Azura Cruise Blog – Part Four
Read the fourth part of my Azura cruise blog.
Day four saw us visit the stunning port of Olden – which is situated along one of the most spectacular fjords in Norway. I awoke early and once again sat on my balcony to watch us make our final approach into the bay and towards our berth. We were joined in port by Adonia – which is the smallest ship in the P&O Cruises fleet and is reserved exclusively for adults. Whilst Adonia was using tenders to take guests ashore, we berthed right alongside the quay.
After breakfast I headed ashore to where there were a number of tourist buses and dotto trains lined up hoping to catch the eye of passengers who were not on a P&O Cruises shore excursion, myself included. For around 150 kroner, that is almost £20 – I hopped aboard one of the dotto trains for an hour-long scenic tour of Olden and the surrounding area, which included a couple of photo opportunities. The scenery is simply breathtaking and everyone is so calm and peaceful – a world away from living in a city! Overall the tour was very good value and I would certainly recommend it. However if you wish to go and see the Glaciers then it is probably best to take one of the excursions organised by the cruise line, as they were quite expensive. Unfortunately it was quite a cool morning so once I finished the tour I decided to head back to the ship, turn the heating up in my cabin and sit there for a while. One thing I will mention is that when planning a visit to Norway, the weather is very unpredictable. You could think that visiting in July or August will be nice with a minimal chance of rainfall, but then you encounter several days of constant torrential rain. So it is always best to pack a variety of clothes, so you are prepared!
Once back on board, I went to the Java Coffee Bar on deck 5, midship; where I enjoyed a refreshing cold drink and a doughnut from the patisserie counter before going to find a space outside on the upper decks to read a little. When I had finished reading a bit; I got myself a sandwich and a little cake before heading back to my room in order to watch us sail away from Olden later that afternoon.
The sail away from Olden was lovely; you couldn’t have asked for better scenery as we slowly made our way back out to the Norwegian Sea and set a southerly course towards our final port of call; Stavanger. The evening was a black tie dress code and the last formal night of the cruise! For a change, I decided to have a pre-dinner drink in The Planet Bar before having a meal in The Glass House. I ordered a Sirloin Steak which was served on a slate board with Triple Cooked Chips, an Onion Ring and Cherry Tomatoes. It was the best meal of the cruise by far, better than the main restaurants. After dinner, I decided it was time to have a few formal portrait photographs done before one final drink in the Malabar – where a live band were playing. Once I finished my drink I took a trip to the late snack buffet for a cheeky dessert and then off to bed it was.
