Going with the Floe: Arctic Expedition Cruise July 10, 2023
- Thread starter AquaDame
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
July 9th: Finally, the proper ABD pre-day!
Thank you for bearing with me while I scrambled through the Greece portion... I'll be making a couple callbacks to Greece on the actual ABD, so I wanted to have some context for that. I did end up typing way too much, but at least did force myself to stick to 10 pics a day. I'll go slower with the ABD, and make sure to put all the good pics up; this will be my last "shorty" post.
The biggest hurdle for this trip was the sheer variety of luggage I had to bring. Yes, I do admit going from 90s to 40s/50s was foolhardy and required a plan (and kind partner). The way we worked it was I took as little summery clothing as I could to make it through Greece and did laundry when we got to Chania, so I only had to bring 5 days worth. The hotel there did up to 8kg of laundry for 15 euros and had it back to me the same day, so that was easy to do. I also planned to do laundry when I met up with my husband today, and he brought all of our winter stuff and another 4 days of clothing for me. We are talking snowpants, sweatshirts, pants in general, hats, gloves, hiking boots... you get the idea. That way I only had to bring one carry-on suitcase and my personal item. He is too nice! He was in the air by the time I woke up the next day, and thankfully also did not experience any travel delays or issues. Icelandair did not have internet on his flights which surprised us, so I wouldn't end up being able to connect with him until I landed in Oslo.
My flight was at 11:40am and my brother's a little earlier, so we didn't have time to do anything... or so I thought. The plan had been to just go to the airport and say our goodbyes... but once again I was up early and my brother ended up waking up too. He wanted to take one last walk around the port area so we headed down there while his partner got a little more sleep.
We ended up going to a little coffee shop and had to walk with purpose back to the car as we were already out of time.
Definitely a different vibe when everyone is sleeping!
Once we got back it was time to drive to the airport and head out! The drive to the airport was uneventful, but finding the return area was a bit of a challenge. There was a long row of rental places that all had tiny kiosks and small signs for them. Ours was unmanned and there was barely enough room to leave the car off the road! I had to have my brother guide me in and my bumper was just baaaarely in the roped lot that could hold a whole four cars. We had to hike a ways to the airport as well, and once we were in the airport I realized my lanes had not opened yet to check in. Their line was pretty long, so I assumed Id be done by the time they were, but alas.... even after it opened the one I chose was having issues so I continued awaiting while another kept going through. Since we did not know how long it would take them to get through security we said our goodbyes there in line, which was pretty anti-climatic...! I'm glad we'll see each other again in December.
Of all my flights on this trip (8 total) this was my least favorite. I was traveling this leg on Norwegian Air Shuttle. The airport was hectic and had done me wrong during check in by making us wait until they fixed the computer instead of funneling both lines through the one that opened, and beyond security the food hall was small for the number of people. It was also very crowded with the line blocking the entrance to the gate area & there weren't very many tables once you did get your food. The bathroom was dirty and smelled, and there were not enough seats for everyone to wait at the gates, which meant the elderly were standing for lack of options.
I had paid extra as well for early boarding and paid ahead for a meal, but both were not worth it. They did take those who paid through first, but then had us stand outside the gate in front of ropes in the hot sun while they also started checking in everyone who had not paid more. We waited... and waited.. and waited. Once the bus was ready to board it was a mad rush and we were squished in past all reason. The seat I had paid more for was just closer to the front, and was pretty hard. Thankfully it was only 4.5 hours. The food harkened back to when airline food jokes were common. It really wasn't very good. It also wasn't very expensive at least...
I did really enjoy the view as the scenery obviously changed so much as we went!
Dry looking islands and coastlines turned to rivers and hills to lush greenery and forests.
Landing in Oslo was a little exciting... it must have been pretty gusty as I could feel us bumping around on approach! We also headed in to land over a huge tract of forest of evergreens which felt like I was in a whole different world. Once I was safely on the ground I turned my cell service back on, and was able to connect with my husband. His name is Kyle, and after typing 'brother' and 'partner' so many times over the last few days I'm over it. It was hard to remember to do and felt wrong/impersonal, but they're both private folks who prefer no online presence at all. Neither Kyle nor I mind as much!
We had booked one extra pre-night at the Grand Oslo Hotel rather than need to transfer, but found it was cheaper to book on our own than through ABD. It would have been the same price if we had included breakfast but a) we didn't want to as we wanted to have a smaller breakfast on our own terms, and b) I had some Diner's points left from work to use so I could book the night on points instead of paying a single dollar for it. I had booked this trip through a TA and asked if there was a way to link my night and the ABD night together and was told no, which was fine. We planned to get ourselves to the hotel. Kyle got in a couple hours before me, but he was OK with waiting around until I got in so we could train to the hotel together. What a nice guy..!
Then, in mid April I got an email from my TA asking for my travel and personal information for the trip. Only problem was it was apparently due THAT DAY which made me nervous! I had seen the email in the morning, then ignored it until I got off work which meant it was already too late for EOD eastern time. Thankfully they said not to worry, and they were not that strict about getting it, so I filled it out and sent it over. Done, right?
Nope... weeks later in late May I got a message asking for it all over again. What?!?! I was so freaking late! Were we going to be kicked off the ship?! I forwarded the email again, and replied back asking for confirmation they got it. They said yes. A week later ABD contacted them asking about our pre-night and I was forwarded the email from them without so much as a greeting added on to it. At this point I admit I was kind of fed up. I've never had a TA be so blase. They would normally at least append a greeting on there, or something! Not just a cold forward. So... I did what any reasonable person would do, and replied back to ABD rep and CC'd the TA. Frankly I wanted to be sure they got my answer the first time. After that ABD contacted me directly for all other questions without CCing the TA, which makes me wonder if they're having problems with them in general. I've heard so many times on this board if you book through a TA you have to go through them for all things regarding the trips, but that was not my experience.
From there on I received communication directly from ABD and the story changed. They sent another communication asking for the size of jacket we wanted and I had issues with the sizing guide they sent, so I called in. While we were chatting she went back over some more questions as they were still missing some details on my booking. As we were hanging up she reminded me that the transfer would be waiting for us at the airport on our pre day. Excuse me, what? I was told we were not going to have it since we booked on our own, but she said no, that was wrong, it was included and to look for the gentleman with the sign. She also said when we checked into the hotel to DO mention we were with ABD the next day so they could link the two reservations. Of course that didn't mean we wouldn't need to change rooms unless they confirmed, but they absolutely could link them. Sigh.
She also had told me that tips would not be included for just this first transfer though the ride itself would be paid. Greece has a different currency though, so I asked Kyle to get some cash while I exited past customs to where he and the driver were waiting. I saw our driver straight away but went around to Kyle first so we could meet up first, then we circled back and headed down to the hotel.
This was my first time in Oslo, and the driver was really friendly! He'd been doing this for years and just got a new electric car that he was getting used to so we chatted about electric cars, the history of Norway, all kinds of things. I really enjoyed going through the tunnels under the city, and the little pictures of the landmarks above you as you go which helps folk keep their bearings. When we emerged he pointed out some more landmarks and let us know the Norwegian flag flies on the palace when the royal family is in residence and if it is up, we might find the queen going for a walk in the park right there in the mornings as she likes to do that. Spoiler alert: we did not see her, the flag was down the next day. At checkin the front desk confirmed we would not be able to keep the same ABD room for both nights, but if we wanted to stay in the standard room that was OK with them.
It was easier so we did, though when I saw the room I admit I was a little sad about it as it was quite small compared to the palaces I'd had up until now! It figures it got smaller once my one became two!
Yep, that's more what I am used to in the EU!
Complete with odd half walled shower that doesn't block all the water so you flood the floor... with no counter space.
Reading through some other trip reports I've heard people speak about a good ramen shop and I was craving something different after eating out for a week, so we wandered over to Koie. I did not think much about it at first but suddenly it came to me that everyone was in shorts. And tanktops. And my husband was sweating... apparently it was 77 degrees here too! I was still hot! And we were getting hot noodles?
They were good though!
I was feeling pretty tired by this point, and Kyle was of course a bit jetlagged, but the sun was still up and it was not time for bed quite yet. I also needed to do laundry as we knew it would be far more expensive on the ship and in the hotel anyway, so we grabbed the bag and headed out to a laundromat about 20 minutes by foot away. We had checked online and there were washers available, but when we got there they were all full, so we waited a bit, and I put it on as soon as I could. Then the same thing happened when we needed a dryer too. I stubbornly sat in the very hot laundromat this time until they freed up and was suddenly starting to doze off. We went ahead and took two dryers to try and hurry it along as no one else was waiting anyway. In the meantime we wandered down the street and got a cornetto kind of treat at a deli that was gone all too soon. Finally the dryer finished and we went to colle... nope. Still wet! ARGH! It was around 9:30pm at this point and it closed at 10 but we had no choice; we had to set it to go again. I admit I was in full on grouch mode at this point so we wandered across the street to a pub to get me out of the hotbox and Kyle a beer.
Again we waited and waited and made sure to be back in there by 10 as they closed then though you can exit after. 10 came and went, but no one came to close up shop which was good as we could continue to leave the door open. Finally when the dryer was done again we checked the clothing and it was STILL damp. I am baffled honestly as to how this could be... the temp settings were right and this clothing was shorts and tank tops, not jeans and sweatshirts! No denim or thicker material to be found at all! There was no way we were going to wait around any longer. We tossed it all back into the bag and went back to the hotel where I lay clothing on everything I could so it could finish drying out overnight. I had planned to do laundry again here on the way back, but that plan was out the window. Clean Koko's? You are dead to me.
Tomorrow was the start of our ABD!
Thank you for bearing with me while I scrambled through the Greece portion... I'll be making a couple callbacks to Greece on the actual ABD, so I wanted to have some context for that. I did end up typing way too much, but at least did force myself to stick to 10 pics a day. I'll go slower with the ABD, and make sure to put all the good pics up; this will be my last "shorty" post.
The biggest hurdle for this trip was the sheer variety of luggage I had to bring. Yes, I do admit going from 90s to 40s/50s was foolhardy and required a plan (and kind partner). The way we worked it was I took as little summery clothing as I could to make it through Greece and did laundry when we got to Chania, so I only had to bring 5 days worth. The hotel there did up to 8kg of laundry for 15 euros and had it back to me the same day, so that was easy to do. I also planned to do laundry when I met up with my husband today, and he brought all of our winter stuff and another 4 days of clothing for me. We are talking snowpants, sweatshirts, pants in general, hats, gloves, hiking boots... you get the idea. That way I only had to bring one carry-on suitcase and my personal item. He is too nice! He was in the air by the time I woke up the next day, and thankfully also did not experience any travel delays or issues. Icelandair did not have internet on his flights which surprised us, so I wouldn't end up being able to connect with him until I landed in Oslo.
My flight was at 11:40am and my brother's a little earlier, so we didn't have time to do anything... or so I thought. The plan had been to just go to the airport and say our goodbyes... but once again I was up early and my brother ended up waking up too. He wanted to take one last walk around the port area so we headed down there while his partner got a little more sleep.
We ended up going to a little coffee shop and had to walk with purpose back to the car as we were already out of time.
Definitely a different vibe when everyone is sleeping!
Once we got back it was time to drive to the airport and head out! The drive to the airport was uneventful, but finding the return area was a bit of a challenge. There was a long row of rental places that all had tiny kiosks and small signs for them. Ours was unmanned and there was barely enough room to leave the car off the road! I had to have my brother guide me in and my bumper was just baaaarely in the roped lot that could hold a whole four cars. We had to hike a ways to the airport as well, and once we were in the airport I realized my lanes had not opened yet to check in. Their line was pretty long, so I assumed Id be done by the time they were, but alas.... even after it opened the one I chose was having issues so I continued awaiting while another kept going through. Since we did not know how long it would take them to get through security we said our goodbyes there in line, which was pretty anti-climatic...! I'm glad we'll see each other again in December.
Of all my flights on this trip (8 total) this was my least favorite. I was traveling this leg on Norwegian Air Shuttle. The airport was hectic and had done me wrong during check in by making us wait until they fixed the computer instead of funneling both lines through the one that opened, and beyond security the food hall was small for the number of people. It was also very crowded with the line blocking the entrance to the gate area & there weren't very many tables once you did get your food. The bathroom was dirty and smelled, and there were not enough seats for everyone to wait at the gates, which meant the elderly were standing for lack of options.
I had paid extra as well for early boarding and paid ahead for a meal, but both were not worth it. They did take those who paid through first, but then had us stand outside the gate in front of ropes in the hot sun while they also started checking in everyone who had not paid more. We waited... and waited.. and waited. Once the bus was ready to board it was a mad rush and we were squished in past all reason. The seat I had paid more for was just closer to the front, and was pretty hard. Thankfully it was only 4.5 hours. The food harkened back to when airline food jokes were common. It really wasn't very good. It also wasn't very expensive at least...
I did really enjoy the view as the scenery obviously changed so much as we went!
Dry looking islands and coastlines turned to rivers and hills to lush greenery and forests.
Landing in Oslo was a little exciting... it must have been pretty gusty as I could feel us bumping around on approach! We also headed in to land over a huge tract of forest of evergreens which felt like I was in a whole different world. Once I was safely on the ground I turned my cell service back on, and was able to connect with my husband. His name is Kyle, and after typing 'brother' and 'partner' so many times over the last few days I'm over it. It was hard to remember to do and felt wrong/impersonal, but they're both private folks who prefer no online presence at all. Neither Kyle nor I mind as much!
We had booked one extra pre-night at the Grand Oslo Hotel rather than need to transfer, but found it was cheaper to book on our own than through ABD. It would have been the same price if we had included breakfast but a) we didn't want to as we wanted to have a smaller breakfast on our own terms, and b) I had some Diner's points left from work to use so I could book the night on points instead of paying a single dollar for it. I had booked this trip through a TA and asked if there was a way to link my night and the ABD night together and was told no, which was fine. We planned to get ourselves to the hotel. Kyle got in a couple hours before me, but he was OK with waiting around until I got in so we could train to the hotel together. What a nice guy..!
Then, in mid April I got an email from my TA asking for my travel and personal information for the trip. Only problem was it was apparently due THAT DAY which made me nervous! I had seen the email in the morning, then ignored it until I got off work which meant it was already too late for EOD eastern time. Thankfully they said not to worry, and they were not that strict about getting it, so I filled it out and sent it over. Done, right?
Nope... weeks later in late May I got a message asking for it all over again. What?!?! I was so freaking late! Were we going to be kicked off the ship?! I forwarded the email again, and replied back asking for confirmation they got it. They said yes. A week later ABD contacted them asking about our pre-night and I was forwarded the email from them without so much as a greeting added on to it. At this point I admit I was kind of fed up. I've never had a TA be so blase. They would normally at least append a greeting on there, or something! Not just a cold forward. So... I did what any reasonable person would do, and replied back to ABD rep and CC'd the TA. Frankly I wanted to be sure they got my answer the first time. After that ABD contacted me directly for all other questions without CCing the TA, which makes me wonder if they're having problems with them in general. I've heard so many times on this board if you book through a TA you have to go through them for all things regarding the trips, but that was not my experience.
From there on I received communication directly from ABD and the story changed. They sent another communication asking for the size of jacket we wanted and I had issues with the sizing guide they sent, so I called in. While we were chatting she went back over some more questions as they were still missing some details on my booking. As we were hanging up she reminded me that the transfer would be waiting for us at the airport on our pre day. Excuse me, what? I was told we were not going to have it since we booked on our own, but she said no, that was wrong, it was included and to look for the gentleman with the sign. She also said when we checked into the hotel to DO mention we were with ABD the next day so they could link the two reservations. Of course that didn't mean we wouldn't need to change rooms unless they confirmed, but they absolutely could link them. Sigh.
She also had told me that tips would not be included for just this first transfer though the ride itself would be paid. Greece has a different currency though, so I asked Kyle to get some cash while I exited past customs to where he and the driver were waiting. I saw our driver straight away but went around to Kyle first so we could meet up first, then we circled back and headed down to the hotel.
This was my first time in Oslo, and the driver was really friendly! He'd been doing this for years and just got a new electric car that he was getting used to so we chatted about electric cars, the history of Norway, all kinds of things. I really enjoyed going through the tunnels under the city, and the little pictures of the landmarks above you as you go which helps folk keep their bearings. When we emerged he pointed out some more landmarks and let us know the Norwegian flag flies on the palace when the royal family is in residence and if it is up, we might find the queen going for a walk in the park right there in the mornings as she likes to do that. Spoiler alert: we did not see her, the flag was down the next day. At checkin the front desk confirmed we would not be able to keep the same ABD room for both nights, but if we wanted to stay in the standard room that was OK with them.
It was easier so we did, though when I saw the room I admit I was a little sad about it as it was quite small compared to the palaces I'd had up until now! It figures it got smaller once my one became two!Yep, that's more what I am used to in the EU!
Complete with odd half walled shower that doesn't block all the water so you flood the floor... with no counter space.
Reading through some other trip reports I've heard people speak about a good ramen shop and I was craving something different after eating out for a week, so we wandered over to Koie. I did not think much about it at first but suddenly it came to me that everyone was in shorts. And tanktops. And my husband was sweating... apparently it was 77 degrees here too! I was still hot! And we were getting hot noodles?
They were good though!
I was feeling pretty tired by this point, and Kyle was of course a bit jetlagged, but the sun was still up and it was not time for bed quite yet. I also needed to do laundry as we knew it would be far more expensive on the ship and in the hotel anyway, so we grabbed the bag and headed out to a laundromat about 20 minutes by foot away. We had checked online and there were washers available, but when we got there they were all full, so we waited a bit, and I put it on as soon as I could. Then the same thing happened when we needed a dryer too. I stubbornly sat in the very hot laundromat this time until they freed up and was suddenly starting to doze off. We went ahead and took two dryers to try and hurry it along as no one else was waiting anyway. In the meantime we wandered down the street and got a cornetto kind of treat at a deli that was gone all too soon. Finally the dryer finished and we went to colle... nope. Still wet! ARGH! It was around 9:30pm at this point and it closed at 10 but we had no choice; we had to set it to go again. I admit I was in full on grouch mode at this point so we wandered across the street to a pub to get me out of the hotbox and Kyle a beer.
Again we waited and waited and made sure to be back in there by 10 as they closed then though you can exit after. 10 came and went, but no one came to close up shop which was good as we could continue to leave the door open. Finally when the dryer was done again we checked the clothing and it was STILL damp. I am baffled honestly as to how this could be... the temp settings were right and this clothing was shorts and tank tops, not jeans and sweatshirts! No denim or thicker material to be found at all! There was no way we were going to wait around any longer. We tossed it all back into the bag and went back to the hotel where I lay clothing on everything I could so it could finish drying out overnight. I had planned to do laundry again here on the way back, but that plan was out the window. Clean Koko's? You are dead to me.
Tomorrow was the start of our ABD!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
July 10th/Day 1: Velkommen
Finally it was time to get started! Thanks to folk on the June departure we knew when checkin with our guides would open, and that one of their options "sold out" before everyone got their first pick, so we went down first thing. In true Disney fan fashion there was already a looooooong line that did not appear to be moving. We waited so long without moving we thought perhaps there was a holdup. A Norway ABD had just wrapped up the day prior, and between that and folk who came in early as we did it appeared at least half the ship had the same idea.
I did see one guide having very long conversations with folk waiting in line, and another did appear to be helping someone, so all we could do was be patient. A couple just ahead of us must have been just as hungry as we were, as they went to see what the hold up was and were able to convince one of the guides to let them skip ahead. Eventually the line did start moving a little faster, and we could see they were indeed open, it was just slow going. Eventually we could see the welcome board! Baby steps!
From this we could see our guides would be Kira, Tiffany, Doug and Damien which I'd already gathered from the previous group as well. I have heard of Kira before, so I was excited to have her based on how loved she is. They also had recommendations for places to go and things to do, but I had an agenda so we were good there. Based on previous reports we'd also already decided to do option B from the three the following day when we were in Longyearbyen before boarding:
Option A: A Cultural Tour of Longyearbyen - Museum & boarding an hour early
Option B: Exports of Svalbard - Mine exploration & beer tasting
Option C: The Spitsbergen Experience - Museum & camp visit (reports were you also "met" the working sled dogs there)
I think there originally were four options, but they merged or tossed one, so we only had three.
We might have chosen C but we did already meet the dogs up in Alaska and had plans to go to the Husky Cafe in Longyearbyen also with our free time, so we were set. B it was! With that already settled we chatted with the guide who was working the line - Damien - and all too soon were led over to Doug's checkin desk. There he explained the timing for dinner tonight, and gave us our bag tags and stickers which told us which bus to get on the following morning. He also broke the bad news of an exceptionally early wakeup call and short turn around to get our luggage in the hallway that night (back by 9, luggage out by 10), after which we were free to roam around the city until dinner.
We were beyond hungry at this point as checkin did take awhile, but thankfully did not have far to go - there was a nice cafe a couple of doors down to enjoy. The brief walk sure was pretty... cars were allowed on this street but there was very little traffic ever.
I had promised Kyle waffles, and thankfully they had them and a choice of toppings as well. I've never had brown cheese, so I convinced him to give it a go, and we had not realized jam would be included so we accidentally took too much:
He was not a fan, but I was! It's definitely different, but to me that is in a good way. Which should surprise no one, as I'm pretty fond of dairy. ^^; Since I don't like soda at all I grew up drinking milk with meals, and still have it every day in the form of a latte. I also eat yogurt almost every morning, I like ice cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, cheese cheese.. you get the point. Pretty much the only cheese I think is just OK is melted cheese... and that is generally because when it appears it appears in a huge glop. Unless we are talking fondue.... anyway you get the point.
Bellies full we were off to the Munch museum which was a little under 20 min walk away. Unfortunately today was also shaping up to be as hot as the previous day... it was already 70 with a high of 77. The walk was also pretty, passing by a small park, fountains, and the Opera House and harbor area was in view. The Munch museum is behind.
We were happy to be indoors once again, and ended up having to leave our bags and such inside a locker which at least was free. I wasn't sure how long we would stay here, but we ended up fully enjoying every level they had to offer. I knew they only had one version of the Scream at a time, but did not realize they DO have all three on display, but only one window opens for a half hour at a time.
They show the print one twice as much, so we did have to check back over the course of an hour and a half to see all of them which encouraged us to linger and wander. The most surprising to me was floor 7, where they have an interactive exhibit of "his villa", covered in shadow, literally. Most everything is panted black, and it is quite dark up there. Around the room are informational cards on his life, and items that were his. In the middle you can move through walls and touch various every day items like a phone, sit on a couch, listen to "his" radio, etc and see sights, be greeted by a housekeeper over a speaker.. just odd stuff. Every room also had little tiny mouse footprints leading to a hole where if you crouch down to look you'd see mice playing out different scenes like this:
They were pretty cute! And strange...!
On the 9th floor was an exhibit from another artist; for us it was a collage artist named Marianne Bratteli which was different and also fun. https://www.munchmuseet.no/en/exhibitions/archive/2023/marianne-bratteli/ We sat there and discussed logistics for getting to lunch and a park I wanted to visit in the afternoon. It seemed there was no easy way to transit between the two without taking a lot of time, so we decided to just throw money at the problem and take Uber - and then went up to the top floor to take in the view:
From there we stopped by the giftshop and called a car to take us to the oldest hot dog stand in Oslo - Syverkiosken~! I had seen this on Travel Man and really wanted to go, so I'm glad it worked out.
Kyle also got a local Toyen Cola here, which is an open source soda. The recipe is right on the bottle. They've had some interactions with Coca Cola from time to time, most recently around their Jallasprite soda. The owner asked how we knew about it since it was not on the menu - I'd read about it on a review somewhere or other - Kyle liked it.
The gentleman who served us was really friendly and the hot dog did take a bit to cook to order for us so we stood chatting for awhile. It was really good; we got one spicy and a sweet one. They all come covered with a little potato bread cover which I REALLY thought was smart. It held all the toppings in place. Underneath is a normal bun but it was smooshed while being toasted.
We were not here long, maybe 20 minutes at most, and already had to call another car to head over to the park I wanted to see.
Finally it was time to get started! Thanks to folk on the June departure we knew when checkin with our guides would open, and that one of their options "sold out" before everyone got their first pick, so we went down first thing. In true Disney fan fashion there was already a looooooong line that did not appear to be moving. We waited so long without moving we thought perhaps there was a holdup. A Norway ABD had just wrapped up the day prior, and between that and folk who came in early as we did it appeared at least half the ship had the same idea.
I did see one guide having very long conversations with folk waiting in line, and another did appear to be helping someone, so all we could do was be patient. A couple just ahead of us must have been just as hungry as we were, as they went to see what the hold up was and were able to convince one of the guides to let them skip ahead. Eventually the line did start moving a little faster, and we could see they were indeed open, it was just slow going. Eventually we could see the welcome board! Baby steps!
From this we could see our guides would be Kira, Tiffany, Doug and Damien which I'd already gathered from the previous group as well. I have heard of Kira before, so I was excited to have her based on how loved she is. They also had recommendations for places to go and things to do, but I had an agenda so we were good there. Based on previous reports we'd also already decided to do option B from the three the following day when we were in Longyearbyen before boarding:
Option A: A Cultural Tour of Longyearbyen - Museum & boarding an hour early
Option B: Exports of Svalbard - Mine exploration & beer tasting
Option C: The Spitsbergen Experience - Museum & camp visit (reports were you also "met" the working sled dogs there)
I think there originally were four options, but they merged or tossed one, so we only had three.
We might have chosen C but we did already meet the dogs up in Alaska and had plans to go to the Husky Cafe in Longyearbyen also with our free time, so we were set. B it was! With that already settled we chatted with the guide who was working the line - Damien - and all too soon were led over to Doug's checkin desk. There he explained the timing for dinner tonight, and gave us our bag tags and stickers which told us which bus to get on the following morning. He also broke the bad news of an exceptionally early wakeup call and short turn around to get our luggage in the hallway that night (back by 9, luggage out by 10), after which we were free to roam around the city until dinner.
We were beyond hungry at this point as checkin did take awhile, but thankfully did not have far to go - there was a nice cafe a couple of doors down to enjoy. The brief walk sure was pretty... cars were allowed on this street but there was very little traffic ever.
I had promised Kyle waffles, and thankfully they had them and a choice of toppings as well. I've never had brown cheese, so I convinced him to give it a go, and we had not realized jam would be included so we accidentally took too much:
He was not a fan, but I was! It's definitely different, but to me that is in a good way. Which should surprise no one, as I'm pretty fond of dairy. ^^; Since I don't like soda at all I grew up drinking milk with meals, and still have it every day in the form of a latte. I also eat yogurt almost every morning, I like ice cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, cheese cheese.. you get the point. Pretty much the only cheese I think is just OK is melted cheese... and that is generally because when it appears it appears in a huge glop. Unless we are talking fondue.... anyway you get the point.
Bellies full we were off to the Munch museum which was a little under 20 min walk away. Unfortunately today was also shaping up to be as hot as the previous day... it was already 70 with a high of 77. The walk was also pretty, passing by a small park, fountains, and the Opera House and harbor area was in view. The Munch museum is behind.
We were happy to be indoors once again, and ended up having to leave our bags and such inside a locker which at least was free. I wasn't sure how long we would stay here, but we ended up fully enjoying every level they had to offer. I knew they only had one version of the Scream at a time, but did not realize they DO have all three on display, but only one window opens for a half hour at a time.
They show the print one twice as much, so we did have to check back over the course of an hour and a half to see all of them which encouraged us to linger and wander. The most surprising to me was floor 7, where they have an interactive exhibit of "his villa", covered in shadow, literally. Most everything is panted black, and it is quite dark up there. Around the room are informational cards on his life, and items that were his. In the middle you can move through walls and touch various every day items like a phone, sit on a couch, listen to "his" radio, etc and see sights, be greeted by a housekeeper over a speaker.. just odd stuff. Every room also had little tiny mouse footprints leading to a hole where if you crouch down to look you'd see mice playing out different scenes like this:
They were pretty cute! And strange...!
On the 9th floor was an exhibit from another artist; for us it was a collage artist named Marianne Bratteli which was different and also fun. https://www.munchmuseet.no/en/exhibitions/archive/2023/marianne-bratteli/ We sat there and discussed logistics for getting to lunch and a park I wanted to visit in the afternoon. It seemed there was no easy way to transit between the two without taking a lot of time, so we decided to just throw money at the problem and take Uber - and then went up to the top floor to take in the view:
From there we stopped by the giftshop and called a car to take us to the oldest hot dog stand in Oslo - Syverkiosken~! I had seen this on Travel Man and really wanted to go, so I'm glad it worked out.
Kyle also got a local Toyen Cola here, which is an open source soda. The recipe is right on the bottle. They've had some interactions with Coca Cola from time to time, most recently around their Jallasprite soda. The owner asked how we knew about it since it was not on the menu - I'd read about it on a review somewhere or other - Kyle liked it.
The gentleman who served us was really friendly and the hot dog did take a bit to cook to order for us so we stood chatting for awhile. It was really good; we got one spicy and a sweet one. They all come covered with a little potato bread cover which I REALLY thought was smart. It held all the toppings in place. Underneath is a normal bun but it was smooshed while being toasted.
We were not here long, maybe 20 minutes at most, and already had to call another car to head over to the park I wanted to see.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
Day 1, part 2
I know I mentioned the temp only got to 77 degrees today, but it was hot in the sun! I was well acclimated already but Kyle was suffering a little as he'd only brought pants, so we did not spend a ton of time at The Vigeland Park, known for its statues.
We walked up to the tower shown in the background here, and mostly wandered past the sculptures, enjoying them along with some other patrons of the art to be found here. We all enjoy art in our own way I suppose.
We did stop by the man being attacked by genii spirits (looks like a man tossing four babies around) and crying boy (Sinnataggen) statues which are the most well known for selfies, and then found something to cool off with at a cafe in the park - a lemon meringue ice cream sundae.
We then wandered a tiny bit more as there was a pond with baby swans and then headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before meeting up with the group.
Finally took a picture of the Grand Oslo Hotel~!
Very soon it was 5:45 so we headed down and boarded our bus to the Fram Museum where ABD had rented the place out for our dinner. We had Tiffany as our guide on the bus, and she made sure to point out the "French bathrooms" in the park across from the hotel on behalf of Damien, who is from France. There is apparently a lot of controversy over these toilets as well... I did not realize how deep this thing goes, Damien!! https://www.nrk.no/kultur/liberte---in-english-1.5044195 On the way to the museum she'd also explained her guiding style and apologized in advance if her asking personal questions offended any of us in any way - she said it came from a place of respect and friendship, and she only does it as she really does want to know us all better and encouraged us to do the same if we wanted to know anything about her. She told us a bit about herself, her family, why she guides, etc, and we played a few quick standard getting to know you games. On the way we passed by Bygdø Royal Farm - which is their summer estate - also where there was now a flag raised... maybe the royal family had moved over here today?
As we entered the museum we were given a welcome cocktail in a Fram cup (we were not allowed to keep these) and allowed to wander all over as we wished while everyone arrived and got settled in.
There were three levels to the exhibit with many items along the walls on display. We immediately boarded the ship and went below while it was not crowded to check it all out.
Front of the Fram.
After quite awhile we heard announcements up on deck, so we emerged to hear the welcome speech from our guides, who were at a little makeshift stage up on the masts. They welcomed us all, introduced themselves and gave us a quick overview of the time ahead, giving special nod to the choice to host the dinner here to kick off our own (very different) expedition. Oh, and then dinner was served. They did ask that we all not rush over there straight away as we still had an hour and a half, so we buzzed by the gift shop at the exit (of course) where we found this gem.
...come on people.
Here we bought two little polar bear zipper pulls for our jackets so we could tell them apart from other folk's (another tip from the earlier trip). We then went through the tunnel underground past a taxidermy polar bear that they rolled out for us, to the Gjøa, which was the first ship to navigate the entire Northern Passage and the location of our buffet. There was still plenty of food to be had, with a choice of chicken or... hot dogs. Whoops! They did not have enough tables for everyone, and many people were done wandering and not moving along to share, so we ended up eating quickly at a standing one, and continued to wander this exhibit hall and much smaller ship.
We spent a lot of time reading through the expedition excerpts and then wandered back towards the Fram area to see what we may have missed. We found a door that invited us to experience sub-zero temperatures which you had to hit a button to enter. We thought it would just be a room, but... no.
After longer than I thought we emerged, and were truly out of time. Having thought too long and hard about it I decided I really did want a Fram mug, so we grabbed one really quick on the way back out to the bus. Once we got to the hotel we packed as quickly as we could, and went to bed to get ready for our 4:15am (!!!) departure.
I know I mentioned the temp only got to 77 degrees today, but it was hot in the sun! I was well acclimated already but Kyle was suffering a little as he'd only brought pants, so we did not spend a ton of time at The Vigeland Park, known for its statues.
We walked up to the tower shown in the background here, and mostly wandered past the sculptures, enjoying them along with some other patrons of the art to be found here. We all enjoy art in our own way I suppose.
We did stop by the man being attacked by genii spirits (looks like a man tossing four babies around) and crying boy (Sinnataggen) statues which are the most well known for selfies, and then found something to cool off with at a cafe in the park - a lemon meringue ice cream sundae.
We then wandered a tiny bit more as there was a pond with baby swans and then headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before meeting up with the group.
Finally took a picture of the Grand Oslo Hotel~!
Very soon it was 5:45 so we headed down and boarded our bus to the Fram Museum where ABD had rented the place out for our dinner. We had Tiffany as our guide on the bus, and she made sure to point out the "French bathrooms" in the park across from the hotel on behalf of Damien, who is from France. There is apparently a lot of controversy over these toilets as well... I did not realize how deep this thing goes, Damien!! https://www.nrk.no/kultur/liberte---in-english-1.5044195 On the way to the museum she'd also explained her guiding style and apologized in advance if her asking personal questions offended any of us in any way - she said it came from a place of respect and friendship, and she only does it as she really does want to know us all better and encouraged us to do the same if we wanted to know anything about her. She told us a bit about herself, her family, why she guides, etc, and we played a few quick standard getting to know you games. On the way we passed by Bygdø Royal Farm - which is their summer estate - also where there was now a flag raised... maybe the royal family had moved over here today?
As we entered the museum we were given a welcome cocktail in a Fram cup (we were not allowed to keep these) and allowed to wander all over as we wished while everyone arrived and got settled in.
There were three levels to the exhibit with many items along the walls on display. We immediately boarded the ship and went below while it was not crowded to check it all out.
Front of the Fram.
After quite awhile we heard announcements up on deck, so we emerged to hear the welcome speech from our guides, who were at a little makeshift stage up on the masts. They welcomed us all, introduced themselves and gave us a quick overview of the time ahead, giving special nod to the choice to host the dinner here to kick off our own (very different) expedition. Oh, and then dinner was served.
They did ask that we all not rush over there straight away as we still had an hour and a half, so we buzzed by the gift shop at the exit (of course) where we found this gem....come on people.
Here we bought two little polar bear zipper pulls for our jackets so we could tell them apart from other folk's (another tip from the earlier trip). We then went through the tunnel underground past a taxidermy polar bear that they rolled out for us, to the Gjøa, which was the first ship to navigate the entire Northern Passage and the location of our buffet. There was still plenty of food to be had, with a choice of chicken or... hot dogs. Whoops! They did not have enough tables for everyone, and many people were done wandering and not moving along to share, so we ended up eating quickly at a standing one, and continued to wander this exhibit hall and much smaller ship.We spent a lot of time reading through the expedition excerpts and then wandered back towards the Fram area to see what we may have missed. We found a door that invited us to experience sub-zero temperatures which you had to hit a button to enter. We thought it would just be a room, but... no.
We really should have come from the other side, so we'd know what was waiting for us... it was indeed quite cold inside, but didn't feel worse than a walk in frozen food section in a grocery store in summer. The wooden floor was buckling a little though and there was a three headed sea monster with strobe lights on it that we walked by... oh noooo! But then it got weirder.. the next room had glowing ice bursting from the walls of a ship with a couple of creepy mannequins of sailors in their beds, frozen, dead eyes open full as if in fear. What the heck was going on..? What did we wander into and how long was this going to go? The bus was leaving soon! On we walked through ice caves, where turning a corner you run into a scary mummy in the ice, and hear and see a polar bear trying to attack you to boot. Finally after all of that, we were free...
As we exited and went the other direction we finally saw the warnings. Live and learn!
As we exited and went the other direction we finally saw the warnings. Live and learn!
After longer than I thought we emerged, and were truly out of time. Having thought too long and hard about it I decided I really did want a Fram mug, so we grabbed one really quick on the way back out to the bus. Once we got to the hotel we packed as quickly as we could, and went to bed to get ready for our 4:15am (!!!) departure.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
July 11th/Day 2: Top of the World!
I'd be lying if I said I bounded out of bed star eyed and bushy tailed, but rouse we did at 3am this morning to finish packing our carry on bags with toiletries, shower and get down to the lobby by 4am for our 4:15am departure. We were not in the first group, so we got a whole 15 minutes extra before we had to be on the bus.
They did have a couple of breakfast items on a long table at the side entrance for those who needed it - drip coffee (no decaf so I skipped it), orange juice, and I think some kind of croissant sandwich if you couldn't wait for the meal on the plane. While we were getting ready to go Kyle said he was going to start the timer for seeing a Polar Bear, which I laughed at assuming he was joking. After we boarded and Damien was doing a head count for his bus, he reapeted to him the timer was going... thankfully Damien rose to Kyle's trolling and said it was going to be awhile. Once we arrived at the airport we collected our checked bags from under the bus and were able to rearrange items if we needed to for the flight. The guides were there to help folk who needed it find their way to the check in counter, but you couldn't miss it - our departure was at 7:05am on SAS.
I have to say I've never been on a chartered plane before, and I really enjoyed it! It was super fun having the guides there on the intercom, running down the aisles doing the wave, and getting everyone pumped up to finally be on our way! The flight was totally a normal flight otherwise, and the food on SAS better than what I'd had the day prior!
Kyle and I had the row to ourselves, so we just watched movies and such until we landed, at which point we all had a little more time with all our luggage to rearrange yet again.
From here all our bags went to the ship; anything we took we had to carry with us as we would not be able to leave items on the buses. The reason is because while we were doing our activities the buses needed to go run other routes for the town. There were so few of them that every minute counted! No matter which group you were in, the first stop was the main drag of Longyearbyen where we had precious little time to run around and shop or do anything we wished.
Kyle and I had our minds set on going to the Husky Cafe, so we wandered down to that instead of shopping.
I'd hoped we would have a little time to do both, but there just was not enough time... by the time we got to the Cafe many other folk were already inside and we had to wait a little bit for our drinks. That was fine by us, as we were able to pet some of the locals...
One different thing about Svalbard is every shop we entered had you remove your shoes before entering. I can imagine just how dirty the floors would constantly be if this rule were not followed..! They always had seats and cubbies to leave your shoes in, though generally with so many of us everywhere they all ended up in a big ol' pile instead of neatly tucked away. We downed our drinks quickly and had a few precious minutes to pop into one little shopping area where we bought a little carved polar bear for my collection - both it and my minotaur have joined my nick nack shelf.
From here we boarded the buses again and headed to our venue for lunch, Huset Restaurant. We had both the upper and lower floor for our party - we sat upstairs in the stage area.
Here they had more options than the day before; chicken, sausage again, salmon, some various salads - it was a very nice spread. We had our first real opportunity to get to know some of our fellow travelers and chat awhile. When we were finished we wandered around the venue a bit as they had pictures and such sprinkled around too, before it was time to board the buses with our activity groups. Damien came along with our group here as well, and asked Kyle if he'd seen a polar bear yet. No... but supposedly someone did see an arctic fox at the seed vault which we passed on the way up to Mine 3. The search was on!
From here they split us up into two groups to manage us better - the families with kids went in one group and the rest of the adults were in the other. We went into the crew meeting room first to get a quick history lesson before heading into the mine.
continued in next post...
I'd be lying if I said I bounded out of bed star eyed and bushy tailed, but rouse we did at 3am this morning to finish packing our carry on bags with toiletries, shower and get down to the lobby by 4am for our 4:15am departure. We were not in the first group, so we got a whole 15 minutes extra before we had to be on the bus.
They did have a couple of breakfast items on a long table at the side entrance for those who needed it - drip coffee (no decaf so I skipped it), orange juice, and I think some kind of croissant sandwich if you couldn't wait for the meal on the plane. While we were getting ready to go Kyle said he was going to start the timer for seeing a Polar Bear, which I laughed at assuming he was joking. After we boarded and Damien was doing a head count for his bus, he reapeted to him the timer was going... thankfully Damien rose to Kyle's trolling and said it was going to be awhile. Once we arrived at the airport we collected our checked bags from under the bus and were able to rearrange items if we needed to for the flight. The guides were there to help folk who needed it find their way to the check in counter, but you couldn't miss it - our departure was at 7:05am on SAS.
I have to say I've never been on a chartered plane before, and I really enjoyed it! It was super fun having the guides there on the intercom, running down the aisles doing the wave, and getting everyone pumped up to finally be on our way! The flight was totally a normal flight otherwise, and the food on SAS better than what I'd had the day prior!
Kyle and I had the row to ourselves, so we just watched movies and such until we landed, at which point we all had a little more time with all our luggage to rearrange yet again.
From here all our bags went to the ship; anything we took we had to carry with us as we would not be able to leave items on the buses. The reason is because while we were doing our activities the buses needed to go run other routes for the town. There were so few of them that every minute counted! No matter which group you were in, the first stop was the main drag of Longyearbyen where we had precious little time to run around and shop or do anything we wished.
Kyle and I had our minds set on going to the Husky Cafe, so we wandered down to that instead of shopping.
I'd hoped we would have a little time to do both, but there just was not enough time... by the time we got to the Cafe many other folk were already inside and we had to wait a little bit for our drinks. That was fine by us, as we were able to pet some of the locals...
One different thing about Svalbard is every shop we entered had you remove your shoes before entering. I can imagine just how dirty the floors would constantly be if this rule were not followed..! They always had seats and cubbies to leave your shoes in, though generally with so many of us everywhere they all ended up in a big ol' pile instead of neatly tucked away. We downed our drinks quickly and had a few precious minutes to pop into one little shopping area where we bought a little carved polar bear for my collection - both it and my minotaur have joined my nick nack shelf.
From here we boarded the buses again and headed to our venue for lunch, Huset Restaurant. We had both the upper and lower floor for our party - we sat upstairs in the stage area.
Here they had more options than the day before; chicken, sausage again, salmon, some various salads - it was a very nice spread. We had our first real opportunity to get to know some of our fellow travelers and chat awhile. When we were finished we wandered around the venue a bit as they had pictures and such sprinkled around too, before it was time to board the buses with our activity groups. Damien came along with our group here as well, and asked Kyle if he'd seen a polar bear yet. No... but supposedly someone did see an arctic fox at the seed vault which we passed on the way up to Mine 3. The search was on!
From here they split us up into two groups to manage us better - the families with kids went in one group and the rest of the adults were in the other. We went into the crew meeting room first to get a quick history lesson before heading into the mine.
continued in next post...
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
Down into the mine we went... we had all made sure to wear warm clothing for this, as we knew we would be traveling under the permafrost. We also wandered longer than you'd think; I figured it would just be a little ways in, but we wandered and wandered it felt like. Maybe a mile? Or a little more?
We had to wear helmets with lights on them to be able to see, though the journey did start in a fairly well lit area where the equipment had been left. They had pictures and informational placards here, though with a guide we did not need to read them. She spoke about their lives and work, as well as how dangerous the mining operation was. Lives were indeed lost in here.
Workshop where items could be repaired on site.
As we walked further in, things began to get darker and darker. She showed us various mineral veins, and the bracings they used to complete their work. She spoke of how tight the quarters the miners had to work in were, and had us attempt to lift some of the equipment they used. It was all honestly very insteresting and way more in depth than I'd have thought. We saw crystals start to swirl from our breath and the walls start to sparkle in our lights - we had indeed gone under the permafrost.
Eventually we came near the location of the original seed vault where they performed the proof of concept. Just before there is a little santa claus doll - apparently local legend says Santa himself lives in one of the mines; every year children address letters to him here.
At this point our guide asked us to extinguish our lights so we could all experience true darkness. There is almost always a little light other places, even when you think you are in the dark... but not here. Literally no light reaches this far... you could hear people shuffling uncomfortably before long, and the lights all clicked back on.
Just beyond, was the door to the vault. It is still a test in progress (though the "real" seed vault is also operational) so we could go no further down this tunnel.
From here we turned further down our main tunnel that led us here, and also stopped by the data storage vault.
A little further still and we came to a dead end; the last area they were mining where you could still see braces and such set up for extraction and get the full sense of what the miner's were working with.
Looks safe eh...? Eek.
From here we were out of time, so we walked straight back out back to the entrance and said our goodbyes and thank yous before reboarding the bus. Damien had an important question to ask... would we all mind terribly getting to the beer tasting a little later to swing by the airport and rescue someone's luggage? Apparently they had lost someone's bag on the flight to Oslo and the poor woman had nothing... she'd had to go shopping in Oslo for literally everything she'd need to get through the trip which only works so well.... they had since found it and it JUST arrived on a different flight than ours.
Of course it was unanimous, and then, success!
Another ABD miracle and coordination solved a huge problem. We could all go toast to that!
Continued in next post... (I said there would be more pics, didn't I? Kyle hasn't even started taking any yet and I'm already this bad about it, lol)
We had to wear helmets with lights on them to be able to see, though the journey did start in a fairly well lit area where the equipment had been left. They had pictures and informational placards here, though with a guide we did not need to read them. She spoke about their lives and work, as well as how dangerous the mining operation was. Lives were indeed lost in here.
Workshop where items could be repaired on site.
As we walked further in, things began to get darker and darker. She showed us various mineral veins, and the bracings they used to complete their work. She spoke of how tight the quarters the miners had to work in were, and had us attempt to lift some of the equipment they used. It was all honestly very insteresting and way more in depth than I'd have thought. We saw crystals start to swirl from our breath and the walls start to sparkle in our lights - we had indeed gone under the permafrost.
Eventually we came near the location of the original seed vault where they performed the proof of concept. Just before there is a little santa claus doll - apparently local legend says Santa himself lives in one of the mines; every year children address letters to him here.
At this point our guide asked us to extinguish our lights so we could all experience true darkness. There is almost always a little light other places, even when you think you are in the dark... but not here. Literally no light reaches this far... you could hear people shuffling uncomfortably before long, and the lights all clicked back on.
Just beyond, was the door to the vault. It is still a test in progress (though the "real" seed vault is also operational) so we could go no further down this tunnel.
From here we turned further down our main tunnel that led us here, and also stopped by the data storage vault.
A little further still and we came to a dead end; the last area they were mining where you could still see braces and such set up for extraction and get the full sense of what the miner's were working with.
Looks safe eh...? Eek.
From here we were out of time, so we walked straight back out back to the entrance and said our goodbyes and thank yous before reboarding the bus. Damien had an important question to ask... would we all mind terribly getting to the beer tasting a little later to swing by the airport and rescue someone's luggage? Apparently they had lost someone's bag on the flight to Oslo and the poor woman had nothing... she'd had to go shopping in Oslo for literally everything she'd need to get through the trip which only works so well.... they had since found it and it JUST arrived on a different flight than ours.
Of course it was unanimous, and then, success!
Another ABD miracle and coordination solved a huge problem. We could all go toast to that!
Continued in next post... (I said there would be more pics, didn't I? Kyle hasn't even started taking any yet and I'm already this bad about it, lol)
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
OK last installment for this day, I promise!
We've been to many beer tastings but none so far north of course... and none where you could not actually BUY the beer to take with you! Apparently Svalbard had a real drinking problem back in the day, and they have never moved beyond that to allow folk to buy whatever beer they please to drink at home. You can purchase as you like in restaurants and such, but if you want to take a 6 pack from the grocery store you are only allowed so many every month. They track it with alcohol cards - the woman running the tasting kindly passed hers around, though she was very insistent that she had to get it back!
Unfairly the rules did not apply to wine the crew leads and managers enjoyed, just the beer and liquor the crew did. More info here if you're intereted: https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/alcohol/
The story of how the brewery came to be was quite a ride. The owner had to literally change the law to be able to brew there. Every taster we got they told a little more, then we were free to walk back to the ship from here, as we were basically on top of the dock. I was super excited to be boarding, and for this adventure! As we walked I was skipping and turned around to say something to Kyle when my foot got caught in a pothole and I fell flat on my back!
...yep, that makes twice. I swear this doesn't happen at home! This time I was entirely unscathed which really didn't make sense. I was wearing a little hikers backpack and a coat, but they were both unscathed also. Lucky~! Or was I..? I fell the first day of Greece and now the first (full) day of this trip in Svalbard... was I cursed? After this portion we had four days in Iceland as well on the way home... would I face plant there too? Sheesh...
We may well have been the last people to board, as we had lingered back at the brewery with Damien and I'd bought a shirt since we could not buy beer. As we approached the poor crew was still outside waiting to shake our hands and introduce themselves. We were given a welcome cocktail and showed our passports to the counter. We then had them taken away - they would be returned again at the end of the cruise. Once that was all sorted we went to check out our room. We were on the same deck as the entry which was very convenient all week. In the back on the same deck was the lounge we gathered in for all of our landings as well.
The bed and all the amenities were nicer than DCL, and the other - much smaller - expedition ships we've been on till now.
On the right wall of the bathroom there was also a glass wall so you could see right out the balcony from the bathroom if you wished, or there was a wall you could pull shut to give yourself privacy as you showered.
Nothing special here - sometimes a toilet is just a toilet!
We were free until 5:30 when there was a welcome presentation from the captain and guides in the theatre, followed by the mandated safety drill. We spoke with our stateroom host, in case we had any requests but we did not so we just unpacked and relaxed as long as we could.
In the theatre we were welcomed in style:
Then some of the crew was introduced, and the expedition leader, Alexandre Thevinin spoke to us as well and showed a short video on how to preserve the areas we were about to visit on the ship. We were told here that while the original plan had been to sail south first, we would in fact head north as the weather was better in that direction and they hoped any wildlife would be easier to spot. For the drill we did have to go get our life jackets and put them on, just FYI.
After the presentation it was dinner time, which ran from 6:30-8pm. We were not feeling very hungry so we went up to the buffet on deck 6 and had a wide variety of dishes to choose from. You could mostly always get the entrees on 6 as in the restaurant, but not of course the amuse bouche and soups... maybe a couple other items were also missing but of what I saw on the menu downstairs I seem to remember seeing on the buffet as well. They always had basics like steak, hotdogs, hamburgers and breaded chicken sandwiches, available as well that you could ask for. They seemed to often have pizzas too though they were a little more unique than just cheese and pepperoni. I didn't ever try them so I am not sure how good they were if I am honest.
After filling our bellies we went back to the room and found... more food. Also a package of "Icebreakers" from the guides.
The ABD activity for the next couple of days was a Scent Scavenger Hunt. The guides had hidden six plastic baggies of smells from the Disney resort around the ship; you had to guess which one matched with six locations on the form. This was much harder than it sounds and we gave up before long. I believe the winner only got four of the six correct.
They had live music in the lounge at 7, and our parka and boot distribution was from 7:30-9:30. We went fairly early as I was still not sure I had chosen the right size parka, but we were all allowed to try them on and make sure it fit before committing.
At 9 there was more live music in the lounges on 3 & 6, but we did not partake. There was also a movie showing in the theatre at 9:15 that I was interested in, but jetlag was getting to Kyle, and I was not sure I wanted to go alone. I was also feeling tired after the 3am wake up call. In the end we both skipped 'The Great Ice Bear' even though it was only 47 minutes long... maybe we are getting a little old! Tomorrow would be our first excursion!
We sailed away around 7pm, but the map we were able to consult every day had not been edited.. yet.
We've been to many beer tastings but none so far north of course... and none where you could not actually BUY the beer to take with you! Apparently Svalbard had a real drinking problem back in the day, and they have never moved beyond that to allow folk to buy whatever beer they please to drink at home. You can purchase as you like in restaurants and such, but if you want to take a 6 pack from the grocery store you are only allowed so many every month. They track it with alcohol cards - the woman running the tasting kindly passed hers around, though she was very insistent that she had to get it back!
Unfairly the rules did not apply to wine the crew leads and managers enjoyed, just the beer and liquor the crew did. More info here if you're intereted: https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/alcohol/
The story of how the brewery came to be was quite a ride. The owner had to literally change the law to be able to brew there. Every taster we got they told a little more, then we were free to walk back to the ship from here, as we were basically on top of the dock. I was super excited to be boarding, and for this adventure! As we walked I was skipping and turned around to say something to Kyle when my foot got caught in a pothole and I fell flat on my back!
...yep, that makes twice. I swear this doesn't happen at home! This time I was entirely unscathed which really didn't make sense. I was wearing a little hikers backpack and a coat, but they were both unscathed also. Lucky~! Or was I..? I fell the first day of Greece and now the first (full) day of this trip in Svalbard... was I cursed? After this portion we had four days in Iceland as well on the way home... would I face plant there too? Sheesh...
We may well have been the last people to board, as we had lingered back at the brewery with Damien and I'd bought a shirt since we could not buy beer. As we approached the poor crew was still outside waiting to shake our hands and introduce themselves. We were given a welcome cocktail and showed our passports to the counter. We then had them taken away - they would be returned again at the end of the cruise. Once that was all sorted we went to check out our room. We were on the same deck as the entry which was very convenient all week. In the back on the same deck was the lounge we gathered in for all of our landings as well.
The bed and all the amenities were nicer than DCL, and the other - much smaller - expedition ships we've been on till now.
On the right wall of the bathroom there was also a glass wall so you could see right out the balcony from the bathroom if you wished, or there was a wall you could pull shut to give yourself privacy as you showered.
Nothing special here - sometimes a toilet is just a toilet!
We were free until 5:30 when there was a welcome presentation from the captain and guides in the theatre, followed by the mandated safety drill. We spoke with our stateroom host, in case we had any requests but we did not so we just unpacked and relaxed as long as we could.
In the theatre we were welcomed in style:
Then some of the crew was introduced, and the expedition leader, Alexandre Thevinin spoke to us as well and showed a short video on how to preserve the areas we were about to visit on the ship. We were told here that while the original plan had been to sail south first, we would in fact head north as the weather was better in that direction and they hoped any wildlife would be easier to spot. For the drill we did have to go get our life jackets and put them on, just FYI.
After the presentation it was dinner time, which ran from 6:30-8pm. We were not feeling very hungry so we went up to the buffet on deck 6 and had a wide variety of dishes to choose from. You could mostly always get the entrees on 6 as in the restaurant, but not of course the amuse bouche and soups... maybe a couple other items were also missing but of what I saw on the menu downstairs I seem to remember seeing on the buffet as well. They always had basics like steak, hotdogs, hamburgers and breaded chicken sandwiches, available as well that you could ask for. They seemed to often have pizzas too though they were a little more unique than just cheese and pepperoni. I didn't ever try them so I am not sure how good they were if I am honest.
After filling our bellies we went back to the room and found... more food. Also a package of "Icebreakers" from the guides.
The ABD activity for the next couple of days was a Scent Scavenger Hunt. The guides had hidden six plastic baggies of smells from the Disney resort around the ship; you had to guess which one matched with six locations on the form. This was much harder than it sounds and we gave up before long. I believe the winner only got four of the six correct.
They had live music in the lounge at 7, and our parka and boot distribution was from 7:30-9:30. We went fairly early as I was still not sure I had chosen the right size parka, but we were all allowed to try them on and make sure it fit before committing.
At 9 there was more live music in the lounges on 3 & 6, but we did not partake. There was also a movie showing in the theatre at 9:15 that I was interested in, but jetlag was getting to Kyle, and I was not sure I wanted to go alone. I was also feeling tired after the 3am wake up call. In the end we both skipped 'The Great Ice Bear' even though it was only 47 minutes long... maybe we are getting a little old! Tomorrow would be our first excursion!
We sailed away around 7pm, but the map we were able to consult every day had not been edited.. yet.
Last edited:
sayhello
Have Camera, Will Travel
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
- Messages
- 16,821
That is one early-a** wake-up time!! Yikes! I guess it's worth it, but man, that sounds hard!
And YAY! for getting that poor woman's suitcase! SO fabulous that it showed up, and yes, this is yet another reason to travel with a company like ABD!! Knowing they were monitoring what was going on with her suitcase, and being able to re-unite her with it is priceless!
What do they mine at that mine?
Sounds like you're off & running! Looking forward to more of your report!
Sayhello
And YAY! for getting that poor woman's suitcase! SO fabulous that it showed up, and yes, this is yet another reason to travel with a company like ABD!! Knowing they were monitoring what was going on with her suitcase, and being able to re-unite her with it is priceless!
What do they mine at that mine?
Sounds like you're off & running! Looking forward to more of your report!
Sayhello
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,061
Wow, sounds like a busy first day! The rooms on the ship look much nicer than I expected. You and I share a love of dairy and the same cheese particularities, LOL. I still have milk quite a few nights a week with dinner Looking forward to the rest of the trip, but just the beginning of your report makes me even more sad that they've eliminated it.
Looking forward to the rest of the trip, but just the beginning of your report makes me even more sad that they've eliminated it.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
July 12th/Day 3: Tundra Fun
This morning we woke up at Lillehookbreen where we would have a zodiac ride, followed by a landing at Signehamna in the afternoon. Just as on the DCL ships and so many others there were channels for the map and for the bridge view on the TVs.
Most days were like this; one ride, one walk, with few exceptions. We were free to do as we liked until 9am, when there would be a briefing in the theatre. We were well pampered for meals on the ship, with three different options for breakfast. From 6:30-10am the lounge on 3 (inside the exit to the zodiacs) there was coffee and small pastries in case you were up early or late. In the dining room breakfast was served from 7-9, and the buffet was 7:30-9:30. We never did go to the dining room for breakfast as we are used to a small smackerel at home (me) or nothing at all aside from coffee (Kyle), so sleeping in, and grabbing small items from there was perfect. They mostly had the same fare every day, with a little variety in the smoothies and parfait options. You could get omlettes to order and pretty much any kind of egg, along with pastries (we are on a french ship after all, so there were many many kinds), french toast, sausages, bacon, cereals and granola, yogurt, and lots of fruits. The view wasn't bad either.
After breakfast we went down to the presentation, where we went far more into detail about what the plan was for the next couple of days, as well as how the landings would work. They also mentioned they do not usually do an activity this early in the trip; normally they would have the whole morning to go over things, but we would just blast through it quickly to get out there. Kyle and I were put into the Red group, which went on landings with Blue. Yellow and Green were also paired together. Only two groups would go ashore at any time. Today Red and Blue were first, the next day Green and Yellow would be and so on, taking turns. When we went on an expedition cruise in the Galapagos we chose a smaller boat that did not need to share their time ashore like this. That way we got the entire time the ship got at the sites as there was no one waiting for their turn.
Captain Florian spent a lot of time showing us current ice maps and pointing out where he was thinking our approach could be to get as far into the ice as possible the next day, as well as explain how the ship had been built to push the ice but not break it. We would be performing no major feats here in search of bears... sorry Kyle!
Alexandre - "If you see a bear like this, you will die". Thanks, Alexandre, noted! He went into great detail about the protection offered when we are shore. They can handle up to a 700kg animal running 15 km/hr, which means NOT a bear. Later on the trip I asked about the policy on live ammo with one of the guides and they reiterated there would be no way to tranquilize a bear; they are just too big and strong. The best bet is to just not be there, so that would always be the plan - to stay far enough away that there is minimal danger at all times. Sounds fair!
We then went over every. single. step. of getting on and off the zodiacs. I have like 10 slides - it was kind of insane... I imagine when the ship is full the details matter more. FWIW most of us came fully dressed and put our shoes on just before walking outside - we mostly fit out there anyway while waiting to board, so we didn't overheat too badly. If we had to wait in the lounge for any length of time it would have been too hot.
Apparently this talk was there we actually watched the videos, not last night, whoops! I have to do orientations at work, so anytime I can let some thing else do the talking for me I'm grateful... these were a cute way to make it so no one loses their sanity going over it again and again and again...
Since we were in the first group at 10:30am we were able to go straight back to our room from the presentation and get ready to go out on the zodiacs. As we boarded we were given a life jacket that we then kept with us through the last excursion. We could see all the zodiacs ready to load as we departed:
This tour was probably the least interesting of the ones we went on, but was still very pretty.
Kyle's shot^
Ships' shot^
They won this round... during the trip the ship photographers compiled their best ones of the day into a package you could buy at the end. They went out before us, came back after, got closer... it ended up being worth the $150 or so I think it was but I did hem and haw about it until the last minute. I am still suspicious that some shots were not truly taken on our trip as they saw animals no one else did on those days, but again, they DID go out before us... on this day they saw Puffins for example though no one else did. We saw many common birds that we saw every day, but no puffins, seals, or polar bears for us! When Kyle got back onboard he tapped his timer at Damien who started going Tick Tock every time he passed Kyle, or would ask what hour we were at.
We did see many kinds of ice, and had fun tooting around through them looking for animals. All too soon it was time to board so the Green and Yellow groups could have their turn at 11:30.
Continued in next post....
This morning we woke up at Lillehookbreen where we would have a zodiac ride, followed by a landing at Signehamna in the afternoon. Just as on the DCL ships and so many others there were channels for the map and for the bridge view on the TVs.
Most days were like this; one ride, one walk, with few exceptions. We were free to do as we liked until 9am, when there would be a briefing in the theatre. We were well pampered for meals on the ship, with three different options for breakfast. From 6:30-10am the lounge on 3 (inside the exit to the zodiacs) there was coffee and small pastries in case you were up early or late. In the dining room breakfast was served from 7-9, and the buffet was 7:30-9:30. We never did go to the dining room for breakfast as we are used to a small smackerel at home (me) or nothing at all aside from coffee (Kyle), so sleeping in, and grabbing small items from there was perfect. They mostly had the same fare every day, with a little variety in the smoothies and parfait options. You could get omlettes to order and pretty much any kind of egg, along with pastries (we are on a french ship after all, so there were many many kinds), french toast, sausages, bacon, cereals and granola, yogurt, and lots of fruits. The view wasn't bad either.
After breakfast we went down to the presentation, where we went far more into detail about what the plan was for the next couple of days, as well as how the landings would work. They also mentioned they do not usually do an activity this early in the trip; normally they would have the whole morning to go over things, but we would just blast through it quickly to get out there. Kyle and I were put into the Red group, which went on landings with Blue. Yellow and Green were also paired together. Only two groups would go ashore at any time. Today Red and Blue were first, the next day Green and Yellow would be and so on, taking turns. When we went on an expedition cruise in the Galapagos we chose a smaller boat that did not need to share their time ashore like this. That way we got the entire time the ship got at the sites as there was no one waiting for their turn.
Captain Florian spent a lot of time showing us current ice maps and pointing out where he was thinking our approach could be to get as far into the ice as possible the next day, as well as explain how the ship had been built to push the ice but not break it. We would be performing no major feats here in search of bears... sorry Kyle!
Alexandre - "If you see a bear like this, you will die". Thanks, Alexandre, noted!
He went into great detail about the protection offered when we are shore. They can handle up to a 700kg animal running 15 km/hr, which means NOT a bear. Later on the trip I asked about the policy on live ammo with one of the guides and they reiterated there would be no way to tranquilize a bear; they are just too big and strong. The best bet is to just not be there, so that would always be the plan - to stay far enough away that there is minimal danger at all times. Sounds fair!We then went over every. single. step. of getting on and off the zodiacs. I have like 10 slides - it was kind of insane... I imagine when the ship is full the details matter more. FWIW most of us came fully dressed and put our shoes on just before walking outside - we mostly fit out there anyway while waiting to board, so we didn't overheat too badly. If we had to wait in the lounge for any length of time it would have been too hot.
Apparently this talk was there we actually watched the videos, not last night, whoops! I have to do orientations at work, so anytime I can let some thing else do the talking for me I'm grateful... these were a cute way to make it so no one loses their sanity going over it again and again and again...
Since we were in the first group at 10:30am we were able to go straight back to our room from the presentation and get ready to go out on the zodiacs. As we boarded we were given a life jacket that we then kept with us through the last excursion. We could see all the zodiacs ready to load as we departed:
This tour was probably the least interesting of the ones we went on, but was still very pretty.
Kyle's shot^
Ships' shot^
They won this round... during the trip the ship photographers compiled their best ones of the day into a package you could buy at the end. They went out before us, came back after, got closer... it ended up being worth the $150 or so I think it was but I did hem and haw about it until the last minute. I am still suspicious that some shots were not truly taken on our trip as they saw animals no one else did on those days, but again, they DID go out before us... on this day they saw Puffins for example though no one else did. We saw many common birds that we saw every day, but no puffins, seals, or polar bears for us! When Kyle got back onboard he tapped his timer at Damien who started going Tick Tock every time he passed Kyle, or would ask what hour we were at.
We did see many kinds of ice, and had fun tooting around through them looking for animals. All too soon it was time to board so the Green and Yellow groups could have their turn at 11:30.
Continued in next post....
We've been thinking about an Arctic trip. I'd love to see polar bears, and am enjoying your trip report. Thank you!
I suspect the very detailed how to get on/off the zodiacs is due to the narrow margin for error. Falling in that temperature water, with all that gear, could easily be life threatening.
I suspect the very detailed how to get on/off the zodiacs is due to the narrow margin for error. Falling in that temperature water, with all that gear, could easily be life threatening.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
Lunch was served from 12-1:30 today, so we got first dibs on that as well... sorry, other group! We still had not been in the dining room yet so we went down there where there was... shocker... another nice view!
During our meal the ship began to move as we repositioned to Signehamna for our short walk. At 2:30pm we were ashore and made the trek to the remnants of a German weather station from WW2.
The gentleman here was a geology teacher in Longyearbyen, and so he had a lot of fun stories about life there. He was super low key, but you couldn't go five minutes before he made you laugh with some joke or other; even rocks were cool the way he tells it.
On our tour there was also a naturalist who always dressed differently... the others all wore a standard uniform but this was his shtick I guess? He was nice... and a brave driver. We often were with folk who were exceptionally cautious, but he would drive right up into things.
We asked Damien to take a picture of us with that naturalist before we knew he'd be dressing like that all week, and then found this first...
We really enjoyed Damien as a guide if that was not already obvious.
He did take the actual picture too.
We did see some Svalbard reindeer in the distance, but could only really see them with binoculars and Kyle was not able to get shots even with his long telephoto lens.
Soon though then they were spooked by some other guests and took off running along the shoreline! Look at this fine specimen... with this tongue hanging out like a nutter.
This was the ships photo.... point (IMO) Kyle!
The man really is a try hard..
Of course there were also some folk on our tour who preferred to sketch what they saw.
To be continued...
During our meal the ship began to move as we repositioned to Signehamna for our short walk. At 2:30pm we were ashore and made the trek to the remnants of a German weather station from WW2.
The gentleman here was a geology teacher in Longyearbyen, and so he had a lot of fun stories about life there. He was super low key, but you couldn't go five minutes before he made you laugh with some joke or other; even rocks were cool the way he tells it.
On our tour there was also a naturalist who always dressed differently... the others all wore a standard uniform but this was his shtick I guess? He was nice... and a brave driver. We often were with folk who were exceptionally cautious, but he would drive right up into things.
We asked Damien to take a picture of us with that naturalist before we knew he'd be dressing like that all week, and then found this first...
We really enjoyed Damien as a guide if that was not already obvious.
He did take the actual picture too.
We did see some Svalbard reindeer in the distance, but could only really see them with binoculars and Kyle was not able to get shots even with his long telephoto lens.
Soon though then they were spooked by some other guests and took off running along the shoreline! Look at this fine specimen... with this tongue hanging out like a nutter.
This was the ships photo.... point (IMO) Kyle!
The man really is a try hard..
Of course there were also some folk on our tour who preferred to sketch what they saw.
To be continued...
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
Absolutely. We had life jackets on whenever we were going into the zodiacs, but honestly I am not sure they would help much. The guides said they would only have about 3 minutes to get us out of the water.... the way the vests inflate it probably saves you from the cold shock response, but hypothermia sets in extremely quickly. Thankfully I only got in the water a little bit....
Did you do wet landings? We just got back from the Galapagos, and while getting on the pangas from the boat was only mildly tricky, getting off and on for the wet landings was much harder even without bulky gear on. Many of us ended up tipped over into the water at one point or another.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
We did, yes! We had tall rubber boots that Ponant lent to all guests though, so at least my socks stayed dry. Folks were very good about sliding all the way forward before swinging out, and the crew was better about being in the water to offer hands and stability to guests. They were out in greater numbers than we experienced in the Galapagos. The waves did not seem as extreme either, FWIW. I never found myself trying to time my escape around them at least!
I thought Ponant did a very good job and wouldn't hesitate to book with them again. My only hesitation is that we chartered the entire ship so I do wonder how differently it might have been with a more international group. The food did not seem especially French to me at many times, or at least felt dumbed down. I honestly wonder if it might have been better otherwise... it was good, but I was expecting to be wowed by French cuisine if I'm honest, rather than be offered a hot dog when I'd already finished my plate, lol! English was spoken 95% of the time and 100% of the time between guests and crew, they only spoke French to each other (and Damien). I'm sure that may have been different also if we weren't all Americans... the crew also commented that they were glad we were all on time, and so happy/boistrous, as that helped things run smoothly. Were they pandering? Maybe.... I do know I would not have been happy if we were delayed and missed out on things due to selfish guests strolling up when they pleased.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 10,298
Day 3 continued... again, yes again!
I admit I'm wondering if the last cameo was caught by anyone... that was Joe Rhode sketching, which he of course did at every landing. At first I was very nervous to approach him, and even more nervous to take pictures or watch, but he did not seem to mind one whit! I guess that comes with the territory... he was very generous with his time. At every meal he could be found at a big communal table swapping tales and teaching, always teaching and offering advice if folk had any questions at all. I tore myself away quickly as I did not want to be a bother, and soon it was time to head back to the ship.
Upon arrival we put back on regular clothes and returned to the lounge for a hot cuppa and snack. Today they had Choux Pastry teatime along with music there from 4:30-5:30, and then we all met back up in the theatre at 6 for a recap with the Adventure Guides and welcome cocktail from the ship.
The recaps tended to be short, if I am honest, but enjoyable. They would go over the little ship contests they ran throughout the trip, and do reminders for when, say, the smell contest was due, or when they had evening presentations. Tonight there would be our first presentation from Joe Rhode, titled "What its like to be an artist who travels" which I was very much looking forward to! As I'd mentioned he wasn't necessarily the reason we went to the Arctic, but he was absolutely why we went to the Arctic NOW. What can I say, I'm a bit of a fangirl! After the recap we suddenly were led in a round of train whistling by Damien as it was time for the celebration train! This train was amazingly consistent and on time, showing up every night for some celebration or other. We had a grand time as the guides ran around the theatre congratulating couples on anniversaries (with a kiss!), birthdays, graduations, and retirements.... I believe there was even one or two cancer remission milestones to be celebrated as well. It was nice that every single person who had anything to celebrate got their minute of fame!
When the guides had finished they turned the floor over to the crew for some more recaps on what we'd seen, a brief explanation of what we would be trying for tomorrow, and yes more introductions! This time they had us all guess what the officer and head of department's favorite Disney movie was with props and acting it out.
That hook on the left was a well hidden prosthetic for Captain Hook, Julien our cruise director does a mean Captain Jack Sparrow, and our real life Captain did quite well as baby simba being lifted up!
Then it was...time for more food! Yes, more food... it is a cruise, is it not? We went back down to deck 2, where we barely received our soup when we abandoned the dining room... some unexpected guests had come to say hi!
We were surrounded by a few whales! Sadly we did not find Tiffany's blue whale (the entire ship at this point had heard her childhood dream and continued longing to see one) but we did see fin whales, minke, and a few others.
My eagle eyed... well, large zoom toting I should say... husband also caught this cutie.
They moved on fairly quickly, and we all were able to make our way back down to finish up. Thankfully the captain had asked the chef to hold all entrees so we still had a nice delayed meal.
We then had a little free time to do as we pleased before Joe Rhode's presentation from 8:30-10 back in the theatre. He used a powerpoint from a different talk for visuals:
This talk was, as you can imagine, a highlight for me. He is of course a good storyteller, and had brought SO MANY slides to click through for us which was very kind.
His stories were all over the place, from his own early life, working at Disney, how he landed the 'Animal Project' which I'm sure many folk here have already heard, but was new to me. Hey, I just know what the man has done and respect him for it, OK? I'm not big into celebrity gossip. I did dig the Tiger story very much.
He spoke of his travels to Mongolia and other spaces, and one cord that struck me especially was when he said travel can be fun, but it isn't FUN. He said his trips aren't really about FUN. Travel is hard, and uncomfortable.. if you want FUN you can watch cat videos, those are unarguably fun, and easy. He had a lot of stories for when things don't go right, but of course you roll with the punches. A lot of our travel is indeed fun, but almost every place I go something goes wrong. I thought a lot about my healing bruise...about the arguments between my brother and his partner, about the heat. About the arguments my husband and I have gotten into over bad Airbnbs, or when I was convinced the high rise we were staying at in Shaghai was going to literally fall over and murder us all (it really was very obviously leaning towards the window). I've often had friends tell me I'm nuts to travel, why would I bother, home is comfy and safe and I'm wasting money.
But I KNOW you see things like this. You get to interact with folk you never would. You HAVE to go. This little monk's name is Mickey, and during this trip Joe heard beautiful music he wouldn't have otherwise.
He also preached hard about the importance of sketching and not just taking photos (though he did also take pics, of course).
He told us all that sketching creates memory so much better, and when he goes back and looks through his books he can remember everything around what he sketches. He remembers what is to the left and right. The people, the weather... the smells, if he was hot or cold. And told us of course its OK to suck at it. Sketch for yourself. Eventually you get better and learn what works for you. He went over his own materials, what works for him. He had pictures of old sketchbooks.
He SANG to us, y'all. I guess on instagram or some other site he has done this before, and it's popular in its pun-y way.
(not my link, nor am I affiliated with this person at all).
He was traveling with his wife and another imagineer, who chimed in at times as well and added to the experience.... they were also very kind to all us crazy cruisers as well... he also shared the sketch he'd done earlier that day.
I could gush on and on, but its getting late, and was getting late... all too soon we'd gone over time and it was time to head to bed. Not that we went to bed... my last picture's timestamp was 11:56pm. The funny thing about being SO FAR north was that the sun never set you see... ultimately I never did stay up long enough to see 'the dip', but we often came out of the theatre late at night sleepy just to be hit full in the face with SUNNNNNN!!!
and be fully awake again. We'd get back to the stateroom and turn off as many lights as we could, block any stray beam of light as best we could, and try to remind outselves how very late it was...
Also, for anyone counting... tick tock..... days - 3, bears - 0.
I admit I'm wondering if the last cameo was caught by anyone... that was Joe Rhode sketching, which he of course did at every landing. At first I was very nervous to approach him, and even more nervous to take pictures or watch, but he did not seem to mind one whit! I guess that comes with the territory... he was very generous with his time. At every meal he could be found at a big communal table swapping tales and teaching, always teaching and offering advice if folk had any questions at all. I tore myself away quickly as I did not want to be a bother, and soon it was time to head back to the ship.
Upon arrival we put back on regular clothes and returned to the lounge for a hot cuppa and snack. Today they had Choux Pastry teatime along with music there from 4:30-5:30, and then we all met back up in the theatre at 6 for a recap with the Adventure Guides and welcome cocktail from the ship.
The recaps tended to be short, if I am honest, but enjoyable. They would go over the little ship contests they ran throughout the trip, and do reminders for when, say, the smell contest was due, or when they had evening presentations. Tonight there would be our first presentation from Joe Rhode, titled "What its like to be an artist who travels" which I was very much looking forward to! As I'd mentioned he wasn't necessarily the reason we went to the Arctic, but he was absolutely why we went to the Arctic NOW. What can I say, I'm a bit of a fangirl! After the recap we suddenly were led in a round of train whistling by Damien as it was time for the celebration train! This train was amazingly consistent and on time, showing up every night for some celebration or other. We had a grand time as the guides ran around the theatre congratulating couples on anniversaries (with a kiss!), birthdays, graduations, and retirements.... I believe there was even one or two cancer remission milestones to be celebrated as well. It was nice that every single person who had anything to celebrate got their minute of fame!
When the guides had finished they turned the floor over to the crew for some more recaps on what we'd seen, a brief explanation of what we would be trying for tomorrow, and yes more introductions! This time they had us all guess what the officer and head of department's favorite Disney movie was with props and acting it out.
That hook on the left was a well hidden prosthetic for Captain Hook, Julien our cruise director does a mean Captain Jack Sparrow, and our real life Captain did quite well as baby simba being lifted up!
Then it was...time for more food! Yes, more food... it is a cruise, is it not? We went back down to deck 2, where we barely received our soup when we abandoned the dining room... some unexpected guests had come to say hi!
We were surrounded by a few whales! Sadly we did not find Tiffany's blue whale (the entire ship at this point had heard her childhood dream and continued longing to see one) but we did see fin whales, minke, and a few others.
My eagle eyed... well, large zoom toting I should say... husband also caught this cutie.
They moved on fairly quickly, and we all were able to make our way back down to finish up. Thankfully the captain had asked the chef to hold all entrees so we still had a nice delayed meal.
We then had a little free time to do as we pleased before Joe Rhode's presentation from 8:30-10 back in the theatre. He used a powerpoint from a different talk for visuals:
This talk was, as you can imagine, a highlight for me. He is of course a good storyteller, and had brought SO MANY slides to click through for us which was very kind.
His stories were all over the place, from his own early life, working at Disney, how he landed the 'Animal Project' which I'm sure many folk here have already heard, but was new to me. Hey, I just know what the man has done and respect him for it, OK? I'm not big into celebrity gossip.
I did dig the Tiger story very much.He spoke of his travels to Mongolia and other spaces, and one cord that struck me especially was when he said travel can be fun, but it isn't FUN. He said his trips aren't really about FUN. Travel is hard, and uncomfortable.. if you want FUN you can watch cat videos, those are unarguably fun, and easy. He had a lot of stories for when things don't go right, but of course you roll with the punches. A lot of our travel is indeed fun, but almost every place I go something goes wrong. I thought a lot about my healing bruise...about the arguments between my brother and his partner, about the heat. About the arguments my husband and I have gotten into over bad Airbnbs, or when I was convinced the high rise we were staying at in Shaghai was going to literally fall over and murder us all (it really was very obviously leaning towards the window). I've often had friends tell me I'm nuts to travel, why would I bother, home is comfy and safe and I'm wasting money.
But I KNOW you see things like this. You get to interact with folk you never would. You HAVE to go. This little monk's name is Mickey, and during this trip Joe heard beautiful music he wouldn't have otherwise.
He also preached hard about the importance of sketching and not just taking photos (though he did also take pics, of course).
He told us all that sketching creates memory so much better, and when he goes back and looks through his books he can remember everything around what he sketches. He remembers what is to the left and right. The people, the weather... the smells, if he was hot or cold. And told us of course its OK to suck at it. Sketch for yourself. Eventually you get better and learn what works for you. He went over his own materials, what works for him. He had pictures of old sketchbooks.
He SANG to us, y'all. I guess on instagram or some other site he has done this before, and it's popular in its pun-y way.
He was traveling with his wife and another imagineer, who chimed in at times as well and added to the experience.... they were also very kind to all us crazy cruisers as well... he also shared the sketch he'd done earlier that day.
I could gush on and on, but its getting late, and was getting late... all too soon we'd gone over time and it was time to head to bed. Not that we went to bed... my last picture's timestamp was 11:56pm. The funny thing about being SO FAR north was that the sun never set you see... ultimately I never did stay up long enough to see 'the dip', but we often came out of the theatre late at night sleepy just to be hit full in the face with SUNNNNNN!!!
and be fully awake again. We'd get back to the stateroom and turn off as many lights as we could, block any stray beam of light as best we could, and try to remind outselves how very late it was...Also, for anyone counting... tick tock..... days - 3, bears - 0.
Last edited:
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,061
I did miss the picture of Joe, and I'd forgotten he was on this trip. Must have been so amazing to travel with him and hear those stories in person.
-
Five People You Don't Want to Be in Disney Parks in 2025
-
A Look at Season of the Force in Disneyland Park
-
Aurora Market Inside Helios Grand Hotel is Now Open
-
A Leisurely Stroll Through Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park
-
New Salads Coming to Disneyland Next Week
-
Alaska Airlines Reveals New Disney-Themed Plane
-
Former Disney Cast Member Sentenced With Jail Time & Steep Fine
Save Up to 30% on Rooms at Walt Disney World!
Save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer in late summer and early fall. Plus, enjoy other savings for shorter stays.This offer is valid for stays most nights from August 1 to October 11, 2025.
CLICK HERE
