17 June 2010; Tromso, Norway.

This port is located deep into the fjords and thus we had to travel for about 2 hours or 30 miles under Pilotage to get there. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the pilot stations are dotted in central places along the coast to serve whole areas instead of just one town or fjord. The problem with Tromso is that the straightest approach is via a pilot station at the town of Hekkiningen. That route leads to a southern approach of the island on which Tromso is located and then the ship has to travel under a bridge come around the North part of Tromso island and then approach the port. That bridge is just high enough to clear with the mast but not by much if it is high water. Also the other approach is much more scenic for the guests thus we came from the other side. As most cruise ships are doing that, the pilots have established a “summer pilot station” for the cruise ships at Haja Island so it is much easier to commence that Northerly approach.

On the run towards Tromso the ship passes through a part of the fjord system that is called Kvalsundet. This is a fairly narrow passage but most of the water of the behind laying fjord system is going through here under the influence of the tides. By the time we came through at 7 am, there was almost 4 knots of ebb racing through and we all felt as if we were back in Alaska. It is one of the very few places on this cruise where we will encounter such strong currents. On average the fjords are fairly wide and the current comes seldom above the 1.5 knots.

In Tromso we docked at the Breivika docks which are located a little bit out of town. Reason for this is that the downtown docks are two shallow and too small for larger ships. The water is called Tromsofjorden and the west side of Tromso which is the newer part, where we docked, is connected with the East side via a bridge which closes off the end of the fjord for larger ships, so you have to leave the way you came in. So I swung the Prinsendam on arrival and docked with nose out. During the docking the current, although a lot less than in the Kvalsundet, was clearly noticeable and it nicely pushed the ship towards the dock, but even with such a momentum I had to put the breaks on to avoid coming alongside before we were in position. The tide is almost 2.5 meter in Tromso, so you know that a fair amount of water is being pushed through the fjords in this area.

We were not the only cruise ship in port today. Later on the Prinsendam was joined by the Marco Polo and the Discovery. Both smaller and also older ships and with an interesting history. The Marco Polo started its life as the Alexandra Pushkin for one of the Russian State company’s. This ship together with several sisters was constructed for the North Atlantic service from Leningrad and for the Trans pacific service from Vladivostok. When the North Atlantic service folded, cruises became more and more pre dominant and the ship ended up sailing for Orient Lines as the Marco Polo. In that capacity she made worldwide cruises and during the Millennium she spent the December 31st in Antarctica. Later Orient became a subsidiary of NCL and eventually the company was phased out. She was then purchased by the Greeks and given a long term charter for the German market and that is what she is still doing today.

The Discovery was built as the Island Venture together with a sister in the early 70’s. That company did not last very long and both ships were taken over by Princess Cruises and renamed the Island Princess and Pacific Princess. Although the PP was the official “love boat ship” for the TV series; also a number of episodes were shot onboard the IP, so this ship can claim a little bit of that love boat fame of the 1970’s as well. In the late 8o’s, Princess started to renew its fleet and the IP and PP became obsolete. The IP ended up as the Discovery and sailing for the British Market. So the Prinsendam, being the ex Royal Viking Sun, was in good company as all three ships were once icons of important transitions in the cruise industry. The Alexandr Pushkin bridging the transformation from ocean liner to cruise ship, the Island Princess being part of this enormous drive in making cruises popular and the Royal Viking Sun for setting the highest cruise standards in the mid 80’s.

We sailed away from Tromso via another route as we were heading further to the North. That route went through Grotsundet and the word Grot or great/big indeed applied in this case, as it was the widest fjord that we have been going through thus far.

Tomorrow we are in Honningsvag, located just past the North Cape. I am supposed to anchor there but if the berth is free on time and the wind from the right direction, I will have a go at docking. The dock is much too short for the Prinsendam in principle but it worked out last year, so why not now.