Review - Silver Explorer - Arctic August 2011

[Lirio]

Tromso – Longyearbyen

August 2011 – Silver Explorer

Day one and two – Tromso and Embarkation

We started our journey in Tromso 2 nights before embarkation. We arrived late in the evening and it was funny to find out that part of the roads from the airport to the city center was in fact a sequence of tunnels.

We stayed at Radisson SAS just at the port pier for Hurtigruten. Our room had large windows to the pier and in the two nights we saw a Hurtigruten hoop-on/hoop-off cruise.

Temperature was very good and the sun was shining almost 24 hours which means you have a lot of time to see everything.

Early in the morning we went to Polaria (walking distance from hotel), an arctic center with lot of scientific information. It is great for children. There is a great screen in which an interesting film with lots of beautiful images of the arctic is always projected. A good anticipation for what is to come. There are arctic seals being studied and treated and you can really get close to them. There is a small aquarium and some other exhibitions. You will need one hour or two to see everything.

Outside of Polaria there is a whaling ship under a glass facility: M/S Polstjerna. It is very well preserved and you can get inside of most of its facilities and wonder how though life must have been in the beginning of XX century on board of such boats. If you, like me, are great enthusiast about historical boats, you will love it. Below the boat there is an exhibition of parkas and other clothes used at that time by those living in the Arctic.

Then we went to the Polar Museum – walking distance from Polaria just after the hotel. Here by coincidence, I met a cruise critic fellow that had gone in the previous cruise with Silver Explorer. Should we have made any arrangements it would never be so easy. In this museum you can find a lot of information about daily life in the 1800-1900´s at arctic and northern Norway. Two hours will be more then enough to see everything.

From Polar Museum we had lunch at Emma´s and then went to the cable car (we took a taxi) and spend some time at the top of it walking around as the weather was great. From there we got back walking to the hotel (crossing the famous Tromso bridge). Later that evening we had a fabulous dinner at Arctandria.

Both restaurants were very good and as I did in all Norway restaurants I had fish soup and other seafood option.

In the following day we went to the botanic garden by bus and again we were very lucky with the weather. It is dedicated to alpine species and for us from the tropics, it was really very good. Some many different flowers blooming with some many colors and smells! The garden is organized by different alpine regions of the world. We spent almost three hours there, but should you be short on time you can do it in two hours.

We got back to the hotel by a bus that goes all over the island, so we could see more from the city. We still walked around the city center and had lunch at Vertshuset Skarven the oldest restaurant in town in an historic building with many different rooms, some of then in the basement. Should you have to choose one restaurant in Tromso, you may consider this due to its unique decoration and environment.

In the middle of afternoon we embarked in Silver Explorer; embarkation was smooth and tranquil. It was nice to see the expedition team that was with us 18 months before when we went to Antarctica!

Day three – On board – sea day

Today we sail towards Bear Island. On board we had some lectures, gumboot distribution for those not bringing their one and a mandatory briefing about AECO - Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators.

Sea was calm and weather just perfect. So we relaxed and enjoyed the ship facilities such as the library, panorama and observatory lounge.

Day four – Bear Island

Today we had a zodiac tour of about 90 minutes to explore the coastline of Bear Island. We saw plenty of birds, breathtaking cliffs and a ship wreck. Can’t say how good the weather was. Crystal clear! No fog, no wind, no rain. What a perfect morning!

After lunch we landed at a meteorological station and had a very long walk. It should have been a little bit shorter as the scenery was the same all the way. After the walk we arrived at the station itself where we met the puffins for first time. Most of the passengers come to the arctic for polar bear. I came for the puffins and they are so cult.

Here you have a small shop, a post office and you can stamp your passports. As usual I sent a post card to myself. I am still waiting for it. By now I have posted myself from most of the most remote post offices in the world!

More to come!

[Isklaar]

Lirio, there's a great photo of puffins on the Silversea Cruises (official) Facebook page, dated 30 August.

Interested to read the rest of your review, thanks for taking time to write it.

[jpalbny]

Hi Lirio!

 

Glad to see you're starting your review - we are very interested to hear about your journey, and to compare any differences with our own. It's amazing what difference a few days can make in the weather - Bear Island was overcast and somewhat windy, but beautiful nonetheless.

 

Great that you got to land on Bear Island - most do not. And very glad that the birds stayed around long enough to meet you - it was almost the end of the season when we were there.

 

Looking forward to your next installment!

[Lirio]

Day five – from Bear Island to Diskobukta (Svalbard)

 

After a great day at Bear Island we sailed to Svalbard during the night and in the following morning. While sailing in the morning we had two lectures and prepared for a long walk (or a short one, should you choose to) at Diskobukta right after lunch. But for our surprise, a bear was just few meters from shore side and we could not land, which was so disappointing as the bear was far way to be seen, but close enough to prevent landing.

 

On the way to Diskobukta we could see some humpback whales. There were quite some and we really enjoyed.

 

Instead, the ship continued sailing north up to Kaap Lee where we landed for a short walk in a former walrus hunting station. Here we could see thousands of walrus bones, some huts, tundra and a beautiful beach with a lot of drift wood.

 

Later that day, while we were having dinner we got our second surprise: the expedition leader announced that more than 10 bears were just at the beach in front of the ship, feeding on a whale carcass. Dinner was the quickest I had ever seen, as everybody was very excited to go on zodiacs for a 90 minutes ride along the beach to see all that bears together. What a night! Weather was great.

 

Day six Austfonna Ice Cap

 

Early in the following day we arrived at Austfonna ice cap and smoothly sail alongside for the entire morning.

 

In the afternoon we had a closer exploration of the ice cap in a 90 minutes ride of zodiac. Today we had misty and fog, but we could see birds and the ice quite well. While in the zodiac we could spot a beluga with its calf, just swimming very, very close to our zodiac. What a surprise!! I have just seen a beluga once in Atlanta Aquarium two month before that day.

 

Day seven – Storoya and Kvitoya

 

What a day! Early in the morning we went on a 90 minutes zodiac tour along Storoya where we met hundreds of walrus both on the water and on the beach. The walrus kept on looking at us, diving and coming to the surface and going after the zodiac. One can not say who was observing who: us observing the walrus or the walrus observing us! They are so cute!

 

Further away in the same beach, a sleeping bear was laying down with no concern about us at all!

 

Today we had a beautiful sunny day!

 

In the afternoon, right after the lunch, we arrived at Kvitoya where we landed to visit a monument in the spot where the corpses of the explorers Andree and his party were founded 33 years after they were considered missing. It is a beautiful beach where you can see the ice cap, some water stream, lot of drift wood and some tundra. We had a short walk and stayed there for a while.

 

Day eight - Lagoya

 

Early in the morning we arrived at Lagoya where we landed for a short walk to observe walrus. The sun was shining. We could also see birds and tiny arctic flowers.

 

In the afternoon: polar plunge at 80o north! Water temperature: 1oC. Both of us went on that crazy thing. So now my husband has plunged in the Antarctica and in the Arctic; he is very proud of himself. Unfortunately I did not go on the sea at Antarctica which means I have to go there again to do so!

 

Day ten – Palanderbukta

 

Today we had two landings, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

 

In the morning we landed at Palanderbukta which is an arctic desert. We had a short walk to observe the emptiness and lack of life around. Very desolated.

 

In the afternoon we landed at Faksevagen where we had a long walk up to the top of a hill. Great walk, temperature was about 6-8oC, sun shining, most of us even took the parkas off. This place is covered with tundra, tiny flowers everywhere and mushrooms once and while. We could see reindeer and a lot of birds. It is an astounding fjord.

 

More to come.

 

Pictures soon.

[jpalbny]

Congratulations on taking the Polar Plunge! Agree that you'll have to return to Antarctica to complete the set.

 

And double congratulations for landing on Kvitoya - it's supposed to be very rare. We got to touch the island, but couldn't land there because of a Polar bear that was lounging on the beach... So we saw where the Andree expedition set forth (Virgohamna), and you got to complete the journey by seeing where it ended...

 

Looking forward to more!

[Lirio]

I fortogo the following about day 9

 

Late afternoon, we sailed by Alkefjellet, a huge cliff with thousands of birds. We had mist and fog all the way up to here and just right when we were positioned in front of the cliffs, like magic, all fog and mist went away and we could see everything!! It was the coldest part of the entire trip. But what a view!!! Later that evening, while cruising to Palanderbukta, we had strong winds of over 100 km per hour; no more than one hour, and it didn’t cause us any inconvenience.

 

Day ten – Palanderbukta

 

Today we had two landings, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

 

In the morning we landed at Palanderbukta which is an arctic desert. We had a short walk to observe the emptiness and lack of life around. Very desolated.

 

In the afternoon we landed at Faksevagen where we had a long walk up to the top of a hill. Great walk, temperature was about 6-8oC, sun shining, most of us even took the parkas off. This place is covered with tundra, tiny flowers everywhere and mushrooms once and while. We could see reindeer and a lot of birds. It is an astounding fjord.

 

Day eleven – Monacobreen

 

In the morning we arrived in Monacobreen glacier and we had a 90 minutes zodiac tour in front of it in order to get a closer view. We could see some great calving in the ice front. It was a beautiful blue sky, but a bit colder than other days. We saw birds and interesting ice formation spread out in the sea around us. We encounter a sailing boat – Antigua which has exploration tours in the Arctic and the Antarctic as well. I will post pictures of it at the CC photo gallery.

 

Later we passed by Hanse, an expedition boat for 12 guests. I will also post pictures at CC photo gallery. Here we could see a helicopter flying around to verify whether any unauthorized boat was sailing around. Only authorized ships can sail in Svalbard.

 

In the afternoon we sailed around the Andoyane Island in the way to 14 July Glacier. This evening was the farewell cocktail party. We couldn’t believe it was almost in the end of the trip.

 

Day twelve

 

In the morning we arrived at 14 July Glacier where we landed for two short walks: one to the glacier and the other, in the opposite direction to a cliff where we could spot some birds.

 

In the way to the glacier, we saw fresh polar bear footprints in the sand.

 

Again, a beautiful beach with lot of drift wood. We spent quit some time exploring the area. Back to the ship, while the second group went onshore, we enjoyed the ship’s Jacuzzi (in fact we did it many time – every landing or zodiac cruise is done in two groups, so one always have time to rest, enjoy the view or the ship facilities).

 

In the afternoon we arrived at Ny Alesund – a research small village in which 300 people lives in summer time engaged in arctic research. It was the only dry land in the entire cruise and at this time, no group landing, everyone could come and go onshore whenever wanted.

 

In this tiny village you have a post office (I am still waiting my post cards), where you can stamp your passport, a small shop and two museums!

 

One museum was about the history of the city and the daily life in that remote area and the second one about the coal mine that was operated there for some time in the past. Both deserve the visit. While walking around the city we could spot reindeer and birds.

 

From here Amundsen departed in an airship (zeppelin) to explore the arctic. We could visit the antenna from where the airship departed.

 

This was our last day and last landing in this cruise.

 

The following day was the disembarkation in Longyearbyen the only bad experience in the entire journey. We got really upset and have already complained with Silversea.

 

Our disembarkation procedures were to leave our cabin by 8:30am and the ship by 10am, which means we stayed about one and half hour waiting in the panorama lounge with nothing to do. Our charter flight to Oslo was scheduled by Silversea for 12:30pm. We went to the airport by bus provided by Silversea and it was a 5 minutes drive. All in all, we had something like 2 hours to tour in the city and still with time to all other disembarkation and flight check in procedures.

 

When we arrived at the airport we found our luggage outside the terminal under a light rain.

 

In the airport, there was no SAS crew to check us in until 11pm – we all had to wait almost one hour with nothing to do. And after checked in, we had to wait another hour until embarkation in the plane. The Longyearbyen airport has very little attraction or comfort to hold around 120 guests.

 

We regretted the missed chance to know the city of Longyearbyen – we probably won’t go back there in the foreseeable future.

 

Oslo experience is to come, as well as pictures. I will post next weekend.

[jpalbny]

A shame that Longyearbyen was so poorly handled. We think it may have to do with a lack of buses there - the buses that we used for our transfer are the same buses that are used for the Flybussen service to and from the airport.

 

When we embarked at Longyearbyen, the buses were only available to drop us off in town at 1PM and they weren't available to take us back to the boat. Suspect that their availability for cruise ship passengers is very limited, and that's why SS wasn't able to get you into town. In fact, there may not be any other buses available to hire, and if the Flybusen is meeting an incoming flight then you're out of luck.

 

Still, sounds like a disappointing ending to an otherwise fantastic cruise. Our very brief stay in the LYB airport waiting for luggage makes us agree with you - there isn't anything to do there...

[2552phxcrzr]

Thanks for sharing your experience; each voyage has its own unique itinerary ... even though we did have some of the same landings that you did. We had a considerable wait on SE in Longyearbyen as well. Like you, we were not given the opportunity to explore the town ... a shame since we'll likely never find ourselves back up that way.

[pjtkl]

Hi

 

We are thinking of going on the cruise from Reykjavik to Longyearbyen in June next year. Anyone had experience of this?

And could you please tell me what the ship is like. Does cabin category matter?

 

Thanks very much.

Jenny

[Lirio]

Jenny, in our first trip to Antarctica we stayed in expedition suite which has a living room, a bedroom, a closet and bathroom with separated bath tude and shower. A lot of space and comfort.

 

In the second one we stayed at vista suite which is a bedroom with sitting area plus bath room (shower and bath tube combined).

 

For a long trip I would choose a large one.

[Lirio]

Day thirteen to day sixteen – Oslo and nearby

 

We flew from Longyearbyen to Oslo in the charter flight organized by Silversea. Arrived in mid afternoon and went to Radisson Blue SAS as part of Silversea package. We stayed some more days in town in the same hotel which is has great location just walking distance to some main tourist area.

 

In Oslo we visited the Fram Museum, Norway Maritime Musem (in front of Fram), the Folk Museum, the Viking Museum, the Vigeland Park and the castle/fortress.

 

We had some of our meals at Aker Brygger where there are some nice restaurants.

 

We rented a car and drove along the Oslo fjord up to Fredrikstad a lovely small city former a fortified town in the middle ages. From there, we spent most of time from one small town to another, including Drobak a summer city with beautiful houses, restaurants, shops, etc. We crossed the fjord from the right side to the left by several tunnels under water and under the hill. Very impressive.

 

After such great days, it is time to get back home. We flew from Oslo to Frankfurt during a huge rain. Airport was closed due to weather, miss the connection to Brazil, and after some arguments with airline, we got a hotel and had a great afternoon in downtown Frankfurt, which was not part of the plan, but we took it as a bonus and enjoyed our extra day.

 

In the end of this vacation we visited 5 maritime museums and increased by collection of post cards of historical boats, being the FRAM and Gjoa the highlights.

 

Photos will come soon.

[Ngaire]

Did the ship have boots that you could just borrow. We are going to Antarctica and on my two previous voyages boots were available although we were told we must buy them. I am curious if they are still available as they have been in the past.

[duct tape]

Thsnk you for the wonderful review and careful commentary...I will never make it to the SSex but I love reading the commentaries. Again, many thanx.

[Lirio]

Yes, there are boots to borrow, but I took my own on both trips. I didnt want to take the chance to miss something due to the boot.

 

Fellows, this week I got my own post card that I sent myself from NY Alensud. The one sent from Bear Island has not arrived yet.

 

I have been very busy in the office and still organizinf the photos. As soon as possible I will include them here.

[Lirio]

just to let my fellows know that this week I got the post card I sent myself from Bear Island. So I got them all from this Arctic trip.

[jpalbny]

just to let my fellows know that this week I got the post card I sent myself from Bear Island. So I got them all from this Arctic trip.

 

Glad your postcards came home to greet you, Lirio. That was almost 8 weeks for the one you sent from Bear Island! They must have attached it to a migrating guillemot and had it swim all the way to you...

 

We leave for the Galapagos in 4 weeks' time - hope it's as much fun as our Arctic adventure. Did you ever get your Arctic pictures posted? Looking forward to seeing them, and we'll share some Galapagos photos for you so that you can get excited about your trip there next year!

[Lirio]

JP, I haven’t finished with the pictures. Not only busy in the office, but my mother in law has a terrible accident and my time is split between hospital, office and house care. So I am progressing very slowly, but i will post them.

 

We are going to Galapagos next August, cant wait your photos and comments.

[jpalbny]

So sorry to hear that, Lirio. Best wishes for your mother-in-law and hope for a speedy recovery. Pictures can wait!