This was a wonderful way to see some of Norway. On a previous trip we'd lugged our suitcases and tried to find reasonably priced restaurants but the cruise made it easy - no lugging and always a great dinner! We'd learned a little Norwegian and I think it helped us get a very friendly reception from local people.
Kristiansand, our first stop, had a beautiful harbor area. We walked through it with the crowd from the boat and then left the crowd and found a bakery/restaurant that was open downtown (many stores were closed). We had the best egg salad/salmon sandwich we've ever had in a charming place with mostly locals. Our Norwegian neighbor back home had recommended the Arkivet - a museum that is very popular with Norwegians. It's a museum in the old Gestapo headquarters in town. It wasn't in the guidebooks because everything was in Norwegian, but a guide takes you through the museum and combines his personal history with the museum exhibits. His English was not perfect but it was a fascinating experience.
In Stavanger we walked through a beautiful charming old neighborhood of homes of fishermen and trades people from an earlier era. A local recommended Godt Brod, a wonderful bakery/restaurant where we had great sandwiches and wonderful help from a waiter who patiently helped us get internet access. Then we walked to the oil museum - very interesting and shows the Norwegians' ambivalence about providing more oil (fossil fuel) to our warming climate. I enjoyed the ambience, some beautiful stores, the church from the 1100's.