Cruising in Scotland
Our good luck stayed with us weather-wise because Wednesday proved to be another sunny day as we continued our journey on the Seabourn Ovation. The ship docked in Lerwick in the Scottish Shetland Islands at 8:00 AM. Shortly thereafter at pre-designated times, all cruise passengers had an immediate and mandatory, UK face-to-face border inspection. Passports were presented to UK Border Force officials in the Grand Salon on Deck 6 before anyone was permitted to disembark. A notification letter was delivered to our suite several days prior with our group number and time slot to in order to forestall massive queues in that public space. Our passports were scanned to ensure that we both had a valid Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) and, once inspected, the passports received certification stickers indicating formal entry clearance into the United Kingdom. General disembarkation and shore excursions were put on hold until the Border Force team completed the ship sweep and cleared all passengers. Every guest had to appear in person, regardless of nationality or whether they planned-to go ashore in Shetland or stay onboard.
After my quick breakfast in The Colonnade Restaurant on Deck 9, we gathered in the Grand Salon for our 10:15 AM tour titled “Shetland Ponies, Scalloway & Jewelry Excursion.” While traveling aboard the coach, we learned that Shetland has a population of about 23,000 scattered across 16 inhabited islands out of 100. Geographically, Shetland lies as far north as Anchorage and Saint Petersburg, but is much warmer thanks to the waters of the Gulf Stream. Our tour went in reverse order from its title as our first stop was the Shetland Jewelry Workshop. This traditional, hand-crafter jewelry workshop and retail outlet was founded in 1953, making it a long-standing artisan fixture on the islands, Their jewelry is crafted using silver, gold and platinum, often utilizing traditional lost wax casting, stone settings and enameling. While I was bored to tears, the women in our group appeared to enjoy themselves. We next stopped to visit a herd of Shetland ponies and learned about the history and characteristics of this small and hardy pony directly from a local breeder who gently pushed the ponies towards the fences so we could pet them. Standing anywhere between 28 and 42 inches high, this tiny, but incredibly tough breed of pony originates from the Shetland Islands and was historically used to carry heavy loads of peat for fuel and seaweed to fertilize crops. They were adorable.
Our final stop on the excursion was the town of Scalloway where we saw the now roofless Scalloway Castle. It was built around 1600 by the tyrant Earl Patrick Stewart who used forced labor to build his residence and was executed in Edinburgh in 1615. The town is best known as the location of the Scalloway Museum, a volunteer-run community center which documents the daring clandestine Shetland Bus operations that ran between Shetland and Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II. The exhibits detail the perilous covert naval operations which carried agents, weapons and supplies to Norway and rescued refugees back across the North Sea. The museum also explored Scalloway’s time as the ancient capital of Shetland, touching upon nearby archeological sites. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting this museum as well as watching the sheep, Shetland ponies, sheep dogs and swans we encountered on the ride back to Lerwick and the Ovation.
Seeking a change of venue, we visited The Club for evening cocktails. It’s the ship’s primary social lounge and nightlife hub which featured a dance floor, a spacious cocktail bar and an adjacent outdoor terrace that would have been a delightful spot in warmer weather. Located on Deck 5, it serves as a central venue for evening entertainment and socializing. That’s where we met a bartender named Shaylin from South Africa whom Diane claimed made the best dirty martini she’d ever had! In this vein, Shaylin pointed out a couple seated nearby whom he said had been sailing with Ovation for the past month and stopped in The Club each evening for dirty martinis. We later had dinner in The Restaurant on Deck 4 and secured a nice window table to enjoy the hearty waves. I dined on Caviar with all the trimmings and an expertly prepared Oven-Roasted Rack of Lamb served with a Smooth Potato Puree, Crisp Seasonal Green Vegetables and Miniature Ratatouille. We returned to The Club for a nightcap and to hear our Cruise Director Nick Martland belt out a few tunes with the Music Avenue Band.
Thursday morning brought with it a little rain and found us docked at Invergordon, a port town in the Highlands of Northern Scotland. Our next excursion exploring the “Glenmorangie Distillery & Lovely Dornoch” was scheduled to depart mid morning, but for some reason was delayed until lunchtime. As soon as we set off, our tour guide Dagmar made up for lost time, droning endlessly about the countryside, its supermarkets and streams as well as Scottish history. Unfortunately, when discussing history, she often got her dates and characters confused, but then quickly corrected herself. I found that to be somewhat entertaining. After about a half hour, we reached our first destination.The Glenmorangie Distillery is located on the shores of the Dornoch Firth in the Royal Burgh of Tain. The name Glenmorangie means "glen of tranquility" in Gaelic and we learned the distillery was established in 1843. During the tour, we were offered a look into single malt production using Scotland’s tallest copper stills and finished with a two-dram single-malt whisky tasting. Afterwards, we spent some time in the Visitor Centre perusing the distillery offerings, including a 1966 Singleton Single Malt Scotch Whisky selling for $40,000. Since that wasn’t going to end up in our basket, we shopped some logo-branded merchandise before returning to the coach. The group was next supposed to travel to Dornoch, but instead ended up in the Village of Beauley. While the village is famous for its local craft shops, one of our group summed it up best by saying, “Why are we here?’” No answer was forthcoming from Dagmar and so the group simply walked around town for the allowed time frame until it was time to return to the ship.
We were later in for a treat. Seabourn is known for its iconic Caviar in the Surf on select tropical and Caribbean sailings. During this signature beach barbecue event, uniformed crew members wade into the ocean and set up an iced surfboard bar to serve caviar and chilled champagne directly to guests standing in the water. Obviously, the cool weather precluded us from wading on any beach, but the line planned to shift the fun poolside and called it Caviar on Deck, which was to be served amidst the music of Abba performed by Viktoria & The Band. Unfortunately, it was raining again, so the action was moved indoors to The Club. Champagne stations were set up near the entrance and waiters moved throughout the room serving the luxury appetizer placed onto crackers with créme fraîche while guests danced and enjoyed the music and vocals. It was great fun and, after dinner in The Restaurant, we stopped by The Grand Salon to listen to Shanay Holmes sing Divas - The Voices That Defined Me. Her performance was characterized by passion, power and authenticity and we both felt sure she was destined for stardom. We’ll see.
Our final day aboard the Ovation was another sea day as the ship made its way south along the east coasts of Scotland and England. As mentioned before, I’m very fond of the relaxed vibe associated with days at sea since there is nothing to plan and nowhere to be at any particular time. I decided to attend another lecture by Jennifer Eremeeva. This one was titled Milestones in British History and was conducted mid-morning in the Grand Salon. She was racing through time on that morning, discussing the establishment of Celtic culture in Britain around 800 BC to the present-day reign of King Charles III. That’s a period spanning roughly 2,800 years and Jenifer covered in all in just about 45 minutes. Whew! When we returned to our cabin after lunch it was clear that our suite attendant Ruffy had been busy. Our suitcases had been retrieved from under the bed in preparation for Saturday’s disembarkation. But, we still had another evening to enjoy the vessel. That evening we returned to The Club to say farewell to Shaylin and had another memorable meal at The Restaurant. Before turning in, we watched a beautiful sunset from the comfort of our balcony and made sure our tagged luggage was placed outside in the hallway before 11:00.
I’ll tell you all about the remaining two days of our journey in a future post.
Until next time…safe travels.
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