Light and shade

 After dinner, TSH and Diva watched a large group of more than 12 whales – presumed to be orcas – swimming around the ship’s bows. The sound of their ‘blowing’ could be heard clearly.

It has been light for 24 hours for days but TSH and Diva have not seen the Midnight Sun because of the cloud cover. Until last night, when the sun shone brightly for the hours around midnight. Until the sound of the Spirit of Adventure foghorn alerted them to what Captain Jason calls ‘the f-word’.

On arrival in Bodo, the weather was sunny for the morning walk but for the rest of the day, first one part of the view and then another was obscured. The views include snow-capped jagged mountains.

TSH is making more unescorted trips to the buffet. Even when he cannot immediately find his way back to the table he is able to remember its number. Unlike the lady overheard telling a waiter that she did not know her table number but she had left her blue bag with a decoration of pink butterflies there.

Food glorious food

TSH is still recovering his strength and needs a lot of energy. So he is hurling himself at the food with gusto and sometimes still claims to be hungry. The buffets are unfamiliar in layout and the dining rooms are huge by Silversea standards but he has managed to make a few buffet trips alone – and find his way back to the correct table.

Bonus energy is provided by the Werners Originals handed out on the excursion buses by the Saga representatives.

Diva was pleased when one of the singers launched into a song by Leonard Cohen. The singer even pointed out the context - Cohen wrote it when he was 82. But it was a tactless choice for a ship full of over 50s with some people considerably older. 'I'm leaving the table. I'm out of the game'. 

Unidentified Marine Phenomena

 

The second excursion was to the North Cape – supposedly the most northern point of the European land mass. Except it is on an island and there are more northerly islands.

The bus journey to the Cape was scenic but a bit too white knuckle for Diva, as it took them up steep slopes and around hairpin bends. The weather stayed clear so that the views were spectacular and it was not too cold. The first fog bank did not occur until the early evening during the sail past the Cape, as the Spirit of Adventure prepared for its return journey south.

In the evening, a number of guests spotted what has to be recorded as Unidentified Marine Phenomena. Almost certainly not of alien origin, opinion was divided as to whether the dark shapes in the sea were whales or dolphins.

The sea is mostly calm with an occasional choppiness but TSH and Diva have not needed any Stugeron so far.

The captain of the Spirit of Adventure is less formal than captains encountered by TSH and Diva in the past. He often starts ‘Hi, this is Jason from the Bridge’. On Silversea ships, there is a very strict ‘All aboard’ time. One lunch-time Jason said ‘We plan to sail about 4:30, so it would be great if you could be back a bit before that’.

On the journey to the Cape, TSH and Diva saw a herd of reindeer and animals which were either sheep or goats.

First SAGA excursion

 

TSH and Diva went on a short excursion to see the Northern Lights Cathedral in Alta. It is a spectacular building inside and out. It was surprising to hear the cathedral guide declare that she could not explain the plaques on the wall – no-one had been able to make any sense of them. The cathedral is only around 20 years old, so someone must still remember!

The excursion was marred by the guide’s inability to provide clear instructions about when to return to the bus. So the people who understood the earliest time waited 20 minutes for the ones who understood the latest one. The early departure from the cathedral was followed by a panoramic drive through the Alta industrial estates.

TSH and Diva also saw another large pod of orcas.

Exclusive event

 

At the assembly point for the event, there was much speculation about what was to happen. Would a small boat be involved? A small boat had indeed been launched earlier and was moving around the head of the fjord and the end of the glacier. Diva declared firmly that if hard hats, life jackets or disclaimers were involved, she was returning immediately to her suite.

The event was held on the helicopter deck at the front of the ship, providing an excellent view of the glacier for almost an hour. Diva drank a glass of fizz with aqua vita and TSH ate a waffle with strawberries and cream. No danger.

Time and Technology taunt the Travellers

Diva admits that being an hour ahead of ship time on the first morning was because she misread the instructions. But she was baffled when two days later they were an hour ahead again and they entered a breakfast Dining Room empty of all but crew laying tables. And the day after that they were an hour behind official ship time.  It turned out that in the night the phones were choosing which time zones to communicate with and they were resetting the time themselves. The phones have now been instructed not to do this again.

Microsoft and Google have also introduced obstacles. By demanding passwords, refusing to recognise correct ones, switching to recovery accounts and generally delaying use of IT by many hours. At one stage, TSH’s iPad went into ‘loading’ mode for many hours and had to be reset by the wonderful Guest Services officer. Some of the issues might have been cause by timing – the Internet on the Spirit of Adventure is extremely slow, even by maritime satellite standards.

TSH and Diva have now crossed the Arctic Circle and are wearing extra layers, especially when walking around the outside deck. They have been invited to ‘an exclusive event’ to see a glacier with the ship’s officers. ‘Bring warm clothing’.

Per ardua ad astra

Diva is still making heavy weather of the logistics on the cruise. SAGA made the mistake of giving 24 hours advance notice of the change to Norwegian time, so she made the mistake of implementing it 24 hours early. So …..early breakfast. Many other people made the same mistake, so the cruise director made an official announcement notifying everybody of the correct time.

Another official announcement came into every cabin at midnight. This was related to a sick guest being winched off by helicopter. The ship grapevine said that this was to wake everybody in case of any accident and a requirement for muster stations!!

Despite the misty and drizzly weather, TSH and Diva walked a couple of laps round the outside deck. Outdoor clothes, but not too cold yet.

A pod of orcas was spotted at lunch-time – quite a number of them appearing partly out of the water.

Diva attended the astrophysics lecture (on the Solar System) given by a very skilled science communicator and NASA ambassador.

TSH and Diva had no idea that SAGA has its own archbishop – Barry Morgan – who holds regular sessions in one of the bars.

New Experiences

 

The food is very good indeed and all the crew are effective and eager to please. The suite is comparable with Silversea, although differently arranged, and there have been negotiations about allocation of storage between TSH and Diva. Reservation for the first dinner is made by Saga, so that everyone is organised for their first night. TSH and Diva were booked into the only Nepalese restaurant at sea. Excellent. The only problem was finding the right restaurant to match the booking.

Navigating the ship itself is interesting. Their suite number starts with C and the digit 5, which in hotels and Silversea ships would be an indication of which deck it is on. However, it is on Deck 9 (sometimes also known as C Deck, but not in the lifts). Cabins on the port and starboard sides have different number sequences. The analyst who came up with all this has clearly not heard of the old IT KISS advice – Keep it Simple, Stupid.

In all their cruising days, TSH and Diva have never before participated in a Magnetic Compass Swing, which is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for 45 minutes. It is a maritime requirement which all ships are required to carry out every 2 years. (In case GPS fails?) If the Swing itself is unsuccessful, it is unclear what happens next.

A New Beginning

 

Following TSH’s stroke and loss of vision, there will be no long-haul travel, no flying and as little stress as possible from now on. So the latest cruise is on Saga’s Spirit of Adventure – pick-up from home with luggage and all voyages UK-UK.  A big venture after 670+ days with Silversea but TSH and Diva are determined people.

The pick-up and journey to Dover went well and embarkation was smooth.