Canada, Greenland, & Iceland 2022

Today found us tendering in the little town of Seydisfjödur (population 700).  The Viking Mars cruise ship got the docking space.  We took a nice private shore excursion out to the Studlagil Canyon with basalt rocks not unlike Giant's Causeway in Ireland. There were 214 stairs down to the viewing platform and 214 back up.  It was quite the work out.  It was an hour plus drive out there up and over a mountain pass.  And of course, we visited another waterfall and visited a vintage sheep barn (sheep are kept inside during the Icelandic winters).    Speaking of sheep, small groups of 3 or 4 are found everywhere as they are turned loose to wander for the summer. In September or October, they are sheared and put in sheep barns.  Since there are no predators on this volcanic island, the sheep have a pretty easy life.     Our final stop was to visit a Viking church constructed of sod. This is sort of a quandar...

  Today in Akureyri, we did a private excursion with Star Travel organized by a fellow passenger, Jan Day. We met up in the Dutch Café just before 8am and the Hotel General Manager, René, let us go a few minutes before the general announcement that the ship had been cleared and we were free to disembark the ship.     We quickly left the ship and found our guide.     He separated us in two groups: those who wanted the thermal pool experience ($28US per person) and those who didn't.     Our excursion group wanted the thermal pool experience.      With 13 guests and Thomas took us out to Lake Myvatn & Godafoss Falls and much more in a very nice Mercedes van.  It's about a 45 minute drive out there and all the other features are nearby.  Those items included Skútustaõagigar (pseudo craters), Dimmuborgir (lava formations where trolls allegedly live), Hverarönd in Námaskarò (hot springs and steam vents), and a nice soak in the Th...

  I'm glad I resolved the Costco Travel payment issue yesterday as we lost the ship's internet connectivity overnight and it continued all day and evening.     I suspect it has something to do with us being around the Arctic Circle.     Fortunately our T-Mobile free data works in Iceland and we had excellent connectivity all day and well into our sail away.     We woke up this morning, turned on the TV and discovered we were almost at our mooring point in the calm waters of the bay at Isafjödur, Iceland today.  It was chilly and we had a few sprinkles late morning. After tendering in,  we visited the local TI office and picked up a handy booklet (the Prinsendam was on the cover!) that suggested 3 walking tours.     We selected the longest one which was 4km (blue line).  It took us around the inner harbor and up into a residential neighborhood which led to great views of the fjord and bay where the Nieuw Statendam was anchored i...

It's hard to believe that a sea day could be as packed with events and happenings, but this one was. It started with a 9:30am  buzzing of my phone indicating an incoming message. It had been a tough night sleeping and I had finally fell into a very deep sleep.  I groggily remembered that there was a 10am EXC presentation on Canada so I scurried to get ready and met Angela at the Main Stage. The presentation was packed as most are.  It was followed by a reprise of the fjords talk by Dr. Douglas.  Even this presentation was quite full.   From the presentations we met Kathy & Don from Mineral for a nice Lido lunch getting to know each other better. We (Kathy, Angela, and I) attended Dr. Douglas'  Afternoon lecture on Volcanoes, then Angela I attended a meet the Artists featuring Cantaré and hosted by BettyAnn.  We learned that they are training another quartet and they will be on the Westerdam when we sail it to Australia...

  In some ways I hate scenic cruising days.     This is because generally it means getting up early.     And this day didn't deviate from that.  Our  alarm went off at 7am and Angela turned on the bow camera and we listened to BettyAnn's opening message.     It looked cloudy and hazy so we rolled over and dozed for another hour before getting ready for the day. I went to the Lido for my customary breakfast.  The cooks on this ship don't recognize my daily routine just yet after a week, and I have to be very specific about my '2 eggs over broken' request. I still get quizzical looks at my request.   After breakfast I went out in the bow from deck 5 and stayed out there for the next 4 plus hours.  For much of the time I was next to a couple from Texas who are also CPA's.  It turned out the Suzanne and Byron  were employed in the same Haskins & Sells  CPA office in Los Angeles just after...

  Arriving at this picturesque small Greenland town, we were greeted with scenic views and a calm harbor in which to anchor.     Today would be our second tender port.     We weren't in a hurry to depart since it was such a small town and the all aboard time was 5:30pm. After breakfast we gathered our things and headed for the tender platform where we immediately got on board. Qaqortoq is nestled at the end of a small bay.  The town is built on a hillside and there are many colorful houses and other buildings that dot the hillsides.  We were greeted by an older native fellow who was beating a tambourine like instrument and moaning some type of chant.  He did this the entire time we were on shore (over 4 hours) and he had a tip container in front of him.   After an initial cruise through the first gift shop, we started walking the town.  The first thing we encountered was a series of stone carvings in the prominent and...

I first thought I could sleep in on this welcomed sea day.  But the daily program indicated that BettyAnn, our Cruise & Travel Director, would be having a coffee chat at 9am.  So I had to respond to the 8am alarm.   After my customary breakfast, I met Angela up in the Explorations Cafe area where BettyAnn hosted the coffee chat with the hotel General Manager, Rene , who's been with Holland America for 30 years.  Among other things he commented on the company's experiences with mask wearing and the current mandatory indoor mask requirement.  He said that HAL's experience with passengers being compliant with wearing masks correlated with lower Covid infection rates. So for this long voyage they are insisting on mask compliance until Iceland to hopefully control the spread of Covid.  He doesn't want anybody quarantined to their cabin during that time.  He also confirmed that the last cruise had a high Covid infection rate...