As noted in the previous post, Michael, two of his sisters and I took a cruise together. We visited a lot of beautiful places and had a wonderful time together! Here is the itinerary followed by pictures of each port of call and a few of the ship.

8.15,Thu: Board the Norwegian Prima cruise ship
8.16, Fri: Isafjordur, Iceland  
8.17, Sat: Akureyri, Iceland
8.18, Sun: At Sea
8:19, Mon: Geiranger, Norway 
8.20, Tue: Haugesund, Norway 
8.21, Wed: Bergen, Norway  
8.22, Thu: At Sea
8.23, Fri: Amsterdam, Netherlands 
8.24, Sat: Brussels / Bruges (Zeebrugge), Belgium 
8:25, Sun: Arrive London (Southampton), United Kingdom 6:00 AM

Let’s start with the HUGE error I made! We wanted to walk around a bit before we boarded so we dropped off our luggage at the cruise ship port. Unfortunately, one of the bags I handed off to them contained our passports! This is bad. You can’t board the ship without a passport.

So when we returned to the ship to board it, I told them what happened. They said this happens every cruise and that we shouldn’t worry. We just had to wait for them to deliver our luggage to our room and then we could have them bring it to us. But time passed. Then more time passed. And more time. Before we knew it, we were the only ones waiting to board.

The gentleman at the counter remained calm and told us he hadn’t “lost” a passenger yet. But then I think he got a bit concerned because he told us that if we missed the ship we could meet them at the first port of call in Iceland. Of course, that meant we’d have to spend the night in a hotel and hotels also ask for your passport so. . .

Anyway, we had been in contact with Michael’s sisters (who were safely aboard) and told them which bag held the passports. One bag was delivered outside our cabin door, but it wasn’t the right one. Well, Linda was on it! I think she chased down every luggage deliverer to find our missing bag. And she did!

Thank goodness!

We boarded with time to spare, but I am not gonna lie: I had a nervous stomach for about 45 minutes.

With all of us safely aboard we started checking out the ship. It is beautiful! Unfortunately, we couldn’t (well we could have, but chose not to) take advantage of the outdoor pools since we weren’t exactly in a warm climate, but we did partake of the hot tub!

This is going to be a pictorial post with very little text. I will tell you where the pictures were taken, of course!

First port of call: Isafjordur, Iceland

Dynjandi Waterfall
Dynjandi is the most famous and best waterfall in Westfjords. It is technically a cascade that consists of several smaller waterfalls of different shapes and sizes. The most beautiful one is the upper cascade which resembles a bridal veil because it is wider at the bottom than at the top.

The Arctic Fox Centre
The adorable-looking Arctic fox, with its thick coat of white or chocolate-colored fur, is commonly found in the tundra-landscape of north Iceland. To learn about this fluffy species, one can head to the Arctic Fox Centre in Súðavík. The center is based within Eyrardalsbæ house. Constructed in 1896, it’s the oldest building in Súðavík. Here one will discover the biology and history of the Arctic fox and human’s impact on the species in Iceland. Frank topics are covered, too, including fox hunting and farming in the region, with beautiful wildlife photography on display. There are also live foxes outside.

And the live ones:

Seljalandsdalur Valley
The glorious Seljalandsdalur Valley lies behind Isafjordur, shadowing the fishing town from the west. Dominated by Mount Göltur, the rugged Seljalandsdalur Valley is a riot of color in spring and summer, when delicate wildflowers blossom, including violet-hued lupine flowers, and sheep and goats graze on the open pastures. We didn’t see the riot of color, but we had a nice hike. Although we did get our shoes wet at times as the trail kind of ran into mucky ground. We got to see another waterfall at the turnaround point. 🙂

Then it was back to the ship and off we go!

August 17: Akureyri, Iceland
We took an excursion this time:  Jewels of the North with Refreshments

The first stop was to thundering Godafoss, an Icelandic word meaning “Waterfall of the Gods.” The name refers to an event that supposedly occurred 1,000 years ago when an Icelandic chieftain threw statues of the Norse gods into the water to symbolically demonstrate Iceland’s conversion to Christianity. Whether the legend is true or not, it’s quite a sight to behold the Skjalfandafljot River cascade over the horseshoe-shaped cliff and plummet into the roiling tempest below.

Godafoss:

We also went to Namafjall Hverir. We saw many smoking fumaroles and boiling mud pots, surrounded by sulphur crystals of many different colors. This sulphur gives the area an overwhelming smell of egg. It was pretty nasty! I found myself covering my nose with my hand from time to time. But it was fun to visit!

Namafjall Hverir:

Next we saw the large collection of imaginative lava formations found at Dimmuborgir. Created more than 2,000 years ago, the area is full of hardened lava lakes, natural arches and craggy grottoes.

Our final stop was at the volcanically formed craters at Skutustadir. It might have been fun but it was so buggy we could hardly wait to get back on the bus. I took to putting my hair over my face to keep the bugs away! We decided we’d rather have skipped this and had more time at the waterfall. Sooo buggy!

Souvenir shot glass:

I enjoyed the artwork outside the Prima. Everything was “life size” or bigger. This dog is taller than I am.

The changing colors made this uber cool!

Abstract:

More exterior pictures.

August 19: Geiranger, Norway

Geiranger, Norway is an amazing fjord and small town. Here are some pictures I took as we motored down this beautiful fjord.

I was interested in how they were going to attach the Prima to the mooring balls. I don’t know if this interests you, but here’s what they did. A boat came and grabbed the huge double mooring line from the ship. The two gents on the boat attached the line to the mooring ball. And that was it. Easy peasy.

Another interesting thing about this port is that the floating dock unfolds and comes to the ship.

It eventually reached the ship and we had a nice walkway to exit the Prima.

We took an excursion here: Dalsnibba Mountain and Eagle Road. This is the description:

From Lake Djupvatn, you’ll continue up the hairpin road to Mount Dalsnibba. From the summit, nearly 5,000 feet/1,500 meters above sea level, you’ll have a spectacular view of the GeirangerFjord far below and the magnificent mountain peaks all around.

At Flydal viewpoint you’ll make a stop to take a photograph of your ship down on the fjord. You’ll continue to the north side of the fjord with a drive up Eagle Road, carved in the mountain with 11 hairpin turns. At the viewpoint at the top, you’ll see the famous Seven Sisters waterfalls.

But first, pictures of the Prima (again) and from our visit to the town before the excursion.

We visited the The Norwegian Fjord Centre. It is the visitor and communication center for the Geirangerfjord World Heritage Area. The exhibitions show you the exciting and distinctive fjord landscape that was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2005.

Example of a home’s interior:

People would have to climb a ladder to reach the houses built on the hillside. It is said that the ladder was removed when the tax collector came around. No taxes for them!

I was amused by the animal in the loft. 🙂

I should note that the Centre is located at the end of a lovely water walk. The walk follows the river – complete with waterfalls – that eventually empties into the fjord.

Excursion time! Get ready for some fantastic views!

Leaving Geiranger. Seven Sisters waterfalls.

We will share the remainder of the cruise in the next post.