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

[SailorJack]

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 11:52 AM, h20skibum said:

 

We did that trip last year, except we left from San Francisco.  Be prepared for the first couple sea days to be cool, and seas a little rough.  Most people don’t realize that, thinking warm in CA, warm in HI, and they forget cool weather clothes. 

 

It willbe the same on the return trip. 

 

 

Thanks for the heads up.  We will be sure to pack a sweater or two.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

Our first view of the port of  Reykjavik.  Waters were really rough, but once we got near shore the waves smoothed out.

 

 

 

 

We even got an escort into port.

 

 

Our first view of the town. Not overwhelming from this point of view, but once we got into downtown it proved to be quite nice.

 

 

 

 

 

[ecslady]

On 12/17/2018 at 1:41 PM, stevea36 said:

RCI Just released the 2020 version of this trip.   It will be on Brilliance of the Seas, 15 nights, from Amsterdam to Boston, Leaving on September 2, 2020.

I🙂

 

 

On 12/17/2018 at 3:09 PM, flamingos said:

BOOKED for 2020!!!!    Brilliance of the Seas, sailing September 2.

 

 

Come check out the roll call  if you haven't.

 

[SailorJack]

Just before going ashore we were treated to a very nice rainbow. The day ashore alternated between brief periods of blue sky and sun and gusts of cold wind and rain.

 

 

 

This is the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center.  Relatively new, the first concert was held in 2011. This is also where the shuttle drops you off.  You can buy a shuttle ticket at the pier for $10 and it takes you from the pier to the Harpa.  After you finish touring the city you come back to the Harpa to catch the shuttle back to the ship.

 

 

Just around the corner from the Harpa is a very nice grassy hill.  Our guide told us that during the summer is a popular spot to come and sunbathe. At the very top of the hill is a statue of the Founder of Iceland.

 

 

[pacruise804]

2 hours ago, SailorJack said:

Just before going ashore we were treated to a very nice rainbow. The day ashore alternated between brief periods of blue sky and sun and gusts of cold wind and rain.

 

 

 

 

❤️ this picture!

[BigNance]

Your pictures have been awesome!  That last one is gorgeous!! Makes me think we need to add this itinerary to our list!

 

[ecslady]

4 hours ago, SailorJack said:

 This is also where the shuttle drops you off.  You can buy a shuttle ticket at the pier for $10 and it takes you from the pier to the Harpa.  After you finish touring the city you come back to the Harpa to catch the shuttle back to the ship.

 

 

Was it $10 one way for the shuttle or round trip?

[SailorJack]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 11:41 AM, stevea36 said:

RCI Just released the 2020 version of this trip.   It will be on Brilliance of the Seas, 15 nights, from Amsterdam to Boston, Leaving on September 2, 2020.

 

Itinerary is:

Amsterdam

Sea

Bergen, Norway

Geiranger, Norway, Sea

Akureyri, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland (overnight)

Sea

Cruise Prins Christian Sound

Qaqortoq, Greenland

Nuuk, Greenland

Sea

Sea

Sea

Boston.

 

I was able to book a 2B Hump balcony this morning, with a refundable deposit, for 3852 pp (less any C&A Discount you may have).   This compares to over $8000 pp for the lone remaining balcony on the 2019 version.

 

Sailor, how does this itinerary compare to yours?   Dropping canada is no biggie for me as I will be doing a canada/ne cruise in October 2019.

 

My biggest issue is that I will need 16 nights to get to Diamond and their changing this to 15 is "forcing" me to take another cruise.  (maybe I can talk the DW into doing an 8 night in a JS to get us Diamond before this sailing 🙂 )

 

Steve

 

 

Looks like a great itinerary.  It starts off in Amsterdam instead of Copenhagen, but I enjoy both cities equally. Bergen is a great port and you will like it. Our cruise did not visit it, but we flew in and spent a few days before heading for Copenhagen. Your two stops in Iceland are the same as we took.  You can see most things in Akureyri by foot, but consider taking the Golden Circle tour in Reykjavik. It is an all day tour and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very popular and we heard that it was sold out by the time we reached Reykjavik. At one stop ( the geothermal power plant) there were 11 buses! We were two days in Reykjavik and some of our friends took the Golden Circle on the second day ( as did we) and did the Blue Lagoon thing on the first day.  We had done the lagoon a few years ago and it is one of the "must do" things for most tourists. You have another port in Norway and in Greenland and I don't know anything about those.

 

I think I preferred our itinerary a little better, but only because as a Canadian who had never been to Nova Scotia, I enjoyed seeing that part of the country. That said, your itinerary meets the two main criteria we had for taking the cruise  - Iceland and Greenland.  I know you will enjoy it and you got a great price - less than we paid! I will be interested in hearing about Nuuk.  Qaqortoq was the smallest port we had ever visited and the part of my review about Qaqortoq was not exaggerated - it was tiny!

 

One of the highlights of the cruise will be sailing the Prins Christian sound.  It was stunning! Try and get a table near a window that day to get some fantastic views and pictures. I can't remember how long exactly it took to go through the sound, but it was  around 3 plus hours - maybe more, I just can't remember. We were lucky to get a good table as others had to go up on deck (where it was cold) to get their photos. If you shoot video go up on deck when the ship reaches the main glacier.  The captain spun the ship around 360 degrees and that should make an awesome video shoot.

 

Sorry about being forced to take another cruise!

 

Hope all this helps a little.  Enjoy your cruise.  I wouldn't mind doing it again, myself.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

This is the one of the downtown parks. That is the founder statue at the top. We were told that during the summer the park is crowded with sunbathers, picnickers, and children.  During the winter months, not so much.

 

 

 

One of the first things we noticed in the city was the construction.  It was everywhere.  We were told that this is going to be a very large Marriott hotel.

 

 

 

Older buildings were being refurbished. Another sign that a Iceland is experiencing growth.

 

[SailorJack]

One of the many things that impressed us here was the fact that the city sponsored free walking tours.  This was the group that we joined for a most informative tour.

 

 

They may be hard to see, but the two people in the upper window seemed to be saying "Tourists!"

 

 

 

Things are very expensive in Iceland and discount stores thrive.  The sale of liquor is the sole responsibility of the government and this is one of their outlets.  Note that all parking spaces are occupied!

 

 

 

One of the main streets in downtown.  Notice the lack of tall buildings.

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

This is the office of the Prime Minister of Iceland. Our guide told us that he can often be seen through the second story window working in his office.  The building used to be a prison and the Prime Minister's office used to be a holding cell for the most dangerous prisoners.

 

 

This is Gimli house.  Gimli refers to the legends of middle earth.  The house dates to 1905 and is one of the oldest concrete houses in Ireland.

 

 

 

Of course their are newer buildings as witnessed by the city's Casino.

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

On ‎12‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 10:31 AM, pacruise804 said:

 

❤️ this picture!

 

We had just gone up on the top deck and spotted it.  It was a magnificent scene.  Here is a close up of it.  Not as nice, but brings the farm house up close.

 

 

[pacruise804]

This picture is great too.  The rainbow looks so close!

[SailorJack]

Children in traditional Icelandic garb.

 

 

 

 

Artwork on the buildings seems to be a favorite Nordic tradition.  We have see it in every port we have visited so far.

 

 

 

 

As we saw at the Botanical Gardens, flowers are still blooming this late in the year - amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

On ‎12‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 12:44 PM, ecslady said:

 

Was it $10 one way for the shuttle or round trip?

 

 

Sorry to take so long in getting back to you.  The $10 is for both ways.  Make sure you don't lose the ticket! The ticket has a stub on both ends.  They tear one stub off when you board to go into town and the other stub when you board the bus to go back to the ship.  We actually had to wait quite a while for the buses as they did not start running until 9:00 AM. As most of us were excited to go into town and got off the ship early we had a rather long wait for the bus.

 

Enjoy your visit.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

Some last photos of downtown Reykjavik before heading back to the ship to end our first day here and to get ready for our Golden Circle tour tomorrow - which we are REALLY looking forward to. (I know, never end a sentence with a preposition!)

 

 

 

Another new hotel going up.  We actually saw three hotels under construction - another sign of the burgeoning tourist business in Iceland.

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2018 by SailorJack
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas

[SailorJack]

We are on our Golden Circle tour and the contrast from city to countryside is stunning.  Here you see the mile after mile of lava fields covered with lichen and everywhere pouring out of the earth.

 

 

 

 

Pipes snaking their way across the countryside delivering boiling hot water/steam to towns and cities.  Notice the complete lack of trees anywhere.

 

 

 

 

We are nearing our first stop on the tour - the largest geothermal plant in the world.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by SailorJack

[SailorJack]

Entrance to the Hellisheid Geothermal Power Plant - one of the largest in the world.

 

 

 The pictures cannot come close to describing power being generated by this plant - located in the middle of nowhere.

 

 

Look at all the pipes in the background - providing power to cities and towns in southern Iceland.

 

 

 

[critterchick]

On 11/12/2018 at 11:38 AM, SailorJack said:

 

 

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.

 

I have Google Maps and T-Mobile, which had just added Greenland to its free data plan. 😄

[SailorJack]

The main entrance to the power plant. The building had to be relatively new as it was in pristine condition.

 

 

We were the 6th bus to arrive that morning, but by the time we left there were 20.  Now the bus ride out of Reyjavik was close to two hours and assuming an average of 50 people on a bus that meant that there were approximately 1000 people visiting the power plant after a two hour bus ride and there was 1 bathroom for each sex. The wait to get into the ladies room was nearly as long as the bus ride.

 

The power plant had interactive video displays and graphic images of how the plant worked.  This layout showed how the plant was nestled in between volcanoes and lava beds.

 

 

[BigNance]

There were likely no women architects on that design team.............

[SailorJack]

 We are back on the bus and heading to our next stop which is said to be a field of geysers. On the way we continue to pass  vast stretches  of barren land. I wouldn't be surprised in the national plant of Iceland is Lichen as it is everywhere - growing on the lava beds.

 

 

Lots of greenhouses as we were told that the growing season is to short to really plant crops outdoors.

 

 

 

Every few miles we passed an isolated farm house.

 

 

Hay bales ready for shipment.

 

 

[lakelorain]

I was on there that day. There were also restrooms on another floor with multiple stalls.  No wait.

 

Edited December 29, 2018 by lakelorain

[SailorJack]

On ‎12‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 10:31 AM, pacruise804 said:

 

❤️ this picture!

 

 

Thanks...good to be in the right place at the right time.

[SailorJack]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 1:09 PM, flamingos said:

BOOKED for 2020!!!!    Brilliance of the Seas, sailing September 2.

 

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

CRUISING

BERGEN, NORWAY

GEIRANGER, NORWAY

CRUISING

AKUREYRI, ICELAND

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND

CRUISING PRINS

CHRISTIAN SUND(CRUISE)

QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND

NUUK, GREENLAND

CRUISING

CRUISING

CRUISING

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 

 

 

Have a great voyage...wish I was going along.  It is a wonderful itinerary and I would love to do it again some time.

 

Jack