Unpacking that evening made for a late night but the bed and cabin was comfortable and we woke rather early because the first day was with the ship docked in Bergen to get a chance to walk around the city which was adjacent to the port we were out – the only challenge was the weather.
Bergen and western side of Norway is known for having rain and foggy weather – just like Seattle in the US where drizzlingly rain most days. So we ventured with Viking umbrella in hand, to walk the city in the morning. It rained a little bit, had low clouds around but it was manageable. The only change to our itinerary for the day was that because of the weather, we cancelled our Viking Cruise afternoon included excursion, Bergen by boat, which was to sail around the bay and a guided tour of the city from the water. That was a very fortunate decision since we talked to a few folks that went and said the afternoon rain on a uncovered boat was not much fun.
After a little walk though the cute retail shops we made our way to the Famous Bergen Funicular called the Fiobanen – a 5 minute ride up a steep incline to the top of the mountain for a panoramic view of the Bergen Bay and surrounding area. Unfortunately, as you can see as seen from from the photos, the marine layer which came in and out during our time up there made seeing everything in its sunshine glory impossible, but we did get a glimpse time to time.
Our ship is faintly visible in the fog!
Taking a 15 minute walk back to town down the hill was an option, as it is said to be tolerable for most. We did not want to risk slippery conditions, and we opted to take the funicular down, finish our walk, get back on board and tour the ship which we had not done yet.
The ship was just like I had imagined from the information posted on Youtube and blogs with the Viking Mars being only 1 year old, it was in impeccable shape and furnished immaculately in Norwegian styling.
Our room was a Penthouse veranda which was roomy and offered a couch and chair for sitting inside and two chairs on the balcony.
A perfect sized cabin for us, enough room to stretch out and relax.
Sail out of the Bergen Harbor right on time, with picturesque views!
Next stop, Geirangerfjord! It deserves its own blog!
