Saturn's Iceland and Norway's Arctic Explorer-July 19-August 2 LIVEish

[loriva]

I had to look it up:   Fyrstekake (or Norwegian Prince's cake) is more of a tart with a delicious soft filling of ground almonds (and rum!) that makes you want a second (or even third) slice.  On my list to try when we do this itinerary in two years.  (Tried the Success cake and waffle on our first VO cruise in May.)  I think the crab cake is new since our sailing (or I just missed it).

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Here is tonight's menus.  I'll start a new thread with bar and wine menu. 
 

We had the Lemon Ravioli on our last cruise. It was delicious. 

[Clay Clayton]

After boarding our bus (first time I have ever been on a Viking bus that had only just enough seats for the passengers) we had a beautiful drive up to Nordkapp/North Cape, the northernmost point on the European mainland (but we are on an island so not sure I agree with this.  I guess the 7km long tunnel to the mainland counts?🤔).

 

Had different guides in each direction on the bus so with a couple of exceptions heard the same script both ways.  But seeing reindeer grazing, the sun shining, and the beautiful cliffs leading down to the crystal clear water made it a great trip. As those on last week's cruise said, I can only hope that anyone doing this itinerary in the future has weather as nice as we have.  #SoLucky

 

I'm writing this on the balcony with the view you can see in the last picture and enjoying hearing the folks on the rib boat excursions scream as they do tight turns before returning to the pier😂 If anyone reading this would like the video I took of the rib boats let's me know.  Tried to upload it for everyone's enjoyment but the slow innerwebs wouldn't let me...at least with my low patience level😂

[Azulann]

You are a lucky guy.  along with everyone on your sailing. 🥳Having  such great weather adds to  each day's adventure  in such a fabulous area of our planet.

Our sailing in June  in the Baltic Sea had perfect weather, it only rained one morning , otherwise clear sky and calm seas.

Thank you for sharing the great pictures of each port and the landscape!

Edited July 26, 2023 by Azulann

[janetcbl]

Love the North Cape in any season! How fortunate you were with the weather….that place can seem like winter when the wind blows and it is rainy…..even in the middle of summer. Great photos!

[midwife]

Hi Clay, love your posts. We are getting on Saturn on the second. Just looking at the webcam. There seems to be an issue it seems to have come loose we were looking at the sky and the deck. Different perspective😂. 
 

o

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

(but we are on an island so not sure I agree with this.  I guess the 7km long tunnel to the mainland counts?🤔).

 

Maybe it is a political thing, like determining what sets the border of the country so that the demarcation of "international waters" can be determined?

 

Love the pictures. I'm reliving our visit in 2016. DH described the day as 70°North and 70°F.

 

 

[Avery's Gram]

We enjoyed the North Cape, although on our trip we felt our way along the chain link fence because the fog was so thick you couldn’t see more than a foot or two in front of you.  I’m envying your view!  We did manage to see it from the sea on another trip, but never saw it the way you are.

[Frenchberet]

4 hours ago, midwife said:

Hi Clay, love your posts. We are getting on Saturn on the second. Just looking at the webcam. There seems to be an issue it seems to have come loose we were looking at the sky and the deck. Different perspective😂. 
 

o

Yes, the camera is sideways again 😕

[oakridger]

7 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

Yes, the camera is sideways again 😕

 

Still is at 22:40 Pacific Time!! (California Time) I've been looking at it every night since it got straightened out because it's still light up there all night!

 

Hopefully Clay can go alert them to the floppy camera again!!

 

~Nancy

Edited July 27, 2023 by oakridger

[LindaS272]

I think “cattywhompus” was the technical term. 😉

[Clay Clayton]

They said they had to take the mast down for a bridge but I thought that wasn't until later in the cruise 🤔. I'll ask. 

[Mpc524]

FYI….. if you want to do the cable car on your own, there is a shuttle bus on the square behind the tourist shop. $14 pp, RT. 

[depplep]

The camera is fine now. All you have to do is to lay down while you're looking at it!

[Clay Clayton]

Anyone been on the panoramic yet?  Trying to decide whether to try to get onboard.  We did our own walking tour this morning so not going to use my 2:30 ticket on it. 

[wynnsr]

Simply Amazing - Sailing from Honningsvag down through Norwegian fjords & waterways is like sailing the intercoastal waterway! Stunning vistas all around. With midnight sun it's 24/7. 👍

[Clay Clayton]

Enjoyed Karen Burn-Booth's Great British menu #2 aboard at the Chef's Table this evening. Love having the variety of several different cuisines on one cruise and love that we finally got to taste Karen's second British menu😀

 

After dinner we attended Cruise Director Damien's solo show.  Very enjoyable but can't believe he had more costume changes than Tina did for her's last night 😂

[Clay Clayton]

10 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Anyone been on the panoramic yet?  Trying to decide whether to try to get onboard.  We did our own walking tour this morning so not going to use my 2:30 ticket on it. 

Panoramic was very enjoyable. Started with a drive to the other side of Tromsø to see (no stop) at Telegraph Beach, then up the hill to the Planetarium for a great movie about the Northern Lights. This was folllowed by a photo stop at the Maritime College with great views down into the city and of the memorial there as well as another modern sculpture with no plaque to tell me what it was.  Then a drive over the bridge and by the Arctic Cathedral.  If you want to see it up close or go inside you'll have to do another excursion or walk over yourself like we didn't this morning. About 3 miles roundtrip. Not too hard but be warned no places to sit once you get on the bridge.
 

Mike did the included walking tour and really enjoyed it-mostly due to the great guide. He said it was an easy 1.5 mile walk all on the port side of the water.  It included walkbys of the old cathedral, oldest building, oldest bar and down the shopping street.
 

All in all a great day with incredible weather (again)! And beautiful flowers everywhere we looked. 

[Clay Clayton]

Here is what Mike posted on that site that cannot be named about his walking tour:

So after our walk to the cathedral this morning, while Clay took the bus tour, I took the walking tour. I saw the official Lutheran cathedral, the oldest building which then was the customs house, the painted murals celebrating accomplishments of women here, the worlds smallest legally licensed bar and several statues of Roald Amundsen the first explorer to go to the North and South Poles. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Clay Clayton

[Clay Clayton]

Awoke this morning in Leknes Lofton Islands to dark clouds so was worried that our run of beautiful weather was over.  Thankfully that wasn't the case. 
 

Our included tour left at 8:30 and was an hour bus ride across a couple of islands to a fishing village where we had some free time.   By the time we reached the village, the sun was starting to peak out and burn the fog away. The town had beautiful traditional houses and beautiful flowers.  There were also some contemporary buildings. There was a glass blowing studio in the village with beautiful objects.  We seriously thought about buying the lidded bowl -had never seen a glass bowl with a wooden lid like this before.  Alas, the idea of what it would take for it to actually make it home in one piece brought us to our senses.
 

After about 30 minutes in the town, we boarded a hybrid catamaran for the hour or so long boat ride back to the pier.  Beautiful scenery abounded on both though we were a little too far from the coast on the boat to really be able to see much. We did see a minke whale during the sunny ride. 

[Clay Clayton]

This little beach is just off our balcony and on this beautiful day in Leknes I really want to get over to it.  Do you think they might let me borrow a tender?😂

[depplep]

Beautiful. I was just looking at this on the ships currently upright cam.

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, depplep said:

Beautiful. I was just looking at this on the ships currently upright cam.

Glad to hear it is back to normal.  I mentioned it yesterday to the GM and he said he knew the mast had to come down for a bridge we went under but thought they would have put it back up. 
 

I think we go under one more low bridge so don't be surprised if it's cattywhompus again😂

[janetcbl]

23 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Glad to hear it is back to normal.  I mentioned it yesterday to the GM and he said he knew the mast had to come down for a bridge we went under but thought they would have put it back up. 
 

I think we go under one more low bridge so don't be surprised if it's cattywhompus again😂

And it is back on its side according to my view…or “cattywhompus” (great word, by the way). 

[depplep]

I just saw this as I was reading Clay's post. Crazy.