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Climate
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You cannot walk around because of icebear
In a nutshell
It´s the northest you get without beeing expedition
Donna_in_India Says: We were up early in the morning for a (7 hours) snow mobile trip. A group of 6 of us met our guide at the Arctic Adventures office where we were outfitted with warm clothes, boots, long gloves, helmets, and goggles. We were driven out of town where the snowmobiles were...
Donna_in_India Says: We were excited about our first excursion in Spitsbergen. We were going dog sledding. We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the dog kennels a short distance out of town. My husband and I were going on one sled and the guide and a Norwegian lady were going on another....
Helpfulness
The environment, service and food - Just Great! You won't believe to have such high quality food in the far North. Every meal was fabulous to us, we tried deer meat, lamb, steak, fish, what else do one expect?
Written Oct 30, 2007
Helpfulness
This is the way to cruise, it was wonderful. The smaller size made it possible to get to know all on board and made for a far more personal trip.
Updated Aug 13, 2003
Website: www.oceanwide-expedition.com
Luggage and bags: Duffelbag that folds to hold little space in your cabin. I got mine for a few dollarsat an army navy surplus store.
Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Two sets of gloves, sunglasses and two hats.
You do not want to be without any of these items
Wellingtons for wet landings in the zodiac.
Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Sunscreen!
Photo Equipment: Casing or baggies to prevent condensation
Written Oct 21, 2003
globetrott Says: Lots of troubles afterwards :The captain lost his job as a captain , but was working in another department for the company lateron.The passengers got back a lot of their money, as we had to go back directely to Hamburg for repairs and did not visit any other port than just...
globetrott Says: A long rope had to be used, so the ships were not too close to each other--------------------------------------------------------------------- Ships have to show certain security-papers in every port. These papers expire in an accident like that one, and so we had been...
globetrott Says: Finally the tug-boat came and it took 2 attempts to take us out------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't ask me how much money that tug-boat finally was for our shipping company.The ship itself, 3 men onboard, diesel for 8 hours one-way...
globetrott Says: At least waiting for the tug-boat took place in this wonderful landscape-------------------------------------------------------------------- There were announcements of course, telling the people that a tug-boat was on the way to rescue us
globetrott Says: After some time the Sysselman left us again--------------------------------------------------------------------- Everybody had to step back, as the air-pressure was really heavy
globetrott Says: Strong ropes were necessary and nobody would believe these 4 small ships would be able to hold the large cruise-ship---------------------------------------------------------------------- these boats added a lot of fog and bad smell to the lovely landscape, running...
Time went by - and the ebb began
globetrott Says: Slowly the ebb began, and the difference of the water-level is there about 1 meter------------------------------------------------------------------- By the lower sea-level M/S Vistafjord drifted deeper into the sandbank and as these banks are never just flat, it was a...
globetrott Says: A New attraction on Lido-deck-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sysselman informed the captain that a tug-ship is on the way, but will need a minimum of 8 hours to arrive
almost like in a James Bond Movie
globetrott Says: The Sysselman is the representative of the norwegian Governement in Svalbard, he is police-officer, chancelor and lord major in one person--------------------------------------------------------------------- And so he came onboard, simply landing his own helicopter on the...
The Svalbard - Sysselman landing by helicopter
globetrott Says: Well, finally the ship had to ask for help and sent a radio-message to Longyearbyen, Svalbard's capital--------------------------------------------------------------------- A ship needed 8 hours from Longyearbyen to get to our cruise-ship
trying to get out again by ourselves
globetrott Says: It was a first attempt to simply lower our tender-boats.They look rather small on this pic but they each have a capacity of more than 100 passengers seated And they have 2 really strong engines for high-speed tenderservice in small...
Stuck on a sandbank - with a view ;-))
globetrott Says: What a great place to strand the ship, with plenty of great landscape around the ship...------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess the captain was not so very happy, but for the crew and many passengers it was a wonderful adventure......and...
the only waves were made by our ship
globetrott Says: The only waves were made by our ship, while cruising with minimum-speed into the fjord--------------------------------------------------------------------- and so the ship moved tenderly up and down and up ........BUT NOT DOWN ANYMORE !!!
Plenty of boats-men watching the water
globetrott Says: Of these Fjords sea-charts are not available, as the cruise-ships normally go somewhere else-------------------------------------------------------------------- So some members of the nautical staff are watching out for any kind of danger like rocks or other things beeing...
Iceberg hits the ship - and broke -> the iceberg
globetrott Says: We hit a large part of the iceberg, but it simply broke apart-------------------------------------------------------------------- Quick manoevres are rather impossible, even with a speed of just 2 knots
M/S Vistafjord running aground in Spitzbergen 1979
It was one of the first cruises that I made onboard of M/S Vistafjord in 1979. The captain wanted to offer something SPECIAL to the passengers : A fjord, NO OTHER cruise-ships would go...
Rugged beauty in the midnight sun
Somehow I decided a long time ago that I wanted to see Spitsbergen. I am not quite sure whether it was because of the stories of the north pole explorations or the pictures of a barren, harsh country....
Spistbergen is the main island in a group of islands called Svalbard. Svalbard is a part of the Arctic. There are 3 main "towns"; Longyearbyen has app1900 inhabitants, Barentsburg has app. 300 and...
Journal: Donna & Sandy in Spitsbergen
PREVIOUS STOP: GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN Our flight from Munich, Germany to Oslo, Norway took about 2 hours. We had a few hours layover in Oslo before our flight north to Tromso, Oslo. Tromso is far...
Build your own Spitsbergen page
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