Trondheim is an increasingly popular cruise ship port in Central Norway. Here's what happened when a Royal Caribbean ship stopped by in the summer of 2013.
Back in 2013, I was new to Trondheim. I certainly didn't think that ten years later, I'd be speaking on cruise ships! Recently I found this old article and so I decided to give it a bit of a refresh. I hope you enjoy this memory as much as I did!
Thanks to a hat-tip from the good folks at Visit Trondheim, I spent some time on Friday morning watching a large cruise ship arrive at Trondheim Port.
The Adventure of the Seas is a cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean, and it occasionally calls into Trondheim as part of Norwegian itineraries, especially in the summer when many cruise ships head north for the midnight sun.
I didn't expect much other than seeing a new-to-me part of town, but it turned out to be a fun morning!
When I arrived, several people were already there, some walking their dogs, some taking photographs, and some, like me, just hanging around. There was also a curious group of smartly-dressed Norwegians.
They turned out to be the Trondhjemske Gevorbne Musketeer Corps, there to greet the ship with a cannon-fire salute.
Ever heard one? BOOM! It's loud, the kind of loud that you can feel, and the kind of loud that made the poor dog bark incessantly for ages afterwards…
The passengers on the Adventure of the Seas seemed to enjoy it, with various whoops, cheers and cries of “Hello, Norway!” coming from the deck.
I have no idea how many people were on board, although according to Wikipedia its passenger capacity is 3,114 with a further 1,180 crew. It astounds me how vessels of this size can float!
I returned a few days later to watch the welcome of the Cunard Vessel Queen Mary 2.
These days, as a cruise ship speaker I spend a lot of time on board ships like this. Whenever a notable ship comes into Trondheim, I still take a walk down to the port to take a look.
Trondheim is far from the biggest cruise ship port in Norway. Much more popular are destinations on the west coast closer to the Norwegian fjords region, and destinations within the fjords themselves. Trondheim is just a little too far north to be a common port of call, while it's too far south to be a must-stop port on northern lights cruises.
So, on days when there's no cruise ship in town, I sometimes pop over to the coastal route terminal to take a look around whichever Hurtigruten or Havila vessel is in port, and grab a cup of coffee, of course.
