20260617 Wednesday, June 17, 2026. At Sea from Svalbard to Iceland Day 1

20260617 Wednesday, June 17, 2026. At Sea from Svalbard to Iceland Day 1

Clocks moved back an hour overnight, which put us in London’s time zone.  
Sea days can be an opportunity to relax a bit.  After a leisurely breakfast, Janet checked out the jewelry that her winning $500 gift card was eligible to purchase, and the least expensive item they had was an earring set for $2750.  Just about everything else was over $4000.  So it looks like the gift card will go unspent.  

Sandy sat out the team trivia to get laundry done, but everyone else showed up.  We managed to score 24/29, but two teams scored 25.  If it was any comfort, we had considered and narrowed down the answers of 3 questions down to a choice between two answers, but we just happened to settle on the wrong ones.  Their tiebreaker was how many minutes is the running time of Raiders of the Lost Ark— closest but not over wins.  One team guessed 112 minutes, and the other guessed 119 minutes, but the answer was 118 minutes, so even though they were closest, they were over and lost the mimosas.

Sailing the open waters between Svalbard and Iceland was surprisingly smooth with very calm sea and wind conditions.  Being out on the open ocean, there hasn’t been much to see, but we have seen a few whale spouts periodically. 

We crossed back over the Arctic Circle today, and the ship held a “Blue-Nose” ceremony to appease Neptune and ask for protection from the monsters of the deep.  Blue Noses are initiated with a ladle of ice cold water and a dab of blue frosting on their noses.  The captain seemed to take great joy in using his highly specialized technique of sloshing the ladle full of ice and water not so much over your head as straight down your back between your shoulder blades for a proper chill.  We settled for a shot of Aquavit and printed certificate of crossing the Arctic Circle.  

Today was a day to get caught up on lectures that had been recorded from earlier on the trip.  The lectures have been quite good and have covered historical and sociological aspects of Nordic life, including the relationships between the Nordic countries and Europe.  There have also been good natural history lectures on the flora and fauna of the North Atlantic and Nordic regions.  

Our group got together in the restaurant for lobster night.  The featured entrees included a lobster tail in “American Sauce” and lamb chops.  The lobster tails were HUGE, but perhaps a little overcooked.  They were served already out of the shell and drizzled with the sauce.  There was a pistachio mousse dessert that was very cute, and super nutty between the pistachio mousse and hazelnut cream center.  

The evening’s entertainment was a variety show put on by the entertainment staff with each member doing a solo song on a number.  Individual band members and even the theater video tech also did some numbers.  Two were sung in Tagalog by Filipinos and even the Scottish lead female singer.  It was an enjoyable and energetic show.  

Our clocks move back another hour tonight as we transition to Reykjavik time, and we have another sea day tomorrow.