20260616 Tuesday, June 16, 2026. Longyearbyen, Svalbard Day 2

20260616 Tuesday, June 16, 2026. Longyearbyen Svalbard Day 2

After returning to the ship late last night, we didn’t realize that there had been a notice printed in the Viking Daily that the water would be shut off from midnight until 4 a.m. Janet was in the shower having just finished rinsing conditioner out of her hair when the tap ran dry.  

Having slept in late, we had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet.  Janet had managed to secure a washing machine in the launderette, so Ben hit the gym while the laundry was getting done and got his shower in the gym after his workout. 

 
After the laundry finished, we had a quick lunch at the buffet and wandered back ashore on foot to try to see some of the things that were pointed out on the bus.  We took the Viking shuttle van into town and walked back to the ship, seeing the Church and Taubanesentralen, in addition to seeing some local birdlife.  We did spot a polar bear inside the church.

Barnacle Geese

Pink Footed Geese

Reindeer Antler Shed

Plover

We got back aboard the ship just minutes before the announced all-aboard.  We ran into Nikki, our RIB pilot’s date, working security at the cruise port checking ID’s.  That was a funny coincidence. 

 

Dinner was the Xiang Chinese menu at the Chef’s table.  This was a good meal that started with hot and sour soup, followed by some spicy shrimp.  The granita was a coconut lemon grass and ginger infusion which was refreshing and delightfully light.

 

The main course was wok-fried tenderloin with a black pepper sauce with sweet peas and peppers, and the dessert was a very attractive mango cream that had a painted white chocolate shell around a mango mousse with a tart pomelo and sago jelly center.  It was light, sweet, and delicious. 

 

We ended our evening with a Name That Tune trivia.  One team got a perfect score of 24/24, while we managed a respectable 21.

  
As we head to Iceland, we turn our clocks back an hour tonight.  We will likely pass across the Arctic Circle tomorrow heading back south and west towards Iceland.