Following the excellent day spent in Bergen and a short 273 Nautical mile 505.9 KM overnight journey the early morning of the 12th found ORIANA travelling through the Geirangerfjord to the picturesque village of Geiranger .
Having had an early morning the day before it was a mutual choice not to wake as early, the beauty of Geiranger would be as equally stunning sailing out as was sailing in we reasoned and given that ORIANA would be reaching her anchorage around 6 to 6:30 am we felt that it they would be plenty of time to all the natural splendours the village had to offer.
While we woke just before the arrival we were time to watch the arrival via the ships' mast cam on the in cabin television.
According to the cruise log ORIANA reached the anchorage point at 6:55 am where she began a swing to port to put her bow in position for departure later in the day.
At 7:08 am with the swing complete the starboard anchor was let go before the lines were sent ashore via boats, these lines ensure ORIANA wouldn't swing during her time on anchor.
Shortly after 8am the tendering operation commenced as is common practice passengers who were going ashore on an organised tour would be able to go ashore using their tour tickets as a pass to the tenders passengers going ashore independently were required to take a numbered ticket and when their number was called.
This would continue until the main disembarkation was complete after which time it would be just a case of arriving at the tender platforms when a tender was available.
Unfortunately during our first hours on anchor there was a personal matter which I had to go a shore to attend to meaning that I was unable to watch as 'old acquaintance' made another appearance as AIDA MAR entered the fjord with the ferry Veøy.
Both had arrived from the nearby village of Hellesylt where AIDA MAR had made a brief call earlier in the morning.
It was the second time we had seen AIDA MAR since her departure from Bergen, the previous evening we had been sailing in close proximity to her.
Apparently not the original, local stories tell that the person who had been given the responsibility of cleaning and maintaining it grew tired of going to the church everyday so he burnt it down, the present it is said church was it's replacement.
It was fair to say more than Bergen, Geiranger was what people would typically think of Norway to be a small village nestled amongst the mountains and deep fjords.
While we were eager to disembark and take in some of the sights and sounds at ground level it was still very busy with quite a number of passengers still disembarking.
With main disembarkation due to last until around midday and not having had lunch the day before we chose to instead have lunch on board before going ashore.
A tradition dating back many years on board P&O ships is to have an Indian dish on the lunch menu, and we both decided on having the dish for lunch, like all meals on board it was of the highest possible standard but for both of us it required washing down with many glasses of water, much to the puzzlement of the waiter who was serving us.
Finishing our lunch main disembarkation had indeed been concluded so we made our own way with our cameras down to the tender and after the five minute journey were disembarking on the pier shortly after 1pm.
Finally ashore the true beauty and scale of nature was apparent ORIANA who had towered far over the terminal buildings in Southampton here dwarfed the village yet herself was dwarfed by the mountains and the fjord.
As had been mentioned by Tom in Bergen MIDNATSOL made an appearance anchoring to disembark passengers onto the sightseeing boat GEIRANGERFJORD.
Walking on the beauty offered many and varied photo opportunities which it appeared other passengers were taking advantage of.
Everything about the village and it's surroundings said something of the way of life here everyone was taking life at their own pace not in a rush to go anyway or do anything it would be fair to say that it was like being in a small environment cut off from the outside world, which during the winter it virtually is, thinking about it the most fitting description would be serene even the water was almost like a millpond.
Unfortunately during our first hours on anchor there was a personal matter which I had to go a shore to attend to meaning that I was unable to watch as 'old acquaintance' made another appearance as AIDA MAR entered the fjord with the ferry Veøy.
It was the second time we had seen AIDA MAR since her departure from Bergen, the previous evening we had been sailing in close proximity to her.
AIDA MAR lets go her port anchor.
Having returned on board and meeting up with João we went back onto deck to take in proper the truly breathtaking natural surroundings and the traditional wooden buildings such as the church.Apparently not the original, local stories tell that the person who had been given the responsibility of cleaning and maintaining it grew tired of going to the church everyday so he burnt it down, the present it is said church was it's replacement.
While we were eager to disembark and take in some of the sights and sounds at ground level it was still very busy with quite a number of passengers still disembarking.
With main disembarkation due to last until around midday and not having had lunch the day before we chose to instead have lunch on board before going ashore.
A tradition dating back many years on board P&O ships is to have an Indian dish on the lunch menu, and we both decided on having the dish for lunch, like all meals on board it was of the highest possible standard but for both of us it required washing down with many glasses of water, much to the puzzlement of the waiter who was serving us.
Finishing our lunch main disembarkation had indeed been concluded so we made our own way with our cameras down to the tender and after the five minute journey were disembarking on the pier shortly after 1pm.
Finally ashore the true beauty and scale of nature was apparent ORIANA who had towered far over the terminal buildings in Southampton here dwarfed the village yet herself was dwarfed by the mountains and the fjord.
At anchor.
It was also the first time that the duck tail/sponson had been in full view during the cruise the effect was not as extreme and nowhere near as negative as many had mentioned instead close up it looked more like an extension of the original stern shape.As had been mentioned by Tom in Bergen MIDNATSOL made an appearance anchoring to disembark passengers onto the sightseeing boat GEIRANGERFJORD.
MIDNATSOL arriving and disembarking.
While we were taking in the scenery on our own many of the passengers were taking to the water for the excursions including kayaking and taking to a viking long boat tour.
ORIANA and kayaks.
AIDA MAR and replica Viking vessel.
Walking on ashore it would be fair to say that wherever we looked there was something to see whether that was mountain view or a waterfall.Walking on the beauty offered many and varied photo opportunities which it appeared other passengers were taking advantage of.
A Nautical view in the fjord.
A perfect photo opportunity, João with ORIANA and the nature of the fjord.
While we could have stayed much longer after purchasing some souvenirs we took the tender back to ORIANA to settle in before the departure.
As the departure drew near the tender operation wound down and the last tender the remaining passengers returned to the ship.
Given the surroundings of the fjord it was unsurprising that ORIANA's terraced and upper decks were filling with passengers ready to watch the sail out from the fjord.
Passengers getting in position on the terraced decks.
Giving his departure speech the captain announced the planned movements for the evening and encouraged those who had not done so already to come out on deck to enjoy the stunning scenery.By now we had moved to the forward decks and as ORIANA began to make her move a local resident set off some fireworks in a small tradition he had begun with departing cruise ships.
Shortly after ORIANA's distinctive horn blew and echoed off the fjord and mountainside.
Hardly having a chance for the echoes to fade then AIDA MAR exchanged a few blasts to which ORIANA responded much to the amusement to passengers on both ships.
Passengers on AIDA MAR wave to and photograph.
Adeus AIDA & Geiranger!
Leaving Geiranger in her wake ORIANA made her way past one of the most famous natural features of the area the Seven Sisters Waterfall's which she was passing on her starboard side and was attracting attention from passengers.While on her port side ORIANA was passing another waterfall known as the the suitor.
The Seven Sisters.
And The Suitor.
Passing the waterfalls we moved back along ORIANA's decks to the terrace decks where the sail away was of a classical music theme while not the music our generation prefer it was we both agreed the most fitting with the scenery and the mixture of the music and the passing mountains waterfalls combined to form a truly unforgettable look at some of nature's masterpieces.
ORIANA's mast contrasts with the mountains.
A ferry crossing ORIANA's wake.
Having had a fairly full and busy day and also somehow unwilling to leave the beauty of the fjord behind in another first we chose to have a buffet dinner in the The Conservatory on deck 12, the theme of the evening was East Asian cuisine namely Chinese and Thai, although of course lacking the service of the main restaurants the food was at the exact same high standard, we were also lucky that a table near the floor to ceiling windows was available which gave an excellent view out over the fjords and mountains it would be fair to say that it was almost a poetic scene to watch pass by it could be truly said there is no other way to see the fjords than from a ship.Leaving the land behind for time being ORIANA reentered the North Sea on route to our next destination Olden which was about 11 hours away.
Photo Copyrights: João Abreu & Steve Martin.
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