Serenade of the “C’s” I Mean “I’s” – Ice Bergs, Iceland, Ice Caps and Ice Cream

[SailorJack]

On ‎11‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 6:15 PM, BigNance said:

 

When it is a Sailor Jack review, the longer the better!  This was great!  Thank you for sharing with the rest of us!

 

Thanks for your patience to read the whole thing! Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 9:28 AM, BigNance said:

HMmmm.  Does that last one pay the passengers??  For operating the bilge pumps??

 

That was sort of our thought.  All of the other ships looked great so we wondered if they gave a discount!

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

The town itself was delightful - full of shops and narrow streets.  These shots show just how narrow the streets are in the downtown shopping district.

 

 

Notice the T-shirt in the shop window in the lower left.  Jill tried to get one but they were out of her size.

 

 

 

 

This building is on a high point in the downtown area and our guide told us the Germans used this as part of their anti-aircraft defense system in WWII.

 

 

 

 

Another shot showing some unique architecture and narrow streets.

 

 

[SailorJack]

On ‎11‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 10:46 AM, critterchick said:

Thanks for helping me relive the experience! We found a great little Thai place in Qaqortoq. Unfortunately they were too busy for me to ask why they chose that town to move to from Thailand.

 

 

I missed that restaurant!  Actually I am quite surprised that they even had  a restaurant there - we didn't see anything that even hinted at that.  You must have sharper eyes than us.

[SailorJack]

You can imagine what Jill said to me upon spotting this store!

 

 

 

 

It really was amazing how many signs in Norway were in English.  Here we have the XO Premium Steakhouse

 

 

 

 

 

This large structure to the right is the Petroleum Engineering Museum.  As Stavenger was built on North Sea oil it is really an appropriate location for the museum.  Time was limited so we did not visit it - perhaps another time. For the life of me, I don't know why I didn't frame this picture to include more of the museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

Jill fell in love with the little gnomes.  They were everywhere. We wondered it they had something to do with Norwegian folk lore, but didn't get around to asking anyone.  Anyway, here are some of the pictures Jill took.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just in case you wanted to take one home as a souvenir....

 

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

Hotels and official buildings lined the harbor walkway.

 

 

The Victoria Hotel. One of the older buildings along the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

The Clarion Hotel - obviously one of the newer ones.

 

 

 

 

The Solvang.  Notice how narrow the streets are  - parking on the sidewalk.

 

 

 

 

Even the Port Authority buildings were well maintained.

 

 

 

[DavyJoneses]

Well, its about time! Don't wait so long next time.  I also loved your closing line.

[SailorJack]

Stavanger harbor was probably the most active we have visited. It really was a great place to sit up on the top deck and watch the activity.

 

 

 

With a telephoto lens you could virtually see the entire downtown area.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour boats would come in - unload, and then load back up again.

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

The bridge is spanning that part of the harbor where the tour boats left to visit Pulpit Rock.

 

 

 

 

Tour boats coming back.

 

 

 

It had to be cold on deck!

 

 

 

It was also a working harbor. There were some cargo ships docked, but were outnumbered by the boats serving the tourist industry.  This really was an amazing harbor - one of the most interesting ones we have visited.

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

We push away from the pier and say goodbye to Stavanger.  This was a great place to visit and hopefully we will have the opportunity to visit it again.

 

 

 

 

And say hello to the Shetland Islands. Our first view as we finished breakfast and headed up to the top deck.

 

 

 

 

Notice the architecture of the buildings in the Shetlands.  Gone are the white washed buildings with the bright red tile roofs.

 

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

On ‎11‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 1:12 PM, DavyJoneses said:

Well, its about time! Don't wait so long next time.  I also loved your closing line.

 

Thanks - glad you found the humor in it.  Have a nice Thanksgiving!

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

Lerwick is a tender port and clearly is not as busy as our last port of call.  No tour boats, no three masted ships, just a quiet little harbor with a few commercial ships.

 

 

 

Our first view of town from the tender.

 

 

 

A welcoming sign as we step ashore.

 

 

 

 

[stevea36]

On 10/28/2018 at 3:22 PM, SailorJack said:

Prices may steady up a bit.  This itinerary is becoming very popular and several cruise lines are doing it. With more competition, prices may hold or even come down. We tried to book this cruise on Viking, but they were booked solid when we tried - you may want to take a look at them. With all the perks they add, the total cost would have been  less than what we paid on RCL. Whatever you decide, I hope you can do it - the itinerary is fantastic!

 

Jack

 

Serenade will not be doing this itinerary in 2020 as she will be in Alaska that summer..  still waiting to find out what ship and itinerary will replace it.    Maybe Anthem with a modified itinerary (Southampton to Bayonne)?   They just posted her summer 2020 sailings from Southampton and the last one listed ends in late August .... hmmmm..   (I still like the Copenhagen to Boston version... hope they still do it)..

 

I guess I'll have to wait another 3 weeks till they release the European itineraries for summer 2020...

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends !!!

 

Steve

[SailorJack]

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 8:16 AM, stevea36 said:

 

Serenade will not be doing this itinerary in 2020 as she will be in Alaska that summer..  still waiting to find out what ship and itinerary will replace it.    Maybe Anthem with a modified itinerary (Southampton to Bayonne)?   They just posted her summer 2020 sailings from Southampton and the last one listed ends in late August .... hmmmm..   (I still like the Copenhagen to Boston version... hope they still do it)..

 

I guess I'll have to wait another 3 weeks till they release the European itineraries for summer 2020...

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends !!!

 

Steve

 

I hope they run it again for you. As I have posted before, several cruise lines are running a very similar itinerary - if you are not committed to RCI.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

 

The first thing we really noticed once ashore was a complete change in the architecture one again. The buildings were almost all stone.

 

 

And the roads in the downtown area were really very narrow.  It was quite a challenge to drive our rental car on these narrow roads.

 

 

 

The Serenade as seen from downtown. Note the almost deserted background of the ship.  There was a lot of really open land on the island.

 

 

[flamingos]

Thank you for the review!  We are waiting for this itinerary to open up for 2020, and we have to wait a few weeks.  I am looking forward to it even more!

[SailorJack]

4 hours ago, flamingos said:

Thank you for the review!  We are waiting for this itinerary to open up for 2020, and we have to wait a few weeks.  I am looking forward to it even more!

 

 

We aren't big cruisers - maybe 20 or so - and if you have read any of my other reviews you can tell that we enjoyed them all.  That said, there was something special about this one.  The itinerary was outstanding and the only thing missing for us was not seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland. I know you are going to enjoy it also and hopefully you will see the Lights!

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

Typical street downtown.  Again, look at how narrow the streets were.

 

 

 

Houses were relatively small and yards were virtually non-existent. Here is a typical courtyard.  We saw lots of flowers and some vegetables being grown. Notice the stone arch entry way into the court yard.

 

 

 

 

This road leads up to the buildings that were in several scenes from the TV series "Shetland."

 

 

 

 

This delightful Scottish gentleman took time out of this walk to point out the green entrance door which led to many of the Shetland scenes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

This was the only beach in town that we could find.

 

 

 

 

It was not overly crowded!  Maybe it was due to the time of year?

 

 

 

 

The fort was in easy walking distance from the pier.  As was true of almost all the attractions we saw it was free to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pacruise804]

The outline of the fort reminds me of the Citadel in Halifax.

[SailorJack]

A placard showing the outline of the fort and history. The buildings were well marked and as you can tell from the photos, there was hardly anybody there...no lines!

 

 

 

 

A number of buildings were open to allow visitors to walk through. 

 

 

The magazine was one of those buildings.  It was really nice to see all the attractions with no lines!

 

 

 

 

Looking out from the magazine area to the fort's wall facing the bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 1:33 PM, pacruise804 said:

The outline of the fort reminds me of the Citadel in Halifax.

 

You have a good eye!  It looks just like the Citadel.  Our last stop on this cruise was Halifax and visiting the citadel was one of the highlights of that port. I think the star design was in vogue back in those days.  Fort McHenry in Baltimore had a similar design.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

From the seawall looking out over the fort and the town.  With all the stone, it looks like a medieval landscape.

 

 

 

 

The barracks.  Notice the stucco like finish.  According to our guide, this is part of the restoration process going on for the fort.

 

 

 

 

Looking out over the seawall to our ship.  It shows how close we are.  Almost everything in town is within easy walking distance from the pier.

 

 

 

[Baatman]

Great review...again.  When do you sail again.