New furniture for the living room: |
Monday, June 24. 2013
Various Holiday Updates
It has been such a busy period since returning home from our cruise that I haven't had time to update these notes of our holiday. During the cruise we eventually managed to speak to Karen and were able to establish that Pete was given an operation on Monday 17 June 2013 in Amsterdam where a pacemaker was fitted. He was unable to fly back to the U.K. at the same time as ourselves on Wednesday 19 June because his insurance company decreed that he was to be accompanied by a paramedic from the U.K. Pete and Karen returned home the following day Thursday 20 June 2013. Pete and the paramedic were put into the business class section of the plane, however Karen had to sit in the economy class. We also found out that Karen had been provided with accommodation in a lodge next to the Hospital but also that it took 4 days for her suitcases to arrive including the charger for her mobile phone.
Back to the highlights of the cruise, the Arctic Circle is at this time of the year termed 'The land of the midnight sun.' this is because the sun remained visible throughout the entire 24 hour period, it is simply in a different part of the sky, the light intensity is as bright at 1am, 2am etc as it is at 12 noon! - During the winter months the opposite is true and it remains night throughout the 24 hour period plus in the absence of cloud you get to see the 'Northern Lights.'
On Saturday 15 June 2013 we arrived at the Geiranger fjord. This in my opinion is the most spectacular scenery I have seen to date. Previously my favourite location was Yosemite National Park in California.
Geiranger has the same granite cliffs/mountains with the greenery of trees, though it also has waterfalls they are narrower in Geiranger, however that is offset but two additional items. Firstly the tops of the mountains are covered with snow, secondly the bottoms of the mountains have a deep blue lake (fjord). These two additional items more than compensate for the smaller waterfalls compared to Yosemite.
On the final day of our holiday all passengers had to disembark the ship just after breakfast. Our flight home was scheduled for 1805 hrs and so this would entail several hours waiting around at the airport. Fortunately we booked a 3 hour coach trip from the ship, touring around Copenhagen finishing at the airport. Despite this we still faced a 6 hour wait. In fact this turned out to be even longer because at about 1700 hours a severe thunderstorm developed. Whilst the fork lightening was a spectacular sight it also prevented planes from taking off or landing. Our flight to Amsterdam was delayed by about 40 minutes (Every silver lining has a cloud!) Our transfer flight to Birmingham was a couple of hours after landing at Amsterdam and so the delay did not create a problem for ourselves, though several other passengers were not so lucky and had to run to catch their next flight. Gail has vowed that our next cruise will start and finish at Southampton!
Wednesday, June 12. 2013
Land of the midnight sun
At 0600 hrs local time, or 5am in the UK we crossed the imaginary line termed the arctic circle. The ship sounded its horn to make everyone aware. Just after midnight we ventured out on one of the top decks and watched the sun low in the sky, most of the time it was behind a cloud but you could clearly see its rays falling below the cloud onto the sea. the top edge of the cloud a bright silver. For a few minutes the sun made its appearance before hiding behind a second cloud. On the opposite side of the ship a rainbow could be seen on the horizon.
During the day we were also treated to the sight of a school of whales (Orcas) - about 6 of them - swimming together near our ship
Monday, June 10. 2013
Day 3 of the cruise and .....
Gail has lost her voice, had to go to bed with a sore throat and runny nose.
On the plus side of things - when leaving todays port of call Alesund, we were treated to a Fireboat display - the boat was spouting two jets of water into the air, and also two cannons were fired all for the benefit of the departing cruise ship!
Saturday, June 08. 2013
Pete Sandford Taken ill
At 0600 hrs on Saturday 8 June 2013, our party of 6 were due to fly out from Birmingham Airport to Amsterdam, this being the first leg of our holiday on board the Vision Of The Seas cruise ship bound for the Arctic Circle. The second leg of the journey was to transfer to another plane at Amsterdam that would then take us to Copenhagen, Denmark where we would board the ship.
Just as the second plane began to reverse from the docking bay, Pete suffered a suspected heart attack, went unconscious and appeared to stop breathing. Fortunately in the seat immediately in front of Pete there was a Doctor who managed to revive him whilst an ambulance was called to attend and then conveyed Pete to a local hospital. Pete had already missed out on our Cruise to Alaska in August 2011 due to having an heart operation.
I think the reason for Pete's sudden illness was the result of a number of contributory factors starting the day before our departure. Firstly a fault with the KLM airlines website prevented Pete from being able to check in online. I also had the same issue and eventually contacted KLM via Facebook to rectify my issue. Pete did not have the benefit of a Facebook account and so decided to do the book in on arrival at the airport. Secondly our departure was set for 6am and you are required to arrive at the airport 3 hours before that time. This meant no sleep that night.
Thirdly on arrival at the airport the booking in machines also did not work. Pete had to wait about a hour before KLM managed to sort out the booking in problem. Fourthly our take off was delayed by 45 minutes, this had the knock on effect of less time at Amsterdam airport for the transfer to the second flight. Time was very tight - (fifthly) the signposting at the airport leaves a lot to be desired and it was not easy to locate the departure lounge of the second flight. We made it with just a few minutes to spare before the scheduled departure time. All of these factors put together would appear to be the catalyst that led to the heart attack.