We landed at Tromsø airport mid-morning; there were still a couple of hours to kill until we were allowed onto the ship – in the meantime we enjoyed a bus tour around town, stopping at its more (or less) important sites.

My bus immediately turned away from Tromsø Island (Tromsøya), crossing the bridge over to Kvaløya and after a short stop with views of the bridge, continuing into the back country for the Aurora parking lot with views towards Lyfjord and the Finnvikvatnet lake.

A further drive got us back to the city with a short stop at the beach at Telegraph Bay (Telegrafbukta), from where it was through town and a tunnel to the Arctic Cathedral (Ishavskatedralen). After another trip through the (same) tunnel and a stop at the Arctic–Alpine Botanic Garden (Tromsø arktisk-alpine botanisk hage) we finally made it to the harbour and were allowed onto the ship.

After check-in and lunch I left the ship for a walk around town – and also cross over Tromsø Bridge (which we could not do on the bus, as the bridge is currently being renovated and closed for anything except pedestrian and bike traffic).

When I got back to the ship, cabins were finally available – and it was time to move in, get unpacked and prepared for the emergency drill. We eventually left port around 20:00, making our way through the fjords and towards the open sea.