If you read the Bergen post, you’ll know that this cruise was 45 years in the making. Not only did I want to go to Norway with my mom, but I wanted to go on one of the ferry Fjord cruises that she raved about. She went many times over the years, always on Hurtigruten, so I always assumed we’d take one of these as well. But then we heard about a new company, Havila Voyages, which had the same itinerary for a similar (insane) price, but had nicer, newer boats with nicer cabins and public spaces.
After a brief stay in Bergen, we boarded our Havila ship, Pollux, and set sail for our 7 day, 34 stop cruise. I was so excited!
And then we were off!
Day 2 was our big Geirangerfjord day. We had booked a 10 hour excursion that would take us up to the top of the mountains for views, then through the countryside for more views. Unfortunately the weather was gray and cloudy so we canceled the excursion as we didn’t think we’d see anything. I was really bummed as this was one of the highlights of the entire trip, but I think we ended up making the right call. Plus sailing in and out of the fjord was amazing despite the weather.
Day 3 was our stop in Trondheim. This was another one of the stops I had been most looking forward too and it did not disappoint. We took a taxi to the Nidaros Cathedral and had a nice little visit.
From there we walked to Gamle Bybro (the Old Town Bridge) to see Bryggerekka (The Historic Wharves).
There was a festival happening so we walked back to city center and wandered thru the festival. What a treat seeing the different foods and the families out enjoying themselves. We bought some truffles, a pastry covered in chocolate, and Chuck got some licorice syrup to bring back home.
Once back on board, we continued our journey at sea. Just beautiful!
I’ve been talking about the itinerary highlights so far, but let me switch to talking about life on board as that’s where we spent the bulk of our 7 days.
We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the main dining room every day. Breakfast was a buffet with some cooked to order eggs, while lunch and dinner had a set menu. Dinner had 3 appetizer choices, 3 entrees – a fish, an animal protein, and a vegetarian option – and 1 dessert option. I’m not the biggest fish lover, but found stuff to eat for every meal except one. One of the staples of my lunches (and my brother’s) was the fish soup. This stuff was delicious!
Then most of the time we hung out on the 9th floor in their covered observation lounge. It had a bar – that saw a bunch of use – and comfy seats. We never had a problem finding a seat and spent most of the day with anywhere from 2-5 of us all hanging out, chatting, and taking in the views. It also had good access to the outside front area, so any time there was something particularly picturesque, we could duck outside, take some pics, then come back into the warmth.
This was the real highlight of the trip. Yes the scenery was gorgeous and I loved spending the days staring out to sea seeing the little islands, coastline, and occasional lighthouse or town. But getting some dedicated time catching up with my family was priceless.
I will also mention the weather as it was cloudy and gray every day and rained on and off the entire trip. We saw a break in the clouds only a few times in 6 days. It was still beautiful, but I can’t imagine how this all would’ve looked in clear, sunny skies.
As far as accommodations, we chose an outside cabin that was pretty solid for a cruise ship cabin. Unfortunately we were right under the hatch they opened at every port – all 34 of them – and it banged and made the most horrible, loud, squeaking noise. It woke us up multiple times a night at every port, so we didn’t get a single decent night of sleep the entire cruise. We should’ve asked to move, but didn’t.
Moving on…
Day 4 had so much packed into it! We started by crossing the Arctic Circle at 7:46am. They did a contest of who could guess the exact time and I was only off by about a minute.
We then passed some gorgeous scenery.
Around 10:30am, the ship had their Arctic Initiation Ceremony. It consisted of having ladles of ice water poured over your head and body. I would’ve done it if it was only ice, but wanted no part of ladles of icy water. My brother was the only one of us that did it and we were all happy to get pictures and videos instead.
Around 1pm, we made it to Bodø. Chuck decided to do a bike tour here while the 4 of us took a trip to Saltstraumen which is the world’s strongest tidal current and maelstrom.
We also got some stunning scenery!
Chuck had a great time on his bike trip as well.
Once back on board, it was time for some more fjord viewing and for drinks!
Going into the Trollfjord is supposed to be one of the highlights of any fjord cruise. At least it was to my mom. Its famous for being so narrow – not much wider than the ship. Unfortunately we weren’t going to visit it on the North Bound route as we’d arrive really late at night. So imagine my surprise when I heard we were going to visit it that night as long as the weather stayed OK. Fingers crossed!
We arrived around 11:30pm with cloudy skies and spitting rain. Despite the late hour, there was still a tiny bit of light which made the entire scene unworldly.
What an experience!
We took these pictures of the surrounding area around 11:30pm and 1am!
And that wrapped another absolutely incredible day!
