P&O MS Arvia; Friday, 11 September, 2026

Our final port call of the cruise and it had taken the whole night to sail back south from the Nordfjord so we were only just pulling up the cruise terminal when I pulled back my curtains to the grey overcast skies of Haugesund.

As I’d been here in 2025 I knew that the weather here can be very changeable, and whilst it isn’t quite as wet as Bergen, it’s still one of the wettest towns in Europe, so I wasn’t expecting much from the days weather, which meant I was pleasantly surprised that it pretty much stayed dry, with even the odd patch of blue sky later in the afternoon.

After breakfast we headed out for our final tour a two hour coach tour of the city titled Leisurely Haugesund, which initially stopped at the Rådhus in the centre of town before driving up into the hills above the city to visit the Steinsfjellsutsikten viewpoint 225m above the waters edge below. Whilst the skies were still a bit grey and misty we were able to see down into town to make out both our ship and the final stop on the tour the Haraldshaugen.

From the Steinsfjellsutsikten we drove back down to the monument located close to the waters edge, supposedly on the burial site of King Harald Fair Hair, the first king to unite Norway in the 800’s, with the monument being built in the 1800s to commemorate the 1,000 anniversary of the unification of the country.

After a brief stop here we headed back on the coach into town, dropping some people off there who wanted to explore the town centre, before heading back over to the ship, arriving in time for lunch.

Once again after lunch mum headed back to her cabin and I headed back into town, mostly for some exercise, but also to pick up some souvenirs and gifts at Norwegian town centre prices rather than onboard cruise ship prices.

I didn’t spend long in town before heading back over to the ship and then back up to my cabin where we enjoyed our final sail away of the cruise as the Arvia slowly made her way north out of the city up the Karmsundet before slowly u-turning around the top of a set of island in the Kvaløyfjorden and starting the long journey back south.

The usual evening routine finished off the day.