Viking Ocean - Chasing the Northern Lights - Feb 2022

[Haworth]

42 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

You bet.....reports were that we were within a ship's length of land (or at least rocks).

 

 

The sign from lunch was still up on the board in this picture. OK....I think that's probably enough of reliving that day in pictures! I suspect I have close to a hundred images I've found from various sources.

 

Saddest one is probably seeing how all those glass display cases were smashed on the upper tier of the lounge - that held all the different ship models. Can't even imagine how they got that ship cleaned up and ready to sail so soon afterwards. Got that one by taking a screen shot of a video. Admittedly I was a bit obsessed with it all I suppose. 

 

 

 

Being on the ship and walking through some areas once we were released from the theatre the extent of the damage in areas such as the gym and shop was truly amazing, when we got back to our cabin the fabulous steward was there and brought us clean towels, soap shampoo etc and we able to get cleaned up and changed, little things, a live demonstration in 24 hours of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

[OnTheJourney]

11 minutes ago, Haworth said:

Being on the ship

Passengers that stayed on board surely had a different and yet no less unique experience. Put together with what the evacuees went through - it could all be compiled into quite an interesting book...or perhaps a movie ?!?!  Coming back into our room a few days later - once we got to Molde - it was a rather surreal experience being that the room was exactly the way we left it on the early afternoon of the 23rd. Kind of felt like a time warp. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[johneb2]

Here is another scenic picture from the Alta area when we were cruising.  I found the scenery fantastic on this cruise.  One thing that I really enjoyed was some of the cloud formations that went with the scenery.  I would rank Norway up there as one of the top ten picturesque countries we have been too.  JohnEB

[johneb2]

Just now, johneb2 said:

Here is another scenic picture from the Alta area when we were cruising.  I found the scenery fantastic on this cruise.  One thing that I really enjoyed was some of the cloud formations that went with the scenery.  I would rank Norway up there as one of the top ten picturesque countries we have been too.  JohnEB

Sorry about typo on last word too.   It should have been to     JohnEB

[johneb2]

The view from our cabin balcony when we docked in Narvik   JohnEB

[Haworth]

I do hope that those on future northern lights cruises can get a sense, from our thoughts and pictures,  of what a great trip this is even given how our once in a lifetime one ended

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, johneb2 said:

The view from our cabin balcony when we docked in Narvik 

Yep....I have one of those 😉  We're really on a roll here with these pictures!!!   I believe we are more than usurping our share of storage space here on the boards!!

 

You're right...there were some amazing cloud formations over the mountains. 

 

 

This is between Bardu and Narvik....not real clear since it was from a bus window. 

 

 

 

Got this one during our sled dog excursion

 

 

From Narvik

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, johneb2 said:

I found the scenery fantastic on this cruise

Absolutely. The only other thing I have to compare it to is down near Ushuaia and Antarctica, or possibly parts of Alaska. This was the only time we've ever been to Norway.

 

A few from Antarctica, since I also found that area to be quite dramatic scenery also. 

 

 

 

 

Love the colors in this one...early morning somewhere along the way to Ushuaia - recognized as the southernmost city in the world

Edited March 6, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[johneb2]

Here are the last two pictures I am posting.  I hope with all the pictures & videos posted by all of us, as well as the info communicated it will help anyone considering this Viking tour.  The two pictures shown are from the Tromso area, and when cruising in the Alta area.  Hope to see you on a Viking Cruise in the future.   JohnEB

[THartman]

Hi everyone,

 

Just put a deposit for the February 5, 2022 today.  I think this will be our third with Viking Ocean.  Looking forward to meeting all of you and getting advice about private excursions, etc.  

 

Terri (and Bruce)

Edited June 10, 2021 by THartman

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, THartman said:

Hi everyone,

 

Just put a deposit for the February 5, 2022 today.  I think this will be our third with Viking Ocean.  Looking forward to meeting all of you and getting advice about private excursions, etc.  

 

Terri (and Bruce)

 

To establish contact with your fellow pax on a specific cruise and to arrange private tours, may I suggest posting on your cruise's "Roll Call"

 

Here is the link to the Viking Roll Calls - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/768-viking-ocean-roll-calls/

 

Locate your ship and then search for the specific cruise. If not yet started, you can start a new thread.

[Ballerina Sweetie Pie]

On 2/25/2021 at 10:01 PM, OnTheJourney said:

I kept the cell phone in as warm a pocket as I could in between taking pictures. I was using our 5S - which is hardly a "newer" phone. I'm just glad I got the pictures I did especially without any sort of tripod. I didn't even have the northern lights photo app before boarding - should have being that I had no idea what my apple ID password was and so had to create a new one. Without the app, I wouldn't have gotten anything. You need to have the longer exposure setting - whether or not that can be done easily on an iphone I have no clue. The app adjusts and sets it automatically. 

Do you recall the name of the app you used?

[OnTheJourney]

On 6/17/2021 at 8:09 AM, Ballerina Sweetie Pie said:

Do you recall the name of the app you used?

 

I used all three of these. Last one (skyportal) was highly recommended by our onboard science lecturer. All three are really good apps. I actually didn't expect to get much, especially without a tripod (which you really should have), but a few pics came out quite well. My other two cameras (nothing real fancy - just a digital point-and-shoot and the other a sony videocam) were useless. 

 

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/northern-lights-photo-taker/id979540312

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-aurora-forecast-alerts/id1073082439

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/celestron-skyportal/id877780544

[Ballerina Sweetie Pie]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

I used all three of these. Last one (skyportal) was highly recommended by our onboard science lecturer. All three are really good apps. I actually didn't expect to get much, especially without a tripod (which you really should have), but a few pics came out quite well. My other two cameras (nothing real fancy - just a digital point-and-shoot and the other a sony videocam) were useless. 

 

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/northern-lights-photo-taker/id979540312

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-aurora-forecast-alerts/id1073082439

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/celestron-skyportal/id877780544

Thank you 

[johneb2]

On 6/20/2021 at 9:58 PM, Ballerina Sweetie Pie said:

Thank you 

Another thing to consider is if you don't want to use one of these apps is an app called Pro Cam+, it is available on the Apple App Store.  Not sure what the equivalent is on the Android Play store.  The big advantage of this app is you can actually set shutter speed, f stops, and iso sensitivity, or just go with the automatic settings.  If you want to get a decent chance of getting acceptable pictures you will need a tripod.  Small travel tripods are quite widespread now.  Just remember to get the tripod adapter for your phone if that is the path you choose.   JohnEB

[OnTheJourney]

Doing your own settings is surely the best way to go. I'm not into any of that, being mostly a point-and-shoot person, and did my best by balancing the iphone against a stack of deck chairs! You will get lots of info onboard on how to take pictures of the NL. The most important camera, of course, is always the mind's eye, and how you remember seeing them.  Hope you're successful, since, if you've never seen them before personally (as was the case with us), it's a pretty neat and unique experience. And yet, I would not say it was the only highlight of the trip. The scenery alone is just amazing, as are some of the excursions available. So, even if by some chance you would not get some sightings, the journey alone is more than worth it (of course, given how ours ended, some who were along might debate that!)  

Edited June 24, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[johneb2]

14 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Doing your own settings is surely the best way to go. I'm not into any of that, being mostly a point-and-shoot person, and did my best by balancing the iphone against a stack of deck chairs! You will get lots of info onboard on how to take pictures of the NL. The most important camera, of course, is always the mind's eye, and how you remember seeing them.  Hope you're successful, since, if you've never seen them before personally (as was the case with us), it's a pretty neat and unique experience. And yet, I would not say it was the only highlight of the trip. The scenery alone is just amazing, as are some of the excursions available. So, even if by some chance you would not get some sightings, the journey alone is more than worth it (of course, given how ours ended, some who were along might debate that!)  

OTJ, you are correct the scenery alone is worth the trip.  We also found some of the excursions to be very interesting and well worth it.  All around is was an exception trip for what we saw, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is considering it.  Hopefully the Ballerina Sweetie Pie will be able to see the lights as we did.    JohnEB