Day 16 – sea day to Svalbard
- As we left Honningsvåg, we hit open water for the first time on this trip. We had a rocky night’s sleep.
- Breakfast was early per the different schedule on sea days. We ended up seated next to a foursome where one guy did all the talking and “never came up for air”. He was exhausting that early in the day.
- Looking for a quiet place without going back to our state room, we tried to sit on 1, but were setting up for Baggo (Cruise lingo for Cornhole) inside. They play from the stairs and aim at four boards at a time, which seemed like a nice variation on the game, but we didn’t want to listen to the thunking.
- Wintergarden near the pool is lovely and always quiet. I was even willing to stoop over to a coffee table to “work”. The craft ladies were knitting and quilting, which I’d enjoy, but an awful Englishman was in there with his feet on the table* (ew, people have tea there!) and with his tablet on full volume of fotball news, so we had to move again to get away from him. Hey jackass, if you are going to be rude, at least don’t represent your team with a jersey. Now, I’m Team ABE, Anyone But England.
- We spent a little while watching birds glide just above surface of the ocean’s 15-foot swells. Some of them would glide. And some others were black and white and absolutely glittered in the sunlight as they flapped their wings.
- A late afternoon program was an Officer Q&A, and we learned some cool stuff.
- This ship has 900 guests and 600 crew. Wow! And what’s weird is that I don’t actually like high-touch service, but it rarely feels like that. They are trained to stay out of your way unlike on some ships where they are bugging you every two seconds trying to be helpful, but interrupting conversations or reading or journaling. With such a ratio, I’d expect them to be fawning all over us, but they really aren’t. They strike a good balance.
- The staff are hired for their personalities, and diversity among that is intentional. They use a personality inventory to figure out what people work best and which combinations of types are best in certain roles. They also pay them really well and provide all of their uniforms.
- The “godmother” of Viking hired her personal friends to be the vendors for things like furnishings and decor. Everything is ultra expensive (and for sale in a museum-like shop), but it’s also very high quality. It does feel a little like just supporting the 1%, but anyone who can afford to build/own a ship is already that 1%. And it’s normal that their friends are, too.
- Our highlight of the day was Bear Island, a bird sanctuary. Captain took us in from the southwest corner, east and then north up the east side, and across the north of it. We stayed a safe-for-the-birds distance. Right as we approached it, the weather cleared up as if the birds and the island were welcoming us in. In the Explorers’ Lounge, we couldn’t go outside due to the winds and sea surging. So of course we ended up near the same guy from breakfast who can never let anyone else talk. I’m pretty sure he is one of the lecturers on board, so I guess that tracks.
- After that, we didn’t time things well and lunch was packed.
- * A few days ago, I noticed a guy absent-mindedly picking at the bottom of his shoe while he was reading a book. Today, I saw four occasions across three people putting their feet on the furniture like children. One didn’t have on shoes and another didn’t have on socks. Gross! Wipe your tables down to take a seat where you know the staff just did. And wash your damn hands because people are gross and then they touch the same elevator buttons and handrails that you do. Thankfully, there are quite a few handwashing and sanitizer stations around the ship.
- After a “work/nap,” we went to a talk on board to learn more about Svalbard and the things we’d be seeing. When he got to the part about bears, he was emphasizing the ferociousness of the polar bear, and he compared bears this way: If it’s black, fight back. If it’s brown, lay down. If it’s white, good night.
- After a quick outfit change (just a touch; it’s still mostly casual), we headed for dinner. We got a window table, which was nice. I skipped an appetizer because I wanted two entrees: the grilled shrimp and scallop and the duck. He had a Cesar and beef tenderloin roast. We both had potatoes. He ignored his Brussels sprouts, of course. For dessert, I had their little creme brulee, and he had cheesecake with 14oz of whipped cream and a glass of whole milk. No, it wasn’t 14oz, but it was a pretty large serving.
- We headed to the Viking Bar to hear the violin/piano duo and “work”–I promise, I don’t do this for all that long each time, but I was trying to catch up (and then hopefully keep up)–when the announcement came that they had spotted whales. We saw their spouts and also saw dolphins jumping. There are no pics or videos worth sharing, but it was still a fun moment.
- Once the excitement waned, we enjoyed hearing Fillip play the piano. It is always lovely. Between his sets we saw some of Spain beating France. Steve & Jan were there, too. Our tablet was still about 35 seconds ahead of their phone.
- At about 2230, I noticed a distinct increase in Wifi speed….as some of the old people went to bed, I guess.
Day 17 – docked in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
- I opened our black out drapes to see a very familiar scene: Longyearbyen. I’ve seen that angle of it dozens of times on Cecilia’s YouTube channel. At breakfast, I told him, you could have plunked me from the night from anywhere in the world on any day of the year, and if I woke up here, I’d know it was Longyearbyen and simply wonder how I got all the way here.
- We grabbed a shuttle into the center of town and walked all around it. We visited the tourism center, went into a couple of shops, and bought a jeep sticker. We found a local flock of geese with goslings, the famous little multi-colored houses, and saw some toddlers in a 4-kid stroller doing the Norway “ro” to the taps on the handlebar by their teacher. We also made our way into the Huskies Cafe to have a hot chocolate and see the retired sled dogs.
- Lunch at Kroa was interesting. They were busy, of course. Our food was good, but true to Longyearbyen fashion, things can be different depending on supply. So, my BLT was on ciabatta bread. They also really like their mayo-based sauce. And, I got both soft and crispy bacon, which made for a nice texture combo.
- We then went back to buy the shirt he liked best and the calendar of photos that I liked best. Down the hill and on the edge of the water, we found the local museum. By then, we were only 1km from the ship, so we decided to walk the rest of the way, but we had to stop when we saw the Longyearbyen Golf Klub. How could we not? It’s two bays like the ones we have in bars. Believe it or not, they used to play golf on Svalbard, but they stopped because they chose to protect the tundra instead.
- Back on board, we ordered a room service snack with two glasses of wine. And then I did a little work before I gave in to the siren song of his nap. We overslept our usual dinner time, and our stewards even tried to come in. No one here uses the DND/clean signs much, so we’re just out of practice and will try to do better.
- The show was a musician who played a flute and some other “instruments”, so I was looking forward to it. Before the show started, Kate (our Entertainments Director) called a guest up to the stage. He’s a retired NASA engineer and had a few pictures to share of a trip he made to Svalbard many years ago. They were testing Spirit and Opportunity, two of the six Mars rovers. He was very interesting and the photos were cool. His job was to make sure the rovers could get themselves upright after they got knocked over.
- The show itself was awful: the backup tracks were over produced and far too loud (to cover up his playing?) and blindingly flashy, he was more about his eyebrows and leg kicks, and he was a fan of Galway. One of his “instruments” was a recorder; another was a slide whistle. In all fairness, he did have a bass flute….which he played for part of one song. One of us said he had no substance; the other called him a kook and a hack.
- We went to the Viking bar for the Argentina v England game with Steve & Jan, Larisa, and met two people from Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada.
- After the game (and the closure of the Viking bar), we tried to go to the club, but womp womp, they were closing, too. We might be the only two night owls on this whole ship.
Day 18 – Longyearbyen and Spitsbergen
- While we got ready, I realized that I lost my scrunchie. So after breakfast we asked if it turned up. I think it’s in Longyearbyen, probably in Husky Cafe. We went to the Lounge to “work” with the amazing view.
- It was much warmer. I didn’t even need a jacket (but the breezes in Longyearbyen are quite chilly, so having one around is a good idea. It’s just like Denver!
- The couple who had an early lunch near us was adorably cute. They reminded me of us in how they interacted with one another. She didn’t assume his drink order. And she apologized that she needed to be on her phone just a little bit because she was mid-”project” with someone back home. We are not nearly as good at staying off our screens during meals when it’s just us. And then her: “Do you know what you want to do this afternoon?” and him, “That’s what I was just about to ask you.” We have that conversation nearly every day.
- After lunch and a quick nap/rest, we got ready for the Galley Tour, where we learned some neat stuff about Viking Vela.
- 110 staff, 25 dishies, 5 sous chefs – one is about to become executive chef on an adventure vessel, only 5 cooks assigned to the whole crew mess.
- Food waste disposal is interesting: hard food waste (not consumable, apple cores, bones, raw skin, etc.) is separated from soft food waste (edible parts that were out too long, left on plates, etc.). Compost is refrigerated. Per maritime law, some compost can be discharged as fish food. The rest of the waste is dropped off at a port for proper disposal.
- On the screen menus, I noticed a Tomahawk steak at the Italian restaurant. Too bad that wasn’t there on our night.
- We saw The Kitchen Table where cooking classes are held. It’s an amazing space and a great setup. We also heard two women chatting about how they wanted to do it, but they were all full. He looked it up on our phones and got me the very last spot on the whole boat.
- It was a great tour!
- After a french-fries break and push off and during sail away, we saw glaciers galore. There have been times on this trip when I wished for a longer lens (and wished they weren’t so dang big and heavy), but I didn’t really need it for the shots of this stuff. I wasn’t even using the whole zoom of the one I brought. I got a little bit of “work” done to catch us up; it goes best in little bits where I can stay caught up.
- At dinner, he ordered a dessert as his appetizer and confused Bossa. But she sneaked me some good wine (so she didn’t have to open a new bottle).
- We went back to the stateroom to re-group….and decided to crash instead.
Day 19 – sea day from Svalbard
- Time changes on a boat are pretty easy except for our devices; they don’t like to change. But falling back while sleeping is so nice.
- After breakfast, we went to the upper lounge to work/game. It was nice and quiet up there, but it was warm and there was a door whistling because it wouldn’t close all the way. I had just started to edit the tiny clips of our whale and dolphin sightings when we decided to move back to the cabin for a temperature break. And that’s when I spotted a whale. I could only see the spout and not the beautiful beast itself, but I spotted it. I looked for more a time or two, but I must have caught the tail end of the pod, so to speak.
- After a lunch siesta, we went to the Viking Bar. I had written maybe three of our little notes into sentences (and quite sporadically between conversations) when some woman near us said, “She writing War & Peace over there!” Lady, just because you obviously can’t type, doesn’t mean three sentences on an ultra-quiet Mac keyboard is a lot. I mean, these notes are in a bullet list, not prose. Anyway, they left and then we were greeted by our former dinner neighbor, Marianne, so we got to compare notes on our Longyearbyen, Svalbard experiences before heading to our dinner date with Lara, Astrid, and Matthew.
- After dinner, we headed to the club for drinks with Lara and shut it down before she and I hung out a little late like girls in the sorority house.
Day 20 – sea day to Iceland
- Not long after breakfast we had the Order of the Blue Nose ceremony. This is done when crossing the Arctic Circle. It was far less “brutal” than the one he did for the Equator, but it was fun. First, we had to walk through the hot tub filled with ice water (most people did the full cold plunge; I skipped that part. Lara was smarter than the rest of us and walked on the ledge.). On the way out of the hot tub a crew member greeted each of us with a warm towel. Then, a Senior officer gave each person a blue nose (of whipped cream). Last, we took a shot of Aquavit. Most people hated the herbal Aquavit, but I liked it, so they gave me a second one. There was no kissing a fish, no accusations, and no trial. There was the usual “hazing” of the officers. Kate the Entertainment Director–wearing a full jumpsuit and heels–slid into the water on her belly, did a hand walk to the other end, and shot up out of the water like a dolphin. All the present officers got dunked. For those who wanted to be in the group picture, she had them point and be “shocked” with “Look! There is a Whale!” “Oh, there is another one!” “Laugh like you have never laughed before!” and other prompts. I hope we get to see those pics. It was a lot of fun!
- Once we all got cleaned up and de-blued, we had a nice long lunch date with Steve & Jan, and then it turned funny. We moved to the bar to have drinks with them and the other Steve & Jan showed up. Yes, it’s true.
- After popping back to the cabin for a reset, I had cooking class. It’s planned for couples/pairs, but I met and partnered up with Connie, who looked a little like his mom, so that was sweet for me. The menu was Asian: mango drink, sparkling white tea, spring rolls, dumplings, hot pot and mango tapioca. Chef Rohan, Mohammed, and Mega were amazing and tolerated the novice crowd with grace.
- …but it kinda sucked. I never would have signed up for an Asian one (my least-favorite cuisine). The people attending generally sucked (r-word user, a racist, a guy who dropped serving tongs and picked them back up off the floor and put them back on the service area, people who have apparently never cooked a damn thing), and we didn’t actually cook anything. I did get an apron as a trophy. The staff were lovely, though.
- While I was in class, he had dinner in both the restaurant and the cafe.
- Back at Viking, we listened to the pianist and the violin/piano duo before rolling into drinks and the fotball match with Steve & Jan ….who we might/maybe get to see again when we are in England.
