Once again, we have been “fjorded” with no satellite or internet service.

Wednesday, June 26

As we continue south [practically the only direction one can go from Honningsvag], the night sky is still bright.  The continuing overcast dims the glare somewhat, but it is still light all night.  The glow through the curtains makes it look like it is perpetually 6am, too late to sleep and too early to wake up.

We exited the fjords before breakfast this morning, watching the land subside from not-quite-mountainous to coastal plain from our cabin.  We spent the day navigating the Sea of Norway where Capt. Albert oversaw us as we “buried” D’s great-aunt and –uncle in 2010.  Again, it is a story he won’t remember and we will not forget.

Today was a busy day for us since we actually partook of activities, sort of.  Breakfast in the MDR was followed by the NYT crossword puzzle.  With the time difference, the paper is not usually available in the morning, but the Dining Room Manager danced around the MDR distributing copies; newspapers from the rest of the world are usually ready although the Australian one might actually be from the previous day.

We finished checking the puzzle in time to go to the Mariner reception in the Showroom.  The room was full of old people [like us] who were there either [1] to receive medallions for spending lots of time and money with HAL or [2] to get free drinks and snacks.  We fell into the latter group as we already have our 500 “bed day” awards and will not live long enough to reach 700 days on board.  Medallions were given to passengers who had reached 100, 300 and 500 days, and one couple was recognized for having over 1600 days on HAL ships.

As we exited the MDR after breakfast, the staff was setting tables for the Mariner Luncheon.  In addition to plates and glasses, they were placing the ubiquitous HAL tiles of which we have approximately one bazillion. We skipped the brunch which followed the awards ceremony and decided to collect our tiles tomorrow if at all.  After all, what will we do with them?  No matter the ship, the menu at these affairs is always the same and quiche was not in our future at 11am.  We went for soup and whatever in the Lido later. 

Albert presented the fourth lecture in the series today.  He spent the first two, as you may remember, discussing the history of the Prinsendam and the third talking about the history of cruising as an end unto itself [as compared to using ships simply to get from Point A to Point B].  Today, he delved into the history of Holland America Line [or Amerika Lijn] from emigration transportation to pleasure cruising.  And there will be one more lecture before we disembark on Monday.

Tonight was the last formal night, thank God.  There are fewer and fewer men in tuxedos every year and D is just about the only man who wears a jacket and tie to dinner every night.  It seems that the designation “smart casual” is seen by many as a choice between “smart” and “casual,” and many choose casual as their preferred option.  These are the same people who feel that “gala” means “wear socks.”

Since “gala night” equals “presents,” we were not surprised to find something extra on the turned-down beds after supper.  Following the HAL tile tradition, the pillow gifts were larger tiles commemorating the Prinsendam’s 17 years in the HAL fleet.  It is unlike anything else we have seen both in size and specificity, a true collector’s item which will be on E-Bay next week.

Today’s movie was Bohemian Rhapsody but show times conflicted with Albert at 3, dinner at 7 and exhaustion at 9:30.  Ah, well, there’s always Netflix.

Tomorrow we will be in Geiringer and then sail through yet another fjord when we leave.  Really, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a fjord.

Thursday, June 27

We arrived in Geiringer at 7:30 this morning to the Cruise Director’s announcements about tender service and priority boarding.  The 4 and 5 Star got to assemble – and wait – in the Ocean Bar while everyone else waited in the Showroom.  The high rollers even got coffee and pastries.  We are not sure where they were going at such an ungodly hour unless they were on HAL excursions, but we were not really concerned since we were going nowhere.  Instead, we ate in the MDR as usual and asked the hostess about the tiles from yesterday.  She smiled at us and handed us two of them as if we were normal people.

Transferring to a tender is often tricky, especially for MA.  It requires a degree of balance to move from the ship to the tender even with help from the crew and mandates traversing a flight of steps on the outside of the ship.  Luckily, today’s tender transfers were easy because the ship and surrounding water were absolutely motionless.  From our cabin, it looked like we were moored on a calm lake; we were so close to the shore that we could watch people in campers watching us.  Across the road, there was a wall of green as pine trees rose on the hill.  It looked like Juneau, Alaska, without the cable car.

MA’s cold has returned.  Just once, we would like to take a cruise without one or the other of us getting sick or falling.  D has looked for nasal spray and cold remedies from Japan to Germany.  Because of the tender situation, the nasal situation and the overcast skies, we turned today into yet another sea day.  With no internet [a mixed blessing], we spent the day reading and doing crossword puzzles and napping.  And napping some more.  The movie was The Green Book which we saw earlier this year, so even that was not a viable activity.  We are hoping that our luck and the weather will change tomorrow in Flam.

The last tender was due back at 3:30.  Once it was lifted back in place, we set off down the Geiringer Fjord.  We arrived at Geiringer via the fjord as well, but that was during what passed as nighttime.  Traveling outbound, we were surrounded by dramatic tree-covered rock walls dropping straight into the water.  As we approached the Sea of Norway again, the scenery changed once again to coastal plains.

Next stop: Flam

Friday, June 28

The weather gods smiled on us today.  Despite some high clouds [and some low ones which obscured some of the hilltops], the day was bright and relatively warm; temperatures rose to the mid-60s by afternoon.  We were docked in the middle of everything which doesn’t say much in Flam.  As a result, we had no excuse not to leave the ship.  Finally.

After breakfast and puzzle time, D ventured forth to see how far the walk was to anywhere and discovered we were that close to everything and there were benches all over the place in case MA needed to sit.  And so it came to pass that we left for retail therapy and may lunch.

Flam is a picturesque but minuscule village at the head of the Sognefjord.  When we visited in 2010, we took the train from Bergen to Myrdal [elevation 2800 feet] and then down to Flam through a series of twists, turns and tunnels  that would have been right at home in an amusement park.

 

Prior to our leaving, D had purchased 1700 Norwegian kroner [crowns] and we had had no opportunity to spend them until now.  Better to use them than convert them back to dollars in an airport.  Up to this point, all of our shipboard shopping had been on shipboard credit, in other words, free.   We managed, somehow, to spend 1300 of the 1700 kroner in no time flat.

Lunch was a different matter.  We found no place that appealed and, even if we had, our remaining 400 kroner would not have been enough for lunch.  We were not surprised; Albert had mentioned earlier that he and Lesley were amazed that a hamburger ashore was $24.  Needless to say, we had lunch in the Lido again, the MDR being closed on port days.

What followed, then, was our typical afternoon, a nap until it was time to dress for dinner.  What a dinner it was!  HAL may not be serving cold berry soups here in the arctic and near-arctic temps, but we finally got meatloaf!  We are simple creatures in so many ways.

We pulled away from the dock at 6:30 and started the long trip down the Sognefjord, the longest in Norway.  We made this trip in a bateau mouche in 2010 when our friend Marvin spent the entire trip standing on the front of the boat in the wind.  The Prinsendam will make the journey at a more sedate pace since we are not due in Bergen for another 12-plus hours.

A quick stop in the casino and then early to bed because we have an actual shore excursion in Bergen.