Live from the Ocean Princess Top of the World Explorer June 25 to July 13

[cruiserus]

Hi, Donna! Don't know if you will remember us, but we have been on some other cruises with you. It is such fun following your journey. We were supposed to be on this cruise, doing a b2b ending in Dover, but switched to the Cape Town to Dover West African Adventure. Hearing about your cold weather and rough seas, I think I am glad we made the switch. I don't do well in rough seas, plus I enjoyed the warmer weather we had. I still want to do this trip though, so I am most interested in your posts. Hope you are feeling better soon!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

We are turned north, back over the Arctic Circle at some point, to keep the land mass of Iceland between us and a bad storm that is south of Iceland at this point. Rocking and rolling, and supposed to get even worse. Captain says we may see some ice as well. Signal comes and goes. Will do what I can...

 

 

 

[Pia1913]

T & K home safe and sound after their hiking adventure, but we're having rough seas and Tina is feeling it. They had better weather conditions where they went for the hike than we did in the town, and seem to have enjoyed it.

 

We are turned north, back over the Arctic Circle at some point, to keep the land mass of Iceland between us and a bad storm that is south of Iceland at this point.

 

Rocking and rolling, and supposed to get even worse. Captain says we may see some ice as well. Signal comes and goes. Will do what I can...

 

If Tina's feeling it, you are definitely rolling. Best thing for you to do is get into bed and let the ship rock you to sleep. Nothing like sleeping away a cold and bad weather.

[speakertosuits]

If you go to yjod URL today ore tomorrow (7-1/2) and click on the Iceland box, you will see the problem.

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

 

Looks like 25 foot waves due south of you with some spillover to Reykjavik If the weather clears, you might see the northern lights.

 

We are going on this route westbound on the Grand in three months.

[coo359a2]

If Tina's feeling it, you are definitely rolling. Best thing for you to do is get into bed and let the ship rock you to sleep. Nothing like sleeping away a cold and bad weather.

 

Yes Pia, I went straight to bed after dinner. Put on a patch and hoped for the best. Was pretty rocky most of the night. It’s 5:30am and still more movement than usual but nothing like last night. It’s not going to be a pretty sea day at all. I’m passing on my early morning outside walk and visit to the gym. Ken’s gets to skip the gym too so he’ll have a little longer sleep in. Didn’t think that walking on the treadmill while ship was rolling around would be much fun

[coo359a2]

As Donna said, it was very foggy getting into Seydisfjordur. When we went to the cabaret lounge to check in for our hike, I questioned the safety of having a moderately difficult hike over rough and rocky terrain in the fog. I was told it would be ok. So off we went in the tender and then a bus. Going up over the curvy mountain road all we saw was fog. But once at the top the fog went away. No sun but no rain and did have good visibility. Had a pit stop in Egilsstadir, small but modern looking village. Finally made our hiking starting point abut 2 hours after leaving the ship. There were probably about 40 to 50 people of all ages on the tour – bus was full. The one thing the excursion description failed to mention was that the trail was pretty steep – all uphill – about a 720 foot rise. This all made for a very interesting hike. Ken and I were on the trail almost 2 ½ hours but we didn’t make it to the bottom of the falls. My common sense kicked in at the point of going down into the “valley” for an up close viewing of the falls. The scenery going up and the waterfall made it a good hike – at least for us. The wind and cold was very similar to our visit to the North Cape last cruise. Luckily, the light rain held off till we were all back on the bus. Had another pit stop before going back over the mountain to Seydisfjordur. This time we saw got to see lakes, snow, and small ice bergs in the lakes. Once we started going back down the mountain, it turned quite foggy with rain. We were all glad that the bad weather stayed in Seydisfjordur and didn’t follow us to our hike.

[DonahCBrown]

I hope you folks can at least stay up until sundown tonight. :)

 

Not so sure it WENT down...Was another of those 11 PM ish 'sunset' and 2 AM ish sunrises - may have gotten a little dark in there somewhere but I was long since down and out.

 

Still rocking and rolling but not as bad as early yesterday evening. Captain clearly knows what he is doing and keeps us informed as well.

 

Dennis is braving the gym this am, I'm still coughing so will pass one more day, but am heading to the sauna when I finish this. Didn't mention that we have a new entertainer on board - Linda Gentile - she is billed as the "female Liberace" - didn't go to the show last night, so can't comment.

 

Will keep you posted on our progress on our passage north of Iceland as best we can.

[paul929207]

Not so sure it WENT down...Was another of those 11 PM ish 'sunset' and 2 AM ish sunrises - may have gotten a little dark in there somewhere but I was long since down and out.

 

Still rocking and rolling but not as bad as early yesterday evening. Captain clearly knows what he is doing and keeps us informed as well.

 

Dennis is braving the gym this am, I'm still coughing so will pass one more day, but am heading to the sauna when I finish this. Didn't mention that we have a new entertainer on board - Linda Gentile - she is billed as the "female Liberace" - didn't go to the show last night, so can't comment.

 

Will keep you posted on our progress on our passage north of Iceland as best we can.

I figured that so close to the Summer Solstice and around the Arctic Circle, you would have little or no "night" last night. Last summer, going from NYC to Dover on the same ship, we went across the top, but we were into August then, so it did get dark for an couple of hours.

[Minoushka]

Could you please advise as to the BUG situation.Is it true they are prolific and huge in Greenland nd Iceland and we do need bug spray?WE are on Ocean Next week and in the region the week after

Any advice /recommendations before we go would be appreciated

Any tour operators or not to be missed sites also

 

Thanks

 

Enjoy the rest of your travels FEEL BETTER !!!Do you think you got sick due to AC ......On GRand Everyone got this wierd cough ...I blamed dirty vents ...We did not get sick ..I turned AC OFF

 

 

Michele

[Pia1913]

 

Will keep you posted on our progress on our passage north of Iceland as best we can.

 

Linda Gentille was on the Ruby. We weren't enamored.

 

Could you please advise as to the BUG situation.Is it true they are prolific and huge in Greenland nd Iceland and we do need bug spray?

 

Michele

 

Last time we were in Greenland was 2008. Never saw a bug. Have been to Iceland too. Don't recall bugs.

[paul929207]

Could you please advise as to the BUG situation.Is it true they are prolific and huge in Greenland nd Iceland and we do need bug spray?WE are on Ocean Next week and in the region the week after

Any advice /recommendations before we go would be appreciated

Any tour operators or not to be missed sites also

 

Thanks

 

Enjoy the rest of your travels FEEL BETTER !!!Do you think you got sick due to AC ......On GRand Everyone got this wierd cough ...I blamed dirty vents ...We did not get sick ..I turned AC OFF

 

 

Michele

We were in Greenland and Iceland last summer on the same ship and I do not recall any bug problems in any of the ports.

[cboyle]

We were in Greenland and Iceland last summer on the same ship and I do not recall any bug problems in any of the ports.

Paul,

 

You did not go hiking with John & me. If I may quote from my reviews:

 

Day 6 (Friday, July 31) Qaqortoq, Greenland, on EDT+2

<snip>

Anyway, we first took the "trail" past the lake but did not go all the way to the green triangle (that's on the next fjord), only as far as the saddle between the hills. This is where we first encountered midges. We had brought DEET wipes and also no-see-um head nets that drape over our hats (www.coghlans.com/catalogue/productList.php?catID=11) because we had been warned they would be needed at Lake Myvatn in Iceland. However, all of that had been left back on the ship and we had to resort to vigorous swatting instead.

<snip>

Day 7 (Saturday, August 1) Nanortalik, Greenland, on EDT+2 T

<snip>

Again, we encountered midges but this time we were prepared. The DEET did not seem to have any effect; the midges seem to like "tourists with DEET sauce". We did use the netting and it works but obscures your vision. Plus you look like a real dork. However, it beats midges in your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Take my word for it, they do not taste good but are high in protein.

 

Bobtroll (Bob) was also on our cruise and did some hiking in Greenland also. He was bitten by the midges so badly on the earlobe that he was bleeding. He also was reportedly bitten on his belly-button. Makes you wonder what he and Elaine were doing on their hikes!

 

Anyway, if you stay in town you will probably not encounter any bugs. If you go off hiking, you might run into some.

 

Carolyn

[cboyle]

WE are on Ocean Next week and in the region the week after

Any advice /recommendations before we go would be appreciated

Any tour operators or not to be missed sites also

 

Lots of advice in my review from last year at:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=58425

 

Hope that helps!

 

Carolyn

[paul929207]

Paul,

 

You did not go hiking with John & me. If I may quote from my reviews:

 

Day 6 (Friday, July 31) Qaqortoq, Greenland, on EDT+2

<snip>

Anyway, we first took the "trail" past the lake but did not go all the way to the green triangle (that's on the next fjord), only as far as the saddle between the hills. This is where we first encountered midges. We had brought DEET wipes and also no-see-um head nets that drape over our hats (www.coghlans.com/catalogue/productList.php?catID=11) because we had been warned they would be needed at Lake Myvatn in Iceland. However, all of that had been left back on the ship and we had to resort to vigorous swatting instead.

<snip>

Day 7 (Saturday, August 1) Nanortalik, Greenland, on EDT+2 T

<snip>

Again, we encountered midges but this time we were prepared. The DEET did not seem to have any effect; the midges seem to like "tourists with DEET sauce". We did use the netting and it works but obscures your vision. Plus you look like a real dork. However, it beats midges in your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Take my word for it, they do not taste good but are high in protein.

 

Bobtroll (Bob) was also on our cruise and did some hiking in Greenland also. He was bitten by the midges so badly on the earlobe that he was bleeding. He also was reportedly bitten on his belly-button. Makes you wonder what he and Elaine were doing on their hikes!

 

Anyway, if you stay in town you will probably not encounter any bugs. If you go off hiking, you might run into some.

 

Carolyn

That is correct. We stayed in the towns (Qaqortoq & Nanortalik).

[Minoushka]

I hate bugs so i will stay in towns also

[DonahCBrown]

In re bugs - haven't seen any so far - probably too cold for them!!

 

In re bad cold - doubt it is related to AC/vents - haven't had AC on at all - too cold. Have an idea that it was from a funicular full of school kids in Bergen as we don't get much 'kid germ' exposure as a rule. OTH, there are a fair few folks on board now who are hacking, so maybe it was airplane flu transmitted by the new entries on this cruise. Were fine on the Norway cruise, in any event, so unlikely to be an environmental ship issue.

 

Sauna/steam room helped with the congestion and can highly recommend the spa showers - good water pressure and very spacious. Nice change after the room shower.

 

Here's today's edition:

 

Day 7 – At sea enroute to Reykjavik via the north of Iceland

 

An interesting day at sea – not as rough as it was last night, and, early in the afternoon, clearing with intermittent sun and traveling close to the shoreline with lovely views of the table top cliffs and valleys of northern Iceland. We passed above the Arctic Circle in the night, back across this afternoon. High today was to be 8 C/ 46F.

 

Among other things on offer today – a culinary demonstration, fruit and vegetable carving, and martini demo, broadcast of the FIFA World Cup Netherlands VS Brazil, the usual games and crafts, and the wine tasting. The Chef’s Table dinner was tonight –we saw folks going in in their chef jackets during our dinner. Port lecture on Reykjavik this AM, of course, and the FIFA Uruguay VS Ghana at 6:30.

 

Evening entertainment was Luke Burrage, a comic juggler who was pretty entertaining. Rest of the evening will feature the usual musical entertainers, and an evening movie – Alice in Wonderland (the Johnny Depp one).

 

Tomorrow, we are expected to arrive in Reykjvik around 7 AM and we have a private tour through Hreyfill Taxi – 8 of us will do the ‘Southeast Complete’ tour that encompasses the Thingvellir, the thermal areas, the Gullfoss, and the city as well. The ship is offering a shuttle into the central city at $9 round trip running about every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the day. Ship tours include a city tour, a couple of Blue Lagoon options, Whale Watching, a 4X4 tour, and a ‘Best of the Golden Circle’ that is similar to what we are doing.

 

Entertainment tomorrow is obviously taking into consideration the fact that most of the passengers will have a full day. We have a “movie night” in the Cabaret repeating Alice at 8:15 PM and adding Crazy Heart at 10:15, and dance music in the Tahitian Lounge, and Cinnamoon will relieve Heather in the Casino Lounge. Daytime options are likewise lean – afternoon movie is Everybody’s Fine, the Argentina VS Germany and Paraguay VS Spain matches, trivia, couple of other games.

[DonahCBrown]

If you go to yjod URL today ore tomorrow (7-1/2) and click on the Iceland box, you will see the problem.

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

 

Looks like 25 foot waves due south of you with some spillover to Reykjavik If the weather clears, you might see the northern lights.

 

We are going on this route westbound on the Grand in three months.

 

No Northern Lights in the summer - strictly a winter thing (no dark, for one thing!) Would love to see, but unlikely to be here in the right season - have seen some magnificent pictures on this trip!

[Woobstr112G]

In re bugs - haven't seen any so far - probably too cold for them!!

 

In re bad cold - doubt it is related to AC/vents - haven't had AC on at all - too cold. Have an idea that it was from a funicular full of school kids in Bergen as we don't get much 'kid germ' exposure as a rule. OTH, there are a fair few folks on board now who are hacking, so maybe it was airplane flu transmitted by the new entries on this cruise. Were fine on the Norway cruise, in any event, so unlikely to be an environmental ship issue.

 

Sauna/steam room helped with the congestion and can highly recommend the spa showers - good water pressure and very spacious. Nice change after the room shower.

 

Here's today's edition:

 

Day 7 – At sea enroute to Reykjavik via the north of Iceland

 

An interesting day at sea – not as rough as it was last night, and, early in the afternoon, clearing with intermittent sun and traveling close to the shoreline with lovely views of the table top cliffs and valleys of northern Iceland. We passed above the Arctic Circle in the night, back across this afternoon. High today was to be 8 C/ 46F.

 

Among other things on offer today – a culinary demonstration, fruit and vegetable carving, and martini demo, broadcast of the FIFA World Cup Netherlands VS Brazil, the usual games and crafts, and the wine tasting. The Chef’s Table dinner was tonight –we saw folks going in in their chef jackets during our dinner. Port lecture on Reykjavik this AM, of course, and the FIFA Uruguay VS Ghana at 6:30.

 

Evening entertainment was Luke Burrage, a comic juggler who was pretty entertaining. Rest of the evening will feature the usual musical entertainers, and an evening movie – Alice in Wonderland (the Johnny Depp one).

 

Tomorrow, we are expected to arrive in Reykjvik around 7 AM and we have a private tour through Hreyfill Taxi – 8 of us will do the ‘Southeast Complete’ tour that encompasses the Thingvellir, the thermal areas, the Gullfoss, and the city as well. The ship is offering a shuttle into the central city at $9 round trip running about every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the day. Ship tours include a city tour, a couple of Blue Lagoon options, Whale Watching, a 4X4 tour, and a ‘Best of the Golden Circle’ that is similar to what we are doing.

 

Entertainment tomorrow is obviously taking into consideration the fact that most of the passengers will have a full day. We have a “movie night” in the Cabaret repeating Alice at 8:15 PM and adding Crazy Heart at 10:15, and dance music in the Tahitian Lounge, and Cinnamoon will relieve Heather in the Casino Lounge. Daytime options are likewise lean – afternoon movie is Everybody’s Fine, the Argentina VS Germany and Paraguay VS Spain matches, trivia, couple of other games.

 

Donna;

 

Hope you are feeling better. Have a great time in Reykjvik tomorrow.....:):):)

 

Bob

[DonahCBrown]

Re: bugs - yes!! bring wipes/spray, whatever - lots of buzzing flies/gnats today. No mosquitos though.

 

More later

[Pia1913]

re: Bugs - yes!! Bring wipes/spray, whatever - lots of buzzing flies/gnats today. No mosquitos though.

 

More later

 

yuk!

[DonahCBrown]

Day 8 – Reykjavik – Weather was great - only had odd bits of showers while we were in the van on the way somewhere else. We (Canuker, Lady Meer, T & K, & me - DH stayed on board with a bad cold - alas caught from me...I'm much better now) had a nice tour though Hreyfill Taxi – Southeast Complete, that took in Thingvellir, the Gullfoss, the thermal areas and geysers, a visit to a town that consisted mostly of greenhouses heated with hot water from another thermal area and providing most of the flowers and a lot of the vegetables for the city, a lake in a volcanic crater, and a brief but thorough tour of the city itself, with stops at the Pearl for views and pictures, the Cathedral, and the house where Regan and Gorbachev met, and a drive around the various neighborhoods from the embassies to the old town, to the fishmarket and old harbor area.

 

Making an early evening as there’s really not much going on tonight that was of interest to us, so we’ve been watching the match between Spain and Paraguay.

 

Another time change today, and yet another one on the 5th, but at least they are going in the ‘right’ direction, with an extra hour of sleep. Tomorrow is Captain’s Circle, formal night, the Ports of Call production show, Champagne Waterfall for the evening, usual round of sea day activities, enrichment lectures, etc. during the day, and a special ‘4th of July’ Picnic at the buffet for lunch. Port lecture is on Qaqortoq, the ‘musicals’ lecture is on the Roaring 20s and Ziegfeld Follies.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

On their way to Greenland...

 

and then Qaqortoq...

 

Question.. how does one pronounce Qaqortoq..?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

 

Heres an interesting shot from the bridge cam.

Looks like they have mounted a searchlight on the bow.

 

Would that be correct Donna?

 

Only time I have seen that before was when Bill went through the Suez Canal on Royal Princess.

Perhaps it is to keep an eye out for icebergs?:eek:

 

[paul929207]

On their way to Greenland...

 

and then Qaqortoq...

 

Question.. how does one pronounce Qaqortoq..?

Last summer, Frankie, the ACD, asked a bunch of natives how to pronounce Qaqortoq. Each said it differently.

[paul929207]

Last summer, Frankie, the ACD, asked a bunch of natives how to pronounce Qaqortoq. Each said it differently.

I hope you get good weather for the sail thru Prins Christian Sund. It is about 8 hours of breathtaking scenery