Day 6 - Monday June 16th

The sea was very rough last night and the ship rolled all night.  I am sleeping in a bunk bed above Michael with no rail and thought I was going to fall out.  I held the rail all night and woke up with a sore wrist and arm.   Due to rough seas and high wind, we were late getting to first Norwegian port, Stavanger.  Since we were a bit late getting up, we missed sailing in through the fjords but the view within the port was spectacular.

Since this was our first docking, we watched from the upper decks of the ship as the workers pulled lines to the dock and locked us in.   The new cruise ships have thrusters that allow then to go sideways and into the dock without a tugboat.  It was way cool!

We did not have a shore excursion so we departed the ship after the hordes left for their early shore excursion.    It has a great park in 
central city with a beautiful pond with two swans with their signets.  

Stavanger is 4^th largest city in Norway and is considered the center of the booming oil industry in Norway and it is often called the oil capital.  It is a very modern city in amongst 19th century wooden houses.  Here is the contrast in architecture.

In the afternoon, Robert got a text from Joyce at BA saying we would get reimbursed for any clothes purchases. A shopping we will go! Robert bought a belt, hat and underwear.

After walking around the city park, we looked for a public restroom and were told there was one in the train station.   Upon entry, it required a payment of 10 kroner or $1.67 but would accept only credit cards, not cash.  Guess what, the credit card machine did not work.  Michael asked a railroad employee to open the door with a key and we all took turns.  

Leaving Stavanger about 5pm, there was a  sail away party in the Crow’s Nest, at the front of the ship overlooking the fjords as we left for a night sailing to our next port, Flam.  It was another great sunny day but still chilly with high of 59 degrees F.