Dec.
2025
Tilbury
Essex
by 2 p.m.
Dec.
2025
burg
Sweden
and
City Centre
Dec.
2025
hagen
Denmark
of walking
Dec.
2025
Norway
of walking
Dec.
2025
sand
Norway
of walking
Dec
2025
Essex
UK
by 10:35
| Flag: | Date: | Port: | Comment: |
|---|---|---|---|
|
4th Dec. 2025 |
Harlow & Tilbury Essex |
On board by 2 p.m. |
|
6th Dec. 2025 |
Gothen- burg Sweden |
Haga and City Centre |
|
7th Dec. 2025 |
Copen- hagen Denmark |
Nine miles of walking |
|
9th Dec. 2025 |
Oslo Norway |
Nine miles of walking |
|
10th Dec. 2025 |
Kristian- sand Norway |
Nine miles of walking |
|
12th Dec 2025 |
Tilbury Essex UK |
Home by 10:35 |
| Flag: | Date: | Port: | Comment: |
I awoke to two phone calls at seven o'clock and got up at eight. After two slices of buttered toast with marmite and two mugs of tea, I abluted. I left my sister-in-law Pam's house at nine o'clock, but it took me ten minutes of queueing to get to the main road out of Harlow. The M11 and the M25 were busy and wet, but I got to the Lakeside shopping centre at 9:30. I only bought a few items in the enormous complex, before moving to the huge IKEA store. Here I had the four pound full English breakfast with free drinks. I filled up the tank with petrol at the Tesco superstore and then went back to Lakeside to use their loo.
I made the mistake of driving through Grays into Tilbury, going down a few dead ends. I got to the cruise terminal at 1:30 and dropped off my bag. The car park was just opposite, so I could walk back to the terminal easily when the rain had stopped. Not having a boarding card, meant that I had to wait for the supervisor to escort me through to the express check-in lane.
I was on board by two o'clock with an outside twin cabin on deck five. I made myself a decaff coffee with two of their milk pots and then Manjit arrived with my large suitcase. Having unpacked, I started work on this blog. I then went walkabout, exploring the ship.
At 3:45 I had a bowl of cream of chicken soup in the Borough Market buffet. On one of the large screens I discovered that I would be giving my Hamlet lecture at eleven o'clock the next day. At four o'clock I went to the SOLAS demonstration. Just after five o'clock, Assistant Cruise Director (ACD) Tyla-Jane Fairer phoned me to invite me to meet her in the Orca room. She explained that her introductory letter would be with me in my cabin later. I also met cruise staffer Emma.
At 5:15 I went to the solo travellers meet up in the Observatory, but no one appeared. At 5:45 I spoke to the Maitre d'Hotel at the entrance to the Buckingham Main Dining Room (MDR) restaurant. He told me to come back in fifteen minutes, after the rush. I was then placed on a large table of eleven singles, but I couldn't hear the people opposite. I chatted to Marilyn from Melbourne and Bob from Falmouth. I had the leek & potato soup, the lasagne and the chocolate ice cream sundae to eat. The table broke up at 7:30, when I returned to my cabin and this blog.
At 8:30 I went to the Brothers Blue production show with six dancers, four singers/actors plus Adam Gass the Cruise Director (CD). They sang lots of classic Blues Brothers songs including "Everybody" interspersed with a strong storyline. I went to sleep at ten o'clock, having done nearly twelve thousand steps, equal to nearly five miles of walking during the day.
I awoke at six o'clock, but it was still dark outside. There was a full moon shining down on a calm North Sea. I had a regular instant coffee with the skimmed milk that I had brought down from the buffet the previous night. At 7:30 I had the full English breakfast in the buffet. I had one glass of orange juice and one of mixed fruit, but both needed diluting.
Back in my cabin just after eight o'clock, Manjit had already been in. I then had to iron my white shirt in the huge self-service launderette on deck ten. At nine o'clock Stage Manager Jyoti and Technician Joey tested out my new Open University (OU) laptop in the Palladium theatre. Unusually the HDMI cable carried both the pictures and the sound, so no audio lead was needed. At 9:30 the Indian Shorexman gave a fifteen minute introduction to the tour processes. This was followed by a twenty minute video presentation on Gothenburg.
At 10:30 Joey set me up ready for me to give my forty minute talk entitled "Hamlet: Prince of Denmark" at eleven o'clock. ACD Tyla-Jane Fairer introduced me and off I went using the curtain transitions for the first time. After the Simon Schama video, I showed the historic summary and then jumped to the final slide. Back in my cabin, I had a decaff instant coffee to drink.
At noon I sat with a policewoman and her mother from the Cotswolds and a couple from Manchester. I had my favourite French lentil soup, fish & chips and ice cream to eat. I then slept for an hour and a half, thus missing the ballroom dance session. When I awoke it was already getting dark as we sailed further east. Both side promenades were partially blocked off, so I did five circuits, equal to half a mile of walking, around the covered sides of the swimming pool deck instead.
At five o'clock I went to the Captain's welcome cocktail party where I had two glasses of champagne and some canapes. The classical duo were playing background music, until the actors burst on to the stage for some Shakesperian quotes. Then the Captain introduced his senior officers as usual.
At 5:45 I sat at the same solos tables as the previous night, but it had been reduced from eleven persons down to ten. Two people who hadn't been present turned up, so one gent who arrived late was turned away. I was sat with Sarah from Colchester for the first time and with Marilyn from Melbourne for the second night running. I had the juicy prawn cocktail, the New England chowder sea food soup, the beef Wellington and the pear belle Helene to eat. At 7:30 I retired to my cabin feeling bloated after over-eating.
At eight o'clock I went to bag my seat in the Palladium theatre. The Masquerade show began just after 8:30 with a mix of opera, pop music (popera?) and musical theatre. The former included "Figaro" from the Barber of Seville. The pop songs included "Vienna" by Ultravox. The latter included "I could have danced all night" from My Fair Lady. There were five male singers & dancers and five female ones in the company. They ended inevitably with "Time to Say Goodbye". I went to sleep at 9:45 as it was now 10:45 on Swedish time. During the day I had done only seven and a half thousand steps, equal to three miles of walking.
I got up at 6:30 ready for my regular instant coffee in the cabin. At 7:30 I had the full English breakfast in the Borough Market restaurant. I had one glass of orange juice, which required dilution, and one of mixed fruit, which didn't.
Back in my cabin, Manjit had already been busy, including replenishing the milk & coffee supplies. I spent most of the morning working on my laptop. At 10:30 I dozed on my bed for three quarters of an hour. At 11:30 I had a bowl of cream of celeriac soup with a wholemeal roll and butter to eat as an early light lunch.
At noon I joined the long queue to exit the ship. This moved quickly and there was a line of shuttle buses waiting to take us into the city. The run in to town from Arendal port only took twenty minutes as it was a Saturday.
I mainly followed the red route on the tourist map given to us in the cruise terminal. At the cathedral I saw an outdoor nativity play with a real camel. Next I found an old bastion which I hadn't explored before. I then headed for the Haga suburb to see the famous Christmas market which was heaving. Here I caught the marching band with pom-pom dancers in full force in a narrow street.
I continued to the Civic Centre of monumental buildings, going in the City Library to use their free wi-fi and free loos. I also popped into the Tourist Information Office (TIO) to pick up some leaflets. At three o'clock, as it started to get dark, there was a long line of pax waiting for a shuttle bus back to the ship. I managed to get on the second one away after half an hour in the queue.
Back in my cabin, I had a decaff instant coffee to drink. At 5:45 I went to the Buckingham MDR where I sat with Sue from Nottingham and Sarah from Colchester. The former knows cruise ship magician Marc Oberon, so we became friends on FaceBook. I had the squash soup, the Greek salad, the pork and the ice cream sundae to eat.
Back in my cabin again, I had another instant decaff coffee. At 8:30 I went to hear comedian Dave Kristian in the Palladium theatre. He was good, but a little bit naughty, with only a few old jokes being recycled. I went to sleep at 9:45, having done fifteen thousand steps, equal to six miles of walking during the day.
I awoke at 7:15 ready for a mug of regular instant coffee in the cabin. At eight o'clock I had the full English breakfast, minus any bacon, to eat. Back in my cabin, Manjit was still working, so I returned to the top of the ship.
Having got dressed up, I left the ship at 8:30 walking south to the famous Little Mermaid statue. I continued to the Amalienborg palaces, but had to backtrack to Toldbod to use the loo. Back heading south again, I reached pretty Newhaven (Nyhavn).
In the main square (Kongens Nytorv), a circular ice skating rink had been set up. I walked the entire length of Europe's longest pedestrianised shopping street (Stroget), to get to the Tourist Information Office (TIO). Here I used the wi-fi and stocked up on lots of maps and leaflets on Copenhagen and Helsingor.
I then returned the way I had come, just missing the changing of the guard at noon outside the Amalienborg palaces. I did however hear the military band playing. I then cut through the Citadel to get back to the ship just after one o'clock, having walked over eight miles. Here I had the Norwegian fish soup, the roast beef & Yorkshire pudding and the no sugar added Swiss roll to eat. I then slept for an hour and a half, before having an instant decaff coffee in my cabin. During the afternoon, I backed up my photographs from Gothenburg and Copenhagen.
At 5:45 I sat with Sarah and Susan as usual on the large round table of eleven solo travellers. I had the pea soup, the Italian salad, rigatoni alla puttanesca and bananas Foster to eat. Towards the end of the meal Lynn opposite me said she was from Chelmsford, so we talked about Marconi's social club. Then Justin regaled us with the story that his late husband had been a drag artiste at the Funny Girls nightclub in Blackpool! At 8:30 I went to the fifty minute French farce with five actors in the Palladium theatre. I went to sleep at ten o'clock, having done twenty two thousand steps, nearly equal to nine miles of walking during the day.
I awoke at seven o'clock ready for my regular instant coffee in the cabin. Just after 7:30, I had the full English breakfast with TWO rashers of back bacon to eat in the Borough Market buffet. I had one glass of orange juice, which required dilution, and one of mixed fruit, which didn't. When Manjit came to service the cabin at 8:30, I did five circuits of the pool, equal to half a mile of walking. I spent the morning working on my laptop, as we sailed from Copenhagen to Oslo, via the Baltic Sea's Kattegat and the North Sea's Skagerrak.
At 10:30 Joey set me up ready for me to give my forty minute Edvard Munch lecture for the very first time. My dining companions were all sat in a row of six people, so I took a couple of photographs of them. At eleven o'clock ACD Tyla-Jane introduced me and I was off. Unfortunately some of my National Portrait Gallery (NPG) slides had four second cutoffs which involved some backtracking. I showed just two of the final videos. At the end I had a couple of chats with interested guests.
At noon I attended the solo travellers lunch, where I sat with Matthew Martin from Grays in Essex and Carol from Hatch End near Pinner with her two lady friends. I had the parsnip soup, the toasted club sandwich with chips and the ice cream to eat. I had one glass of complimentary red wine to drink. I then slept for over an hour, before working on my laptop.
At 5:45 I sat with the usual suspects in the Buckingham MDR. I had the broccoli and cheese soup, the salad Nicoise, the chicken and the ice cream sundae to eat. At 7:45 I bagged my place in the centre of the dress circle of the Palladium theatre ready for the half hour long Tropical play with four actors. They ended with the famous patter song of the names of the countries of the world.
At 8:30 we had one of the best Round the World musical theatre shows that I have seen. It covered South America, USA, Africa, Spain, Italy and France. I particularly enjoyed Paul Simon's "Diamonds in the Soles of her Shoes" from his South African Graceland album. They ended ineviatbly with the Can Can, but sensibly didn't try to get the five chaps to end with the splits, which all five ladies managed.
As we were running low on water, the Captain took us into Oslo in the evening ahead of schedule, however I declined to go ashore after dinner, as it was raining. I went to sleep at ten o'clock, having done just over five thousand steps, equal to over two miles of walking during the day.
I awoke at seven o'clock, having slept for nearly NINE hours ready for my regular instant coffee in the cabin. At 7:45 I had my first continental breakfast of the cruise: smoked salmon and cheese on two croissants. Back at the cabin at 8:15, Manjit had already finished servicing the place. I worked on my laptop until the dawn broke.
I left the ship at nine o'clock walking around the head of Oslo fjord via the central railway station to the forested hillside. Here I turned back, rather than climb up the steep track by the steep tramway. Back at the ship, I lunched at noon on my first hamburger and chips of the cruise.
Back in my cabin, I had a regular instant coffee, before heading out again. I explored the Akershus fortress, before reaching the Nobel Peace Prize building in the old Oslo West railway station. This was the day before the annual prize would be awarded in the huge City Hall. I walked back via the Christmas market in the main avenue, before popping into the cathedral (Domkirken).
Back at the ship, I had an instant decaff coffee in my cabin, as I updated this blog. I then watched the BBC News Channel for the first time on this cruise. At 5:45 I went up to the MDR where I sat between Australian Marilyn and English Paula. The former added me as a FaceBook friend. I had the pea & ham soup, the rocket salad, the mixed grill and the ice cream sundae to eat.
Back in my cabin, I had another instant decaff coffee, again as I updated this blog. At 8:30 I enjoyed Dave Kristian's second comedy show, which I thought was even funnier than his first. It was however a bit sexist! I went to sleep at ten o'clock, having done over twenty three thousand steps, equal to over nine miles of walking during the day.
I awoke at six o'clock, having slept for eight hours, and got up at 6:30 ready for my regular instant coffee in the cabin. At 7:30 I breakfasted on the full English with THREE rashers of back bacon and two glasses of juice as usual. Back in the cabin at eight o'clock, Manjit had already been in and out.
I left the ship at nine o'clock and headed north along the promenade. I turned left when I reached the river, going as far as the end of the city. I then doubled back into the old town (Posebyen) with its white weatherboarded houses. The cathedral was closed until the afternoon, but the town hall was open with its tourist information office. Outside was a large rectangular ice rink with some young people skating. The Christmas market hadn't opened, so I vowed to go back in the afternoon.
Back at the ship at noon, I lunched on the cream of vegetable soup and the gammon in gravy with potatoes and vegetables. I then slept for just twenty minutes, awoken by next door. I walked back into the town, crossing the bridge to see inside the concert hall and the huge arts silo (Kunstsilo). I continued almost as far as the lighthouse, before exploring the island of Odderoya. Back in the city centre, the cathedral was still closed, so I wandered around the small Christmas market instead.
Back at the ship again, I had an instant decaff coffee in my cabin, as I backed up my photographs from Oslo and Kristiansand. At 5:45 I sat with the usual suspects on our final formal night. I had the mushroom soup, the Caesar salad, the roast turkey and the baked Alaska. Sue gave me her pineapple cocktail as she didn't like it.
As it was getting a bit choppy, I led Sue to the theatre with the rest of the table. Here I was given a complimentary glass of champagne. The West End Wonders production show was one of the best that I have ever seen. It began with songs from Miss Saigon and continued with Hairspray, Evita, West Side Story and Les Miserables. I didn't know all of the numbers from the first two musicals, but did for the rest which were full of great songs. At the end we had the usual crew parade and speech from the captain. Another lady had given me her strawberry cocktail, so I had to rehydrate back in my cabin.
At 10:15 I went back to the theatre, where the crew parade came first, not last. I then watched the excellent production show for a second time. I went to sleep at 11:45, but it was now only 10:45 back on GMT. I had done twenty two thousand steps, nearly equal to nine miles of walking during the day.
Just before eight o'clock (seven o'clock on GMT) I awoke, having slept for eight hours. At 7:40 I had a continental style breakfast of two croissants with smoked salmon and Swiss style cheese to eat. I had glasses of orange juice and mixed fruit, both topped up with water, to drink. Back in my cabin, Manjit had already been busy, but hadn't left any more milk pots. Luckily I had my own jar of coffee whitener to hand for the final sea day.
At 10:30 Joey set me up ready for me to give my forty minute talk on the Vikings to a good sized audience. I showed just one of my video at the end. Afterwards I had some comments and questions to field. One lady wanted me to talk about Gotland in the Baltic. Another complained that the cruise had been rebranded from a Viking theme to one of Christmas Markets! One gent told me about the Bonfire night parade in Lewes, Sussex. Another told me about the short films he had made.
At 12:15 I sat with Sue from Nottingham in the Borough Market buffet, where I had a bowl of Welsh potato soup. I then moved out to the Pool Grill for two small slices of the Margarita and four cheese pizzas. This was the only time I ate al fresco by the pool on this cruise, as the sun came out.
Back in my cabin, I had a instant decaff coffee with my own whitener to drink. I then slept for an hour and a quarter, before working on my laptop. At 3:30 I did five circuits of the pool deck, equal to half a mile of walking, as the sun set across a calm North Sea. I then packed up ready for my departure the next morning.
At 5:45 I met the usual suspects at the £20 Saffron Indian speciality restaurant. I sat between Bob from Cornwall and Lynn from Chelmsford, whilst opposite Marilyn from Melbourne, Sue from Nottingham and Steve from Lancashire. Seated at the ends of the table were Nick, Sarah and Paula. We began with a lemon and mint drink, so I proposed my usual toast. I then had two large shish kebabs with two small chicken tikka masalas as my starter, alongside poppodums and chapatis with the usual condiments. My main course was the king prawn curry, augmented by half of Sue's lamb rogan josh, both with saffron rice. I finished with the Indian trifle as my dessert. Steve gave me a glass from his bottle of New South Wales (NSW) red wine. At the end, I proposed a vote of thanks to Nick for organising the group booking.
At 8:30 we watched Alexandr's "O Sole Mio" one man show. He began with two arias in Italian, one of which was from Handel's Xerxes, and two more in French. A little mime act was amusing in the middle. Musical theatre numbers included "Singin' in the Rain" and John Lennon's Imagine. He sang a Ukrainian song a capella and one with music accompanied by beautiful drone shots of Kiev and Odessa, his home town. He finished with the eponymous song.
I went to sleep at ten o'clock (GMT) which was eleven o'clock on Scandinavian time. During the day I had done only five thousand steps, equal to just two miles of walking.
My alarm awoke me at 5:30, an hour too early as it was still on Scandinavian time. At 6:15 I had the full English breakfast to eat, with just one glass of diluted orange juice to drink. Back in my cabin, I updated this blog and finished packing. At 7:30 I departed from my cabin to await disembarkation.
I was off the ship at 7:45 and one of the first to drive away at 7:50. The Queen Elizabeth the Second bridge was clear and I zoomed around the M25, getting to the A3 after one hour. After another hour's driving along the A31, I was at Winchester, but it had started to rain. I got home at 10:35 after another super cruise.
Nick later wrote:
"Thanks for the talks and the great company over the week, it was great to meet you."
"The blog is fantastic.
"A great read."
Marilyn later wrote:
"My gracious, you do go into great detail, don't you?"
"It's like reliving my cruise all over again."
"Thank you for your company whilst onboard, and for reminding me of what we shared."
The highlights of the cruise were:
* Giving three enrichment lectures, one of which was brand new
* Enjoying first sitting dining with other solo travellers
* Visiting Christmas markets in all four ports
* Going on long walks in all four ports
1) Hamlet: Prince of Denmark. Tremble at the story of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy set in a Danish castle. (Martin had given this lecture nine times previously) 2) Edvard Munch: Norway's Greatest Artist. Look upon these fascinating Norwegian paintings. (This was a brand new lecture) 3) The Story of the Vikings. Discover the history of these Scandinavian warriors and explorers. (Martin had given this lecture eight times previously)
4) Edvard Grieg: Norway's Greatest Classical Composer. Enjoy the music and life of this Romantic musician. (Martin has given this lecture five times) 5) The Story of the North Sea. Find out about the natural history and human history of this great seaway. (Martin has given this lecture fifteen times)
216 Cruises 57 Cruise ships (see below) 17 Cabin drawers! 16 Cruise lines (see below) 8 Night cruise 6 Full English breakfasts 4 Ports of Call (G, C, O & K) 4 Production shows 3 Enrichment lectures (H, M & V) 2 Continental breakfasts 2 Bed cabin 2 Old enrichment lectures (Hamlet & Vikings) 2 Norwegian ports (Oslo & Kristiansand) 2 Soup lunches 1 Swedish port (Gotherburg) 1 Danish port (Copenhgagen) 1 New enrichment lecture (Munch)
* Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines * Saga Shipping Company * Voyages of Discovery * Seabourn (Carnival) * Princess (Carnival) * Cunard (Carnival) * P&O (Carnival) * Celebrity (RCCL) * Silversea (RCCL) * Regent SS (NCL) * Oceania (NCL) * Marella (TUI) * Ambassador * Azamara * Crystal * Viking
Black Prince Black Watch Borealis Boudicca Balmoral Braemar Bolette Silver Whisper Silver Spirit Silver Wind Silver Muse Silver Moon Silver Dawn Viking Sea Viking Sky Viking Star Viking Saturn Viking Neptune Celebrity Silhouette Celebrity Solstice Celebrity Eclipse Celebrity Edge Celebrity Apex Oceania Sirena Oceania Marina Oceania Riviera Oceania Vista Saga Rose Saga Ruby Saga Sapphire Saga Pearl II Quest for Adventure Spirit of Adventure (Old SofA) Spirit of Adventure (New SofA) Spirit of Discovery Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) Queen Elizabeth (QE) Queen Victoria (QV) Queen Mary 2 (QM2) P&O Arcadia P&O Aurora P&O Oriana P&O Iona Azamara Quest Azamara Journey Crystal Symphony Crystal Serenity Seabourn Odyssey Seabourn Sojourn Ambassador Ambience Ambassador Ambition Regent Seven Seas Mariner Regent Seven Seas Splendor Sapphire Princess Caribbean Princess Marella Explorer VoD Discovery