Wonderful Fjords

After an easy drive to North Shields, we sailed from Port of Tyne on 8 September 2017. We had booked this cruise to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary on 16 September, we were not disappointed! We found the fjords exceptional, wonderful views and so awe inspiring. The ship cruised so close to the Fjords at times you felt you could reach out and touch the mountains. The people of Norway were so friendly and welcoming and spoke excellent English. Fred Olsen gave us an excellent package to celebrate our wedding anniversary, it made it really special. The crew on the ship were brilliant, they can’t do enough for you. We did not book any tours arranged by the ship preferring to do our own thing. We enjoyed walking around the pretty villages and browsing the gift shops. Bergen was amazing, we took the funicular to the top of the mountain and were rewarded with fantastic views. We walked to the fish market which was intesresting with food restaurants etc. In Olden we had a trip on the Troll train which ran around a lake and stopped for photo opportunities. The bookmark cafe on Balmoral is good with nice barista made coffee and some scrumptious chocolates. At times the cafe was very busy and we had a long wait for our coffee, best to avoid regular coffee times. The entertainment on the ship was really enjoyable and the crew show was hilarious. We made some new friends on the ship and greatly enjoyed the experience. There was only one hitch on the ship when the swimming pool on the top deck had a burst pipe and started flooding the stairwell and carpets on deck 10. The crew were soon on top of it and after draining the pool set about cleaning the ship. Fortunately this happened on the next to last day so didn’t really spoil the holiday. All in all we enjoyed the cruise and will certainly book another trip with Fred Olsen. We booked the trip with Bolsover Cruise Club who were very knowledgeable and a great help.