Tromso, Norway

Hello from Tromso!

Today we docked in what is considered Breivika Cruise Terminal which really meant we were docked in an industrial area.

Front of the ship

Back of the ship

Lots of fishing equipment around

When I was researching this port I had several options I was considering. Good thing I'm flexible as those options not only didn't pan out but I had to come up with other ideas on the spot. Plan A became Plan B became Plan C and so on and so on.

Plan A: Hop On Hop Off Bus. In looking at tickets prices before I left home I kept seeing the word "unavailable". I figured maybe it was because they hadn't set summer season prices. But just recently the unavailable meant really unavailable.

Plan B: Take the shuttle into downtown. The bus that used to cost around $8 has now turned into a $19.95 ride. $20 to get to a place where I could shop for nothing I needed and then pay for something to eat or drink that I wouldn't be able to taste or smell? Seemed like not the smartest way to spend my money.

Plan C: The Arctic Alpine Botanical Garden. The world's northernmost botanical garden is on my list for August when more flowers will be blooming. With the free admission I thought it might be fun to go today and take some pictures and then compare them with August. It's right across the street from the ship, but when I looked at the slope of the hill I realized Scooter would never be able to make it. Now I even have to rethink my August visit here.

Plan D: Stay onboard for a while and get some laundry done until I came up with another plan. With everyone off the ship it would be a great time to avoid the rush on the laundromat and have some clean clothes again. Yeah...no.

Plan E, Part I: Bust into the mini bar I haven't yet touched.

Plan E, Part II: Combine the mini bar with a Crystal Light packet and a plastic straw from Sonic and open Deb's Tromso Vodka Bar. With a view!

Plan E, Part III: Open a pizzeria in the afternoon.

Plan E, Part IV: Issue a disclaimer that anyone partaking in pizza will have a staring role in an Alfred Hitchcock film. For said pizza will attract very aggressive seagulls.

Those seagulls will call other seagull friends and you will be required to wave them off with your napkin, take cover inside, shut the door (and lock it for good measure), and hide from the dozens who continue to dive bomb the area where you just were. Norway's version of The Birds.

Too fast to capture photos of them all

Quite a unique experience I won't soon forget. All without leaving the ship.

Tomorrow we'll be in Honningsvag, Norway. It'll be the farthest north we'll get on this trip in. See you then!

June 16 Sea Day

A sea day above the Arctic Circle with decent Internet? On a Princess cruise ship? Yep!

Back when we were in Akureyri, Iceland I took a picture when I spied some workers installing these square panel things on poles up behind the Movies Under the Stars screen.

I knew what they were and knew the importance they were going to have for our Internet. Each day I ran a speed test, waiting for the key words to pop up. The day after we left Seydisfjordur they did. 

SpaceX Starlink went live June 9

I’ll skip sharing my opinion of the person who is making the money off all of this, but I was looking forward to seeing what kind of Internet stability we’d get. While not even close to being super fast, it has been a tremendous improvement from we’ve seen before. With the old system there is no way I’d be posting this blog - with pictures - this far north. 

Another big piece of news was announced today at the Most Traveled Guest luncheon. The Captain Circle host position is now officially gone on this ship. Going forward the Future Cruise Consultant will now be in charge of these types of events. Very stupid move.

Being today was a sea day, I didn’t have too much planned as I’m still trying to get my strength back. The past two full days out and about in port about did me in. 

Since finishing yesterday’s blog post I:

*sat on the balcony and fell asleep until the Captain made his evening announcement. 
*headed to grab a bite at the buffet for dinner.
*came back to the cabin and took a shower.
*went to bed and was sound asleep before 9 pm. Other than a brief nighttime coughing fit I didn’t wake up until the alarm went off this morning at 6:30. 

*went to Sabatini’s for breakfast at 7:30.
*came back to the cabin and took a nap until 11.
*changed clothes.
*went to the Most Traveled Guest luncheon where I sat listening to the table talk.
*came back to the cabin, changed into comfy clothes and put on my slippers, and fell right back asleep until early evening.

*ordered dinner.

*ate, showered, and was in my nightgown by 7:30.

*started on the blog.

I was even kind of hoping the Internet would be down today so I didn’t have to post to the blog. So just a quick few pictures of today’s luncheon and, you guessed it, I’m back to bed. 

Today’s menu

This is a very port intensive cruise and I guess my body knows best so no use fighting it. Hopefully I’ll have something more exciting to share tomorrow from Tromso.

Olden, Norway

Welcome to Olden!

I left the ship right after breakfast today and headed to the tour guys on the pier.

There were several options I was considering. I could have taken the little tourist train,

the red open top glacier sightseeing bus, or the blue bus to the Loen Skylift. Combo tickets were also available and since I'm only here once this summer I went with the Skylift/glacier sightseeing combo. 

First up, the Loen Skylift.

Loen is just a few minutes away from Olden.

Even the view from the Skylift parking lot was pretty

The Loen Skylift is considered one of the steepest cable cars in the world, taking you from sea level to the top of the 1,011 meter (3,317 feet) Mt. Hoven in just 5 minutes. The ride was so fast my ears popped more than once.

I'm heading all the way to the top

Thankfully the cars are enclosed!

The views from the top were simply spectacular.

People were taking advantage of the hiking trails all around the area.

The mountain was also popular with paragliders. I was lucky enough to watch some in action. Talk about a bird's-eye view of Norway!

Run

Run some more

Run and jump

And he's off

Not too long ago I had watched a cooking show about kanelbullar, a type of cinnamon bun with pearl sugar. I had completely forgotten about them until I stumbled upon some warm ones in the cafe. I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to enjoy the tasty treat while basking in the sun, surrounded by Norwegian fjords.

Since I went up early it was relatively quiet but by the time I left each car coming up was full of people.

Glad my car wasn't crowded like this one

Ready to head back down in a nearly empty car.
Front row seat for me!

Found some sheep on the way

Getting closer

At the bottom I caught the blue bus back to the port where I then hopped the red open top glacier sightseeing bus. I climbed my way up to the top level again (yay me) and found it most definitely was the best place to be on a day like today.

So much to see in all directions

Now, I've traveled quite a bit in my lifetime and I have to say today's views were some of the best. Clear waters reflecting glaciers where you can't tell where one begins and the other ends. A variety of homes and farms and shades of green. And, well...I'll just let the pictures tell the story of the beauty of Norway. I have no words.

The glacier part of the tour

Tomorrow is a sea day but if we have Internet I'll be back as it's the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. Otherwise, see you on Saturday in Tromso!