Bimmer 09 sails APEX to Iceland June 2023

[Bimmer09]

5 minutes ago, TenneSea said:

Yes, totally subjective.  I think most cruise lines are resorting to more tricks than usual - trying to get back some of the loss from covid.  We're headed to Norway in August on Sky Princess and it's the 1st cruise we've been on since the shut down.  So excited.  We're spending 9 days in England after the cruise, my 1st trip to England. Trip of a lifetime!  I've scoured your review of your trip to Norway (on the Silhouette, I believe) for every tip I could squeeze out of it to make our August adventure as smooth as possible.  I do appreciate the effort you put into these travel-logs.

Yes we did Norway Fjords on the Silly in September 2019. Fantastic cruise!

9 Days in England-some in London I hope. What's your itinerary there? So much to see!

You are going to have your mind blown!

Enjoy!!

Norris

[TenneSea]

1 minute ago, Bimmer09 said:

Yes we did Norway Fjords on the Silly in September 2019. Fantastic cruise!

9 Days in England-some in London I hope. What's your itinerary there? So much to see!

You are going to have your mind blown!

Enjoy!!

Norris

Yes, 4 days in London. I have family history in England so visiting some of those sites.  My (9x) great grandfather was the last person to be burned at the stake in England for speaking against the King's church.  There is a memorial there to him in the town of Lichfield (near Manchester).  Also related to William Brewster (Mayflower) and hope to see the home where he lived and the pilgrims met secretly to worship.  Going to 2 West End plays/musicals.  Churchill War Rooms, Buckingham tour, St. Pauls, Sky Gardens, Blenheim Palace.  Want to go up north to Hadrian's wall.  So much to do !  Also staying at Royal Horseguards (your recommendation).

[JeanieC,Aston]

7 hours ago, TenneSea said:

Yes, 4 days in London. I have family history in England so visiting some of those sites.  My (9x) great grandfather was the last person to be burned at the stake in England for speaking against the King's church.  There is a memorial there to him in the town of Lichfield (near Manchester).  Also related to William Brewster (Mayflower) and hope to see the home where he lived and the pilgrims met secretly to worship.  Going to 2 West End plays/musicals.  Churchill War Rooms, Buckingham tour, St. Pauls, Sky Gardens, Blenheim Palace.  Want to go up north to Hadrian's wall.  So much to do !  Also staying at Royal Horseguards (your recommendation).

Hi

Lichfield is in the Midlands near Wolverhampton/Birmingham.

Manchester is in the North of England,,,2hrs by car from Lichfield.check you are not going to the wrong place.

[TenneSea]

3 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

Lichfield is in the Midlands near Wolverhampton/Birmingham.

Manchester is in the North of England,,,2hrs by car from Lichfield.check you are not going to the wrong place.

Yes, you are correct.  I realized after I posted that I meant Birmingham, not Manchester.  Thank you. We are going to Manchester as well, just got confused.

 

Are you near Lichfield?

Edited June 29, 2023 by TenneSea

[Bimmer09]

                         GOLDEN CIRCLE TOUR

 

Our tour buses for the Golden Circle Tour were parked about 200 yards  from the steeply raked gangway on deck 4 (high tide). Bus 20 with a door in front and one near the back which also had a toilet down the stairs. 

Our guide on the microphone was Brendis who had the catch phrase "my lovely people" which she used until it was worn out. She was a mine of information on Iceland and its history but would occasionally veer off into la la land by talking about legends which of course are all bogus exaggerations from olden times when simple folks might believe anything you tell them to explain natural phenomena. There was no god of thunder in ancient Greece-that was thunder caused by lightning. If you've been to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland you'll hear the "legend of Finn MacCool" building the Causeway to get closer to Scotland to beat the tar out of a Scottish giant. No mention of volcanic fissures and basalt.

 

As in Isafjordur I'll take some bus window video to capture some of the scenery and take photos when the bus stops at an attraction. 

The tour would take 6 hours and visit 3 destinations. There would be  some walks from the bus parking lots at each and we would feel a bit hurried as the time at the event was usually in the 15 to 30 minute range. Tourists in their cars could indulge themselves in an hour or two by walking down into significant gorges to see the break in the tectonic plates for example....

 

No time to go down there. One plate supports Europe, the other North America 

 

 

We are in a beautiful part of Iceland of course

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are here

 

 

but no time to go down there

 

 We have to move on. Ladies in the  rest rooms have little time before it's all aboard...

 

[Bimmer09]

Next stop, about an hour away was the geyser, where, due to the explosive nature of the water I shot video. Here are a few iPhone stills

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll put up the video after the waterfall pics which will follow this. I think here we had 45 minutes but the walk to the geyser was about 12 minutes, in a horde of people on a narrow path, so half the time was getting there and back. I made the mistake of going into the massive gift shop on the way back to the bus and there was a sea of unmasked humanity in there like a shoal of fish and I had to maneuver  and zig zag my way out again to escape. The water smells of sulphur but not sickeningly so. When it hits you after shooting so height is warm not scalding. Ask me how I know LOL.

[Bimmer09]

Last but not least was Gullfoss (foss=waterfall) and we parked up on top of a ridge which meant we couldn't get close to the falls but had to watch from on high due to the time crunch that followed us on our route.

 

 

 

 

I wanna be down there!!

 

 

After this magnificent deluge we are to visit the cafe near the parking lot where there will be some sandwiches, cakes, tea and hot coffee to revive us. This would occupy 45 minutes which allowed restroom time and shopping. 

I think the best way to see these and enjoy, explore them is with a land tour and a rental car so you can dictate the pace and savor the experiences of this geological wonderland.

It's  a very different country, well kept and prosperous. The main exports I believe are fish, waterfalls and boulders  (don't quote me)

 

 

Next =video

[Bimmer09]

My mother usually writes me a note to get me out of a jam but she has declined to defend my 9 minute video of a 6 hour excursion.

It's hard to shoot video when you don't know where you are going and what happens next.

I like to include road signs in a foreign language but they fly past the window

It's impossible to know when the tour guide will start speaking and even harder to know if and when she will stop

I want you to channel the warm fuzzy feeling you have shown me thus far in this review and don't hold this video against me.

Norris

 

 

[AF-1]

Norris, I too wake up between 5 and six every morning and love the quietness of the ship.  My fav spot is the buffet where I can stare out any window and see how majestic this world is; and I have my cup of coffee to keep me going

[Bimmer09]

We were back at the ship by 6.30 after a long drive back to Reykjavik.

 

 

I had a beer up by the empty Sunset Bar and took some pics of the harbor and town

 

 

 

Viking Star

 

 

Statues on Pacific World (ex Sun Princess)

 

 

Fishing nets and excess pallets on the dock

 

 

 

 

[kwokpot]

51 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Last but not least was Gullfoss (foss=waterfall) and we parked up on top of a ridge which meant we couldn't get close to the falls but had to watch from on high due to the time crunch that followed us on our route.

 

 

 

 

I wanna be down there!!

 

 

After this magnificent deluge we are to visit the cafe near the parking lot where there will be some sandwiches, cakes, tea and hot coffee to revive us. This would occupy 45 minutes which allowed restroom time and shopping. 

I think the best way to see these and enjoy, explore them is with a land tour and a rental car so you can dictate the pace and savor the experiences of this geological wonderland.

It's  a very different country, well kept and prosperous. The main exports I believe are fish, waterfalls and boulders  (don't quote me)

 

 

Next =video

You seem very disappointed by this Golden Circle Tour. I understand the desire to spend more time at each place, this is not unlike going to Paris from a Le Harve Port stop or Berlin from a Warnemude port stop. Having said that do you feel it was still worth the time, effort, and cost?
 

[Bimmer09]

1 minute ago, kwokpot said:

You seem very disappointed by this Golden Circle Tour. I understand the desire to spend more time at each place, this is not unlike going to Paris from a Le Harve Port stop or Berlin from a Warnemude port stop. Having said that do you feel it was still worth the time, effort, and cost?
 

As it was quite likely our only visit to Iceland, yes it was worth our time to have seen what we saw-however briefly.

I agree with the Le Harve and Warnemunde stops. I would stay local rather than torture myself with hurried stops in Paris or Berlin.

Good question and thanks for reading and commenting!

Norris

[kwokpot]

3 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

As it was quite likely our only visit to Iceland, yes it was worth our time to have seen what we saw-however briefly.

I agree with the Le Harve and Warnemunde stops. I would stay local rather than torture myself with hurried stops in Paris or Berlin.

Good question and thanks for reading and commenting!

Norris

The tour I'm taking in two weeks with another company is two hours longer, but it stops in a couple more places. Judging from the tour description only the Geysir is longer with an additional 30 minutes, but that's to account for lunch since this is a morning tour. 

[jwlane]

12 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

The tour I'm taking in two weeks with another company 

Are you doing the Hot Golden Circle thru gtice.is?  That was probably the best tour we ever took.

[kwokpot]

3 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Are you doing the Hot Golden Circle thru gtice.is?  That was probably the best tour we ever took.

https://yourdaytours.is/iceland/tours/golden-circle-full-day/

[afto]

42 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Statues on Pacific World (ex Sun Princess)

 

 

You are very observant, Norris. I don't know that I would have noticed that this was a statue -- would probably have thought it was just slow-moving seniors like myself 😆

Loving the review and all the photos, especially of the Dynjandi waterfall. Wow, that is a beauty!

Thanks for putting so much work into entertaining and educating us through this review.

 

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

41 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

The tour I'm taking in two weeks with another company is two hours longer, but it stops in a couple more places. Judging from the tour description only the Geysir is longer with an additional 30 minutes, but that's to account for lunch since this is a morning tour. 

That's a lot of tour for only $89!

 I would have been happier if the tour had been 8 hours to give us at least an hour at the tectonic plates divide and Gullfoss so I could have got down to the edge of the falls. 

Thanks for the tour link.

Norris

[RichYak]

16 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

That's a lot of tour for only $89!

 I would have been happier if the tour had been 8 hours to give us at least an hour at the tectonic plates divide and Gullfoss so I could have got down to the edge of the falls. 

Thanks for the tour link.

Norris

https://nicetravel.is/tours/classic-golden-circle-and-kerid-crater-private-tour/

 

I've organized this tour for a roll-call thread group for the day we disembark Summit in Reykjavik in August. It's also 8 hours and may give us more time at each site than you had. When you factor in that it also serves as our transfer between the cruise port and our respective Reykjavik hotels, it's pretty darn cheap.

 

Thanks for all the pictures that serve to whet my appetite.

[Bimmer09]

33 minutes ago, afto said:

You are very observant, Norris. I don't know that I would have noticed that this was a statue -- would probably have thought it was just slow-moving seniors like myself 😆

Loving the review and all the photos, especially of the Dynjandi waterfall. Wow, that is a beauty!

Thanks for putting so much work into entertaining and educating us through this review.

Carol had said to me in the morning-"I'm going to close these curtains as there are people on the top deck of Pacific World with binoculars"

I got my big zoom lens and watched them. No movement. It was a whimsical statue of a woman looking through binoculars as her husband pointed something out to her. Cute.

I'm glad you're enjoying the GSJ/report/review and give my thanks for saying so.

It is a lot of work as I have so many photos from 3 cameras and the videos take about an hour each in the YouTube oven and I have to watch its progress in case of issues.

But in the end I have a vivid memory of a great cruise, for Carol and I, and to share with all who read it on CC. It's a win -win!

Thanks again!

Norris

[TenneSea]

19 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Carol had said to me in the morning-"I'm going to close these curtains as there are people on the top deck of Pacific World with binoculars"

I got my big zoom lens and watched them. No movement. It was a whimsical statue of a woman looking through binoculars as her husband pointed something out to her. Cute.

I'm glad you're enjoying the GSJ/report/review and give my thanks for saying so.

It is a lot of work as I have so many photos from 3 cameras and the videos take about an hour each in the YouTube oven and I have to watch its progress in case of issues.

But in the end I have a vivid memory of a great cruise, for Carol and I, and to share with all who read it on CC. It's a win -win!

Thanks again!

Norris

That's funny !!

[Bimmer09]

Dinner tonight was in Cosmopolitan as the ship sat in Reykjavik . Our waiter was Bitsy from Indonesia who often served us breakfast.

As usual 3 different butters

 

Carol's Gravlax

 

My cauliflower (puree) flan. With shrimp I think

 

Carol's corn soup

 

Carol's pork chop with red cabbage and roasted pear

 

My sirloin steak which came with mashed potatoes from an ice cream scoop which reminded me of high school lunches. I asked for fries and they were procured. Now that's service!

 

Carol's dessert was carrot cake

 

and I , after explaining the glass that should be used, had a Sambuca and espresso

 

Another fine meal despite the lame espresso. Looks like mud.

[Bimmer09]

After dinner-a show, just a walk away. Uptown's last show on the ship so we had to be there!

 

 

 

and a Michael Jackson classic to finish

 

 

Enjoy!

[peanut head]

I just caught up and your review, commentary, pictures and videos are truly a trip in themselves.  Thank you so much for taking us along.  What a wonderful experience--for you, Carol and us!

[daydreamer16]

Thanks for the pictures of the old Sun Princess! We sailed her in 2002 to Alaska, our first cruise!

 

Denise & Sam

[Bimmer09]

 

Um, yes and it's the last I promise.

I found another video and if I don't use it in this ramble then it will remain unseen.

You'll see Shawna the Canadian CD introduce them and then a couple of songs you'll recognize .

Trust me you'll be dancing around your living room!

We didn't see all of the shows on Apex but everyone we did see had the Captain in attendance, near the stage, enjoying the shows as much as we did. What a guy!

 

 

Norris