Iceland Intensive Cruise

 This was our first and only tender port. We weren't in any rush to get ashore, so we slept in a bit, had coffee in the room, visited the front desk to sort out some issues then went up for a late breakfast. We got ashore about 11am. It's a sunny day with a bit of haze, about 14C. This is a small town quite close to the main airport. There is a nice walkway along the waterfront with historical plaques. We passed a park with shelters for picnics, then a small marina and the "Trolls Cave" We followed the path up on a rocky peninsula with winding paths through the lupins. A little under 1 hour walk from the pier. There was a small museum that opened at noon, so we went in. They had some geological displays, some art works, some collections of various things like scale models of Icelandic ships, sewing machines, pens, plastic bags....An interesting old building as well. We walked back on the main street which was fairly small. A few restaurants, hotels and shops. Back on ...

 The White Night Party is a tradition on Azamara Cruises. This time it was planned for indoors because of the cool temperatures. But because it turned out a beautiful day, the decision was made to move the time a bit earlier and have it around the pool. I was actually in the shower when the announcement was made, so we had to  get ready quickly and head up on deck for 5:30pm. Every so often there was a cold blast of wind, but as we had a table in the sun it was really nice! The dinner was excellent, including fresh fish caught by some of the crew off a tender boat! After dinner there was a crew parade, and the band started. The dance floor was crowded and I think we were all glad that the party was outside. The ship was suppose to depart at 8pm, but the captain decided to delay departure so we could keep partying.Although the sun doesn't set until nearly midnight, it does cool off. So about 9pm the party moved indoors to one of the lounges. 

 Todays port arrival time was afternoon, so we had a nice relaxed morning. Coffee and yogurt in the room, and a chance to read and catch up on my Blog. The weather this morning was overcast and cool, only a high of 9C predicted. There was a deck barbeque for lunch - delicious ribs amoungst other things. The clouds were starting to lift as we approached Grundarfjordur. It's a small port, and we are the only ship in. The biggest attraction here is Kirkjufell, a mountain that is often used in Iceland advertising. But really, the whole backdrop of the bay is beautiful.  Once we walked off the pier there was a shuttle bus operated by a local man to take people to the base of Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss. 15 Euros round trip, goes every 30 minutes, about a 10 minute ride. It was much windier in this area, but the clouds had cleared. A beautiful mountain, but treacherous to climb. We could see the start of the path that looks easy, but it gets very steep very quickly. We just walke...

  We overnighted here and most people were up fairly early to do a full day tour. This is the 2nd biggest town in Iceland, and it's quite spread out. The weather has changed and today is cloudy and cool. We had booked a small group tour through a company called Imagine Iceland. Not only did they offer a tour to take us to all the places we wanted to see, it was a reasonable price and they promised to get us back to the ship on time! Their van was easy to find on the pier and our group of 8 set out. About an hour drive to our first stop at Godafoss, the waterfall of the gods. The clouds are low and a wind blowing, so we're glad of all our layers! The waterfall is very impressive and there is a huge volume of water. Lots of people around, but there are many viewing spots and paths so it's not crowded. Then on to Lake Myvatn, about a 30 min drive. There are still a few patches of snow around in sheltered areas. It's a very shallow lake known for the variety of birds and th...

  Instead of an Azamazing Evening on this cruise we had a Destination Celebration, which is on the ship. Our performance was Greta Salome, an Icelandic violinist that has an amazing energetic show. First of all we had a deck barbeque. I was a bit concerned as it wasn't very warm, but wearing a jacket and having the sun keep coming out made it quite comfortable. The food was fantastic. Some local food and some old favourites. The show was in the Cabaret Lounge, and was so good I sat through it twice!

  An earlier start than usual. Today we had 2 stops, first at Husavik. We were doing a Whales and puffins boat trip with a 7:45am start. So up for a quick breakfast. Once again we've been blessed by the weather with another sunny day. This was a popular tour, and many couldn't get on it. First of all a just under 1 km walk from the ship to the whale boat pier. Then we had to climb onboard and don our cruiser suits. Finally we headed out on the bay towards the Puffin  Island. Not much wind and calm waters. So many birds flying around, both puffins and many kinds of gulls. Some White Beaked Dolphins spotted on the way out. We got close enough to the island to spot some of the puffin burrows. Then headed further out in the bay where some whale blows had been spotted. A bit of a wait, then the whale was spotted blowing and showing it's back and fin many time. Apparently it was a rare sight, a hybrid Blue/Finn Whale. Then headed to another part of the bay, and saw a Sperm Whale,...

  A really incredible day today in Seydisfjordur.Although the forecast was for rain, sunny skies greeted us as we sailed up the 17 km fjord into Seydisfjordur. As our arrival time was a bit later, we had a leisurely morning, coffee in our cabin then breakfast in Windows watching as we docked.  Our Shore excursion was at 10:45am. A group of 16 for a waterfall hike. A bus took us to the other side of the inlet to the remains of a village. We then took a path along a small river, past many beautiful waterfalls. There were lots of sheep on the hillsides, and Artic Terns scolding us as they fly overhead. The valley that we hike up has very little vegetation over 6 inches. Miniature blueberry and blackberry bushes.It's a nice easy hike at an easy pace. Maybe 5 km overall, and several hours. Such beautiful country. Our hike was a circular route, then the bus met us for the ride back to the ship.  We went up to Windows for Fish and Chips and a beer on the outside terrace as it wa...

 Today was a very lazy day. We got the rough seas overnight which rocked us to sleep and made us not eager to get up early. When we did get up and go to the dining room for breakfast it wasn't very busy. Walking around can be a bit challenging, at times it's good to have something to hold on to! It's very misty this morning, not much visibility. We went up to the top decks to have a look, but not much to see. It was nice and fresh, a passenger who was suffering from motion sickness told us how much better he felt up there. We went down to have a second coffee then down to our cabin again to read our books. Lunch we went up to windows and had a light lunch of soup and sandwich. The clouds had lifted slightly so we were able to see the Faroe Islands at a distance. By this time the seas had calmed considerably and the mist had stopped. So we did a good brisk walk on the top decks. Gradually the clouds closed in again so we headed back in for an afternoon relax and read. At 5pm...

  We had an extra hour of sleep last night because of time change, and it was much appreciated! A tiny bit of motion in the night, and I had a great sleep. A bit of a line-up for specialty coffee at 7am, but service was quite fast. Breakfast in Windows before going to the 9am Specialty at Sea class. There are at least 25 Travel Agents, although not all are a part of the Seminar at Sea. There are a few that are onboard on their own , and a few that are hosting groups.The majority of the agents come from the southern U.S. only 1 other from Canada. Very diverice in the amount of experience, from just over 1 year to 50 years in the industry. Most are on their first Azamara Cruise. We had a very informative 3 hour class including a visit from the captain who was very entertaining! We had an opportunity to view a variety of cabins at the end of our seminar including an owners suite. Our seminar ended about noon, so we were able to catch the end of the brunch buffet. A really fantastic va...