Cruise conclusions

The sky is blue. I’m having a quiet morning. For once there is nothing that has to be done. Even dinner just required boiling a few eggs - I’m making a smoked salmon kedgeree this evening – which I did while making my breakfast mug of tea. I’m half-expecting our gardener to arrive. Tomorrow is supposed to be wet, so this would seem to be the better day to come. However, she seems to consult a different weather forecaster & much depends upon what else she has to do.

We’re now beginning to feel the benefits of our cruise. I’m even beginning to think another cruise is a possibility. However, it would not be with Fred Olsen, the cruise company we went with. There are also other things I would look out for.

The first day was all spent at sea. That was not a bad idea, in that it gave you the day to recover from the travelling, do the unpacking & get your bearings. Then we had to get changed as it was a formal dinner that night.

The last day, again all at sea, wouldn’t have been too bad. Unfortunately it was so rough I was seasick & needing to lie down even though I was persevering with the packing. If I had been well, packing would have taken less time so we could have attending a Grieg concert & maybe appreciated it.

Driving over to Newcastle was no real advantage. These post-stroke days, that’s as much as the Fox feels he can cope with. In fact it was more than he really wants to have to again. He found it particularly bad on the way back when the weather was awful & he was tired after a lot of waiting around in an airless corridor before disembarking. There is a wheelchair accessible coach that goes down to the south coast. We would consider driving down to Liverpool but that’s about it.

We would also have to be assured that most of the ports are wheelchair accessible with smooth ramps. Two consecutive full days stuck on ship, unable to get off due to the ramps/tenders was too much. I was beginning to get stir-crazy.

A drinks package certainly helped. People spread around the ship so I didn’t feel the claustrophobia I did on the Alaskan cruise we did in 2008 where everyone, but everyone, crammed into the small area where there was free water, coffee & soft drinks.

Warmth helped to spread the people. It was pleasant to spend the evening outside watching the scenery pass by, quietly talking to one another, interrupted only by the need to take another photograph. However, with scenery like that at Norway, I suspect it would be worth putting on thick coats, gloves woolly hats, to admire it.

Hopefully a different cruise line would mean better food, better cabins, more helpful staff. For those, we did considerably better with Celebrity Cruises who took us to Alaska.

I would also be tempted to go for longer. Our cruising friends who went with us found just one week barely gave them time to unpack & settle in before they had to start packing. They never felt they had time to just unwind. We tended to agree with them. The first week of any holiday is always spent getting over the travelling & consequent exhaustion. It is only in the second week we begin to feel the benefits of the holiday. On top of which the cruise company usually provide better facilities for longer trips.

However, having said all that we’re not rushing to book another cruise. Right now, our attention is turning to Italy & Lake Garda. What we do next year is anyone’s guess. Brexit may even have some bearing on that if warnings of European travel difficulties come true.