‘How about a cruise in the Norwegian Fjords with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines?’ 

I put forward to my parents over the dinner table. We were discussing options where to go for our family holiday on a visit to them in Hull. To be fair, I wanted to get my Mum’s cooking inside me again.

It had been a long time since my parents and I went on a proper holiday abroad together. The last time abroad was in Portugal for my neighbours’ wedding but it wasn’t a proper holiday as I met my parents in the Algarve while I travelled around Spain and Portugal.

See more: A True Algarve Wedding

If anything, the last proper holiday abroad was Malta when I was the young age of 17 before I went to university. We had been on plenty of UK holidays but not abroad.

Anyway, fast forward 13 years later, we were ready for our next round of holidays but this time it would be different. I was no longer the budding lanky teenager that slouched around while my parents told me what to do. This time, I would be supporting them on our holiday and be the bossy person. Both my parents now have mobility issues and this is the reason why they stopped doing holidays abroad before. But knowing that they wanted to go abroad again, I thought it would be great if I could come along with them, not only to support them, but also to be a family again on holiday. Some of the best memories I have of my family is on our holidays abroad!

So, with this opportunity, we played around with a few destinations. The Amalfi Coast in Italy? Sunning ourselves on the Greek Islands? Back to our old holiday stomping ground in the Canaries or Balearic Islands? Or do we try something different?

Hence why the Norwegian Fjords cropped up.

We all love sightseeing but with mobility issues in mind, cruising through the Fjords, a place where both my Mum and I have never been and Dad went as a Scout leader, it seemed the best opportunity to go in September when it would be magical but not too cold.

So, plenty of cruise lines go up and down the Norwegian coast, which one to take?

Both my parents were adamant that they didn’t want to go on a ‘massive’ cruise ship like Royal Caribbean or P&O ferries etc. They wanted a small one where they could easily get around and have a ‘local’ feel around it.

Therefore, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines were found.

We booked for a week in September on the cruise ship called ‘Balmoral’. The cruise ship would be making its return trip from the port of Newcastle Upon Tyne in Northern England, ideal for us as we live in Hull and Newcastle Upon Tyne is just under two hours away by car. With two days at sea, we would be stopping off at Flam, Olden, Molde and Bergen but throughout going through some of the world’s scenic Fjords that would be out off this world.

I was pretty excited! After all, it would be a great end to visit all the Nordic countries as I only had Norway left to visit.

Let the Norway trip commence!