Iceland cruise Epiblog

This was a great cruise with exceptionally good weather in Iceland. The 4 sea days and 2 half days were not so good with fewer educational  activities than expected, although Icelander  Orly Orlyson was very interesting and entertaining. We saw more of the evening shows than usual and they were all good. Covid precautions did not interfere with our enjoyment but it would have been nice to see the crew without their compulsory face masks. The food was good in the main restaurant and top deck seaview cafe. We thought the $70pp cover charge in the speciality restaurants was exorbitant and only had 1 lunch in the Porch on the lawn deck. We were in Scotland when the Queen died so we will always remember that. We crossed the Arctic circle and saw the Northern lights, two more experiences to tick off the bucket list.

Home

Up at 6:30 to be off the ship before 8:00. Car popped up a low tyre pressure alert on the M3. Stopped at McDonald's for breakfast to check if tyres were OK. Arrived home at 2:00 pm.

Last day cruising to Southampton

Another full day at sea but today had sunny intervals and warm enough for me to have half an hour in the outdoor jacuzzi.

The shops had bottles of Roe and Co Irish whiskey so I had to get one of those.  We packed quite early, cases to be out by 10:00. Rosemary gave Pantak our steward a hug.

We called in to future cruises office and paid a deposit for 2 more cruises to be decided in the next 90 days. The theatre production was a spectacular acrobatic and large inflatable sea creatures theme.  Loin of pork and Irish stew.

Glasgow and Greenock

We berth in Greenock for a day trips to Glasgow and the Lochs. It looks like it will be dry and cloudy today. After a lazy start we just caught the train into Glasgow Central and had a couple of hours on the pedestrianised Buchanan St. We had a lovely cream tea at The Ivy with Glasgow's young and trendy before taking a train back. We were treated to pipes and drums band on the quay as we sailed away on grey drizzly afternoon for another day at sea.

The Queen died today, we had a minutes silence and the National Anthem was played. The entertainment carried on later but the ship was noticeably quieter and musicians played slower stuff. It was smart chic night, beef wellington and duck (overcooked).

Sea day heading South

Grey, windy and rocky is the best description of the day. We needed a good rest after some late nights and full days so perfect conditions. Captain announced that the Covid rate had risen to 3% and masks were handed out for theatre goers. Comedy magician show, red snapper and chicken Kiev.

Reykjavik City tour

We got up early and took the expensive (£10 each) port shuttle into the city of Reykjavik to walk around the compact central area. Dropped off at the ultra modern concert hall, then walked over to the nearby founders statue, then up rainbow street to the dramatic futuristic  cathedral, bakery/coffee house and finally the Viking sun voyager boat sculpture. The cinnamon bun at the bakery was awesome. A quick shop for chocolate and fridge magnets then we caught the last shuttle back to port and sailed away at 11:30am. Perfect blue skies again for relaxing round the pool where the Pina Colada and Mudslide cocktails from the pool bar were awesome.  We were tempted to have a pre-lunch burger from the mast grill. Did some relaxing whale watching in the sun on the balcony till we turned south, no whales spotted. Lots of steam jets were visible on the very volcanicaly active Reykjavik peninsular, where the blue lagoon is located, but no sign of smoke from the lava fields. Dinner was taken in the Sea view cafe for a change.

Reykjavik and Golden Circle Tour

 We sailed into Reykjavik at noon after spotting a whale in the bay from the seaview cafe, then we immediately joined a Viator excursion to the Thingvellir rift valley national park, followed by the impressive Gullfoss waterfall and the nearby Geysers. Perfect day again, no layers needed, we even had to swap busses because the air conditioning was not working. It was a long 7hr excursion and we returned exhausted after our late night aurora viewing and 15000+ tourist paces. Lots of photos were taken and we finished with a drive through the city, arriving back on board at 8:30 just in time for dinner.

Northern Lights

We have been hoping to see the northern lights while up north and were

treated with a show while cruising from Akureyri to Reykjavik close to the Artic circle again. It was after midnight before the skies cleared and we were able to make out the streaks of Aurora. A bit underwhelming in real time to be honest, but photographs with long exposure bring out the expected coloured display. The pool deck was too bright for serious viewing and it was technically only twilight. It was also very cold on top deck despite layers of clothes and we needed frequent hot coffee in the seaview cafe before giving up at about 1:15am. Another experience to tick off.

Akureyri for Godfoss water fall

Unfortunately the weather did not allow us to see the northern light show but I was awake the catch the great sunrise photo before we docked at 8:00am. We booked an excursion with Celebrity which took us through some beautiful scenery to a traditional turf house and then to the Godfoss waterfall one of Iceland's top 3. The weather was perfect, sunny, blue sky and warm. In fact too warm for the layers of clothes we were wearing for the expected Icelandic autumn. Even the botanical gardens were full of summer flowers in full bloom. No autumn colours yet.

Second day at sea

A grey calm day at sea. Time to chill out and have a seafood meal in the Porch restaurant. The temperature is dropping and heaters and blankets were needed to eat on the top deck. I spotted one Dolphin today in 3 hrs of whale watching. The Icelandic easy coast looks very rugged. We arrive in North Iceland in the early hours and cross into the Arctic circle before entering the fjord to cruise down to Akureyri.I am planning to try and catch the northern lights if the sky is clear enough in the early hours. A good solar storm is predicted peaking tonight but the weather forecast is not good.

First full sea day.

We have two days to get to Iceland and this is the first and rather wet day at sea. We had a very interesting Icelandic speaker, Orly  Orlyson, on board. He gave two good talks on Icelandilc Explorers and how his tiny home town, Husavic, almost won an Oscar for best original song in 2020. We passed St. Kilda, the most Westerly point in UK, just before lunch. Restaurants very busy as no one is round the pool today. Aurora forecast for Sunday night is very promising 6 - fingers crossed. Invite to captains club party tonight.

Waterford

Today we are anchored off Dunmote East to visit Waterford and surrounds if you have booked a tour. We have been here before so will just tender ashore and chill out in Dunmore and on the ship. It's a nice sunny start to the day. Just had enough time on shore for a huge ice cream and to post a card to Clare. Excellent view point for a ship photo. By a strange coincidence Tre Amici were performing on the theatre. Dilen the solo guitar player was good. We both had Australian Sea Bass for dinner.

Cobh in Ireland

We walked off the ship into the historic port of Cobh famous for Titanic's last stop and the emigration of millions of Irish during the potato famine. We walked up to the cathedral but could not look round because of a funeral. Rosemary was blessed by several locals she chatted and the view over the harbour was worth the climb anyway. We sat in the new Garden of Reflection opened to remember Covid 19. We encountered an impromptu sing song outside a bar which turned out to be 1/3rd of Tri Amici from  X factor finals in 2018. We had coffee and sandwich and strolled around the pretty quayside for a few hours before going back on board for cocktails round the pool. We caught he Irish Nights show, local 4 piece Dubliners type act with 4 Irish dancers. It was official welcome party with senior officers in attendance. Rosemary had a blue cocktail named after her - allegedly. The blue Aussie comedian was quite amusing too,  Rack of lamb was excellent, duck breast not so good.

Portland Docks for Weymouth

We woke up in Portland Docks, an ex navy facility on Portland island. After breakfast we took the shuttle bus into Weymouth and spent a couple of hours around the old harbour and had coffee in the church hall. Last time we were here was 2012 for the Olympic sailing events. Nice sunny day, back on board for cake at bacio and afternoon tea. We sailed away to a heritage cannon firing from the dock and dolphins leaping out of the water. Another nice dinner of baked trout and sea food orzo. Fitted in the show and cocktails.

Southampton to ??

We started for Southampton at 8:30 with fingers crossed that the EPC alarm on the VW was just a software glitch. Stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast bap and coffee at the same time as folks leaving Carfest so it took a long time. Then we killed a bit more time by having a shandy at Wetherspoons in town before our boarding appointment at 2pm.

Once in our cabin 6215 and unpacked we discovered that first stop at Guernsey has been cancelled because of windy weather and replaced by Portland in Dorset.

We had dinner in main restaurant at 8:45, up to usual standard, rib of beef and home style pork chop. No cocktails early night.

Packed for Southampton

We are packed and ready to join the Celebrity Silhouette for a 12 night cruise to Iceland tomorrow. It's 140 mile drive on bank holiday Monday so we aim to be off by 8:30am.

Nurembourg, Munich and home

We had sailed overnight to Nurembourg where we disembarked at 9:00am and drove south to Munich for our flight back to Birmingham. We did not see anything of either place which was a bit disappointing but many guest were having 3 nights in Prague to finish their holiday. 

We flew back via Frankfurt where we had a pizza for lunch and bought a few chocolates. The Mercedes was there to meet us for the drive home, we arrived at 7:00pm.

Regensburg rain

Today we should have been on a short walking tour of Regensburg but it is raining so we stopped on board again with the other chickens and packed the cases.  It seems we made the right decision from walkers who did walk the walk. We had interesting discussion with couples from Yorkshire and Florida.

We are currently on Main-Danube canal which connects North sea with Black Sea and climbing 12 locks on route to Nuremberg. All the locks are 12m wide x 190m long and the boat is 11.5m x 130m long. The deepest has a rise of 25m.

We still have the occasional castle on a hill to admire before the last dinner at 7:00pm and another few locks before arriving overnight in Nurembourg. Received our disembarkation papers and we leave for our flight from Munich at 8:45. Going back to Birmingham via Frankfurt.

Austria to Germany cruising day

We decided to stay on the boat with about 13 others instead of a long bus trip to Salzburg or Czeccy. Lovely sunny day again and relaxing cruising along the attractive wooded river Danube.

 Still plenty of castles, villages, churches to admire with the excellent Scenic App giving us GPS prompted details of the sites we were passing.

There was an Apple Strudel cooking demo and tasting for those left on board.

We also went through 3 locks which was very interesting to see the manouvering skills of the crew.

Durnstein to Melk

We sailed overnight to a small village called Durnstein where we will wander around for an hour after breakfast. Very attractive, if touristy, Austrian village with ruins where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned. Lots of apricot themed food and drink and a hotel frequented by Princess Diana and Dodi. 

Needed more time but had to sail at 10:45 through the Wassau valley, a very pretty part of the Danube. Lots of monasteries, castles and vine yards line the steep valley. Had prosecco on sun deck while taking in views.

We were bussed a short distance up the hill to Melk Abbey, a working abbey still and typically Baroque extravagance. The tour was a bit boring as usual, unless one is very religious, but the walk back to the boat through the old town gave us the opportunity for an ice cream and coffee.

Vienna

A full day in Vienna today starting with a Wine tour with a difference. After a comprehensive city tour we were taken to the cellars of a sparkling wine producer in the outskirts of Vienna called Schlumberger. 

They use the champagne method to produce 3 types of wine using grape juice from vineyards in Germany. So the cellars are full of racks of bottles in 4 stages of fermentation. No vineyard, no presses, vats or barrels! We tasted the wines and bought a 3 pack and some truffles.

After lunch back on the boat we returned to town on the shuttle and retraced our steps to St Stevens cathedral square for coffee and sachet tort cakes then walked up to the opera house.

After dinner we joined in the 'name that tune' quiz and came a creditable 4 place without cheating.

Arrive in Vienna for Concert

We arrived in Vienna after cruising all night and morning. It's been dull and cool but no rain so far. We were taken by bus to the Palais Lichtenstein, a grand privately owned palace, for a concert of music by Mozart and Strauss.

 Very grand reception area with golden coach and art collection for a welcome glass of bubbly followed by 1.5 hours concert with opera and ballet in grand hall. Very entertaining and memorable although the acoustics were terrible for enjoying the music.

Budapest to Vienna

We had previously booked a morning tour which was part coach upto the old castle in Buda, then walking around the square and church. Back on the bus and over the Danube to heroes square and then to a piano recital in Pest. Enjoyed a good informative guided tour and Budapest is lovely. We were back in time for lunch and sailed away at 4:00pm under the five bridges connecting Buda with Pest and past all the beautiful buildings on the river. The houses of Parliament are particularly impressive. Dinner was at 7:00 followed by a quiz.

Heathrow to Budapest

Good chauffeur transfer to Heathrow arriving at 6:00 in plenty of time and no delays going through checkon or security. However the flight was about 45 minutes late taking off and landing. We arrived in Budapest just after a long haul flight from Korea with national ice hockey team on board so took a long time to clear customs. It was 30 minutes transfer to the scenic Crystal which was moored on its own at eastern end of town.

The boat was only about 70% full as lots Americans had cancelled cruises because of the Russian conflict, so we had people from cancelled Rhine cruises.

Very Early Start

Can't believe I was showered by 3:15am ready to be picked up at 4:00am. Left in style in an E class Merc driven by a very interesting black guy, 50 years old, church goer, Waitrose shopper and about to be the father of triplets. Rosemary had many words of wisdom for him. Quickly through check in, security and having a rubbish breakfast in No1 lounge by 7:00am. Flight boarding at 9:00 ish.

Packing ready to go

We have an early start on Monday (4:00am) and we are packing nice and early too, so hopefully we will have a relaxing weekend.

First River cruise - Danube

Sure enough all 3 cruises we booked with Celebrity (Dubai > Athens, Caribean and Iceland) were cancelled. We playing safe, despite the Ukraine conflict, by taking our first river cruise up the Danube with Scenic's Gems of the Danube at the end of April.