Day 22 - Bergen
At last we have arrived in a city for a change. The down side is that there are 4 cruise ships in port, 2 Princess ones (including Pacific Princess, the sister ship to our favourite Ocean Princess - which is no more). So yes, some 8,000 eager tourists all aiming to do the same thing and generally clogging up the town. If that isn't bad enough, the local authorities are having fun digging up as much of the roads as possible, leaving barely enough room for the restoration workers, who are attacking every second building. We loved it!
Seriously we thought the town delightful and it had an atmosphere to it. Yet another "do it yourself" city, which was pretty well what the excursions were too. I won't repeat the usual "up late, breakfast etc.) but funny to relate that when we went in to breakfast, there were Derek & Sandra, sitting waiting for a table for 2. Upon seeing us Colonials, they once again decided that a table for 4 was preferable! Funny that we should later run into them in the centre of town too.
Disembarking, we headed along the waterfront (with at least 4,000 others) initially headed to the funicular which affords a great view from the summit. We were joined by Anne & Jim from USA, who we had shared waffle lunch with on our Flaam tour. Each car (2 of them) takes 80 people, so it was only a 10 - 15 minute wait. The views were great and although there was high cloud, visibility was good. The temperature during the day rose to early 20s.
We wandered back and around and eventually found a bakery where we had a good (double shot) coffee and an excellent pastry (NZD22). All was complete by 1.00sh, so once on board we went to the Golden Lion for a good old pub lunch. Later seated near to us were the most obnoxious young American couple - not only were they loud, but also abusive to staff. The woman sat sat crosslegged with her walking shoes on the seat. Pure ignorance in my book.
All were aboard on time and we sailed out with plenty of ship's whistles to mark our leaving - we were the 2nd to go & the Pacific Princess was casting off as we took off. A bit of a surprise for us as we are actually sailing North for a couple of hundred miles, before heading around the top of the island chain and then south to Southampton. Our northbound passage gives us our last evening sun on the balcony, which is a bonus.
Tonight us the 6th and last formal night, but at least we have a formal invitation from Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge to attend her Cunard World Club Party - along with the other 6-700. All of us at our table are Gold members (I didn't let on that we just reached this status after our Baltic cruise), so as the party is in between 1st & 2nd dinner, we are going to have to be serious about eating tonight. Far too much hilarity over the past 5 nights!
Well yes, tonight was the usual fun and we got group photo and of course as it was the last formal we had the parade of Chefs etc. While we participated, it was noticeable that some tables displayed distinct disinterest. After all this we all decided to go to the party, although Jill & Trevor were not keen initially. And yes, it was a bit crowded and immediately following dinner no one wanted the hors d'oeuvres, but after dinner drinks were acceptable. Usual speaches/sales pitch but the interesting thing was that the most travelled passengers had travelled on 82 cruises but only 988 days. Clearly Cunarders are not stayers like Princess people
Amazing story. On our way to the party, one of our group had a Shakespeare stop, so we all waited. An elderly gentleman in a kilt (formal attire) was also waiting, so Vivian being Vivian went over to ask him what clan he represented. Turns out that he was not Scottish, but indeed a Kiwi, and not only that but living in the Penninsula Club retirement complex in Orewa. But wait there is more, as before he moved to the retirement complex he lived in Athol Place, Algies Bay!, So here we are sailing off the coast of Norway with 2 fellow passengers who used to live just a kilometre away. Our British friends were gobsmacked to say the least.
Day 23 - At sea
Last day of the cruise and unfortunately the weather is overcast and quite a bit cooler as we speed down the North Sea, once again reaching 23knts. Pretty quiet day having coffee with an Australian couple from Brisbane who are just a table away and who have also been on both cruises. They have another 3 weeks in Europe before going home. After lunch there was a get together for the Kiwis- just 6 of us (the other couple were a no show). Vivian's bridge as usual and the highlight of the day has been packing the bags. One minor problem us that although they want the bags outside at 8.00, we of course have to dress for dinner and need to pack some of that stuff, so they'll have to wait. Packing actually only took 30 minutes.
Dinner then show, which was not worth watching - comedian who had a dated, schoolboy routine followed by the Aussie singer from a couple of nights ago. Bags have gone (& hopefully will be seen again tomorrow 😀). Just a *little* peeved at Cunard/our steward as when we returned, the wine cooler & ice bucket were out for the next guests already. No farewell programme or statement from the Captain. I must need sleep!
Day 24 - The end Southampton
We actually arrived an hour early because there is a major yacht race around the Ise of Wight and they apparently close the shipping lanes. Anyway, loing a bit grey but promises to improve during the day. Final breakfast and vacated our room at 7.45 although we don't have to be out until 8.30. Next peeve of the day - while we were at breakfast our Steward has remade the bed in anticipation, even though we hadn't requested/allowed our room to be serviced. While all cruise lines need to vacate the ship for new passengers, this one has been the most obvious that we are no longer "valued" passengers 😁
Well, they are disembarking earlier than planned but we are not keen as our coach to Heathrow is not until 11.00. So we are hanging out as long as possible (& making use of the last of our internet). In a quick summary, most enjoyable cruise and we would recommend both of them. The weather has certainly been kind to us and we've met some great people. Can't wait for our next holiday .............. watch this space.
Photos mainly of Bergen
