We have said many times that we love sleeping on a cruise ship because of the gentle rocking motion.  Well, that would have been on the Atlantic, Pacific or Mediterranean. 

We had a little too much rocking and rolling as we sailed the North Sea.

Heading out for breakfast we saw the sea sickness bags out and available. 

We weren’t having any trouble so went about our morning zig-zagging down the corridors to compensate for the swells.

We headed to the education session on The Aurora Borealis by one of our guest speakers. It was taking place in the theater at the bow of the ship. We were just getting settled in when Randy could feel the nausea coming.

Randy went back to the cabin and took some Bonine from his toiletries bag.  It had a 2011 expiration date. That shows how long it has been since either of us felt sea sickness on a trip. Fortunately, I had read that this passage could be rough and purchased some Dramamine to bring along.

Meanwhile, at the presentation we were given a lot of scientific information about the appearance of the northern lights. 

It was interesting to me on the surface level but all I really registered is that there are also “southern lights” around the magnetic south pole. There just aren’t population centers to witness the lights as in the north.

He also talked about how to use various apps to discern the possibility, or probability, of seeing the lights  (We used the apps when we were on our own in Fairbanks in 2020 looking for the lights.) 

On this trip I didn’t really care to try and figure it out.  We were going on Viking excursions at places and times to maximize our opportunities. We had also signed up for the phone call in the middle of the night to alert us if the lights were visible from the ship.

The speaker also included a section on settings for your camera and how to augment your photos after they have been taken.  Three of the four of us had new phones (on purpose for this trip) which manage the environment mostly automatically so I let all of that pass by my attention.  Flynn has a 15 Pro Plus, Randy has a 15 Pro and I have an iPhone 15.   

I do very little augmenting of photos behind cropping and adjusting light levels.  I appreciate how people use photo editing as an art form but I am usually valuing authenticity on my own.

Following the presentation I made my way back to the cabin to check on Randy. He was mostly trying to sleep it off.  I showed him where the Dramamine was and went to look for saltines.

The ship didn’t have saltines but gave out green apples and ginger candy so I took those. Whether it was the sleep, the apples, the candy or the Dramamine, Randy was eventually feeling better.

There was a whole lot of wave action in the North Sea and many people were sick.  

Access to outside decks was closed off so we couldn’t fall overboard. We were told that the situation should resolve in the late afternoon when we should meet the storm going south as we went north.

However, when Jo and Flynn and I were having afternoon tea, the Captain made an announcement that the waves were 20-25 feet high.  He was reducing speed to avoid getting slapped around quite so much as the winds were 50-55 miles per hour.  He said the ship was fine and “Enjoy the ride.”

There were more presentations and Viking offers the option of viewing them in the cabins at your convenience.  Randy and I watched a couple that evening.  

One of the presenters was Sue Stockdale, the second woman ever to reach the magnetic North Pole.  In 1996, when her expedition was done,  the magnetic north pole was in Canada.  It is now in Serbia.  We didn’t know that the magnetic pole moved over time.

We had another very rough night with 35 foot swells and 55 mph winds so the ship had to slow down to not get battered around even more.  

The slowdown meant we would miss the port of Narvik on our itinerary and move on towards Tromsø.

We spent another sea day rocking and rolling.  Randy was feeling fine so we went about our day attending presentations and reading.

We enjoyed drinks and cookies with Jo and Flynn.

In the evening we attending a Viking Explorer Society event for past cruisers.  We were told that 52 percent of people on this passage had sailed with Viking before- including the four of us.

Later in the evening we went to a show given by the assistant cruise director.  This crew is immensely talented.

Later, at the night club, we had one of the funniest moments of the cruise. 

Flynn told the lead singer that he and Jo had been married for 52 years.  Misunderstanding, she announced to the audience that it was Jo and Flynn’s anniversary and invited them up to dance alone.  

It was not their anniversary but when they invited other people to join them on the floor, we too danced for Jo and Flynn’s “anniversary.”

The next morning we woke up at 11:00!  We never do that.  I guess we needed eleven hours of sleep after the last few days!

We finally saw a bit of blue sky again and a few mountains in the distance

We meandered through another sea day including a Tromsø port talk. Tromsø is considered the Gateway to the Arctic as explorations often left from the city.  They can document humans in this area since 10,000 BC.  Tromsø is the northern-most city (over 50,000 residents) in the world.

In the early 20th century, the North Sea was Germany’s only outlet to the ocean and became a major theater of battle during world wars.  After the Nazi invasion and occupation of souther Norway. the King escaped to Tromsø to lead the resistance.  Eventually he and the crown prince evacuated to the United Kingdom.

Members of the resistance were identified by a monogram coin sometimes placed in shoes.  “Weejuns” shoes had a slot for the Norwegian resistance coin.  (Americans eventually co-opted this idea using pennies in the slot to create the penny loafers.)

As was our nightly ritual, we enjoyed before dinner drinks behind the piano, enjoying the art.

We finished the evening with a show featuring three Brits and a Scot, backed by a Filipino band, on a Norwegian ship, above the Arctic Circle, singing US country music!  It was fun!

We were in the North Sea heading north January 14 – 16, 2024.

Next Up: Tromsø