Retired Nomads - Part 3: August 2023

Aug 5 - 6:00 - 17:00 – Djupivogur - Glacier Lagoon / Jokulsarlon

The fishing village of Djupivogur was today’s starting point to explore Vatnajokull Glacier.

We woke to a total whiteout this morning. We have had such wonderfully warm sunny weather that this was a surprise. (though more the norm) It did clear eventually. Viking was also in port today with us and we heard that they canceled almost all of their excursions due to the fog. One of the benefits of an expedition cruise that uses Zodiacs.

After breakfast we had an all-day tour to Glacier Lagoon with lunch included. On any all-day excursion they always included lunch. Ours were all at restaurants, but some tours had boxed lunches like for the long hikes.

It was a long scenic drive to the lagoon (2.5 hours each way), and we stopped for a comfort break just before going to the Lagoon.

views from the vehicle

Hotel Smyrlabjörg - comfort stop - later we returned for lunch

Hotel Smyrlabjörg

The had a huge collection of gnomes

also some rock people

whale skeleton

We then continued the short drive to Glacier Lagoon.

We had free time to take photos of the area, before boarding our Amphibian boat. (Think Duck Boat)

Jökulsárlón is a glacial lagoon, bordering Vatnajökull National Park in southeastern Iceland. Its still, blue waters are dotted with icebergs from the surrounding Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, part of larger Vatnajökull Glacier. The Glacier Lagoon flows through a short waterway into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving chunks of ice on a black sand beach.

boat driver

our "happy looking" group

taking off into the water

in the water

naturalist explaining the oldest glacial ice

kayaks

odd photo, it's a bird wings spread sticking its heat in a hole

I compared this to a “miniature” Iceberg Graveyard in Antarctica. Huge blocks of ice constantly break off the glacier Breidamerkurjokull and large icebergs float on the lagoon. The lagoon is not very wide, but it is up to 750 feet deep which makes it the deepest lake in Iceland. The boat tour took us out among the huge icebergs for about 35 minutes. Compared to Antarctica it wasn’t as jaw-dropping, but still an enjoyable experience.

We then made a stop at the beach where small bergs are beached.

looked like a camel laying down to us

After that we then went back to the hotel/restaurant where we had the comfort stop for a simple Soup & Salad lunch. There was a choice of meat soup or vegetable soup. There were some salad ingredients, a couscous salad, and some bread. There was no dessert. Not all that exciting, but the gift shop had an adorable sheep that I bought.

Hotel Smyrlabjörg

me checking out the area

We then made the 2.5 hour return to the ship.

these are all Common Eider Ducks - mostly males

There are some eggs along the coastline that are art and we had hoped to see them. The guide said anyone that wanted to get out and walk back to the ship past the eggs could be let out of the bus. Yay! Hard to photograph since they go on for a while and go around a corner, but it was fun to get to see them.

Eggin í Gleðivík in Icelandic or The Eggs of Merry Bay by Sigurður Guðmundsson is a collection of 34 very large eggs each one representing a local bird carved from Chinese granite.

zodiacs being stored

the gym - there was also a small spa & sauna

the lecture room - which was great to hang out when all the shades were open for wildlife viewing

There was a mandatory disembarkation briefing followed by a port talk on Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands). A small handful of us were staying on for the following cruise to Greenland, so we needed to know what all we needed to take care of to make that work.

This was followed by a Captain’s Farewell Party with champagne/fruit punch & appetizers. He brought out everyone again to thank them. He even seemed to have tears in his eyes. He is a young captain and is very interactive with the passengers. He ate in the dining room with his officers and sometimes he sat with passengers. He often came to watch the evening entertainment or join the parties.

Greg and I talked often about what a positive and refreshing experience this cruise was. They truly know how to make everyone feel special. Something Princess has forgotten how to do or doesn’t care.

The farewell dinner offered many great choices, but we went with the lobster & risotto which was very good.

Then the highlight of the cruise experience was the crew talent show. It was really a fun show and was very interactive with the crowd at the end. We had seats way in the back and regretted not being able to see it better. (next segment we will be up front) If the restaurant and bar manager, Peter seemed stuffy he dispelled that quickly. The show started out kind of serious with a few of the crew singing and doing some dances from the Philippines. Some had sung some ballads and he was in the back waving his hands in the air and then coming up on stage and hugging himself. One of the dances was a coconut shell dance. The men wore I think 6 shells and patted them to make sound and then started patting each other. Then, one guy did Gangnam Style (dance) complete with the guys in the back wearing sunglasses and just standing and looking cool. Peter comes out and puts his tie around his head and starts dancing with the guy dancing and then proceeds to take off his shirt. It continues and he’s now down to his underwear before he quickly runs off.

The next dance was a group of “buff” guys doing something similar to “The Full Monty” only they said it was a native dance and they would grunt while showing off their muscles. It also ended with them down to their underwear before running off the stage. It finished with some popular dances like YMCA and the Macarena and many of the passengers were up and dancing. What a fun show! You could tell how much they all enjoyed doing it. (we got better photos for the one on the Greenland cruise)