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Last night, once we were out in the Norwegian Sea there was a lot of movement but this morning the sea was flat again and the sun is out right now and deck 3 is filled with walkers.

Internet was misbehaving but seems to have sorted itself out now. We docked in Stavanger on Friday while it was still dark. after breakfast we went for a walk around town. After lunch went ashore again to walk in the emerging sun. The rain held off until we sailed out but that meant we got a rainbow send off.

Not much to report yesterday except that the seas were so rough that they closed deck 3 completely. Today we’re having much better weather. During the noon announcement Capt Hoyt announced that some crew were now allowed to go unmasked as we progress towards “normality”. I did notice just the one unmasked waiter in the Lido at breakfast. At the moment unmasked crew seem to be in the minority. But i haven’t figured out what the rule is. Today is another sea day as we make our way back down to Stavanger.

Between Tromso and Narvik we had dinner in Verandah. lobster cocktail. Dover sole. Side salad. Rib-eye. roast cabbage and onion rings. Rum baba. the secret of the pavlova.

here you go! 😅

i haven’t felt so cold in a long time. we’ve been to Alaska and even Norway before but in May and June. Although it was snowing at the top in Narvik, the coldest we felt was at the top of the mountain in Andalsnes with the wind. The Aurora viewing company provided us with the really warm suits as well as the waterproof boots. once we were booked with them i decided not to pack my own boots (which are no where near as warm either!) So that was another plus of booking with them. I still had to bring winter wear for the other days but the tuxedo and extra jacket for dinner also added to the packing. 😅

we left Narvik in the wee hours and the weather was not conducive to aurora watching so that’s it for this cruise, I guess. (also, the internet seems to have stabilised.) so here are a few more photos from cable car tour at Narvik.

Cable Car tour in Narvik. Officially zero degrees Celsius. On a clear day you can see all the way to Lofoten. heading back down. On the way back we had a photo stop across the bay.

Yes! Heard from a couple of other passengers. Glad you had a great show too! 😊🙏

With the double overnight you should be safe to take a local tour on the first night. I highly recommend booking a smaller tour for a couple of reasons. Apart of where a smaller vehicle can go, the smaller your group the fewer problems you will have with stray lights and camera flashes. Finally, I’m guessing is it going be even colder in November so be prepared.

Oh oops. I neglected to credit the final vertical format photograph that was taken by our guide. (He also took photos of all in our group, so we have photos of ourselves with the lights in the background.) The rest were taken on my little travel camera. They’ve been enhanced a bit on the phone before posting but like I said in the earlier post they do not look as impressive to the naked eye. Thank you for your kind words.

Be warned when the itinerary says overnight in Tromso (or Narvik) it just means the ship leaves after midnight. In our case this was 1:30am with all aboard at 1:00am. I heard a couple of passengers making their feelings about this known at the Purser’s office. So today is in fact a sea day rather than a second day spent in Tromso. (As you might reasonably expect.)

At 5pm our minibus appeared with an enthusiastic young Belgian to take us on our magical excursion. We were thankful for the waterproof boots and one piece thermal suits that kept us toasty while stargazing at a secluded beach. Our guide laid out reindeer pelts and built a little fire before preparing hot chocolate and a camp meal for us. about 20 minutes before we got back to the ship the lights put on a spectacular show so we stopped by the side of the road to get a proper look.

A Sunday in Tromso when many shops are closed. on the way to the catholic cathedral we stopped by the Lutheran cathedral.

At about 2:30am the captain made a brief announcement in all our rooms. The northern lights were out. bleary eyed I put on several layers of clothes and popped out into the corridor to join the sea of people heading out to deck 9 aft. There we even more people already out on deck. I stood there in the cold and dark admiring the moon and the stars. I imagined there would be this collective sharp intake of breath when the auroras made their appearance. But I didn’t see anything. After a while I got impatient and decided to move to deck 10. That’s when I noticed people looking at the images in their cameras. I looked up and still nothing. But I took out my camera for a snap. ohhhh! Now I could see a vague grey mist. so I snapped a few more… and then it started to cloud over again so I decided to call it a night.

Apologies am trying not to spend too much on WiFi and it doesn’t work too well in my cabin anyway. Am actually updating in the theatre while waiting for @AstroExeters lecture to begin. 😅 yesterday we had fabulous weather in Andalsnes. They actually put on the new cable car for the ship so we managed to go up and down before lunch.

Andalsnes on Friday 14 October

Double erk! This is actually this mornings sunrise from the Lido, rather than a sunset as the order of photos might have suggested! Ok I need to turn in now as we lose an hour overnight tonight.

Erk! After typing out my day for about half an hour it seems to have disappeared into the ether! Sorry you’ll just have to figure out my Wednesday from the photos.

hmm, my cruiseship bears don’t really have names. perhaps victor/victoria? 😅

Still updating about Tue 11 October. After early dinner, the show and my first visit to the Lido to stock up on my late night snack I had time to visit the shop. Sad to report that there are still no bears for sale. Only the plush ships. There was a reindeer going for 50% plus 15% off, so I decided he would do nicely. I was so taken by the deal I didn’t notice or realise that he’s actually a Swedish rather than Norwegian reindeer until I was back in my room. (Today, Wednesday, he’s now 75% off!!!)

We’re onboard! (and connected.) Wed 12 October (Day 2) Thank you for your kind wishes @Victoria2 and @HostHattie ! Yesterday we had a very pleasant drive down the A34 past fields of cows this time. It was thrilling to see the words “Queen Victoria” on the electronic sign as we entered the port. Even more excited to see the words painted on the prow when we drove up to the ship. We were out of the taxi a little before 12:30 and an extremely friendly porter helped us attach our luggage tags and relieved us of our suitcases. We were greeted and waved on into the terminal and up the escalators. We breezed through the chipper health declaration tables and even through a cheery check in. But then it all came to a shuddering halt when a lady auditioning for Emma Thompson’s part in the new Matilda movie ordered us to sit (SIT!!! NO STANDING) in rows in the order we had arrived. I think it was around 1pm or a little after that they asked Grills to proceed through security. This was followed by Diamond and then Platinum, but there was no priority for Gold. Like everyone else we were invited to clear security row by row in the order that we arrived. Once it got to our row the line for security was once again fast moving and we stepped onboard a little after 2:00pm. We were then directed to our muster station to be scanned in. I then rushed to drop my stuff in my room before heading to the Golden Lion. It was 2:20pm and the server announce last orders. I ordered 3 fish and chips and both desserts. We had made it. I was surprised how emotional I was as i took a deep breath after texting my family that we had safely made in onboard. Our cruise had begun.

Hope to see you onboard. Might we even be on the same excursion in Tromso? (Chasing lights in a minibus.) I’ve been in concierge on Century and in a SkySuite on Infinity (♥️Luminae) but I feel Cunard is my home. Having said that we travel single and were delighted to be able to book Single Infinites on Beyond for May ‘23.