Which window should we look through today, children: the square one, the round one, or the arch one?

Having a drink in the back of the ship this afternoon looking out over Olden and the mountains through the back windows .. this playschool reference just popped into my head.

Man, that’s a long time ago.! Back when TVs didn’t have colour…

Somehow, it just didn’t seem real. Like a postcard projected onto a green screen … okay, a very grubby green screen.

Our ship – Anthem of the Seas

The Anthem of the Seas is 348m-long, and 41m wide, it has an operating draft of 8.6m, and gross tonnage of 167,800t. It has a 16 cylinder engine, each with a bore of 1 meter and a stroke of 2 meters.  At cruising speed it uses 1 litre of fuel every 3.5 meters. It must have an enormous fuel tank.!

The ship’s passenger capacity is 4,180, and a crew capacity of 760.

Our room is on the 10th floor exactly where the yellow coat (the bank of rooms in front of the little boats) is hanging but on the opposite side of the ship. It’s like I arranged for that to happen…

Oldan

Today’s plan… well, there isn’t one. We are docked and gangway open at 7:30am, luckily they didn’t need my help as I was still in bed.

By the time we made it to the dock there were a few local tours being offered. We opted for a short tour of the lake for 600Kr (about A$80) in a small train-like bus that just putted along in no real hurry.

Honestly, I just don’t know how people put up with this view.!? Although at -30 in winter, I’m sure some of the appeal wears a bit thin.

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A couple of photos heading back out into open waters where the swell had picked up and the ship had the most movement we’ve experienced so far … to the point you couldn’t walk a straight line. It certainly got interesting walking the ship in a crowd.!

Stavenger

Disembarking, we found a hop-on hop-off bus to do a circuit of the city to scope out what we wanted to see and do for the day. With nothing really jumping out at us, we just wandered around the port/shopping/eating district.

I’ve been disappointed with the expresso coffee offerings on the ship to the point I’d rather drink their filter coffee. So when we found a little coffee shop tucked down a back street, we sat and enjoyed a nice coffee and pastry. Bonus, when looking for a seat, we sat next to an American couple also on the trip, and spent the next hour chatting.

One of the many things I enjoy about these trips is meeting new people from different places and getting to know them and their interests. For those open for conversation, you can generally find some commonality to discuss.

From there, we just wandered the colourful streets of Stavanger.

They certainly like their trolls around this place.

Leaving Stavanger

From Stavanger it’s around 600 nautical miles back to Southampton, so until then we get to eat, drink, swim, sleep, eat, drink, shop, sit and watch the world go by, eat, drink, or just sit around chatting with friends we’ve made from all over the world comparing countries and stories. Did I mention eating and drinking.?

Deb has worked really hard and has earned a number of these trips now. I’m told that less than 1% of all Stampin’ Up! demonstrators earn these trips, hence why I’m very proud of her. Last night at our dinner table, we were talking about our preference between land based trips (eg resort at a location etc) or cruise based trip. They are both fantastic experiences and both have their advantages. But if I were nailed down to pick one I think I’d pick the cruise as everything is right here, with lots of great entertainment options, you get to visit interesting places, and it’s more conducive to meeting and getting to know others fellow demonstrators and plus ones from around the world.

Speaking of entertainment… today we went to a production of “We Will Rock You”, we’ve seen this previously but this production was excellent. I now wish we had time to see it again.! Through the show, I had a random thought of what Freddie would have thought of their music being turned into such a show. As a Queen fan … I think he would have been really proud of it.

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Tomorrow, we will be docking in Southampton, and the cruise will be over. The prominade is packed with people getting the last bit out of their cruise, not wanting it to finish. It’s been a great week.

Now we move into our next phase of our trip, and we are really looking forward to catching up with family tomorrow, and especially our little grandson..!!