming Cruise. Also this will help later in the month when we take to family to a surprise weekend.
The afternoon was spent relaxing and watching qualifying for the Belgium F1 GP.

Lets hope the weather stay like this.

Well we are planning a cruise

Well dear readers, we have decided to book a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords leaving from Newcastle on September the 8th for a nine night trip on the good ship MV Balmoral

 which is run by Fred Olsen Lines.

So we have to drive up to Newcastle on September 7th (which will be very exciting) and stay overnight in a hotel before going to board the ship at between 12.00 and 15.00 hrs. So we are both looking forward to this trip with the route and ship information see below.

I will do a BLOG everyday but it may not be able to post it for a while as Wi-Fi on board ship is always slow and and very, very expensive and best to be avoided. At ports of call it may be possible but will not know until we get there.
So watch this space.

Date

Arrive

Depart

Destination

September 2017

Fri 08

Late PM

Newcastle

Sat 09

Late PM

Late Night

Cruising Lysefjord

Sun 10

Early AM

Early PM

Eidfjord, Norway

Sun 10

Early PM

Late Night

Cruise Hardangerfjord

Mon 11

Early AM

Late PM

Flåm (Flam), Sognefjord

Mon 11

Late PM

Late Night

Cruising Nærøyfjord (Naeroyfjord)

Tue 12

Early PM

Late Night

Kristiansund, Norway

Wed 13

Early AM

Early AM

Cruising past Strandafjellet Mountain

Wed 13

Early AM

Early PM

Hellesylt, More og Romsdal

Wed 13

Early PM

Early AM

Cruising Geirangerfjord

Wed 13

Early PM

Early PM

Cruising past Seven Sisters Waterfall

Wed 13

Early PM

Late Night

Geiranger, More og Romsdal

Thu 14

Early AM

Late PM

Olden, Nordfjord, Norway

Thu 14

Late PM

Late Night

Cruising Nordfjord

Fri 15

Early AM

Late Night

Bergen, Norway

Sun 17

Early AM

Newcastle