On the Crystal Harmony to Stavanger Norway

The Tall Ships were a highlight beyond dreams in beauty. The fjords, words can't describe. A wonderful trip! The experience of a lifetime. For centuries Stavanger has made its living from the sea. Since the opening of the North Sea Oil Fields, Stavanger has played a major part in the success of those extremely valuable oil fields. Oil has brought a previously unknown prosperity to the southwestern coast of Norway.

Always tidy, now Stavanger, a city of about 150,000 residents, has the restaurants, shops and activity of a much larger city. The best part, for me, is Old Stavanger.

Quick Tips:

The town of Stavanger is fascinating, historic and easy to get around in. You can walk for hours in Old Stavanger, with views of the harbor, wondering how life must have been before the modern age. Cold and lonely for most of the year. Now there are many ways to get to Stavanger: air, trains, highway, ferries and ships. There's an old Norwegian marriage toast that goes something like this 'may the sun always fall on your house.' You can understand what this means when you venture by sea miles and miles into the fjords to get to the town. Many houses don't have sun on them any part of the year. The ones in the better physical situations have some sun in the summer. That helps us all to understand why people in this part of the world enjoy the sun so much when they finally do see it.

Best Way To Get Around:

We arrived by ship and walked. There is no point in renting a car as you will have no place to park it. Residents' parking permits make it clear that the Old Town is no place for us to find a vacant parking spot. Public transport is handy.

This most incredible, most perfect day! Bright sun, clear skies, the best weather in Stavanger in weeks. In this home port of countless Vikings, to see so many sailing ships is the experience of a lifetime. Many of the docks were wood, others had brick surfaces. Ship after ship, large, medium and small. All getting ready to go to sea to join the race. Activity, but most of the ships were hospitable to us coming on board. Up and down gangways. Curious sights. Sailors looking for and joining ships (yes, even at the last minute). Stavanger is so beautiful, the streets of the town rising from the Vegan (harbor). Hospital people of the town. Men wearing sleeveless t-shirts, looking entirely like Vikings, getting sun. Famous out to see the ships. Food venders of all sorts, including several selling the best candy I've ever eaten. Can I express how much fun we had? Likely not. Just the best memories of a lifetime for someone like me who is fascinated by the history and voyages of the Vikings and sailing ships in general.

The Tall Ships began to leave the harbor at 1 pm. We went back on board the Crystal Harmony in company with IGOUGO's guide Pereon, for a lunch on the Lido Deck with views of Tall Ships all about us. The sailing ships left Stavanger mostly under power for navigation purposes. Also, somewhat to our surprise, all sorts of boats from dory size to much larger, headed out to watch the start of the race. The Crystal Harmony was surrounded by the flotilla of the people of Norway going to sea.

We saw a mother with a dory full of tiny children heading out as well as hosts of people on just about everything that would float.

As the Crystal Harmony let go her lines and began to move away from the oil rig dock, ever so slowly, none of the small boats yielded way. Teenagers in motor boats zipped to and fro under the bow, confident in their boat handling skills.

Since we had boarded the Crystal Harmony in Dover, England on July 28, we had roamed the ship and knew the best observation points. Our favorite was bow forward on Deck 8. Never crowded, however, we were restrained by a railing and a flight of stairs from going all the way forward to the actual bow of the ship. We had a full kit of ship watching gear, binoculars, cameras, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses for this rare sunny day on the west coast of Norway.

It took about an hour to progress slowly out to the start line.

The fjord is long, deep and narrow. Then you have the sight of the oil rig manufacturing docks, the inner harbor, Vagen. Stepping up from the harbor is the Old Town of Stavanger. Plenty strong legs are needed to make the climb. It's no small piece of work after a couple weeks on a luxury ship. Very close to the harbor is an area of very nice, very old, wooden houses and shops. The streets are made of cobbles and very narrow. The buildings are white with dark trim. Here and there a window. The ceilings are 7 feet or less. These rooms were built to contain heat during the long, dark Norweigian winters. Guide Pereon's very tall husband didn't feel comfortable.

A few very small cars were parked near to the houses and shops, but I wouldn't say it was easy parking. I wouldn't want to try to keep a car in an area like this. The shops are sprinkled in among the houses. The signs are very small. We found beautiful silver pieces and jewelry on sale, at better prices than in the big cities. The older houses have better locations to capture sunlight in the winter. The newer ones are stuffed in odd points in less favorable situations. Flowers and plants are in every window, window box and planter. A beautiful city.

Stavanger is a city I really want to return to.

This cold, hard, ancient building was begun in 1125. It burned in 1272, but was rebuilt with a Gothic chancel. It's frankly a depressing sight from the outside at it is covered with various death symbols. You have to wonder if any of its cold, hard stones have ever warmed up at all. It must have been a remarkable construction in a town made up of wooden houses, warehouses, ships and shops. As fires were fairly common in those early times, the church (kirke) would have been a solid physical and well as spiritual refuge during emergencies. A strong contrast to the wooden 'stave' churches seen in Bergen. Until relatively modern times, there were no pews or seats. Holy services were conducted to a standing congregation. Comfort was definately not a consideration.

Open to visitors mainly during the high summer months. No charge for admission. The next door building, once the home of the bishop, is not open to the public.

Please let me begin this journal by thanking Dr. Mary Ann Rizzo, who was with me on this journey, for the use of her notes. Her memory is far better than mine. I owe her a great deal for giving me information that triggered my memory. I will admit that I was in a daze of happiness. Dr. Rizzo is a famous author on the subject of ships and cruising.

We fetched Stavanger, sailing ever so quietly through the Lysefjorden, without question one of the most scenic fjords in the world. Captain Reidulf Maalen, Crystal Harmony, in his home waters, handled the very large Crystal Harmony with incredible grace. That we would be sailing into the Vagen, the harbor filled with Tall Ships of the Cutty Sark 1997 race, was the Captain's wonderful surprise for his passengers.

I have never been on a large passenger liner that made a change in itinery to give the passengers a surprise experience. This is very, very unusual. We saw Pulpit Rock, a famous high square mountain that over looks the fjord.

Captain Maalen didn't accept the advice of the Harbor Master as to where he would dock his ship. He negotiated and won and anchored with the Crystal Harmony's stern tied to an oil rig under construction at one of the Kvaener Building Yards. (later towed out to sea, that oil rig was the subject of a PBS 'NOVA' program.) The bow was anchored. We not only had a fascinating view of the building yards, but a prime view of the inner harbor where the Tall Ships were docked by the dozens.

We boarded the Crystal Harmony's luxury tenders for a few minutes' travel to the dock in the midst of the Tall Ships.

Walter Cronkite, who was onboard the Crystal Harmony as an expert lecturer on Tall Ships, was on the tender with us. We followed him ashore. I was completely overwhelmed by the sight of so many beautiful, full-rigged Tall Ships that were a few hours away from starting the next leg of the race. We were on the docks a full hour before they were opened to the public. In any case, the area wasn't crowded through the entire day.

Ships, representing countries from all over the world, Russia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the UK and France, were open for visitors. Visit we did!

Some of the ships were looking for additional crew members to join for the next leg of the race. My husband had to restrain me to keep me from joining a ship.

If you ever have the chance to have such an experience, don't miss it! It was a day of total happiness.

We departed Savanger at 4 pm and slowly followed the Tall Ships out to the starting line. The race, to start about 6 pm. Boats, boats, ships all about us. The Tall Ship Christian Radich exchanged formal greetings, gifts and flags with the Crystal Harmony. Our Norweigian Captain, Captain Reidulf Maalen was honored in his home waters.

We waited, we waited! Ships all about and nothing much going on. We shouted greetings to other ships--very easy to do with sailing ships as they are so quiet.

The start hour came about 6 pm. A canon on a Norweigian naval ship fired the warning and then the start. Nothing much happened. There are penalties to the ships for crossing the start line early; so there is a huge advantage to take one's own time to do so. Finally, sails were put up all around us. Slowly, slowly ships began to move away. The smaller ones first, the largest ones last.

So many Tall Ships, line abreast. A genuine sight from the past. Mist began to settle in and we lost sight of the ships.

Fantastic, wonderful, incredible.

I have often been asked, when raving about the travels I've made, 'what is a fjord?' The answer is simple. A fjord is a body of water that comes off of an ocean or bay. It is requently surrounded by hills of high mountains. A fjord is not mainly the outflow of a river into the sea, although rivers may flow into it. A fjord gets its source of water from the ocean or bay.

Fjord occur in many countries on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Alaska has fjords as does Canada, Iceland, Scotland (called firths), Norway, Sweden and Greenland. It surprises many people to learn that the Hudson River in New York State is actually a fjord and is the southern most fjord in the Northern Hemisphere.

Stavanger has an international airport which has many flights due to the amount of people traveling for the oil industry. It is also a major stop on the Norweigan ferry system. It is on the railway and has very good bus connections on the national road system. The driving isn't too bad if you want to rent a car. (just don't try to park it in Old Town!) Many local tours are very good. It would be a very good place to 'home base' for a while when touring Norway.

The short answer is substantially 'yes'. I find that much Norweigan is not all that difficult to understand if you take your time at it. (Allowing that I grew up in an area of the United States which was settled by many people from Norway. Many of the parents and grandparents of my childhood friends were immigrants from Norway so my ears are used to the sounds of the language.) In many words if you replace a 'k' with an 'h', you have the English word, especially words having to do with the sea. Fisk in Norweigan is fish in England. Likewise skip = ship.
yah = yes
nay = no
morning = morgen (pronouced moh-ern)

So it goes. If you give the language half a chance, you will do just fine. My hubby said that I was 5 minutes off the ship and quit speaking English. Well, that's carrying a point too far. I'd been on a luxury cruise ship with Norweigan officers for almost 2 weeks, so my ears were quite comfortable listening to Norweigan. Once I got home, it did take me a couple of weeks before I quit saying 'yah' for 'yes'.... or did I?

Called the Stavanger Card, sold mostly at hotels, post and tourist offices, it gives the visitor sizeable discounts. You can buy a 1, 2 or 3 days pass. When I was there a one day pass costed NKr110. Telephone 51/85-92-00. This is the biggest discount I have ever seen from a tourist discount card.

Unlike her newer sister the Crystal Symphony, the Crystal Harmony does have a number of inside cabins (staterooms) that sell for several hundred dollars less per cruise than outside rooms on the same deck. As I have had both inside and outside rooms on other ships, I can only offer that the difference is how you feel about having money in your pocket compared to having a window.

A local friend recently telephoned me with a long list of questions about how to book on Crystal Cruise Lines. I directed my computer to Crystal's WEB site which has prices, deck plans and other information. My caller does not 'believe in' using the Internet. (It might be easier to telephone me. He had already spoken with the folks at Crystal by telephone. I assumed that he was trying to save money; so I recommended an inside room. I also suggested that he consider booking a room that is listed as having an 'obstructed view'. He beat around the bush for a while. I thought perhaps the entire cruise was out of his price range as both he and his wife are teachers.

Excuse me. Boy was I wrong! He wanted to book a much more expensive room. One with an outside unobstructed view. Apparently I had come close to insulting him. There was no point in backpeddling as I had made a strong case for saving money.

With an inside room or one with an obstructed view you get the same basic size room for your catagory, degree of service, meals, entertainment and use of the rest of the ship. Why pay several hundred dollars per person per week more? Status? Who cares?

The lack of interest in inside rooms caused Crystal to eliminate this catagory of room totally when the newer Crystal Symphony was built. That space is now used for service areas, staff quarters, offices and such. It's a same really, as some of us really do enjoy getting more cruise for our money. It's makes enough of a difference that perhaps we can take an extra cruise once in a while. That means more to me than a window.

The exception to this rule for me is when the object of the cruise is scenery. We went for a room with a balcony on this trip to Norway as the scenery was incredible. With the Midnight Sun we often both fell asleep and woke up with incredible views of the fjords. One morning I woke up just as we were going under the Firth of Fourth Bridge in Scotland. What a treat! I ran out on to the balcony in my night dress. I'm sure an impressive sight.

But on the average cruise going to the average place, I prefer the least expensive room I can get. My opinion. Crystal Cruise Lines.