Departing from Southampton on a windy day in mid July that required 2 tugs to get Fred Olsen’s Black Watch underway, Andrew and Di set off on what turned out to be a memorable and spectacularly beautiful journey to the land of the Midnight Sun
Not that the weather was always that wonderful, this was nevertheless a journey that will remain in the memory for ever, with fjords and glaciers, mooses and reindeer, Sami tribesmen, stunning midnight sunscapes with the sun never actually going down, and the beautiful light glimmering on the snow capped mountains and off shore islands.
The itinerary included visits to Molde, who were hosting their 50th Annual Jazz Festival, crossing the Arctic Circle before arriving in Tromso, famous for the Arctic Cathedral and the site of the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944, Honningsvag the northernmost town in Europe and near to the North Cape at 71/10/21 degrees northern latitude, Alta with it’s fascinating museum of rock paintings and relics of Norway’s past history, the Lofoten Islands and beautiful Trollfjord, Narvik, the stunning lakeside village of Olden, with the nearby glaciers at Geirangerfjord and the beautiful seaside city of Bergen, before sailing back to Southampton.
An extra special attraction of this particular cruise was the presence of some of the cast of THE ARCHERS, who were on board to celebrate the 60th anniversary of this famous long running radio show. James Coverdale, Kathy Perks, Lillian Bellamy, Matt Crawford and Eddie Grundy supported by Sue Wilson, The Producer and Louise Wilcox, the Senior Audio Producer shared a glimpse behind the scenes of the world’s longest running radio drama, gave a virtual tour of the studios, and a special soap bubble edition written for the cruise; the cast even took part in a special Call My Bluff show against the Ships Crew, as well as entertaining the passengers throughout the cruise.
Many cruise ships visit the Norwegian Fjords, from the Norwegian Coastal Vessels of Hurtigruten, which can be picked from Bergen, Trondheim or Kirkenes, to many others of all sizes, with departures from Southampton, Dover, Newcastle and Rosyth, with some carrying on to Spitsbergen and Iceland.
For further details on this cruise please call Di or Andrew on 01428 658 777 or ask for terry – our Cruise EXPERT!
