OneSixtyToOne

PV and above have four mini bottles of liquor and 2 cans of beer replenished daily. You can asked for any combination of whisky, rum, gin, and vodka. You can also asked for wine instead of liquor. Cocktails are not included.

You can also swap the champagne for a bottle of wine.

We didn’t leave the ship for the Oslo train until 10:30 but had to vacate our rooms at 8 AM.

Not many waterfalls, but lots of spectacular scenery. Glacier Express

Day 13 - “Black and White and Red All Over” Today we arrived in Flåm. The charming village lies eight hours inland through Aurlandsfjord and we’ve been sailing into it most of the night. I can see how cruising Norway during the summer solstice would be a big advantage for photographers. Today’s forecast is heavy rain most of the day, but I did manage a few gorgeous photos when the sun peaked through. This morning we took the included tour which consisted of a stop at a lookout on top of the fjord followed by stops at a small town and two churches. Today turned out to be the local annual triathlon. Hundreds of participants had just swam in the fjord and were now climbing to their next destination on their mountain bikes. This made for a slow ascent by bus as the road is single lane in most places, interrupted only by the occasional blue M sign, indicating a meeting place where a small turnout exists. The hairpin turns were especially slow and challenging as bicyclists filled the rainy roadway. At the top I managed a couple of shots as the sun attempted to peak through for a brief moment. You might even spot a faint rainbow. We then descended back down to the local village where a small river meets the fjord. Here we caught a glimpse of a few people fly fishing for trout. Along the way the tour guide pointed out something we would hear a few times over the next couple of days: why the old churches are black, why houses are white, and why barns are red. The oldest structures like stave churches were originally covered in pitch to protect them from the rain. After paint was developed, the cheapest color was red because it was made with abundant iron pigments and the blood of slaughtered animals. Therefore all of the barns and outbuildings are traditionally painted red. Eventually white paint was developed but since it required expensive imported zinc to make, it was a considered a status symbol. If you wanted to show off your wealth and prestige, you painted your house white. Many of the churches from this era have interiors that resemble a ship’s hull, mostly because the local builders were shipwrights. This afternoon excursion’s was a ride on the world famous Flåm Railway. Being a train buff this was one of the highlights of our cruise. It did not disappoint, although the rain did put a damper on picture taking. The scenery was spectacular. The zig zag on the side of the mountain is the original construction work road. We are climbing to the top of that waterfall where you can see the snow shed covering the track at the upper left. At the top we visited the local hotel for cake and coffee. We had a hour to kill and it was too rainy to go outside but I did get a picture from the back porch. I also found a pool table in the lounge and played a bit while talking to some backpackers from the Netherlands. Back aboard the ship we attended tonight’s lecture about the Hanseatic League, an extensive maritime network of trading ports that covered the Baltic and Northern Europe from the 13th through the 15th centuries. This background information definitely enhanced our upcoming tour of Bergen. The league was what we would call today a cartel. Each port city specialized in a commodity. The league regulated shipping, controlled supply, and set prices. Bergen was the supplier of dried fish, Bruges supplied textiles, London provided wool, ports in Russia supplied furs, etc. As we shall soon see, DW decided to take control of the Bergen league office. Tonight was the final trivia contest of our cruise. Unfortunately we came up one point short of a win, missing only 2 questions. I was however the only person in the room that knew the answer to a piece of trivia I’ve retained since childhood. What major motion picture star of the 1940s and ‘50s, and later TV Star in the ‘50s and ‘60s, played a female even though they were male? Answer in my next posting.

They also have a large selection of books on art and photography. I read one on the complete works of Renoir while waiting for our train to Oslo. We were there from 8-10:30 AM.

Day 12 - “You call this New Art?” Today we arrived in Ålesund, Norway. Our only scheduled tour is this morning’s included Art Nouveau Walking Tour. The city was destroyed in 1904 by a fire. A favorite vacation spot of the German Kaiser, he personally funded much of the reconstruction. Rebuilding was done in the prevailing Art Nouveau, or “New Art” style of architecture of the time. The ship docked right in the heart of town making this our easiest excursion to date. We assembled on the dock and walked a few short blocks to our first stop, the parish church of Ålesund. The church is so close to the ship, we heard the PA announcements being made on deck. Although the church looks very old, it is not. The original church was damaged in the 1904 fire and rebuilt. The first stone of the current church was laid in 1906 by King Haakon. Most churches face east for a variety of cultural and theological reasons. However this church was rebuilt facing west. Why? To block the bitterly cold prevailing winds when entering. There is a lovely garden outside. We now continued our tour towards the old, reconstructed section of town. The Art Nouveau movement in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s mass produced aesthetic . The concept was to return to nature, so you’ll see flowing lines, decorative pieces of flora and fauna, and intricate patterns. The pinnacle of this is found in Barcelona in the works of Antonio Gaudi, where almost no straight lines exist. The buildings of Ålesund are of a more subdued nature, but is in sharp contrast to the gothic and neoclassical style that preceded it. This yellow building was used in WWII as Gestapo headquarters. Our tour guide said many resistance fighters were tortured inside. Only Real Americans can eat here. The small harbor area is picturesque. Our tour concluded a little abruptly in the business district when a band started playing for a local street fair. The Quietvox was no match for Norwegian Death Metal. Instead of returning to the ship we departed the tour to do some shopping. After buying the obligatory Christmas ornament, we found a small ice cream stand that served blood orange gelato, a flavor I hadn’t had since we were in Florence. Very tasty. High five to all the newsies out there. The ship docked very close by. Back on board I took the opportunity to use the thermal spa, as most people were still out and about. I actually fell asleep on the heated stone lounger. This evening’s lecture was on a topic I never head of before, “Searching for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific and Ending up in Bergen.” In 1619 the king of Denmark and Norway decided he would beat the other European powers to the Far East by finding the Northwest Passage. He sent Jens Munk on an expedition that resulted in only three survivors. Somehow Munk and two men made it back to Bergen, where he became a folk hero. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/jens-munk-north-west-passage-expedition-1619-20 This evening we lost another tiebreaker in Trivia. As we approach the end of our cruise, our chances of a threepeat are diminishing rapidly. Tomorrow we take a train ride in Flåm.

The menu is the menu. You may asked for some substitutions of some courses but there is no alternate menu.

Day 11 - “Seven Sisters and a Suitor” Today we arrived in Geiranger, Norway. Awaking at around 5 AM, we found ourselves deep within Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With partly sunny skies, it was a spectacular view, with the sunrise adding color to what has been mostly a gray sky. Our port side cabin had a view of the Seven Sisters Waterfall on our sail-in. We will be getting up close to this spectacular site on this afternoon’s tour. On approach we saw another ship using the docking facilities, Cunard’s Queen Anne. Therefore, this will be a tender port, the one and only on this cruise. Our morning tour is the included Eagle’s Bend Overlook & Panoramic Drive. It stops at two observation points above the fjord and then winds its way up a mountain road, climbing above the tree line to a glacier lake. Low hanging clouds in the fjord were blown quickly by the wind. At the 2nd stop we were at cloud level and the was an eerie effect of seeing clouds moving towards us, totally engulfing us, and moving on, leaving only a lingering wisp of white in its wake. The views were awe inspiring. By the time we reached the high point of our tour, the skies were completely grey. Rain is predicted for this afternoon. We stopped at a restaurant for a break and some souvenir shopping. We’ve entered troll country. The ride back down the mountain offered spectacular views. On the way back to the ship some people asked to be let off at the Norwegian Fjord Center. This center is at the top of the Geiranger waterfall walk. Exiting here allows you to walk back to town and the dock by taking the downhill path along the scenic waterfall. If we hadn’t had an afternoon excursion and were pressed for time, we would have exited here, as it seems like the smart plan to walk downhill. After a quick lunch and some tendering, we headed to our afternoon excursion, a Taste of Norway. Contrary to what the name implies, this tour is not a foodie tour. We took this tour because it’s a boat ride up the fjord for a close encounter with the spectacular Seven Sisters and Suitor waterfalls. On the way back you are given a small sample of local cheeses and cured meats along with a flight of beer from the local brewery. The tour boat departs right next to the tender dock. While waiting we took some photos of the town and then the forecasted rain began. There are many ways to tour the fjord. Tours are offered by RIB, kayak, and boat. Today we are glad we chose an enclosed tour boat, as the skies opened and it started pouring rain. The boat spent about 30 minutes at the main attractions of this tour, the waterfalls. The Seven Sisters is so named because several waterfall cascade down the cliffs and merge together. We went on deck in the downpour to capture the view. After viewing the Seven Sisters we crossed to the other side to view The Suitor. This massive waterfall is directly opposite the Seven Sisters and is said to be their Suitor. On the return we enjoyed a fleet of local beers ranging from light to dark, the light Pilsner being my favorite. The bite size cheese and meats were nothing to write home about. Back onboard we had dinner in the World Cafe, which gave us panoramic views of the sail away through this magnificent fjord. It also allowed the occasional visit to the outdoor terrace to snap photos of our last view of one of the most spectacular sights on earth. After dinner our trivia team assembled and we won our second contest. Mimosas for all as our waiter included himself in our victory toast. Tomorrow we arrive in the Art Nouveau city of Ålesund.

Yes, Richard showed us a screen shot on Happy Whale of one of his whales traversing the Atlantic.

There are multiple departures for the charter. It will depend on the group you are in. You are given your boarding pass and seat assignment at the airport. The fight goes to EZE. It’s a 737 and they do not seat anyone in the middle seat. They ask you not to change seats in order to keep the plane balanced. We were on the BA extension and were on the 11:30 ish morning flight. Some people left earlier. We were taken to our hotel about 3:00 PM. Non-extension guests were taken right to the departure area. All but one or two flights to the U.S. leave late at night. It took a while to get through BA security on our way home so you really need a few hours before the flight.

Day 10 - “A Whale of a Time” Today is a sea day and also another time change. This time we were well aware of the schedule changes and opted for a late breakfast at Mamsen’s. It doesn’t get any better than their waffles topped with fresh fruit. After another round of noon trivia (we finished 2nd by one point) we headed to the Explorers’ Lounge where cruise photographer Richard Lovelock was conducting a wildlife watch on the outside deck. He used the Quitevox which enabled us to listen to the commentary while sitting in warm comfy chairs that could endure the Spanish Inquisition. (Python fans will get the reference) The watch was from 1-3 and Richard talked for almost 2 hours about all sorts of interesting things related to his wildlife watching experiences. Finally, near the end of the watch, the call of “Thar she blows” was heard. Two spouts were spotted off the starboard side. Richard explained that this usually occurs before a deep dive so we probably would see them any more. Since we saw our fair share of whales and dolphins on our Chilean fjord cruise last October, this was not a big disappointment. We really enjoyed Richard commentary. He is a masterful storyteller with a great delivery and high energy that keeps you thoroughly entertained. Later that evening we attended Richard’s lecture on “The Origin of Whales.” I learned so much information during this lecture that I feel like I earned college credit in Cetaceans 101. Here are some highlights that I can remember. Cetaceans are generally classified in two groups toothed and baleen filter feeders. He show this chart where the toothed are on the right and the baleen on the left. Whales do not breath-in before diving, they exhale. In fact they have specialize muscle and cartilage that allow them to almost totally eliminate all air in their lungs before diving. They do this to prevent getting the bends. Instead of taking on air and holding it in their lungs, they have a very efficient type of hemoglobin that retains much more oxygen than other mammals. They oxygenate their blood before diving. This also causes whale meat to look very dark. Whales have a breathing flap that is normally closed. Therefore they must be awake to breathe. To accomplish this, whales and seabirds (who fly constantly) employ unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, where only half of their brain sleeps at a time. He showed a picture of a pod of sperm whales sleeping. They will float vertically. Very strange looking. https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/how-do-whales-and-dolphins-sleep/ Baleen whales have two blowholes while toothed whales have one. The blowholes are nostrils that have evolved over time and migrated to the back of their heads. They also have evolved so their respiratory system is totally independent of their digestive system. None of the water they swallow has a path to their lungs. But what about the second nostril in toothed whales? It turns out toothed whales hunt with sonar and it was modified to be used in echolocation. There is a large pocket of liquid in their head, most prominent in the Sperm Whale, that they push air at. This amplifies the wave and sends out a signal. The specialized second nostril is used to receive the sound wave after it bounces off the target. This ability is so accurate that they can identify the insides of prey. The Orcas use this to find the specific species of salmon they prefer to eat. Amazing stuff! Richard has all the pictures he took from this and other cruises on his website. Have a look. Tomorrow we arrive in Norway, entering the fjords in the early morning hours.

We are on the Orion in Oct 2025 from Tokyo to Hong Kong. Either the Venus will swap with the Orion or they add another sailing to this itinerary. I don’t see them adding. Is a swap possible with Orion heading elsewhere?

Day 9 - “Return of the Vikings” Today we arrived at Faroe Islands. To my surprise, I went out on our balcony and saw our sister ship, Viking Saturn, entering the harbor. She departed Bergen the same day we left Reykjavik, and will become sailing the southern Iceland route. The new Viking invasion of the Faroe Islands hasp commenced. Today we have two tours scheduled. The morning tour is to the Island of Vágar and the afternoon tour is the included Faroe Islands Vistas tour. We have scheduled the last included tour of the day so we will have time to do our own walking tour of Tórshavn and shop for souvenirs with the Danish Krones that we have leftover from a 2019 cruise to Copenhagen. The Faroe Islands is an island group consisting of 18 major islands. In recent years most of the islands have been connected with a series of under sea tunnels and bridges. The newest tunnel has the first undersea roundabout in the world and features artwork that resembles a jellyfish. It is now the most visited attraction in the islands. Unfortunately, today we are heading to a different island and will not see it. https://visitfaroeislands.com/en/plan-your-stay/transport/world-first-under-sea-roundabout The island of Vágar is the western most island and is home to the only airport. Due to the modern infrastructure on the island, getting there is very easy. Our tour guide was very informative and our scenic hour drive through fjords and hillsides to our first stop was enriching. The western most point is rustic Gasadalur Village. Getting there required navigating a long one lane tunnel through a mountain. I have no idea how drivers navigate these roads but somehow we managed to get to the picturesque village. There we stopped for delicious cake, coffee, and a bathroom break. We then took a short hike down the road to Mulafossur waterfall. The view from the lookout point was spectacular. It was another blustery day and at times the wind lifted the falling water in all directions, including straight up. It was a remarkable sight to behold. We continued our adventure by returning along the same road, with great views of the fjord and fish farms below. Our tour guide pointed out the numerous farms on the hillsides and told us about how her family owns an automated dairy farm. They have automated feeders and milking machines. She recounted that her husband once had to remotely fix some issues with the farm when they were on vacation in the Canary Islands. Later I commented that a tour of her farm would be interesting and she told me they host school groups all the time. Our next stop was at Sandavágur Church, a colorful red roofed church that was built in 1917, though the site has ruins that date from the Middle Ages. In the church there is a rune stone that is said to be from the 13th century. Outside the church is a monument commemorating a local legend. Tradition says that two witches lived by the lake of Fjallavatn. One of them was old and partly paralysed. One day that witch laid her red gown out in the sunshine. A man from Sandavágur came by on his horse. He saw the gown, took it, and rode away. The old witch cried for help and the other one came and started chasing the thief. She caught him and grabbed the gown. The gown broke and the man on the horse continued with one sleeve. Now they were close to the village and the church was in sight. Hence the witch had no more power and had to return. But the sleeve that the man got was so huge that it was cut into four peaces and was used as altar cloth in the four churches on Vágar. We returned to the ship for a quick lunch and then we were off to explore Tórshavn. The port shuttle dropped us off at a small anchorage filled with quaint boats that made a great photo op. Across the anchorage is a series of buildings and the oldest neighborhood in the city. Remarkably this is where the government is housed. The red buildings are all government offices. Ministry of Finance After we wondered around the old town, we headed for the shopping area to unload our krones. We found a small bookstore that sold puffin Christmas ornaments. We collect ornaments from all our travels and fill the tree with them. It a found way to remember all of our adventures. DW also located a puffin coffee mug that’s now her favorite morning beverage container. With a few Faroe coins remaining we told the surprised clerk to keep the change. Krones gone. Mission accomplished. Back on the ship we stashed our loot and headed out for our included excursion. We found this tour ok but it overlapped some of the same roads we drove on this morning. It did however take the old mountain road giving us some great views of the fjords and highlands. Our tour guide was adequate but our morning guide was much more informative and in-depth. I’m so glad we took the morning tour. It added to our afternoon experience. This was described as their summer beach: Near the end of the tour, the sun finally emerged and enhanced our overlook view of the two Viking ships in the harbor. No trivia tonight. It’s a barbecue night at the pool and line dancing. We’ll pass. The resident historian gave a lecture on the Bayeux Tapestry and will give a walking tour of the ship tomorrow, as we have another sea day. Our sail away offered a great photo op with the Saturn in the background.

B2B marketed as Far East and Alaska https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/far-east-alaska/index.html?startLocation=hong-kong&endLocation=vancouver-british-columbia&year=2025

Some basics I remember from the presentation. Almost always shoot in landscape mode, portrait is for portraits. Video has 4K resolution. Often it will give you a better picture. Use it and then frame capture for a still photo. Your flash is practically worthless, turn it off. You can activate your camera from the Lock Screen so it’s always ready. Anyone can do this with anyone’s camera. Richard says he plays tricks on people when they leave their phone at the restaurant table and leave for a break. He’ll take goofy pictures with their camera which they discover later. They volume buttons act as a shutter button so you don’t need to touch the screen. You can shoot with one hand. There is a built in timer to get those selfies just right. There is a burst mode. Use it for action or wildlife photography. When you zoom, you loose resolution. Anything past a certain factor is digital zoom, which really looses data. It’s better to get a shot with the lenses then crop and blow up the picture up later. You can control the focus and expose by tapping the screen and then dragging up and down for exposure. You can also turn off auto focus and auto exposure to allow more control. There is a down arrow marker on the top of the screen that reveals all sorts of options Go into options and turn on grid lines. It will give you a level indicator as well as split the screen up so you can use the law of thirds to compose your shot. Never shoot your main object dead center or have a horizon dead center. Use the points of the intersecting grid lines to help compose the shot. Use other objects to frame your shot. Hope this helps.

Gray Whale ring a bell?

In the V and DV I think they will add more space between the bed and closet, similar to the Nordic rooms on the Expedition ships.

One thing I noticed when tendering was a lot of organic material at the waterline of the Venus. I would think this needs to be dealt with before it reaches Australian and New Zealand waters.

Day 8 - “Where does the time go?” Today is a sea day so we took the opportunity to sleep in and rest after a hectic 6 days. It’s also a time change day as we lose an hour. Our plan was to sleep in, have lunch at 11:00 AM and attend trivia in Star Theater at noon. On this cruise, trivia relocates from the Explorers’ Lounge on sea days. Our plan was thwarted however when we discovered breakfast and lunch times had changed for sea days. We had reset our clocks but neglected to notice to schedule change. I mentioned this previously in the “tips” thread but I’ll add something here. For some reason the daily times for dining, pool, spa, etc. that appear on the back page of the Viking Daily are found only on the paper copy. They do not appear in the app. Even the video information screens on the ship do not have the schedules. Instead they say “refer to the Viking daily.” So make sure you take a photo of the page or carry the paper copy with you. There is nowhere else to find this information. Viking needs to add this information to the app. After trivia (our worst performance of the cruise) we had lunch at the pool grill. At 3:00 PM we attended a lecture on the North Atlantic and why Iceland and the Faroe Islands look so different. The islands were once on the same hot spot as Iceland but has drifted southeast with the Eurasian plate and are no longer volcanic. After millions of years of erosion and glacial activity, they have formed more soil and support trees and various other wildlife. We’ll see the results of this tomorrow. At 4:30 we had another excellent port talk, given by our fantastic cruise director Andre. He is hands down the best cruise director we have had on any Viking Ocean, River, or Expedition cruise. We were pleased to learn that the Faroe Islands accepts the Danish Krone. We have some left over from our 2019 trip to Copenhagen so tomorrow will include shopping with some mad money. The nightly lecture was given by the dynamic cruise photographer, Richard Lovelock. Richard is a delight to listen to and talk to. His lecture was on “The Secrets of Smartphone Photography” and was very informative. I picked up a few pointers and discovered that panoramic mode with work in both horizontal and vertical directions. Using it vertically by turning the camera to the landscape orientation and moving from down to up will allow you to take a much better photo of things like the facade of churches and other tall structures. We failed to watch Richard’s first lecture on the wildlife we expected to see so we used the rest of the evening to watch the replay. We’ll see more of Richard on our 2nd sea day. Tomorrow we arrive at the Faroe Islands. P.S. View from our Manfredi’s table from the previous night. DW saw a dolphin go by while we were eating. Food has much improved from our last voyage. I learned to avoid the lasagna. The steak and the ravioli were excellent.

Day 7 - “Trolls and Elves and Dwarves, Oh My” Today we arrived in our last port of call in Iceland, the sleepy town of Seydisfjördur in the remote eastern part of the country. We had originally booked an all day excursion “Iceland’s Pristine Panorama” but we were notified when we boarded that it was cancelled due to lack of interest. Instead we were able to book an afternoon excursion to Skálanes Nature and Heritage Center. This worked out well as it allowed us to take a leisurely walk throughout the town in the morning before our afternoon excursion. We had a lovely sail in this morning, The town is very picturesque, with an amazing waterfall and trail a few hundred yards from where the ship docked. It provided some amazing views. Note that the trail goes up both sides of the stream and there is a bridge that crosses over about half way up the mountain. Make sure you take the right side path as it serpentines up the hillside. The left side has a very steep path that is more difficult to climb. Right side trail View from the waterfall trail bridge Steep trail on the left side After we completed our circuit of the trail, we found an information kiosk that contained pictures of a massive landslide that devastated the town in 2021. A torrential downpour cut off the town from the rest of the country for almost 2 weeks. The remnants of the landslide can still be seen to the left of the falls. Landslide area today. Notice the crater above and the land below. We then proceeded to walk into town and to the famous Blue Church. Along the way we passed quaint homes and gardens. The most iconic scene in town is the rainbow road leading to the Blue Church. We learned later of a tale of a stone magically placed next to the church by dwarves. If your tour guide told you the stone was placed elves or trolls we were emphatically told that they are misinformed. I’ll talk more on the mythology of the region later in this posting. After lunch back onboard, we gathered for our excursion to Skálanes, a privately owned nature preserve at the tip of the fjord. The bus to get to the preserve is a 4 wheel drive Mercedes bus. It crosses three rivers and travels along a very bumpy single lane dirt road. When I say bumpy I mean it. It was bone rattling. This is the only excursion we’ve been on where the bus ride should be classified as demanding! Our first stop was at what our tour guide called the smallest archeological dig in Iceland. Farmers found human remains here and after the site was explored it was determined to be a church graveyard and the foundations of what is considered the first church built by the original settlers. We had an excellent tour guide for this excursion, proving once again that the guide can turn a mundane site visit into an entertaining and informative experience. Here she explained how the church has been moved over the centuries as the settlement moved. First it moved to the other side of the fjord, then further into the fjord, then across the fjord once again, where it now resides. That’s right, the Blue Church is the direct descendant of the first church built on this site, along with the magic stone. As far as the stone found in the churchyard is concerned, legend has it that it was magically moved by the dwarves who live in the rocks of the foundation of the church. They want to stay near the rocks of the church so they move it at night to be nearby. This is when we received the definitive explanation of the mythology. Dwarves live in the small stones. Elves live in castles, the tall stone pillar formations that are caused by vulcanism. Trolls live in caves in the mountains in the darkness. The story goes that the trolls come out at night, party too long and fall asleep outside, and when the sun comes up, they are turned to stone. Thus the faces of the trolls high up on the rock cliffs. Elven castles and trolls high above We were told that this part of Iceland is the most remote part of the country so it is the region where to old Norse folklore has lingered. With the introduction of Christianity, the old legends never really died but became incorporated into the fabric of the new religion. Hence the stone magically follows the church. This belief in folklore is still very real. When a highway was being constructed there was problems with equipment breaking down. An expert was brought in to determine the cause. He said that one particular large rock was the issue and it needed to be moved to the side of the construction site and persevered. Today that rock is still there to enjoy and the project was completed without additional problems. After the stop at the archeological site, we continued our journey to the research center. Here they students and researchers collect various data throughout the spring and summer months. From the Heritage Center we took to the hiking trail to the mouth of the fjord. Along the way we stopped to observe the flora. We learned that all the lupine in the country was introduced from an Alaskan variety in an attempt to prevent soil erosion. After a brief lecture in a clearing, we continued along to the observation deck at the sea cliff. The was an amazing experience and gave us our best puffin viewing of the entire cruise. We highly recommend this excursion. Back on the ship, our sail away commenced. It was one of the rare times when the clouds broke and we actually saw blue skies. No trivia tonight, as the assistant cruise director and trivia host is performing his one man show. Tomorrow is a sea day, as we sail towards the Faroe Islands. Farewell Iceland, we hardly knew you.

We were told several times that they expected an eruption any day. Through various means they can measure the content of the magna chamber and it was almost full when we were there. Here is some video from NBC https://www.nbcnews.com/video/volcano-erupts-on-iceland-s-reykjanes-peninsula-217830981702

Day 6 - Part 2 “The fire from the ice” The “Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures” excursion is an all day trip to some of the most awesome geologic features in the country. Our our way out of Akureyri, we noticed three cruise ships in port. Our first stop was Goðafoss Waterfall. Legend says in 999 AD the Lawspeaker threw his Norse idols into the waterfall and adopted Christianity. It a nice story but historians agree that while the Lawspeaker was instrumental in the adoption of Christianity, there is no evidence that this ever happened. This appears to be a 19th century fabrication. IMG_7280.mov The waterfall is spectacular. While not as tall as some others, it’s one of the widest in the country and has multiple cascades. There are several observation points and a pedestrian bridge across the gorge connecting both sides. There is also a very slippery, rocky, muddy path to the base. After taking photos from the top, we descended. Aided by a rope and non-OSHA approved steps, we made our way into the gorge to optimize our views at the base of the cataract. It was a treacherous experience and well worth it. To come close enough hear the sound and feel the power of the massive amount of kinetic energy from the falling water is something we’ll always remember. IMG_7284.mov On our return to the bus I ran into our Alabama friend and marine biologist., Ralph. He is an avid birdwatcher and told me he was there to spot the Harlequin Duck. I was aware of the species from my many visits to the San Diego Zoo. It’s the most colorful of ducks and lives in rapids under waterfalls where they feed. They spend their lives constantly swimming against the powerful current. Ralph informed me that this waterfall is one the few places on earth you can spot them in the wild and is considered the easiest. They also can be found in Greenland . More about the ducks: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harlequin_Duck/overview The ducks can be found here at the lower falls: We now headed into an area of geothermal activity. We passed several volcanic domes on our way to our lunch break. We stopped at a modern hotel where the dining room overlooked a lake created by volcanism. The menu was limited to one selection, fish. If you are vegan or don’t eat fish, you are out of luck. Unlike our Southern Iceland all day excursion, there was no alternative dishes available. Several people on the excursion did not eat. I only ate bread and DW said the sauce ruined the fish. IMO this is a major fail. I specifically stated on my pre cruise dietary requirements that I do not eat seafood and there was no attempt to provide a protein alternative. If I’m paying hundreds of dollars for an all day cruise, I expect to be properly fed. If you go on this excursion and don’t eat fish, pack some food from the ship’s breakfast buffet. You’ll be glad you did. Next stop was an area of geothermal vents and bubbling mud pots. This reminded us of a mini version of Yellowstone: stream pouring out of rock formations, bubbling cauldrons of mud, the noxious smell of sulfur dioxide. There are no geysers here but plenty of other amazing geothermal sights. IMG_7310.mov Our next stop was an ancient lava field and the site of the aforementioned hike with Colin doing his Darth Vader impression. The trolls myth is that they have turned to stone when they encountered sunlight and you can see their faces in the rock. We finally had a great explanation of the troll, elf, and dwarf mythology on tomorrow’s tour so be sure to read about it in my next post. Troll face in the rock: Here is the circular opening and the rock that is a cave that has eroded from both sides: Our final stop was at the pseudo craters on the opposite shore of the lake we had viewed at lunch. The craters are not caused by a volcanic eruption. Instead lava flowed under the icecap and in some areas there were steam explosions creating crater like indentations in the ground. Back on board it was eclair night. One of my favorite desserts! We also chalked up our first trivia victory and a round of mimosas. On our way back to our stateroom, we ran into the resident wildlife photographer, Richard Lovelock. He told us that 24 whales have been spotted so far on the cruise. This morning he hosted a wildlife watch from 5-7 AM on the deck outside the explorer’s lounge. I’ll talk more about that on our upcoming sea day. Tomorrow is our final stop in Iceland.

Day 6 - Part 1 “The Energy Vampire” Yesterday, in ísafjördður I commented on how an unassuming tour can be fantastic when you have an amazing tour guide. Today we encountered the antithesis of this. We arrived in Akureyri with high hopes, as we were scheduled to take the Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures excursion, the literal poster picture for this itinerary. After boarding our hopes were soon deflated when our tour guide started to talk. In what can best be described as low energy and at worst what DW insightfully described as the personification of Colin Robertson from “What We Do in the Shadows,” we knew we were in for a long boring day on the bus. For those unfamiliar with the sitcom WWDITS, the show is about vampires taking up residence in Satin Island with orders to conquer North America. However, one of the vampires is not like the others. Colin is an “energy vampire” that drains your life force not your blood. He bores people to death by talking in a slow monotonous tone for hours on end. Meet our tour guide, Colin. On our numerous excursions we occasionally have had a tour guide that we felt could have been better, but this was next level bad. He talked so slow we often were miles pass the point of reference he was talking about and then would say something like “Oh, that volcano is back there now.” He provided absolutely no commentary when we left the bus and had no interest in using the quite vox. The one time we used them was in a park containing lava formations. He led us on a hike on a trail and said almost nothing. All he did was breathe heavily into his mic for 20 minutes. At one point I asked if he was going to describe what we were witnessing and he said “We need to be quiet to see the trolls.” At the midway point he stop to show us a hole in a rock formation which he explained was the remnants of a cave that had eroded from both sides. Ok, more of this, please. But no, another ten minutes of Darth Vader like breathing. At the end of the hike we stopped at some information placards and he literally said “If you like more information, you can read this” and immediately left and went back to the bus. Huh? At our last stop, we visited a formation of pseudo craters and Colin stayed at the bus and told us we had 20 minutes to look around. Coincidentally the other Viking bus on the same tour arrived at the same time. Their guide was leading a hike to the observation point so I tuned my quite vox to his channel. He was fantastic, giving an energetic presentation on the geology of the region, how the craters formed when lava flow created ice explosions under the ice cap instead of volcanic eruptions. It was an energetic, informative, and professional presentation, everything I had hoped for at the beginning of the day. At this stop we ran into our newfound friends from Alabama and compared notes on our respective tour guides. They commented on how their guide has a background in geology and gave a very informative tour. As I returned to my bus my frustration turned to sadness. The ride back to the ship became soul crushingly depressing. Colin had succeeded is draining my life force. In Part 2, I’ll provide details of the excursion along with photos. I need to do some research to provide a narrative. What we saw was breathtakingly beautiful, I’m just not sure what we saw. This could have been a home run of an excursion. Instead it was a boring bus ride peppered with moments of stopping at the most incredible scenery on earth. Tour guides can make or break a tour. Stay tuned for a more upbeat Part 2.

In today’s mail: Large format World Cruise brochure. Promo EBD Special deposit price Special Single Supplement Book by 8/31 $2000 shore excursion credit per person $1000 shipboard credit per person $1000 past guest OBC per person