- Winter Escape 2017 - Sea Princess, Regal Princess, Hurtigruten Polarys

Friday, 4 August 2017

Hurtigruten Day 6

Hurtigruten Day 6

Today our extended stay is in Honningsvag which is the gateway to the North Cape... the northern most point of mainland Europe. Our arrival time is set down for 11.15am which will give us a leisurely start to the day. Peter has decided that he doesn't really need to see this but for me I want my photo taken with the globe!

We arrived into port on time which is something that Hurtigruten seem to get right in all aspects of their operations on board. We were off the ship and into our coaches in no time at all.

We had a picture perfect day with blue skies and sunshine. Enroute we stopped at a Sami camp where their was the usual souvenir shop and a Sami with his reindeer.

When we got to the North Cape there were no other tourist buses so not a lot of people although there are quite a lot of people on this trip that only think of themselves especially when taking photos!! It's funny how quickly you learn to adopt the same techniques!!

We had 90 minutes of free time at the Cape which was ideal. The North Cape plateau itself soars 307m, almost vertically, above the Arctic Ocean. The iconic "globe" sculpture has become the symbol of the North Cape.

There was plenty of time to walk to other more quieter viewing areas and to look at the various displays in the museum.

It was then time to return to the ship for our 2.45pm departure.

Thankfully there were no other ports that required us to get off the ship today.

We were called to the open decks at 11pm for a waving and make as much noise as you can competition when we pass the Hurtigruten south bound ship. There were flags, banners, towels, serviettes, boom boxes, horns and streamers.... lots of fun had by all!

Another late night.....

A quick stop at Havoysund

Honningsvag

Scenery from the bus

The Sami camp

The North Cape

More trolls found at the Cape

The Globe...erected in 1977 has become the symbol of the North Cape

King Oscar's monument.... memorial stone raised by King Oscar II of Norway and Sweden in 1873 to mark the outermost limit of the union.

This monument was originally erected where The Globe is now but moved to make way for The Globe

The Globe... the symbol of the North Cape.... erected in 1977

Monument to the "Children of the World"... designed in 1989 by seven children from various parts of the world to symbolise collaboration, friendship, hope and happiness.

Views from the bus

Back in Honningsvag

Leaving the town of Kjollefjord

Lots of landslides

The duelling of the the ships!!

MS Finnmarken heading south

Another beautiful sunset

Thursday, 3 August 2017

Hurtigruten Day 5

Hurtigruten Day 5

This morning at 9.45am we had a champagne (at a cost of course!) ceremony for the crossing of the Arctic Circle.... 66 degrees 33 minutes north and marks the southern most point for the Midnight Sun, which shines 34 hours a day in summer! In my research for this cruise someone commented that Hurtigruten charge for everything other than the air that you breathe! I am starting to see the picture although they do now provide water with meals whereas you used to have to buy it... tap water that is!!

King Neptune, the God of the ocean made an appearance for the baptism of crossing the line! Everyone that got baptised was given a FREE shot of some local spirit. Even that was not enough incentive for me!!

As it was very windy and therefore very cold out on deck I declined the baptism but was very happy to take photos of Peter's wetting of the head! King Neptune had a very big bucket of ice cubes and ice water and a very large ladle that he was using to pour down each participants back. It didn't help that the Captain held out everyone's collar and also had a firm grip on the waistband of their pants so that the ice cubes and water had a clear passage all the way through!! Some people were lucky enough to get two scoops! Peter braved it and was rewarded with a shot but required a complete change of clothes!! You can see why I volunteered to take the pics.

We actually crossed the Arctic Circle at 7.10am.... I didn't feel the bump as we went over the line!! The Arctic Circle marked the border to the Arctic region. In summer this means 24 hour daylight and often referred to as the "Midnight Sun". During autumn and winter, being above this degree of latitude provides the best chance to see the Northern Lights.... sadly not while we are here!

We were due to dock in Tromso at 2.15pm and depart at 6.30pm so this gave us plenty of time to explore. Our first priority was to get the public bus to the Cable Car on the other side of the river. We had to first buy the tickets in the tourist office and then validate them on the bus. We managed this without any issues and the driver dropped us right at the car park for the Cable Car. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the next ride. I was surprised at how expensive the tickets were... $35 each for a 5 minute ride with nothing much to do once at the top other than take a photo then come back down again. We decided to pay another $30 for a wine and a beer to make it all worth while although the view was pretty good and it was a beautiful clear sunny day.

The Arctic Cathedral is only a 10 minute walk from the chairlift but we didn't bother as Peter is churched out and I am booked to go to the midnight concert on our southbound journey so will see it then. We waited for the bus back to town where we walked around the waterfront to where the Polar Museum is to see the original old buildings dating back to 1789.

We then leisurely walked around the other notable sights such as the unusually shaped Library, the Cathedral where there was a boys' choir singing and the the main Square where the Cultural Centre is.

Tromso is a very nice city and we could have spent more time there.

Tonight at 9.30pm is ladies party night in the gift shop to showcase their jewellery and Nordic design clothes. Whilst they are beautiful it is not something I would wear in our climate at home... they would end up with moth holes and for $500 each I thought better of it... but I did like some of the jewellery... we even got a free glass of champagne so that made it all worth while! The "party" also included watching 3 movies on the merchandise with a written quiz at the end!! My memory and attention span is not that good.... and of course a prize for the winner which wasn't me!

Tomorrow is another action packed day as I am booked on an excursion.

I need sleep!!!! zzzzzzzzzzzz

King Neptune and the baptism

Love this lounger area

Scandic Hotel in Tromso

The Cable Car

The view from the top

And to the other side

A zoomed up pic of our ship

Olympic ski jumps

Going down in the cable car

Bronze statues

The Arctic Cathedral

Old warehouses at the wharf

Preserved from 1789

A church

The Library

Tromso Cathedral

The Choir boys singing

More lovely flowers

Another beautiful sunset

Hurtigruten Day 4

Hurtigruten Day 4

Our first stop in civilised hours was to Ornes at 9.15am. As this was only a 15 minute stop I took a couple of photos from the ship which I have included.

The next stop was the port of Bodo which was from 12md to 3.30pm. This allowed us enough time to get off the ship and explore armed with our trusty map. We had an early lunch at 11.30 to accommodate our arrival time. With a dinner sitting time of 6.30pm we like to eat lunch relatively early.... usually around 12.30pm works well. Have I mentioned that the food on this ship is AMAZING!! We wouldn't want to miss a meal!!

The internet on this ship is fantastic!! The prices to buy the internet are reasonable and you are connected all the time with no real limitations. We have it included for "free" in our package. It is so much more relaxing to have the internet on all the time and not have to worry about logging off and all the minutes you waste of your allocated time due to the poor connection that Princess provide. Princess need to lift their game in this regards!

From where we docked in Bodo it was quite an easy walk into the centre of town.... just across the road! Of course it rained during our walk which required an umbrella. It's bad luck that Peter has managed to break two umbrellas so far on this holiday so is without one!. We first walked to the Cathedral via the Town Hall and then onto the Nordland Museum. The museum was founded in 1888 and is one of the oldest remaining buildings in town. There was a fee of around $10 each to enter. The displays were interesting which included an area dedicated to the Sami way of life plus a short film on the founding and early life of Bodo.

We then wondered back through the city to the harbour then back to the ship. Enroute we found some street art which apparently Bodo is quite well known for.

All the major towns/cities that we have visited seem to be doing lots of construction work therefore lots of scaffolding and road works which is not great for pics. I suppose they have to make good use of their summers and long days of light before their 3 months of complete darkness!!

We also had a 30 minute stop in Stamsund at 7pm but as we were at dinner will only managed to photo our sailaway. Not really enough time to get off and walk around anyway!

Our last stop of the day was Svolvaer which was from 9pm to 10pm. We did get off and walked around the harbour and took a few photos.

Phew this was a busy day!! At 11.45pm we sailed into the Trollfjord for scenic cruising only. What a beautiful fjord, so majestic and peaceful. This was a sail in, slow turn around and sail out. So beautiful and so typical of the scenes you see on postcards of Norway.

You guessed it... another late night as this didn't happen in 5 minutes!! I think it was 1ish before we headed back to our cabin and to our beds!

Hopefully a lazy day tomorrow. I thought this was going to be a relaxing cruise!! Hopefully not as much pressure on the second half....