Live - NCL Prima - 06/23-07/04/2024 - Southampton, Belgium, Amsterdam, Norway and Iceland - Is it more beautiful than Alaska?

[Seas2mountains]

We continued walking to Hallgrímskirkja Church which is the largest church in Iceland. 
 

We passed displays of tempting pastries at a bakery along the way. 

And an interesting looking building. 

 

There were WCs outside of the church as they had no public restrooms in the church. 

Waffle stand. 

There was no fee to go inside the church but you can pay to go in the tower of the church but we chose not to do this. 

[Seas2mountains]

The Einar Jonsson Museum and Sculpture Garden is across the street from the church. We were going to skip it but I quickly looked at reviews on Trip Advisor which were very positive so we decided to pay to go in.
 

It was definitely worth it from our perspective and cost about $11/person after we calculated the cost in US $.  My husband usually doesn’t care too much for art museums but liked this one. 

Sculptures 

 

To go downstairs to see most of the sculptures, you had to take these curvy steps. 

The upstairs area had displays of the furnishings of the artist and his wife. 
 

 

Most sculptures were inside but you could access the few sculptures outside without having to pay. 

[Seas2mountains]

Well if you are flying on United like us, the check in counter doesn’t open until 8am. We could have slept another 45 minutes to an hour longer. 
 

It only took 45 minutes to get from the cruise terminal to the airport and was an easy process.  

[Ellis1138]

We self disembarked. No line at 7:30 am.

Our rental car was not towed from the lot, so we put our luggage in and drove around before our Sky Lagoon appointment. 

It was a good cruise,  even if our deck had what I called the "Homeless teenager stair encampment. "

[Seas2mountains]

Back to Reykjavík. Our last stop was at the Settlement Exhibition. It was interesting but I’m not sure if it was worth the admissions price. 

It was dark in the settlement area on purpose so I don’t have great photos.  
 

 

 

The rest of the museum was focused on the history of Iceland. We were hitting a “wall” on feeling like we had been to enough museums on this trip. 
 

[Seas2mountains]

38 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

We self disembarked. No line at 7:30 am.

Our rental car was not towed from the lot, so we put our luggage in and drove around before our Sky Lagoon appointment. 

It was a good cruise,  even if our deck had what I called the "Homeless teenager stair encampment. "

Have a wonderful time at the Blue Lagoon.  That’s great to hear you were able to leave your rental car close by without any issues. 
 

Yes, those teens seemed to like the stair areas. 
 

Did you go anywhere interesting yesterday? 

[Seas2mountains]

We passed by the famous hot dog stand and waited a few minutes in line before deciding we didn’t want to wait. 

When we got to the Harpa area for the cruise terminal bus pick up and drop off area, a bus was waiting. We had the yummy lunch at the Local. 
 

The thermal spa pool areas were empty when we arrived there after the yummy lunch at the Local. There were many people in the pools when we left and it sounded like a party. 

The heated lounge chair area had about ten people and was quiet until a loud couple arrived but they were shushed by others. 

[Seas2mountains]

Dinner last night was at Cagneys. 
 

We had two dinners with FAS, two with the P+ package, and two for our Latitudes status.  We had a large onboard non refundable credit we used to pay for one specialty meal at Hasuki.  In summary, we had dinner at all specialty restaurants and ate at Los Lobos twice.  We tried one item at Food Republic. We ate dinner two nights in Hudson’s, one night in the Commodore Room and one night at Indulge. We liked the concept of Indulge but didn’t care for the food options. We didn’t have trouble finding a table when we were there for a lunch and a dinner. 

 

We had a lovely dinner at Cagney’s as knew most of the servers from the breakfasts and lunches we had there since we had a suite,

 

We both ordered the jumbo shrimp cocktail and the shrimp were huge. I got a Caesar salad and my husband got Lobster Bisque.

 

He ordered a filet mignon and I got the Prime Rib. Our server asked us to cut into our steaks as we had ordered them medium rare. We could see that the Prime rib was cooked medium to medium well. The waiter offered to bring a new prime rib but I said that I didn’t mind eating the steak as it was prepared. He insisted and brought out one that was medium rare. 

While we typically decline dessert, my husband had his favorite dessert of 7 later chocolate cake and I got the OMG cheesecake but I shouldn’t have ordered it as I could only eat about two bites because I felt too full. 

Food and service was excellent. 

[Seas2mountains]

There is a famous Icelandic hot dog stand at the airport in gate D with no line at 10am. 

[Seas2mountains]

There is a large duty free store after security for all gates and several food options.  
 

Once we got to gate D, we went through immigration and got our passports stamped. There was another duty free store and more food options but there was a longer line for food. You had to scan a boarding pass to check out to pay for food. 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

@mking8288 I figured out a way for Nomita and Adrian to say hello to you and Susan. 

[Seas2mountains]

After scanning our boarding pass and having our passports checked, we boarded a bus to take us to where the planes are parked.  We climbed up stairs to the plane which was more difficult for those with mobility challenges or those with a lot of carryon bags. 

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.  We’re doing a similar cruise in ‘26 (which is way too far away).  The one thing that I will definitely need to do in advance…learn how to pronounce the port names!

 

Have a safe, uneventful trip back home.

I understand the feeling, and can tell you that though it seems long, the time does eventually get there.

 

We sailed this itinerary last summer. We first saw this cruise on an ad that NCL sent us, and we both basically fell in love with the itinerary. This was in 2021, and I said this will be perfect for an anniversary cruise next year (2022) for our 45th anniversary. (We have been doing special things on the anniversaries ending in 5 or 0). And then we realized the ship was still being built.

 

So, we ended with a long wait and celebrated our 46th (pretend 45th) on a sea day between Norway and Iceland. The wait was worth it. I am sure it will be for you also.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

Great suggestion.
 

We are on a US based air carrier and preorderd our meals although I’m sure I ate so much the past two weeks I need to adjust back to normal eating.  😄

We always order vegetarian meals. And since they serve the ordered meals before the regular meals get basically served first. One time we were seated in a 3 across, and when they checked that we were the ones with the special order for vegetarian meals, the 3rd person in the row said she would like one. DW was ready to give hers away until I stopped her.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

There is a large duty free store after security for all gates and several food options.  
 

Once we got to gate D, we went through immigration and got our passports stamped. There was another duty free store and more food options but there was a longer line for food. You had to scan a boarding pass to check out to pay for food. 
 

 

Yes, had to scan the boarding pass to buy our meals. I believe it is so they can charge you without any VAT.

 

We also bought cough drops as DW said she needed them. Hard to find, but I eventually did. Later at home when I figured the price for them when converted to dollars, I was shocked. I'd say how expensive they were, but I have chosen to forget the exact amount. And they were not even individually wrapped, all stuck together.

[rjm11]

thank you for such a wonderful review! We are on this same itinerary next summer and I can't wait! For Bergen, is it an easy port to just walk around a shop/see sights, etc? Or will we regret not doing a tour there? I'm thinking I need to build in a few "slower" days and wondering if this is a good one to pick?

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

After scanning our boarding pass and having our passports checked, we boarded a bus to take us to where the planes are parked.  We climbed up stairs to the plane which was more difficult for those with mobility challenges or those with a lot of carryon bags. 

For you and everyone else flying home:

 

Paul Simon and Willie Nelson - Homeward Bound (youtube.com)

 

[marys350]

3 hours ago, rjm11 said:

thank you for such a wonderful review! We are on this same itinerary next summer and I can't wait! For Bergen, is it an easy port to just walk around a shop/see sights, etc? Or will we regret not doing a tour there? I'm thinking I need to build in a few "slower" days and wondering if this is a good one to pick?

We did the same itinerary on the June 2 Prima cruise this year and thoroughly enjoyed our day in Bergen without booking any tours outside the city. The Hop-on hop-off buses are readily available near the port. We enjoyed riding the Floibanen funicular, walking around the area and having lunch at the fish market. The tourist information booth is close to the fish market. 

Edited Thursday at 05:23 PM by marys350

[mking8288]

7 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

After scanning our boarding pass and having our passports checked, we boarded a bus to take us to where the planes are parked.  We climbed up stairs to the plane which was more difficult for those with mobility challenges or those with a lot of carryon bags. 

 

Reminding us of our transit experience at Lisbon Airport (Portugal) ... thankfully, our carry-on luggage was light at 10 kg / 22 lbs each.  We did noticed other (TP Air Portugal) flyers struggling to climb the stairs without assistance from airline/airport personnel ... understanding was that assistance is available when the airline was dully notified ahead.  

 

How was your UA in-flight experience coming home ?   Happy Fourth of July !! 

[Seas2mountains]

5 hours ago, rjm11 said:

thank you for such a wonderful review! We are on this same itinerary next summer and I can't wait! For Bergen, is it an easy port to just walk around a shop/see sights, etc? Or will we regret not doing a tour there? I'm thinking I need to build in a few "slower" days and wondering if this is a good one to pick?

You’re welcome and thank you for following along. I think Bergen can be turned into a slower day to explore some highlights. There are plenty of outdoor food stands and restaurants in the Fish Market area. Go early to get on the Fløibanen. We liked the Bryggen area 

 

The only port we regret not having an excursion was in Isofjordur. If doing that port again, we would go see the birds on the island. 

[Seas2mountains]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

 

Reminding us of our transit experience at Lisbon Airport (Portugal) ... thankfully, our carry-on luggage was light at 10 kg / 22 lbs each.  We did noticed other (TP Air Portugal) flyers struggling to climb the stairs without assistance from airline/airport personnel ... understanding was that assistance is available when the airline was dully notified ahead.  

 

How was your UA in-flight experience coming home ?   Happy Fourth of July !! 

Happy Fourth of July!  
 

Our flight to EWR went well with no issues and we will soon board our next flight home.  We are missing the cooler temperatures as it feels hot here. 
 

Yes, we forget about each international airport having different access to get on the planes compared to what we are accustomed to at most US airports. 

[KasaMom]

Thanks for the great postings!  We board in 63 days! Appreciate all the info. Hope you have safe travels the rest of the way home. 

[Seas2mountains]

We arrived home safely last night and had no problem sleeping through the noise of fireworks in our neighborhood. 
 

Here are some photos my husband captured as we were flying over Greenland. 

 

We are strongly considering a Reykjavík to New York cruise in the future with 2-3 days before the cruise in Reykjavik. 
 

[Seas2mountains]

8 hours ago, KasaMom said:

Thanks for the great postings!  We board in 63 days! Appreciate all the info. Hope you have safe travels the rest of the way home. 

Thank you. We had flights that arrived early. 
 

Have a wonderful cruise! 

[Ellis1138]

On 7/4/2024 at 9:21 AM, Seas2mountains said:

Have a wonderful time at the Blue Lagoon.  That’s great to hear you were able to leave your rental car close by without any issues. 
 

Yes, those teens seemed to like the stair areas. 
 

Did you go anywhere interesting yesterday? 

On July 3rd, we grabbed the rental car from Enterprise at BSI Station. We then did the Golden Circle itinerary that I designed based on our interests. 

First we did the Geothermal Power Plant,  then Bruarfoss falls, then the Geothermal Bakery demonstration and tasting at Laugarvatn Fontana. After that, we hit Gullfoss, Bru Horse Farm and Geysir.  We ate reindeer burgers at Hotel Geysir restaurant. A brief meander through Thingvellir and we were parked in a spot by the port at 5pm. 

Final dinner at Indulge.

On Friday July 4th, we checked out Grotto lighthouse and a beach, then headed to our Sky Lagoon appointment at 9 am.

We headed back to downtown Reykjavik, parked in a P3 spot and did all the tourist things: walked all the streets, lined up for pylsur, rainbow road to the church and a great lunch at Cafe Loki.

Then we headed to the Aurora hotel at KEF.  We dropped off the rental car, walked back to the hotel and slept.

It was a short walk from the hotel to KEF. We made it through the S show of airport security and our flight took off on time.

It was a great vacation, with a 95 percent match to my planned itinerary.