SCandinavian Cruises - 2026
Wednesday 13 May'26 - Flam (Norway) [the 14th is further down this page]
Docked again this morning at 0700 but as the 1st tour wasn't until 1000, brekky at 0800 and disembarked just after 0900. A nice sunny 9' and after a quick look around the town (around 400 inhabitants), headed off on the tour to Stegastein, a viewpoint some 620m above sea level. Like everywhere else we have travelled to lookouts in Norway, up a road with heaps of hairpins and really only 1 lane with numerous "widened cross over points" along the way. The viewpoint is a rather interesting construction with a fantastic view over the fjord. Back down the road into Flam, where we passed a rental place for these unusual, battery operated "mountain cars". They are popular with tourists who prefer to do "their own thing" but in reality, are a menace on the hilly roads as the drivers don't seem to realise they don't pass a car/bus/truck easily on the roads...
After we got back, a nice 15 minute walk along the edge of the fjord to The Fjord Farm, where we had booked the “Taste of the Fjord”. This is a food tasting experience & featured local meats, cheeses, lapskaus (a traditional Norwegian stew, served with flatbread and Ligonberry jelly) finished off with a carrot cake and orange/honey drizzle. The tasting plate, from top left corner is brown goats cheese (made by boiling and reducing the whey of the white goats cheese - quiet sweet), white goats cheese, apple jam (just above the biscuits), lamb "prosciutto", pork salami and smoked herring. Forgot to take a photo of the cake, sorry.... Drinks were apple juice (very pink and cloudy) as well as the crystal clear Norwegian water. Our host explained the stories behind the flavors but what amazed me the most, was the fact that our host was an Australian. We'd come halfway around the world to have an Aussie explain traditional Norwegian food to us. Go figure!!! The farm, one of the earliest in the village, has a fantastic view down the fjord. Nice and relaxing as well as informative. Then back along the waterfront, a little more retail therapy and back on the ship for a 1600 departure.
Dinner in The Normandie, then trivia and bed...
Thursday 14 May'26- Sea Day
Today was what they call, a Sea Day. We sailed towards Zeebrugge (Brugges - Belgium's port) and the 1st photo is what can be accessed via the in room TV, on the Ship Navigation channel. It shows many things about the actual ship at a point in time, this being where we were at just on 1200.
A leisurely breakfast before we attended a "continuing cruisers" information session that explained what was required from us, how to leave the ship if you wanted too with regards to getting a "new" room key, how your luggage was to be handled if you were changing staterooms (we're are not) and all the many questions we had. At the end they had a chocolate wheel, which had every continuing cruisers booking on it and there were various little prizes were provided. We actually were lucky and won a 24hr unlimited Wi-Fi package, which we provided for a re-draw given we already had that package as part of our room. Why it couldn't have been a meal in one of the speciality restaurants or bottles of wine, god only knows!
Then a session of trivia. Lunch was in one of the 5 speciality restaurants (additional costs), the Fine Cut Steakhouse. Excellent steak... The afternoon was a very lazy one before dinner in the Cosmopolitan where the special for the night was lobster tail. Not for me but VERY popular! After that, back to the room as I'm feeling a little weary...
