Baltic , Norway , Iceland and the U.K. on the Zuiderdam 2019 with photos

[Krazy Kruizers]

12 hours ago, sevenseasnomad said:

The announcement made me so-o-o-o homesick for a HAL cruise.  And I wouldn't care where the ship was going.  LOL.  Your fantastic review is "forcing" me to consider this itinerary, although I've done the Baltic portion.  How I wish now that DH and I had done the second half.  Sadly, the year after that memorable cruise, he died, so I lost my cruising buddy as well as my best friend.  Were there many singles on your trip?  If you don't know, that's okay.

 

So sorry for your lose.

 

Hopefully you will soon cruise again -- maybe with some relatives/friends.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving the reports, pictures and videos.

 

Brings back memories of when we did the Baltic, Norway, etc. cruises on 2 different cruise lines many years ago.

[scubacruiserx2]

Super , the photos bring back and share memories .

[puppycanducruise]

Oh!  That pony is so cute.  I want one too.

[scubacruiserx2]

I almost lost my spouse several years ago but we got a do over and so we're doing what we can , while we can .

[scubacruiserx2]

1 minute ago, puppycanducruise said:

Oh!  That pony is so cute.  I want one too.

 

It sure was .We did see a few more a little later .

[scubacruiserx2]

Up to the lighthouse for a excellent view

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumburgh_Head_Lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

And while the views were fantastic , we came to see the puffins

 

 

Yin and Yang

 

 

It was very windy and we hoped to see the puffins fly

 

 

 

Interesting Atlantic puffin Facts:
Atlantic puffin is a small bird. It weighs 17.5 ounces and can reach 10 inches in length. Males are slightly bigger than females.
Body of Atlantic puffin is covered with black and white plumage. In the past, feathers of Atlantic puffins were used for decoration of hats.
Atlantic puffins have very large and colorful beaks (combination of red, yellow and blue colors). Because of their beaks, Atlantic puffins are also known as "sea parrots" or "clowns of the sea".
Color of the beak changes seasonally. It is pale during the winter and more colorful during the spring, when mating season starts. Birds become more attractive to the opposite sex when their beaks are brightly colored.
Upper part of the beak has layer of spines designed to hold the fish. Thanks to this feature, parents can deliver more than one fish to their chick in the nest.
Atlantic puffin feeds on fish. It hunts sand eels and herrings.
Atlantic puffin is an excellent swimmer. Its webbed feet and strong wings allow fast and precise movement through the water. It can dive 200 feet deep and remain submerged for up to one minute.
Atlantic puffin is also very fast flyer. It can reach the speed of 55 miles per hour by flapping its wings 400 times per minute.
Main predators of Atlantic puffins are black-billed gull and herring gull.
Atlantic puffins spend majority of their lifetime on the sea. They come to the coast only once per year to reproduce.
Mating season takes place from April to August. During this period, large colonies of Atlantic puffins gather in their home grounds.
Atlantic puffins mate for life. They build burrow in the rocky cliffs or on the solid ground between rocks. Burrows are located 3 feet underground.
Female lays one egg. Incubation period lasts 42 days. Both parents take care of the chick.
Young chicks learn to fly 45 days after birth. They will fly to the open sea and stay there until they become sexually mature, at the age of 3 to 5 years.
Atlantic puffins can survive up to 20 years in the wild.   http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/atlantic_puffin_facts/450/   They have a live puffin web cam here which I am watching now     https://www.shetlandwebcams.com/cliff-cam-2/

Edited July 27, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[cat shepard]

Once again the colors in your pics are superb. Thank you.

 

And I had to go look up “sand eel”. I had never heard of that creature. And guess who photobombed the Wikipedia article?

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by cat shepard
Add research.😉

[puppycanducruise]

Love those puffins.

We visited that lighthouse to see the puffins on our visit to the island several years ago.

Oh, I want to go back.

Thanks for the memories.

[scubacruiserx2]

41 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Once again the colors in your pics are superb. Thank you.

 

And I had to go look up “sand eel”. I had never heard of that creature. And guess who photobombed the Wikipedia article?

 

 

 

 

Just when you thought it was safe to be a sand eel !

 

We see Garden Eels swaying when we scuba dive sometimes

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

16 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

Love those puffins.

We visited that lighthouse to see the puffins on our visit to the island several years ago.

Oh, I want to go back.

Thanks for the memories.

 

We did have a nice visit and good weather and we hope that the memories are good ones .

[scubacruiserx2]

We had hoped to see and capture the puffins flying here

 

 

 

 

Coming in for a landing

 

 

Their flying was more like gliding and they move fast in this video clip :

 

 

 

 

 

Some of them were quite accomplished and others still learning . It reminded us of when we took our grandsons to ifly in Orlando .

 

 

 

[cat shepard]

Love the flight videos. Both Puffin and human.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, cat shepard said:

Love the flight videos. Both Puffin and human.

 

Me too . If I could pick a super power it would be flying . Just think of the money we could save on airfare .

 

This looks like something I would have liked to do when I was younger

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Puffin parade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruizer Bill]

What a great review!  Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Your reports are wonderful.

 

Love the videos and pictures of the puffins.

[scubacruiserx2]

5 hours ago, Cruizer Bill said:

What a great review!  Thanks!

 

 

Thank you and you're welcome 

 

Do you remember ? 

 

On a morning from a Bogart movie

In a country where they turn back time

You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorrie

Contemplating a crime

 

[puppycanducruise]

The "Year of the Cat".

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Your reports are wonderful.

 

Love the videos and pictures of the puffins.

 

Thank you , we appreciate your kind words .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, puppycanducruise said:

The "Year of the Cat".

 

We have a winner and a prize !

 

 

It's funny how the mind works . I saw the photo of Bogart from Cruiser Bill's avatar and thought of the line from that song . And when I thought of that song I remember what I was doing when I first heard it . It was the 200th anniversary of our nation's independence . I had just met my future wife ( on vacation ) . I went to work for the Fire Department in Miami and the song came out within a 3 month period . I had been a fan of Al Stewart since 1974 after leaving the navy but he never received fame until his 7th album . I was excited when he toured the U.S. but my wife didn't want to go to the concert of music she wasn't familiar with . It was a great concert . We did get a do over in 2015 after a Transatlantic cruise . Al was playing the album that I first heard of his and The Year of the Cat album in it's entirety . It was at the Royal Albert Hall and he had 5 of his original band members playing .

 

 

Here's his 2 singles from that album . The Year of the Cat has an introduction from As Time goes by and featured a sax player in the audience .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We haven't been able to upload photos to Photobucket for several hours so we will see if they allow downloads .

[scubacruiserx2]

We were still enjoying the view from the lighthouse . A ladder went over this stone fence near the guy in red .

 

 

The walls and fences kept the sheep in

 

 

We would have to cross the landing strip again

 

 

 

Birds of a feather

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Chris took us next to a Croft house

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croft_(land)

 

 

 

The right door held farm implements for cutting peat

 

 

And to the left was a living area with a peat fire smoldering . It smell like the muck fires that we sometimes got in the Spring .

 

 

There was also a Box bed

 

 

Outside was a pile of peat

 

 

And Chris met his neighbor who was working there