Saturday 4th /Sunday 5th October, 2025 – Narvik to Stavanger

We were initially scheduled to depart Narvik some time after 05:30 in the morning but due to the approach of Storm Amy that time was brought forward to 4:00am, and we were well underway by the time I woke up. I had been planning a run, but the way the deck was going up and down, postponed it by a day because I didn’t want to have to take to the treadmill in the gym. Even had I wanted to run outside, it turned out I couldn’t, because the Promenade Deck had been closed. Even getting our balcony door open required more strength than I expected. What was odd was that it seemed to be reasonably fine out there, despite the ferocious winds. Anyway it was a good excuse for a lazy day, with some reading, a stop for a latte, and a couple of interesting talks.

This time it was Matthew Towler again first, on the subject of AI and the effects it might – and might not – have on all our lives. I don’t think a lot of the listeners had a clue, but I’m dealing with it on an almost daily basis at work now so I do have opinions. However, I wasn’t at work so that’s for another day. We took our coffee break after that, and then post-lunch went to listen to Shena Lewington had to say about Norwegian stave churches, none of which we would see on this voyage. It struck me, given the Kievan Rus history (legend), that they are very reminiscent of some of the Ukrainian orthodox churches I have visited, or rather the orthodox churches look very much like stave churches on steroids. I have no proof but suspect that there are probably some academic studies out there that would back me up.

We spent a lazy afternoon around the ship, nosing into a variety of places, before getting glammed up for the third and final gala evening, where the theme was red and gold. We had an excellent dinner, and then caught up with Arthur, the photographer, on the stairs from Deck 3 to the Drawing Room on Deck 1. We had a lot of fun, generally messing about with some silly poses, but he did also manage to get some very nice shots too, and seemed to be enjoying our complete lack of formality.

After that we made our way forward and up to the Pavilion where the Amethyst Duo were performing a show they billed as Pink Floyd and Friends. If you’re a fan of their work (and I am), it was very good indeed and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We spoke to the pair afterwards, and I was amused to note that Paul, the guitarist, has a 22-string guitar! He said he would be playing it the following afternoon. After that we decided it was time to hit thedance floor in the Bright Lights Society, at least until the dance floor started to try and hit back as the storm outside got worse. We decided to call it a night before someone got hurt!

The following day dawned a lot calmer and I was able to get out and run before breakfast. We then took a very light breakfast because Lynne and I were booked in to Sir Samuel’s for a “Lunch and Learn” session with the head sommelier, Dickson Moniz. This we now knew would entail five courses of Italian food with several matching Italian wines. Anything more than Bircher muesli and toast would be very foolish and possibly counterproductive.

Once everyone was seated, we were given an amuse bouche of duck liver pate to go with a glass of Prosecco, Cunard Cellar Reserve. We had already gone through several bottles of this already, but another measure wouldn’t hurt! The head sommelier and his fellow sommeliers talked us through each wine pairing, and were knowledegable and a lot of fun too.

There followed a starter of tea-smoked duck breast with a mandarin dressing, toasted sesame slaw and pomegranate molasses. I think the smoke element was underdone, but the slaw was tasty and the duck was tender. It was paired with two wines, a Ribolla Gialla, Rigialla, La Tunnella from Venezia and a Sicilian Passopisciaro, Andrea Francetti, IGT, which is basically grown by a madman on the slopes on Mount Etna. I particularly liked the Ribolla Gialla.

Next up was a herb-crusted salmon medallion, with grilled asparagus, beetroot puree and butter chive sauce. It only had a single wine paired with it, an Arneis, Cantine Giacomo Ascheri. It had a lovely freshness to it and I could have happily drunk it without food, though it paired beautifully with the fish.

The main course was an utterly glorious piece of fillet steak, from Aubrey Allen, and it may well be one of the best pieces of steak I have ever eaten! It was so tender, and so perfectly cooked, that it restored my faith in steak as a restaurant option. It also came with THREE wines, each one very good in its own right. These were, in order of consumption, a Taurasi, Feudi di San Gregorio from Campania, a La Grola, Allegrini, Veronese from the Veneto, and a stunning Chianti Rufina Riserva, Fattoria di Basciano from, of course, Tuscany. All three were good, but the Chianti knocked it out of the park.

We finished with something much lighter, a Moscati d’Asti DOCG, Fratelli Antonio e Raimondo. This is actually my go-to wine at home for desserts after a substantial dinner, at around 5% as opposed to the 12-14% you find in most other dessert wines. It’s pleasantly effervescent, and goes well with most puddings. Here it accompanied a New York-style baked vanilla cheesecake.

Afterwards we had a chat with the head sommelier, and I discovered that the ship leaves Southampton with around 30,000 wines in the main cellar, which sounds like a lot but with 3,000 passengers, it’s 10 bottles each for a full journey. We also had a lovely chat during lunch with the people on the next table, Jo and Jim, a pair of inveterate foodies, whose son is a chef. Said son, Chris, is head chef at a restaurant in Woburn, Margo’s, which is around half an hour from home for us, so we will likely go and talk to Chris, and try out his cooking sometime soon.

Meanwhile, outside, the weather was still pretty rough, but we did catch sight of a rainbow! We also found we’d been given a fresh bottle of complimentary fizz when we returned to our room. It was unexpected but not unwelcome.

I decided to go to the “radio play”, Cunard Street, in the Queen’s Room that afternoon. As no one wanted to join me, I snagged a small table, and was promptly joined by an incredibly garrulous Welsh woman, who was slightly drunk and never shut up throughout the 45 minute show. I could have done without her and was happy to escape at the end. Luckily I didn’t encounter her again because I might have been forced to be quite rude to get rid of her.

Lynne and I also stopped off at the photography studio to choose some photos. I should say these are ludicrously expensive, but they were so good that we had to indulge.

After that it was time for a relaxing evening ahead of our next – and final – port, Stavanger.