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Silver Cloud #1918, Circumnavigation of Iceland - Live!


jpalbny
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August 13th. Stykkishólmur.

 

Last night we were invited to dine at the Captain's table. A nice evening. And the seas were calm despite the strong winds, because it was mainly at the stern.

 

Overnight there was some movement. We were up and on the deck at 6:00 for a sail by the Klakkeyjar Islands. The sky looked dramatic. So did the swells.

 

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The islands were OK but nothing spectacular. Lots of low-lying green land bits. Not much wildlife to be seen. But the cold air felt refreshing. And there were fewer than 10 of us out on deck this morning. 

 

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We went back to bed after an hour and slept until nearly 10:00. There was a lot of motion despite being in a more sheltered bay.

 

We dropped anchor near town, and sent out the zodiacs. Unfortunately it was again too rough to land. So this was the closest we got to Stykkishólmur.

 

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Not a horrible loss for us, as we have been here before. But, this is a great area to explore and we were really excited about our tour today. This northerly weather system has been brutal for our itinerary the past few days and it's been disappointing to miss so much.

 

Such is the nature of expedition cruising. But, there is some grumbling among the passengers. Today at lunch, the people at the table next to us were complaining bitterly about the missed stops, and wondering why Cloud didn't just deploy the tenders if the sea was so rough. Not sure that would have been any easier, but understand their disappointment. 

 

So we pulled up anchor before noon, and we are steaming out towards Reykjavik, I assume. Not sure when we will arrive, as I guess they are still figuring that out. We could theoretically be there by late evening. 

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3 hours ago, zigtraveller said:

Did I miss the name of the executive chef?  I possibly did as I was reading quickly to catch up with you all.  

 

Judith, I don't remember who he was. Have seen him briefly but he keeps a low profile. 

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So, it's now 2:30 and we have left the bay, and we're turning southward around the tip of the Snæfe llsnes peninsula. We're now about 100km from Reykjavik. 

 

Dominic has announced a mid-afternoon briefing and update, with plans for the rest of the day. So we await.

 

Looks like we arrive in Reykjavik at 8:00 tonight. The excursion is an Icelandic buffer at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik. Think we'll stay on board and eat at the Grill, then try to get off at 8:00 tomorrow and grab our rental car early.

 

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Looks  like we will be returning to Reykjavik this evening instead of tomorrow morning since today’s port was cancelled due to bad weather.  They have put together a special dinner at the Grand Hotel for anyone wishing to go.  We will stay on board and have the special meal we planned.

 

We have met some truly nice people on board and renewed friendships with others.  Our trivia team and name that tune team mates have been lots of fun.

 

Safe travels home or on the continuation of the cruise.  Hope our paths cross again.

Edited by Emtbsam
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We were obviously disappointed that we couldn’t make the landing today and do our tour.  Going into a cave and lava tube would have been great fun for this geologist.  Have been in those before, but not in Iceland.  We also Did not go to the special dinner offered by the ship, but just cooled our heels on board.

 

it was certainly great meeting up with RachelG, Rachel and George, emtbsam, Victoria and Bob, and jpalbany, JP and Chris.  Loads of travel amongst those folks and we learned a lot.  Rachel and Victoria and Bob were wonderful and knowledgeable trivia partners, and I couldn’t have gotten my hat without them.

 

Safe travels to them all.

 

We will be staying onboard and going to Greenland.  Hope springs eternal that the weather will be better, and we can do our activities in most of the ports.  I will be starting a new live thread about our trip to Greenland, but it sure won’t be as comprehensive as this Iceland blog.

 

signing off on this blog.

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August 13, 2019–Stykkisholmur, Iceland—again, NOT

 

We have now almost completed the circle, today at the north west end of Iceland on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.  When i awoke, we were sailing through a bunch of low islands, and the sun was shining.  It was still cold outside, but in the 40s rather than the 30s.

 

We weren’t to anchor until 9:30, so I went to Pilates class then got some work done since the WiFi was back to working reasonably well.  This was to be a tender port, but to a pontoon pier, so not a wet landing.  However, by the time the anchor was dropped, the wind had picked up considerably, and there was a high swell, not a good omen.

 

After a bit, Moss came on with the news that we would not be able to land as the wind was just too high.  So it would be a sea day.  Very disappointing, as we were supposed to go to a volcanic crater and a cave today.  I was really looking forward to that excursion.

 

While they prepared to depart, I walked up on the top deck to get my steps.  As soon as the ship started moving, I had to stop, as it was just too windy, but I was almost done anyway.

 

Time to pack, then lunch in La Terraza.  They had added some lectures in the afternoon, and a session of Name that Tune at 4:30.  They announced that we would arrive at the dock in Reykjavik at 7:30 pm.  They had arranged an Icelandic dinner buffet at one of the hotels for 8:30 pm for those who wanted to go.  You had to sign up, and I don’t think many people were interested.  We already had reservations for The Grill (Hot Rocks) and weren’t interested.  For one thing, I hate eating that late, and we have to get up early the next morning.  Plus,we hadn’t eaten at Hot Rocks for dinner yet this voyage.  

 

We had an excellent meal at Hot Rocks.  George doesn’t generally like cooking his own meal but it was delicious. And the  company was great.

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JP, Jeannie and I just caught up with this wonderful thread, as we are cruising now.  I am so impressed with the narrative and photos that you and your fellow cruisers have provided.  I am also impressed with the fact that you have included all the punctuation in the Icelandic names, like Isafjörđur.  Random question- did you copy and paste the names, or do you know the secret mysterious keyboard shortcuts?🤔

Bob

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5 minutes ago, boblerm said:

Random question- did you copy and paste the names, or do you know the secret mysterious keyboard shortcuts?🤔

 

Thanks Bob! The Samsung keyboard has shortcuts to all of those non-English letters. Just long-press on the nearest English look-alike. It is so much easier than a computer keyboard.

 

I do almost all of my live posts on the phone these days. Opened my laptop only once, to download pictures from our cameras when we were bored yesterday. And every picture in this report was taken with my cell phone too. It's so convenient. 

 

Iceland had good cell coverage everywhere we stopped. It was generally more reliable, and faster, to upload pictures from shore via a cell signal. The upload speed of the ship's WiFi was quite poky. So, another reason to not bother with the laptop.

 

This was a good trip,  made even better by the great CC group we had along with us. Missing them already.

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7 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

The Samsung keyboard has shortcuts to all of those non-English letters. Just long-press on the nearest English look-alike. It is so much easier than a computer keyboard.

OMG! I have been using a Samsung phone for I don't know how many years, and was never aware of this.  Duh! 

Thanks for the tip!  You can learn a lot on Cruise Critic!

 

9 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

The upload speed of the ship's WiFi was quite poky. So, another reason to not bother with the laptop.

I am on the Regent Explorer now, the WiFi has been so-so.  I find that it is impossible to upload a full resolution photo, but I use a photo resizer app that greatly reduces file size without any perceptible (to me)loss of quality.

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Yesterday afternoon there were some lectures and we alternated between laps on the top deck, and lectures. We skillfully avoided the suitcases, which had magically levitated out from under the bed.

 

We saw Snæfellsjökull, from afar, covered in clouds.

 

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The seas stayed rough until we approached Reykjavik around 7:00. Before then the photographer showed his DVD which was great, and it's now complimentary. So we still had OBC to use for wine!

 

Then the expedition staff lined up to say goodbye. The size of the staff is double that of Explorer. Good, except at the end of 10 days you have not met a lot of them.

 

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Dinner at Hot Rocks again, with Rachel and George, and a couple we hadn't met yet, Leslie and Brad. Much fun, and much wine. We ended up there until after 10:00, and then had to pack.

 

It wasn't as bad as I'd expected, and the suitcases were out just after 11:00. Bed time!

 

Wednesday, August 14th. Disembarkation.

 

So, the day had come. We were up by 7:00 and showered, then grabbed a snack in Panorama. We left our carry-ons there and did some laps on the deck while waiting for our tags to be called. And then I remembered! 

 

I had never picked up our passports from reception yesterday! A mad dash there. They were amused. I was relieved. 

 

Then we were off. A short walk to grab our suitcases, which are heavier now. They will need to be checked, because there's a bottle of Dom in one of them.

 

We waited for Hertz until 9:15 then they appeared, and we were on the road shortly thereafter. 

 

We stopped in Hafnarfjörđur, which is special to me for personal reasons. We went to a park called Hellisgerđi first, with a fountain and a cute pond.

 

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Then the main town. Cute little church with a reflecting pool.

 

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We walked the harbor a bit. The weather was glorious!

 

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Ponant's Le Champlain was in port. Where was this weather last week?

 

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Oh well. One more park, to see the odd sculptures at Víðistaðatún. Not sure what this was, but it looked cool sitting there on this raw lava landscape. 

 

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It was after 11:00 but we weren't hungry yet, despite the delicious smells coming from a local bakery. The fish and chips hut have me ideas too.

 

So we drove out past the airport, to the tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula, to another old favorite. The old lighthouse at Garđur.

 

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Cute setting. Now it was after noon, so we decided to check out the local restaurant here. A table with a view, and we were the only ones here.

 

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We had to pay for our drinks, though... Ouch!

 

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Fish and chips. Good thing we shared!

 

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Super crunchy crust, tasty cod, and hand-cut fries. Almost worth the $20 it cost.

 

The local museum was supposed to open at 1:00 but it hadn't opened by 1:15, so we had a few more minutes to enjoy the scenery. 

 

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There was a boat outside that you could climb on. But the wind was picking up, and it felt chilly. Clouds coming in too.

 

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We have up on the museum, and went back to the airport and returned the car, then walked to the terminal. I'd checked in yesterday without issues, but now my boarding pass had SSSS. Ugh. My turn, I guess.

 

So we bought some Icelandic gin at duty free, then went to the Saga lounge. Nice place. OK food and plenty of wine.

 

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It looks like Silver Cloud at the moment. Everyone has a backpack and a jacket like ours!

 

Still 90 minutes before our flight leaves. Hope the special secondary security screening isn't too annoying. More later, if they let me through! 

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@rich48100

 

We flew over Greenland about 30 minutes ago. It was mostly clear between Iceland and Greenland. We got some shots of the southern part.

 

The east coast is fairly snowy. And there are a few clouds. But the mountain tops do poke through. 

 

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The rocky coastline was really clear, on the southwest coast.

 

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Now that we're further west over the Labrador Sea, it's cloudy again. Hope your weather is favorable! 

 

 

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Great photos and reporting as usual. Many thanks.

 

Two photos I took in Reykjavik (one of the Viking boat, the other the view of the harbour from the church viewing area), feature in 36" framed pictures in our log cabin. Brought back memories. 

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We awoke at 7 am and were off the ship by 8.  A good thing as there were NO taxis at all.  There were a bunch of people waiting for taxis but no taxis.  The first time I have ever seen this happen.  We called a taxi with my phone which somehow now magically worked in Iceland.  George’s phone, which is the one with international calling continues not to work.

 

eventually a taxi turned up, and we made it to the airport with plenty of time.  My boarding pass also included the dreaded SSSS, so maybe they are picking on CC’ers.  Then going through security, the X-ray machine alarmed.  The only metal at all on my person was the titanium plate and pins in my shoulder.  Most airports are totally fine with it, but a few (LaGuardia comes to mind, and now Iceland apparently) treat me like the unibomber.  I was thoroughly searched, poked and prodded.  

 

Then the SSSS treatment.  Our flight was fine, but then going through global entry and immigration the facial recognition system printed out someone else’s picture and information.  And I couldn’t go back through, as the system already had me as going through.  So it took 2 customs agents to try and figure out what was going on.  They never really resolved it, but let me through.  What the heck?!

 

then my TSA precheck wasn’t’ On my boarding pass for Tulsa, so i had to go in the regular line.  George is just laughing at me.

 

Edited by RachelG
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Wow, Rachel! What a pain for you today.as well. And once you get SSSS, it voids TSA PreCheck for everything subsequent. So weird! I swear that was not on my boarding pass when I checked in yesterday. Didn't see it until.today.

 

Next time that happens, you should just give George your carry-ons. 

 

My SSSS stupidity wasn't a big deal. Just that it split up Chris and me once we went through immigration at Keflavik. I couldn't get through the computerized gates right afterwards, so I got pushed into a 20-minute line for that screening. Chris breezed through. 

 

Useless. After an eternity they thoroughly swabbed my.bags, laptop, camera, hands, socks, clothes, and every compartment in every bag for explosives. And inside my shoes too. Highly efficient use of everybody's time.

 

Chris was already into her first glass of bubbly when I finally boarded. Luckily she had closed our overhead bin so there was still room for my backpack. The rest of the flight is going well. And no connection, so no worries about her having TSA PreCheck, and not me.

 

I'm glad it was me today and not her. She's been "randomly" selected way more than I have. Its making her not want to travel any more.

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First I want to say this has been a terrific thread.  Wife and I have had 2 land trips to Iceland (one a layover) and until I followed here I had no idea how much we had missed.  Going down in a volcano!  Those bridal falls you hiked up! & more...  It is definitely time to start cruising.

But second, this SSSS thing sounds awful.  Of course the US needs to do what we can to stop terrorists, but this seems over the top.  People who just cruised around Iceland & had a little wine on the way??  Why SSSS??  I had to search on Bing to even see what SSSS meant.

Anyway, I hope your trips home go well the rest of the way, thanks for the posts, and welcome home.

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Ok, JP, Brad and I all got the special SSSS treatment today.  And we all had dinner together last night.  That is just too weird.  Do they think we are a terrorist cell disguised as cruisers?  And really, two of us are doctors with active medical licenses in the US.

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31 minutes ago, RachelG said:

Ok, JP, Brad and I all got the special SSSS treatment today.  And we all had dinner together last night.  That is just too weird.  Do they think we are a terrorist cell disguised as cruisers?  And really, two of us are doctors with active medical licenses in the US.

 

Wow. Now the stranger question is, which Silversea staff member is a TSA spy?

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Just to add to the amusement, Bob had the dreaded SSSS also!

 

Our flight was uneventful, but somehow, we missed a turn coming out of Dulles and ended up driving straight through downtown DC.  Not fun without GPS.  We got home around 11pm.

 

i will have some final comments about the cruise once I have settled in at home.

 

It was great fun traveling with everyone.  Hope we can do it again some time soon.

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Probably the SSSS thing is due to a disgruntled Iceland Air employee who has got the TSA treatment often handed out to us foreigners and just wanted a few Americans to experience a similiar thing.😀😉

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18 hours ago, RachelG said:

Ok, JP, Brad and I all got the special SSSS treatment today.  And we all had dinner together last night.  That is just too weird.  Do they think we are a terrorist cell disguised as cruisers?  And really, two of us are doctors with active medical licenses in the US.

No, no, no... they just know ALL Americans are packin’ heat and likely to start shootin’ at any moment. 😉

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