Queen Victoria In Search of Northern Lights V227

[photosg]

4 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

It looks like the QM2 northern lights trip will have two evenings in Tromso - arriving mid day on Sunday, and leaving early morning [0130 ?] on Tuesday.

We have the ship's Northern Lights tour booked for Monday evening - likely does not include the same stuff [e.g. the coverall] as the smaller tours, but it will get us back to the ship on time.

With the double overnight you should be safe to take a local tour on the first night. I highly recommend booking a smaller tour for a couple of reasons. Apart of where a smaller vehicle can go, the smaller your group the fewer problems you will have with stray lights and camera flashes. Finally, I’m guessing is it going be even colder in November so be prepared.

[TheOldBear]

13 minutes ago, photosg said:

With the double overnight you should be safe to take a local tour on the first night. I highly recommend booking a smaller tour for a couple of reasons. Apart of where a smaller vehicle can go, the smaller your group the fewer problems you will have with stray lights and camera flashes. Finally, I’m guessing is it going be even colder in November so be prepared.

Mrs Bear is a bit phobic about independent tours & missing the ship - she insisted on a Cunard tour.

On the Sunday night, we are attending a concert in the Arctic Cathedral - perhaps there will be some lights visible after the concert.

[AstroExeter]

17 hours ago, photosg said:

At 5pm our minibus appeared with an enthusiastic young Belgian to take us on our magical excursion. We were thankful for the waterproof boots and one piece thermal suits that kept us toasty while stargazing at a secluded beach. Our guide laid out reindeer pelts and built a little fire before preparing hot chocolate and a camp meal for us.

about 20 minutes before we got back to the ship the lights put on a spectacular show so we stopped by the side of the road to get a proper look.

Great photos! Glad you had a good and successful tour. We had a great show of the lights on deck!

[photosg]

6 hours ago, AstroExeter said:

Great photos! Glad you had a good and successful tour. We had a great show of the lights on deck!

Yes! Heard from a couple of other passengers. Glad you had a great show too! 😊🙏

[photosg]

Cable Car tour in Narvik. Officially zero degrees Celsius.

 

 

 

On a clear day you can see all the way to Lofoten.

 

heading back down.

 

 

On the way back we had a photo stop across the bay.

[photosg]

we left Narvik in the wee hours and the weather was not conducive to aurora watching so that’s it for this cruise, I guess.

 

(also, the internet seems to have stabilised.)

 

so here are a few more photos from cable car tour at Narvik.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Victoria2]

A slight difference in temperature from Singapore! 😀

 

Looks a tad nippy. An extra suitcase for the winter essentials and boots must have been on the packing agenda.

Thank you again for your photographs. 

 

[photosg]

8 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

A slight difference in temperature from Singapore! 😀

 

Looks a tad nippy. An extra suitcase for the winter essentials and boots must have been on the packing agenda.

Thank you again for your photographs. 

 

 

i haven’t felt so cold in a long time. we’ve been to Alaska and even Norway before but in May and June. Although it was snowing at the top in Narvik, the coldest we felt was at the top of the mountain in Andalsnes with the wind. The Aurora viewing company provided us with the really warm suits as well as the waterproof boots. once we were booked with them i decided not to pack my own boots (which are no where near as warm either!) So that was another plus of booking with them. I still had to bring winter wear for the other days but the tuxedo and extra jacket for dinner also added to the packing. 😅

[photosg]

On 10/16/2022 at 8:53 PM, swjumbo said:

Erm, shouldn’t you have put the jam on first?

Really enjoying your trip. Thank you 

here you go! 😅

[photosg]

Between Tromso and Narvik we had dinner in Verandah.

lobster cocktail.

 

Dover sole.

Side salad.

Rib-eye.

roast cabbage and onion rings.

Rum baba.

 

the secret of the pavlova.

[swjumbo]

You’ve made us really laugh. Thanks a lot.

We’ll do jam and cream then cream and jam for you when we’re on board!

 

[LadyL1]

Lovely photos of Narvik thank you, which reminds us of when we were there in March. It was perishingly cold!

[photosg]

Not much to report yesterday except that the seas were so rough that they closed deck 3 completely.

 

Today we’re having much better weather. During the noon announcement Capt Hoyt announced that some crew were now allowed to go unmasked as we progress towards “normality”. I did notice just the one unmasked waiter in the Lido at breakfast. At the moment unmasked crew seem to be in the minority. But i haven’t figured out what the rule is.

 

Today is another sea day as we make our way back down to Stavanger.

[LittleFish1976]

13 hours ago, photosg said:

Not much to report yesterday except that the seas were so rough that they closed deck 3 completely.

 

Today we’re having much better weather. During the noon announcement Capt Hoyt announced that some crew were now allowed to go unmasked as we progress towards “normality”. I did notice just the one unmasked waiter in the Lido at breakfast. At the moment unmasked crew seem to be in the minority. But i haven’t figured out what the rule is.

 

Today is another sea day as we make our way back down to Stavanger.

 

Seems a pretty bold and unwise move to allow staff to remove masks when on duty. It has sounded like they can't afford to be losing any staff to illness - why take the risk? Hopefully they'll be testing all staff at least every second day to compensate for the increased risk of infection.

 

[groryjm]

4 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Seems a pretty bold and unwise move to allow staff to remove masks when on duty. It has sounded like they can't afford to be losing any staff to illness - why take the risk? Hopefully they'll be testing all staff at least every second day to compensate for the increased risk of infection.

 

Crew now able to to choose themselves whether they want to or not. The rule is that it is the individuals choice😎

[photosg]

Internet was misbehaving but seems to have sorted itself out now.

 

We docked in Stavanger on Friday while it was still dark.

 

 

after breakfast we went for a walk around town.

 

 

 

After lunch went ashore again to walk in the emerging sun.

 

 

The rain held off until we sailed out but that meant we got a rainbow send off.

[photosg]

Last night, once we were out in the Norwegian Sea there was a lot of movement but this morning the sea was flat again and the sun is out right now and deck 3 is filled with walkers.

[Host Hattie]

Enjoy your last afternoon and evening on board and thanks again for posting.

[photosg]

On 10/22/2022 at 12:51 PM, Host Hattie said:

Enjoy your last afternoon and evening on board and thanks again for posting.

Thank you so much. Safely back in Southampton this morning. It was raining when we docked but it had musty stopped by the time people were disembarking.

And now I have a surprise for you.

Edited October 23, 2022 by photosg

[subbuteo14]

I too was on this voyage and it was great to see the pictures from Tromso onwards.  I say that because on the Monday morning I tested positive for Covid and spent the whole of the second half of the voyage in my cabin, not allowed to leave.  So glad I had a balcony, I would go stir crazy in an inside cabin.

 

Incidentally I share the pain of those passengers unhappy about the 'second days' in Tromso and Narvik.  I took this up with Cunard before we set sail and told them that the ship's itinerary was far from clear.  The Cunard website stated that they were still building the list of tours available for the 'second' days right up to sailing time.  They stated that because the ship was in port past midnight it had to be listed as an overnight stop.  They didn't seem interested in that an overnight stop implies waking up in the same place you went to sleep.  I asked them why they hadn't put an extra element on the website for those second days stating 'sea days', in the same way the cruise-by in Romsdalfjord was an extra item for the same day as Andalsnes.  I did get a sort of apology but it really is not difficult to make this abundantly clear on an itinerary.  I was so glad I checked the port websites before booking independent second-day excursions.

[Host Hattie]

Sorry to hear you missed part of your cruise due to Covid. I hope you are feeling better now.

[subbuteo14]

25 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Sorry to hear you missed part of your cruise due to Covid. I hope you are feeling better now.

Thanks for the best wishes but I've got home, done a test and I'm still positive!

[Host Hattie]

Oh dear, were you travelling on your own? If not, was your travelling companion positive and quarantined as well?

Full disclosure - my husband caught Covid on the 23rd September sailing and I'm wondering if the procedures are the same.

[babs135]

Wonder how many people had Covid and reported/didn't report it?  DH and I were on board and didn't hear of any cases.  Seems strange that the decision was still made to go ahead with make mask wearing optional. Subbuteo 14, hope you feel better quickly.

[Solent Richard]

On 10/12/2022 at 11:51 AM, photosg said:

 

Good to see in 7 years that Cunard haven't overdone the cut backs on certain favourites...

 

 

😂