Route of the Vikings Live on Board

[Isklaar]

Lovely! Nice for you to see some blue skies again, especially so far north.

[galeforce9]

The last four pics are Lochinver, north of Ullapool. More info later.

[galeforce9]

[Isklaar]

Wow! Stunning beach and water.

[galeforce9]

[Roxburgh]

I grew up in Scotland (Glasgow) and seeing your photos of people in the sea brings back memories of swimming in Loch Lomond.

 

It was freezing then and it is probably freezing now. You wouldn't catch me in that water. :eek:

 

I should say, however, that some of the beaches on the West Coast are magnificent.

 

Loving your photos. I haven't been to St. Kilda or Ullapool so very interesting.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Roxburgh

[Chairsin]

Eleanor,

What a shame you were not able to stay longer and take your hike to the viewpoint though I do understand limits on the the number of people in such a fragile environment. It looks so interesting. Loving your pictures!

 

BTW, what ever happened when you met with the F&B Manager?

 

 

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[galeforce9]

Eleanor,

What a shame you were not able to stay longer and take your hike to the viewpoint though I do understand limits on the the number of people in such a fragile environment. It looks so interesting. Loving your pictures!

 

BTW, what ever happened when you met with the F&B Manager?

 

 

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Chairsin

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

We’re still having a really enjoyable, if really busy cruise. The food continues to be great.

 

I’ve decided that the drinks availability isn’t going to get me down. In truth, we’re not drinking much. We’ve been off the ship for full days since the only sea day, which was the first full day of the cruise.

 

That means we haven’t really been having a drink until around 5/6pm most days and usually stop after dinner, which is usually a 7pm start in the restaurant. I think that’s why I’ve been quite particular this time about what I actually want to drink (all from brands I know are carried on board).

 

Since I last posted, the guys on the Patio and Sky Bars have been amazing. I had a discussion with them about supplies around the ship and they were supportive.

 

I have the name of the F&B manager. It’s David, from Barcelona. He is often around deck, usually rushing around on a phone and passing through.

 

I’m letting my holiday take priority and with full days off ship would rather relax when I’m back on board but will search him out if need be.

 

In the meantime, small bottles of Pellegrino have appeared again in the restaurant. In the Observation Bar I’m surviving [emoji3] on Tanquerey not Tanquerey Ten.

 

I was amused last night to be offered Isla Negra Chardonnay as the white in the restaurant. I have drunk it over the years but it really is a UK mainstream supermarket bottle that can be picked up on offer for around £4.

[galeforce9]

So, just a bit of catching up on photos ex Ullapool:

 

[galeforce9]

[galeforce9]

Roxburgh, the area around Ullapool was stunning. Of course, everything always looks better in the sun! The difficulty is that if you want to see it independently, it is quite hard to do. The town is very small. There is little in the way of car hire or local tour companies. Seabourn seemed to bus coaches and guides in from Inverness, an hour away, for both Oban and Ullapool. They were not local to the area and sometimes, from our experience in Oban, had difficulty with knowledge of what we were seeing, despite extensive briefing notes.

 

In Ullapool, I was very fortunate to secure the hire of a local taxi firm, following a recommendation from a Cruise Criticer who’d been on Seabourn to Ullapool in June.

 

The lady and her husband live in Ullapool. Her local knowledge, working of my brief, was excellent. We had a fabulous seven hours with her.

 

I would have done the same in Oban but there were only two car hire places. One was fully booked out and the other was closed because it was Sunday. The tourist office put me in touch with a new guide but he wanted about £380 for the day upfront, even if we didn’t make it in, so that’s why we went with the Seabourn tour.

[galeforce9]

Yesterday in Orkney started sunny for the sail in but the clouds soon covered the sky.

[galeforce9]

There are many islands in the Orkneys but we were just going to concentrate in the mainland “loop road”. Orkney definitely warrants a longer stay, from what I’ve seen.

 

We hired this beast for the day. A bit big for us and an automatic but it was all that was available at the car hire. Again, there aren’t so many options in smaller places.

 

[galeforce9]

The shuttle bus driver dropped us off at the car hire place, which was on the outskirts of Kirkwall and on the shuttle bus route. This was at the suggestion of the rental agency.

 

We’d docked at a dock a couple of miles outside town, in quite a rural setting, surrounded by green hills.

 

It was an easy drive, as to get to the loop, you didn’t need to drive into Kirkwall at all but back past the ship. The roads were fairly quiet. Parking was busy at a number of sites though but we did always find space.

 

Some of the lanes are single track with passing spaces down to the sites but these are well marked.

[galeforce9]

First stop was the Stones of Stenness. I don’t have my guide book with me but needless to say the sites I’m about to mention are all Neolithic and date from 5000 BC to I think about 2500 BC.

 

[galeforce9]

The Stones here were free to visit. Next to them is the Barnhouse village, where it is thought the constructors of the Maeshowe Burial Mound lived (more later). The Ness of Brodgar archaeological site is nearby. This is an active dig and can be visited on three tours a day.

[galeforce9]

Next stop was the Ring of Brodgar, again free to visit. This was in a lovely setting, surrounded by wild flowers and next to an RSPB reserve on a loch so there are lots of different birds to be heard, if not seen. An observation board is updated for recent sightings by the rangers here.

 

The ranger told us we were very fortunate. She had just opened the inner path around the stones for the first time that year and we were only the second people to walk on it. They close the paths to let the ground regenerate.

[Chairsin]

Deifintely going to have to add this cruise to my must do list. What interesting landscapes.

 

I love how you have such a balanced perspective on what is and isn’t important.

 

But just so you know in case you do decide to go have a friendly discussion with him, David from Barcelona is a great guy - competent and a lot of fun. This was from our Med cruise where we met him two years ago. As you can see he really got into the spirit of Caviar in the Surf (okay, Caviar in the Pool).

 

 

 

 

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[galeforce9]

[galeforce9]

The next three stops were pay to enter sites. A good deal is the Orkney explorer pass, which costs £19 each. It allows entry to seven sites, including Jarlshof in Shetland. You can buy it on line.

[galeforce9]

First stop on the ticket was Skara Brae.

Sorry my pictures don’t do the site justice. It had started to rain and we had limited time before a timed ticket to Maeshowe, so I concentrated on photos with my proper camera!

[galeforce9]

We had a quick cup of tea and a shortbread at the cafe (good) then continued around the loop. The next stop was the Broch of Gurness. An absolutely amazing place. You could actually fully access the prehistoric Broch and walk in the dwelling. I didn’t take any phone photos as again didn’t have time but the setting by the sea was marvellous.

[galeforce9]

We made it to Maeshowe, in time for our pre booked tour. Booking is essential. It is extremely popular. The tour is free if you purchase the explorer pass beforehand and can be booked online too. Parking is away from the site and a shuttle bus runs.

 

The burial mound is 5000 years old and aligns the winter solstice setting sun with the entrance and a guide stone called the Barnhouse Stone. Entry is via a longish passageway that is about half human height. Inside is Viking graffiti. The tour guide was excellent. The trip takes about an hour. No photos inside but outside is ok.

 

[galeforce9]

We made it back to the car hire place. Filled the tank back up with diesel. It cost about £17 for the diesel and £90 for the car. The chap then drove us back to the ship.

[galeforce9]

Good dinner last night again. I had halibut as a fish course (smaller portion).