Polar Pioneer was our home for 13 nights and days. Our cabin was on deck 5, just below the bridge.
Our days usually started at 6:30 or 7:00 am with expedition leader Henrick’s cheerful greeting over the PA system: “Good morning, good people.” Trish and I rolled out of our bunks groaning most mornings; a ship underway is noisy, and neither of us could get enough sleep most nights.
Trish and I had a double cabin with two lower bunks and a private bathroom. There were drawers for storage under each of our beds and under the padded bench seat in between them. We had curtains around each of our bunks, plus a blind to pull across the porthole, and sometimes we needed all of that to escape the 24-hour light!
The schedule for the rest of the day went something like this:
7-8 breakfast buffet
8:30 on deck to get into Zodiacs for an outing
12 back from our outing in time for a delicious hot lunch
1-2 find a spot in the bridge to enjoy the view, get out onto the bow for some sun, or curl up in your bunk or the bar with a book or to edit your photos
2:30 back on deck for another Zodiac outing
6:30 squeeze into the bar for a re-cap of the day, often including a mini-lecture by one of our experts on some highlight we saw
7:30 dinner
8:30 wander from bridge to bar to observation decks taking photos and talking to fellow passengers
MIDNIGHT belatedly remember that the sun doesn’t set here at this time of year and it’s time to try to get some sleep
Meals were served in two dining rooms that mirrored each other on port and starboard with the serving galley in between. Seats were not assigned, so we chose different dining companions for every meal. During and between meals, coffee and hot water for tea or cocoa was always available, and we could help ourselves to cookies and fresh fruit at all times.
The food, including the vegetarian fare that I ate most days, was excellent.
The bridge had the best view through these amazing large windows. It was open to us at all times, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the interior, and we had to stay quiet so that the helmsman and other crew could concentrate on their work. There was limited space in the bridge, but most passengers were good about taking turns and letting other people take their stations.
The bow deck was a popular spot to catch some rays and look for wildlife when we weren’t moving very fast.
The muster station for the lifeboat on the stern deck made a nice outdoor viewing area protected from the wind, although there was no place to sit.
The view from the very top deck was spectacular, but the wind generated by the boat’s own motion usually made it too cold to stay for long. Here I am enjoying the sun while the captain picks our way v-e-r-y slowly through a fjord full of icebergs.
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