HAYNES WORLD: Polarlys

Showing posts with label Polarlys. Show all posts

02 September 2022

Carnival Pride 10th June 2022 Part 5

Tuesday 14th June 2022 This morning we arrived into the port of Alesund. Oh my, it's raining hard again but I have my full waterproofs with me so intend to walk out to the Hurtigruten port area.

Strand Senior

Oceanic Endeavour I went for breakfast, knowing my friends were working or otherwise engaged this morning. There were few passengers around so I had the opportunity to photograph many features around this ship, including some of the Farcus-designed ones. I seem to like most of them, as they are often eye-catching and certainly with maritime connections. I am amused by the sight of prone mermaids on the ceiling in some areas.

Atrium Bar

Guest Services

Adventures

Up a deck

Another View

Looking up

Sweeping staircase With breakfast done, and full waterproof gear on, I left the ship and walked through the usual Restricted area along the quayside, until I could get out into the town. Over distant rooftops I could see a big H that I realised could only be the Hurtigruten symbol, so I started walking towards that. I knew one of the fleet would be there and I was fortunate enough to arrive as POLARLYS was preparing to sail. They are such handsome ships to my mind, with their black hulls and company funnels. The ropes came up and then she was ready. There were a few people on deck and I offered them a tiny wave as I watched the ship sail away. She soon gathered speed and sailed off into the gloom of the still falling rain.

Polarlys

Sailing away I headed back to the ship by way of a small quay and enjoyed seeing some unusual looking vessels.

Safir

Parat III

MS Bilfergen, built in 1921 It was still raining but when I got back to the ship I discovered we had company, in that AIDA PRIMA had berthed nearby. Near our gangway I found a kind person who took a picture of me, although only a part of my face was visible through the rain; at least I have a souvenir of the morning. Back on board and in my cabin I could hang my wet gear up to dry and go and find a delicious cappuccino. All was well with my world again and I could enjoy catching up with my diary notes and checking the ships' names from this morning for my diary. During the afternoon I saw there was sunshine outside so went up on one of the top decks to enjoy the views of Alesund whilst it was dry; I also took a photo of the funnel as it is so distinctive. I met my friends for a drink before dinner and to catch up with what everyone had done during the day. One of my friends also produced a special 'gift' which is to be on loan to me for the rest of the cruise: it is a cushion. That may seem underwhelming to you, but to me it was very useful. I am fairly short and find the seating alcoves in the Normandie dining room are lovely but are not ideal for a short person. Having a cushion to sit on made all the difference to me. The kind staff will look after 'my' cushion and get it out at meal times; at the end of the cruise it will have to be returned to the Serenity area. What a kind friend who borrowed it for me. Dinner was enjoyable, especially seen from my new seating height, and we all enjoyed seeing the waiters dancing on the tables again during the musical interlude.

Waiters dancing Tomorrow we are due to visit the port of Molde, which should be interesting too. Ships seen: Carnival Pride, Aida Prima, Artemis Atlantic, Oceanic Endeavour, Strand Senior, Polarlys of Hurtigruten, Kalvoy, Safir, Parat III, Keiser Wilhelm, Fjorckabel, MS Bilfergen built in 1921 To be continued...

28 July 2011

Summer 2011 Part 4

NORDSTJERNEN

Monday 11th July 2011 (contd.)
With a 10 a.m. departure we soon returned from visiting POLARLYS,

Part of the hull

Why, it's a wind-chute!

the engines on NORDSTJERNEN were started and off we went, reversing out into the fjord, then full ahead for the Hurtigruten voyage south to Bergen.

and away we go

Looking astern

I had booked an unknown cabin many months ago, because the dates fitted in with my other travel plans later in the month, but was nervous of what I would be allocated after hearing some horror stories about the lowest inside cabins (on Deck A) on this 1956-built vessel, of 2,191 tons.

Down the stairs

On the stairs

Down another deck

On the stairs

I needn’t have worried! I was allocated cabin 204, which was an outside 2 bunk cabin on Deck B, with a porthole.

The bunks were one above the other, there was a small day bed/settee under the porthole, a seat in an alcove with a light above where my little suitcase fitted perfectly, there was a wardrobe, and a washbasin neatly fitted into the space between my bed head and the cabin door.

All the wood was gleaming, the porthole was very welcome although it was necessarily rather high up, and hot water gushed out of the tap when needed. It was what I would call a bijou cabin, but I was very happy with it and the bed proved to be extremely comfortable. A shower room was just across the corridor and so were Ladies Toilets.

My cabin corridor

NORDSTJERNEN (IV) was built in 1956 by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, simply to replace another ship of the line, so she had no sisters. After being re-engined in 1983, she now carries 400 passengers in 69 cabins, with no car capacity. Her service speed is 15 knots. Her hull is black, with white superstructure, there are two raked masts and the black funnel over the mid-ships engines carries the Hurtigruten logo, making her a small but balanced-looking ship. I had looked at Anthony Cooke’s book ‘Liners & Cruise Ships – Some notable smaller vessels’ before I left home so I had some knowledge of her history and a kind friend had also sent me some notes.

NORDSTJERNEN has five public decks: cabins are on Decks A, B and C (which is where Reception is located). The top Saloon Deck is accessed by a staircase,

On the staircase

which leads forward through the Hall to the Lounge.

Lounge art work

Lounge art work

Astern of the Hall is the U-shaped Restaurant with tables on both sides of the kitchens and with the food set out on serving tables across the middle forward part for lunch times and breakfast.

Set evening dinner in the Restaurant was served at individual allocated tables.

The Cafe (port side)

and Bar (on the starboard side) were astern of the Restaurant,

and another Lounge was astern of them.

Aft Lounge

Aft Lounge

There was access to the Sun Deck from the doorway of the Aft Lounge.

Made by John Hastie & Co. Ltd. of Greenock

From the aft Sun Deck there were stairs leading up to the Boat Deck, and more stairs from the Boat Deck down to the forward Lounge.

Our 10 a.m. departure would take us on “A Voyage of Discovery”, south to Bergen where we would arrive tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2.30 p.m. having called at several ports en route. I had pre-paid for my four meals on board (lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch) so went to the Saloon Deck Restaurant at 12.30 to choose delicious things from the buffet to eat. There was a wide choice of salad and cold starters, then for my main course I chose reindeer stew, which had been slow-cooked with mushrooms to create a fairly strong flavoured dish. With vegetables and small boiled new potatoes, my plate looked very inviting. My companion chose the reindeer and something to accompany it labelled ‘sour cream pudding’. We were a bit surprised when this turned out to be semolina. There were calorific desserts, cheese, coffee, tea and water all available and included.

Food could also be bought and consumed in the Café Bar.

Ships seen: Polarlys, Nordstjernen

To be continued…

25 July 2011

Summer 2011 Part 3

Part 3 POLARLYS visit

Monday 11th July 2011 in Trondheim

One of my travelling companions had arrived so after an early breakfast we walked to the port to see the little NORDSTJERNEN alongside the quay, ready to sail south to Bergen. Nearby was the northbound vessel POLARLYS, so we went for a quick visit on her. These are pictures of the interesting or fun things I saw on board.