Ambience Day 7 - Sea Day : Cruising the Norwegian Sea

Sea Day on Ambience 

 "There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea."

Joseph Conrad

 

Evening Winds, Morning Sunrise

Last night, as Ambience left Trondheim and continued on its way up the coast of Norway in search of northern lights, we encountered gale-force 10 winds and 3 m swells.  Luckily, the wind was coming from behind the ship, which meant that while there was a soothing side-to-side rocking motion, it wasn't generally too bad, at least in our cabin on the 5th deck. The up and down motion was considerably more noticeable on the upper decks, and we were left once again feeling extremely grateful not to suffer from seasickness, which seemed to be affecting quite a few other passengers today.

As we sail farther north, the days are getting noticeably shorter, and this morning the sun wasn't expected to appear above the horizon until 8:13 AM. In fact, the sky was completely overcast, with dark clouds hanging low over a steely grey ocean that had been whipped up into frothy whitecaps by the fierce wind.  While it did get somewhat lighter as time passed, from 6:30-10:30 AM, it felt like the morning never achieved much more than a half-hearted twilight. 

It was one of those moments which left us marvelling at how different the mood of the sea can be from one day to the next.

Birding Watching on Deck

Undeterred by the semi-darkness and eager to escape the stifling heat of our cabin, we spent much of the morning on the top deck.  By 8 AM, we were joined by other bird watchers and the ORCA team on the jogging track. 
 
A few raindrops were falling when we stepped outside, but the temperature actually felt pleasant at 8⁰C.  We made our way to the back deck to see if there was any bird or marine mammal activity going on, but it was very difficult to spot anything against such an active background of waves and whitecaps.  With that said, we did manage to spot several Northern Gannets fishing in the ship's wake, as well as three gulls circling off the sides.  Strangely, the European Starling that had been hanging out on the ship on previous sea days kept making short flights out over the ocean before circling back to the ship.  Perhaps it just needed some exercise, or maybe it enjoyed the freedom of soaring in the wind.
 

Sailing the Norwegian Sea

 
Sailing north from Trondheim toward Tromsø, our day at sea took us across the Norwegian Sea - a broad, open arm of the North Atlantic that separates mainland Norway from Iceland. This cold, deep basin has played a large role in shaping Norway’s climate, as the warm Norwegian Current (an extension of the Gulf Stream) flows northward along the coast, moderating temperatures far above the Arctic Circle.

 
Beneath the ship lie abyssal plains and submerged ridges that plunge to depths of over 3,000 metres, while above the surface this nutrient-rich sea supports an extraordinary web of life.
 
It is a prime habitat for seabirds such as Northern Fulmars, kittiwakes, and guillemots, and for marine mammals including humpback, fin, and minke whales that migrate through these waters. Historically, the Norwegian Sea has been both a working sea and a passageway - used by Vikings, traders, wartime convoys, and modern research vessels - linking coastal communities while remaining unmistakably wild.

All of which makes it a really cool place to explore. 
 

There Is No Best Place

 
Throughout the day, passengers drifted in and out onto the deck, eyes searching both sides of the ship. Some of the most common questions we hear in such times are: “Where is the best place to see the Northern Lights? The birds? The whales?” 
 
Each are natural question - and each is equally impossible to answer.
 
We have stood beneath skies alive with aurora, watched rafts of birds rise from the sea, seen whales spouting, and spotted dolphins leaping just yards from where we happened to be standing. We have also missed all of those things entirely on Queen Elizabeth en route to Alaska and on Wind Surf in the Atlantic Ocean.  The truth is that no one can watch every horizon at once, and even when a call goes up that something has been spotted, it is not always possible to cross a moving ship in time.

 
The reality is that mostly we have benefitted from being out there, at the right time....which is in many ways simply the sheer luck of being where we are and being able to see something as it happens.  Just as it could be easily said that we have equally had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and missed what others spotted.
 
What experience has taught us - on trail and at sea - is that there is no perfect vantage point. There is only the decision to be out there, to look, to wait, and to remain open to whatever unfolds. After that, everything is luck.
 

Buffet Breakfast

Since not too much wildlife seemed to be visible in the storm and waves, we headed inside for a breakfast of an omelette for Sean and porridge with fresh fruit for me.  

While we sat in a quiet corner of the Borough Market by the window, we noticed a lady at the table beside us who had her watercolour sketchbook out.  We have seen her doing small paintings of birds, whales, and landscapes on previous days, and her portrayals of the Nidaros Cathedral were truly inspiring.  Oh, to have talent like that and to be able to capture a part...a piece...perhaps some of the essence of these natural wonders!
 

Sea Day Itineraries

 
Typically, when we are on board a ship, it is a transatlantic voyage on Queen Mary 2. On these journeys, beyond embarkation and disembarkation, all days are sea days, which we love.  On board a cruise such as Ambience, headed to Norway, our sea days are often dedicated to logistical tasks – such as recharging and cleaning gear, editing images, IDing sightings, catching up on journals or doing laundry.  In between, we typically stay outdoors on deck, bird and whale watching or attending enrichment talks.

More simply put, we find sea days relaxing and not at all boring. 

For those interested in more activity during sea days, there are lots of things which can be done, including visiting the spa, participating in craft groups, enrichment talks, pub trivia, and feature events at on board shops in addition to any independent activities like time in the hot tub, reading on deck or resting.
 
Today, the main highlight on board was a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the ship.  On board Ambience, this tour cost 89 pounds pp and included exploration of the galley, crew work areas, provision areas, engine room, theatre, and bridge over a period of 1 hour and 30 minutes.
 

Dr. Steven Payne on World War Naval Battles

 
After breakfast, we enjoyed a bit of a lull in activity, taking the opportunity to walk the promenade before heading to the Palladium Theatre for a talk by Dr. Stephen Payne titled 'Sink the Bismarck! Tirpitz and Others Too.'   Stephen Payne is the designer of Queen Mary 2, the last ocean liner still in operation today, and a lovely ship which we fell in love with during several transatlantic crossings between Southampton and New York.  He is a renowned ship designer and historian, and we were excited to hear him speak.

Always an excellent speaker, Dr. Payne's talk today focused on the Bismarck and Tirpitz during World War II naval battles.  During the lecture, we also learned about the design and wartime activities of several famous British naval ships off the coast of Norway. 
 
We also found his philosophical consideration about the ethics of dealing with historical objects, battlefield remains and naval wreckages fascinating for its depth.  This aside largely focused on his being offered the opportunity to touch the bell of the Tirpitz that had been recovered from the wreck.  He wondered about the ethics of touching something that was part of so many losing their lives, about the morality of WWII, and about whether it was right in general.  Eventually, he decided to touch the Tirpitz recovered bell, and did so in honour of all of those who lost their lives on board and in the war. 
 
All in all, his talk was interesting, informative and captivating.
 

Fruit Carving Demonstration

After the presentation, we headed back to our room, but were ultimately distracted by a fruit carving demonstration that was taking place in the Center Court on Deck 5. 

The ship's resident food artist was demonstrating how he creates works of art from various fruits and vegetables, and very dexterously created a pirate's head from a watermelon, an elaborate bird from several different fruits and vegetables, a rabbit, and an elaborate flower arrangement. 

 
Incredibly, he accomplished this all within the span of around 20 minutes.  Apparently, the chef isn't just a food artist, but he also makes all the carving knives he uses for his trade.  It made us wonder how he developed these impressive skills and turned them into a career.

Laundry

After the demonstration, we headed to guest services to collect change and a detergent pod to wash our clothes in the self-serve laundry on the 10th floor. The simple fact is that, as we strive to travel light over the course of more than half a month on board, the realities of having to do laundry are inevitable. 

 

The laundrette on board is a large space with 10 washing machines and 10 dryers and requires 3 one-pound coins for a wash, 3 one-pound coins for a dry, and 2 pounds for a Tide Pod if you don't bring your own.  Predictably, many other passengers had the same idea we did, so when I arrived to do our laundry, all the machines were in use, and there were 32 people crowded into the small room waiting.  Thankfully, however, it took only minutes for a washing machine to become available, and after that, it was pretty much smooth sailing.
 

Captain’s Noon Announcement

 
As I was waiting for the laundry to finish, the captain made his noon announcement, which informed us that Ambience had travelled 261 nautical miles (462 km) since yesterday, cruising at a steady 13.7 knots. We are currently in the Norwegian Sea, just 17 miles (27 km) from the Lofoten Islands. The sea depth was 152 meters, with a water temperature of 12.6°C. The air temperature is 10°C, with a 20-knot wind and a 2-meter swell. For tomorrow, we can expect partly cloudy skies, temperatures ranging from -3°C to 0°C, and the possibility of ice on the ground when we disembark in Tromsø, where we’ll arrive at 8 AM if all goes according to plan.

As Ambience pressed north through open water, the afternoon took on the particular stillness that only a sea day seems to hold. There was no port to hurry toward, no schedule to hold our attention. Instead, the hours moved into a quiet rhythm of scanning horizons, watching light shift across the water, and feeling the ship move steadily beneath our feet.
 

Astronomical Enrichment

 
Once the laundry was done, we made our way back up to the Palladium Theater for a talk titled The Sun and the Northern Lights by Martin Lunn MBE, FRAS. Lunn, a former curator of Astronomy at the Yorkshire Museum and the author of the blog www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk, proved to be an engaging and witty speaker. His passion for the subject was contagious, and he did an excellent job of breaking down the complex physics behind the aurora borealis. Along the way, we picked up a deeper appreciation for the science behind this stunning natural phenomenon.

 
Key among these was a better understanding of the Northern Lights.  I had been aware of the scientific explanation that the aurora occurs as a result of highly magnetically charged particles emitted by cooler patches on the sun, called sunspots, colliding with particles at the edge of Earth's atmosphere. I hadn't known that these solar flares were cyclical, following an almost predictable pattern, with 2025 being a year of high activity.  I also didn't know that the eruptions may be tied to Earth's temperature, with solar minima, when sunspots are few and flares are less frequent, often coinciding with colder Earth temperatures.
 
Another intriguing aspect of the lecture was Lunn's explanation of the different colours that appear in the northern lights.  The light displays occur when solar wind particles interact with Earth's atmosphere, and the colours of the auroras tell us how high in the sky the interactions are taking place.  Specifically, the lights appear red at 240 km (150 miles), green at 160 - 240 km (100-150 miles), and blue around 95 km (60 miles).  I also wasn't previously aware that the auroras aren't unique to Earth - every other planet in our solar system except Mercury experiences them too.

 
Perhaps the most startling revelation of the lecture was learning about the increasing frequency and intensity of solar superflares. Usually, Van Allen radiation belts, two layers of charged particles that surround Earth, serve as a protective shield for the planet that keeps us safe from the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun. However, super-flares, or X-class eruptions, can penetrate the Van Allen radiation belts.  These highly energetic eruptions could, if they reach Earth, disrupt and destroy electronic devices by overwhelming electromagnetic systems. According to experts, we are overdue for a major solar event, and it's no longer a matter of if these events will happen, but when. This was a rather unsettling revelation in a world that has become so heavily reliant on technology in order to function.
 

Nautical Trivia in the Purple Turtle

 
With lots of interesting information on the relationship between life on Earth and the Sun swirling in our minds, we headed to the Purple Turtle Pub for a nautical-themed quiz courtesy of Dr. Stephen Payne.  As expected, the quiz was an extremely tough one.  We thought maybe we would stand a chance if the questions were centred on Queen Mary 2, or ocean liners in general, but no such luck.  The pub was absolutely packed with enthusiastic people, and to our surprise, quite a few teams had perfect scores, despite the specific naval knowledge required to do so.  Hat's off to them!

 
After confirming our general inability to score high on pub quizzes, we stayed put at our table in the pub, planning to write our travel journals or read about Norway.  However, we were soon distracted by another round of games.  

This time it was Celebrity Equations Trivia, where the audience had to solve rebus-style puzzles to guess the names of celebrities by combining words from seemingly random images.  For example, pictures showing juice, a tin, a plank of wood, and a lake could be combined to make 'Justin Timberlake'. Once again, both the clues and the answers were very British-centred, with about half being nearly impossible (at least for us) to guess because we'd never heard of the particular British Olympian, politician, or TV actor.  It was good fun, nonetheless.
 

Pizza Dinner

 
Wanting to try something different tonight, instead of heading to the main dining room or into the main part of the Borough Market for dinner, we instead decided to try the Alfresco Pizza Grill located outside on Deck 12. 

They advertised light meals, and we had seen several people coming away from the counter with decent-looking hamburgers and fries (or chips as they are called in the UK).  I ordered pizza, imagining a freshly-baked, round, personal-sized Italian pizza.  Instead, I was asked how many slices I wanted.  I asked for four, thinking there would be two for me and two for Sean. 

 
A moment later, the server returned with four tiny squares of pizza that were each about the size of a small brownie and together didn't cover the small desert plate they were placed on. The experience was akin to ordering nachos in Portugal - the English take on pizza is clearly not the same as either Italian or North American offerings.  Even after returning for four additional slices, we left the dinner table feeling decidedly hungry.
 

Evening Drinks and Entertainment

 
Afterwards, we wandered down to the Raffles Bar to listen to the live music being played there.  At 8:00 PM, we headed to the Palladium Theatre for a production called Ding Dong, which turned out to be a play loosely based on the plot of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. 

 
The performance was essentially a story about a husband who caught his wife having an affair with another married man, and he offered her lover a choice - he would either kill him, or sleep with his wife in retribution.  The acting was good, and it was entertaining to watch the comedy unfold, but the twist we expected at the end never came, leaving us a little baffled by the ending. 

 
We finished the evening by seeking out more live music in the Observatory Lounge on Deck 14.  As we stepped out onto the open pool deck on the 12^th floor we discovered that it was pouring rain – meaning that there was less of a possibility of seeing the northern lights tonight. Here I must confess this was somewhat of a relief.  Even after a sea day with little to do, we were both still tired. 

 
Knowing that we had a full night of sleep ahead of us, we stayed for a short while, enjoying the live music in the Observatory.  The music on board has turned out to be one of our favourite aspects of the entertainment on this voyage, as there is usually a live band playing somewhere.  We also enjoyed the 'late night nibbles' that were brought around - a tray of veggie samosa, deep-fried cheese sticks, and tiny pieces of fruit on toothpicks. 
 

Arctic Anticipation

 
By 11 PM, with the day behind us, we returned to our cabin for the night.

At some point this evening, we will cross into the Arctic Circle, and tomorrow we will make a stop in Tromsø, which we are looking forward to very much.  Hopefully, we will have nice weather for exploring the Arctic Cathedral and perhaps even a chance to see the northern lights.
 
See you on deck!
 
Nautical Term for the Day: “Whale Road” - An Old Norse poetic term for the sea, still evoked in Arctic literature and sometimes heard in Norwegian coastal storytelling