Back at the end of September 2006, DFDS
announced the availability of 250 free trips on the Newcastle/Bergen
run, to be taken between November and the end of February 2007, to
inaugurate their new vessel Princess of Norway ex Fjord Norway, Spir,
Spirit of Tasmania, Peter Pan. This news of course ran like wildfire
across the internet and within about 48 hours or so all the free
trips had been booked. I chose a mid week trip due to the fact one
gets a full day in Bergen, rather than a couple of hours early
morning on the weekend trips. |
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Princess of Norway began sailing for DFDS the 2nd week of
November 2006 but initially suffered from constant late arrivals due
apparently to an engine problem. She was withdrawn from service in
January for a few weeks to be repaired and at the end of December we
were notified to a slight alteration to her timetable. Was the North
Sea hard going? Anyway we would find out... our due date arrived,
20th February and I must say having a booking confirmation stating
*Valid ticket if Paid* and showing a Grand Total 0.00 Gbp was wonderful. |
We left home just after 11.00 and quickly made our way north up the
A1 with clear roads, arriving at North Shields just after 15.00. We
stopped in view
of both Queen of Scandinavia and Princess of Norway at the Royal
Quays Outlet shopping area for a coffee and then drove down to Royal
Quays Marina [former Albert Edward Dock] where we found Earl of
Zetland, a 1939 Shetland/Orkney inter island ferry now serving as a
bar/restaurant and conference centre. To be honest she looks well
past her prime and very shabby.
As it was approaching 16:00 we made our back to the Ferry Terminal
and drove into the long term car park. One pays on entry, £8 per
night, so were relieved of £24 and given in exchange a piece of
paper indicating we were returning Friday on Princess of Norway, to
leave on the dashboard. The Port of Tyne International Passenger
Terminal was quite full with the passengers for Queen of Scandinavia
to Amsterdam still checking in. They boarded at 16.30 when our
check-in for Bergen opened. Plenty of room and fine for a
ferry/cruise terminal. One can't however view the vessels docked. |
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There is a Costa Coffee and small shop selling drinks/sweets etc..
There are also 3 lovely large models within the terminal, Prince
of Scandinavia, Queen of Scandinavia and Winston Churchill; I
wasn't the only one taking photograph of them either. Boarding time
soon arrived.... passports were only checked on entering the secure
area and people were picked out randomly for bag checks. No scanning
of everyone's bags [although there were some scanners there for use].
It is a fair distance along a walkway to board, but there is a
conveyor belt running alongside on which you can place your bags if
they are heavy. On to Princess of Norway, deck 4, where a crew member
asked which deck we were on. On being told 9, he opened a door on to
a car deck and indicated the lift over the other side that we should
take. It was devoid of vehicles at this time. Going down first we saw
the lower car deck on which there was at least one trailer. We
arrived at the cabin, the furthest forward and the furthest starboard
one can get, directly under the bridge; the cabin, along with that to
port, with the most movement on the whole ship.. no problem, the
forecast says F6.. or did yesterday anyway - little did we know.
Queen of Scandinavia had been due to sail at 17.30, as our boarding
began. There was no sign of her as we walked along the gangway, so
she had obviously departed on time. |
Cabin
9002... a narrow entrance hall leads into the main cabin, which
we cannot yet see... the light switch is on but no light... the
bathroom light works.. ah that gives me enough light to see there is
another switch over the bed. With this on the main lights now work. A
double bed along the forward bulkhead under the window, nice.. not
the upper and lower berths we had expected. A tall single wardrobe
and a shelf by the bed, above which are 2 x 220 V European pin
outlets and what appears to be a couple of network sockets and also
one for an aerial. A shelf also runs along under the window. The
bathroom is a decent size too, with a glass fronted cupboard for
toiletries, other shelves and a decent sized [double length]
curtained shower with shampoo in a dispenser. No other toiletries
supplied. There are 2 towels, which are small and thin. Adequate, but
it you require a huge fluffy bath sheet, bring your own. The water
pressure and temp is fine. There is no bath mat which does leave the
floor a bit wet. We quickly hung up the few shirts we had brought and
shoved the case under the bed. All cabins are non-smoking. There are
no telephones in the cabins but there are booths around the vessel
with satellite phones and cards can be purchased at reception.. or so
it says.
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By now it was 18.20 and the ship's time is an hour ahead, so thought
we would go and find where to make a reservation as advised for the 7
Seas Buffet Restaurant. This however was not required, we could
be seated in 10 mins or if preferred.. now.. so we chose to go
straight in. Seated to port by a window this is a very nice
restaurant and the food was excellent, just don't expect British
fare. The Norwegian Sushi was presented in such a manner that even I
was tempted to try several of the items and I never touch these. It
was delicious! There was much other seafood, shrimps, crayfish,
lobster, many types of salads and the hot food was stuffed turkey,
lamb, pork etc meat balls in roast veg, and other items I did not
have a clue as to the name [the mash potato contained swede]. Open
sandwiches and many different types of bread [all delicious and able
to slice for oneself]. Glasses of iced water were brought to the table.
There was a children's section with Spaghetti Bolognaise and hot
dogs. A variety of gooey desserts, with soft serve ice cream and a
selection of sprinkles. Also a cheese board with Sage, Brie, just
ripe Danish Blue and Cheddar with a wide type of biscuit selection,
fresh fruit too. Then the coffee. We had a bottle of wine - total
bill £50 for two. Pricey for a ferry I think, but a better
buffet than one often finds on ships. You will however need to be
prepared to try 'new' dishes as you won't find much off a British or
American dinner table here. It is stated that all service charges are
included in the prices, but it is customary to leave a tip.
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We had sailed from North Shields on time as we were being seated, but
it was dark out there and we could not see an awful lot. Could make
out what appeared to be some smart new apartments and townhouses
along the banks, followed by a few trawlers tied up together in a
small marina. After dinner we strolled around the ship seeing what
was about. Pianist in the Navigators Bar, Columbus
Nightclub, Duty Free shop, all the various restaurants.. she
seems a very nice vessel. So far so good, smooth sailing when we
packed in for the night.... |
Sometime in the early hours I was woken by a jolt... ah stormy
seas... it got worse and worse.. water was covering our window from
time to time and we are deck 9! Dave didn't feel too good.. I have no
sympathy I am afraid for such things.. in fact as I write this at
17:00 the following day he is still in bed! He claims he is OK lying
down but feels queasy as soon as he stands. Well one cannot stand at
present or been able to most of the day. I had a coffee and ham roll
in the Bake'n
Coffee [Coffee Bar] for breakfast £3.40 - apart from 3
children playing in the kids ball area, there were only about 5 other
people about. Some more had appeared by 10.30 or so, but still very
quiet as I sat reading. The ship is up and down, winds and sea spray
everywhere. I ventured out on deck at one point and around to the
stern, but the decks are awash, I got soaked through too. A few
others seem to have braved it from time to time mostly with camera in
hand in the name of getting a few photos of the rough seas. Photos
are going to be mostly quite blurry.
I did see one DFDS guy showing workmates photos he had taken... I
peered over their shoulders.. great pics from the bridge it looked
like. Video clips will be better but even in the cabin I am pushed
over against the wall.. people are hugging walls through no choice as
walking along. At 11.30 there was a meeting in the Columbus Nightclub
for everyone [not just English Speakers] and procedures were
explained in several languages. |
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As the ETA for Stavanger was then between 20:00 and 21:00, there was
no need to mention the requirement for having to present ones self to
the Norwegian authorities in Bergen at 1am. Reception had but an hour
earlier been telling people that arrival in Bergen was scheduled for
maybe 05:00... and at that time they didn't think the Bergen
Immigration guys would bother getting up and just leave clearance of
the vessel until around 07:00.. so a full night's sleep would be in order. |
The weather proceeded to get worse during the afternoon and the
earlier 10.9kts was reduced to 9.7 when I last looked. The cabin
window is awash more often and we have a pronounced wind list. It is
very awkward to walk around, even for the crew and no-one can walk a
straight line. F9 occasional 10 apparently.
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Dave wasn't up, so I went to lunch alone at 14:00. I decided to try
the Latitude
Café, next to the Bake'n Coffee. Only one guy was serving
in this 'Trendy Café'. Eventually he came to take the order
and I asked for the spicy curry soup with chicken. Sorry ma'am it is
too dangerous to cook. OK I appreciate that, what is on the menu?
everything bar soup.. OK.. so I just read off the next item on the
menu which happened to be ''Barbeque Burger'' and ordered a
Cappuccino. The cappuccino arrived and was drunk long before the
meal.. then when it turned up, it was big enough for 3! try like I
might I could not eat more than half of it... far too big and the
bill?? A princely [or Princessly?] £13.95 ! Food does not come
cheap on here. |
If anything the weather seemed to get even worse and the shop was
closed at 14:00 because it was too dangerous. Supposed to re-open at
16:00 but didn't until much later. 14:00 an announcement says now
delayed until 00:00 for Stavanger. That's 9 hours late.. when will we
arrive in Bergen? 10:00 ? no problem we do not leave until 17:00 -
OK.. so I spent the afternoon reading a book I had... |
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... purchased in North Shields and also typing this, but it is hard
going as one keeps being pushed about. Sitting on the floor in the
cabin is the best place! It was announced at 17.45 that between 18:00
and 22:00 Buffet Dinner in the 7 Seas will be served and is free! I
guess they are not expecting many takers. Dave says he will get up at
19:00...nothing like a free something or other to get one moving. |
.. and he did... we went to eat. The buffet was not the usual full
buffet but a limited selection and no cheese.. no sushi, but
adequate, no more. Maybe some of the staff were ill too and they were
not going to be able to manage a full buffet which was why the
limited selection was free? who knows.. Roast Beef was on the carvery
and very nice, but the vegetables were a mix of stuff - odd selection
of brussels with silverskin onions.. but eatable. Salads were all a
mix of either rice with veg or noodles.. Dave did not like any of
them so had roast beef sandwiches; guess he could not take anymore
either. Only a small selection of desserts, but still choc mouse, a
choux pastry thing with strawberries and cream, 3 or 4 types of cake.
No soft serve ice cream. The meal was quick and as we left the seas
calmed.. aha, lights to starboard so we are finally within the
protection of some islands. Amazingly we can now walk straight &
people are crawling out of the woodwork. We had a look around the
shop and purchased some cokes and liquorice.. everything is
liquorice... even Mentos.. one wonders if the Norwegians never suffer
from constipation or the liquorice is required because they all do -
only kidding. |
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Also a signal from Telnor on the mobile. So I tried a few texts but
some were not going anywhere.. ah well... not the end of the world.
There is some sort of a wireless network aboard as when sitting in
the Navigators Bar I could see a network for 'Princess', but of
course could not connect. The information booklet states net time can
be purchased at the Guest Services Centre and that Wireless Internet
is also available on board - one to contact the Guest Services Centre
again.. but as I am not interested in using it I didn't bother. I
expect the prices may be quite high.. Princess of Norway does have
mobile phone coverage by Maritime Communications Partner whilst at
sea. Many were using it during the trip but my mobile would only
provide 'Emergency Calls'; Dave's would log on, so I expect it just
depends on whether one's own network is prepared to accept the
obviously higher charges. It has not yet been announced when we will
be turning up in Stavanger.. now 21:30 so perhaps something will be
said shortly.
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More
about the ship
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The other restaurants are the Blue
Riband Restaurant - à la carte with table reservations
required, semi formal but family friendly & lovely. Explorers
Restaurant [reservations required], which is themed, being
'Western' on our trip with red and white checkered table cloths and
the wait staff wore cowboy hats [We dined here later in the trip].
Marco Polo Gourmet Restaurant which I have not yet even seen, but
again reservations are required, semi-formal dress code and features
a choice of "two exclusive six-course meals accompanied by an
impressive choice of wine". |
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Bars include the previously mentioned Navigators Bar with live
pianist. There are also flat screen TVs in here which were showing
various football matched today.. not much of an audience though at
present. It also has a dance floor with a 'ship painted' background.
The Columbus
Club - Nightclub with dance floor, where the Bingo and Quizzes
are also held. Nice views all around in here, but a bit too dark. The
casino occupies on corner of the nightclub with a couple of tables [I
have only seen one being used, with no players there though] and a
pile of slot machines which people were playing avidly. The Red
and White Wine Bar is a nice lounge with various tastings
advertised, wine as well as Cognac & Whisky.. but perhaps not the
best trip for this sort of thing:) See leaflet
for the options available.
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A Pirates Club for children under 10, and also Kidz
Club. There is the ball pit too at the after end on Bake'n
Coffee. Various announcements have been made for activities in the
Columbus Lounge and creatures with faces painted as skull and
crossbones have been spied walking the planks [aka hallways].. seems
they have been having a good time. Not sure how many children there
are aboard, quite a few I think, but it is half-term in some parts of
the UK this week. |
The currency onboard is NOK, but all bills are in GBP as well.. it
makes no difference which you pay with. Also credit cards are
accepted. There are no cash machines on board, but is a Bureau de
Change at Reception.
Well we were tied up by 23.15 at Stavanger,
so made up a bit of time once we were in sheltered waters. The coast
was very pretty as we passed by unknown towns en route & a couple
of refineries. What is visible of Stavanger looks pretty, the
waterfront anyway and a church with spire. A few small excursion type
vessels [hard to see] are tied up along the front and a larger one to
the left astern of us. Also another vessel, maybe reefer astern. No
sooner were we alongside than the gangway was in position and those
departing poured off all in a matter of minutes. See the video
clips. |
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Out on deck all the seawater is frozen making it very slippery and an
ice skating rink for the kids! Even the bulkheads are covered with
ice. A 'cosy' corner was found near the stern on deck 9 where the
exhaust pours out warm air, but after 15 mins out there my hands were
frozen, bright red and sore. It's now 23.50 and I doubt we will be
here much longer. On to Haugesund. Should take 2½ hours there [I
will not be up!] and then 4½ hours sailing to Bergen. We have
not had an official announcement as to when we should be arriving
there yet.. but looks like 07:00, 9 hours overdue.
Review
Pt 2 |