We arrived to Reykjavik, Iceland a few minutes ahead of the 5:00 PM schedule yesterday afternoon.
When one thinks of Iceland they think of a large mass covered in ice and/or snow. The reality is that it is very green so you think you are at Greenland but Greenland is the once with snow. Iceland was given its name hoping to scare others from attacking it with the thought that it would be very icy and snowy. But it really is quite green. Go figure.
At the same time this area is a land of volcanoes, hot springs, mountains and glaciers. The water from the springs comes out hot and people do not need water heaters to heat their water at home. We know all about the volcanoes as there was the volcano that disrupted air traffic in May of 2010. We were in the Mediterranean on the World Cruise and several guests had challenges getting to the ship and the same was for entertainers and other doing enrichment on the ship. We also had some concerns about getting to London this time around given the volcanic activity should hit once again have had an impact on air traffic. Iceland was exposed during the financial collapse of 2008 and is fortunate that it didn't go into bankruptcy. It continues to increase tourism and the city of Reykjavik is known for many restaurants that attract many visitors to spend their holidays here between the sites to see and the wonderful cuisine.
Before dinner, we had a drink at the Crystal Cove and listened to pianist John Mentis perform. We sat with Tommy. Tommy is one of four women who live on the ship who we have sailed with numerous times.
We all love to listen to John Mentis play the piano. Hours that John plays will vary by cruise such as the World Cruise but on this voyage it is pretty much 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM to 9:00 PM as this is pre-dinner for many guests and also from 10:15 PM to Noon. The Astoria Strings Quartet perform right adjacent to the Crystal Cove Lounge from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM and from 9:15 PM to 10:15 PM so there is usually some type of live music in this area throughout the evening. And on some evenings such as this evening the Galaxy Orchestra will be performing in the Cove and the Ambassador Hosts will be on hand for those who wish to dance.
In addition, for those wishing to dance there is dancing in the Palm Court to live music from 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM and from 9:15 PM to Midnight.
In the Avenue Saloon there is a pianist/vocalist who is on hand from 8:00 PM to 8:30 PM and from 9:30 PM to 1:00 AM.
On most of the summer voyages there is a DJ on board and the one that was on board is on this voyage before he gets off in Boston and he is playing music in the Pulse Nightclub from 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM and will stay later if there is a request for him to still play music.
While we were in the Cove, we would estimate that around 200 people got off the ship either to visit the Blue Lagoon, or dine in port, or just walk around. We kept telling John Mentis that all of the people in the cove were there to listen to him perform.
We then dined at the Japanese Specialty Restaurant, Silk Road. We love the cuisine at Silk Road and always look forward to dining there. This was our first time dining there on this voyage and because of other commitments this will be the only time we will dine there on this voyage.
We were seated at our table by Sigi who is responsible for the wait staff at Silk Road. We first knew Sigi when he was a waiter and we first met our waiter, Albert, when he was one of the assistant waiters although Albert started with Crystal washing dishes. We have known Sigi and Albert for close to ten years.
In April of this past year Sigi was recognized for his terrific performance earlier
this year not only by being selected as the annual employee of the year for the
Crystal Serenity but also being selected as one of the annual employees of the
year for Crystal Cruises Parent Company NYK.
We also wanted to mention that there are many other
wonderful waiters in Silk Road and they have been there as long as we can
remember such as Anthony, Sheila, Walter, Ruel, and Richie just to name a few. When not working at Silk Road in the
evening, the wait staff works at the Lido Café for breakfast and lunch at the
various food stations. They are either
assigned to specific food or beverage stations where they are replenishing the
food and/or serving it or in some cases carving meats. Some of the staff on a rotational basis
serve as runners with their assignment being to bring items up to the Lido Café
from the Crystal Dining Room on Deck 5 where the food is actually prepared in
the first place. The same is true
for the wait staff that works at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant.
The Head Waiters from each Specialty Restaurant (on this voyage Slavko from Prego and Sigi from Silk Road)
supervise at the Lido Café for breakfast and lunch and the Specialty Restaurant
Maitre d’, Antonio, overseas the overall area.
Now, back to dinner.
Albert knows us very well and could order our entire meal on his own but he let's us order a few things. LOL but true. In fact, when he poured the water he knew what Anne Marie prefers for dinner (still) and what Keith prefers (sparkling).
Albert pre-ordered various items for us and then we order additional items from the Sushi Menu and from the Regular Menu too.
We began with a trio of Sashimi. However, Keith ate the first two pieces of the trio before realizing that he forgot to take a photo. LOL but very true.
The chef prepared this for us. On the right is one that includes Pumpkin.
Next was Lobster Tempura.
Next we shared some Sushi and Sashimi. Well, what we mean about share is that Keith had just about all of it other than the Shrimp Tempura roll on the left side of the photo.
Next is dragon roll which is Avocado and Cooked Eel. Keith eats this one.
Keith had the mushroom salad.
While Anne Marie had the Lobster Spring Rolls.
Anne Marie had a small bowl of ice cream while Keith passed on dessert, choosing not to even have the fresh fruit as he normally does.
We began with a trio of Sashimi. However, Keith ate the first two pieces of the trio before realizing that he forgot to take a photo. LOL but very true.
The chef prepared this for us. On the right is one that includes Pumpkin.
Next was a lettuce wrap with cod.
Next was Lobster Tempura.
Next we shared some Sushi and Sashimi. Well, what we mean about share is that Keith had just about all of it other than the Shrimp Tempura roll on the left side of the photo.
Next is dragon roll which is Avocado and Cooked Eel. Keith eats this one.
Keith had the mushroom salad.
While Anne Marie had the Lobster Spring Rolls.
We each had Hot Soba Noodles served in a very plain soup and we had thinly sliced scallops added to the soup.
Anne Marie had a small bowl of ice cream while Keith passed on dessert, choosing not to even have the fresh fruit as he normally does.
We had a wonderful time. We enjoyed a lot of laughs with Albert and Sigi and also Sheila who was taking care of some tables nearby. The restaurant was not as busy as normal with some guests off the ship.
We slept well last night and we didn't even have the gentle rocking of the ship to put us to sleep. Maybe some wine helped. LOL.
Keith was up first and while he worked out he watched the lecture from yesterday which had been recorded given by Dr. John Renninger about the New Middle East after the Arab Spring. He focused on the dramatic developments with respect to Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. There were some take-aways from his talk and some good analogies. He noted that if this was a baseball game we are still in the 2nd inning with so much still to unfold. He quoted someone that Henry Kissinger once asked a question of about the French Revolution and the person responded it's too early to tell. Another take-away is that the United States can't wave a wand and either solve all of these issues or bring completed peace to the region. And he noted, that you just can't predict with any certainty all of the ideal actions to take and what the outcome of each action will be. In other words, there are many uncertainties and the area will continue to evolve over many generations.
After his workout Keith had coffee at the Lido Cafe. Since many tours commenced at 7:30 AM hot food items were available earlier than on sea days. Keith took some photos of just a few of them.
Around the time that Anne Marie finished her walk, we had breakfast in our room.
We were to Reykjavik, Iceland ten years ago on the North Atlantic Sailing of Symphony and did a very extensive tour during that visit. We decided we would visit the downtown area which we had not done before. Ten years ago it was windy and rainy and cold and it felt even colder with the windchill factor. As we got off the ship today, it wasn't as windy but it reminded us of that day.
The good news is as we were on the bus and heading towards the town it looked a little clearer. This was the area that we were dropped off at. We then needed to walk across the main street and about two blocks and then we reached the downtown area.
As we continued towards the area of town with shops, museums, churches, and restaurants we passed several statues.
While it stopped raining, the streets were still wet.
The exterior of many building was colorful reminding us a little of Greenland in terms of exterior building colors.
The street signs were were easy to read although how to pronounce the names is a different story.
This was one of several places where we saw many locals enjoying coffee and some type of breakfast food.
A couple of locals who welcomed us to town. LOL.
A very unique exterior of the Hallgrimskirkja Church. It is the tallest church in Iceland and was opened in 1986.
Can you name the statue.
And the answer is Leif Eriksson.
Across the street was a hotel named after him.
Everyone loves a Puffin.
Throughout the town there were flower baskets and various flower plantings and this was a very pretty tree in bloom.
By the time we left the town to return to the ship the sun had come out. It made for a very nice time in this very charming city.
We enjoyed lunch on the ship and dined at the Lido Cafe and we each had a salad entree.
We met a nice couple who first heard Keith mentioning to someone that the forecast is for some rough seas after we leave Reykjavik. She asked, "who told you that", but in a funny way. We said, "not telling." LOL. The wife has had some issues with being sea sick so we asked do you take anything and she said yes. She's wearing the Patch, takes something similar to Bonine and wears the sea band. We said all three? She says yes and with the ship scheduled for departure at 5:00 PM she said the Bonine like medicine she is taking precisely at 5:00 PM. Keith said, well at least it's calm now. Now equals being docked at the pier. LOL. Anyway, we had a lot of good laughs with them and that is part of the enjoyment of cruising. For those of you who travel on Serenity you may know Harald the Executive Pastry Chef. We hadn't seen Harald since the World Cruise so it was great to catch up with him. He is an avid runner and on some days during the World Cruise we'd see him out on the Promenade Deck running what appeared to be a Marathon. We've seen swing Dining Room Maitre d' do something very similar as well.
Keith managed to take a Spin Class which was the second one he took with James. Yes, James did another Tour de France. The first time Keith took it alone and this time with one other guest. First time they went from 100th place to third. This time it was a photo finish and the team finished in second. Second place was James' challenge to take another class with him.
Keith is thinking. "Are you kidding me?" Another Tour de France with James pushing non-stop up and down these very winding hills. Ugh. Not again."
LOL. For those of you who know Keith you realize he likes a good challenge so he was happy to give it another go.
In the afternoon Anne Marie go in another one hour walk and started a new knitting project and Keith
This evening we are back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.
The show for this evening is illuminate which we have seen a couple of times in the past.
We slept well last night and we didn't even have the gentle rocking of the ship to put us to sleep. Maybe some wine helped. LOL.
Keith was up first and while he worked out he watched the lecture from yesterday which had been recorded given by Dr. John Renninger about the New Middle East after the Arab Spring. He focused on the dramatic developments with respect to Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. There were some take-aways from his talk and some good analogies. He noted that if this was a baseball game we are still in the 2nd inning with so much still to unfold. He quoted someone that Henry Kissinger once asked a question of about the French Revolution and the person responded it's too early to tell. Another take-away is that the United States can't wave a wand and either solve all of these issues or bring completed peace to the region. And he noted, that you just can't predict with any certainty all of the ideal actions to take and what the outcome of each action will be. In other words, there are many uncertainties and the area will continue to evolve over many generations.
After his workout Keith had coffee at the Lido Cafe. Since many tours commenced at 7:30 AM hot food items were available earlier than on sea days. Keith took some photos of just a few of them.
Around the time that Anne Marie finished her walk, we had breakfast in our room.
We were to Reykjavik, Iceland ten years ago on the North Atlantic Sailing of Symphony and did a very extensive tour during that visit. We decided we would visit the downtown area which we had not done before. Ten years ago it was windy and rainy and cold and it felt even colder with the windchill factor. As we got off the ship today, it wasn't as windy but it reminded us of that day.
The good news is as we were on the bus and heading towards the town it looked a little clearer. This was the area that we were dropped off at. We then needed to walk across the main street and about two blocks and then we reached the downtown area.
As we continued towards the area of town with shops, museums, churches, and restaurants we passed several statues.
While it stopped raining, the streets were still wet.
The exterior of many building was colorful reminding us a little of Greenland in terms of exterior building colors.
The street signs were were easy to read although how to pronounce the names is a different story.
This was one of several places where we saw many locals enjoying coffee and some type of breakfast food.
A couple of locals who welcomed us to town. LOL.
A very unique exterior of the Hallgrimskirkja Church. It is the tallest church in Iceland and was opened in 1986.
Can you name the statue.
And the answer is Leif Eriksson.
Across the street was a hotel named after him.
Everyone loves a Puffin.
Throughout the town there were flower baskets and various flower plantings and this was a very pretty tree in bloom.
By the time we left the town to return to the ship the sun had come out. It made for a very nice time in this very charming city.
We enjoyed lunch on the ship and dined at the Lido Cafe and we each had a salad entree.
We met a nice couple who first heard Keith mentioning to someone that the forecast is for some rough seas after we leave Reykjavik. She asked, "who told you that", but in a funny way. We said, "not telling." LOL. The wife has had some issues with being sea sick so we asked do you take anything and she said yes. She's wearing the Patch, takes something similar to Bonine and wears the sea band. We said all three? She says yes and with the ship scheduled for departure at 5:00 PM she said the Bonine like medicine she is taking precisely at 5:00 PM. Keith said, well at least it's calm now. Now equals being docked at the pier. LOL. Anyway, we had a lot of good laughs with them and that is part of the enjoyment of cruising. For those of you who travel on Serenity you may know Harald the Executive Pastry Chef. We hadn't seen Harald since the World Cruise so it was great to catch up with him. He is an avid runner and on some days during the World Cruise we'd see him out on the Promenade Deck running what appeared to be a Marathon. We've seen swing Dining Room Maitre d' do something very similar as well.
Keith managed to take a Spin Class which was the second one he took with James. Yes, James did another Tour de France. The first time Keith took it alone and this time with one other guest. First time they went from 100th place to third. This time it was a photo finish and the team finished in second. Second place was James' challenge to take another class with him.
Keith is thinking. "Are you kidding me?" Another Tour de France with James pushing non-stop up and down these very winding hills. Ugh. Not again."
LOL. For those of you who know Keith you realize he likes a good challenge so he was happy to give it another go.
In the afternoon Anne Marie go in another one hour walk and started a new knitting project and Keith
This evening we are back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.
The show for this evening is illuminate which we have seen a couple of times in the past.
Keith & Anne Marie
Great blog and pics- are lobster tempura nd cod wrapped in lettuce special Oder items- they were not offered on the Symphony in May- or are they unique to the Serenity?
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