After leaving Bergen this was our first full day on the Hurtigruten Coastal Express going North. MS Nordkapp had along stay in Ålesund which gave us more time to explore one of our favourite places in Norway to visit.
Florø – arrive 2:45 am
MS Nordkapp must have arrived early and left just as early in Florø. My alarm was set for 2:30 am but the ship had already left as I went out on Deck 5. Our cabin did have a great deal of noise for the next 30 minutes or so. This was when we realised for the first time that a cabin forward undoer the deck with all the lines and anchor was going to be very noisy!
Måløy – arrive 5: 15 am
My next wake up call was at 5 am. Out on deck I was joined by two German passengers. We watched the deck and throw the ropes down to the key side. Again we had lots of noise above and below our cabin.
Torvik – arrive 8:20 am
I watched from the deck as the ship approached Torvik with the Sun coming up over the horizon.
This time there was very little noise in the cabin.
Then it was time for a shower and to go up to the restaurant on Deck 4 for a buffet breakfast. At breakfast passengers could sit where they could find seats.
Ålesund – arrive 9:45 am
From our breakfast table shared with two couples, we watched as Nordkapp approached Ålesund.
After the ship was docked the crew had practice drills. We can confirm that the emergency signal was deafening in our cabin.
From the Hurtigruten dock, we walked around the port and passed the ferry terminal towards the centre. The temperature was -2C and in places we had to be very careful stepping past the large areas of ice.
The water separating the island had boats tied up on both sides. We walked past the bakery and the two coffee shops where we had stopped on previous visits but all were closed.
Racoon
We found just one gift shop open before we came back along the pedestrian streets. There we found a coffee shop open, called Raccoon, and the lattes were excellent (plus the pastries too). This was a street we had not walked along before and next week came across a large souvenir and clothing shop.
Lunch onboard
We had a very relaxed lunch back on board the ship.
This is the view through our porthole and our wall of information.
Back into Ålesund
The second walk of the day was back to the bridge and then following the roads to the fisheries museum and out onto the breakwater to stand by the Molja lighthouse.
On the walls further down the quayside we watch gulls nesting on shelves on the walls on one of the warehouses.
From the Hurtigruten quay we watched as HMS Blazer came into the small harbour.
Then we were back on board and change ready for a rest up on Deck 7.
Coastal Experience Team – 5 pm
We missed the briefing (in English) for Trondheim and instead watched the charts for solar activity during the French speaker’s presentation.
Evening meal
Yesterday we had asked the restaurant manager if we could change seating times from 5:30 pm. We were lucky and were switched to a different table with a meal time of 8 pm. This was by the rear window of the restaurant and gave us a great view as we ate. By 7:30 pm a queue had formed outside the restaurant. Rather than a buffet, we had to choose our options which were then delivered to our table.
In the lounge after dinner, we had a talk from ship’s officers about the coastal kitchen and a demonstatrion by one of the cooks.
MS Polaris
I had missed the Havilla ship in the early morning. From then on I added the times of passing ships to the alarms on my iPhone. This is Hurtigruten’s MS Polaris passing by.
Molde – arrive 10:35 am
I watched as passengers came onboard along with cars being loaded.
Next: Monday 19th February 2024 – Trondheim
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