Spirit of Discovery blog

Hello everyone!

My name is Simona and I am from Romania. I am the Spa Manager on-board and, along with Brenda our Massage Therapist from the Netherlands, we represent a small part of our amazing Spa department. We would like to share with you the beauty of a regular day being an employee on board Spirit of Discovery.

Here we are in the capital of the Arctic Circle, Tromsø! The weather outside looks fantastic. Brenda and I are more than ready to start our Norway experience today. In addition, how can we make it more memorable? Well, Shore Excursions are the key to our well-deserved day off. As well-known Tromsø is a year round destination, there is always something to do here. The famous Northern Lights, Midnight Sun, sights of the Fjords, husky sled drive as well reindeer sledding with our Sami guide are only some of the options that Tromsø offers, but these are very popular worldwide.

Brenda and I went to see our very experienced colleague Rey from Explore Ashore in order to get the best choice of excursion and this is how we ended up being escorts for the famous Tromsø tour, reindeer sledding and meeting Sami people. We got our equipment ready to assist our passengers, as well exploring Norway's beautiful nature sights.

For myself, it is the first time being an escort for Explore Ashore and thanks to Brenda, it was very easy. She was kind enough to guide our guests, and me, together in order to have an amazing experience.

We met our tour guide Almu, got on the shuttle tour bus and while we were on the way to meet our reindeers she walked us through Tromsø's insights, including the unique history of Arctic explorers, fishing and farm work, mixed with modern culture through food, drinks and events.

Tromsø is situated at Latitude 69⁰N on a small island surrounded by majestic mountains and Fjords. When you have a look through the bus window, you can really distinguish the combination of raw and pristine nature, which keeps the old Viking sights and traditions within a urban lifestyle nowadays, and some modern architecture buildings and bridges.

After 50 minutes of driving, we reached our destination where the Sami people greeted us in their spectacular traditional outfits and took us to meet our reindeers. We were all very excited and the tour was just brilliant as advertised. It was a very unique experience - definitely a must try when you go to  Tromsø!

After the sledding experience we gathered inside the lavuu (Sami tent) for a traditional Sami meal, hot coffee or tea, and listened to stories about Sami culture around the campfire. After the stories, the Sami guide shared with us some insights from his family traditions, which were very impressive. And then, the moment that we were all waiting for. He started to sing for us the traditional Sami folk song. They were very welcoming people and we all loved it.

After this beautiful experience, we headed back to the ship. We were a bit tired but full with beautiful memories and stories, which we were very excited to pass over to our closest friends and family so they can try to picture in their minds the beautiful nature that Norway has to offer, combined with the wonderful “Viking” experiences we had, and the pictures we'd taken throughout the day. We seafarers never like to say “good-bye” to a place, as we usually say: “until next time Tromsø!” You have been by far “a must” see place on the bucket list of things to do and see in Norway! Thank you for your hospitality!

We have a saying in Spa, after so much fun and a full day off we will need another one to recover (just kidding - one day off is more than enough!). We thought about the best way to end this trip and came up with the best idea ever! We had a blast in our beautiful on-board hydrotherapy pool with steam room and sauna, received an aromatherapy massage, before rolling from the spa bed to our own cabin beds. What an amazing treat and an easy way to refresh and relax your mind and body after the cold weather outside! It is very important for us to be fit in order for us to give to Spa our guests the same high quality standard of experience and service, and the best treatment and tips to a healthier life. Tomorrow, we are back to work feeling relaxed, refreshed, renewed and with all that said: Happy crew, happy guest!

Thank you Explore Ashore team for today and thank you our Spirit of Discovery family for your contribution in creating this great environment where we can experience all these activities!

Simona, Spa Manager and Brenda, Massage Therapist