Review of Silver Cloud, Tower Bridge to Reykjavik, August 4-13

[spinnaker2]

Just wonderful photos! Thanks

[jpalbny]

Grímsey - back in town:

 

We walked across the wider midsection of Grímsey, back to the town. There wasn't a trail directly to the signpost (which is north of the town), because you can't walk through the airport. For one, you'd have to cross the runway. That wouldn't be a big issue here, probably, given the sparse air traffic. The more important reason is those Arctic Terns nesting in the area! You can't walk in their protected nesting area. So we walked along the perimeter of the airport, with our umbrella up so the terns didn't attack us, and went back to town. Then we backtracked up to the Arctic Circle signpost, and ran into the tail end of the second ship's tour group...

 

We waited a few minutes for them to take pictures, and then had a few minutes alone for some touristy poses:

 

 

Then back into town - there's a church to see, and some interesting mementos. Apparently a wealthy American, Daniel Willard Fiske, who was a scholar and an avid chess player, visited the island in the late 19th century. He noted that the residents were proficient in the game of chess, and so he took quite an interest in the island, and the well-being of the inhabitants. Along with books and money, he donated a chess set to every household on Grímsey! Strange story, but there is a memorial to him in town:

 

 

The Silver Cloud is waiting for us out in the harbor. There is also an outdoor chess board in case you want to sit and have a game - a nod to Fiske's passion for the game:

 

 

Further south of town, there were some nice examples of basalt columns on the cliffs, and another pretty wooden church (Miðgarðakirkja)- supposedly built in the 1860s, entirely from driftwood!

 

 

We had wanted to hike a little further south to get to the lighthouse, but by now we had gone about 7 miles and it was getting close to departure time. Back to town to catch the tender...

[jpalbny]

August 12, continued:

 

We sailed from Grímsey at 11:00 AM, and felt like we'd already done a full day's work! Back to the ship for some bouillon to warm up, then the suite for a hot shower and then time for lunch.

 

We had a lazy afternoon and started to pack in preparation for disembarkation tomorrow. We also decided that we should toast our crossing the Arctic Circle with some Champagne, so the bottle of Dom was opened and enjoyed. It made the packing less painful.

 

Before dinner, we decided that we should spend the last $100 of our OBC so we got two bottles of red wine from the Connoisseur's list, figuring we'd take them with us when we disembarked. Time has passed since then, but I think one was a Priorat, and the other a Mt. Etna red (probably Nero d'Avola). We have 4 days in Iceland post-cruise and wine is horribly expensive here. So we figured we'd come prepared.

 

After dinner, we enjoyed the extended daylight as we sailed along the north, then the west of Iceland. This picture was taken at 9:30 PM:

 

 

And this one at 11:15 PM:

 

 

***

 

Wednesday, August 13 - disembarkation in Reykjavik:

 

 

The morning sun was shining brightly to welcome us to Reykjavik, and as an added bonus, we were docked downtown in the Old Harbor instead of the larger pier out of town (Skarfabakki)! The clear skies and bright sunshine made for some great views of the town from our docking berth. The distinctive shape of Hallgrímskirkja stands out here:

 

 

And we had a nice view of the Harpa (the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center), with the still harbor and the mountains in the distance:

 

 

After a leisurely breakfast we were ready to disembark, and pick up our rental car for the next 4 days of adventure. We decided not to go to Reykjavik at all this trip; instead, we're heading north and then west to explore some of the less-crowded parts of Iceland. I may post some pictures of that part later, but for now, will stop here.

 

It was, as always, a whirlwind tour of many interesting places and Silversea made it a great time!

Edited October 4, 2014 by jpalbny

[57 varieties]

Marvellous thank you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dani negreanu]

A "bit" late to the party -- our next cruise is to Iceland, and enjoyed very much your review. Thanks, JP & Chris.😀

[JohnGinPBG]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

A "bit" late to the party....

 

Another latecomer here. So glad this awesome review has resurfaced! We're sailing on the Cloud next May from Dublin to Reykjavik with six stops in Scotland/islands and Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islands and on to Iceland. 

 

Like you, JP, we have long days in Orkney and Akureyri and we're inspired by your independent adventures there. We'll wait and see what the ship has in store, however, since this is an expedition cruise (our first) and they may have some good tours included for us.

 

We're adding time in Ireland pre-cruise and Iceland post so this should be 3+ weeks of awesomeness!

[jpalbny]

Dani and John, thanks for giving me a chance to relive this fun trip! I haven't seen this blog in a few years and it was nice to revisit all the fun things that we did here. Hope you both have great cruises! Iceland is one of our favorite destinations.
 

John, if you visit Orkney on your own you can probably do most of what we did, or maybe even more. The Orkney Explorer Pass was a pretty good deal and one that I'd still recommend. Just make sure that you reserve a time to visit Maes Howe, well in advance, if you're interested. But, it is quite likely that the ship will arrange something equally good for you, so it's a tough call. I generally do not make my own arrangements when I'm doing an expedition cruise.

 

Akureyri is a tougher call. I might make an exception and head out on my own there. We will be there again in August on Silver Cloud so I better decide soon...but like you, I can't decide until I see what the ship is offering for tours, and that isn't available yet. We have done Akureyri independently twice (first time in 2008, before I started blogging) so we hit all the first-tier sites that day. That's why we did other stuff that was less well-known in 2014.

 

Enjoy your trip, whatever you decide!

[JohnGinPBG]

Thanks, JP, for your original blog and these additional tips. I'll be interested to hear what the Cloud offers you in Akureyri this year as well as your experience on Vigur Island, which is also part of our itinerary next year.

 

I'm really enjoying being a (new) part of the SS Cruise Critic community. It's an incredible treasure trove of information thanks to all the posters. Anywhere I'm considering sailing , there's bound to be great first-person accounts and photos. Such a gift!

 

We chose our first-ever cruise (Alaska on the Shadow last summer) based on CC reviews. Really glad I found the site and the board. I'll do my best to share our experiences, but you and the other regular posters set a very high bar!

 

We did Alaska last June, the Caribbean on the Spirit a couple weeks ago (booked the cruise 3 days before sailing) and have the Med in October and next year on the Cloud to look forward to.

 

Thanks again and enjoy your cruise this year!