Route of the Vikings Live on Board

[galeforce9]

This morning we arrived into Lerwick very early, passing the town lit up by early morning sun just after 5am. Think I got some nice shots with my big camera but here is a shaky shot with the phone, giving an idea of the light.

[galeforce9]

Zodiac operations at the isle of Noss this morning were cancelled last night due to increasing wind. It was forecast to be 25 knots, which is about the operational limit of the zodiacs. The isle of noss is a famous seabird colony. So, we arrived early than planned into Lerwick.

[galeforce9]

I’m glad I wetted your appetite Chairsin. Seabourn has two film makers on board. They are, as usual nowadays, equipped with drone and lots of gadgetry. They are wanting to promote this reinvigorated route to customers.

[galeforce9]

I hope that by presenting a more “real report” of the extra things you can do with an independent outlook, people will be even more tempted to come

[galeforce9]

Viking ferry

[galeforce9]

Just had to cross Sumburgh airport runway!

[Roxburgh]

Roxburgh, the area around Ullapool was stunning. Of course, everything always looks better in the sun! The difficulty is that if you want to see it independently, it is quite hard to do. The town is very small. There is little in the way of car hire or local tour companies. Seabourn seemed to bus coaches and guides in from Inverness, an hour away, for both Oban and Ullapool. They were not local to the area and sometimes, from our experience in Oban, had difficulty with knowledge of what we were seeing, despite extensive briefing notes.

 

In Ullapool, I was very fortunate to secure the hire of a local taxi firm, following a recommendation from a Cruise Criticer who’d been on Seabourn to Ullapool in June.

 

The lady and her husband live in Ullapool. Her local knowledge, working of my brief, was excellent. We had a fabulous seven hours with her.

 

I would have done the same in Oban but there were only two car hire places. One was fully booked out and the other was closed because it was Sunday. The tourist office put me in touch with a new guide but he wanted about £380 for the day upfront, even if we didn’t make it in, so that’s why we went with the Seabourn tour.

 

I'm loving your reports although they are making me a little homesick for Scotland.

 

I'm surprised that they would bring in coaches from Inverness to Oban. For one thing, Glasgow is closer but Oban is quite big and has a well developed tourist industry.

 

Many of the places up the West Coast are small and have a very limited tourist infrastructure. That, of course, is part of the charm but it is also a challenge if you want to see a lot.

 

I am very tempted by this cruise. Not so much for Rothesay or Oban which are easy visits from Glasgow but very much for places like St. Kilda, Ullapool, Orkney and Shetland which are harder to access. And, of course, there is the rest of the itinerary.

[galeforce9]

The car hire company rep brought our car over to the dockside, which was a few miles past Lerwick. We disembarked a bit early, about 8 50am and he was there waiting with all the paperwork. He asked us where we planned to go and supplied us with a map and leaflets on the area.

 

We’d decided to travel south along a peninsula, with Sumbergh Head lighthouse at its end. The weather was good and the lighthouse surrounds are famous for easy to see puffins landing at the top of cliffs over many of its walls.

 

As we’d made a good start and beat other passengers off the ship, we thought we’d first head to Jarlshof, which was about a mile from the lighthouse. It was likely to get busy later on, as there were Seabourn trips headed there morning and afternoon, with Dr Colleen Batey, our onboard archaeologist.

 

The site opened at 9 30am and we were there for just after. It was around 22 miles from Lerwick, along a good road. Parking was in the grounds of a hotel and visitors were able to use their washroom facilities as a courtesy.

 

Our Explorer Pass (see yesterday’s comments) covered this site too. We were first in and managed to get the whole way round before the next visitors arrived.

 

The site had a superb setting by the sea and covered many thousands of years’ history.

 

[galeforce9]

The drive from Jarlshof to the Sumburgh Head lighthouse was not very long but climbed up a single track road with passing places. Traffic was light. The main obstacle was many sheep on the way who really didn’t care whether they were on the road or not. It took quite a while for them all to clear!

 

There was a small parking site below the lighthouse. It was a little more of a climb to get to where the lighthouse was and to see the puffins. Parking was free. There were toilets and a cafe. I think you could also pay to go up the lighthouse but I have no head for heights. Views of the lighthouse from the outside and it’s huge fog horn were very good and you could see for miles.

 

The puffins were everywhere and were a big hit with the visitors. I don’t really have any photos for here but with my 400mm lens I got plenty of frame filling puffins amongst the thrift; collecting grasses and greeting each other, looking bright and colourful in the sunshine. There were a number of other birds too but I’m no expert!

[galeforce9]

After Sumburgh Head we headed up the coast to St Ninian’s Isle. This was along big stretches of single track road and took some finding. It was near a village called Bigton. We went at the suggestion of the car hire person, whose daughter had bought a house overlooking the beach. What a beach!! It was a white sand shell tombolo. This beach had sea on both sides and connected to St Ninian’s Isle. We parked in the car park, hiked along the sand and up on to the island. There were beautiful cliffs, seabirds, thistles, roaming sheep and all round views. We probably hiked for two hours there and back.

 

A few families on the beach had, I think, found the most idyllic spot in the UK.

 

 

On our return to the car, we took out our picnic from the ship and ate it at a picnic bench overlooking the beach. We could see a seal’s head keep bobbing up and down near some paddling children!

[galeforce9]

[SLSD]

Gorgeous photos Galeforce. I am in awe of your intrepid adventures and ability to make your own way. You are an inspiration. Did you order your picnic food from Room Service? And, did you request it the day before? I would like to know about that procedure.

[Fletcher]

St Ninian's Isle looks like Britain's answer to Wineglass Bay in Tasmania! Lovely shots, Galeforce. The old ruins closely resemble Hvalsey in Greenland. Perhaps the same architect . . .

[galeforce9]

Thanks SLSD! We were tipped off about the packed lunches by some fellow passengers we’d shared an earlier private tour with in Wales. We were at Maeshowe, Orkney, waiting for the guided tour of the burial chamber and they arrived with their guide for the day and all had the same boxed lunch. They said, oh, you must do this.

 

We were making do with a few chocolate bars and they were most keen to share the contents of their lunches with us!

 

The process is - order from Seabourn Square as early as possible. The night before is too late really. Say what time you are leaving the ship and that you would like them delivering to your room for 30 minutes before. Ours was a bit late yesterday, so I called Guest Services and was told to go to the Club, where they were out with room numbers on but had yet to be distributed.

 

They will ask if you have any allergies or dietary requirements. We just make it easy and don’t specify anything.

 

The contents are - two small cucumber sandwiches, two small turkey and cheese sandwiches, two pieces of fruit, two cookies, one small piece of Madeira cake and a bottle of water.

 

It’s nothing fancy but does the job when you’re miles from anywhere with no other options. It certainly doesn’t matter that they aren’t refrigerated on our travels in the temperatures we have here!

 

We’ve never had them before but have only been on board for lunch twice so far and when we’ve had the car we haven’t been near a cafe, or town, or the time to stop properly. We’ve ordered one for Akureyri, in Iceland, as we have a very long tour organised. I’ll try and remember to take a photo and post it.

[galeforce9]

Thanks Fletcher!

 

After St Ninian’s Isle we decide to go to Scalloway, which is a bit smaller than Lerwick. It was easy to park by the road side. We saw the castle, down by the harbour then had a walk around the small town.

 

We then nipped across to Lerwick and parked by the harbour for an hour for £1. We walked along the front, then the main shopping street and up to the church.

 

There was a board out to say filming for the bbc series Shetland was taking place the following day and there would be parking restrictions on the waterfront.

 

Then it was back to fill the car up with diesel (£12 cost) and return it back to the dockside. We’d been instructed to leave the keys in the car as it’s an island and any thieves wouldn’t get far!

 

 

[galeforce9]

Announcements - there have been a greatly increased number of announcements in cabin this cruise.

 

It was always the case in Antarctica, as there is important news to share about colour group disembarking times, weather conditions and so on.

 

Generally, however, on a Seabourn cruise, the mainstream announcements are made only to public areas; for instance at lunch time on a sea day, or on sail away.

 

This time we’ve had a fair few in cabin promotional announcements for entertainment activities that were scheduled to have begun, or just were about to begin and were possibly not well attended. These have included caviar sailaway, pub themed entertainment in the club, photography talk, grand salon shows etc. It’s a bit intrusive when you’re showering!

 

Also, there have been some quite comical announcements, where one has been made, only to be corrected (but Seabourn wouldn’t use that word) a few minutes after by another.

 

The visit to the Faroe Islands on Friday is an example. I have to say I found this less than funny though.

 

On sailaway from Lerwick the Captain announced (in Cabin) that the weather en route would be good and that we were due to take on the pilot at 8am, with arrival at 9am alongside. Great we all thought; an hour earlier than scheduled.

 

About two minutes later, Jan announced that this wouldn’t actually be in the capital, Torshavn but in the village of Runavik. As the crow flies they are close. However, by bus they are an hour apart and on different islands (connected by the only “bridge across the Atlantic”). Runavik is very often sheltered from prevailing winds and is the go to port if Torshavn can’t be tendered into. It is well known this happens.

 

Well, we thought, ok, we’re now due to get in an hour earlier, the shuttle they’re putting on takes an hour, we should be about on track to pick up our hire car at 10.15 as planned.

 

We were advised that the shuttle bus schedule would be in cabins that night. We then learned that the first shuttle was 9 30 and the last was some 2 hours prior to sailing, so the day had been shortened considerably.

 

The next morning, as we were waiting to get off; late again, not 9am but getting on for 9.15am, Jan announced that the shuttle now departed at 10am. Too late to cancel the hire car but not really worth bothering with now. We were annoyed but still decided to get off.

 

On the dockside the local tour office had set up a welcome, which was lovely. Understandably, there were quite a few disembarking passengers forming a queue for a shuttle that wasn’t there and for which a departure point wasn’t marked. It was clear there was going to be a lot of demand.

 

No Seabourn staff were on the dockside. The local staff were asked about the shuttle that they had no involvement in arranging but no Seabourn staff came out to organise matters and to clarify what was happening to passengers.

 

Jan appeared at the top of the steps off the ship then disappeared again. We then heard an announcement that the shuttle would actually be at 9 30 and they had gotten confused with a local shuttle that was 10. By now it was 9 30 and there was no shuttle anyway!

 

About 10 minutes later there was still nobody from Seabourn on the dock but probably around 30 passengers or more.

 

A bus finally pulled up. We got on. Once we were all safely out if the way, the Destinations Manager Fransesco and Jan appeared on the dockside.

 

We arrived in Torshavn at about 10 45.

 

Changes in plan do happen. However, announcements should be clear and not contradictory. When incorrect information is given there should be an apology before the correction. The change in schedule occurred many hours before the actual port arrival, so there was plenty of time to finalise the plans and communicate them accurately beforehand.

 

It was essential there was a Seabourn contact on the ground before the passengers disembarked, to organise matters and advise passengers. There are more than enough Seabourn people to allow this to happen, whilst the others can be on board if necessary. They can still organise things using their phones at the quayside if need be.

[Isklaar]

Agree that situation sounds irritating.

 

If Seabourn starts to make more announcements a regular thing that could become a dealbreaker for me. It's one of the things that for me separates luxury cruising from mass market.

I can understand why more are necessary on certain itineraries but I'm afraid that promotional type announcements would annoy me.

 

Superb shots of the Shetland Islands. Those beaches! And of course the puffins.

 

Have there been many talks onboard about Viking history ?

[SLSD]

Thank you Galeforce for the information about the boxed lunches. I am sure the ability to order those will come in handy for us.

[galeforce9]

Misty Torshavn

 

[galeforce9]

Views from the shuttle bus. The mist cleared slightly at one point during the journey, between tunnels. Here is the bridge over the Atlantic.

 

[harryspotter]

Hi airtana. You mentioned on another thread that your partner was doing a blog in your Riviera trip. Have you got details of this?

Mark

[galeforce9]

Here’s a bit more information about our marvellous chef, courtesy of yesterday’s Herald.

And a few more pics of his food from the last few days:

Duck a l’orange

[galeforce9]

Here are the Senior Officers list and the Passenger Nationality list from the Guest List:

 

[galeforce9]

Today we are in Vopnafjordur, Iceland. It’s a little place with a friendly tourist information/cafe/gift shop and a fish processing plant that smells quite a bit.

[galeforce9]

Seabourn offered a few trips today. One to Europe’s most powerful waterfall, Dettifoss and another to an historic farm museum. The prices were eye watering, even by Seabourn /Icelandic standards.