On my birthday in 2013 we woke up to find ourselves on the Crown Princess cruise ship on its approach to the port of Stavanger in Norway. This hadn’t come as a complete surprise to either of us as we were several days into a Norwegian fjords cruise at the time, but that didn’t stop it being any less pleasant. Arrival at the port in Norway’s fourth largest city wasn’t scheduled until midday so that gave us some free time ahead of that to find something to entertain us and have a bit of a wander around with camera in hand. This being our second ever cruise, everything was all still new and exciting aboard the ship so photos were taken of pretty much anything and everything. I’ve no idea what excuse I can use for still taking photos of anything and everything fifteen-or-more cruises later but I’m sure I can come up with something plausible if the need arises.
The Princess Patter – the daily programme of events aboard ship when you’re cruising with Princess Cruises – provided all the information we needed to know that the morning would include trivia and nothing else. Sadly, the trivia clashed with the Zumba class which we would definitely have 100% liked to do had we been suffering from possession by the spirits of people who’d died keeping fit. And the trivia overran the start of the acupuncture seminar which would have been thoroughly interesting if parasites had eaten away any of the rational parts of our brains. Some knowledge-testing, then, with a stroll up to the top deck afterwards to watch the approach to Stavanger.
A very quick aside: the front of this particular day’s Princess Patter included the following statements from the senior doctor at the time. As I’m writing this in 2020 it’s worth reminding those who think (or who have a vested interest in promoting the misguided belief) that cruise ships are “petri dishes” and unclean and the sources of viral infections, cruise ships and cruise lines have always promoted higher levels of cleanliness than you would ever have found while travelling by air or staying in hotels.
And with that out of the way let’s get on with the purpose of this post: our approach to Stavanger on Crown Princess.
The morning was cloudy with showers forecast for the day ashore in Norway, but the temperature was pretty good and it was thankfully dry as we headed out onto the top deck of the ship. We started at the aft because you’ve got to start somewhere. One thing you might be able to discern from these pictures is that there was noticeable vibration towards the rear of Crown Princess on this cruise. You can see the effect on the surface of the aft swimming pool. This never bothered us, and we even chose an aft balcony when we cruised again on Crown Princess to the Baltics four years later, but if you’ve not cruised before and feel this is something that could be a problem for you then book a cabin away from where the propellers are.
Heading forwards towards midships brought us to the two main swimming pools that Crown Princess sports. Both pools are open to the elements so it’s not the most ideal ship for cruising to colder climates but don’t let that put you off her as a vessel. We took in some of the views of the mainland and I snapped plenty of photos of exciting things such as telephones and railings. It keeps me out of mischief.
When your cruise ship is scheduled for a port day you may not get much organised in terms of outdoor activities unless, as was the case on this day, you’re not due to anchor or dock until fairly late. To keep passengers entertained, a morning golf chipping challenge was arranged around the Neptune pool, and a good mix of talented and talentless would-be-golfers sent balls into the water, the assembled crowd, and occasionally the target shower unit to general enjoyment.
The day was getting surprisingly brighter as the ship started to see the first signs of the outskirts of Stavanger appear alongside, and we decided to watch the remainder of the sail into the Norwegian port from our cabin balcony. There was a mix of attractive residential properties along the water’s edge and reasonably heavy, industrial sections. While the cruise ship of necessity kept her speed low to stop from producing waves to swamp the shoreline, the same restriction didn’t apply to smaller boats that merrily zipped along between the vessel and the land.
One sight that caught our attention was an old ship. This turned out to be the Rogaland and she’s a ship with a moderately interesting history. She was originally built in 1929 as a combined cargo and passenger vessel making runs from Stavanger to Oslo and Bergen. In 1944, while docked in Bergen, an ammunition barge that had come into the port for repairs exploded (killing a waitress on the ship in addition to numerous dock workers) and the resulting damage sank Rogaland. She was re-floated but not fully repaired until after the war when she resumed coastal routes. In 1989 veteran ship enthusiasts bought Rogaland with the intention of restoring her to her 1929 original look inside and out. Rising costs have reduced that plan to restoring her to her 1964 look instead which was when she last ran the standard passenger and cargo routes and before she worked around shipyards. Finally, if you’ve seen the movie Dunkirk then you might have spotted Rogaland acting the part of a hospital ship.
For the final approach to Stavanger, Crown Princess swung around, bow to port, stern to starboard, in order to reverse into its designated spot alongside. This gave us the chance to see what we’d been missing from our balcony on the northeastern side of the channel into the city, that mostly being some smaller islands connected to the mainland by bridges. Plenty of fellow passengers watched the same views from atop the bridge wings.
Our day in Stavanger included an organised excursion and some free time to explore the city. The first part of our day’s excursion would see us travel to the Ullandhaug area of the city in order to take a look at an iron age farm and a telecommunications tower.