DAILY LIFE ON AN EXPEDITION SHIP

 Trip Background information: This Journey is an Adventures by Disney (ABD) trip where we used our Disney Vacation Club points for this trip. ABD contracted with Ponant Cruises for this journey. 



 The ship we were on was Le Boreal which has a capacity of about 240 passengers and our group size was about 114 guests. The crew to passenger was better than 1 : 1. This made for a great experience.  Ponant is an upper end cruise offering. I will say they did an excellent job in every aspect of this cruise. 



ABD supplies a staff called Adventure Guides, they facilitate the trip with great efficiency. They are herding cats and do a most excellent job. They also keep the activity level rolling right along. They are very caring and assuring so the guests will have a great experience.

A trip to the Arctic is about the vast wilderness, the flora and fauna. While the days plans can vary due to weather, wildlife sightings, ice conditions, etc. There is an unstructured routine we fall into.

As our days were filled with landings, zodiac cruises, wildlife spotting and lectures. The order just depends on what might be found. I think it would be repetitive to do a day by day account. 


The highlights of these trips for me were an Ice Bear encounter like none I have ever had. Walrus’s on the beach. Puffins on the cliff’s. Arctic Turns are always favorite of mine. Visiting sites of historic value during the Golden Age of Arctic Exploration.

Here is a sample of some of my photos to give a feel for our experience. All in all, it was a very good trip and who knows, someday we might just return to Svalbard for a 3rd time. 

You can see additional photos at these web sites. 





Scott M Hughes Soggy Moose Photography Art Collections 

 

Soggy Moose Photo 

 

 

 

Off to Longyearbyen

 Traveling to Longyearbyen.

Svalbard is the archipelago, Spitzbergen is the Island, and Longyearbyen  is the city. 

Up at 0300 and get ourselves together. Sack Breakfast that would feed an army or two. Off to the airport, check in, security, passport control and then our flight to Longyearbyen. 

It is in Longyearbyen that we will board the Le Boreal, a Ponant expedition ship. As this trip is not at capacity, there is a lot of room to stretch out on the plane. Stuff to do before we board.

We arrive and get our baggage and load onto a bus. We are then taken to the town’s shopping area and turned loose. My research showed a coffee shop we can relate to - Cafe Huskies. We walk to the cafe and have a cup, actually a bottle, of their tea and latte. It is a fun place with pups running about getting petted and begging, just like home. 

We come back to the meeting place where we visit a local sporting good store. WOW! the firearm prices are crazy high. Then to a local grocery store to see their offerings, high prices as expected as about everything has to be shipped in.

We board our bus and go for a nice lunch in a school auditorium. Then off to see a sight or two before boarding the ship.

I opted for a coal mine and brewery tour. 

Coal mining is pretty much the reason Longyearbyen came into existence, so I chose the coal mine tour. This was very informative and fun to walk in the cool underground and learn about the mining methods. Currently there is one operating mine which supplies the coal to produce electricity for Longyearbyen. 

Next up was a stop for a beer tasting at the Svalbard Brewery. This is the northernmost brewery here on earth. Their beers were good and I really liked their stout. I made a note that their products are available in Tromso. The owner was quite the entrepreneur and persistent in establishing his brewery.

Off to the Ship. Our ship is Le Boreal, part of the Ponant Line. It is a beautiful ship with an excellent crew. Safety drill, intro of crew etc etc.

Dinner (Excellent Food) and we then unpacked and settled in when we get the word, an Ice Bear has been spotted by a sister ship. 

We sail to some fast ice and find an Ice Bear in the distance. Folks were pretty excited seeing their first Ice Bear in the wild.

Soon we were off to bed. 

Photos from this trip can be found at Soggy Moose Photo  and FAA SOGGY MOOSE PHOTO

 

A DAY IN OSLO

 Breakfast,

Check in with ABD

Off to the Ferry to N Bygdoy for museums.

The first ferry stop is where one gets off for the Folk Museum. Here one can learn about the Norwegian way of life through the years. This location reminded me of Greenfield Village in Michigan. Buildings have been donated and moved to this location. 

We then took the #30 bus to the end of the line where one finds the Maritime Museum, KonTiki Museum and the Fram Museum.

We started with the Maritime Museum as I had hoped to find a bit of information on Bamse the Sea Dog. There is a reference to dogs on ships during WWII providing comfort to the crew. This is a very good museum showing the importance of the sea to Norway.

Outside between the Maritime Museum and the Fram Museum there are statutes recreating Amundsen’s arrival at the South Pole. Yes they are positioned facing South. 

We grabbed an ice cream for a bit of energy and decided to visit the Fram.

For me, the Fram Museum is a highlight of this trip. I could finish my thought after about 500 pages of
 writing, but will condense things a good bit.

The Fram is a purpose built ship for Polar Exploration. It made three major expeditions and was finally restored at this present location. Being able to walk the deck of such a piece of Polar Exploration is very special for me. 

 

Also housed in this museum is the Gjoa, the first ship to make the Northwest passage. This was led by Amundsen.  

After about 3-4 hours we made a quick run through of KonTiki. 

We had finished our exploring of the various museums and were able to return to the hotel and start the packing up process.

The Adventures by Disney group welcome was very nice as we went to the Fram Museum for about 3 hours. During this time we could again explore as well as enjoy a buffet dinner. I only had one of the sausages and it was very good. 

There were also several stations where docents were posted to answer questions the guests may have.  I enjoyed some great conversations with these individuals. One gentleman suggested I return in November to experience their Amundsen celebration and lectures. Will have to see if this event might fit in with our November trip. 


Back to the hotel finished packing and had our bags outside the door for pick up. We have an early wakeup call at 0300 for our flight to Longyearbyen. 

Photos from this trip can be found at Soggy Moose Photo  and FAA SOGGY MOOSE PHOTO