Almost finished

TSH and Diva knew it was the last full day when the breakfast included champagne, bucks fizz and caviar. None of which they wanted, but it made for a festive atmosphere.

The best entertainment on the Spirit of Adventure has been the Irish group The Four Harps, who performed a mix of traditional Irish and modern pop songs. They took a risk with ‘The wreck of the Irish Rover’ but it went down well.

Second best entertainment – look-alike Elton John.

Packing soon.

The carpets in the suite (photo above) have been chosen so that they will not show red wine stains – not a problem on this cruise, as TSH neither drinks nor pours.

In the fjords

Gerainger does not have docking facilities for a ship like the Spirit of Adventure but it does have the Sea Walk. This is a long walkway which ‘folds’ and sits parallel to the quay side when not in use and stretches out to form a walkway from ship to shore when needed. The problem on this occasion was that the engine which drives the folding was out of use and a small boat had to do the work. Diva knew that this was not a well-practised procedure when the driver of the boat – attached by a rope to the walkway – shouted panicky instructions to the people on the walkway and as soon as the rope went taut the driver’s assistant fell over from the rebound. However, after much revving of the boat’s engine and application of its pull and push power to several strategic points on the walkway, the folding operation was completed and the Spirit of Adventure could make its way back down the fjord.

Before long, the group of waterfalls known as the Seven Sisters was reached and Captain Jason twirled the Spirit of Adventure for a while so that everyone had a good view.

The location of Andalsnes is even more spectacular than that of Gerainger, as there are more snow-capped jagged peaks in many directions. TSH and Diva enjoyed the brighter warmer weather and, after a walk around the small town, had their first outdoor lunch of the cruise on the lido deck. Salad and burger for Diva and salad and fish and chips for TSH. This was also the first occasion of coinciding with the Hurtigruten coastal voyage.

A chat with one of the waiters, who has also worked on Silversea ships, revealed the interesting fact that he thinks that the crew are treated better on Saga than on Silversea and he is trying to persuade his friends who work on Silversea to join Saga instead. 

 

Putting the record straight

 TSH and Diva consulted the family zoologist about the presumed orcas and TSH sent several pictures. She was able to contact a cetacean specialist who pronounced them to be pilot whales.

TSH was upset when he left his light sensitive specs in the Living Room but the Spirit of Adventure lost property system worked well and he reclaimed them from Reception.

They have left behind the Land of the Midnight Sun and now there is twilight from around midnight until 3:00ish. Still no actual darkness.

Diva forgot to mention that the nail salon on the Spirit of Adventure is crewed by the usual failed dental hygienist. Who not only hurt her but insisted that she should relax and feel pampered and happy throughout. She could not just leave because she was trapped in the large chair with built-in foot spa but was actually reduced to saying ‘just put some nail varnish on my toes and then I can go’. There was also an attempt to ‘upsell’ by announcing that the excellent gel polish applied to Diva’s finger-nails just before departure had grown out and needed immediate replacement. Not a good experience.

Gerainger has the best scenery and the best weather of the cruise so far. The sail-in was early in the morning but TSH and Diva are looking forward to the sail-away at 17:00.

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.