Live From the Summit, 8/7 to 8/31, from an Aqua passenger viewpoint

[trickbabe]

On 8/19/2022 at 2:52 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

I agree. We recently had one CD, Steve, on a B2B cruise in February that just did the bare minimum whereas the Entertainment Director, Patrick, was the life of the party and made the cruise much more enjoyable when he was around. 😁

 

We cruised with Steve, Patrick, and the outstanding Entertainment Team in December on Reflection. I agree with your opinion. Patrick and his team were amazing and really made our cruise amazing. 

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just found out a little while ago they have canceled our stop at Isafjordur, Iceland as it’s a tender port and high winds and seas are forecasted for tomorrow. Luckily, we had an expensive Celebrity zodiac cruise booked that we were going to cancel anyway due to the weather.
 

I have to say, though, that’s one thing nice about booking Celebrity excursions when stuff happens. They get automatically cancelled and the funds go back to our account, no questions asked. I know some folks like private excursions and that’s cool. But this is one reason we like booking cruise line excursions, low stress when stuff happens. 😁

 

Due to the itinerary change, there is now a sea day on the way to Akureyri, Iceland.

   

 

Ken that is really unfortunate.  We don't want to go all the way to Iceland and miss a port!

[Ken the cruiser]

51 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Ken that is really unfortunate.  We don't want to go all the way to Iceland and miss a port!

I agree. Luckily for us we are on the second leg of a B2B and had an excursion from Isafjordur to Vigur Island the day before we arrived in Reykjavik. But there were a few folks I was talking with while waiting to get seated in Blu that were quite unhappy as they just boarded in Reykjavik and they both had put a lot of effort in designing a plan to rent a car and privately touring the area. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Just checked with guest services and the passenger count on this cruise is 2,030 or about 90% full at double occupancy. As a side note, we personally have not seen one child yet on this cruise.

[Ken the cruiser]

As I’m sitting here on the balcony having a glass of red wine listening to the fog horn as we cruise through a fog bank in the Norwegian Sea, I thought it was time to listen to Freddie again! 😂

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM
 

[Norwaylady]

@Ken the cruiser love your plan🤣 Cheers🍷 

The sun is shining in Oslo and I'm comfy seated on my balcony in shorts+t-shirt😎 Working on the last pieces for our upcoming cruise on X...... lets just say that my cruise fever is hige for this trip😅 

[Ken the cruiser]

We were just notified there is a time change for our “Leisurely Akureyri & Waterfall” excursion from our original 9:45 am meeting time to 7:15 am!! Fun times as it will be about 42 F at that time in the morning! Brrrr! 😂

  

 

[Esprit]

Hi Ken

Nice to see you enjoying another cruise so soon after Regal Princess.

 

If you ever bump into Emily the activities manager again please say “Hi” from my DD Valentina who used to work with her!

 

Shame I’m not sharing your cruise experience this time.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, Esprit said:

Hi Ken

Nice to see you enjoying another cruise so soon after Regal Princess.

 

If you ever bump into Emily the activities manager again please say “Hi” from my DD Valentina who used to work with her!

 

Shame I’m not sharing your cruise experience this time.

Will do!

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 3 - Aug 21 - Akureyri, Iceland

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

This evening we went to see the production show, Soundtrack. But there was no game show tonight.

 

 

 

 

[luvcruzing]

21 hours ago, miched said:

If you photograph a bug or plant using a IPHone hit the “i”  icon at the top right of the page of the photo near the trash symbol.  It will open up a small window to identify it or look up.    Don’t know about other type of phones.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

NOW you tell me.  I just paid $34.95 for a one-year subscription for the Picture This app.  And, by just I mean on Wednesday.  🤦🏼‍♀️ But, thank you, I’m sure it will help someone else.  

[Ken the cruiser]

This is like deja vu! It seems like we were just cruising down the Akureyri inlet the other day! Only this time there is some sunshine peaking through and the temperature is a little chillier at around 42F. 😂

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Then when we came back from breakfast to get ready for our Leisurely Akureyri & Waterfall excursion, we saw the Azamara Pursuit leaving and the Viking Mars coming to join us at the pier! I guess the seas were a little too turbulent last night for the much smaller Azamara R-class ship to deal with, depending on which direction they were heading.

 

But it appears first come, first serve is in effect here as we get the pier the Island Princess was docked at the other day when we were here. Cool! We get to see the port from a whole new perspective and, more importantly, a different viewpoint! 😂

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

What a great excursion on a beautiful day which took us on a drive along the fjords and through some mountains and valleys to a beautiful waterfall. Then we came back from whence we came and saw what we didn’t see on the other side of the road. Then we had a leisurely drive through Akureyri stopping by a local botanical gardens before heading back to the ship! 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Short tail Nordic sheep

 

 
Icelandic horses

 

 

 

 
Gas was $2.38 per liter, and there are 3.78 liters in a US gallon of gas. As you can see, gas is definitely not cheap here in Iceland!

 

 

 
Can you find the Icelandic “bumble bee”?

 

 

 

 

 

 
How about what looks like a huge “house fly” to me? 😁

 

 

 

 
And finally back on the ship where I had to take one final picture from the promenade deck!
 

We also had to see if any whales were still in the area as there were 3 whale watching boats circling near the Summit when we arrived back in town heading towards the botanical gardens! 😁

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[lexmiller]

Just curious Ken, as we will be boarding in Boston on 8/31 - in Ocean View, are the guests allowed to serve themselves or is the staff serving?  And I sure don't want to start a fiery debate, LOL, as there was quite a heated thread about this a month ago, 🙃.  I am just curious how this is being handled on the Summit currently.   Thank you!

[Ken the cruiser]

21 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

Just curious Ken, as we will be boarding in Boston on 8/31 - in Ocean View, are the guests allowed to serve themselves or is the staff serving?  And I sure don't want to start a fiery debate, LOL, as there was quite a heated thread about this a month ago, 🙃.  I am just curious how this is being handled on the Summit currently.   Thank you!

Up in the Oceanview Buffet, the guests are serving themselves everywhere we have seen except at the dessert station. You point and they put it on a plate. But everywhere else appears to be self serve. However, I haven’t gone to the grill at the back where they serve hamburgers, pizza and other stuff like that. But my guess is, you ask and then they will put it on a plate when it’s ready.

 

One thing nice about being on deck 11 in the aft, we just bring our lunch back up one floor to the cabin and if it’s nice outside, we’ll eat on the balcony. Afterwards, we simply take our plates back down to the cleaning station. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Speaking of the eating on the balcony. Here are some pictures of a pod of whales and some other shots we took from the balcony this afternoon just after we finished! 😁

  

 

 

 

 

[TomTN]

Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories of our cruise around Iceland 4-5 years ago.  Iceland is still my favorite place for natural beauty.  One minute you are looking at a beautiful waterfall, and the next at a volcano.

Love the gardens this time of year, although very late in the season in Akureyr.  20 hours of sunlight does wonders.

[vickykay]

Hi Ken,

Was your Akireyri excursion thru the ship or private?  Your photos are amazing!

[Ken the cruiser]

17 minutes ago, vickykay said:

Hi Ken,

Was your Akireyri excursion thru the ship or private?  Your photos are amazing!

Thanks!The ship. 

[Ken the cruiser]

53 minutes ago, vickykay said:

Hi Ken,

Was your Akireyri excursion thru the ship or private?  Your photos are amazing!

Just to follow up, we prepaid for the 3.5 hour excursion with Celebrity OBC for $85 per person. It was a full bus, but we felt quite comfortable and safe as we always sit in the back of the bus, as you may notice from the pictures I post when we go on a “tour bus” excursion on any of our cruises this past year. But, that’s just us. We have booked private excursions in the past, but only when we can’t book a cruise line excursion. 😁
 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off again with tomorrow being a sea day. But the following day it will be time to go through the Prins Christian Sund again, only in the other direction, which IMHO is one of the highlights of this cruise. 😁

 

 

[Norwaylady]

Looks like you had a great day😁

Tonight is good chances of northern lights....

After 21.00 local time time, the Kp is 5.0 so looking promising🙃

 

We love Iceland and go there during winter primarily. We normally visit every February.

Mr Norwaylady is a big fan of colder climate and winter🥶☺️ 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

Looks like you had a great day😁

Tonight is good chances of northern lights....

After 21.00 local time time, the Kp is 5.0 so looking promising🙃

 

We love Iceland and go there during winter primarily. We normally visit every February.

Mr Norwaylady is a big fan of colder climate and winter🥶☺️ 

Thanks! We just heard for us it’s looking good for between Midnight and 1 am. So here’s hoping! 🤞🤞