Blogs from Oceans and Seas - page 3

Today is the Summer Solstice - when the daylight is the longest in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also a day of cruising as we sail south through the Norwegian Sea. It was a bright clear day all day, with smooth seas and the temperature up to 61. The pool deck was pretty crowded this afternoon with people out enjoying the sun and comparatively warm temperatures. Anyway, we sailed out of the Arctic Circle last night and we continue to head toward an area where we will get a few hours of darkness at night. Today is also the day that our Grandson Alex is leaving on his trip to Europe. We expect him to have lots of interesting experiences and see plenty of impressive sights. It will help him to understand more about other parts ... read more

We need to begin today by correcting an error in yesterday's blog. Nordfjord is NOT the longest fjord in Norway. It is very long but is only the 6th longest in Norway. The Sognefjord is the longest fjord in Norway and more than twice as long as Nordfjord. We wanted to correct this mistake. Our guide must have said something like "one of the longest", and we don't know about other long fjords elsewhere in Europe. Sorry for the mistake. Today we were sailing northeast along the coast of Norway, in the North Sea and heading toward the Norwegian Sea. We were told that the name Norway was derived from the original Norse language meaning "way to the north", as they sailed up the coast. It then began to refer to the land mass itself, and ... read more

Hello from the Isle of Man, as we cruise between Ireland and Wales, on our way to Falmouth England tomorrow morning. Today has been smooth seas with sunny skies and the temperature about 60 degrees. Unfortunately, we haven't really been enjoying it very much as we have spent most of the time in our cabin. We both came down with sniffles and we have avoided most of the ship activities today. There are some cabins with little tables in front of their door where the people have been officially quarantined and the table serves for food deliveries. We don't think it is anything that serious, but we are simply keeping a low profile today. Today has become another day of rest for the most part. We had a light breakfast in Horizon Court before it got ... read more

Saturday: This was our 4th day cruising from Hallifax to Iceland. Each day we are getting closer and tomorrow should be the last "sea day" for a while. Friday the temperature had warmed to about 51 and today was a high near 49, so it's not as chilly as it was earlier. Yesterday we continued to have fog much of the time, but today was partly cloudy and even sunny occasionally. The sea swells are pretty small so the ride has been nice and smooth for the past few days. Still the outside decks have been fairly empty and the internal lounges fairly crowded. Those who were out walking were pretty well bundled up. Last night we lost an hour on the clock and the same will happen again tonight. So our internal clocks are getting ... read more

Hello on our way sailing to Iceland. If we were at home we would be sending a birthday card to our friend from Ken Richardson. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the mail, so you have to settle for this world-wide broadcast of your birthday greeting. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And we got an update from our daughter Valerie regarding our cat. Happily, she reported that Nala has been behaving herself and has been settling in very well. She seems to have found a way to hide behind the curtain and jump out and startle Tessa. No telling what other tricks she will learn before we come home. This morning started an hour early with another time zone passing beneath our keel as we continue to sail Northeast. All day was foggy with the ship sounding its foghorn periodically. ... read more