With most of her passenger retired for the night and the remainder ready to at 00.43 ORIANA reduced speed as she re-entered Norwegian territorial waters in preparation for entering the fjord for the last time on this cruise.
For this journey ORIANA embarked two pilots during the course of the transit of the fjord, the first embarking at the Korsfjorden pilot boarding ground.
The destination for ORIANA this morning was Eidfjord a small village and namesake of its municipality.
According to the ships log at 03:12 ORIANA embarked the local pilot and disembarked the first pilot before continuing on her journey through the fjord.
For most of the transit ORIANA was sailing through mighty Hardangerfjord which at 179km long is the third longest fjord in the world and the second largest in Norway stretching from The North Sea to the Hardangervidda mountain plateau the largest of its kind in Europe.
By the time I awoke some hours later at about 7 am watching as ORIANA had made her way into the Eidfjord where it seemed for this last day in Norway the weather was endeavouring to be at its best with the sky being bright with the sun reflecting off the shimmering water, even at this early hour of the morning the sun was warm and reflected of the still clear waters
Standing watching the scenery pass my mind turned to of all things history, these fjords had seen millennia of history, both human and natural since their formation, it is also interesting to note that the Hardangerfjord can be considered the birthplace of cruise tourism in Norway since it was here because of its outstanding natural beauty that the famed travel agent Thomas Cook began offering cruises from London to the Hardangerfjord in 1875.
Looking from ORIANA’s decks it was understandable why he had chosen such a beautiful destination.
However history I am sure was not on the minds of the other few passengers who were standing on the deck also taking in the atmosphere.
Within an hour we had arrived at Eidfjord and Captain Pembridge took conduct of ORIANA once again and began the swing of the bow to port.
Once completed Captain Pembridge began manoeuvring alongside the small berth which is overlooked by the Quality Hotel a magnificent wooden building dating from the late 1800’s.
A short time later ORIANA manoeuvred into position and lowered her mooring lines as I watched from the promenade ropes were pulled ashore and placed around the bollards on the dockside.
Once secured alongside Captain Pembridge gave his customary arrival speech which he ended by reminding all passengers to be back on board by 5pm.
With permission granted the passengers began to head slowly ashore in keeping with the surroundings ORIANA’s photographers had dressed in pirate and Viking costumes something I thought to myself that would not have been seen on board the liners of the past.
Taking a few moments to take in the sight from ORIANA’s decks we then made our way to the shore thankfully avoiding any “marauding” Vikings and pirates!
Stepping ashore I was surprised to find that the temperature was approximately about 27 degrees, which combined with the blue sky could have led a passenger to believe that they were on a sub-tropical island rather than in Northern Europe where the winter temperature rarely raises above .
On this day there seemed to be a fairly even split between passengers making their own way around the village and those heading off on the organised tours.
Of the tours on offer most of them involved visiting the Hardanger’s fjords most scenic area including the Vøringsfoss Waterfall witch offered magnificent views from the top of the Sysen Dam.
For those who enjoyed something a little different there was also a tour on offer of the Sima Hydroelectric Power Station, one of the largest of its type in Europe.
Sima Power Plant, Copyright Visit Norway.
While walking I came to a mountain road on the opposite side of the village to ORIANA I came across the village hospital which was quite unlike any other hospital I had ever seen being a collection of wooden buildings.
After walking so far I decided to head back towards ORIANA and as I did I noticed many little things that I hadn’t seen on my walk from ORIANA such as a train style tour similar to the one that we had seen in Bergen some days earlier. Also it gave me the opportunity to take some photos of ORIANA docked.
The temperature it felt continued to rise and decided to head towards the centre of the village to find somewhere to enjoy a drink in the July sun.
While walking to a small café which we had spotted earlier we noticed a very large traditional looking building which sold Norwegian memorabilia and oddly enough had a rather out of season Father Christmas figure outside the door.
While we were off enjoying the amenities of the port on board ORIANA there was still plenty going on with prearranged sports at ORIANA’s sports court and also a so called port day get together where passengers not going ashore meet with a member of the entertainment team who had arranged program of events, the first of these get togethers was held at around 10am and the second was to be held at about 2pm.
Other events taking place on board during the included the traditional British past time of Decks games on the Sun deck, Darts tournament in Lords Tavern, and card games.
After enjoying the surroundings a little longer we slowly made our return to ORIANA in time for lunch with a first alcoholic drink of the day
After enjoying an extremely well prepared 3 course lunch I found myself enjoying the wonderful view from the promenade deck.
There was something truly poetic about Eidfjord and its surrounds like it had been in both Geiranger and Olden.
I guess it was the contrast of the manmade tiny village nestled within the magnificent and breath-taking creations of nature.
For the remainder of the afternoon we decided to stay on board ORIANA and enjoy the stunning views from the sun drenched upper decks.
Much like in Olden the day before the excellent weather brought out passenger of all ages on to the decks which an interesting experience to say the least.
For the last time on this cruise we watched as slowly the coaches returned to the dockside unloading their complement of passengers who made their way at their own pace back to the gangway.
While we were sat on the Lido deck we started talking to a couple who had been cruising for many years and after trying many different ships from P&O and other lines and had come to the decision that ORIANA was by far their favourite ship being in their opinion, far more luxurious than her predecessors, being far less “glitzy” and refined than the larger US marketed ships and even some of the newer UK based ships.
They also mentioned that if you go on any P&O Cruise there is always guaranteed to be an ORIANA fan on board such is the following the ship had developed since her entry in to service in 1995.
With the time fast approaching 5pm the passengers began to head back to ORIANA ready for her departure at 17:30, the passengers already on board had made their way to the promenade deck in preparation for the departure.
In fitting with the surroundings instead of having a usual Great British sail away a quieter classical sail away was arranged with classical music being played from the speakers.
With all mooring lines back on board and the time a little after 17:30 ORIANA horn blew 3 times in quick succession the effect amplified by the echo from the fjord side.
On the dockside a few of the coaches which had stayed until the departure and some cars blew their horns in salute to ORIANA while some of the stevedores and children from the village waved as ORIANA slowly thrusted off the berth at 17:34 before the pilot took conduct of the ship once more as ORIANA headed back down the fjord.
After departure it was time to get ready for the last formal dinner on board.
For this night maybe being that it was the last in formal attire it felt like everyone was making a real effort to look their best and like the Gala dinner earlier in the cruise ladies were adorned in jewellery and holding clutch bags, anyone would have thought that Her Majesty or other member of the Royal family was on board.
Arriving at the restaurant we were greeted by the manager who to fit in with the evening was attired in formal wear before we made our way to the table.
During the course of the dinner which was at its normal extremely high standards, the head waiters were giving out flowers to each female passengers.
Our head waiter was more than happy to share more of his interesting stories about his 30 years at sea and on this occasion told of his sadness of being on the final cruise of the much loved CANBERRA and some of the happier times on board, but he conceded despite the sense of loss the former flagships crew had on that last cruise he would not have missed it for the world.
As it sadly always does dinner came to an end with the sound clinking of glasses and conversation.
For tonight we had decided to see a show in the Theatre Royal and tonight’s show was Viva Vegas a tribute to the arguably the most famous gambling hotspot in the world.
Although I am not really a fan of theatres and musical shows I must admit I enjoyed the show, the quality was outstanding from the singing and dancing and also the production values for the show.
The show featured music from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams and the actions from the dancing which included an interesting scene featuring dogs on wheels of all things!
The ending featuring “Elvis” himself appropriately singing Viva Las Vegas.
After a great show we decided to retire to the Crow’s Nest for the evening to watch the fjords pass by as we came to the end of our small tour of Norway.
Throughout the time we were cruising back towards the open sea watching the scenery pass by.
Thinking to myself that it was shame that we hadn’t had more time and ports of calls to see more of this amazing country.
There was still many more parts of Norway to see such as capital Oslo considered to be one of the most interesting of the cities of Northern Europe or Trondheim one the third largest city in Norway and others including Stavanger and Åndalsnes.
Of course I thought to myself there will be many chances to visit these places surely on board ORIANA.
Copyright P&O Cruises.
For now though ORIANA gave her passengers a wonderful last evening in Northern Europe, by 23:30 ORIANA cleared the narrows marking the entrance to the fjord and the pilot disembarked.
As stated by ORIANA’s ships log once the pilot disembarked ORIANA’s officers set a southerly course towards Southampton and increased her speed to 23 knots.
Home was not too far away in some respects now,but before then was a relaxing day at sea.
Photos Copyright : Steve Martin.
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