Aug 11

Aug 11 Day 7 Sept-Îles, Quebec

This morning, Viking Polaris docked in Sept-Îles, Quebec, a town of about 30,000 people.

We originally booked an Archipelago By Boat excursion ($99pp) but were informed last night that, due to expected sea conditions, the excursion had been cancelled. Bummer. We decided that we would probably just take the shuttle into town today.

However, before any of that takes place, Rickee decided to try one of the Norwegian waffles at Mamsen’s. Now, traditionally, this waffle would be topped with the Norwegian dark cheese, sour cream, blueberries, strawberries and syrup. However, they will let you decorate your waffle any way you desire, so Rickee opted for fresh strawberries and syrup with some bacon on the side. And, by the way, if you like crisp bacon, you are in luck on Viking Polaris!

On this sailing, there are a few other journalists onboard and we heard from one of them that they were able to schedule a dive on one of Viking Polaris’ two submarines this afternoon. Well, that sounded interesting. So, I contacted Guest Services and was able to secure a spot on the 10:30am submarine dive for both Rickee and myself.

Participating in a dive on one of the submarines requires that your weight to be recorded beforehand and a waiver must be signed. You also must attend a briefing where all the necessary procedures are covered. There is a $499 charge for the submarine experience. These small submersibles can dive to depths of up to 300 meters. I can only imagine how amazing these would be in the crystal clear waters of Antarctica.

Rickee and I had already donned our life vests and headed down to The Hangar to take the Zodiac ride out to the submarine. However, once we arrived at The Hangar (Deck A), we were informed that all of the submarine dives were cancelled due to rough sea conditions. Bummer again!

Boarding these subs requires stepping from a Zodiac onto the “roof” of the submarine, then climbing down a narrow hatch into the sub itself. The submarine pilot determined that the seas were too rough to safely step from the Zodiac to the sub for boarding, so all of the dives were cancelled for safety concerns. Better safe than sorry.

Perhaps there will be another opportunity later in the cruise. We shall see. In the meantime, it appears that we are destined to simply disembark the ship and take the shuttle bus into Sept-Îles. We disembark and walk through a tent that has been set up with local merchants and artisans selling souvenirs.

Once inside the tent, there is a local musician playing guitar and singing and tables are laden with all sorts of souvenirs and local handicrafts.

When we exit the tent, we board one of the waiting motor coaches for the drive into town. A local gentleman, along with the coach driver, provide narration during our drive into town. The coach makes three stops, one of which is at a small Walmart! Another stop was at a local pharmacy and honestly, I can’t remember where the third stop was.

Honestly, there is not a lot to see in the town. I think there is a small museum here, and perhaps we should have taken time to visit that, but we were happy just to ride around town, which took about 30 minutes. We picked up some other guests on our stops who had taken earlier shuttle rides into town.

When we returned to the port, we had a little more time to do some souvenir shopping in the tent and bought a couple of refrigerator magnets for our collection.

This afternoon, I was on my own for trivia while Rickee was getting ready for dinner. I did team up with Alex and Nancy (our previous trivia partners). We just did okay today, but still no win. By the way, do you know what timepiece has the most moving parts? If so, put your answer in the comments.

At 5:30, it is time for the daily briefing with Marc, the Expedition Leader. Marc explains what we can expect when we visit Cap-aux Meules, Canada, tomorrow.

After Marc’s briefing, Joe Rottman gives a short, but very interesting lecture on the history of the fur trade in North America.

And, after Joe’s lecture, Dr. Brandi Revels shares some images of plankton that they gathered from the river yesterday from the zodiac. Viking’s expedition ships are more than just pleasure cruise ships. They also serve as scientific research vessels.

Dr. Brandi Revels Gets Excited About Plankton

Tonight we have our second reservation at Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant.

Our meal starts with a Caprese Salad for Rickee and I had the Antipasti platter. Both were good.

For our main course, I, once again, ordered the Bistecca Fiorintina, which I have affectionately referred to as the best steak at sea for many years. I am happy to report that the Bistecca is as good on Viking Expedition ships as it is on Viking Ocean.

We decided to skip dessert. Dinner took a little longer than normal tonight, so we are ready to go to bed. When we return to our stateroom, we see a reminder card had been placed on the bed to remind us that we need to set our watches ahead one hour as we enter the Atlantic time zone.