Love Boat among the Norwegian Fjords

Kiel

We leave home while it's still night to reach Malpensa airport, first leaving the car at the affiliated parking lot.

Punctual KLM flight to Hamburg with a stopover in Amsterdam.

In Hamburg, Costa Crociere's representatives are waiting for us to accompany us to the buses that will take us to the port of Kiel where our ship "Costa Classica" is waiting for us. We immediately understand that the boarding procedures will take a long time.

You should know that every boarding and disembarking operation (even for each single intermediate stop) is the height of bureaucracy: numbers like at the ASL, documents always at hand, magnetic card to swipe, numerous passes through metal detectors, etc. etc. However, we have to adapt: on a cruise you're all a bit like little soldiers, we'll find that out soon; it's the price we have to pay for an almost perfect organization! For us, used to holidays in complete freedom, it's a bit of a shock!

Our ship, Costa Classica, although being one of the oldest and smallest ships in the Costa fleet, turns out to be sufficiently luxurious and comfortable. And then, having no other terms of comparison, we like it.

The food then.... is exceptional! Besides being super abundant, served at all hours, it also turns out to be really good and high quality.

The entertainment, however, is rather poor... or at least that's how it seems to us. We will therefore never take part in any recreational activity and we avoid the evening shows which turn out to be of low quality, suited to an audience with few expectations.

The first day is all about sailing and we use it inspecting the ship, trying to familiarize ourselves with the decks, lounges, etc., and attending our first information meeting.

Stavanger

The day's program (a newsletter called "Today" that is delivered to our cabin every evening) says that we will arrive at our first stop, in the city of Stavanger, in the late afternoon.

So we have plenty of time available on the ship: we start with an abundant breakfast, preferring the Buffet restaurant, with outdoor tables.

Then we move on to a long Jacuzzi session (indoors because the weather today, as for the rest of the week, will always be bad) in the ship's 2 covered tubs (2 indoor Jacuzzis and 2 outdoor ones).

The disembarking operations, with a general assembly, distribution of sticky numbers to apply to your jacket, waiting for calls, etc., turn out to be longer than expected and an inevitable delay accumulates.

We then take part in our first organized excursion, booked long ago via the internet, on the Costa Crociere website.

Stavanger is an industrial city, entirely dedicated to oil extraction. However, from there departs a very beautiful fjord, the Lysefjord, with breathtaking natural scenery.

We then board a smaller boat and travel along the Lysefjord. The highlight of the 50 km route is first of all the famous "Pulpit". It is a tall rock formation with a flat top. The second attraction is the Whisky waterfall (in honor of a smuggler who had settled in those parts). We will get so close to the waterfall that a member of the crew, with a little bucket, will collect the purest water of the waterfall and have all of us taste it.

Too bad the weather is always bad, it rains incessantly, and then, having left very late in the afternoon, it gets dark soon. So we return when it's very dark and thus see the port of Stavanger lit up. Perhaps the center of Stavanger would also be worth visiting, but we don't have time to do so.

We board the ship, where we are already late for dinner.

Eidfjord

We wake up early because already at 8, we should stop at a small village called Eidfjord. I say "should" because in the end, we manage to disembark 2 hours later. The weather is terrible, there's a very strong wind and the ship can't dock.

We risk missing the stop and the booked excursion. However, with a 2-hour delay, we manage to get off and take part in our excursion "Fossli and the Sysen dam." The bus, with a short trip, takes us to the top of the dam. Despite the spectacle of the lake with a rainbow, the weather continues to be terrible. My folding umbrella, with the fury of the wind, here gets shredded!

We later reach Fossli, where there is a traditional Norwegian hotel overlooking the Voeringsfoss waterfall. We admire the landscape and take part in a coffee break in the hotel complete with typical Norwegian pastries. We return to the ship and unfortunately discover that the delay accumulated in the morning will make us skip entirely the stop planned for the afternoon, Rosendal, arousing our most dire wrath since we had planned to visit the ancient residence (Barony) that we were interested in.

But on a cruise you don't decide anything on your own and we have to follow the directives.

Bergen

We disembark early in the morning in Bergen, Norway's second city. We had decided long ago that here we would not join the excursion, reserving for ourselves the pleasure of visiting the city in complete autonomy: and so it was.

We start the city from the Bryggen district, where old wooden merchant houses overlook the old port; here there are many shops and artisan workshops (we also recommend visiting the side and back streets, not just those overlooking the port).. We visit the Hanseatiske Museum, that is, the old house of a fish merchant, furnished with curious original furniture of the time. We then visit the fish market, trying to avoid the sellers who absolutely want to sell us salmon to take to Italy (but how can we? They swear that with a vacuum-sealed package it's possible).

Here we even meet our ship's Captain, to whom we do not hesitate to voice our complaints about yesterday's missed stop. The Captain, extremely kind and helpful, provides us with his reasons and, besides promising us an additional stop in the following days at Vik, will have a surprise waiting for us in our cabin upon our return (sparkling wine and a basket of fruit). How nice! We feel like VIPs.

We then head, for a short trip, into the more modern part of the city, to the museum area, where there is a large fountain with a wide water basin. We then take the funicular that takes us to the upper part of Bergen, from where you can admire a beautiful panorama (weather conditions permitting... but on the whole we are lucky).

We then visit the Cathedral but the most important church is the Mariakirken with a splendid Baroque pulpit (paid entrance).

At the end we visit the Hakonshallen, an ancient ceremonial hall in Gothic style, but we remain a bit disappointed because it all amounts to visiting a single room. After some souvenir purchases in the Bryggen shops, we return to the ship in the afternoon, extremely tired.

In the evening the cocktail with the captain and the grand gala dinner await us.

But the sea has decided to act up just tonight! At times we can't even stand up to reach the restaurant table.... let alone gulp down a dinner of who knows how many courses..... Damn... tonight's menu was more exceptional than usual!

You should know that in the fjords the sea is always very calm and the ship's movements are imperceptible. However, it happens that you have to cross stretches of open sea, the North Sea. Here, if the weather conditions are adverse, the sea can be rough and therefore on the ship you perceive the movement of the waves (and consequent problems for those who suffer from seasickness).

Flam and Vik

Very early wake-up (at 6:30) to admire the beautiful landscape and to get ready for the 8:30 disembarkation.

The beauty of a cruise in the fjords is that the landscape, during the hours of daylight, is continuous and always changing. There is no monotony of the open sea. You are continuously surrounded by mountains, bodies of water, waterfalls, little wooden houses, etc. etc., and so it's always nice to stay on deck admiring the panorama.

When instead the weather is bad (as for our entire week), you can admire the landscape from the covered glass windows.

Costa Classica also has a beautiful observation lounge, where you can comfortably lounge on the little armchairs indoors, on the highest deck of the ship (14th floor) and admire the landscape.

In Flam, the excursion awaits us, lasting about 3 hours, "Naeroyfjord and Stahlheim."

The bus takes us to Stahlheim, through steep and scenic mountain roads.

We reach a hotel, all in red wood, particularly striking, with typical furnishings, a nice souvenir shop, a panoramic terrace, etc.

Here we are served a splendid breakfast with tea, coffee and a large buffet of Norwegian cakes.

Too bad we had already had breakfast on the ship. However, we taste here and there.

We then go to the village of Gudvangen where we will take the boat, for a long route in the fjord, I think the most beautiful of all.

Here the landscape truly reaches its maximum!!!!

Every few meters we encounter waterfalls, beautiful bodies of water, enchanting farms, mountains reflected in the water.... Water everywhere... Truly remarkable! Unfortunately it's always raining but that doesn't spoil the beauty of the surrounding nature.

We recommend to anyone doing this type of boat excursion to avoid staying inside in the covered area but to resist (despite the rain and the low temperatures of about 12°) and position yourself outside admiring the landscape from the deck. There is a notable difference and you will appreciate the excursion more (besides taking splendid photos that wouldn't come out well through the glass).

In the afternoon, the Captain keeps his word and will have us disembark on board a launch (because the little port is small) in the village of Vik.

The village is really small but equally charming. Here we have the opportunity to take nice photos of the colorful wooden houses of the village, of the boats in the little port, of our ship docked offshore (like in an advertising brochure).

Shops though are few and all closed: at 4:30 in the afternoon here everything is already closed and so we can't spend our last Norwegian kroner since this will be the last stop of our cruise.

Sailing towards Kiel

A whole day of sailing, toward the port of return.

Today finally it's a beautiful sunny day. You can lie on the deck chairs on the deck, you can use the 2 outdoor pools, you can use the outdoor Jacuzzis (but this is always possible since the water in the Jacuzzis is always heated).

Today we have time to do the sauna, the Turkish bath, for those who want there's the gym....

We make some purchases in the onboard shops: a photo (but only one considering the absurd price of € 17.00) chosen from the numerous photos taken of us by the onboard photographers and a Squok, the plush mascot of Costa Crociere.

Farewell dinner with our regular table companions, with whom we have socialized for the entire week. Exchanges of addresses, photos and an evening at the casino. It's the last evening and it doesn't matter if we lose!

Return home

Big disembarkation operations, as per the instructions given in yesterday's information meeting, and organized return home, unfortunately always with a stopover in Amsterdam.

We arrive without problems at Malpensa in the evening.

How sad! The much longed-for trip, awaited and booked more than a year ago...is over!

Luckily a few consolatory days at the sea await us and then we immediately throw ourselves into planning the holiday itinerary for next year.... That's how we beat the post-trip blues!

COSTS:

- 6-day cruise, flights and transfers included € 1,300.00 per person

- Extras on the Cruise: excursions, drinks and

- Service charge € 250.00 per person

- Museum entrance ticket from € 3.00 to € 6.00

Dani and Max for more information, visit our website: