The last time I went on a cruise must have been when I was 13 and sailed round the Mediterranean in the SS Nevasa. Since then, cruises have tended to become a luxury holiday, rather than a cheaper way of getting from A to B than flying.
Derek was attracted to this mini break when he saw an advert in our local paper giving some special offers. We duly booked an economy berth for the grand total of something like £29 each for two nights and three days. Of course travel insurance (which Derek insists on having, as he's seen too many holiday disasters in his line of work), was extra for Derek (my bank gives free cover), but it was still a great value holiday.
We packed, organised E111 forms, passports and drove down to the Ferry terminal at North Shields, leaving the car in the long stay car park. Check in was much like an airport, with boarding gates and air bridges etc, the only difference being you kept your luggage with you. Still the same questions about could anyone have interfered with your packing? etc. We sailed at 2pm, which became 3pm as soon as we left the Tyne (Norwegian time) something neither Derek nor I realised until much later that night, when the blackjack table appeared to be closing an hour early!
Our cabin was tiny, but adequate and ensuite. I preferred to spend the time on deck, it was fantastic looking out at 360° of open sea, with the odd boat on the horizon and no land in sight. The ship was extremely comfortable, with 7 passenger decks and a variety of things to do, from bingo to blackjack. There was a cinema showing Meet the Fockers on our first night, but as I still have this downloaded film to watch on the PC at some point, I didn't see the value in paying to see it on the ship. The duty free shop was a big attraction and we came away with several bottles of Bombay gin and Campari (my favourite drink, although not combined)! The ship was well equipped, even having internet access if you wanted to pay the fairly exorbitent rates.
We went to bed fairly late the first night, and woke up the next morning to find we were approaching Bergen. It was cold on deck and a typical sight throughout the cruise was people sitting huddled on deckchairs, wrapped up in coats and hats and scarves! The sea was a bit choppy, but never too rough. The MS Jupiter averages 20.3 nautical mph on a summer crossing, 19.6 in the winter. The distance we travelled to Bergen was 398 nautical miles, which put us quite a bit further north, with consequently longer hours of daylight. For an explanation of the difference between a nautical mile and what we consider a mile on land, this is a good link.
Sailing into Bergen was beautiful. When we docked, it was warm and sunny, and although we didn't have long off the ship, we made the most of it and did see something of the City. However, for me the enjoyable part of the holiday was being onboard. I love boats and the sea, and thoroughly enjoyed being on deck, looking at the scenery as we sailed away from Bergen through the fjords to first Haugesund and then Stavanger, before heading back across the north sea to North Shields. This part was an unexpected bonus as we hadn't expected to call in at these cities. Although we didn't disembark, I enjoyed watching what was an impressive display of reverse parking, as cargo was loaded on and off the car decks at each port. At Stavanger about 20 motorbikes joined us for the final leg of the trip.
We had to vacate our cabin by 9am the following morning, so had to make a fairly early start to the day. A more expensive cabin had the advantage of being able to stay in it until 12.30 (but these people missed out on the view of the rough sea and the wash from the ship against the portholes further down on deck 2, quite a sight! There were luggage lockers to leave the cases in, so we were free to mooch about until we came into dock at North Shields 2pm Norwegian time (1pm here).
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable trip if you like cruises (which I do). Bergen was a pretty place and sailing through the fjords particularly enjoyable. I'd recommend Fjordline to anyone and would do the same trip again any time!
To see some photos of the cruise, click here.
27th May 2005