Apart from this being a totally new experience for us - the Northern Lights; the Arctic Circle; Norway; etc - one of the main things that attracted us to this trip was its focus on science, especially Astronomy.
Lectures
The expedition has its own resident astronomer - a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, no less! - who delivers several lectures on board during the trip (we're assuming mainly on those sailing days where not much else is happening) covering the Polar sky, Aurora, solar system and so on.
Naturally being at sea in the Arctic Circle provides ample opportunity for stargazing, but having an expert on hand to answer questions means we'll get much more out of it than simply staring, pointing, and saying "ooh, what's that one?". I mean I can recognise Ursa Major and Cassiopeia, but beyond that I'm even more at sea than MS Maud.
Nikki's found several forum posts suggesting the best way to stargaze is to lie flat on your back on the observation deck. Um... no. No thanks. I'd never get up again.
Planetarium
The itinerary for Day 8 includes the magic words "Today, your lecturer will take you on an exclusive visit to the planetarium at the Science Centre in Tromsø." We're hoping this means we'll have the place to ourselves (i.e. max 500+ passengers, some of whom wouldn't go) and that Mr. FRAS will talk us through the presentation with his Fellowy insights.
It's pronounced "Trom-sa" by the way. I didn't know. And doesn't it look splendid?
By the end of the trip we'll know more Norwegian pronunciation than we'll ever need again.
Science Centre
Well, OK, they call it their Science Center, but they have to pander to the US audience. It's located on Deck 5 (where all the restaurants are :o)) on both sides of the Lecture Hall. The expedition includes:
- Full use of our Science Center, extensive library and advanced biological and geological equipment, and
- Citizen Science programme where you can assist with live scientific research
Which is right up our street. The "Expedition Team" also regularly undertake local activities like beach cleaning (plastic collection, etc) which we'd definitely join in with. (where "definitely" = "depending on the weather").
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