Sunday 26th February- The Fjords

Today has been absolutely wonderful. We woke to sunshine, and after breakfast donned our heavy duty cold weather gear and went on deck as the Captain steered the ship into the 'Inner Passage' as we headed towards our next port of call. This is the scenery we expected on our Norwegian cruise last summer, but which was for the most part absent. A constantly changing vista of small villages and craggy snow topped peaks. At first there was no more than a dusting of snow at the top of the mountains, but as we've got further north it's become increasingly spectacular.

There's an air of excitement onboard. Will we be lucky and see the Northern Lights? Not tonight, I'm sure, as it's going dark now and there's thick cloud overhead. But the pilot who is onboard at the moment has reportedly told the captain that today has been the first time they've seen the sun in several weeks, so you never know.

As we sat in the show lounge last night, watching a talented muscial duo perform on the saw and recorder, Dave leaned over to me and whispered “Well, at least it's a lot calmer tonight”. “That's probably because we're still tied up in Bergen” Durrrrrrr.... But it has been calmer, and we both slept well last night (though in my case the Alabama Slammer cocktail probably helped!)

True to my word, I'm enjoying lots of different activities onboard and we've so far missed none of the shows in the evening. I went to the Nintendo Wii session this afternoon and met up with someone who I'd come across on the Balmoral Canada cruise (Di, if you're reading this – do you remember Annette?). After that I attended the craft class and made a rather frilly card.

We've settled into the same evening routine as when we last cruised on Boudicca. Early dinner is followed by a couple of hours in the cabin watching dvds, then down to the Neptune Lounge at about 10pm to see the gigolos do their stuff, followed by the late show. Then to the Observatory for a nightcap. It's a hard life.

Trondheim tomorrow. We're hoping it won't rain!

X Janet X