Sailing to see Santa (almost) —- Jewel of the Seas Arctic Circle voyage - June 17, 2023

[mac_tlc]

What a great first day in Honninsvag! We had a North Cape tour with Blue Puffin and it was wonderful. Monika was our guide, her and her husband Sebastian own/run Blue Puffin. It was about 4.5 hours and stopped at two fishing villages, one very near her house in Kamøyvær. @Norwaylady, she mentioned that the village no longer has its own school. Here are some postcards, I mean pictures of the fishing village. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was on to Skarsvag, where we got up close and personal with a King Crab or two. 
 

 

 

 

Next up —- the North Cape and reindeer! 
 

mac_tlc

Edited June 21, 2023 by mac_tlc

[RobInMN]

4 hours ago, Cherful59 said:

@mac_tlc Please let me know how you like your North Cape Tour with Blue Puffin.  It is supposed to be a very nice tour.  Thank you Patti

We did that tour last June and loved it! Guide was fantastic.

[RobInMN]

24 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

What a great first day in Honninsvag! We had a North Cape tour with Blue Puffin and it was wonderful. Monika was our guide, her and her husband Sebastian own/run Blue Puffin. 

We had Sebastian.

I took almost identical pictures to a couple of yours 🤣

 

One thing I found kind of amusing. Did you happen to notice the satellite dishes on the houses? Basically pointing at the horizon.🤣🤣

[smithley]

I've enjoyed your posts and pics so far - that sail into Geiringer is truly breathtaking!  We'll be on the Jewel out of Amsterdam in August headed to Iceland and Greenland and excited to be back on a Radiance ship.  Wondering if the thermal suite up in the spa is still there with full length windows as you recline on the warm loungers?  If you get a chance, would you check it out for us?  Thanks and keep on sailing through beautiful Norway.

[Lady Hudson]

Wonderful review and your pictures are lovely.  I do have a few questions about the casino if you happen to go there.  Busy or are people  having fun elsewhere on the ship?  Are there many blackjack tables?  Thank you.

[mac_tlc]

7 hours ago, smithley said:

I've enjoyed your posts and pics so far - that sail into Geiringer is truly breathtaking!  We'll be on the Jewel out of Amsterdam in August headed to Iceland and Greenland and excited to be back on a Radiance ship.  Wondering if the thermal suite up in the spa is still there with full length windows as you recline on the warm loungers?  If you get a chance, would you check it out for us?  Thanks and keep on sailing through beautiful Norway.

I will see what I can find out.

[mac_tlc]

3 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

Wonderful review and your pictures are lovely.  I do have a few questions about the casino if you happen to go there.  Busy or are people  having fun elsewhere on the ship?  Are there many blackjack tables?  Thank you.

We have been to the casino a few times 😜. It was never really busy, but we have not been there late. Here are the casino hours for our 12 days. 
 

 

 

I will wander through this morning and inventory the tables.

 

mac_tlc

Edited June 22, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

@Lady Hudson,

 

Tables in casino:

Blackjack - one $25 min, one $15 min, one single deck $10 min

 

Roulette - two

 

Craps - one

 

Hold’em poker - two plus one tournament table.

 

Craps table is on the no smoking side, others evenly split.

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

North Cape tour, part two:

 

After leaving the king crabs behind, we journeyed up to the North Cape. It’s about a 12 km ride on the North Cape road. Wonderful views, very barren and desolate. And not a tree to be found.

 

Once there we went into the visitor center first. on level -3, there is a good short movie about the four seasons on the North Cape. We are Disney fans and the first thing that ran through my mind as we walked into the theater is the movie about Norway that was in the Norway pavilion at Epcot before Anna and Elsa invaded it .

 

Then it was out to the globe, Again,  stunning views and such a feeling of serenity. Some pix:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a quick compass reading of latitude and longitude:

 

 

couldn’t resist a fresh waffle with brown cheese and strawberry jam !

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Reindeer are a plenty at this time of the year. The Sami families bring their herds here for the summer. We stopped at a small Sami families home where they have some items for sale and you can get some pictures up close. Note that it is molting season too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by mac_tlc

[little britain]

Ok … enough… you’ve got me hooked…I’m booking this for 2025!  

Edited June 22, 2023 by little britain

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Ok … enough… you’ve got me hooked…I’m booking this for 2025!  

You won’t be disappointed!!!

[mac_tlc]

So as we were strolling through the town of Honningsvag, we found a nice cafe with wifi:

 

Some pix of the port area:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Dorh]

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

So as we were strolling through the town of Honningsvag, we found a nice cafe with wifi:

 

Some pix of the port area:

 

 

 

 

 

Your pictures are amazing. Thanks for sharing with us. 

Did you bring local currency or could you use US currency and credit cards? 

 

[Lady Hudson]

6 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

@Lady Hudson,

 

Tables in casino:

Blackjack - one $25 min, one $15 min, one single deck $10 min

 

Roulette - two

 

Craps - one

 

Hold’em poker - two plus one tournament table.

 

Craps table is on the no smoking side, others evenly split.

 

mac_tlc

Thank you!!

[mac_tlc]

16 hours ago, RobInMN said:

We had Sebastian.

I took almost identical pictures to a couple of yours 🤣

 

One thing I found kind of amusing. Did you happen to notice the satellite dishes on the houses? Basically pointing at the horizon.🤣🤣

Like this 😳😂😂?

Actually looks like it’s pointing down…

 

[mac_tlc]

36 minutes ago, Dorh said:

Your pictures are amazing. Thanks for sharing with us. 

Did you bring local currency or could you use US currency and credit cards? 

 

I did bring about 3000 NOK — about $275USD. 
 

Cards are taken everywhere, a few places take USD. I have used the krone for tips and small purchases. 
 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Goodbye Honningsvag!

 

 

 

We had a great birthday in Norway!

 

 

 

It is my birthday and my wife’s birthday— she is the older woman by 365 days! 
 

mac_tlc

Edited June 22, 2023 by mac_tlc

[A&L_Ont]

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

It is my birthday and my wife’s birthday— she is the older woman by 365 days! 
 

Happy Birthday to you both. 

[#55worktoplay]

Happy Birthday to both of you. 

[perfect match]

I was going to wish a Happy Birthday 🎂 to both of you a couple of days ago but thought I’d wait until your actual birthday. Apparently I should have gone ahead with the early wishes because now I’m late! Hope your birthdays were wonderful!

[mac_tlc]

Good morning, well it is here! 
 

Sea day today and the seas are a bit more impactful. And it’s chilly, around 51F or 10C. With some wind.

 

Yesterday was decidedly “un-Arctic”. 72F / 23C. 
 

We strolled around town and as we were waiting on the sidewalk, Monika and her two children were walking by—- she recognized us first because of the wheelchair. Stopped and had a good conversation — they were on their way to the market. I guess locals do that kind of thing! 
 

Made our first showing in the theater last night, David Knight, a hypnotist. It was really fun and the theater was full.

 

Today is Captains Corner at 11, my favorite. Then we will try the new brunch menu after that! 
 

I plan on doing one single post later on that will cover the current CC raging topics. One post, my observations, maybe a slight opinion or two, and then back to the majesty of Norway! 
 

mac_tlc

Edited June 23, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Turtlelove17]

On 6/21/2023 at 9:40 PM, mac_tlc said:

What a great first day in Honninsvag! We had a North Cape tour with Blue Puffin and it was wonderful. Monika was our guide, her and her husband Sebastian own/run Blue Puffin. It was about 4.5 hours and stopped at two fishing villages, one very near her house in Kamøyvær. @Norwaylady, she mentioned that the village no longer has its own school. Here are some postcards, I mean pictures of the fishing village. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was on to Skarsvag, where we got up close and personal with a King Crab or two. 
 

 

 

 

Next up —- the North Cape and reindeer! 
 

mac_tlc

 We were also on this same blue puffin tour with Monika. She was amazing! We left that your feeling like we spent some time with a local learning all about her home in Norway. She is also very engaging and fun to listen to. Perfectly timed and beautiful stops at the fishing villages. Even our 8 year old loved it 🙂

 

I would highly recommend this tour!

[mac_tlc]

Now, this is more like it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockin and Rollin!! 
 

Seas maybe up to 3m. Cloudy, chilly, windy —— a perfect Norwegian Sea kind of day!!

 

mac_tlc

Edited June 23, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Now, this is more like it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockin and Rollin!! 
 

Seas maybe up to 3m. Cloudy, chilly, windy —— a perfect Norwegian Sea kind of day!!

 

mac_tlc

but you had great weather when it counted in town yesterday.  I have heard it is 50/50 chance of this