Wansbrough's Cruise Blog

We had a couple of bumpy sections through the night, interspersed with much calmer ones when we were sheltered from the open seas. The second more prolonged one was at about 4:00 and it woke both of us up. By the time we had reached Måløy at 5:15 it had calmed considerably and stayed that way until we reached Florø at 7:35. –

Just before 7:00 I popped up to deck 9 for the usual breath of fresh air and the obligatory panorama photo.

I popped out during breakfast to take a few photos of Florø and what was the last stop of this cruise until we returned to Bergen.

After breakfast, we went back to the cabin to do our final bit of packing and I seized the opportunity for a quick shower. If we wanted to make use of the ship to get our cases off for us, then we had to take them to the main elevator lobby before 10:00 which was also the time we had to be out of the cabin. The restaurant coordinator told us that there were only 211 passengers onboard for this last stretch of the cruise and it was noticeably quieter than it had been.

We were warned that the last section of the cruise into Bergen could be bumpy so found a nice spot outside our cabin on deck 5 in front of one of the large windows so we could watch the world go by.

We passed through the narrow channel where the Ytre Steinsund Bridge is being constructed.

The only thing that interrupted our day prior to disembarking was our last lunch onboard. The food and service has been fantastic on this trip and probably exceeded my expectations. We said our farewells to all our serving staff and went back to our little area and resumed the enjoyable sail into Bergen which was really calm and nowhere near what we had expected or led to believe it could be like. –

Our arrival at Bergen was 30 minutes earlier than expected and probably because of the low numbers, we were allowed to disembark whenever we wanted instead of deck by deck.

Once the air bridge was connected, everyone couldn’t wait to get off. We waited until most had filed through before joining the back of the queue. At the bottom of the escalator, there was a sort of feeding frenzy with people jostling to see the carousel and hopefully spot their cases. Nicole was braver than me and waded into the throng in the hope of rescuing our cases and was rewarded almost straight away, albeit having to negotiate access to our passing luggage.

Once outside the terminal, we ordered an Uber to the airport which with some kind of discount, cost NOK347. The journey took 18 minutes which was shorter than it took to check in and get airside.

That concludes my posts for this trip and I will just sign off by saying we have had a fabulous time, seen some amazing sights, met some incredible people and had a laugh along the way too. Not a standard cruise and we went with expectations that were exceeded.

Fitbit Steps –

There were no overnight stops last night and we awoke on our last full day onboard Havila Polaris to find we were already in Trondheim.

With the stop being from 6:30 until 9:30 we decided to stay onboard and have a relaxed breakfast. Nicole decided that this morning it would be a good thing to start packing for disembarking tomorrow. We need to be out of the cabin by 10:00 tomorrow so rather than leave everything until later it makes sense to do the bulk of it today. –

Coming out of Trondheim, we passed the northbound Hurtigruten Nordkapp which if my memory serves me right is our second rendezvous.

The rest of the day was spent sailing and after Trondheim, the next stop wasn’t until 4:30 in the afternoon. It gave us plenty of time to reflect on the experience while watching the Norwegian scenery pass by for the last time. Passing lighthouses, ferries and all manner of things as we made our way to Kristiansund which was our last opportunity to get off the ship before Bergen.

We arrived at Kristiansand 15 minutes early so with 65 minutes at our disposal, finding the landmarks was easy.

We once again used the CFG book as a guide to seek them out and completed it in about 40 minutes. It’s like a treasure hunt against the clock and if I’m honest, quite enjoyable. Among the landmarks mentioned, we found the following places in the photos below.

The only one I can confidently name is the Ole Gunnar Solskjær Sculpture (the last photo) as most, if not all were listed in Norwegian and I can’t work out which one is which.

We had one more stop today which was Molde at 9:15 for 30 minutes.

Fitbit Steps – 14,214

We never noticed that the clocks had gone forward this morning until we had been up at least an hour, and although we eat breakfast early, it was even quieter than usual this morning. It came as a bit of a surprise because there was no mention or reminder anywhere onboard.

A very laid back morning with only a couple of notable occurrences. There were two passes, one was meeting the north bound Havila Pollux, a sister ships to Havila Polaris.

The other was the Article Circle monument which on this occasion, we were able to go outside and see it as we passed. If you remember, on the way up, the outside decks were closed and visibility wasn’t too good so it was nice to see it and get some photos.

Other than that, it was a very chilled morning with not a lot else going on until we got to Nesna at 10:25 for a 10 minute stop.

Then shortly before lunch we stopped at Sandnessjøen which was for 30 minutes.

Towards the end of lunch we passed a mountain range called the Seven Sisters (Syv Søstre) but visibility wasn’t too great today because most of caps were covered in clouds. They still looked pretty impressive even though I wasn’t able to see them in their full glory.

At 3:00, we arrived at Brønnøysund where there was 135 minutes at our disposal allowing for being back at the ship 10 minutes prior to departure. For the second time on this trip we have visited somewhere on a Sunday that has nothing open apart from a café at the terminal. So, we resorted to the CFG book again for a self guided tour which if I’m honest, also struggled to find anything of note other than a church, a few statues, some 100 year old buildings and wait for it, two Prehistoric Cave Dwellings. The place was totally deserted and it was almost like a plague had wiped everyone out and the passengers on the ship were the only survivors.

All done and dusted in under 2 hours so back to the ship we went and waited for the sail out.

The sail out of Brønnøysund was probably more exciting than the visit itself, first passing under the Brønnøysund Bridge and then sailing past Torghatten and it’s famous hole in the rocks.

It was much lighter this evening due to the time change and at the time of writing, we have clear skies but the Northern Lights forecast isn’t great so we’ll have to wait and see.

Fitbit Steps – 15,121

Can I say, be careful what you wish for? Well, at 9:15 last night we got the Northern Lights alarm and Nicole (Bolt) was gone like a flash again. With much clearer skies tonight, the view and photos were so much better. I stayed out there until 11:15 only popping in a couple of times when the activity was not so good so I could warm up a bit.

If we get more over the next few nights, I doubt whether they will top last nights show. I have so many photos it was really difficult to narrow down the ones to post so here’s a small selection of my favourites.

While I think of it, what you see with the naked eye is completely different to how the photos appear. Cameras often capture more saturated colours that the human eye can perceive. In real life, auroras appear as pale green, grey, or white but even so, they are unmistakable.

Needless to say, we were tucked up in bed by the time we reached Tromsø.

After visiting Deck 9 for our early morning fresh air indulgence, we went for breakfast. As we were approaching Harstad, we were just finishing eating, so I popped out to deck 7 to capture the moment.

On our approach to the next stop of Risøyhamn, we spotted a couple of birds of prey. Using Google Lens I have been able to identify it as a White-tailed Eagle (also known as the sea eagle)

We also passed through the Risøy Strait which is 4.8 km in length, 50 metres wide and 6 metres deep.

Almost straight after we made a 15 minute stop at Risøyhamn. – The other side of lunch we made a 30 minutes stop at Sortland, where we picked up the passengers that took an excursion from Harstad this morning. As is the norm, the tour bus and ship cross at the Sortland Bridge. I missed this as we were still in the dining room.

Our next stop was Stokmarknes which was for an hour and long enough for us to get off for a quick walk. Instead of going to the Hurtigruten Museum, we headed for the bridge to get a photo of the ship and the museum building. We were confident of doing it because there were posters inside the cruise terminal displaying the route.

In the late afternoon we sailed through the Raftsundet Strait where I managed a few more Sea Eagle silhouettes.

Our last civilised time stop of the day was Svolvær where if we had got off when we arrived we would have had 2 hours. The first half hour was spent finishing dinner and we lost another 10 minutes because they like everyone aboard before the departure time so in the end we had 80 minutes to explore which as it happens was more than adequate because just about everywhere was shut and it was dark and raining.

On a positive note, it did give us the chance to walk dinner off. Strong winds are again forecast for tonight so we have another bumpy night ahead.

Fitbit Steps – 16,227

The first half of last night proved to be very lively, the wind got up and the ship was rocking and rolling quite a bit. When I looked out of our window, there were really large waves and some of them nearly up to our window and it was snowing quite heavily too. I don’t know what time it eventually calmed down as I fell asleep at some point but I do feel for anyone who had cabins at the front of the ship.

When I came to, this morning at 6:00, we were just leaving Honningsvåg and it was a completely different scene from last night outside the window, just calm water and snow covered mountains.

On a positive note for Nicole, scrambled tofu was on the breakfast menu again so she duly obliged herself.

Just after breakfast we stopped at Havøysund for the second time and this time it slowly emerged from the falling snow.

A completely contrasting weather conditions from our stop here a few days ago.

With some downtime between then and our next stop, we did some final research on things to do and see at the next stop which was Hammerfest. A lot was dependent on the weather and what we could find during the 105 minutes at our disposal and we eventually decided we would attempt to walk up to the Toke viewpoint.

After arriving on schedule we got off the ship but when we got to the start of the hike there was a sign saying it was closed during the winter, the recent fall of snow made the route look very unfavorable which eventually was the deciding factor and, as a result we explored the town instead.

We used the CFG book walking tour as a rough guide and set off to see what we could find. We located a few monuments and statues, three churches one of which was a chapel which was the only remaining building after the Germans scorched earth policy was implemented on Hammerfest. They believed it would be bad luck to burn down a cemetery hence why it survived.

We also visited the Hammerfest Church across the street with its unusual design that was designed to resemble the fish drying racks used in the region.

I think we covered most of the suggested landmarks but found the time had soon disappeared, so we made our way back to the ship for lunch. The afternoon was spent just kicking back in the Havblikk Lounge where visibility wasn’t too great due to the many snow showers.

At 4:00 we made a later than scheduled 26 minute stop at Øksfjord, this was slightly longer than scheduled because I think we were late leaving Hammerfest and there was quite a bit of cargo to load. After dinner, we popped outside for one last civilised hour stop which was a harbour called Skjervøy.

There is a midnight stop at Tromsø tonight but at this point in time we are undecided whether to drag ourselves out of bed.

Having said that, the Northern Lights alarm would do it though.

Fitbit Steps – 14,164

No Northern Lights last night again, according to Nicole’s app, the activity level was low plus it was cloudy.

We followed our usual routine with a climb up to the open decks before breakfast which coincided with our first daylight stop of the day which was Vadsø.

From the ship, it looked very grey, bleak and flatter than the landscapes we had experienced over the last week. Breakfast itself was very busy this morning with many people getting off to do excursions at Kirkenes. As I mentioned yesterday, ours was cancelled and we didn’t fancy anything else on offer so made the decision to get off and use the ‘The Coastal Ferry Guidebook’ as a loose guide to navigate our way around Kirkenes. As so many people were getting off, we hit on the idea that the laundry would be quiet and we assumed correctly so put a wash on and went to the Havblikk Lounge to wait until the cycle had completed.

The laundry room is a nice little set up on Deck 4, it’s all Miele appliances, tumble dryers stacked on washing machines. No detergent required as it’s all included, self loaded and free.

We arrived pretty much bang on 9:00 and once all the tours had departed along with the disembarking passengers we made our way off too. We took the 20 minute walk to the town square and wandered around what appeared to be a very quiet place.

I photographed a few things of interest before walking back to the ship. There were the usual culprits such as a church, a few monuments and the Russian Consulate which had a van with Pro Ukraine slogans decorated over it parked across the street along with a shrine to Alexei Navalny, the poisoned opposition leader opposite the main door on the opposite side of the street.

On the way back to the ship we passed the Monument in honor of the Soviet Liberation, this is to commemorate the soldiers of the Soviet Union after the liberation of Kirkenes 1944. From a time when it seems their close neighbours were slightly more favourable than they are now.

It was nice to get off and walk but also nice to get back to the ship just in time for our lunch. The stop was for 3½ hours which turned out to be more than adequate if you didn’t do an excursion.

We departed on time and set off for our next stop which was a 55 minute one at Vardø. We read on the The Coastal Ferry Guidebook ,(CFG) that there is enough time to get to the Vardøhus Fortress and back in the time we were in port so that is what we did.

We even spotted the Steilneset Memorial in the distance which was erected in memory of the 91 victims who were convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake in Finnmark in the 17th century.

It was an exciting race against the clock and we were glad we made the decision to go for it. We even made it back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare.

It’s very windy and cloudy tonight and I doubt very much the Northern Lights alarm will go off.

Fitbit Steps – 16,272

All quiet on the Northern Lights front last night, I guess it must have been too cloudy. I retired to bed early to catch up with some sleep as I seem to be waking up earlier than normal and it’s having a knock on effect. It does mean that we are both up in time for when breakfast starts and that’s when it’s at its quietest.

We maintained our normal routine by going up to the open decks to get some fresh air prior to that and it felt much colder today.

Our first daylight stop today was a 15 minute stop at Havøysund where we passed one of our sister ships, Havila Castor coming out as we were going in.

The small island has the world’s northern most wind farm which we passed on the way in.

Our second daylight stop was one I was really looking forward to as it provided an excursion to the North Cape. We had booked it before leaving home as we had read that it is the most popular trip and it sells out quickly. However, they were still selling a few places this morning even though there were 4 coaches making the trip.

We arrived at Honningsvåg at just before 10:45 and were soon on our way to Nordkapp. Our coach was the first away and we seemed to have a good driver too as the journey took just 40 minutes. I have to say the snow covered landscape was quite breathtaking and it seemed like we were there in no time at all.

There was an initial stampede off the coach to get to the globe including ourselves despite reading in the book that we should wait until the last half an hour when everyone has gone into the visitor centre.

We took some initial photos and then went inside to watch the film and visit the grotto but after a discussion, decided to go back outside because it was the location we had come to visit, not the added attractions. We did visit the very extensive gift shop and purchased a piece to go on our travel trophy walls.

The lure for being outside was too strong and as per the tip, the crowds had subsided and the monument had very few people around it so back we went.

Just being outside, in that location, with the ground covered in snow and the sun shining was more than we could have wished for.

The 1¾ visit seemed to fly by and we were soon on our way back to Honningsvåg and the ship where some soup and cake were waiting for everyone in the Havblikk Lounge. The captain wasted no time departing and we were soon on our way to the next stop which was Kjøllefjord.

At the entrance to the inlet to the next port there is a unusual rock formation called Finnkjerka, that legends say was an ancient sacrificial site for fishermen, travelers and Sami.

We arrived on schedule at 4:40 and departed 20 minutes later for the next port, Mehamn which we got to during dinner so no photos. Sadly our excursion tomorrow has been cancelled due to bad weather, we were due to be doing a snowmobile safari at Kirkenes but will now probably just get off and explore.

Another weather warning for tonight with strong winds forecast so I don’t think we will get a Northern Lights alarm.

Fitbit Steps – 12,515

The Northern Lights alarm sounded on our cabin phone last night and I have never seen Nicole get dressed and move so fast. She was out of the cabin before I had put my trousers on. When I eventually got up on the top deck there was a large congregation of passengers already there all looking skyward with phones and cameras focusing on the faint clouds in the sky. Although there was a very thin layer of cloud, we still managed to get a glimpse and are hopeful of better things to come as we head further north.

This morning, on our route to breakfast, we went out to the upper deck for some fresh air and were greeted with snow on the decks. I noticed it was snowing during the night but hadn’t considered it would settle.

During breakfast we made our first daylight port of the day which was a 35 minute stop at Harstad.

The following couple of hours of the morning was spent in the Havblikk Lounge reading and gazing out of the windows at the passing scenery.

At 11:00, we reached the next port which was called Finnsnes and stayed for 30 minutes, we could have got off for a very brief walk but decided against it.

We enjoyed another tasty lunch and then retired to the Havblikk Lounge to await our arrival at Tromsø. En route we passed through the Storstraumen Strait which has some of the strongest currents in Norway.

At 2:15 we arrived at Tromsø where today we had a port time of 4 hours. No tours or excursions booked so we decided to just get off and explore. Not put off by yesterday’s self guided walking tour, we opted to give the Tromsø version a go. Here is a list of the places we found and supporting photos.

Ronald Amundsen Memorial

Eidis Hansen Rock

Tromsø Cathedral

McDonald’s (Most Northern In the World)

Tromsø Library

Løkkekiosken

Verdens Theatret

Perspective Museum

Old Merchants House

Skansen

Oldest house in Tromsø

Old customs building

Sailors Monument

Aunegården

Large Mosaic

For the record, I am totally knackered tonight, so will retire for bed early just incase we get the alarm again tonight.

Fitbit Steps – 15,005

We decided to retire to the cabin after dinner as we considered it would be the best place to ride out the bad weather. For the size of ship, she handled the stormy seas really well. I noticed on the ships model that there were stabilisers and a quick Google revealed they are Rolls-Royce Neptune 200 stabilizers, designed to significantly reduce rolling motion in windy conditions and rough seas. Well I can honestly say, that they worked brilliantly last night.

As it happened, we both slept really well and my Fitbit clocked my sleep at 9 hours. We received an announcement over the ships PA shortly before 6:45 telling us we were about to cross the Arctic Circle at 66°33’N. so the weather obviously didn’t slow us down any. At precisely 7:11 we officially crossed that invisible line into the Arctic, however due to the weather, the outside decks were closed off, so in order to capture a photo of the monument which is a large metal globe on the island of Vikingen. I had to use my phone up against the glass but the results weren’t good so I have decided not to post any on the blog.

Our first stop of the day was at 9:40 and a place called Ørnes, this was just for 20 minutes to pick up a handful of passengers, the sail in and out provided some really dramatic photo opportunities.

As is tradition on the coastal route, the “Arctic Circle Ceremony” took place outside on deck 8 shortly after 10:30. It’s a bit of a theatrical affair—King Njord made an appearance to “baptise” those brave enough to step forward. For those who haven’t seen it before, it involves a ladle of ice cubes being dropped down your back. I decided that observing from a safe distance with a camera was the more prudent choice while Nicole was the second to succumb to the blessing, if that is what you would like to call it.

We spent nearly all morning outside this morning just taking in the scenery and only coming in to eat lunch. The views were incredible and, I’d say we had FOMO pretty bad as we really didn’t want to miss anything.

Lunch was very tasty and our table provided us with yet more dramatic scenery on the sail into Bodø.

The strong tail winds last night actually put us ahead of schedule and we arrived in Bodø at 12:50, a good 15 minutes early.

The winds subsided so we set off to explore using ‘The Coastal Ferry Guidebook’ by Emma Vestrheim as a way of navigating the town.

She has a suggested self guided walking tour for Bodø which doesn’t paint an amazing picture of the location but it got us off and walking. If I’m honest, it wasn’t the most exciting hour of my life but it gave us something to do and when the wind picked up and it started raining again, we didn’t need any excuse to head back to the ship.

After we set sail again, we took some time out in the Havblikk Lounge and watched some more scenery pass by including the Landegode Fyr lighthouse at 4:15.

Samsund was our second from last stop of the day but the last one I am going to photograph. We initially had fingers crossed that we might see the aurora tonight but it started snowing just as we were leaving which means there were clouds.

We have our cabin phone set up to alert us if it appears in the night and I think the chance of it happening will increase the further north we go.

Fitbit Steps – 14,448

Another early start to our day as breakfast is so much easier and quicker when the restaurant first opens in the morning.

Overnight we missed two ports but en route to our next one this morning which was Trondheim, we got out onto the bow observation area as we passed Havila Capella heading south. Right place, right time.

We had a 3 hour stop at Trondheim this morning. Our plan was to get off and do some walking and try and take in some of the city’s landmarks. Being a Sunday morning, most shops and businesses were closed and at times it felt quite eerie.

We set Google maps to the Nidaros Cathedral as our first place to visit as it seemed to be the furthest out and a good 30 minutes walk.

The route took us past The old wharf buildings of Trondheim on the Nidelva river and with the water so calm, gave some great photo opportunities with the mirror image reflecting in the water. Not long after we came to the old town bridge (Gamle bybro) which actually provided a better view of the wharves as well as being a good photographic subject in it’s own right.

It was only a 5 minute walk from there to get to the cathedral but timings didn’t work today for an interior visit because it was a Sunday with a mass just started as we arrived.

Regardless of that, the exterior was quite spectacular in it’s own right.

From there we made our way to Torvet which is the town square and has a large column in the middle with a statue of the city’s founder Olav Tryggvason at the top.

We then passed Stiftsgården, which is is the royal residence in Trondheim and according to Google, the largest wooden palace in Scandinavia. I thought it very odd to have a building of that importance directly on the street.

On the way back to the ship we passed a few notable things, The Last Viking statue which commemorates Norwegian fishermen and their resilience and a modern art sculpture titled “What Does the Fjord Say? said to be inspired by the Beatles Yellow Submarine.

We beat the masses back to the ship and enjoyed a really tasty lunch in the restaurant and managed to sit at our designated table for the first time.

On our sail out of Trondheim we passed the small island and historic fortress of Munkholmen which dates back to 995 and was used as an execution site by Olav Tryggvason, and later became an Abbey and a fort.

At just gone 3:15, we passed another notable landmark along the route, the Kjeungkjaer Lighthouse. Built in 1880 but now fully automated but you can visit it and even spend the night there if you have the time.

I am finding the food pretty good but Nicole not so, a lot of her dishes seem to be versions of mine less the meat and dairy. The selection on the menu is small but you can have as many plates as you want, I haven’t found any need to double up at the moment.

We are both disappointed with the tofu situation but are resigned to the fact we won’t be able to change anything, and it is what it is. This morning we opened the menu to see that the scrambled tofu has now been taken off the breakfast menu.

We do want to make our feelings known and plan to speak with the food and beverage manager at some point to find out if anything can be done.   There has been little or no protein in a lot of the other dishes and the breakfast was going to be a good source for Nicole first thing in the morning, fortunately there are baked beans but yesterday scrambled tofu WAS on the menu and now it’s not.

Tonight there is a moderate warning of wind with gusts from force 8 up to possibly 10. The captain came over the PA at 7:00 advising people to take extreme caution when moving around the ship for the next few hours while we pass through open waters.

Fitbit Steps – 15,479