When planning the trip, it was clear that I had to get from Ålesund to Tromsø somehow. The only options were the postal ship or the plane. I decided to take the ship.
Since the Kong Harald was still in the shipyard, I chose any ship that would sail from Ålesund to Tromsø on New Year’s Eve. And it was the Richard With. As luck would have it, a friend from the Kong Harald was on board and also happened to be on duty. I hadn’t known that when I booked and it really was pure coincidence. 😊
My breakfast consisted of the leftovers that were still in the fridge. There was a yoghurt, a banana and a tangerine.
Afterwards everything was packed and I noticed that my suitcase was a bit heavier and that I had an extra bag with presents. That didn’t matter for the ship, but it did for the return journey by plane. A quick check with my flight booking reassured me. I had 23 kg of free pastries twice too good. So I could buy another bag and didn’t have to buy any extra biscuits.
When everything was stowed in the car and I went to the pier. I was lucky, because the Richard With was a bit late due to stormy weather. They also used the anchor when mooring. A Norwegian, who I think was picking someone up, also took a few photos. We both looked for a good place to take pictures. You can see the mooring process on my Instagram account. I felt really sorry for the man who had to tie the ropes to the quay, because the wind was blowing really hard. You can see that well on the video. You can find the link at the end of this post.
When I finished the photo session, I went to get my luggage. By now, all the passengers had disembarked and I went to check in.
When I saw the cabin, I asked again just to be sure. It was an accessible cabin, i.e. one for wheelchair users. Everything was correct, I got the answer. All right, so I had plenty of space and an extra large bathroom. 😊
First I had to return the car. I was surprised because the car had a full tank of 5 litres. I had to return the rental car at the other end of Ålesund. So I used the way back for a walk through the city and went shopping in a shopping centre. There I also found a letterbox, but my postcards were on the ship. In Norway, you pay for everything with a credit card, even the toilet. In the shopping centre, an Asian man stood in front of the toilet and stepped from one foot to the other. He tried in vain to pay with his credit card. His credit card could only be used with a PIN and the toilet wouldn’t accept that. I had a heart and paid with my credit card, because there is nothing worse than standing in front of a locked toilet door and having to go to the toilet urgently. He thanked me several times before going inside in a great hurry. 😅
Around noon it started to rain and the wind blew even harder. I went back to the ship.
In the shop I bought a Hurtigruten bag and my postcards finally found their way into the letterbox. As we all know, shopping makes you hungry, so I went for lunch. I had booked full board and so lunch was included.
Before I rested in the cabin until the lectures, I wrote to my friend Eskild. We arranged to meet later during his break for a coffee in the coffee bar on deck 7.
Besides the lectures, there was also a quiz, a small language course and information about an interesting tunnel project.
The world’s first ship tunnel has triggered various discussions in Norway. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023. It would thus save ships from having to sail around Stadlandet through the North Sea, where very rough wind and water conditions prevail especially in autumn and winter. This would be very good for smaller ships in particular, as they are exposed to greater danger. Large cruise ships will still have to go around the outside, but for the “small Hurtigruten ships” 😉 the tunnel will be big enough.
The language course was nothing new for me, but later at dinner many tried it out. The service staff responded with a nice smile and answered accordingly. 😊
For those who can’t think what it means, here’s the translation:
Hello!
Thank you for the food.
Here you are.
You are welcome.
Of the excursions on offer, I booked the kayak tour of Trondheim and snowshoeing in Tromsø. The dog sledding tour was unfortunately already fully booked.
Afterwards I took photos of the ship from outside and inside.
After the lectures, I met up with Eskild. We drank coffee together and talked partly in English and partly in Norwegian. It must have sounded quite funny. 😂 He also remembered that we had met in Sortland in September and wanted to know all about the Saltstraumen tour I had done in September. He laughed when I told him how I came to do it. For those who don’t know the story, check out the September tour. Eskild wanted to do the tour too and I told him to ask his colleague. I told him what trips I had booked and promised to tell him about the kayak tour. He didn’t know where he would be working at midnight, but maybe it would work out with the toast. Unfortunately, his break was far too short. In any case, a super nice conversation.
There were several groups for dinner. I was in the last group at 8pm.
Today, however, it was a bit later because there was a 5-course menu for New Year’s Eve. Table number 67 was only binding for the dinner. I met nice people, a couple and a mother who was out with her daughter. We got on well and later helped each other with the northern lights photography.
The menu was super delicious.
Additional text for course 1 from the menu
“King crab, white butter bread , homemade lemon mayo. Using kings crab from the small hamlet Bugøynes in Finnmark, we are making a Norwegian version of the more well-known ‘lobster roll’.”
Additional text for course 2 from the menu
“Langoustine lobster tails and parsley oil. Our Norwegian langoustine lobster has been caught in 200 meters below sea level. From the shells, we produce the stock, and the meat we lightly fry.”
Additional text for course 3 from the menu
“Goat cheese from Lofoten, pickled red onion, turnip and black currant. Reindeer from the Finnmarksvidda is an exclusive, tasteful and fantastic product. With baked turnips, goat cheese from Lofoten, pickled red onions and a sauce with black currant, the taste becomes complex and harmonized .”
Additional text for course 3 from the menu
” Selected cheese from local farms. Fruit compote, nut- and fruit bread, roasted nuts and honey. Tove with family runs the Aalen Gård in Lofoten – which deliver several products for Hurtigruten. Egil is a dedicated dairy farm leader on Tingvollost on Nordmøre which won gold in the “World Cheese Championship” in autumn of 2016. Astrid on Gangstad Gård in Trøndelag works with farm tourism and produces cheese, compotes and various ice creams.”
“We serve a mould made of chocolate with chocolate icing and blueberries”
The New Year’s Eve party took place outside on deck 7. Hurtigruten provided sparkling wine and champagne in the vestibule. There was also a non-alcoholic version.
At midnight on the dot, we toasted, first with the people from the table and then with my friend Eskild and his girlfriend, who was also on board.
The crew then went back to work and I enjoyed the surroundings for a while, wished many friends and acquaintances a happy new year before the snowstorm became more intense. So I went to bed, also feeling the stronger swell that rocked me to sleep😊.
Richard With docking in Ålesund