It was certainly not in our plans, but helped by a generous gift from David’s mum we have been able to make a last minute booking for a cruise to Norway to continue or search for the Northern lights.
So, with just a few days notice, we started preparing and packing to join the Fred Olsen ship Balmoral at Dover on the 4th of November.
Driving down the night before, we over-nighted in a Travelodge at Canterbury.
Friday morning we were up and out reasonably early to spend a little time exploring the White Cliffs before our rendez-vous with the ship just after midday.
Boarding preliminaries completed, we boarded the ship which is to be our home for the next two weeks. We went exploring to get to know the ship a little.
We started the evening with a pre-dinner drink in the Observatory Bar. David was delighted because he found they stocked an exceptionally good gluten free beer.
Then we went to the restaurant for the first of many delightful meals.
