Our cabin

Yesterday was a long travel day. \240Robby dropped us off at SeaTac at 4am (!) The CrowdStrike outage had United in chaos with all their systems down - they told us it would be 11am before they could do anything. \240 After some scrambling and confusion we took off just 1.5 hours late.

The ‘blue screen of death’ was everywhere in the airports

We had to change planes in Newark so several more hours of delay while we waited for the very short flight to Boston.

Waiting in line to board

So much luggage to load!

Exploring the ship amenities

Pickle Ball!

Swimming pool - first stop for Jacqueline

The ship headed out of Boston Harbor a few hours later than planned to allow more time for everyone to arrive after all the air traffic cancellations

Made for perfect timing with the sunset!

Closing out the day with some music

Breakfast in the dining room

Taking the tender boat ashore

Walking around Bar Harbor

This is where the land bridge to Bar Island is (at low tide - we were there at high tide)

The Bar Harbor Historical Society

Lunch - lobster roll, clam chowder, New England IPA…

… and blueberry pie!

We took a bus ride through Acadia National Park in the afternoon

Cadillac Mountain

Our cruise ship

Thunder Hole (best seen just before high tide, we were there at low tide…)

Egg Island Lighthouse

Back on board for dinner

We know what day of the week it is because they change the carpet in the elevator

Queen of the pool

Taking in a show

Low Point Lighthouse

St. Alphonsus Church

Breakfast on our balcony

The Giant Fiddle

Trip to Baddeck and cruise on Bras D’or Lake

Estate of Alexander Graham Bell

Kidston Lighthouse

Slice of pizza for lunch

Really old Anglican church

Walking around Sydney

Sailing away

Classical trio

The Legendary Voyage Band

The time zone is a half hour ahead here. \240That’s just weird.

Band playing to welcome us

Walked around Corner Brook Stream Trail

We didn’t have to ride the silly little train!

Docked at the pier by the cargo crane

Tender boats to get ashore today

The flies were biting us! \240Fortunately Jacqueline brought head nets. \240Also the wind picked up and cleared them out

Short boat trip to Saddle Island - Basque whale hunters had a base here 500 years ago

Boardwalk around island

Back to Red Bay

Some Basque whale hunters

Not a lot to do in Red Bay itself - Sean here was selling Ginger Snap cookies…

The church. \240Also Red Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Penney Island in the middle of the harbor

Red rock around the harbor

Back on board and in the pool!

It is cloudy and much colder today

Our stop in Paamiut, Greenland for tomorrow has been cancelled due to winds and high seas, making the tendering process too dangerous

Cold weather not stopping Jacqueline’s pool streak - 7 straight days

Dinner at the Pinnacle Grill tonight instead of the dining room- so good!

So the fly bites from Red Bay have turned into painful itchy welts on our necks

☹️

Scenic cruising up Tasermiut Fjord today, as a replacement for missing today’s port call at Paamiut.

Workout room up high on the bow, scenic workout today!

Glacier at the end of the fjord

Hyperion Knight performing on the World Stage tonight

Nanortalik

Nanortalik

Cruising through Prince Christian Sound in Greenland today

Fortunately the fog lifted and had a mostly sunny day - temperature was just above freezing though

Out the east end, leaving Greenland behind for now

Polar Bear plunge (kind of - they dumped a bunch of ice cubes in the indoor pool)

Roll out of bed and start taking pictures of the fjord

Icelandic kitty cats on our morning walk around town

The 3D crosswalk!

In the afternoon we took a boat ride to Vigur Island

Eider ducks

Eider duck down farmer - he lives on the island with his wife and son, and they collect the eider down from the nests

Puffins

Puffins and Arctic Terns

Baby tern

The terms were very protective of their young while we walked through their territory. \240We carried the sticks by our heads to avoid being dive bombed.

Coffee and cake on the island

Saw humpback whales on ride back

Our entries for the past 5 days finally started syncing up today- not sure what the problem was.

Jacqueline was up at 5 this morning to watch the entry through the fjord from the Crow’s Nest

Heart shaped red traffic lights in town

Skútustaðagígar craters

Giant marshmallows for the trolls

Lake Myvatn

Lava field Dimmuborgir

Troll heads

Namaskardh - bubbling sulfur pots

We got very wet here as the rain picked up

Godafoss waterfall

Brunch in the dining room

Dinner in the Dining Room

Oscarsborg Fortress

Langåra tåkeklokke - fog bell

Oslo Tree - LED leaves light up

The National Museum

The Scream by Edvard Munch!

Munch selfie

And another Munch selfie

Rothko

Rooftop

And the bolle shop for a sweet treat

The Nobel Peace Center

Royal Palace

Guard dude - not nearly as uptight as Kensington

Walk down Karl Johans gate street

Opera House

Akershus Fortress

City Hall

Too windy for pickleball

Erasmusbrug Bridge

Hotel New York

Taking a water taxi

Yellow cube houses and hostel

Market Hall

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen (museum storage center)

Marveling at the Dutch engineering as we sail out

Some of the giant North Sea surge protection works

Cobh was the last port for the Titanic

Bus ride to County Tipperary

Driving on the left side

Rock of Cashel

Over thousand year old remains of castle, later converted to a cathedral

Cahir Castle

Sheep dodging our bus

Lismore Castle

Sail away past Roche's Point Lighthouse

Tender boats into port of Dún Laoghaire was a very slow process

Took a tour through Dublin today

American Embassy

Boat ride on the River Liffey, Dublin

Customs House

Convention Center

One of many European tech company headquarters in Dublin

Back in Dún Laoghaire, walking along the waterfront

Sailing away

Port of Belfast

Where the Titanic was built

The Titanic Museum (no time to visit today tho)

This is about all we saw of actual city of Belfast…

We took a coach trip up north to see the Giant’s Causeway

Dunluce Castle

Whitepark Beach Bay

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge

Over here Mr. Sheep! \240

Cold, rainy and rocky tender port today

Some big rocks carved into giant bird eggs. \240Kind of weird but worth a short walk to see.

Walked out of town a bit

The town and looking up the fjord

Piano bar guy on the ship that evening

Giant pile of string - intend to turn it into a giant ball some day

Today we are riding a Hop On Hop Off bus to see the city of Reykjavik

Leif Erickson in front of an amazing Lutheran church

“I would come back to Reykjavik just for the cinnamon roll” - Jacqueline Neel, August 13, 2024

Rainbow Road

Harpa Concert Hall

Curculeight - interactive video on four walls

Cat sitting on a pile of blankets in a store

We saw the aurora borealis! \240(At the Perlan planetarium)

Ice cave exhibit at the Perlan science museum

These Icelandic toilets are sooooo uncomfortable

Thingveller National Park, where North American and European plates are pulling away from each other

Icelandic horse

Captain took the ship out of our way to look at this giant iceberg

Entering Prince Christian Sound, beautiful day to cruise back through it

Exploring town of Qaqortoq, Greenland

Sunrise

Performance last night by “Breton Thunder”

Tender boat to get to shore

Bus ride out to Norstead, a re-enactment of a Viking settlement

Replica of a Viking ship, built by a man in Maine and used to sail from Greenland to Newfoundland

L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site

Where Leif Eiriksson landed around 1000 a.d.

The excavated the site in the 60’s and 70’s, then filled them back in - so just some mounds in the grass now

They had some more recreated sites here

Our first stop was to visit Molly the Newfoundland doggy

They even let Jacqueline take her for a walk (or rather they let Molly take Jacqueline)

Lunch at a brewery! \240(Yah! \240No good beer on ship)

Paper mill

Going on a tour today to the Halifax Public Gardens and Peggy’s Cove

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse

I’ll just take this…

Back in Halifax

Maud Lewis - Nova Scotian artist, they put her whole cabin on display

Trinity Church

Old North Church of Paul Revere fame