We have now officially entered the Arctic Circle. It is a nice day outside—a blue sky and wonderful snow-clad scenery. By the way, the temperature outside is 3 degrees centigrade.

It’s warm and comfy inside Viking Venus, of course – well, for most of the guests. Viking has a quaint tradition for guests who cross into the circle – you can be fully immersed in a spa pool filled with icy cold water. No takers, you are wondering. Hell no – it looked like a Congo line. There were so many people lining up. The deal is you get a blob of blue stuff on your nose to prove you took the dip – and a shot of what looked like vodka to help restore your temperature from the inside.

It was a lot of fun to watch—which was the full extent of my involvement! We are in this pristine part of the world to hopefully see the famed Northern Lights. What if they showed up late at night when you were in bed, you might wonder? Well, you have the option to be advised via the phone.

The lights proved to be a show-stopping event last night, by the way—and I mean that literally. We were enjoying the Viking band and singers belting out 60s hits when the lights alarm started. I have never seen an auditorium empty so fast. The poor singers were minus an audience for about five minutes.

Sadly, though, all of the rushes turned out to be fruitless – the captain might have seen something – but no one else did, to my knowledge. We will arrive at Alta tomorrow, but we are enjoying a day at sea right now.

Written by: Ian McIntosh

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