Live From the Summit, 8/7 to 8/31, from an Aqua passenger viewpoint

[jwattle]

16 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

After we left a little after 10 am, it turned out to be a beautiful day, especially since most of the 3.5 hours was in a bus, with only one stop! But for $69 per person, we felt it was a pretty good deal! 😁

 

But for those folks waiting for a taxi after getting their luggage, they weren’t having such a good time. From our estimate a taxi was coming every minute or two while we were sitting in the bus waiting to start our drive around Reykjavik.

 

  

 
With regards to our tour as I mentioned earlier, it was sold out.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

We stopped at Perlman’s Wonders of Iceland museum where we were able to take pictures from the 4th floor with a 360 degree view!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of wildlife!!😃

[TraderSam]

I just want to say thank you @KenTheCruiser for  your ongoing report. I’ve been enjoying following you and @Jim_Iain so much that I’ve booked us a 6 day trip to Reykyavik for late November. 🤭🤣I have always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis so it would be great if that could be ticked off my bucket list on the trip. No guarantees, I know but I’m keeping all my fingers crossed.🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

 

As for Cruise Directors, we last had Giuseppe on Reflection and he was absolutely marvellous.👌🏻

 

I think previously, we had Liam?🤔 on Solstice. 

Does anyone know where he is these days? I haven’t seen his name mentioned by others. 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Just found out a little while ago they have canceled our stop at Isafjordur, Iceland as it’s a tender port and high winds and seas are forecasted for tomorrow. Luckily, we had an expensive Celebrity zodiac cruise booked that we were going to cancel anyway due to the weather.
 

I have to say, though, that’s one thing nice about booking Celebrity excursions when stuff happens. They get automatically cancelled and the funds go back to our account, no questions asked. I know some folks like private excursions and that’s cool. But this is one reason we like booking cruise line excursions, low stress when stuff happens. 😁

 

Due to the itinerary change, there is now a sea day on the way to Akureyri, Iceland.

   

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Does anyone know what this Icelandic bug is? We’ve seen 2 of them since we arrived in Reykjavik. 
 

[middlehaitch]

It's a Limonia AKA a crane fly. That is the first time I remembered to use Google Lens to identify something in a picture.

 

Cheers, h.🥂

(A silent but appreciative follower) 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after a tasty dinner in Blu, the now 4 of us had to change our show strategy, so we went to the True or False Game Show with the new Activities Manager, Emily.

  

 

  

Then it was off to the 8:45 pm evening show to watch C&W singer Patrick McMahon, who once again produced a great show!!

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 2 - Aug 20 - Sea day

 

  

  

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just found out a little while ago they have canceled our stop at Isafjordur, Iceland as it’s a tender port and high winds and seas are forecasted for tomorrow. Luckily, we had an expensive Celebrity zodiac cruise booked that we were going to cancel anyway due to the weather.
 

I have to say, though, that’s one thing nice about booking Celebrity excursions when stuff happens. They get automatically cancelled and the funds go back to our account, no questions asked. I know some folks like private excursions and that’s cool. But this is one reason we like booking cruise line excursions, low stress when stuff happens. 😁

 

Due to the itinerary change, there is now a sea day on the way to Akureyri, Iceland.

   

 

It looks like the Captain has decided to head east and go counterclockwise around Iceland to get to Akureyri to avoid the bad weather near Isafjordur.

 

[Bill Miller]

Sailing with Alejandro. Most energetic and awesome. On sea days he frequently gives a presentation on how he came to work on cruise ships. He will also explain why Argentinian soccer is superior to the folks from Brazil. Very entertaining and moving.

[jwlane]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 to avoid the bad weather near Isafjordur.

Smart move.  Island Princess is getting hammered by near gale winds and 3.6m seas heading to Greenland.

[Lastdance]

On 8/9/2022 at 10:35 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

We went for our walk around the track above the pool area and happily we only felt a few sprinkles. But we were still able to see some wildlife which is always a plus for us. 😁

 

 

 

Like I said, we’re easily amused! 😂

 

if you see another...it has been all over the news and creating havoc killing trees!  People are being asked to kill these types of bugs...sorry, I forgot the name!  Just do not bring one back with you!

Edited August 19, 2022 by Lastdance

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Smart move.  Island Princess is getting hammered by near gale winds and 3.6m seas heading to Greenland.

Wow! Hopefully the weather will calm down for them soon as that doesn’t sound like much fun at all. I heard a lot of work (pounding on the hull) going on when we were anchored near them the other day. Hopefully they also got all of those issues resolved as well.

[cruzingnut]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It looks like the Captain has decided to head east and go counterclockwise around Iceland to get to Akureyri to avoid the bad weather near Isafjordur.

 

 

Smart move when you look at the wind (knots) and the wave heights (meters) for that area!

 

Linda R.

[miched]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Wow! Hopefully the weather will calm down for them soon as that doesn’t sound like much fun at all. I heard a lot of work (pounding on the hull) going on when we were anchored near them the other day. Hopefully they also got all of those issues resolved as well.

If you photograph a bug or plant using a IPHone hit the “i”  icon at the top right of the page of the photo near the trash symbol.  It will open up a small window to identify it or look up.    Don’t know about other type of phones.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited August 20, 2022 by miched

[Norwaylady]

Good morning! 
Did you take a stroll outside or had a quiet evening on your balcony to seek for aurora borealis/ northern lights? 
It was a decent forecast last night 77% chances in your area☺️
 

if you want a good aurora app, The university in Svalbard has their own. 
AuroraForecast 3d. 
 

Due to the solar storm, we had 2 evenings/nights this week in Oslo🥳🥳 we’re you could see it🇳🇴 That’s extremely early in season for us and it’s not normal for Oslo. 
Wishing you best of luck if your hunting for northern lights🫶🏻
attached is a foto I took during new year’s weekend in Longyearbyen this year. 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, cruzingnut said:

 

Smart move when you look at the wind (knots) and the wave heights (meters) for that area!

 

Linda R.

Thanks!! That definitely paints the picture, and we sure don’t envy the folks on the Island Princess! 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

Good morning! 
Did you take a stroll outside or had a quiet evening on your balcony to seek for aurora borealis/ northern lights? 
It was a decent forecast last night 77% chances in your area☺️
 

if you want a good aurora app, The university in Svalbard has their own. 
AuroraForecast 3d. 
 

Due to the solar storm, we had 2 evenings/nights this week in Oslo🥳🥳 we’re you could see it🇳🇴 That’s extremely early in season for us and it’s not normal for Oslo. 
Wishing you best of luck if your hunting for northern lights🫶🏻
attached is a foto I took during new year’s weekend in Longyearbyen this year. 

Thanks for the advice and wonderful picture!!! It reminded me of the nights in late October when I was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska back in the early 70s. 😁
 

Here’s a link my DW uses to get a 30 minute probability forecast. It was actually orange during the day on Aug 18, but later in the evening it was green again. But remember, it’s only a 30 minute forecast tool.

 
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast

Edited August 20, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, miched said:

If you photograph a bug or plant using a IPHone hit the “i”  icon at the top right of the page of the photo near the trash symbol.  It will open up a small window to identify it or look up.    Don’t know about other type of phones.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Now you have us curious. I tried what you asked on my iPad, and here’s what popped up when I pulled up a picture in my photo gallery. 🤔
 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[TraderSam]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Does anyone know what this Icelandic bug is? We’ve seen 2 of them since we arrived in Reykjavik. 
 

In Scotland, we call these Daddy Long Legs! 😁Harmless, but annoying inside the house.

[Ken the cruiser]

This morning after breakfast in Blu we headed over to the theater to watch a lecture by Orly Orlyson, which was quite interesting and a lot of fun. 
 
 

 

 

 First discovered Iceland in the 860s

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Even though we won’t be stopping at Isafjordur today, it has turned out to be a comfortable day at sea with a temperature around the low 50s when sitting out on the balcony. Perfect weather to watch for whales or anything else that moves on the water! 😁

 

[miched]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Now you have us curious. I tried what you asked on my iPad, and here’s what popped up when I pulled up a picture in my photo gallery. 🤔
 

Here is what I get    When I hit the info icon.   It show a leaf symbol and next to it look up.   I wanted to identify they type of grass it was so I could apply the right type of plant killer 

 

It als works for me with insects, animals and etc

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Ken the cruiser]

17 minutes ago, miched said:

Here is what I get    When I hit the info icon.   It show a leaf symbol and next to it look up.   I wanted to identify they type of grass it was so I could apply the right type of plant killer 

 

It als works for me with insects, animals and etc

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Cool! If I might ask, what version of the iPhone or iPad do you have? I’m just wondering if the Photo Gallery app has been updated to include that “Look Up” function on the newer versions? 

[Ken the cruiser]

55 minutes ago, miched said:

Here is what I get    When I hit the info icon.   It show a leaf symbol and next to it look up.   I wanted to identify they type of grass it was so I could apply the right type of plant killer 

 

It als works for me with insects, animals and etc

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

35 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Cool! If I might ask, what version of the iPhone or iPad do you have? I’m just wondering if the Photo Gallery app has been updated to include that “Look Up” function on the newer versions? 

OK, you’ve got me into the testing mode now. 😂 I noticed when I looked at my photos in the photo gallery, there was a star attached to the “I” like in the below picture. However, if I subsequently edit the picture or transfer to my iPad, the star disappears. However, if the star is there, the Look Up function is available. Now I just have to take a picture of an animal or plant large enough where I don’t have to edit it.

 

Like I said earlier, it doesn’t take much to entertain me, especially when I’m sitting on the balcony out in the middle of the ocean on a pretty day! 😂😂

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[lexmiller]

14 hours ago, Lastdance said:

if you see another...it has been all over the news and creating havoc killing trees!  People are being asked to kill these types of bugs...sorry, I forgot the name!  Just do not bring one back with you!

Lantern fly!  Yes, very bad!