20260610 Wednesday, June 10, 2026 Narvik, Norway

20260610 Wednesday, June 10, 2026 Narvik, Norway

Yesterday’s “scenic cruising” continued through the night as we are now subject to the midnight sun, or the situation where the sun never sets below the horizon.  At this latitude, the sun won’t set until August.  It can be a little disorienting to pull open the curtains at midnight and be blinded by bright daylight.  The rugged Norwegian coastline is quite stunning, even after midnight.  

Midnight Sun

Still scenic even after midnight

Just outside Narvik

When we did officially wake up at 7 a.m., the ship was still sailing into Narvik.  We had breakfast in the world café as the ship approached its mooring in Narvik.  Narvik’s waterfront is notable for the huge iron ore transshipment terminal. Our ship tied up across the harbor from this massive facility.  

Most of the iron ore facility is either painted or stained barn red, but there are areas where a whitish material has spilled near the rail lines.  This is bentonite, which is a claylike material used to form pellets with iron ore fines.  The processed iron ore pellets arrive from Sweden and are loaded onto bulk ore carriers, while the emptied rail cars are then filled with imported bentonite and sent back to Sweden to repeat the process.

Bentonite headed for Sweden

We were able to arrange it so we could be on the same excursion bus as Mark and Jan, and Doug and Sandy.  The included excursion drove us up a hillside to see some older homes and a view of the town and surrounding fjord and mountains.  Narvik will be hosting the World Downhill Skiing championship for the first time in 2028, so the city is gearing up for this.  They are upgrading their competitive ski venues and installing larger gondolas to transport crowds to the ski areas. 

Our guide provided narrative with insights into local cultural pride and the industrial history of Narvik.  She made repeated references to “Navvie Men” who were strapping young and strong men who provided labor for construction of the Ofobanen Railway connecting Narvik to the iron ore mines in Kiruna, Sweden, and who were frequently immigrant workers from Sweden. 

Naavie Man Statue

We made a photo stop at the Narvik train station, which provided a bit of a view of the fjord and a steam engine on display.  Our guide told us the story of Svarta Bjorn, a legendary figure in Narvik who was a cook for the rail workers. She was given the nickname Black Bear by a Sammi shaman who peered into her soul and saw the spirit of a bear, combined with the fact that she had a mane of black hair and dark eyes.  

The bus continued uphill, stopping at the Ankenes church, which afforded views of the fjord and a community choir performance of several songs.  Our guide was both a singer and organ player for the group.  Samples of lefse, which is a traditional Norwegian flatbread made with potatoes and flour, were handed out after the performance for a treat.  

The last stop on the tour was at the top of a hill with a view of the fjord and ongoing construction related to a new larger gondola system for the upcoming 2028 World Skiing Championships.  

After returning to the ship, we grabbed a quick snack at Mamsen’s and then did a 4-mile walk through and around the town.  

At one point, we were trying to find our way through a park next to the local high school, but the trails were poorly maintained and poorly marked, so we weren’t confident of finding our way through the park.  We ended up bushwacking a bit to find our way onto an adjacent roadway where we could navigate with more confidence.  

The rest of our traveling party had chosen to tour the Narvik WWII museum, which proved to be a combination of fascinating and sombre.  The general consensus was that the exhibits ended up a bit on the dark side, but WWII and the Nazis were a very dark period in our history to be sure.

 
After returning to the ship for good, we got lunch at the poolside grill.  Then we hit the spa for a good soak in the hot tub, showers and naps.

Janet managed to get us bookings for the Chef’s Table, which was featuring a Korean-inspired menu “Yumi’s Corner: Voyage to Korean Cuisine”.  This started with an amuse-bouche that was like a small bowl of savory custard with the consistency of soft tofu, with a thin layer of umami bonito flake and kombu broth with small bits of smoked eel and octopus.  This was called Eel Chawanmushi.

The “appetizer” was a salad with crab, scallop, mango, and soba noodles called “Ocean Party”.

This was followed by a soup presented initially as diced ingredients in the bottom of a bowl, into which was poured a spicy hot broth at the table.  This was a bit like a deconstructed hot pot.  

The main course was Korean BBQ beef short ribs which were falling off the bone tender, served with kimchi fried rice and a lettuce roll.

The dessert was a deconstructed matcha cheesecake with tart yuzu gelato.

Dinner was quite good and finished up early enough for us to be able to catch the evening show, which featured the ship’s vocalists doing a medley of duets from the 60s through the 80s.  It was another decent show with lots of energy and talented singers backed by the live band. 

 
Tomorrow we arrive in Leknes in the Lofoten Islands, which are an archipelago stretching 118 miles into the Norwegian Sea from Norway’s coast.  These are most famous for their production of “stock fish” which is air-dried cod, a commodity that even got 3 major ships built after WWII.

20260609 Tuesday, June 9, 2026 Scenic Cruising Norway Inside Passage

20260609 Tuesday, June 9, 2026 Scenic Cruising Norway Inside Passage

Scenic cruising through the inside of Norway’s Inside Passage has provided a full day, as in 24 hours, worth of scenic viewing.  The ship spent the entire day and night navigating narrow channels between hundreds of islands.  There are a lot of very wild and remote islands and headlands extending thousands of feet up into the sky amongst all the fjords and beyond.

Despite the wildness of the geology, there are a surprising number of villages and cities along today’s route.  Some are not much more than a few buildings on a green pasture at the base of a narrow valley flattening onto the sea.  Others are sizable cities with industrial waterfronts.  

Norway has lots of ferries of various sizes, including some that might qualify as small cruise ships. 

 
Another surprise has been how mild the weather has been.  While we were in sight of ice fields and glaciers the whole day, the air temperature outside has been in the mid to upper 60’s for much of the day.  We are told that prevailing ocean currents bring warm Atlantic waters along this part of Norway’s coastline, allowing it to have many ice-free winter ports despite the cold winter air temperatures. 

 
Our day started off with a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant followed by lectures and port talks.  There was a trivia at noon.  Ben and Janet ended up by themselves and missed winning by one point on questions that others in our traveling group would have known the answers to, but winning too frequently at trivia can bring on what the Aussies refer to as Tall Poppy syndrome.  It’s good to stay humble.  

There have been lectures on Viking history and culture which have slowly been filling in our knowledge gaps regarding the Scandinavian peoples and how they came to be Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

The World Cafe featured Norwegian hot dogs, which start with a reindeer sausage served on a crepe-like tortilla-sized round flatbread seasoned with mustard and crispy fried onions.  The reindeer sausage had a decent casing snap, a very fine texture, and seasoning not unlike American ballpark franks.  

The ship had a reception for the Explorer’s Society featuring canapes, champagne and a brief performance by the vocalists in the atrium.  We got to say hello to the captain and figured out that the woman who had been escorting the VIP’s from Eidsdal was in fact Captain Knutsen’s wife. 

At 6 p.m., the ship crossed the Arctic Circle, passing a sculpture on a tiny island while the ship blew its horn for all to hear.  It was certainly easier to spot this monument than the one marking Cape Horn at the southern end of South America.  And the weather has been remarkably pleasant on the outside decks despite crossing over the Arctic Circle.

We were able to get our Manfredi’s reservation moved up to 6 p.m.  Having had prior experiences with overeating at Manfredi’s, we showed restraint and didn’t have to waddle out of there afterwards.  We had opted for the chef’s special pasta of the day which was a shell pasta filled with butternut squash, and fish of the day, which was sea bass on a seafood stew.

Getting the dinner moved up allowed us to catch the production singer’s Motown tribute, which was a decent and energetic show.  

In our experience, Viking Ocean usually has an ensemble of two female and two male vocalists who do their production shows in conjunction with the ship’s 4 piece live band.  The Cruise director and assistant cruise directors usually also bring vocal talent aboard in addition to guest performers.  This ensemble of vocalists were from the UK and all quite talented.  

Tomorrow we arrive at Narvik, which served as a critically important iron ore transshipment site for iron ore mined in Sweden during WWII.  It was occupied by Nazis for 5 years after bloody naval and land battles. 

20260608 Monday June 8, 2026 Eidsdal, Geiranger, Djupvatnet

20260608 Monday June 8, 2026 Eidsdal, Geiranger, Djupvatnet

Our bodies are finally getting to the point where we are sleeping until after 6 a.m.  Doug and Sandy had breakfast delivered to their stateroom because they had an early excursion departure.  Our included Eagle’s Bend Overlook and Panoramic Drive excursion was not scheduled to start until 12:55pm so we had time for a leisurely morning.  

After grabbing breakfast between Mamsen’s for her fabulous waffles and fresh berries, we also picked up a few dim sum items in the World Cafe.  There is a dedicated Asian counter back by the Aquavit Terrace which features congee and dim sum items in the morning.  

We took advantage of the fitness center and thermal spa during our free morning.  There were very few people there, making for a relaxing morning.  

We rendezvoused with Mark and Jan at 11 a.m. when the World Cafe opened for lunch service. Excursions with departure times before noon met in the Star Theater, but after 10:30 a.m., the tenders were opened for independent travel.  So after grabbing lunch, we boarded a tender at 11:50 a.m. to give us some time to wander a bit through Eidsdal.  While waiting for our tender, a group of Norwegians came through the boarding area escorted by a ship’s officer.  Today was apparently the very first time the Viking Neptune has called on Eidsdal as a port of call, so a delegation of officials from Eidsdal were brought aboard the ship for an exchange of plaques ceremony to commemorate this first call.  

In July 2017, we had visited Geiranger on the Crown Princess, and at that time, we docked right in town and walked off the ship directly ashore.  We got to visit the Fjord Center museum complex, church, and waterfalls park complex.  We also boarded buses for a trip to see a glacier.

Our itinerary today was quite different.  Since we were arriving in Eidsdal, it is a 40-minute bus ride to get to Geiranger.  It is a scenic drive through the glacial valley connecting Eidsdal to Geiranger.  

Our first stop was called the Eagle’s Bend Overlook.  This high viewpoint from the rim of the fjord affords a view from the Seven Sisters waterfalls to Geiranger below.  Doug and Sandy had discovered an excellent viewpoint at the end of an unmarked trail next to the official overlook view platform.  This required a bit of hiking on a steep rocky path, but it proved well worth the effort.  

The bus took us through Geiranger without actually stopping anywhere in the town, which surprised us.  However, a large Costa cruise was tied up at the dock, and the town was congested and chaotic.  Our guide did point out sites like the octagonal church and the Fjord Center museum, but only in passing.  

The bus continued winding its way up the valley, passing innumerable waterfall crossings before stopping at a second viewpoint from which you could see from the glaciers at the head of the valley down to the city and fjord below, complete with the Costa cruise ship. 

From that high viewpoint of the valley, we continued even higher, climbing above the tree line and amongst boulder-strewn snow fields and waterfalls that looked like a fantasy world from a video game.  

The bus finally stopped at a huge lake, Djupvatnet, which was partially covered in ice. We learned that this lake completely freezes over most winters and that local residents use the frozen lake bed to learn how to drive on ice.  This is apparently required to get a Norwegian driver’s license.  There was a quaint hotel on the lakeshore with spectacular views and a large gift shop.

The drive back to Eidsdal was long but reversing through all the interesting valleys and countrysides.  

The Viking Daily had published that the last tender back to the ship was at 4 p.m., but we had returned at 4:30 p.m., and there was at least one more tender load of passengers to return to the ship by then.  

The ship had recovered all its tenders, and we all rendezvoused for dinner at the Restaurant at 6:15 p.m.  The dinner menu featured roasted venison, lamb shank, and bacon-wrapped prawns.  

The evening was finished off with a performance by Becki Biggins, who is a multi-award-winning UK singer, saxophonist, and songwriter who performed a medley of American Songbook music.  She was an excellent performer, but since it had been a really long day, and it was pretty warm in the packed theater, it was hard to keep our eyes open for the whole show.