Sunday, October 10, 2010

Cruising the Norwegian Fjords; Photos of Explorer of the Seas


Perhaps the most awe inspiring scenery that I have seen from a cruise ship is in the Norwegian fjords. The ship sails into a narrow passage with sheer rock walls towering literally thousands of feet over the decks. Waterfalls cascade down these wall into the sea.

Just when you think you have taken the whole scene in, you notice a house perched on a ledge. It is so tiny. The scale of these mountains must be so much greater than you thought. How could people even get there much less live there?

At the end of the fjord is a valley with a small village in it. The valley is green and lush. Its reflection is cast into the still waters. Although there are people around, it is quiet. The commotion of modern life is far away.

The scenery in the valley is almost too perfect. It looks like a display that someone has set up for a model train display. There are a few buildings, farms, roads, and greenery going up the sides of the valley.

You look further up towards the mountain peeks that tower over the valley. Up there, snow still covers the grey rocks. Winds propel fast moving clouds so that one moment they obscure the peaks and the next they have gone.

A fjord cruise also usually involves calls in more developed towns such as Bergen, Stavanger or Trondheim. Here, the scenery acts as a backdrop to the cultural experience of seeing the Norwegian approach to life.

I have put together a photo tour section about cruising to the Norwegian fjords. The home page is at http://www.beyondships.com/Ports-Norway-fjords.html It also has separate pages for the ports of Alesund, Bergen, Flam, Geiranger, Olden, Stavanger and Trondheim. The aim is to give you a feel for the type of ports one encounters on a Norwegian fjords cruise.

Changing topics, when I am cruising, I often encounter another ship that is doing something interesting or which is in a good light and in the right position for a series of photos. One such incident occurred early one morning when I was standing on the deck of a ship and Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas came out of the morning sun and proceeded to dock at the Black Falcon cruise terminal in Boston. I have added a photo essay showing this incident to Beyondship’s Explorer of the Seas section. http://www.beyondships.com/Explorer-photos-Boston.html

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