Silver Cloud #1918, Circumnavigation of Iceland - Live!

[jpalbny]

Hello and welcome to our live thread! We leave for Logan in a few hours, to catch a red-eye to Keflavik, arriving just before 9AM.

 

Sunday we will do a volcano hike in the afternoon, and then meet up with the Emtbsams and the RachelGs for dinner in Reykjavik.

 

On Monday we embark around noon. Will hopefully be able to keep up with posting a little bit here and there, though this cruise may be busy. So we will see how it goes.

 

We are joining a fair-sized CC group here on Silver Cloud - In addition to Emtbsam and RachelG, we have rich48100 and xrvlcruiser on board. This should be a lot of fun! Hopefully some of them will help me with this trip report; the more the merrier!

 

Here is our planned route:

 

All for now - back to some last-minute tasks like making sure the cameras are charged, emptying all of the SD cards, and making room for new pictures on my laptop by backing up a few previous trips' pictures on the storage drive.

 

More later! Looking forward to meeting everyone, and seeing a few new places in Iceland from one of our favorites - the Cloud. This will be our first time on her since the conversion so we are very excited.

Edited August 3, 2019 by jpalbny

[mysty]

Safe travels and have an awesome sail to JP and Chris and to all the CC cruisers who will be on deck for the adventure!

[WesW]

Echo Mysty’s safe travels and wishing JP & Chris/jpalbny, Rachel & George/RachelG, Victoria & Bob/Emtsbam, Rich & Barbara/Rich48100, Peggy/xvlcruiser, and all Iceland Circumnavigators Fair Winds and Following Seas.

[Stumblefoot]

Thx for starting this thread JP!  Really looking forward to following along this voyage as we’ve never been to Iceland.  Hope everyone has a great time!

[Emtbsam]

Safe travels to you.  

 

We met up with Rich and his wife today on our Golden Circle tour with Hidden Iceland.  We highly recommend this company and our guide Ryan.  He was possibly the best guide we have ever had.  Thanks tomRich for telling us about the tour.  There was another couple on the tour who will be on the Cloud, and there are two other couples at Tower Suites who will be on the Cloud as well.

 

We are really enjoying our time here.  Looking forward to our dinner tomorrow evening.

[spinnaker2]

Hello all and have a terrific time!!!

[Lois R]

JP, will be following along and hope you have a wonderful time

[RachelG]

While I was trying to think of a catchy title for this trip report, JPalbany beat me to the punch.  Very excited to be setting off on the adventure with old and new friends.

 

we are in the Admiral’s Club in DFW, having arrived on time with no drama at all.  It is almost a bit scary— no poisoned or sick pets, no emergency surgery for fractured shoulders or incarcerated hernias, no tornadoes, floods, or blizzards, no missed flights (at least yet).  I am not sure what to think.

 

Last year, when we decided to do this trip, we were happy to learn that AA now has a direct flight from DFW to Reykjavik.  This is our 4th trip to Iceland, and previously it was a long inconvenient slog.  The first two times we had to fly to a city served by Icelandair on a separate reservation since Icelandair doesn’t have any codeshare partners.  The most recent trip, last year, we flew on Delta the entire trip, so better, but still three flights since the flight to Reykjavik on Delta was from JFK, and there is no JFK direct flight from Tulsa.  So this is much better.

 

i had not made specific plans for tomorrow other than we are meeting JP and Chris, Victoria and Bob for dinner.  We will probably just wander around town.  

 

Does anyone want to place bets on who gets yelled at first by a guide for doing something that is unsanctioned?  My money is on George.

[jpalbny]

Hi from Logan! We have flown from here a couple of times but this has been the smoothest by far. We left Albany about 4:20 and got to the Massport garage in Framingham by 6:40. Parked and took a 30 minute bus ride to the terminal.

 

We are all carry-on so we made a brief stop at the check-in desks to confirm. Then through the empty TSA PreCheck line, new this time as Iceland Air now participates. We were in the lounge by 7:45, and the food offerings are good enough for a light dinner. 

 

 

Still about 3h until we leave, but better to be early than late. Looks like Rachel and George leave in an hour, but we land first. It always amazes me how close Iceland is to us.

 

We were pleased to find out that we have lie-flat seats for this flight! Iceland Air doesn't have this, usually, but apparently they have leased a few planes from EuroAtlantic this summer. And we are flying on one of them. Maybe we'll get a little sleep. One can hope!

 

Good night and see you in Keflavik.

[Daveywavey70]

Have an amazing time JP and Chris. Cant wait to follow along. xxxx

 

[drron29]

Have a great trip all of you.Sorry we will not be in Reykjavik to welcome you back but thems the breaks.

looks like a interesting cruise.

[RachelG]

Just arrived in Iceland and waiting for luggage.  JP, lucky you on the lieflat seats.  We never had them on Icelandair.  AA was lie flat, though still a 757.  Met some people who will be on the ship 

[Emtbsam]

Safe travels to you.  

 

We met up with Rich and his wife today on our Golden Circle tour with Hidden Iceland.  We highly recommend this company and our guide Ryan.  He was possibly the best guide we have ever had.  Thanks tomRich for telling us about the tour.  There was another couple on the tour who will be on the Cloud, and there are two other couples at Tower Suites who will be on the Cloud as well.

 

We are really enjoying our time here.  Looking forward to our dinner tomorrow evening.

[Emtbsam]

The ship is here having docked around 7am.  We can see bits of her poking out from behind buildings in the harbor.  We will take a walk over there before going up to visit the church.  If you see two people in red parkas and one in a Silversea cap say “hi”.

[sea lover]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. Enjoy and am looking forward to reading all about it. Elaine

[jpalbny]

Hi from the middle of nowhere!

 

 

We have a few minutes before our hike starts but we got here early to soak it in.

 

 

 Beautiful here, at Inside the Volcano tours.

 

 

The flight over was nice. Didn't sleep much but enjoyed the Icelandic gin selection. A cool surprise. 

 

 

We landed a few minutes early and since we were all carry-on, and we were first through an empty immigration line, we were at Hertz just after 9. On the road by 9:15 and at our hotel by 10:20. No room yet but we used their spa for a shower which was refreshing. 

 

A light brunch at Café Paris followed.

 

 

Then we went hunting for the Cloud! 

 

 

She is beautiful and we are excited to board tomorrow! Even better, she is within walking distance of the hotel. 

 

A wander through Reykjavik to see a few familiar sights. The Althing.

 

 

Reykjavik cathedral 

 

 

Some guy that I should remember.

 

 

And two tourists at a bar.

 

 

Ok, we start hiking in a few minutes, so time to burn some calories. See some of you for dinner!

[Emtbsam]

Have a fun hike.  We stopped by the ship this morning and spoke to the Expedition leader who knew nothing about boarding between noon and 1 pm.  They will do the incline test this evening which entails leaving the pier and pumping water into the ballast tanks on one side and measuring the list and then doing the same on the other side.  Then they will tie up again.  Apparently they were unable to do the test prior to today due to bad weather.

 

 

[silkismom]

Following along, we did parts of Iceland last year on the Azamara Pursuit, but you cover a lot more.

[rich48100]

JP, thanks for starting this thread and looking forward to meeting up with everybody on the ship. Glad JP and Rachel and company had no problems with flights.  Welcome to Iceland, again, and we have been really fortunate with the weather.  It turns out we have about 70 people at the Fosshotel Reykjavik.  It is a nice place, and fortunately we have a room with a view.  Saw the Cloud sailing in today.

 

as for yesterday, glad we met up with Victoria and Bob, and we agree that the tour was a good one. Saw more than I was really expecting, and the weather really cooperated.

 

here are just a few photos from our tour.  Small lagoon, tomato farm with good tomato soup, , nice waterfalls, geysers, and finally one happy geologist able to stand on the mid-Atlantic ridge.  What more could one ask for!!!!

[markham]

Yours seems like an especially spirited and resourceful Silversea cohort! I am going to read about your cruise daily at least. We join on 26 Aug and have not sailed on Cloud. Our only Silversea experience was on Whisper.

 

We look forward to your comments and observations about the onboard hospitality: the service in bars and restaurants, tips on what to eat across the 4 (right?) venues, and the expedition team. 

 

Have a terrific cruise and set a winning, convivial tone for all to enjoy including crew.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[CruisinPashmina]

Thanks for the tour company tip. I’ll be in Iceland a year from now....on The Whisper and will definitely look up Hidden Iceland and will ask for Ryan. Have a wonderful adventure. I’ll be closely following this thread. Love to you and B!

[boblerm]

JP, Chris, and all the others on this voyage, I wish you a wonderful time and look forward to following.  Jeannie and I were booked to do a circumnavigation of Iceland on the Scenic Eclipse next week, but were informed in February that the cruise was cancelled due to shipyard construction delays.  The Eclipse is now due for it's maiden voyage out of Reykjavik on Aug 15.  So instead, we will be  sailing on the Regent Explorer in the Norwegian fjords.  Poor us!😊

Bob

[RachelG]

August 3, 2019–Reykjavik Iceland

 

As stated above, we had a very pleasant and uneventful flight from DFW to Reykjavik.  The 757 has lie flat seats in business class for this route, and I slept well.  Our flight attendant was a very enthusiastic young lady, excited because it was her first ever international flight.  

 

Two of our suitcases, with priority tags, were the first two off the airplane.  But George’s small bag, with his other pair of cowboy boots and his hiking shoes, wasn’t there.  We waited and waited.  More and more bags came off.  I went to the restroom.   He went to the restroom.  We waited some more.  He had just said we needed to go to the lost luggage counter because it wasn’t coming when here, down the beltway comes the last bag, which was his, also with a priority tag.  So all is well.

 

Our taxi driver was quite a talker, and he and George hit it off as we drove the 36 miles through rugged lava fields from the airport to the city.  If you ignored the temperature outside, the landscape would make you think you were driving through lava fields in Hawaii.

 

We are staying at the Hilton Konsulat, which is new and downtown.  We had always previously stayed at the old Hilton, which was nice enough, but either a cab ride or a long walk to get to restaurant, and shopping.  Our room wasn’t ready, but they let us relax and take showers in the spa.

 

We went for lunch at Icelandic Fish and Chips.  This is a tradition for us.  When we first visited, it was located in a sort of run down building, but the food was really good.  Now they have moved into the same building as the Volcano House which is sort of a free volcano museum.  The food is still great as we remembered, and we had Skyr for dessert (my favorite Iceland treat).

 

We walked all over town.  Reykjavik has ballooned in size since our first visit, and things were very busy today with lots of tourists.  I saw my requisite cat of the day, walking boldly in front of the Vietnamese restaurant.  The Icelandic hot dog stand right outside our hotel had a never ending line.  George had to have a sample (cheap, but quick trip hot dogs at home are way better).  We can almost see the ship from our hotel room.

 

Our room is tiny, and with a pitched ceiling such that only I can fit of the right side of the bed hunched over. The bathroom is trendy, with an open shower, which I do NOT prefer and absolutely no cabinet or counter space.  But the bed is comfortable.

 

Dinner at a traditional Icelandic restaurant close to the hotel with JP and Chris, Victoria and Bob was fun and delicious.  It was great catching up with Victoria and Bob and finally meeting JP and Chris in person.  Lots of gruesome medical discussions as well as travel talk.  Victoria and JP had lamb which looked outstanding.  Bob, George and Chris had cod which also looked very nice.  I had a vegetarian dish with cauliflower that was very delicious.  Now time to crash before boarding tomorrow at noon.

[RachelG]

Our tiny hotel room.  George May have a skull fracture if he forgets and stands up straight.

[RachelG]

Very pretty mosaic on the side of a building