20260614 Sunday, June 14, 2026 - At sea from Norway to Svalbard

After several action-packed port days, we look forward to having a day at sea. The midnight sun does make it have an undesirable effect on circadian rhythms.

We had a light breakfast in Mamsen’s while birds rode the air currents at the bow of the ship, gliding effortlessly by the windows.

Black Footed Kittywake

Janet attended the morning lecture on Norway’s national identity while Ben got a workout and spa day in.

After lunch, our group got second place in trivia, being outscored by 1 point. It’s frustrating when everyone blocks on something like knowing Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb.  We certainly should have had that answer since we had been to Egypt only a year ago.

The ship had a special culinary event at lunch featuring hearty soups (Bergen fish soup, Minestrone, Hungarian beef goulash) and 16 different types of cheesecake.

There were several lectures on Svalbard.  Longyearbyen is the largest settlement in Svalbard, and the northernmost settlement in the world at 78º 13’N latitude.  

Depending on how you define it, the polar bears outnumber the 2000 residents of Longyearbyen and Svalbard if you include the entire archipelago and surrounding sea ice and ice flows.

  
There is a law that you must carry a long rifle firearm to venture outside the city limits of Longyearbyen because of polar bears and on average, 3 polar bears get shot each year.  But since polar bears are an endangered species, it is also illegal to shoot polar bears, so when possible, they try to avoid shooting the bears, using bear spray, flash bangs, and avoidance primarily.  While they do have rifles available for rent, the permitting process to be approved for renting one takes about 2 months, so this has to be done well in advance of arriving in Svalbard.  It is possible to hire guides who carry rifles if you want to wander outside the city limits.

  
Svalbard is home to an internationally important seed bank, which is buried in a former coal mine overlooking the airport.  It is deeply embedded in permafrost such that even if the facility, which houses over 1,300,000 different crop seed varieties, loses power, it will maintain the seeds at close to 0ºF for preservation.

In the afternoon, Janet, Ben, and Doug attended a gemstone trivia held at the jewelry store.  We were mostly hoping for door prizes, but Janet and Ben tied for the highest scores of 10.5 out of 15.  Janet and Doug sat together in the front row while Ben arrived later (after grabbing a cup of coffee) and sat in the back.  The store manager looked a bit confused when he scored the quizzes and said we have a tie with two exactly same scores, and they both have the same stateroom number, so there was no tiebreaker question.  We had missed different questions but got the same scores.  The prize was a small jewelry cleaning kit (small tub of cleaning solution with brushes) and a gift card worth $500 off any gemstone purchase from the store during this cruise only.  We presume everything in the store is over $500, and more likely over $1000, but we’ll have to visit later on to see if that is indeed true.  

The ship arrived in the waters off Svalbard’s southern tip in the late afternoon, and we sailed north along the western edge as the night progressed.  

We closed the evening with the theater production featuring the 4 Viking vocalists doing a medley of southern music, which included many of Janet’s favorite artists and songs.  This show didn’t have any costume changes.  It was another good show with lots of energy and musical talent. 

Tomorrow, we arrive in Longyearbyen and have our included Highlights of Longyearbyen excursion at 1:10 p.m.  The ship should dock by 8 a.m. and will remain overnight.  We will probably go ashore in the morning to walk around the town and try to do a bit of a hike if it is within the polar bear exclusion zone.  

20260613 Saturday, June 13, 2026. Honningsvåg, Norway

We awoke this morning to dense fog and an in-stateroom announcement that due to anticipated high winds, our docking at Honningsvåg, Norway, was canceled with our port of call being converted to tender operations.  

After breakfast in the restaurant, we went ashore to explore the city of Honningsvåg.  This is a small city— in fact, probably the smallest official city in Norway because it was declared a city in 1996 just before a law was passed that required cities to have a population of at least 5,000. Honningsvåg has a year-round population of only 2,245.  

Today, in addition to the Viking Neptune, two other cruise ships, including the huge Celebrity Apex, and one large inter-Island long-distance ferry will be calling on it.  

Nearly private tender with only one other couple aboard.

When we got ashore, it was raining steadily and there were moderate winds. There is a gift shop and tourist information center at the head of the cruise ships’ docks, and they were jam-packed with tourists to an uncomfortable degree.  There was a rack of stockfish heads set up at the cruise ship dock for display.  Honnigsvåd also engages in the stockfish trade.

We rapidly exited the gift shop and started walking around the waterfront and did a loop tour of the town, covering it from one end to the other in under 3 miles. 

There are a number of public art installations on the waterfront, including a bronze statue of a dog named Bamse, which is Norwegian for “Teddy Bear”.

 

It is a duplicate of another statue installed in Scotland, where the dog became a local legend and WWII hero.  He was the official mascot for the Free Norwegian Forces during Nazi occupation of Norway and belonged to the captain of a Norwegian whaler that was converted to a minesweeper after the capitulation of the Norwegian mainland to the Nazis.  Legend has it Bamse could ride the bus between the wharf where the boat was stationed and the pub where the crew hung out.  He had a bus pass attached to his collar.  His image was featured on Easter and Christmas cards during the war.  Upon his death, he received full military honors and was posthumously awarded the animal equivalent of the George Cross for valor shown during WWII.

Honningsvåg is home port for many crabbing boats that target the King crab. The marina is picturesque, even in the rain.  

We walked out to the breakwater for a picture of the ship and found it littered with sea urchin shells.  Back home, seagulls will pick up and drop mussels onto pavement to make a meal of them.  The seagulls here appear to do the same with sea urchins.

The Honningsvåg Church was built in 1885 and was one of the only churches in Finnmark County that was not destroyed by the Nazis as they withdrew towards the end of the war.  The Nazis practiced a scorched earth doctrine where they burned or destroyed anything of potential use to enemies.  Nearly all of the rest of Honningsvåg was burned to the ground as the Nazis left.  
There are Sherpa steps here in Honningsvåg heading up the hillside behind the city.  We could see what looked like some construction crews working on a part of the steps from a distance.  

Today also happens to be a race day where people run, cycle, or walk between Honningsvåg and North Cape. This 21.9-mile route has an elevation gain of 5,383’.  

We returned to the ship for lunch in the buffet and then got back to shore for our inclusive excursion.  This was a bus ride to North Cape, so we basically got to cover the Honningsvåg to North Cape race in the comfort of a tour bus.  We actually rode in an all-electric bus, which was eerily quiet with only the whining or whirring of the electric motors during acceleration.  

The bus ride was marred by terrible weather conditions with fog and rain the entire ride.  It was nearly impossible to see anything out the windows for the entire 45-minute ride.  When we got out of the bus, it was extremely disorienting because it appeared that they just dumped us onto the pavement in the middle of nowhere with blinding wind and rain lashing our faces.  

You could barely make out the vague outlines of a building in the distance, which was hard to judge given the conditions.  As we approached, it became clear that this was a large complex built to serve as a tourist center with restaurants, shops, and a museum, including a multimedia theatre.  Even from inside the building and looking out the view windows, it was impossible to see anything outside more than a hundred feet or so. 

 
The movie showed us that there is a monument shaped like a globe set upon the top of a huge cliff, perhaps a thousand feet above the sea.  It was hard for us to believe that was what was outside the building given the conditions at the time.  But we did venture out of the building following directions given by staff and did find the monument in the dense fog and mist.  If you got anywhere near the fence marking the perimeter of the cliff, the wind was so strong that it threatened to rip your smartphone right out of your hand, but the fog was so dense, there was absolutely nothing to see beyond the fencing other than an apparent cliff top crumbling into the fog.  

We suppose that our experience might have been awe-inspiring had we been able to look out to the horizon from that cliff top, but most of us felt like that excursion was pretty much a bust.  At least as we left, the fog had lifted a bit so that we could catch a few glimpses of the snow patches and tundra at the higher elevations, and a herd of reindeer in a meadow area.  

From the movie, we learned that all the reindeer in Honningsvåg are owned by the Sami indigenous people.  There was a clip in the movie where a herd of reindeer were herded out of the bow of a landing craft ferry as they were being moved from one grazing area to another.  The reindeer normally migrate from northern Norway about 250 miles south into Finland to escape the worst of the winter.  

After returning to the ship, we hit the hot tub for a soak and then joined our travel companions for dinner in the restaurant.  One of the featured entrees was scrimp and scallops, which Jan was really looking forward to, and when they delivered it, it had lived up to expectations. 

 
Shortly before the evening theater show, we met briefly in the World Cafe buffet to sample some sushi.  Even though we were pretty full from dinner, it was still nice to sample some fresh and well-made sushi.  

We finished the evening with a new entertainer, Kyle Esplin, who put on a phenomenal show of boogey woogey piano pounding and singing.  He had some interesting mash-ups that he arranged, including one mixing Beethoven and Billy Joel, and another amped-up version of Fulsome Prison.  He had the energy level turned up to 11 the entire show and earned himself a standing ovation from the audience.  

Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way to the Svalbard  archipelago. This lies at the convergence between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.  The largest island is Spitsbergen and Longyearbyen is the largest settlement on Spitsbergen.  Longyearbyen is at 78º N latitude.

20260612 Friday, June 12, 2026 Tromsø, Norway

20260612 Friday, June 12, 2026 Tromsø, Norway

As the ship eased into Tromsø Harbor, it slipped past the National Geographic Resolution Expedition ship, which is in a very similar class to the Viking Polaris and Octantis Expedition ships. What the ship was doing was a bit unclear because it was just station keeping just outside the navigation channel and not docked or conducting any tender operations.   

The Viking Neptune tied up at a prime berth on the Tromsø waterfront, spinning itself 180º before setting the mooring lines.  We had breakfast in the World Cafe before meeting up with Mark and Jan to go ashore and wander a bit around Tromsø’s waterfront.  

We ended up doing a self-guided tour, stealing an itinerary from Tours By Locals and combining this with Wikipedia descriptions of each site. 

 

Tromsø Protestant Cathedral

Tromsø Library

Tromsø Catholic Cathedral

Tromsø Public Library

Tromsø Storgata shopping district

Tromsø Polar Museum

We started at the Protestant Cathedral, wandered down Storgata, which is the historic main business street, visited statues of Roald Amundsen and King Haakon VII and other sculptures, peeked inside the Tromsø Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady, wandered around the remains of the ancient fortress Skansen, through the old Vervet shipyard, which is actually still being used as a dry dock, around the Polar Museum, which was closed at that hour, and then out to the jetty of the marina, where we found great views of the ship and the Arctic Cathedral.  

Jan and Janet did some window shopping and found some free postcards for souvenirs while Ben walked along the waterfront trying to get a photo of Doug and Sandy who had chosen to climb up the Sherpa’s Stairs to have lunch at the Fjellstua Café at the top of Mount Storsteinen.  These are stone stairs built by Nepalese Sherpas to the top of Mount Storsteinen from the Arctic Cathedral.

The peak is 421 meters above sea level and provides a spectacular view, but the 1,200 steps can be hard on the knees.  

A leisurely lunch was enjoyed in the World Cafe before meeting up again for our scheduled 1:10 p.m. excursion “Panoramic Tromsø”.  Doug and Sandy were making their way back from their hike, and it looked like they might have made the excursion, but they ended up stopping short, opting to relax on the waterfront rather than sprinting the last block to the bus. 

 
The “Panoramic Tromsø” tour did take us well beyond walking distance from the ship, starting with a tour of historic houses and buildings in the foothills behind Tromsø, then heading north along the east side of the island that Tromsø is situated on.  

We could see the huge Celebrity Apex cruise ship docked several miles north of Tromsø’s city center in front of the University and Science Center.  

The bus unloaded us at the Tromsø Planetarium.  There is a lot of “Furthest North” stuff in Tromsø including the Protestant and Catholic cathedrals, and the University and Planetarium.  We were treated to a planetarium show highlighting the Aurora Borealis through the lens of a famous Tromsø filmmaker and photographer.  

There was video of some amazing displays of the northern lights, as well as some explanation of the science behind the northern lights.  Of course, with the very comfortable fully reclining chairs and mesmerizing music, it wasn’t hard to “rest your eyes” for a bit during the show.  

Of course, being north of the Arctic Circle during the summer means it is impossible for us to view the Aurora Borealis on this itinerary during the midnight sun, so it was nice that they gave us the opportunity to experience the Aurora Borealis in the planetarium setting.  

We were then taken through some amazing underwater tunnels to the Arctic Cathedral, which is quite a landmark across the Tromsø Bridge from the city center.  It is made of 11 aluminum-sheathed concrete panels, a little like the Sydney Opera House but with a more pyramid-like form.  The huge crucifix on the western face gives the building the shape of a tall masted ship, while the eastern face features one of the largest and most monumental glass mosaics in Europe.  While the church was completed in 1965 (designed by Jan Inge Hovig), the mosaic was created by Victor Sparre in 1972.  The church hosts over 500 concerts annually.

In a nod to Norwegian historic stave churches, which almost all feature a hanging votive model ship to give thanks for surviving the sea, the pipe organ in the church features elements reflecting a sailing ship in the abstract. 

 
Since we were in the neighborhood, we took a brisk walk to see if we could get a peek at the Sherpa’s stairs because the trail starts right behind the Arctic Cathedral, but the first part of the trail is just a gravel path.  The actual stone steps begin about 1km from the church, so we didn’t have time to actually see the start of the steps.

The bus took us back through another tunnel running under a hillside which contains an underground roundabout lit up like a disco club.  There is actually a huge underground parking lot and shelter space that is used as an event venue, but was originally built as a Cold War-era shelter for Tromsø residents.  

That was pretty much the end of the tour, which delivered us back to our ship.  
We enjoyed a bit of relaxation in the thermal spa after returning to the ship.  We even had some time for a nap before dinner.  

Janet had managed to nab us reservations in the Chef’s table to try the California menu, although they were for 8 p.m.  She was able to get that moved up to 7:15 p.m. so we could enjoy the evening theater show featuring the Cruise Director Philip Morgamon doing some Broadway and other songs.  

After our ship pulled away from the dock in Tromsø, the National Geographic Resolution fired up its motors and headed in to dock where we had been without a single passenger visible on deck.  It was probably preparing to take on a new load of passengers to begin a voyage out of Tromsø.  

The California menu proved to be quite delicious, opening with an amuse-bouche of a sweet potato crisp topped with a blue cheese crème fraîche and crab cake on guacamole.  

A Moscow mule granita was a real favorite to cleanse the palate and awaken the senses for the seared halibut main course.  This was served with crispy halibut skin which didn’t have the characteristic strong halibut smell or taste, while the fish itself was very mild and fine-textured, served with a unique tomato and olive herb vinaigrette and crumbled roasted cauliflower.  

The Ojai Mandarin parfait was a light and sweet finishing touch punctuated with candied ginger.

The evening concluded with Cruise Director Philip Morgaman’s tribute to musical theater which included show tunes, some of which were from obscure musicals that were entertaining.  

Tomorrow we arrive at Honningsvåg, Norway, a remote island fishing village.  The weather forecast suggests we may be in for challenging conditions as the day wears on with light rain but brisk winds and temperatures hovering around 50ºF.