Day 11 – sea day
- The sea day schedule threw us off. I guess we didn’t eat enough breakfast because by 1130, we were starving, but lunch didn’t start until 1200. It was after we sat in the cafe for 15-20 minutes that we realized that the shades covering the food were down because the schedule was different and not just because they were running late. We were also in the wrong place to eat. This ship serves a more formal lunch in the regular Restaurant and was having jerk pork chops, so we weren’t even in the right place for him to have that. I had the grilled kingklip and enjoyed it very much. We grabbed cookies for dessert and sat in the atrium before moving to the lounge (where there are a few dining-height tables) to “work” and watch the scenery.
- And then, I guess we either made up for the small breakfast, or maybe being extra tired made us confused, or maybe it was the ultra foggy day, or maybe it was a combo of all three, because we took a 3-hour nap. He even left me sleeping to go get french fries at the pool cafe.
- After getting ready for dinner, and after the very lazy day, we walked some of the hallways to look at the art on the boat. There is some really good photography.
- We went to a toast for Viking cruises hosted by the Captain and had some champagne. There, we met a couple from Sydney.
- We officially crossed the Arctic Circle, 66º33’N, as we advanced onto our next Norway town, Narvik.
- We saw our new friend for a bit before dinner, but then had to scoot. It was our turn at Manfredi’s for Italian. It was just okay and a tad bit disappointing. Later, we would see that they were quite open about there being more spots for reservations. I guess others felt the same as us. It’s not bad, but it’s also not somewhere you can easily go with friends.
- Later, we hung out with our new friend and met another woman who is married to an actual Norwegian.
- After that long nap, we weren’t tired, so we closed down the bar.
Day 12 – New city day: Narvik
- After breakfast, I tried to “work” during drills. They are very necessary and required weekly but also super-annoying because there is no good way to escape them. We also ended up near a truly insufferable old man. I picked up on some narcissism from him. Ew. His wife just ignored everything he said. Grumpy old fart who can’t show even basic respect for other humans.
- On the way off the ship to visit Narvik, we walked through a small market of handmade items. They were lovely, but nothing was tugging at us.
- Our bus tour of Narvik was slated to be “industry” (iron ore) but included their church. They are also getting ready to host the 2029 winter games. Back on the bus, we met a guy in a Broncos hat. He played football in Canada, had worked in the NFL, and had a big-ass football ring on his hand. We didn’t get to ask him about the ring before the bus was moving on. He’s very proud of the Broncos connection.
- The bus tour wiped us out, so we took naps before the Lobster tower dinner, where we ran into our friend. Then, we went to the Explorers’ Lounge to “work” during push off. Push off is always fun for watching, but it’s a slow process, so having something to do until the next interesting part is always a good idea for us.
- And then, the evening’s music trivia drove us back to our cabin. He changed shirts and went to the Restaurant for salad and dessert (to round out his dinner), but I stayed back to try to take advantage of the available wifi while people were busy and/or starting to turn in. When he ordered a wine to bring to me, Bosa had two sent to our cabin. 💜 She is a gem!
- When I ran out of wine, we went to the Explorers’ Lounge for water watching. We met a lovely British couple who were playing Scrabble. They run a very competitive streak between them, and his win tied them up for this cruise. They were delightful and their hearts are hurting for our country. We appreciated their concern. The Asian musician sang All My Exes Live In Texas, which was quite funny to us.
Day 13 – New city day: Leknes, Lofoten, Norway
- After a breakfast/work morning, we searched the ship for TVs (there aren’t many) to see if any of them had an HDMI input so we could put the game on a larger screen. But of course they do not. After lunch, we took the Tender to the shuttle bus to Leknes. We walked most of the town in like 3 minutes. We also noticed a lot of traffic (and roundabouts) for the tiny town. There was also a very deep pothole in one of the roundabouts, so we watched cars hit it over and over. A few noticed it enough to avoid it, but most were oblivious. .
- Back at the dock, we had a good view of the cool bio center building. On the way back to the ship, a new tender driver was learning and bonked the big ship a couple of times trying to dock the tender.
- I did a little work while he napped, and then we went to a lecture about why polar bears and penguins are polarized. The presenter was a BBC Producer who is also a fantastic photographer.
- We had a lovely dinner with Bosa: Cesar salads, duck for me, steak for him. I had the creme brulee for dessert.
- In the lounge, we had drinks before the game. We tried to use my laptop, turned on VPN for Denver, and logged into the provider for our building, but it was somehow blocked. However, we got it to work from his tablet, for some reason. Kickoff was exactly as we passed under a massive suspension bridge. At half time, we moved to the Viking bar for the game and sat with a few polite English fans who were watching on their phones. We were about 35 seconds ahead of them for some reason. When the game finished regulation play, we all retired to our staterooms to finish the games. We ordered some room service because by then, it had been hours since dinner. We also noticed that some of our stateroom didn’t have power. We really wanted Norway to win, and they gave it a very good go, but weren’t successful. Our power was restored sometime during the middle of the night.
Day 14- New city day: Tromsø
- As we ventured out for breakfast, we ran into the electrician. Our neighbors had on-again, off-again power for several days, so they figured our blip was related to that. When we returned, our room steward told us not to have our extension cords plugged into that wall. Nothing was plugged into them, so we didn’t think that was it. I think I figured it out, though; we have a string of fairy lights that we bring to be a nice red nightlight. The one time I tried to use our portable battery to power them, they chewed through the whole battery in one night. They were cheap, so they are probably flawed. Still, we did as asked about the cords, rearranged a few things, and also unplugged the fairy lights. All problems seemed to disappear for us and our neighbor. I guess I need to toss those lights.
- We then had our usual work/nap morning combo before popping down for a lunch snack. They had roasted us a pig; he named it Stanley.
- On the way off the ship, we saw some of the (nice) English fans and congratulated them on the win. We also bumped into our new friend. We were pretty early for our afternoon tour, so we rode the shuttle to town, didn’t even get off, and rode it back. We went through a very cool tunnel that had LED art and a roundabout inside the tunnel, but couldn’t get any pics or videos of it. EDIT: but we found one, later online.
- Our Panoramic Tour started with a 30-minute aurora show at the university planetarium and science museum. A ton of people slept through the dark room filled with pretty images. Next, we spent a whopping 45 minutes at the arctic cathedral, which was way too long. It has been called a tiny version of the Sydney Opera House, but it’s a 15-20 minute stop at best. The rest of the time was spent just driving all over the whole town. By the end of our three hours, I wasn’t feeling great. Our tour guide was also new and kept “umming” through her whole script. It was so twisty and jostling, that I felt more grounded back on the ship. Snacks helped, too. We also had fun watching them put away the gangway and watching the views change during shove off.
- On our last cruise, someone told us, “if they ever offer Hanger steak, get it” and it was on the dinner menu in the Restaurant, so we did. They were paired with fois gras, and fabulous potatoes. We both had Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert. Bosa was the best, as always. People around us noticed the treatment we were getting. So we taught them our new trick that we accidentally discovered. We are going to sit in the same server’s section on the next cruises, too. It’s just easier for them and nicer for us. Plus, the people on both sides of us were lovely to chat with. It’s nice when people start to get comfortable and friendly. One of our table neighbors watches the same Svalbard YouTube channel that I do, so we chatted a lot about how we’ve learned of and began to love Svalbard and Longyearbyen through her…and how it’s a big reason we are on this cruise with this itinerary. I hope Viking pays her a commission.
- After dinner, we went to the Living Room for “work” and piano music, and then sadly, we lost track of time and missed most of the (broadway music) show. We arrived at the show just in time for 525,600 Minutes from RENT. The Viking Vocalists are very good, and it’s sad we have been missing them.
- Back at the Lounge we listened to the guitar player, had drinks, and watched the gorgeous scenery go by. We noticed the boat rolling and pitching quite a bit more than it had been, which was the first time it did that at all, really. It was good for rocking us to sleep.
Day 15 – New city day: Honningsvag
- We woke up a tad earlier for breakfast so we could make it to our bridge tour. It was largely the same as the one we had on the Seabourn ship, but it was still worth doing. Then we headed back to the state room “work” and chores. Before going to lunch. We really do eat/snack mostly at normal times, but we also do a lot of chilling without much of note.
- Next, we walked into town for a bit. It’s tiny. He bought a tshirt for himself and a sticker for the Jeep. The town is proud of their 71º parallel and is the northernmost town in continental Europe.
- Back at the ship, we did another work/nap before a late lunch snack of fries for him, salad and banana for me. (I forgot how much my peroneal and anterior muscles can cramp!)
- Our new friend and her parents had invited us to dinner and had even gone early to secure a table big enough for us all. We had a lovely time chatting with the Aussies from Sydney. We talked for so long that we barely made it to the Restaurant to see Bossa for dessert, wine, and his extra steak.
- After dinner and dessert, we stopped by our state room for my laptop and his fanta-to-go and that’s when I broke my (cheap) travel ring. I caught it on the edge of a counter and pulled the stone right out of the mounting. We hung out at the lounge for a bit.
- As we got further from Honningsvag, we headed into the open sea with semi-rough waves. The ship had signs of expecting rough seas, but then we also saw signs that seemed to surprise the crew, so maybe it was rougher than even they expected?
