Live from RSSC Voyager sailing July 15, 2022

[mdunne48]

Day 2 / 16 end

 

We have departed Isafjordur slightly early. The captain is expecting rough weather around 9:00 pm. We should have crossed into the Arctic circle by then. 
 

Whale watching in Husavik tomorrow. Looking forward to it!!! 

[RachelG]

Agree with Rcandc about Iceland Air.  We learned our lesson on that.  
 

Mdunne48, thank you for the Fox pic.  He is a sweet one.

[rcandkc]

19 hours ago, mdunne48 said:

Day 2 / 16 end

 

We have departed Isafjordur slightly early. The captain is expecting rough weather around 9:00 pm. We should have crossed into the Arctic circle by then. 
 

Whale watching in Husavik tomorrow. Looking forward to it!!! 

Are you going to have an Artic Circle celebration?  We did when we crossed it on a previous cruise.  We have a framed picture of us looking silly and happy. 

[mdunne48]

Day 2 Isafjordur End

 

After our excursion to Vigur we had a lazy afternoon aboard the Voyager. Enjoyed a few card games and a late afternoon movie. 

 

Dinner was in suite so no commentary.

 

There are 584 guests aboard this segment. I thought or at least it seemed that there were more. Definitely it is a younger demographic on board. I would guess that there is a 10 year age difference between segments. A few families with small children.  Regent is running a kids camp this week based in the card room on deck 4.

 

Since leaving the confines of the fjord the weather has deteriorated significantly. Lots of rolling and pitching of the ship. Tonight’s entertainment, Little Opera Company, has been cancelled due to the ship’s motion. Batten down the hatches!!!! It’s time to Rock n’ Roll. 

 

Another in-suite movie????? Poseidon Adventures or Titanic???

 

Leaving Isafjordur 

 

[mdunne48]

Day 3 / 18 - Husavik, Iceland

 

Well good morning all….last night we had great entertainment as Gene Simmons and friends gave us an encore presentation of “rock and roll all night”. It was preceded by a group I had not heard in person, IBD. Internet Be Dammed who are still playing this morning.  Very repetitive song………

 

The passage around the northwest tip of Iceland got very rough last night. Drawers and cabinet doors opening on their own. A few extra bottles of beer and wine, crash, boom, broken, will need to be replaced this morning. 

 

The seas are still quite strong, skies are overcast, winds are howling from the west northwest at 35-50 knots. Yes, 50 knots. Right now they are 2951 for you aviation enthusiasts. For everyone else the winds are west northwest at fifty one knots. The temperature is ??? I’m not going out to find out.🤣🤣. TV says it is 42F.

 

We will not be dropping anchor in Husavik, Iceland. Instead we will have another sea day 😓😓. We were looking forward to a whale watching excursion this morning. Not to be. Guess I’ll have to book another cruise to “whale country”’

 

The NAWC has postponed its usual early sunrise meeting this morning in the interest of all members safety. The captain has assured the membership that weather conditions should be considerably improved by afternoon. We should be able to walk within the arctic circle if, a huge if, the captain is correct. 

 

Since today is a made up sea day the ship is not rushing anywhere. We are coasting along at less than 10 knots which makes the ride a bit more comfortable. I’ll bet that the commissary on board had a run on Dramamine this morning. 

 

According to the onboard internet manager the issue is stateside not the ship’s equipment.  He expects service to return by this afternoon. So Regent has a “travelling” internet with a single point of failure, Miami. Does this mean that all Regent ships are experiencing an internet outage??? If so, I think they need a system’s redesign. 

 

Lots of people dozing in the library area this morning. I guess the newbies aren’t in ship “shape”. 

 

 

 

 

[mdunne48]

Day 3 / 18 continued

 

The weather has improved dramatically since mid morning.  The seas are relatively calm and the wind has dissipated significantly, well anything under 25 knots would be a 50% or greater reduction.  The one noted area that has not improved is the INTERNET!!!!!

 

NONEXISTENT!!!!!!

 

The internet manager continues to profess that the issue lies shoreside. I’m assuming Miami but it could be Cape Canaveral or Cape Girard or Superman’s Cape…….for that matter.  

 

It’s time to test the elements. The NAWC is having a later afternoon meeting on deck 12. Hopefully we can hit a prime above 11. BTW 26 didn’t work at the roulette table…. 

 

Later…….

 

Well I returned from deck 12 where I was pleasantly surprised by at least a handful of other walkers. The wind is down, considerable clouds, and high 40’s. Got in the groove and was thinking that maybe I could get a few fellow walkers into the NAWC. I was just about to offer memberships when a small shower passed over Voyager. I was alone in seconds. Oh well there goes those temporary memberships!! I had solitude for the next 17 laps. Tonight’s number is 23!!! 

 

No internet on board. We are getting a cellular signal off of the northeast coast of Iceland.  

 

We did not make the Arctic Circle at least as far as I know. The farthest north was 66 degrees 57 minutes just a few minutes short of the AC.

[SuziCruises]

We are boarding Sept. 2nd in Amsterdam.  I hope the internet issues are resolved by then.   Since I don't have international phone/data service, I guess I'll need to look at getting a SIM card for my journey just in case.

 

[Gilly]

12 hours ago, mdunne48 said:

No internet on board.

We had no Internet on board Navigator last night too - we're sailing not so far from you currently, approaching Molde, Norway.  Though the connection can be slow, it's unusual these days for it to go completely, isn't it?

[mdunne48]

 

Day 4 / 19 - Sea Day

 

Another alarming early morning, yep Mr Foghorn returned around 4:30. Well at least that was the 1st time I heard him. 

 

Seas are relatively calm, temperatures in the mid 40’s and the wind is a “fresh breeze” at around 20 knots. 

 

Due to the general wet conditions on deck 12 the NAWC will move its daily meeting to an afternoon session.m with the hope of better conditions.

 

Revisiting yesterday’s dinner at Compass Rose. Excellence on all counts; food, service, and presentation. 

 

DW had the panko covered Tiger Prawns and a Mushroom and Spinach Crepe in a béchamel sauce.

 

 

 

I had the escargot (fantastic) and the sea scallops. 

 

 

For desserts DW had the soufflé while I had the Malvasia pudding with pecan ice cream.

 

Apologies for not taking the pictures before our first sampling but it looooooked so good!!!

 

Comment from DW was that the soufflé was the best she has ever had….

 

 

 

A nice Cakebread Chardonnay accompanied our dinner.

 

Entertainment last night was a vocalist from Macedonia, Pavle Kamiloski. He had an excellent voice. His show last night were songs by the “Rat Pack”. Having “New York New York” sung with a slight Greek accent was mildly disconcerting at first. It just threw you off. However he was good and once you became accustomed to the slight accent the songs became enjoyable. 

 

Regent’s internet returned from its vacation sometime last night. DW will be extremely pleased with that development. 

 

On to a sea day with nothing planned except for an in-suite matinee movie. 

 

 

 

 

[mdunne48]

23 minutes ago, Gilly said:

We had no Internet on board Navigator last night too - we're sailing not so far from you currently, approaching Molde, Norway.  Though the connection can be slow, it's unusual these days for it to go completely, isn't it?

Well it appears that the Regent fleet was without customer internet for a bit over 24 hours. According to the onboard internet manager the issue was a stateside one dealing with connections to their satellite systems. 

[mdunne48]

Day 4 / 19 sea day continued.  
 

Mr. Fog reappeared this afternoon accompanied by Mrs. Horn. Just when I was going to take a nap!!!!! 🤣🤣

 

From yesterday’s (day 3) photos: 

 

The Voyager pool in “dry dock”. 

 

[PhD-iva]

On 7/31/2022 at 11:17 AM, rcandkc said:

It is Sunday morning and we are sitting in Admirals Club in Denver still on our way home to DFW.  Iceland is not an easy place to get home from😜.

Our departure terminal was a sea of people..too many flights at one time. At the gate you then had to get on bus to go to Iceland Air jet.  They call business class first to get on bus but they then continue to call more and more people so it’s a tight cattle car.  Absolutely packed.  You get to plane and it’s a rush to the stairs to walk up carrying your carryon.  It’s a hard day when plane does not depart until 5 after being up at 6:30 to be out of room by 8.  None of this is Regents fault…just the way it is departing Iceland. We are happy we got to Greenland for our first time.  It was our second trip to Iceland. Great cruise but we are done with Iceland Air. 

Sounds just like my experience at Frankfurt airport. Business class or cattle coach, everyone schleps  their own carry-on off the plane and down stairs to the tarmac. Any plane, all airlines.

The Frankfurt airport lacks terminals to service all of their arrivals and departures, so the airport tarmac looks like a parking lot of large jets. The bus travels quite a long distance to go from where your plane is parked way out there, over to a door to the terminal leading to more stairs and no elevator that I could find. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by PhD-iva
Edit

[mdunne48]

Day 4 (continued)

 

It is getting warmer as we travel farther south towards the Faroe Islands. Right now it is 54F on deck. Very pleasant. In fact there are a few loungers in use which has not been the case for the past week. 
 

The NAWC held its meeting late this morning. The first 5 laps were done in solitude but then deck 12 became the place to be on the Voyager. There were at least 40 walkers by the end of my stroll. There were so many that we needed some sort of traffic control to avoid collisions. Luckily everyone adhered to the 🚢’s counter clockwise rotation signage and no passing zones. 🤣🤣

 

Maybe a visit to the cruise consultant in the near future…..to see what her magic ball says….
 

Tonight’s dinner is in Chartreuse.  Looking forward to that. 

[mdunne48]

Day 4 / 19 

 

Just wait a few minutes……and the weather will change. It is now bright sunshine and on my balcony (starboard side) it must be in the 60’s. Warm enough to enjoy an IPA in short shirtsleeve comfort.

 

Looking for those whales!!! 

[mdunne48]

Day 5 / 20 - Klaksvik, Faroe Islands 

 

Today starts the port intensive part of this cruise. 7 days, 7 ports then Copenhagen. We are docked in Klaksvik. This is the 2nd largest town / city in the Faroe Islands. From what I can see it is a beautiful area. 

 

Taken from deck 12: multiple Waterfalls right above our starboard side balcony.

 

 

Verdant green mountains all around the port.

 

 

Unfortunately we brought along our most unwelcome non-paying passenger. Mr FOG accompanied by his cousin Ms. Misty.

 

From the bow: 

 

Luckily we have an afternoon excursion. That might give the weather a chance to improve.

 

Last night we ate at Chartreuse. Maybe we are becoming jaded but for both of us it was just average excellence. Nothing was wrong with anything served but there were no standouts either like the soufflé in CR the previous night. Service was great. Igor provided just the right amount of professionalism. 

 

The day is about to begin. Tour busses are lining the dock area and our cruise director is making her 1st announcements. The NAWC will attempt a later morning meeting or possibly a sail away stroll…… wherever you are have a great day!!! We will!!!!

[mdunne48]

Day 5 / 20 - continued

 

Correction. We have 8 ports in 8 days including today in Klaksvik. 

 

Going to be a wet tour this afternoon. The seemingly perennial overcast remains , along with intermittent showers. 

 

Well back from the tour and mildly surprised. In Iceland wait 5 minutes and the weather will change. In the Faroe Islands switch to a different island and the weather will be totally different. 

 

Compliments of the tour guide:

 

1). The Faroe Islands consists of 18 separate islands, 17 of which are inhabited albeit only 2 families live on one island.

2). The language is Faroese. The secondary language is Danish since the Faroe Islands are part of the Danish Kingdom. However, English is fast replacing Danish as the 2nd language especially among the young. 

3). Fishing is the main industry.

4). The climate is heavily influenced by the Gulf Stream .

5). The islands are made up of volcanic rocks however there is no recent volcanic activity.

 

Pictures to follow. Dinner in CR.

 

 

 

[flossie009]

Thanks for the two excellent blogs from Voyager. A very interesting itinerary.

 

If anyone wants some more exposure to the Faroe Islands, the scandi drama "Trom" (Faroese for "edge") is worth a watch:

 

For those in the UK it is available on BBC iPlayer

 

 

[Portolan]

On 8/1/2022 at 1:01 PM, mdunne48 said:

Day 3 / 18 continued

 

...

We did not make the Arctic Circle at least as far as I know. The farthest north was 66 degrees 57 minutes just a few minutes short of the AC.

If you were at approximately 66°57′ N, you were above the Arctic Circle which is 66°34′ N (to the nearest minute).

[mdunne48]

5 hours ago, Portolan said:

If you were at approximately 66°57′ N, you were above the Arctic Circle which is 66°34′ N (to the nearest minute).

Yes, we received the certificates from Regent commemorating the event. 
 

I was thinking 66.66

 

[rcandkc]

7 hours ago, mdunne48 said:

Yes, we received the certificates from Regent commemorating the event. 
 

I was thinking 66.66

 

We had a ceremony were we wore a Viking hat, some black stuff was put on our nose, and then we down a shot of some evil strong stuff.  We had fun. 

[mdunne48]

No fun here!!! That was the night of “rock ‘n roll….well I guess that it could have been fun 🤣🤣

[mdunne48]

Day 5 / 20  - continued

 

Had another excellent dinner in CR. Service continues to be excellent. We are definitely favouring CR over Chartreuse. The variety of items available attracts us.
 
Shrimp pasta in a lemon sauce:

 

 

Miso glazed sea bass with sticky rice (everyone’s favorite):

 

 

NY style cheesecake with raspberry sauce.

 

DW had:

Chicken / liver pâté (superb)

 

Either lamb or veal entrée  (I forget) on a bed of vegetables….

 

 

A coconut/ tapioca compote with lemons 

  

[mdunne48]

Some pictures from the Faroe Islands:

[mdunne48]

Oooppps!! Here are the pictures:

Sheep actually can get up onto these roofs to graze.

 

An 18th century fishing ship made in the Viking traditional method

 

I think that the Faroe Islands have around 70,000 sheep and 50,000 people.

An “under the sea tunnel “ connecting two of the main Faroe Islands. The lighting was done by a prominent local artisan. Sorry for the picture. A tough photo to take in a dark tunnel, moving bus, through a windshield 😂😂

 

 

a

[mdunne48]

Day 6 / 21 - Lerwick, Scotland (Shetland Islands)

 

A beautiful morning greeted us upon sailing into the Shetland Islands. Partly sunny skies with temperatures in the 50’s and hardly any wind.  One of the best days for this segment. 
 

The NAWC decided to postpone this morning’s meeting until later in the day. I think maybe too much of the vino had something to do with the decision.

 

We had one of the 1st tours of the day “ Shetland ponies and Scalloway”. Our guide was very, very informative. On the right, now on the feet, just ahead of us, behind the bus is…..you catch the drift. These islands are beautiful. However we lucked out. The Shetland Islands average over 300 days of rain annually. We happened to hit their summer day.

 

 

I’ll post more pictures later from the tour and our walk around Lerwick.