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Posts tagged ‘cruise’

Florida, 2026 Day 01, 02

A day of travel…

Day 1: Our good friend Tony once again gives us a ride to the airport. We get to the airport around 8:00 PM for a 10:00 PM Red Eye flight. I hope we can get some sleep. The flight is uneventful but we get no sleep. Elee has the aisle seat and I have the window. The flight is full and the “Monkey in the Middle” between us is a 6’9” basketball player type. We felt sorry for him. We paid for extra legroom and this poor guy’s knees pushed on the seat in front of us. We change planes in Atlanta and our new “Monkey in the Middle” is a smaller guy. But the flight is barely over and hour and again we get no sleep.

We arrive tired at 9:00 AM in Fort Lauderdale. We hail a cab and get to our hotel around 10:00 AM. After putting our luggage in the hotel, we take a walk around the neighborhood of North Fort Lauderdale. We are only 2 blocks to the beach. We have at least 4 plus hours to kill before we can check in to the hotel. We find a breakfast sandwich food truck that isn’t serving lunch yet so we have a glass of wine. Because why not? We go back to the hotel and they let us check in early. We take a much needed 3 hour nap. We are now in Day 2. We walk to the beach 2 blocks away. I see a ship on the horizon and I get a shot, framing it between 2 trees. Turns out it is our ship!

We find a liquor store and buy wine to take on to the ship. Next door is a fun looking Irish Pub where we have drinks and dinner. We meet Chris and Charlotte and join them at their table. Fun night even when a drunk patron dumps my water glass on me. Then the waitress dumps water on me. We also meet Stefan, a runner from Quebec getting ready to compete in a Marathon occurring tomorrow. We are forewarned that traffic will be difficult even though we are only a few miles from the ship we plan to board. We have Shepherd’s Pie and Mahi Mahi. The fish is severely overcooked. Shepard’s Pie is great. At the end of the night, Chris and Charlotte leave. When we try to pay the bill, our bar tab is missing. It was either the spilled water or Chris and Charlotte paid it. Thanks C & C!!!

Northern Lights Tour Day 04

Day 04, Jan 31, 2025, Kemi to Rovaniemi, Finland

We wake up on the train at 5 AM. Neither of us chooses to brave the shower cubicle that is barely large enough to stand a body in. The train stops at 5:58 AM precisely and we have only 3 minutes to leave the train. So we are in the narrow passageway in advance and we leave the train at 6 am. We board a bus, that will now be our bus for the next 10 or so days. The driver, who will stay with us for that time, Viktor, is a very pleasant man. As it turns out, he is a very competent driver!

We go to breakfast at the Snow Castle. The Snow Castle is fun. After breakfast, we go into the Ice Room, where many ice sculptures are on display. I climb an ice staircase to find an ice slide on the other side! So my inner child comes out to play! I manage to sit down on the ice and let go! Someone in our group has spotted me and films the ride!

We then board the bus and drive on. Two hours later, we arrive at a port on a river where we board an Ice Breaker before 9 am. The Ice Breaker leaves at sunrise at 9:15. Days in this part of the world are less than 6 hours. Sunset will be shortly before 3 PM. The interesting thing is that days get longer this time of year by about 15 minutes each day! But we are also heading further north and the days will also get shorter as we do!

The Ice Breaker leaves the dock and makes its way into a channel. The ice has already been broken and the ship plows through ice flows on its way up the river. The bridge of the ship looks like a log cabin! After a while, the ship turns against the ice and makes its own path through the ice. It is interesting to see and feel the ship crush the ice! Our fingers and noses feeling the chill, we go inside. We find our way to the galley of the ship and steaming cups of hot chocolate and tea warm us back up. There are 180 passengers on the ship, of which we are only 25 with our Guide.

The ship comes to a stop and backs up and forward a few times. We will find out why soon. The crew lays a gangplank out onto the ice and most of the passengers debark. It is fun to walk out onto the frozen river and take photos of the ship from the ice. Our Guide even takes a photo of me as I pull on a lead line, towing the ship!

I meet a crew member, Jussi, with a Pro Nikon camera with all the lenses. I check out his rig and compliment him on his gear. Walking towards the back of the ship, I get too close to swim area and get yelled at. So I make my way back to the people in the front of the ship. This is why the ship backed up several times, to create a swim area behind the ship.

Our group is called to swim and we head for the changing room. Strip down to single layer, we are told. Brrr. We are assisted in putting on the float suit. I feel like the kid in A Christmas Story in his winter clothes. Now it’s time to go in. Climb down the ladder backwards. Enter the water. Wow, it’s not bad. Sit back they say. Hmmm, this is fun! Float away from the ship. A very different feeling! I make it to the ice floes, bumping into other floaters on the way. I see cameras on the ship. Pose for the camera! Pick up a piece of ice. Heavy! I am told later that I was yelled at again for picking up the piece of ice! I’m such a bad boy!

It’s time to get back on the ship. Climb up the steps. Back inside and assisted with removing the suit. Brrr! Get dressed into clothes again. We are the next to last group to float. After donning our clothes again, we have a little time for another hot chocolate before the ship returns to port. Then it’s back on the bus.

Viktor drives the bus across the Border into Sweden and we stop at IKEA for lunch! There are some small flowers in full bloom covered in snow! The menu and all the signs are in Swedish so we have to order by sight! Then the drive to Rovaniemi is beautiful with all the snowy trees. We check into our Scandic Rovaniemi Hotel and haul our luggage to our room. We find dinner and turn in for the night.