I want to start off with an apology for the lack of posts (and the delay with getting those I had written out). I started university (again) and things were very hectic. I'll most likely do a post on it at some point fully explaining everything that happened to make it so stressful. On top of the stress I also had a lot of essays to write so didn't feel like doing much more writing on top of that. I'll discuss this in more detail in another post, though. I'm going to try and make an effort to post more, though this is dependant on whether I can think of things to write about.
Anyway, onto discussing the travel writing. I definitely enjoyed it, it was fun reliving my holiday, and I think it will be great to look back on several years from now. I'd definitely do it regularly if I was able to afford to travel enough to write a regular travel blog. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money, nor do I have the time seeing as I have degree to focus on, so it's not something I'd be able to do regularly. However, when I do go away I will definitely be documenting it on my blog, it was really fun to write about! I'd maybe do a few things differently- I'd definitely take a few notes so I can remember what happened properly when it comes to writing it up, and I'd maybe format my posts differently so they're less text heavy and easier to follow. I'm looking forward to writing about my travels again- I just have to get something booked now!
Wednesday, 8 March 2017
Saturday, 4 March 2017
Travel Diary: Day 7 At Sea
Today was our final day of our holiday, which, for me, was pretty sad. I always miss my holidays a little when they finish, wishing I was back having a great time and forgetting about all my worries and problems. As a result, I made sure that I made the most of this last day, and this included waking up a bit earlier so that I had a longer day (and also so that I could have my second last breakfast).
After several bacon and croissant sandwiches we got comfy and watched a movie in our stateroom. The movie we selected was called 'Unfriended,' a 'horror' movie about a group of friends who are tormented by what I guess was meant to be the spirit of a friend of theirs who committed suicide. I put horror in inverted commas for a reason- it was the furthest thing from scary. The plot was decent, I suppose, but I wouldn't really recommend the movie, particularly if you want something that will keep you on edge with fear. I began repacking my suitcase, then we went up to the buffet for our final lunch. I really made the most of my lunch, even though I was a bit disappointed with the selection (though they did have truffle oil mac and cheese, which was nice).
After lunch we had a bit of a rest in the cabin. As we'd been pretty busy the previous few days, and adjusting to our new surroundings on the first day at sea, I hadn't had the opportunity to take pictures. Since I had most of the afternoon free I decided to grab the camera and rush round the ship taking photos of everything. I like having photos of my holidays, they make the memories I have of holidays much more vivid and sometimes remind me of elements of my holiday that I may have forgotten. Before I set off on my photo snapping adventure I had some scones with cream and jam from the buffet, where they were serving afternoon tea, and admired the ocean. Then we set off to deck seven, moving from location to location around the ship, taking pictures of the amazing decor. Having finished our little 'photo shoot' we went back to cabin where we opened a bottle of prosecco that had been intended for the first day, though it still seemed fairly fitting for the last day. We had a nice chat in the stateroom as we enjoyed our bubbly.
When we'd finished out prosecco, we proceeded to get ready for our final restaurant dinner. I opted for a simple, comfortable outfit (the dress code was evening casual anyway), but spent a bit of time doing my make up (I really enjoy doing my make up). I also finished up my packing, and got my suitcase ready outside my cabin, where it would be collected by a staff member and taken to a room at the port, available for us to pick up when we disembark in Southampton. Today's menu was quite nice, especially as there was duck, one of my favourite meats, as a main course. The desserts, however, were a bit of a disappointment, though I still ordered some. We spent about half an hour resting in the cabin, before making our way to the theatre on deck 7 to watch the show. It was pretty awesome, as it had been the previous times, though I wasn't too keen on the music, which had an impact on my overall enjoyment of the show. This one had a British theme, which was fitting considering we were sailing back to Southampton on Britannia, and the Irish and Scottish dancing was a particular highlight. I have to say, the performers were both incredibly talented dancers and singers, and their talent really brought the shows to life. The special effects were also spectacular, the shows were far better than anything I'd seen before, and much, much more than you;d expect from a performance at sea. The final day at sea was concluded with whiskey and coke and chatting until the early hours of the morning, largely in some attempt to prolong the holiday for at least slightly longer (we could sleep all we wanted at home, but we only had a few hours on the ship).
After several bacon and croissant sandwiches we got comfy and watched a movie in our stateroom. The movie we selected was called 'Unfriended,' a 'horror' movie about a group of friends who are tormented by what I guess was meant to be the spirit of a friend of theirs who committed suicide. I put horror in inverted commas for a reason- it was the furthest thing from scary. The plot was decent, I suppose, but I wouldn't really recommend the movie, particularly if you want something that will keep you on edge with fear. I began repacking my suitcase, then we went up to the buffet for our final lunch. I really made the most of my lunch, even though I was a bit disappointed with the selection (though they did have truffle oil mac and cheese, which was nice).
After lunch we had a bit of a rest in the cabin. As we'd been pretty busy the previous few days, and adjusting to our new surroundings on the first day at sea, I hadn't had the opportunity to take pictures. Since I had most of the afternoon free I decided to grab the camera and rush round the ship taking photos of everything. I like having photos of my holidays, they make the memories I have of holidays much more vivid and sometimes remind me of elements of my holiday that I may have forgotten. Before I set off on my photo snapping adventure I had some scones with cream and jam from the buffet, where they were serving afternoon tea, and admired the ocean. Then we set off to deck seven, moving from location to location around the ship, taking pictures of the amazing decor. Having finished our little 'photo shoot' we went back to cabin where we opened a bottle of prosecco that had been intended for the first day, though it still seemed fairly fitting for the last day. We had a nice chat in the stateroom as we enjoyed our bubbly.
Travel Diary: Day 6, Bergen
Today I decided to skip waking up ridiculously early to see the port as we entered and catch up on a bit of greatly needed sleep again. I did make sure to get some breakfast, though, as there were only a few days left and I wanted to make the most of it all. It's pretty good I did because I discovered that bacon and croissant compliment each other perfectly (though I'm certain that my stomach and my heart don't agree). As a result of taking it a bit slower we left a bit later, which was actually quite good as getting up and leaving early was getting pretty exhausting.
On the journey back to Southampton the water was pretty choppy, and this could certainly be felt in the ship. As a result of this I ended up feeling quite travel sick, and this combined with the fact that it was a formal evening (and I did not have the patience to make myself look nice), I wasn't keen on anything in the restaurant menu and they were serving Italian food in the buffet, meant that I really did not want to go down to the restaurant for dinner. However, bearing in mind the fact that I didn't have a lot of time left on the ship I forced myself out of bed and into my formal clothes, put a bit of make up on and ate in the restaurant, While we waited for our pager to go off I ordered a ginger ale, which helped largely with the nausea. I quite enjoyed my meal, even if it was a bit much for me and I struggled to finish it. By the time we'd finished at the restaurant my sea sickness had cleared up, so i felt able to go for a bit of a walk around the ship to soak up the atmosphere as it's pretty nice at night! As per usual, we finished up at the cabin (where else would we go?!) for our penultimate sleep on the ship.
Bergen is nicknamed 'the rainy city,' and on that particular day it really lived up to its name. Grey clouds filled the sky, and the day was punctuated with spells of fairly heavy rain. In my opinion, this did lower the tone of the day, making it somewhat more tiring and unpleasant. We did what we mostly do when we explore a port- wander around aimlessly, with no particular plans of anything we specifically want to see or do (which is not something I like doing, but is something that I have to do.) Actually, we did plan to see a fish market, though we got were unable to find it, and the weather didn't particularly encourage us to persist with trying to find it. However, we did find a restaurant that served fish that was quite impressive, with tanks of live crabs and lobsters and large, dead fish that actually looked quite spectacular on display, ready for costumers to purchase and consume. It also looked pretty nice, and my nostrils weren't assaulted with the smell of dead fish. The rain spells convinced us that it was better to head back to the ship a bit earlier, otherwise we'd just end up huddling in front of shop doorways in an attempt to shelter ourselves from the wind and rain. I have to say, out of the four places I visited, this was the one that I enjoyed the least. The not-so-pleasant weather certainly contributed to this, but I also found that Bergen was less scenic than Andalsnes and Alesund, lacking the beautiful mountains and lakes, and it felt slightly less quaint than Stavanger. I still thought it was pretty, nevertheless.
We intended ordering room service, but decided to check out the buffet anyway. Since we happened to be in the buffet area we decided we might as well get ourselves a little to eat. We returned to our cabins to shower and generally relax with a book and a drink. Somewhere in the mid afternoon I decided that I wanted afternoon tea as I only had two more left, and, having been reminded that it was a special one filled with chocolate treats, I dashed all the way up to deck 16 (well, 'dashed' is a bit inaccurate seeing as I took the lift, there were no stairs midship, which I would have taken if I could have). The selection was lavish, with a ridiculous amount of elaborate, decadent, delicious-looking cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts and desserts, I had to restrain myself in order to prevent myself from taking all the desserts. Since I'd come up alone I sneaked these treats back to enjoy in the comfort of my stateroom. We also decided to order the room service we'd discussed earlier- it's not everyday you have the opportunity to order free room service. However, only a few minutes after we'd ordered, the captain came of the speaker announcing that there were whales visible, so we naturally dashed up to one of the top decks to see them. I love spotting the likes of dolphins, whales and other sea creatures on cruises- they always look so amazing, it really makes my holiday. These were pilot whales, so they looked a little like dolphins as their black fins bobbed up and down amongst the waves. Satisfied that I had finally seen a sea creature in this trip I returned to the cabin. Our pizza arrived shortly after we did, and we devoured it, along with the chocolate treats I'd brought back.
On the journey back to Southampton the water was pretty choppy, and this could certainly be felt in the ship. As a result of this I ended up feeling quite travel sick, and this combined with the fact that it was a formal evening (and I did not have the patience to make myself look nice), I wasn't keen on anything in the restaurant menu and they were serving Italian food in the buffet, meant that I really did not want to go down to the restaurant for dinner. However, bearing in mind the fact that I didn't have a lot of time left on the ship I forced myself out of bed and into my formal clothes, put a bit of make up on and ate in the restaurant, While we waited for our pager to go off I ordered a ginger ale, which helped largely with the nausea. I quite enjoyed my meal, even if it was a bit much for me and I struggled to finish it. By the time we'd finished at the restaurant my sea sickness had cleared up, so i felt able to go for a bit of a walk around the ship to soak up the atmosphere as it's pretty nice at night! As per usual, we finished up at the cabin (where else would we go?!) for our penultimate sleep on the ship.
Travel Diary: Day 5, Andalsnes
Today we docked in Andalsnes, which is a phenomenally beautiful place and definitely my favourite stop on this cruise. As I'd slept late and woken up early the previous three days I'd decided to skip going up to the top deck and eating breakfast in order to be slightly less sleep deprived when we did our tour. I wolfed down a delicious muffin that had been brought for me from the breakfast buffet as I got ready, then we headed down to wait for a tender to take us a shore. For those of you who don't know, a tender is a little boat-like vessel that, in my opinion, somewhat resembles a lifeboat that are used when a ship is unable to dock in the port (you'd usually just walk off the ship when it's in port). They're a bit more of an inconvenience because taking one means waiting for one to arrive, fill up with passengers and transport them either to the port or back to the ship, and who wants to waste time waiting?! I also used to find them quite small, wet and unpleasant as I found they rocked quite a bit, though I'm used to them now and so don't dislike them quite as much. In fact, in this instance I quite enjoyed taking the tender, actually, as it provided me with the perfect opportunity to drink in the view, which was great as the view was stunning.
After exiting the tender we boarded our coach almost immediately, ready to start the tour. The tour consisted of two stops, one at a church and the other at the Troll Wall. A large part of the tour, however, consisted of driving around, which I thoroughly enjoyed as the whole place was incredibly scenic and all the roads we drove down were surrounded by this great natural beauty. The coach journey was truly amazing (even if I did have an incredibly quick power nap in the coach to boost my energy and reduce my tiredness). I have to say, I was awestruck by the views, which I think I was incredibly fortunate to see. Smooth, tranquil lakes sparkled calmly, while tall mountains stood proudly and peacefully as waterfalls and glaciers graced their sides. Bright fluffy white clouds hung low, adding both an air of mystique and serenity. Even the miserable, overcast day couldn't silence their beauty.
The church was our first stop. We were given a talk about the history of the church whilst sitting on the pews inside. We were then given the opportunity to take pictures of the church and use the loos if we needed, before we boarded the coach in order to carry on with the journey. The church's surrounding area was so astonishingly beautiful, with the most breathtaking view- I wish I hadn't wasted time queuing to use the toilet as it resulted in me having less time to marvel at its beauty. We then carried on to the Troll Wall, a tall rock wall that stands gracefully and majestically. We were given about twenty minutes to get off the coach and admire the wall, take pictures and have a look round the area. Once our twenty minutes were up we returned to the coach, which took us back to the tender area so we could go back to the ship. On our way back, we had a photo stop at a beautiful location, which provided us with an excellent opportunity to get some amazing shots of the scenery. This was great as I hadn't had much of a chance to capture the serene lakes with the impressive mountains towering above, with the emerald trees lining them. It was a pretty quick tour in comparison to others that I've been on, but I was completely satisfied and thought that it was amazing value- it really allowed me to get a real sense of the place without dragging on or being overly tiring.
Since our tour started quite early and only lasted for a short period of time we were back on the ship pretty early. We enjoyed a drink in our stateroom until it was time to go up to the lunch buffet. When we'd finished lunch we watched the remainder of 'The Theory of Everything,' (which I actually read through since I'm not that big a movie fan and I was finding my book pretty interesting). Once the movie had ended we went up to the top deck to admire the beautiful landscape while we still could, as the ship was due to sail away fairly soon. Shortly before the sail away we had some drinks in the atrium (I had the strawberry and lime cider again, yum), then we watched the ship leave the port and waved goodbye to the breathtaking scenery. We decided to have a more relaxed dinner tonight as there wasn't anything particularly exciting in the restaurant and they were serving Indian food in the buffet. It was actually pretty great eating at the buffet as the food was delicious and, as many people also came to the buffet this evening, there was a bit of a buzz in the atmosphere. It felt cosier and more relaxed than the restaurant, and we got to see the remainder if the gorgeous scenery as we sailed away, which made for a fantastic dining experience. There was another show being performed in the theatre, this time with a fairytale theme. It was a great show, though I felt that it lacked the 'wow factor' of the previous one and, as a result, was less spectacular.
After exiting the tender we boarded our coach almost immediately, ready to start the tour. The tour consisted of two stops, one at a church and the other at the Troll Wall. A large part of the tour, however, consisted of driving around, which I thoroughly enjoyed as the whole place was incredibly scenic and all the roads we drove down were surrounded by this great natural beauty. The coach journey was truly amazing (even if I did have an incredibly quick power nap in the coach to boost my energy and reduce my tiredness). I have to say, I was awestruck by the views, which I think I was incredibly fortunate to see. Smooth, tranquil lakes sparkled calmly, while tall mountains stood proudly and peacefully as waterfalls and glaciers graced their sides. Bright fluffy white clouds hung low, adding both an air of mystique and serenity. Even the miserable, overcast day couldn't silence their beauty.
The church was our first stop. We were given a talk about the history of the church whilst sitting on the pews inside. We were then given the opportunity to take pictures of the church and use the loos if we needed, before we boarded the coach in order to carry on with the journey. The church's surrounding area was so astonishingly beautiful, with the most breathtaking view- I wish I hadn't wasted time queuing to use the toilet as it resulted in me having less time to marvel at its beauty. We then carried on to the Troll Wall, a tall rock wall that stands gracefully and majestically. We were given about twenty minutes to get off the coach and admire the wall, take pictures and have a look round the area. Once our twenty minutes were up we returned to the coach, which took us back to the tender area so we could go back to the ship. On our way back, we had a photo stop at a beautiful location, which provided us with an excellent opportunity to get some amazing shots of the scenery. This was great as I hadn't had much of a chance to capture the serene lakes with the impressive mountains towering above, with the emerald trees lining them. It was a pretty quick tour in comparison to others that I've been on, but I was completely satisfied and thought that it was amazing value- it really allowed me to get a real sense of the place without dragging on or being overly tiring.
Since our tour started quite early and only lasted for a short period of time we were back on the ship pretty early. We enjoyed a drink in our stateroom until it was time to go up to the lunch buffet. When we'd finished lunch we watched the remainder of 'The Theory of Everything,' (which I actually read through since I'm not that big a movie fan and I was finding my book pretty interesting). Once the movie had ended we went up to the top deck to admire the beautiful landscape while we still could, as the ship was due to sail away fairly soon. Shortly before the sail away we had some drinks in the atrium (I had the strawberry and lime cider again, yum), then we watched the ship leave the port and waved goodbye to the breathtaking scenery. We decided to have a more relaxed dinner tonight as there wasn't anything particularly exciting in the restaurant and they were serving Indian food in the buffet. It was actually pretty great eating at the buffet as the food was delicious and, as many people also came to the buffet this evening, there was a bit of a buzz in the atmosphere. It felt cosier and more relaxed than the restaurant, and we got to see the remainder if the gorgeous scenery as we sailed away, which made for a fantastic dining experience. There was another show being performed in the theatre, this time with a fairytale theme. It was a great show, though I felt that it lacked the 'wow factor' of the previous one and, as a result, was less spectacular.
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Travel Diary: Day 4, Alesund
The second place the ship docked at was Alesund, which was a lovely, pretty place. Again. like the day before, we woke up early and went up to the top deck in order to marvel at the scenery and practise our photography skills, followed by seeking out a table by the window and savouring our breakfast along with the view. This time we decided to set of a little later, and allowed ourselves a bit of extra time to sleep after breakfast in order to feel slightly more refreshed as we explored Alesund.
Alesund was a very beautiful place, surrounded by large mountains and glistening lakes. We spent a lot of time walking around admiring the area and taking photos of the scenery. It was pretty amazing to be able to walk around a town where you shops and other attractions but you also have a phenomenal view. Most of our trip consisted of walking around and taking in the place, which was nice but a bit tiring.
When we got back on the ship we did what we'd been doing at every port stop which was rush up to the buffet in order to fill up on unlimited food. We planned on watching 'The Theory of Everything' in our stateroom, as it was available on the entertainment system (the ships had pretty good TVs in the cabins, with shows and movies available to watch at whatever time you wanted). However, I was so exhausted from all the late nights and the early mornings that I was completely unable to keep my eyes open and as a result became overwhelmed with sleep and drifted off for a few hours (which is very unlike me- I never sleep during the day, I can barely even sleep at night when I'm supposed to). In between naps we went up to try some of the afternoon tea that was being served in the buffet, as I really like scones with cream and jam. We then quickly returned to sleeping, before getting ready for an earlier dinner in order to have more time to sleep as we had a tour the next day that we had to wake up early for.
Alesund was a very beautiful place, surrounded by large mountains and glistening lakes. We spent a lot of time walking around admiring the area and taking photos of the scenery. It was pretty amazing to be able to walk around a town where you shops and other attractions but you also have a phenomenal view. Most of our trip consisted of walking around and taking in the place, which was nice but a bit tiring.
When we got back on the ship we did what we'd been doing at every port stop which was rush up to the buffet in order to fill up on unlimited food. We planned on watching 'The Theory of Everything' in our stateroom, as it was available on the entertainment system (the ships had pretty good TVs in the cabins, with shows and movies available to watch at whatever time you wanted). However, I was so exhausted from all the late nights and the early mornings that I was completely unable to keep my eyes open and as a result became overwhelmed with sleep and drifted off for a few hours (which is very unlike me- I never sleep during the day, I can barely even sleep at night when I'm supposed to). In between naps we went up to try some of the afternoon tea that was being served in the buffet, as I really like scones with cream and jam. We then quickly returned to sleeping, before getting ready for an earlier dinner in order to have more time to sleep as we had a tour the next day that we had to wake up early for.
Thursday, 8 September 2016
Travel Diary: Day 3 Stavanger
Today would be the first day in port. We docked in Stavanger at around 7:00 am in the morning, though we woke up a little bit earlier in order to watch the ship arrive at the port as we knew the scenery in the area would be particularly beautiful. I forced myself out of bed at 6:00 am when my alarm went off, fighting off my instinct to just shut my eyes, roll over and go back to sleep. I dressed quickly and we went right up to the 18th deck, as we would get the best view from there. As this was a perfect opportunity to take some brilliant photos, I made it a point to take the camera with me, and spent a fair amount of time snapping away at the scenery. Since we looked somewhat decent, and we were pretty close to the buffet, we decided to grab some breakfast, taking special care to nab a table by the window in order to savour the scenery while eating. We then returned to our cabins to finish preparing before we went out to explore the area.
With cruises, the majority of the time you can simply walk of the ship and into the town you've arrived at, so as soon as we had disembarked we were able to begin looking around. We started by walking up some pretty cobbled streets with a relatively steep incline- quite a work out considering the time of day! Luckily, this did also mean that we had the opportunity to burn off some of the food we'd over-consumed. We then made our way down to a beautiful park, where we sat and enjoyed the scenery for a short while. After relaxing briefly at the park, we headed over to a museum. However, as it turned out that you had to pay to enter (the cost of living is particularly high in Norway, which meant that everything, including entry to the museum, was ridiculously expensive) we didn't actually go inside. We did make good use of the free WiFi that we discovered the museum offered, however. Following this brief stint at the museum we ambled through more cobbled streets, checking out the shops that lined them and snapping away like nobody's business. Finally, we ended up at a cute little market area which offered trinkets, souvenirs and fluffy rugs, hats etc., many of which were made from reindeer skin. At this point we were pretty exhausted from the hours of walking, and our tummies were starting to rumble so, with the ship in sight, we thought it was just about time that we headed back and rushed over to the buffet.
After lunch had finished, the others went off to watch 'The Jungle Book' at 3:00 pm in the cinema on board. I debated going, but ultimately decided to stay back as my hair was due a wash, dry and straighten, which takes me hours, so I really needed to use the time available to do that. Three hours later (I'm not exaggerating, though I did take a pretty long, hot shower) and my hair was all straight and nice and ready to go.
Having looked at the menu in the restaurant we decided that there wasn't anything that really caught our attention, so we thought that this time we'd opt for a more casual meal and check out the buffet instead. I enjoyed having dinner at the buffet a lot! It was nice and relaxed, and we managed to get a table with a view of the sea, which helped add to the atmosphere. They were serving east Asian food in the buffet, and everything was so delicious. About an hour after we'd finished eating, we watched a show that was being performed in the on board theatre. The show was pretty spectacular- it involved pulsing lights and catchy, modern music brought to life with amazing voices and breathtaking dance moves, all set against an illuminated background. The whole theatre was alive and buzzing. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The day was finished off with another fantastic sleep, worn out and exhausted after a long day of walking and sightseeing.
Having looked at the menu in the restaurant we decided that there wasn't anything that really caught our attention, so we thought that this time we'd opt for a more casual meal and check out the buffet instead. I enjoyed having dinner at the buffet a lot! It was nice and relaxed, and we managed to get a table with a view of the sea, which helped add to the atmosphere. They were serving east Asian food in the buffet, and everything was so delicious. About an hour after we'd finished eating, we watched a show that was being performed in the on board theatre. The show was pretty spectacular- it involved pulsing lights and catchy, modern music brought to life with amazing voices and breathtaking dance moves, all set against an illuminated background. The whole theatre was alive and buzzing. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The day was finished off with another fantastic sleep, worn out and exhausted after a long day of walking and sightseeing.
Sunday, 4 September 2016
Travel Diary: Day 2 At Sea
I set my alarm for 8:00 am- I wanted to wake up early in order to make the most of every minute on the ship. Unfortunately, we did lose an hour as the clocks had been moved forward in order to match Norwegian time. This resulted in a little bit of a scramble to get ready for breakfast before the buffet closed, as what we thought was 8:00 am actually turned out to be 9:00 am (the buffet closed for breakfast at 10). I was especially keen to see what they had to offer, though I felt slightly disappointed as I felt the options were somewhat more limited in comparison to other cruises I've been on. I didn't let that stop me from enjoying my breakfast, however!
We had a day at sea, which was great as it provided us with some vital time to relax before we got down to exploring the ports. We decided to use some of this time to explore the ship in greater detail. Cruise ships are pretty big and this one looked amazing- it's such a fresh, modern ship, and I really love the decor. We started with a bit of window shopping, as there are a fair few shops on board, before seeking out the bars and lounges.
We then headed up for a bit of lunch at the buffet (again, I can't remember what I ate, though it definitely involved chips), before heading to a talk in the theatre on the latter two ports we'd be visiting and the tours of these ports that we had booked (or could book, though most of them were sold out). We booked a tour afterwards (which was amazing, I'll discuss it more in another post), that involved visiting a church and what's known as the 'troll wall.'
The dress code for the evening was formal, so we got ready a bit earlier than we normally would, in order to allow enough time to get suitably ready. I usually enjoy getting ready to go out, but when you feel like you've managed to double your body weight you've eaten so much it's not quite as much fun. However, it was nice seeing all the other passengers looking so amazing in their formal wear. There was also an amazing atmosphere in the atrium, partly because everyone was dressed up, but also because they were serving free drinks (which included sparkling wine, whiskey, gin and tonic, red wine and orange juice), which is enough to put any normal person in a good mood (isn't anything that's free?)
I had been particularly looking forward to dinner that night because I had seen the menu before hand and it looked amazing. It included lobster that came in a delicious creamy sauce (which was so delicious; it was honestly the best dish I had in the restaurant) and prosecco soaked strawberries (which could have done with a stronger prosecco flavour). Our meal was rounded off with some champagne truffles, which were delicious, although I didn't quite have room for them after my lavish meal (I did make every effort to make that room, though I wish I could have enjoyed them on an emptier stomach).
We went for a quick wander round the ship, just to see what it was like a night time and to check out what was going on, though we quickly retired to our cabins for the night in order to prepare for an early morning and an inevitably tiring trip around Stavanger.
We had a day at sea, which was great as it provided us with some vital time to relax before we got down to exploring the ports. We decided to use some of this time to explore the ship in greater detail. Cruise ships are pretty big and this one looked amazing- it's such a fresh, modern ship, and I really love the decor. We started with a bit of window shopping, as there are a fair few shops on board, before seeking out the bars and lounges.
We then headed up for a bit of lunch at the buffet (again, I can't remember what I ate, though it definitely involved chips), before heading to a talk in the theatre on the latter two ports we'd be visiting and the tours of these ports that we had booked (or could book, though most of them were sold out). We booked a tour afterwards (which was amazing, I'll discuss it more in another post), that involved visiting a church and what's known as the 'troll wall.'
The dress code for the evening was formal, so we got ready a bit earlier than we normally would, in order to allow enough time to get suitably ready. I usually enjoy getting ready to go out, but when you feel like you've managed to double your body weight you've eaten so much it's not quite as much fun. However, it was nice seeing all the other passengers looking so amazing in their formal wear. There was also an amazing atmosphere in the atrium, partly because everyone was dressed up, but also because they were serving free drinks (which included sparkling wine, whiskey, gin and tonic, red wine and orange juice), which is enough to put any normal person in a good mood (isn't anything that's free?)
I had been particularly looking forward to dinner that night because I had seen the menu before hand and it looked amazing. It included lobster that came in a delicious creamy sauce (which was so delicious; it was honestly the best dish I had in the restaurant) and prosecco soaked strawberries (which could have done with a stronger prosecco flavour). Our meal was rounded off with some champagne truffles, which were delicious, although I didn't quite have room for them after my lavish meal (I did make every effort to make that room, though I wish I could have enjoyed them on an emptier stomach).
We went for a quick wander round the ship, just to see what it was like a night time and to check out what was going on, though we quickly retired to our cabins for the night in order to prepare for an early morning and an inevitably tiring trip around Stavanger.
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