| An early start in a wet and chilly Geiranger when we sailed in first far too early on the 21st July 2011. Costa Deliziosa, was due for 10am while Marina 1.30pm, both having been in Hellesylt first. The Costa is a sister to the Cunard Vistas, most notably Queen Elizabeth and shares a lawn, square hull but her tonnage of 92,600grt makes her slightly heavier than the Cunarder. The Costa carries nearly 900 more passengers though and is a typical Carnival/Costa ship. She was named in Dubai, the first ship ever to be, which coincided with the opening of the Port Rashid Cruise Terminal and her maiden voyage was the 5th February 2010. At 10am I put the webcam on the telly in my cabin, I saw Marina in front of us so dashed up one deck to the port side of the Promenade. |
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| Then she disappeared so I went starboard but she didn't come into view so I returned port and sat to wait for Costa Deliziosa, who appeared just after 11am. |
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| Then it was time to go ashore for my excursion and it was still raining but at least the really low cloud when we arrived was slowly lifting. I hoped it would be enough for the Flydal Gorge viewing point, the best in Geiranger in my opinion. Soon find out! In the meantime, I had a wander to kill time and get photos of the shippies until I boarded the bus. |
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| By the time we reached Flydal Gorge the rain had stopped and visibility was perfect! Then it was back to the ship! |
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| Marina was due to sail at 5pm with us and the Costa an hour later. Marina's lines began to be dropped about 5.20pm even though she still had two tenders down and she finally shifted her bum very slowly about ten minutes later as she silently slipped out. |
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| We actually went before the Costa because she wasn't anywhere near ready. We blasted three times then blasted to her as we passed each other, which was reciprocated as each ships' respective passengers waved to each other. Her anchor was already up when we passed so she quickly followed. |
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| During dinner we could see her behind as we snaked out of the Fjord, many of my fellow passengers convinced she was going to overtake. I dashed out after dessert to get some photos. |
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| A couple of hours later I spotted something white in the fading light from my cabin window so went up to the Prom deck to find out if it was something important or just a ferry. Turned out to be very important - Marina! Meanwhile behind us, our stalker had turned off. |
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| The review of my cruise can be found here and photos of her sister, Costa Luminosa in Southampton are here. |
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