Not Much Happening on Cool Sunday in Kristiansand Harbor

Day 110, Grand World Voyage

Sunday, April 23, 2023; Kristiansand, Norway.

Today was not one of my better days since my knee injury, although it wasn’t bad either. I simply did not get off the ship.

Earlier I had booked a Holland America tour to Lillesand, considered a beautiful town near Kristiansand. The highlight was a boat trip along the coastline to view the “island-speckled coast,” according to the tour description. It also included a tour of Lillesand, named the “Jewel of Sorlandet,” or the southern coast of Norway. The tour was rated “easy” with no mention of limitations for those in wheelchairs or otherwise mobility impaired.

The disappointing news came yesterday, when one of the shore excursion team told me that, even being able to walk with the aid of crutches, I probably couldn’t get on the boat. She had asked the tour provider to provide pictures of the boat ramp, but hadn’t received a reply. She said the provider said the tour wasn’t for the mobility challenged.

With that, I canceled the tour. Later the shore excursion team did refund the charge, because the description of the tour had changed so much since I had booked it.

On top of that disappointment, the walk from the gangway on the pier to anywhere I could pick up private transportation was several blocks. No shuttle available, and no taxis or hop-on, hop-off buses at the pier.

The weather was cold, with temperatures in the 40s in the morning, although it warmed a bit and the sun came out later in the day. I decided a trip ashore here just wasn’t meant to be.

Don’t feel sorry for me. I really don’t mind getting a day on board – a “ship day” as I now call it when we are in port. I could sleep in, catch up on my blogging, sort through and cull my thousands of photographs and rest in the cabin with my knee elevated to help reduce swelling.

Those who did go ashore said it was a nice town, but being Sunday, almost everything was closed. Eloise and Elaine walked around, admiring the statues that seem to populate every Norwegian port.

They window-shopped and eventually had lunch outdoors in the sun. Elaine tries the seafood chowder in every port (they are each different, she says) and the local beer, as usual.

The Lido restaurant hosted a seafood boil tonight, but we hadn’t made reservations. I know it came with an upcharge, but I don’t recall what it was. I believe this is a typical special event that Holland America has while sailing in Alaska.

The captain continues to warn us about the weather ahead. So far we have been lucky, and the forecasted rain hasn’t occurred. We will keep our fingers crossed, even as we pull out our cold-weather clothes. When I packed last December, I couldn’t imagine how cold it might be, and our temperatures lately have been running about 10 degrees below the averages. My biggest challenge has been finding pants to wear – I only packed two pair of jeans and they both are skinny jeans. Thank goodness it was warm enough to wear casual dresses when I initially had the cast and bulky bandages. Now the swelling is down enough to wear the jeans, and the brace fits just fine over them.