Southampton: Where our Norwegian cruise begins
(And so I continue writing about the Norway trip that my wife, Mary Pat Treuthart, and I took in May.)
Friday, May 9, 11:15 a.m. (Central European Summer Time): We’re sitting in the Bergen airport’s departure lounge, waiting to board our flight to England. That’s where we’re scheduled to begin our cruise through the Norwegian fjords.
OK, I know this seems a big backward. Why would we fly to Norway only to then fly to the UK just to then return to … Norway? Well, the original plan was simply to join our in-laws (Mary Pat’s sister Jean and her husband Steve) on the fjord cruise.
But Mary Pat didn’t want us to miss out on enjoying a more full Norwegian experience. So she arranged for the two of us to visit the country’s two biggest cities: Oslo and Bergen. She added to that a cross-country train trek from the former to the latter. And all that was to come before the cruise itself.
Anyway, I’d risen early on our final morning in Bergen, vestiges of jet lag still lingering. And after breakfast, I walked out to talk to the driver of the Flybussen (the airport bus), the regular route of which includes a stop right in front of our hotel. The guy, who looked to be 100 years old, was friendly enough, and he told me that we could buy tickets on the bus itself whenever we wanted to depart.
Which is exactly what we did a couple of hours later. It’s how we got to the airport and then, with relative ease, proceeded through airport security and are now waiting to fly.
5:05 p.m.: Our flight to Gatwick Airport was roughly five minutes shorter than the 100-minute drive from Gatwick to Southampton, where tomorrow we’ll board our cruise ship. Of course, that doesn’t include the 45 minutes we spent trying to connect with our hired driver (not the first time that we’ve encountered such a problem, though the first time in an English-speaking country).
The drive itself was mostly boring, with hardly anything to see except for the greenery bordering the roadway. Once we left the highway, the scenery of the last few miles into Southampton proved to be far more interesting, reminiscent of driving on New York’s Long Island through parts of The Hamptons.
But then our arrival into the city itself proved to be something of a shock, especially coming from the pristine cities in Norway. A traditional English port city, Southampton is … well, to call it a bit scruffy is being kind. My imagination, inspired by the tales of Robert Louis Stevenson, went wild with visions of drunken sailors getting kidnapped and forced to work on merchant ships.
9:05 p.m.: Never trust first impressions, though. We found our hotel, room2 Southampton, which sits next to Queens Park and just a short ride from where our cruise ship is docked. And, after a short, rest we met up with our in-laws and headed out to dinner.
Southampton turns out to be a happening place, at least this section of it. We walked only a couple of blocks to where we’d made a reservation in the dining room of the hotel (The White Star Tavern) where Jean and Steve had their accommodations. On the way we passed a number of other restaurants and bars, with dozens of patrons enjoying the warm evening weather, cold drinks in hand.
What do I remember most? The scrumptious fish and chips that I ordered, which washed the lingering taste of the wretched meal that we’d been served at the Bergen Fish Market.
Saturday, May 10, 9:37 p.m. (Central European Summer Time): This has been a long and busy day, much of it passing by in a blur.
Before we took a cab (a necessity with our bags) to the port, Mary Pat and I walked a few blocks to Southampton’s local Primark outlet, where we stocked up on clean underwear, a couple of polo shirts and socks – all of which were almost too good a bargain not to buy. We also took a short walk to meet up with our brother-in-law in Queen’s Park, one of several natural areas that add a bit of welcome green space to the city.
Once we arrived at the port, we gained entrance to our ship – the Celebrity Apex – with little trouble, which hasn’t always been the case. This is our fourth Celebrity cruise, the other three taking us through Alaska’s Inland Passage, from Sydney to a circumnavigation of New Zealand and around the Baltic Sea (hitting seven countries in all). And this was the easiest boarding effort of all.
We found our cabin on Deck 10, Aqua Class with an alcove and window (but, disappointingly, no actual balcony as we’ve enjoyed in the past). And then, as we waited for our bags to be delivered, we set out to explore – and mingle among the other passengers, 2,858 in all, most of whom we learn hail from the UK.
On deck, Mary Pat competed in a golf putting contest, sharing the championship with a guy (accompanied by his young son) by coolly holing six straight putts. Afterward, the four of us won the first of four (out of six) general-knowledge trivia contests. We had to go to a tiebreaker to win, coming closest to guessing how many bathrooms the White House has (we guessed 27, the correct answer is 35).
Later we ate in the ship’s Blu restaurant, which specializes in offering what is called “clean cuisine.” That translates as “a way of preparing food that’s fresh and inventive,” an example being “the truffle vinaigrette you’ll find on your steak in place of a heavier bearnaise sauce.
Not that I would necessarily appreciate the difference. But … whatever. The service, as on all the cruises we’ve taken, was polite, friendly and professional.
Later, as the ship sailed east toward the Norwegian coastline, we took a short walk on the deck. And even though the cool North Sea air soon drove us back inside, we could still enjoy seeing the stars through our cabin window.
Off in the distance sat our destination. We’re coming back, Norway.
Next up: Life on board and Vegas on the high sea.