Live Caribbean Princess - Iceland , Ireland , England and Scotland

[scubacruiserx2]

  It was getting even steeper and being in our 60s and 70s we choose to turn around rather than risk injury .

 

 

 Some of the younger crew members went to the base of the upper waterfall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A long way up

 

 

 

 All of the running water brought out a primeval response to use the rest rooms on the left near the backhoes

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We were there on June 17th which is a holiday , Icelandic National Day .

 

Icelandic National Day (Icelandic: Þjóðhátíðardagurinn, the day of the nation's celebration) is an annual holiday in Iceland which commemorates the foundation of The Republic of Iceland on 17 June 1944. This date also marks the end of Iceland's centuries old ties with Denmark.^[1] The date was chosen to coincide with the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, a major figure of Icelandic culture and the leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement .

 

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

 

 

[NMTraveller]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:22 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 Our Chef's Table on the Regal February 11 , 2016

 

 We had to scrub up first and wear a lab coat in the Kitchen

 

 

 

 Chef Naveen with the first of 5 Hors D' Oeuvres

 

 

DW with the shrimp Margarita . Note empty flute , it's hard to eat and drink at the same time

 

 

Carmen Miranda Seahorse

 

 

Duck !

 

 

Is that an ice sculpture?

[scubacruiserx2]

 We we at the birth place of Jon Sigurdsson and at his museum on his birthday .

https://www.hrafnseyri.is/safnid/um_safnid/

 

It was a bit like being at where George Washington's birth place on his birthday . Does anyone remember when Washington's Birthday used to be a national holiday ? It ceased to be a holiday in 1971 .

 

 The museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was the 75th year of Iceland's independence

[scubacruiserx2]

9 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Is that an ice sculpture?

 

 Yes ! The seahorse was .

[scubacruiserx2]

 Bessa introduced us to some people and showed us the Turf houses like Jon was born in . We could see the roots coming through the walls .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bessa asked us if we would like some birthday cake and coffee and we split one . There were tables and chairs in front of the turf houses where we sat .

 

 

 

We made a Big mistake splitting by the cake . It was so good that it was by far the best dessert that we had on the cruise . We met the lady who had made it and complimented her on it and she told us how to make it . The people treated us like we were old friends . They got it right , we' re old but we had become new friends .

 

 

 

 The cake is very popular in Iceland for celebrations like weddings or birthdays . The name of the cake is Marsipanka or in English , Marzipan Cake with strawberry cream .  Bessa Emailed us after we asked her when we had returned home .

 

Edited June 8 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  On the way back to the town Bessa asked us if we would like to stop by their farm . On their property she saw this Eider Duck and gently got it to move to show us the nest and eggs .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 How would you like to have this view from your house ?

 

 

 

Another nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Bessa and  her husband would collect the Eider duck feathers which they would dry . They would then sell them to a Japanese company who would clean and process them for down fill for jackets and comforters .

 

 

 

Inflatable Viking  boat for Islandic National Day

 

 

 

 Something that we forgot to show at the museum was the church and the Icelandic Horses for kids to ride free . I know that Pat wanted to ride them .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ship and our Uber to the ship . The map of the fjords that we would sail from .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We would recommend Bessa and her husband as tour guides . She does the small groups and he does groups up to 20 . Their tour group is called by there first initials BS tours .

 

https://bstours.is/

 

 

 

 It got kind of bumpy sailing out

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trish Traveler]

On 6/3/2024 at 4:58 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 To the right is a stairway where the people crowded to get close to the puffins  . We waited until they left and moved down .

 

 

 

Puffins flying over and feeding in the water .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Puffin photos!  Thank you!

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Trish Traveler said:

Amazing Puffin photos!  Thank you!

 

 

  You're welcome Trish . We saw puffins at 3 places on our previous cruise to Iceland . The port that we liked the most that is missing from our upcoming cruise on Princess was Lerwick , Shetland Islands . It was the second best for puffins and it had Shetland ponies .

 The puffins were near the lighthouse and we got to see them fly off of a steep cliff . It was more like a glide that skydivers with wingsuits do  .

  

 

 

 They would jump off the steep windy cliff below the lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 9 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Today is 1 month before we fly out to London for our cruise on the Caribbean Princess . Does any one else remember the count down clock on Cruise Critic ? We use to love them .

  Our last cruise on Princess was on the Enchanted where they left these cards out . 

 

 

 

 I wonder if the Caribbean Princess does the same ?

[scubacruiserx2]

 More photos of Puffins and Shetland ponies in the Shetland Islands

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew that when Pat saw the ponies that she would want to take one home and adopt it  .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 My favorite shot of a pony was this video clip where a pony evolves a back scratcher for it's need

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Our next port was Reykjavik where we had 2 days and a night . On our Princess cruise we have 1 day from 0800 -2200 . There will be 4 ships in port with a possible 6000 passengers in port . Most of them will go on the Golden Ring tour which may be packed . We want to go to the Glacier Lagoon which will mean 9 hours of driving time and only 5 hours to tour !

  On our last cruise we tried to do the same tour and maybe spend the night , but we couldn't find a guide to do it . So we did the South shore on day 1 and the Golden Ring on day 2 . We will show day 2 first which most people will do .

 We began with a cruise to see puffins in the Reykjavik Harbor . 

 

 

 

We had to exit through the store again to meet the busses and our shuttle

 

 

 

 

 

 The shuttle picked up and we were the only ones on the bus . They dropped us at the store to pay and the harbor was across the street with our small boat .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 It was a short but bumpy ride out to the bird island .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We went around to the windward side where most of the puffins were fishing . The noisy boat motor scared them and they took flight . You can see how close the island was from the shore .

 

 

 

Edited June 9 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  After returning to the office we called our TBL guide Fred to ask him where he was . He said to turn around and walk about 100' . When we saw him we knew that this be a fun tour of the Golden Circle .

 

 

 

 We went in the opposite direction that the Rick Steves guide recommends and began with Geysir . This is where we got our name for a geyser like Old Faithful . Their version is Strokkur that erupts more frequently but less dramatically .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thar she blow !

 

 

 

 

A bird taking a birdbath in the runoff

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Gullfoss means Golden Falls and it's where the Gold Circle derives it's name . It has an upper and a larger lower falls . Fred left us at the upper falls and we walked down to the lower falls parking lot where he was . It is very windy and if you get close to the falls you may get wet so plan on it and dress accordingly .

 

 

 

 The upper falls and the upper falls viewing area

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  The lower falls . The day was overcast and ready to rain so the colors didn't pop in our photos . All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them in this review . I use a desktop so I see the photos full size until I send them to CC .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last photo and in the video clip , if you look to the right of the falls , you can see spray being blown by the wind up and over the green cliff 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

23 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

  After returning to the office we called our TBL guide Fred to ask him where he was . He said to turn around and walk about 100' . When we saw him we knew that this be a fun tour of the Golden Circle .

 

 

 

 We went in the opposite direction that the Rick Steves guide recommends and began with Geysir . This is where we got our name for a geyser like Old Faithful . Their version is Strokkur that erupts more frequently but less dramatically .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thar she blow !

 

 

 

 

A bird taking a birdbath in the runoff

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The beginning and ending of the Strokker Geyser eruption frozen in time

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

More Islandic Horses and lunch at the Gullfoss Cafe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Because prices are high in Iceland soup and bread are popular here and they usually have refills free . I had the lamb vegetable and Pat the tomato . We both liked the tomato the best . But what Iceland does the best is desserts . The Black Forest Cake was very good .

 Some places charge for rest rooms but if you are a customer they are free .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Our last stop on the Golden Circle was Pingveller . The gorge here is dramatic as it shows the separation of the North American and Euro asian tectonic plates . It was also cold and windy . Also some of the Game of Thrones was shot here .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  It's only 4 weeks from today when we leave for our cruise . Checking our temperature this morning it's already  80 F here and rainy . In London it's 55 F and in Reykjavik it's 43 F . We're ready for Iceland and some cooler weather ! ❄️

Edited June 11 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 To the left is America and to the right is Europe as you walk down the Continental Divide . On the right is a church and the 3 buildings where the priest used to live and is also used for the park warden .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A look back and then forward to a small waterfall on the American side .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Smile , we're on a drone Cam ! 🙂

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 The Caribbean Princess is scheduled to be in the Reykjavik port ( probably Skrafabakki ) from 0800 - 2200 . Our last cruise there had an overnight and so we did the longest trip on the first day . It was the South Shore town of Vik which is 2 hours and 23 minutes by vehicle .

 We hope to make it all the way to the Glacier Lagoon which is another 2 hours and 14 minutes . Our guide has agreed to the 9 hours drive time allowing us 5 hours for food , fuel and photos hopefully NOT of the Princess leaving !

Edited June 11 by scubacruiserx2