Boarding the Havila Polaris ~ Off to Sea We Go!

It was a 2-and-three-quarter-hour drive from Inari, Finland, to Kirkenes, Norway, with the ship setting sail at 12:15 p.m. I was not sure how we would make it on time since we left only a few minutes before 10 a.m. But, our guide and our bus driver seemed unconcerned, and so I sat in the front seat of the bus unworried. 

One-and-a-half hours later, the bus driver stopped the bus, and our guide announced, “We are in Norway now, and you are in Finland.”

We all laughed and as the bus drove on, ur guide directed us to note our cell phones, which were registering a clock time one hour in the past. Of course…! We can make it on time to the ship because the time difference allowed us to. Now I am only ten hours ahead of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Before the ship, however, here are some tidbits from the road:

• Norway has a rocky country, and historically the Norwegians came into Finland to steal timber, and so a ranger system was established in Norway. (The landscape did change from forests to rocky scrubland when we crossed the border.)
• The road we drove on was the very road along which the Sámi people were evacuated, and the road the Germans traveled in their retreat from Finland, burning everything as they went.
• The bus driver and our guide spoke in Finnish throughout much of the drive, with our guide stopping to divulge interesting information. For example, the road is often dangerous, and just that morning their was a serious bus accident. However, the sun had warmed the road by now and it was no longer icy.
• I can feel the increasing elevation in my ears.
• The Finns do not lay salt down on the road in winter because the reindeer will congregate on the road, licking the ice, causing more accidents and killing the reindeer, too.
• Snow tendrils began to appear on the road as we drove, each kilometer the pavement was whiter and whiter.
• There are up to 3,000 lakes in the region.
• The drive is like an amusement park ride: the hills in the land, the curves of the road, the bumps and cracks in the pavement’s surface, the occasionally vehicle coming from the opposite direction on the narrow two-lane, unmarked road. Ah, there are flimsy red stakes marking the edge of the road, most likely there for the winter plow driver to guide by.

And now to the ship!

We boarded Polaris right on schedule and had a short briefing before sitting down to lunch.

The Havila line is first and foremost a working ship, carrying cargo and passengers from port to port. There are 34 ports on the Kirkenes-Bergen route. (We are traveling all of the way south to Bergen on the ship. I’m excited! My first cruise ever!) Except this is not a cruise line. They have cabins for passengers and they offer excursions for trips at select ports, but the ship has a job to do, namely keeping the coastal villages and cities connected. So, this means no entertainment, shows, or parties. I actually prefer this idea.

Every ship, like Polaris, in the Havila line uses LNG (Liquid Natural Gas), thereby reducing CO₂ emissions by 25%. The ship also uses large battery packs, which helps drop the emissions to 35% of the typical output. One battery pack charges while the second is in use, and when the ship sails through the fjords, for example, it can run for four hours totally emission free. 

Being eco-friendly is important to this ship line, and so they ask their patrons to use the recycling bins. Keeping everyone healthy is also vital, so everyone is asked to wash their hands at the sinks before entering either restaurant. I certainly appreciated this!

I made sure to spend some time exploring the ship in the evening…

Back to the ship briefing: The presenter asked us all to be on time for our restaurant booking because this could help them reduce food waste. This goal drives their decision to not offer buffet-style meals. (I think it is also to help reduce the spread of infection onboard because buffets are not always the most hygienic way to select one’s food!) Therefore, we will order everything we eat off of a menu and it will be prepared à la carte. I like this idea. My meal will end up being fresher, too.

A factoid the crew member shared: Havila has been able to bring food waste down on their voyages to 70g per person per day. Wow! (All of the food onboard throughout the trip was also delightfully delicious!)

The ship set sail as we sat down to lunch and it was exciting to see the landscape float by as we sampled the small dishes we selected from the varied one-page menu. The recommendation of three dishes to start with was a good one. Perhaps the dishes might be considered tapas or meze in America, but I think, properly, they are the actual serving sizes we should be eating. Three choices plus a slice of bread and a small slice of chocolate strawberry cake was plenty ~ and no food waste from me.

After the meal, I unpacked my suitcase and organized my room. The waves might not be abnormally high for this time of year, or uncommon for the crew or other guests, but it sounded like the hull was pounding into the water: the deck rose up and down. I had a difficult time staying upright as I walked. It was kind of fun, and I went on with my planned afternoon calisthenics activities. Doing the downward dog and the cat/cow poses were surprisingly challenging as the boat rocked back and forth. It felt like those brief moments of weightlessness in the airplane that I enjoy so much, except these repeated over and over, yet without any clear pattern. 

I took a shower, and the water swished back and forth at my feet like waves in my own private tidewater, and I had to use the bar on the wall a couple of times to grab for stability. I realized as I stepped out of the bathroom why everything in the small room had been suspended from the walls (and raised off of the floor). Even the door sill was raised by three inches (~8 cm). The water bounced one way and the other on its way towards and down the two drains. It made sense now why the floor was heated: that would help the water that spilled out from the square, concave shower floor to evaporate. 

I realized that I would not have made a good astronaut. I found myself swallowing hard a lot and needing to sit down on the bed. I did not like the feeling in my stomach at all. 

I solved this in three ways. First, I opted not to eat dinner. Third, I lay out on the bed: stretched out on my back, the movement was much less unpleasant. I fell asleep surprisingly fast and did not bother getting up, even when an announcement signified the Northern Lights were out. (It would turn out that this was the only cloudless night aboard the ship, but that had to be: Getting up right then definitely would not have gone well…)