highplanesdrifters

P.S. I should add that I don't know that the hybrid model is a bad thing. Not all want Expedition 24/7. If this is the path, be honest about it and what to expect.

@BasandSyb Important note before you read the following..... We had a fabulous time! If you're not happy you're not happy. The following are my opinions. Those that feel differently please feel free to chime in. All are welcome. Rules if civility shall apply. As I have posted along the way we were rather disappointed in the expedition offerings. This WAS a hybrid expedition/ocean cruise. Although there were included options, we were offended by the eye waterwatering prices for non included. There were more bus tours than you could shake a stick at. The first leg tours were dropped a few months before with no alert. The second Norway leg tours...I'm not sure when they were dropped. So unless you are checking weekly you potentially missed out on some tours. Luiqui is a great EL and did the best with the hand he was dealt. However the Expedition Staff was light in terms of both quantity and quality. Don't get me wrong there were some stellar enthusiastic staff onboard. Matt, Paul, River, Brent, Brandon, just to name a few. I just wasn't feeling a depth of knowledge in general and found many to be just zodiac drivers who would often make stuff up when asked questions and get it horribly wrong. On days when zodiac shuttles were available the frequency was sometimes dismal. Communication between tours coming, going, and needing more zodiacs was poor. This left many standing in the rain waiting for a ride. Drop more zodiacs and have enough staff to drive them. Hikes. A good portion of the hikes were Strenuous to Very Strenuous. Many carried price tags. I'm used to a few options, easy, moderate and difficult...all included. There were some spectacular highlights, Isle of Noss Trollfjord, just to name a few. On a proper expedition these are the norm as opposed to being told they are a special treat. Ya ya, weather conditions need to be just right so one could argue that they were special treats. That makes them special treats from Mother Nature, not Seabourn. When we booked all we had was the basic itinerary. No possible excursions options or details. There was also no warning that not all excursions except for kayak and sub would be included. And, silly me I figured we would have a proper expedition. We have 2 Seabourn expeditions coming up. One is past refundable date so we will stick with it. The second, I'm not sure yet. The rest are booked with Ponant and Silversea. Review of Seabourn Venture and staff coming up. Both excellent.

@BasandSyb Comments coming. For context here is a link to Silversea expedition we did a few years back. A true expedition. The first part took a different path, but as we go further north you can easily see the differences.

Just looked at your itinerary. Your second leg should be fabulous. We did this on Ventures first season. We had a lot of fog in Svalbard so shore excursions were somewhat limited. I guess not being able to see the Polar Bears before they eat you is a problem. Ha ha. I can't wait to go back to Scorsby and hopefully do King Oscar. Spending time in the Polar Ice cap was magical. I would love it if you would consider an occasional comment on how things are going. I'm curious to know if Venture slips back into real expedition mode or if this hybrid model sticks. What are the tours like in Nordkapp? Did they charge to go to the top? Other than kayak and submarine are they finding things to charge you for? Of course I don't think they can offer bus tours in Ittoqqortoormiit. But, If they charge you to see the dog feeding, REVOLT! MTC on expedition vs ocean

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Svolvaer, Lofoton. Norway Svolvaer is the largest town in Lofoton, and becoming quite the Hotspot. Lots of weekend condos and restaurants. What a change from the last time we were here. Easy zodiac ride and landing right in town. I'm not sure I'd like a condo with a Cod drying tower. It was off to the Viking museum for us. It is the site of one of largest Viking Long houses ever discovered. A repeat visit I had been looking forward to. Last time we were rushed through the museum part and I missed all the artifacts. We'll jokes on me, they moved most of the artifacts to Oslo. Ugh. The Long House replica. It's really more of a Viking Experience now, less of a museum. If time allows it's worth a walk around to look at some excavations. Even then the Scandis were careful about safety. Drive by this time, wooden church, worth a visit if you're in the area. Metropolitan Svolvaer Condo in your future?

Sounds like the perfect start to me!

Reine, Lofoton Reine might be the most scenic spot in Norway and competition for world status. Our afternoon stop was a drive to the end of E10 to the town of A with a visit to a fishing village museum.This was a bus ride A bus ride you want to take. Between the 2 stops today we clicked off 7 miles. Too many people keep falling off this mountain on the hike to the top. Himalayan sherpas we're hired to erect stairs to the top. The stairs on the other side. Geologists attributes the differences in the rock formations of Lofoten to the age of the rock. At the far end of Lofoten, as in Lofotodden National Park, the peaks are wilder and sharper because they consist of harder rock types that originate from the earth’s primeval times. Hard rock such as granite grinds down more slowly, thus the dramatic appearance. Further into Lofoten, towards Leknes, there are younger and less hard rock. The consequence is a softer appearance of the surrounding mountains. A short zodiac and easy pier landing. Scenery at the fishing museum. Worth the short hike. The fishing museum was the spiffed up remains of the old fishing village. Quaint. A Cod liver oil tasting anyone? Warning, it doesn't taste bad at first, in fact interesting. Unfortunately it doesn't go away an gets worse. A quick trip to the small market for a palate cleanser. Problem solved.

Vaeroy, Lofoton Always happy to be in Lofoton. One of my favorite places. A decent stop. A monster hike was offered and folks enjoyed it. Otherwise not much. We did the cultural tour last time we were here. It was lap around town with a local high school girl, enjoyable. She explained that the kids rake in serious cash cutting the tongues out of Cod. Yep, tongues. She made enough to buy a car and has enough to spend a few summers in Europe. Not mush to the "fishing museum". This time we did the lap on our own. Grocery store was the highlight. Scenery for days. I don't think there is a Pub 2. It's all about the Cod. Racks and racks. Each part has a different market. For example the heads primarily go to Nigeria for Fish head soup. Who said there's no wildlife on this trip?

Sorry for the late reply. It appears that most of the present Expedition Staff including Luiqui will be on board for at least the next few voyages. There are some excellent staff and we have enjoyed getting to know them. Fresh and enthusiastic. Matt, River, and Paul are favorites. Brent is still the Rockstar and Brandon has moved up to AEL. I still feel the team is light in depth and quanity. The aforementioned bad driver should not be allowed to drive a zodiac, bumper cars with the rocks. 😄

After a thrilling morning we were ready for some Chill Time. Liuqui decided to give us some and announced a Pop Up Polar plunge. Technically we were in the Arctic circle. Perhaps a Norwegian Plunge. All good fun. Threw on the swimmies and dove in. Sorry no pics, except of the goodies that awaited us. Captian then toured another arm of the fjord while waiting for the kayaks to finish. Not a far sail to our morning stop, and our kind Captian took us to the other side of the Svartisen glacier to hang out during dinner. What a day of Nordic eye candy.

Zodiac thrill ride in Melfjord. 20240605_104906.mp4

Melfjordbotn, Norway We spent a spectacular day exploring Melfjord, home to Norways second largest glacier. A small fjord, only 21 miles long. The scenery was a solid 9 and weather a 6-10, depending on which minute you chose to judge. We went from cold wet and windy to balmy and sunny on a micro minute time scale. Venture is a beauty. She just fits in with nature. OK, she fits in as much as a large ship can.😄 The wind picked up. out of nowhere and we were all given a nice zodiac shower. Looking for a bit of shelter we explored a quiet cove where the zodiacs were hiding. Seals popped their heads up here and there. A wild and wet ride took us to see the glacier hanging from the top like a hankerchief. Waterfalls galore. Weather gets cold. Weather gets warm

Champagne & Caviar party on a stunning day. Yes please!

Vistenfjorden, Norway A sparkling sail into the fjord. Love the granite contrast of the seven sister mountains with the red mounds. We had a nice zodiac ride in the afternoon. Some folks got a kayak or submarine trip. Mother Nature smiled upon us. On a scenic Norway scale I'd give it a 6.5. Weather scale 10! Up close with the rocks.

After late lunches on shore we've really enjoyed having the sushi option for dinner. A great view. I love a spin on the dance floor. I found Disco night a bit sad. Had to take a pass. Maybe it got better. It had an assisted living feel when I was there. However the Nordic Brothers were a fun treat. A comedy music combo. 20240603_215059.mp4

Trondheim, Norway Another Ocean Cruise stop. Yes I'm still grumpy about the lack of an expedition. As @Sucellos noted we were joined by the monster Costa ship. The town and sights were packed. We couldn't bear the thought of another mediocre bus tour and did a free roam with excellent tips from Sucellos. We waited for the rain to subside and scored an Uber for $10 to the Cathedral. Oh my what a magnificent place. We've seen a few Cathedrals in our day. This one might be my favorite. Classic Cathedral architecture with mostly monochrome stylings and carvings. So elegant. Origins date to 1140. Put this place on your agenda. An alter made by the Sami people. Check out this sneaky fox surprising tourists in the courtyard. A quick walk about this charming town looking for lunch. Royal Residence Jackpot on the lunch spot, Grafen. Best Fish Soup I've had in a long time. Who knew, Saul Goodman has an office in Trondheim. In spite of the rain and no expedition a great time was had by all!

@Sucellos What a great city! MTC. Loved your favorite.

Runde, Norway Another large bird colony, primarily Gannets. Napus Inturruptus Luiqui announced that they were dropping the zodiacs, time to gear up. Be ready in 15. No wait there is a swell at the debark. Nevermind we found a spot get ready. Canceled. The swell was too large near the shore. We are told the operation is too dangerous. Through the binoculars expedition staff looked to be having good ride. I'm starting to feel that perhaps there should be zodiac levels like hikes. Easy - suitable for everyone with good mobility. Moderate - bumpy getting in and you're going to get jostled and splashed a bit. Difficult - challenging entry and you WILL BE bounced and showered! Titanic - How bad do you want to see those birds up close?

Alesund, Norway Charming Art Noveau town which was rebuilt after a fire in 1904, hence the predominant architecture. Kaiser Wilhelm who loved the city sent a few German ships to help rebuild. Worth a stroll about to learn the history and see the architecture. Repeat visit for use so we chose the Giske and Goedy experience with trips to a church and lighthouse. Mistake. It started out OK, but quickly digressed into a sit around and wait to leave scenario. Grumble grumble. The OK part. This marble church was built in 1180 by a wealthy family for its private use. The marble from Norway and Italy is now covered in plaster to protect it. One of the restorations occurred in 1756. Jacob a local craftsman carved the alter at age 22. Along the way added the pulpit. His last carving was finished at age 80. In the early 1900's the carvings were painted white so as not to distract the heathans from the word of God. It was all eventually restored with Jacob's original notes. An original lace tablecloth from 1688 still dons the alter. Legend has it the grave of the builder is next to the church. It is covered with glass to protect it from the weather. The Lighthouse On to the Grumble Grumble part. One could climb the lighthouse, take a stroll along the shore and have cake in the adjoining center. We asked the guide about departure time, he said I'll let you know later. We pressed again and again as we wanted to have a proper walk. Finally, 11:45 was agreed. Walk, cake, 11:45 comes and goes. Guests getting antsy. Finally after 12, I find the Seabourn guide who finds the bus guide who finds the bus. What should have been a 20 minute stop stretches over an hour. Jeeesh. Had we known the guide was on another time planet we could have really enjoyed this beautiful spot instead of rushing back to wait. 20240602_101227.mp4

Slight correction. Isle of Noss was on our original booking itinerary. It was removed once on board.

Lerwick, Shetland The main industry in Shetland is still fishing. In the northern island of Unst there is a Spaceport. Yep you heard me, Spaceport. Saxavord is designed for small rockets delivering payloads into low earth orbit. Unst also makes gin. We will be trying their seaweed gin later.😄 Fyi, the bottle is blue, noted the gin. Happy shopkeeper. Had a tasty burger at The Dowery. A stroll about town with some retail therapy at R.A.M. Don't worry @galeforce9 your scarf record is safe.😄 And the penultimate stop, Jimmy's house. Now that he's gone looks like they are fixing it up for Vera.

Shetland We had morning tour to Jarlshof, a prehistoric Norse Settlement. It contains remains dating from 2500 BC up to the 17th century AD. Shetland history dating from Neolithic, Bronze, Pictish, Iron all found in layers. A stunning sunny day changed in the blink of an eye. Clouds and drizzle. Examples of the multi use rooms at Jarlsfof. An intricate system connected everything. The large structure was the Lairds house from the 17th century. A house with a view. We had a scenic stroll along the water. On to Lerwick.

Isle of Noss 20240531_192817.mp4 20240531_192104.mp4

Isle of Noss Killer cave and more rocks for the other rockhounds.😄 20240531_191620.mp4