Splendor in Iceland!

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, maryogreen said:

@boblerm That rainbow photo is a stunner! I love how you captured it disappearing over the golden hills. Just magical. I know what you mean about it being the most dramatic you've ever seen. A few years ago, I witnessed an extraordinary rainbow on a sea day in New Zealand and serendipitously had my camera with me. I've never experienced anything like it since. Maybe these are the rainbows with pots of gold at the end.😊 Wishing you continued happy travels and a safe journey home.

Mary

The Modern Postcard

So great to find oneself in the right place at the right time! 

[boblerm]

For our unexpected sea day, we attended a lecture about the history of arctic exploration. After learning about the fate that befell explorers who ran into bad weather while at sea, like, for example, being stranded in the frozen tundra for a year or more, I have come to the conclusion that missing a port of call while on board a luxury cruise ship isn't all that unbearable after all. 

 

Final dinner of the cruise in Compass Rose. Sometimes I think that if I closed my eyes and just pointed to items on menu, I would end up with a fine meal. We didn't do that, we started with right side offerings chicken noodle soup for Jeannie, beef ravioli for me. From the always available side, we each had the crab and avocado appetizer, Jeannie had the scallops and I ordered lamb chops with a lobster tail to make a surf and turf. But when my entree came, they brought shrimp instead of lobster. My waiter realized this immediately, and promptly brought the lobster tail, so I ended up having surf and surf and turf.

My lamb was cooked perfectly and melt in your mouth tender, and all 3 fishes were delicious. The lobster was more tender than the ones that we had in Prime 7 and Pacific Rim. 

CR remains my favorite restaurant at sea, be it a main dining room or specialty.

 

"Crossroads" was a go, and for me is the new standard by which cruise ship production shows should be judged, it was that good. There is a loose theme about a battle between rock and country, the song choices, choreography, and performances were spot on. On stage, there is a combination of physical props and back lit LED scenery which offered spectacular effects. Many costume changes as the performers went back and forth between the two genres. They were backed by the lead and bass guitarists and percussionist from the orchestra who were also in costume, the 2 guitarists taking center stage occasionally. That combined with the always competent lightning made for a most enjoyable show, I didn't want it to end. Bravo Regent entertainment team!

 

We are waiting for our bus to take us to the Reykjavik Grand Hotel for our post cruise night and our tentative plan is to take a hop on hop off bus to see the sights of Reykjavik. 

[forgap]

Too bad you missed Heimaey.  We took a boat ride around the island and got a good overview of living on a volcanic island.  The eruption in 1973,which destroyed half the island, is still a vivid memory for islanders.  We saw puffins galore and the iconic elephant island.  The even have a beluga whale sanctuary in the harbor where they rehab captive belugas from zoos and prep them for life in the ocean.  

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I can’t believe you are just finding out that cronuts are a food group all on their own!  Now that you have had one, your culinary experience is complete!

 

loving this review, and the wonderful photos.  Thanks for taking the time to post.  You have seen so many intriguing places that my bucket list has now expanded. 
 

Joanie

[RachelG]

second the bummer on missing Heimaey.  We have been there twice.  First time, we were unable to land but close enough that we could see the puffins on the rocks, etc.  Second time was a landing, and we hiked quite a ways, which was very nice.

[boblerm]

12 hours ago, forgap said:

We saw puffins galore and the iconic elephant island.  

 

6 hours ago, RachelG said:

First time, we were unable to land but close enough that we could see the puffins on the rocks, etc. 

 

I am curious to know when you were there. 

When we were in Snæfellsnes, our tour guide told us that we puffins fly the coop (so to speak) by August 15.

We did spot a puffin in the Faroes, but I wasn't fast enough on the draw with my camera to get a good shot of him before he flew away. 😔

[boblerm]

7 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

I can’t believe you are just finding out that cronuts are a food group all on their own!  Now that you have had one, your culinary experience is complete!

 

I think that if I had a whole one at breakfast, I would have to skip lunch. 

 

AS IF! 😂😂😂

 

[pingpong1]

44 minutes ago, boblerm said:

 

I think that if I had a whole one at breakfast, I would have to skip lunch. 

 

AS IF! 😂😂😂

 

But Bob...Isn't that the "whole point" of dinner....to catch up on what you "missed" at breakfast and lunch!?  🤪

[forgap]

1 hour ago, boblerm said:

 

 

I am curious to know when you were there. 

When we were in Snæfellsnes, our tour guide told us that we puffins fly the coop (so to speak) by August 15.

We did spot a puffin in the Faroes, but I wasn't fast enough on the draw with my camera to get a good shot of him before he flew away. 😔

I took the photo on 8/23/22…..climate change!

[boblerm]

Disembarkation was very well organized and went very smoothly.  Our post cruise arrangements- not so much.

We got on the bus to take us to the Reykjavik Grand, and the local representative that Regent arranged to accompany us told us to put on our seat belts....and nothing else. When we arrived at the hotel, we gathered our luggage and went to the reception desk to check.  We waited on a long line, and eventually the word trickled down that there was no point in waiting there, all that we would be told is that check in would be at 3PM and we should go to the Regent hospitality room to leave our luggage.  It would have been nice if we were told this to start.  We waited on line again, and the rep told us that she did not have our flight info.  I had filled all of this out in out disembarkation questionnaire, but ok, I gave it to her again, and we were told that we would receive our transportation info later.

 

When we returned from touring, she told us that breakfast began at 6:30, but we had to be in the lobby at 6 for a private transfer.  Was there any opportunity to get a bite before we left?  She said that we should check at reception.  We were told there that Regent did not make any arrangements for any food options for those leaving early.  Could we order from room service at our own expense?  No, that did not begin until 7.

 

But luckily, there was some cookies in the lobby, so we brought them to our room so that we would have something to tide us over until we would arrive at the lounge.  Hey, we just finished a Regent cruise, how long are we expected to go without nourishment???

 

So we come down to the lobby at 6 AM, and is there a driver there?  That would be a no.  Well, there was a driver there, but he did not have us on his list.  He made some inquiries, and as best as we could tell, the driver assigned to us took someone else.  Fortunately, he told us that he would take us along with the couple that he was assigned to take.

 

So we arrived at the Icelandair Saga Lounge at 7:20 (very nice), where there was a nice breakfast spread.  No cronuts, however.

 

We enjoyed touring around Reykjavik , the highlights were the Opera House, the Perlan, and dining for lunch at THE hotdog stand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Gilly]

@boblerm so sorry "our" cruise has ended in such a way!  One always hopes (trusts) that arrangements will all have been put in place to ensure a smooth journey but it appears that some steps were forgotten about in this instance.  Most importantly, did The Hot Dog live up to expectations?!

[puppyluv1]

Just love your sense of humor! This was a great read and the photos were really impressive. Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us!  

[May B]

Disembarkation day is so often a rude awakening type of experience, and yours followed the rule, with the next a.m. thrown in for good measure!

 

Glad the Reykjavik sightseeing was fun, and the cruise was so very excellent. 
 

Hopefully you’re home safe and sound, with the photos and the memories to keep forever.

[boblerm]

On 9/1/2023 at 5:10 AM, Gilly said:

Most importantly, did The Hot Dog live up to expectations?!

Well, it was a split decision.  It has a somewhat smokey flavor, which I love, but isn't exactly to DW's taste.

 

BTW, our visit to the Perlan was mid afternoon, and it was not crowded at all.  I know that it was very crowded when you visited, which limited your ability to see everything that you wanted to.  The only thing that limited our visit there was time!  There is so much to experience there.  The ice cave was fascinating, and at the end, there is a Glacier exhibition where we could have spent much time exploring.  There is also a Planetarium show on the Northern Lights, which was very nice.

 

[Gilly]

I agree, @boblerm Perlan is the perfect place for that last morning/afternoon and I'm delighted that it wasn't busy when you were there.  The Northern Lights show was one of the reasons why our visit wasn't so successful.  We were advised to do that first...supposedly it was about to begin when we arrived, but actually it wasn't and we wasted half an hour standing in line with masses of others waiting.  Of course, that also meant that a couple of hundred people turned out of the theatre at the same time to visit ice cave, glacier exhibition and so on...not the best strategy.  Never mind!  It was a sparkling morning and the views were great, so the fresh outdoor air was welcome on a day when we were going to have little opportunity breathe much of it.

I take it you're now home safely?  Here's to the next cruise, eh?  (and hopefully, not too long to wait!)

[boblerm]

I would like to do a short review on the Hotel Reykjavík Grand

 

Here is what I liked:

• It has a pretty lobby.
• The room had a bathtub, not so easy to find in Reykjavik.
• About a 20 minute walk to a hop-on hop-off bus in front of the Hilton Nordika

 

Here is what I did not like:

 

• The room felt very warm when we entered it, and I could find no temperature controls.  I called reception to inquire as to how this can be accomplished, and was told that it couldn't, but I could open a window.  I searched for windows that could be opened, and found none.
• The room was very stingy on towels, and zero facecloths.  After checking in, we called reception and asked for more, but we needed to get ready for dinner rather quickly, so they did not arrive in time.
• No bars of soap. There is a liquid soap dispenser between the sink and the bathtub, but a long reach from the bathtub; and a dispenser labeled "skin and hair shampoo", as well as conditioner in the shower.
• The shelf over the sink was incredibly short and narrow, not enough room for one person to put stuff, much less two.
• There was no instructions as to how to use the room safe, and I was unable to discern how to set it.  Not kidding.  I will fully stipulate that I am not the sharpest tack in the box, but I have stayed in many hotel rooms and have managed many room safes.  I tried every combination and permutation of buttons that I could, but kept getting error messages.
• The desk area where a lady would need to apply make-up was very dark.
• The bed was too low to the floor, making it somewhat difficult for persons of a certain age to get in and out.
• The black out drapes were not wide enough to cover the entire window.
• The location is very inconvenient to the great majority of points of interest, and to any of the interesting restaurants that I was able to find.  The cab fare to get to our restaurant was 7000 krona = $53.

 

Other than that, everything was hunky-dory.

There may be a very good reason to stay at this hotel while visiting Reykjavik, but I do not know what it may be.

[Mudhen]

It oh …

stuff happens but that’s too

much stuff.

Sorry to hear that.

[cwn]

boblern - Thank you so much for your wonderful report and great pictures. I know it is time consuming. 
 

We will be doing the ‘25 Grand Arctic and have an overnight in Reykjavik and are thinking about get a hotel. We have been at the port for a long day, rented a car and did the golden circle which was beautiful. After your comments the Grand Arctic is out. 
 

How far is the walk from the gangway to the buses and/taxis. It has been more than ten years since we were there and our walking ability isn’t what is use to be.

[forgap]

We were on a Silversea cruise last year that ended in Reykjavík. They put us up at the Reykjavik EDITION which was within walking distance to everything.  Beautiful hotel with a great rooftop bar.  FYI.

[boblerm]

12 hours ago, Mudhen said:

It oh …

stuff happens but that’s too

much stuff.

Sorry to hear that.

All's well that ends well!

[boblerm]

13 hours ago, cwn said:

How far is the walk from the gangway to the buses and/taxis. It has been more than ten years since we were there and our walking ability isn’t what is use to be.

Are you referring to the port in Reykjavik? It was just steps from the gangway to the bus that took us to the hotel, I wasn't paying attention to taxis, but I believe that they would be coming right up to the ship.

As to other ports of call, I do not remember any particularly long walks to the tour busses.

 

I would like to second @forgap's recommendation of the Edition, in addition to being in an ideal location, it is very close to the Harpa Opera House which is a hop on hop off stop.  The hop on hop off is an excellent way to sample the city, it stops very close to all of the major sites; in addition to the opera house it stops right at the church, the Perlan (a unique place, highly recommended), and several museums.

[hamasgirl]

Agree with the comments on the Grand Hotel Reykjavik.  We too spent one night post-cruise there (we were on the same cruise as Boblerm).  It took us a while to figure out that there was a switch on the wall near the light switch that opened a window at the top of the window wall of the room.  It helped cool down the room.  But for us the most annoying thing about the room was the shower in the bathroom.  A full height glass curved 'wall' that could be moved.  But since it was only about 18-20 inches wide, no matter how you tried to move it you couldn't contain the splashes when taking a shower.  And since the shower was right in front of the toilet we managed to have a totally wet floor and toilet that took a great deal of work with the wafer thin bath towels to try to dry up.  Since we too are of a certain age, making a night time trip to the bathroom was an exercise in soggy feet.  Yuck!

[cwn]

6 hours ago, boblerm said:

Are you referring to the port in Reykjavik? It was just steps from the gangway to the bus that took us to the hotel, I wasn't paying attention to taxis, but I believe that they would be coming right up to the ship.

As to other ports of call, I do not remember any particularly long walks to the tour busses.

 

I would like to second @forgap's recommendation of the Edition, in addition to being in an ideal location, it is very close to the Harpa Opera House which is a hop on hop off stop.  The hop on hop off is an excellent way to sample the city, it stops very close to all of the major sites; in addition to the opera house it stops right at the church, the Perlan (a unique place, highly recommended), and several museums.

 

9 hours ago, forgap said:

We were on a Silversea cruise last year that ended in Reykjavík. They put us up at the Reykjavik EDITION which was within walking distance to everything.  Beautiful hotel with a great rooftop bar.  FYI.

Thank you both. That information is very helpful for my planning. I will include it in my trip file. We enjoy touring with the HOHO buses. Usually a good way to see the sites without a lot of walking. Glad to know it is not a long hike down a hot pier to the buses. The Caribbean just about did us in😀. 

[lprp]

100% agree with @boblermand @hamasgirl about the Reykjavik Grand. The moveable shower screen was one of the best examples of “style over substance” albeit without any noticeable style….. who on earth designs these things?

Also, if you stay for 2 nights or more you have to request fresh towels (which you will DEFINITELY need) the day before, go figure 🤯.

 

[Flygal2020]

We were on this cruise as well and I would have to say we were disappointed with the management of tours. Huge attraction was the Fjords and we missed most due to travel at night. We felt the tours would have been better if a representative had attended the tours or checked with the guides to make sure the tours would go ahead to ensure a pleasant experience. As it were, we went in tours that had guides that were so old that they put the bus to sleep, had a city bus as a coach, arrived to a destination where the it was closed and no bathroom open until after we left, traveled on a boat tour that was so foggy that we could not see out, …the list goes on. The staff was not easy to talk to about the tours, we found them dismissive. We never save the captain again after the initial introduction, in fact, we hardly saw his staff. I can’t remember a cruise where you didn’t interact with the command staff. There was a “abdominal” issue going around and crew were getting quarantined yet they were afraid to say covid. Overall, I felt most of the hardworking crew were very nice but I would expect better management and back up plans for tours and guests to insure a great experience. We had fun because of the people we met, not necessarily because of the experience.