Today we had another restful day at sea with still the same smooth seas. At least until late in the morning when the wind and swell started to pick up a little bit. Normally there is a southerly flow blowing along the coast of Norway and on most cruises that I made here we have had this flow. So also this time. Thus the ship moved a little bit on occasion but you had to look at the curtains to be able to notice it. For the rest the weather is holding perfectly and that means that this is just a perfect cruise as far as that is concerned. The rest is always a matter of personal taste but I think even the greatest pessimist has to agree that this cruise has been rather spectacular with its ports and accompanying weather. We just have to keep our fingers crossed for the three coming ports, Oslo, Kristiansand and Bergen (in reverse order) as far as the weather goes. Although these three ports are less weather dependent than those that lay behind us, as there are things to do that do not require you to be in the open that much; still most of our tours are focused on the Norwegian scenery and that looks a lot better in dry weather than in a downpour.

So we sailed on the same course as yesterday 185o, straight down the globe and by this time we were sailing along the Norwegian Coast. Still at a fair distance but we had passed the open waters of where the Barentz Sea connects to the Norwegian Sea. It won’t be until early tomorrow morning that the Norwegian coast, which is South West/North East orientated, comes closer to our course line. We were in deep to very deep water this morning with depths of up to 9000 feet and occasionally more. The Norwegian Sea, if you would pump it dry, would look like a big valley surrounded by high mountain ranges, criss – crossed with lower mountain ranges called ridges. There is the Mohns ridge that connects the Icelandic Plateau with Spitsbergen and more or less separates the Greenland Basin from the Norwegian Basin. This last basin is cornered to the east by the Voring Plateau which connects to the above water part that we know as the Norwegian Coast. All the depths of these Plateau’s Rises and Basins are relative, as a certain Rise can still be 2000 meters under water but they are still a 1000 meters higher than the deep water area’s called the Basins. Thus the variations in naming. Later on in the day we sailed over the Voring plateau and from then on the depth slowly but steadily started to decrease.

Also this morning at 9 am. we crossed the Arctic Circle again, bringing us back into the world of commerce. With that I mean that we saw other ships again. Russian Fishing boats working in clusters; a cruise ship on the way to Iceland and the first cargo ships on the trade routes running from the Norwegian ports to the South or the other way to the Russian ports in the far north. To keep the guests busy we had this morning the Susan G Koomen fund raising walk which this time coincided with crossing the Arctic Circle. Thus making it a special event, it is not every day that you walk over the Arctic Circle for a good cause. To keep the guests even more entertained with special events, I did my Holland America History Lecture in the afternoon. I was quite pleased with myself today as I managed to finish only 5 minutes late and thus did not delay the bingo that followed. Last time I ran over almost 20 minutes and incurred the wrath of an elderly lady who was not to be denied her daily bingo fix. That message was loudly and clearly conveyed to me while she barged into the lounge just before I finished. So this time I almost made the deadline set by the Cruise Director and thus all was well in the world.

Tomorrow we are in Bergen and our approach will start at 0600, when we enter the Fjord to the North at the Fedje Pilot station. If all goes well I should be docked around 08.30 and it should be overcast but without rain.