Today is our first stop on our cruise to the fjords of Norway including passage into the Arctic Circle, all aboard the Celebrity Apex. This in depth visit to Norway’s western coast has been on my bucket list for a while, but it was not until after our great trip from Iceland to Greenland to Eastern Canada to Boston aboard Celebrity last year that I was able to convince Boris to commit to a cruise through the Norwegian fjords. Norway features some of the world’s most expensive ports for the ships to dock at and that is what drives cruise pricing. I had to convince Boris the scenery was worth the price.
There was a six-hour time difference for us from our departure city of Southampton, England. On yesterday’s sea day we moved another hour forward so we are now seven hours ahead of Houston. At least we have gotten some sleep.
When Boris and I first looked at what to do in Stavanger, we decided just to do a self-guided tour. I particularly wanted to photograph the streets with the rows and rows of traditional white houses. Stavanger dates to the 12th century and is one of the oldest cities in Norway. It has historical ties to the monarchy, Christian priests, and the Vikings. It has always been an important port city due to its natural harbor; it remains a strategic port along the shipping route of Norway’s western coast.
With strong ties to the oil industry, Stavanger is the sister city to Houston (Texas, USA) where we live. Norway’s Petroleum Museum is here on the waterfront.
A few weeks before the cruise, I found out that Boris had booked his own tour to see the iron age fort and the statues of three buried swords. Although I wasn’t particularly excited about this excursion, I checked into it and found it was already completely sold out. I was rather relieved.
Boris left early in the morning for his excursion. I went down to breakfast a little later and was ready to head out to do some photography, but it was a rainy morning and there was little I could do to protect the camera on my own. Holding an umbrella over me and a camera while trying to take pictures is tricky. If I had thought ahead to bring a plastic grocery bag for the camera that might have worked. As it turned out the white houses were just across from the ship, so I headed to the upper deck and took pictures between showers.
Since I was on my own, I also went ahead and booked my own excursion. I took a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) tour. Not for the faint-hearted, the boat traveled from the Stavanger pier (just a short distance from our ship) to a popular fjord at speeds of 60 miles per hour.
To ride the RIB, you have to outfit yourself in a large, unattractive suit and add a floatation device that clips between your legs. The suits are not the easiest thing to get on especially if I didn’t want to sit on the rain-soaked benches or take my shoes off to put it on. However, the suits do keep you warm and dry.
The boats only hold about 12-16 people, and everyone gets a (narrow) seat directly beside the water for fabulous viewing. They are actually pretty easy to get in and out of if they have the bars like this one did.
The crew matched the participants with the boats and since I was on my own, the skipper pulled me into the first boat to fill it. My young handsome skipper was exactly what you would expect a big, brawny, Norwegian fisherman or sailor to look like. For some reason, poor Natasha, on her own to gear up, needed help loosening the vest to fit over her breasts and finding the clip to attach the strap that went between her legs. My Norwegian Jamie Fraser* was happy to help me secure my safety gear. That will teach Boris to schedule his own tour without me.
The morning participants had come back soaked from the rain, but despite threatening skies, our tour was rain-free. The ride was exhilarating. After a calm start to get out of the harbor, Skipper Jamie asked, “do you feel good?” and then picked up speed to the James Brown tune of the same name. We rode past beautiful rock formations and waterfalls.
Along the way, we saw fish farms, round floats with nets holding tens of thousands of fish. These are salmon farms and we saw the salmon jumping. They live in captivity about 18 months before they are harvested. The netting goes deep, the fish have a lot of room to move around. Since they are out in the public waters, the farmers pay a tax to the local government for the dedicated water space for their private farms.
We went about half-way down the popular Lysefjord. We made a stop at the Vagabond’s Cave, a really cool and attractive rock structure. “As legend has it, the cave was named after a group of vagabonds who hid in the shelter for months trying to escape police.” We were on our way to Pulpit Rock, a popular hikers’ destination. Skipper Jamie (not his real name, just how I like to think of him) is afraid of heights, but he said he hiked it once just so he could tell us he had done it. The rock jets out over the water. In addition to the hikers and RIB riders, another way to visit Pulpit Rock is to take a ferry boat. To the music of the Mission Impossible theme, Skipper Jamie told us that Pulpit Rock was featured in one of the Mission Impossible Movies, Fallout, where the fjord is visible in the background.
Normally, Pulpit Rock is the turn around point, but Skipper Jamie took us a little farther. Due to the weather conditions, Whiskey Falls was pouring water out full guns. The falls got their name after a German farmer and his Norwegian wife started a distillery on their land in the area. When the farmer got word that the police were coming after them for the illegal activity, he dumped all his equipment and the whiskey over these rocks. Hiding it all under the fast-moving water.
After telling us about the falls from a distance, Skipper Jamie got us really close. Close enough to know that the falls do not taste like whiskey. We played under the water a while, before taking a fast ride back to the pier. Just before passing under the harbor bridge, Skipper Jamie cranked up the tunes once again and did some tricks with the boat.
I felt safe the entire time, although my tail bone was a little tired of sitting on the narrow seat for the 2-hour journey. Skipper also had goggles and heavy rubber gloves on board if you wanted to use those. Because the extra person takes what you can get, it was seated in the second row. The back seats offer a smoother ride, but mine was the perfect seat. I had a better view than anyone behind me, but I didn’t have to deal with the spray of the first row.
After pulling personal items that people had brought along from the large dry bag Skipper provided, we all removed our gear in a process that seemed a little easier than getting it all on. Skipper Jamie helped pull off that last leg of my suit that didn’t seem to want to go over my shoe. Be still my heart.
England is in the World Cup so the entertainment director is streaming the games live into the ship’s main theater. The regular nighttime entertainment in the theater has earlier show times and we missed it tonight because we weren’t finished with dinner in time to make the performance.
Boris and I don’t always visit the specialty restaurants on board because they carry a hefty fee, much more than when this concept was introduced years ago. However, these restaurants are particularly popular on long sailings where people get tired of the dining room food. Other people just prefer the quieter, smaller setting.
After looking over the options, Boris and I decided to try the steak house, Fine Cut. The food and service were excellent, although we paid mightily for the privilege of eating there. It should be noted that specialty restaurants aboard the Apex are not the best choice for those wanting a quiet setting. Fine Cut is open to the main atrium. All the sound from this venue, comes directly into the open restaurant. We had a lovely window seat away from the atrium, but the window seats and a few outdoor tables are next to the 5th deck promenade path. Because of the rain, only one guy walked by during our dinner, but on a different night you could easily be disturbed, have other guests blocking your view of the water, or have the feeling of being watched while you eat. I think this might be a miss on the design.
One perk for us was that we got to see the “Chandelier Show”. This is a ten-minute light show featuring the atrium (Grand Plaza) chandelier. Since the two showings, at 6 pm and 10 pm, are usually when we are doing other things I was glad we got to catch it while dining in Fine Cut. The show is loud and bright, but worth planning around to see at least once on your cruise.
Tomorrow we are actually going on an excursion together. The two hours prior to docking at Olden Norway will also be spectacular with the views of the fjord as we sail into Olden. It’s a morning not to be missed. Lots more Norway to come…
–Natasha
*The reference to Jamie Fraser is to the hero of the literary and television series Outlander.
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