Hammerfest - wild weather

 Pretty rocky cruising overnight with more wild weather during the day as we came in to Hammerfest.  The wind speed of 50 km/h made any sort of walking a challenge and with only a couple of hours of daylight it was pretty dull with heavy cloud cover.

We did have a tour around Hammerfest planned but due to the poor sailing conditions we were about an hour and a half late getting into Hammerfest so they cut the stop to just 15 minutes in an effort to make up time and cancelled all off ship activities.  This is the first day we haven't left the ship but we didn't mind, time for rest and relaxation.

Going up to the top deck was very challenging but oh so invigorating, with the wind trying to push you back going toward the bow, then threatening to blow you over the side on the way back made for an interesting walk (once only!!) around the deck.  Having such a strong wind meant the cloud/rain conditions changed constantly, we saw plenty of blue sky but also plenty of rain squalls.  Altogether a fun day to be on the water.

I've decided to include some pictures of the ship - for my own reference mainly because you know what my memory is like?  It has 9 decks, 1 and 2 are engines and other stuff I wouldn't know anything about.  Deck 3 is where they put the cars and cargo;  we are on deck 4, next to reception and the exit, great spot!! Deck 5 is the dining hall and lecture hall where the information sessions are held, also has the cafe and shop on this deck. Deck 6 is accomodation and a walking track all the way around.  Deck 7 is accomodation; Deck 8 is the tour desk, library, and a couple of bars, one at the front of the ship looking out through huge glass windows; Deck 9 has a large lounge at the front looking out through large windows, the main area on this deck is the outdoor open area which offers great views if you can stand upright in the gale force winds!!!

There are 300 cabins, guests are getting off and on all the time so there is at any one time about 350/400 guests on board, there are about 70 staff on board.  There are two lifts and there is never a wait, they seem to be free all the time, we were walking up the steps for the first couple of days but for some reason, the more we eat, the more the stairs seem to double in number??  The food is excellent and because there are not many passengers it's a very relaxed dining room.

The most surprising aspect of this trip is, even though the sun may rise at 9 and set at 2, it never gets far above the horizon so there is never a clear burst of sunshine, all we need to do is sail in to a fjord and the sun hides behind the moutains.  Due to this faint light, it is pitch dark at 3 o'clock (or earlier the further north we went), so it's still 4 hours till tea time, weird and hard to get used to for us people living a bit closer to the equator.

Fun day today

The 10am weather warning

The sun on the horizon at 11.30am, lots of blue sky

Then the weather closes in again

The entry/exit to Deck 9

Deck 9

Protected seating area on Deck 9

Deck 9 lounge

Our favourite spot on Deck 8

The lift well

Carvings in slate at the exit to the lift on each floor.  We have no idea what it says, Pam had a few suggestions but she was just making it up!!

The dining room with our table in the foreground

Home for two weeks, none of the cabins have balconies and the airconditioning is a pain, although with all the rain and wind and low temperatures, maybe we were okay with a closed off cabin??