Live from the NCL Star July 23-August 15, 2023. Will I survive 23 days without the beverage package?

[YVRteacher]

We arrive at a small farm.

 

This used to be a cow farm but dairy and beef farming in Iceland has not been profitable for years. The owners sold the cows and built a few cabins and now make their living from tourism, renting out the cabins and doing stops like ours for large and small groups.

 

We are offered homemade Happy Marriage Cake and hot chocolate. I assume that most days hot chocolate is a welcome hit-the-spot beverage but what we needed today was iced tea, heavy on the ice! (I’m kidding-the hot chocolate and the cake were both delicious and I enjoyed them both!)

 

 

These expressive sheep stole my heart!

 

 

All of a sudden there was beautiful music. Our guide and the male shirtless hunky guide from the other Get Your a guide bus were singing transitional Icelandic songs a cappella. I will never forget standing in the sun, eating Happy Marriage Cake and listening to those harmonies drift into the glaciers. 
 

At the end of the songs the male guide said that Viktoria is his daughter! Father and daughter! Someone asked Viktoria how old she is. She said for work she is 20 but in real life she is 18. If you do a tour with Get Your Guide, request Viktoria or Thomas. They live in Reykjavik but do tours throughout the country. You will not be disappointed!

[YVRteacher]

10 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

I live 320+ miles South and East of Vancouver, in Southeastern Washington State, at 1:10 P.M. it is 99F heading for 107 with very little humidity.  HOT HOT HOT  Only supposed to last until about midnight tomorrow night, by Monday 83 F.  Widfire danger over the next few days extreme.  Two veery bad fires right now within a 100 miles of my home.  Lots of smoke in the air-- hard to breathe.

Thinking of you, Mandy. I could see the smoke from the plane last night. Please stay safe! A cloth soaked in water or ice and placed on the back of your neck may help.

 

I just talked to my dad. He walks outside every day and has been doing so each day of the heat wave. I asked if he has been taking a water bottle on his walks. He said no, he has a beer when he gets home.

[YVRteacher]

As I was happily (really gleefully) walking the familiar streets of Ísafjordur I saw a family huddled together near the small boat harbour. There was some squealing, then the mom exclaimed, “you just lost a tooth in Iceland!” Small joys! Celebrate them!!

[YVRteacher]

13 hours ago, Norwegianprincess said:

So glad to read that you are safe home in YVR, @YVRteacher hope your flight was ok! 
We had a nice, calm day just strolling around in Reykjavik. I didn’t have cake, but the best hot chocolate with cream I’ve ever had!

Going on a whale-whatching tour today before our flight home this evening 😊

Did you go to the special museum?😉

 

How was the whale watching tour?

 

Isn’t Reykjavik the perfect place for strolling and sipping?

 

Best wishes for an easy flight home!

[YVRteacher]

5 hours ago, SenatorsFan said:

Many thanks for such a wonderful report! Your pictures and descriptions of your port days were outstanding, and who doesn't love pictures of delicious cakes? 😋Hope back to school goes smoothly.

Thank you! I’m not ready to think about back to school, not just yet.

[schmoopie17]

7 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

 

I just talked to my dad. He walks outside every day and has been doing so each day of the heat wave. I asked if he has been taking a water bottle on his walks. He said no, he has a beer when he gets home.

I'm just like your dad. Except I have a beer before the walk, then have one on the walk, and then another one after the walk. And just for fun, I skip the walk...but keep the beer, anyway.

Otherwise, I'm just like your dad. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by schmoopie17

[YVRteacher]

Just when I thought I was getting a grasp on Icelandic:

 

Don’t you love being in a small town where you know where the best bakery is?

 

 

So many choices and the pink one won. Amazing! Every bite was bursting with jam, shortbread-like cake, luxuriously rich icing and the taste of a wonderful day in one of my favourite ports.

 

 

 

Cat outside the wool shop

 

Back to the harbour to catch the tender boat.  The captain said it was a short tender boat ride so I timed it. This does not include waiting before and after the ride.

 

 

[YVRteacher]

9 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I'm just like your dad. Except I have a beer before the walk, then have one on the walk, and then another one after the walk. And just for fun, I skip the walk...but keep the beer, anyway.

Otherwise, I'm just like your dad. 

I hope you and my dad get to share a beer together on a cruise ship one day!

[schmoopie17]

1 minute ago, YVRteacher said:

I hope you and my dad get to share a beer together on a cruise ship one day!

It would be my honor. Plus, I'd get to meet you. Win, win. 😁

[YVRteacher]

Such a gorgeous day! Crew are using the crew pools.

 

I didn’t intend to do this, but I came back to the cabin and fell asleep. I heard the dueling horns between us and Celebrity Apex when the Apex left the harbour. The sail out down the fjord was magical. I saw lots of troll bum prints and elf hidey holes. My phone autocorrected that to bidet holes which is even better. I didn’t even have to pay extra for the elf bidet hole sighting.

 

 

I had a specialty dining meal left so went to the sushi bar. Passengers can get 4 items with a meal voucher (but it was a voucher for two so I think that means 8 items, actually.)

Service was very slow and clunky. They were short staffed with waiters and chefs. 

 

I ordered edamame to start. I didn’t know edamame could be bad, but it can! These tasted like shoes, and not new ones. I’ve had frozen edamame from Costco that has stayed in my freezer for months and still tasted (and looked) bright and fresh.

When Executive Chef Elmer came by before I ordered he said was going to have them make me a rice poke bowl. I said I was  going to order the Shojin roll and a roll with just avocado and cream cheese. I guess he heard me wrong or misunderstood because they brought a bowl of chunked avocado topped with a dollop of cream cheese. I was like, I said avocado and cream cheese roll, not bowl! When the roll arrived they had fried it. I really try to avoid fried food on NCL because the oil makes me sick and they fry meat and vegetarian products in the same fryer. 

The Shojin roll was very good.

No time for dessert because I wanted to catch the 9:00pm show in the Stardust Theatre Paradis.

 

[TashaB]

"Heat warning at 25? I scoff. In DC we routinely have morning temperatures higher than that"

 

 

The weather in Vancouver is measured at the airport in Richmond which is by the ocean.   It is always much cooler there.   If you drive just 45 minutes east into the Fraser Valley the temperature is a good 7 to 10 degrees warmer.   I suspect that Heat Warning was for Greater Vancouver which covers a huge area.

 

I used to live in Vancouver for 30 years but moved back to Victoria in 2014.   Even Victoria has a huge range of temperatures ranging by a good 10 degrees from the ocean beaches to the areas just north and east.  We too have a Heat Warning!    We make good use of the Pacific Ocean AC 😄

[YVRteacher]

This is the current heat warning.

 

 

Now we move on to the last production show, Paradis. No photos to share since I am (mostly) a rule follower.

 

The show was absolutely incredible! This cast is full of talent, energy, joy and passion. I have seen them out and about in the ports hiking and eating cake. 
 

Some people say Elements is their favourite NCL production cast show. Paradis is mine! The costumes, the dancing, the nuance, the variety, the choreography. All excellent. The cast received a standing ovation.

 

Following the show was the You Are Norwegian finale with the management, staff and crew. This was the captain’s last farewell before he goes on vacation.

 

 

 

Another standing ovation from the passengers for the crew.

 

[YVRteacher]

 

 

We end the day with even more joy

 

 

 

 

 

 

A photo from Ísafjordur I forgot to share. I do like my rock stacks!

 

 

Sold in the Tradewinds gift shop. Who goes on a cruise ship and comes home with a cooking gadget? What’s worse is that the person cooking my poached eggs for breakfast that day in Versailles couldn’t get either of the eggs right.

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

We arrive at a small farm.

 

This used to be a cow farm but dairy and beef farming in Iceland has not been profitable for years. The owners sold the cows and built a few cabins and now make their living from tourism, renting out the cabins and doing stops like ours for large and small groups.

 

We are offered homemade Happy Marriage Cake and hot chocolate. I assume that most days hot chocolate is a welcome hit-the-spot beverage but what we needed today was iced tea, heavy on the ice! (I’m kidding-the hot chocolate and the cake were both delicious and I enjoyed them both!)

 

 

These expressive sheep stole my heart!

 

 

All of a sudden there was beautiful music. Our guide and the male shirtless hunky guide from the other Get Your a guide bus were singing transitional Icelandic songs a cappella. I will never forget standing in the sun, eating Happy Marriage Cake and listening to those harmonies drift into the glaciers. 
 

At the end of the songs the male guide said that Viktoria is his daughter! Father and daughter! Someone asked Viktoria how old she is. She said for work she is 20 but in real life she is 18. If you do a tour with Get Your Guide, request Viktoria or Thomas. They live in Reykjavik but do tours throughout the country. You will not be disappointed!

Editing. I meant traditional songs, not transitional songs. I also meant Get Your Guide. Blaming 30 hours without sleep for those typos!

[Turtles06]

@YVRteacher I’m glad you’re home safe and sound. I just want to add my thanks to you for sharing your trip with us. I know it’s a time-consuming thing to do. Your talents as a writer and photographer really made us feel as though we were there with you (except that we didn’t get to enjoy all the cake).

 

I hope your school year goes well, and that you have more wonderful adventures in your future. 

 

 

[Mrhubbabubba]

Thanks for taking us along. For one already back in school (where students are also back), this has been a pleasant distraction. I wish you the best this year, and I hope your dad is doing great! 

[YVRteacher]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

@YVRteacher I’m glad you’re home safe and sound. I just want to add my thanks to you for sharing your trip with us. I know it’s a time-consuming thing to do. Your talents as a writer and photographer really made us feel as though we were there with you (except that we didn’t get to enjoy all the cake).

 

I hope your school year goes well, and that you have more wonderful adventures in your future. 

 

 

Thank you so, so much!

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, Mrhubbabubba said:

Thanks for taking us along. For one already back in school (where students are also back), this has been a pleasant distraction. I wish you the best this year, and I hope your dad is doing great! 

Thank you! What do you teach?

My dad is doing well. He is happy I’m home safely. We don’t live in the same city and I’ll see him on Saturday.

[YVRteacher]

It was so hot here while I was away that all the water in my toilets evaporated!

 

Laundry is washed, dried and put away. 

Suitcase is unpacked and chocolate is in the fridge.

 

I made a shopping list:

[Mrhubbabubba]

52 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Thank you! What do you teach?

My dad is doing well. He is happy I’m home safely. We don’t live in the same city and I’ll see him on Saturday.

So glad to hear. I’m sure you’re both excited to reconnect!
 

I am an administrator now. Before that I was a school counselor, and before that I taught English/Language Arts. I also appreciate a good library. 

[YVRteacher]

16 minutes ago, Mrhubbabubba said:

So glad to hear. I’m sure you’re both excited to reconnect!
 

I am an administrator now. Before that I was a school counselor, and before that I taught English/Language Arts. I also appreciate a good library. 

Thank you for what you do as an administrator! The listening, the problem solving, the parents (oh, the parents!) I hope you had a rejuvenating summer! Did you cruise?

[Mrhubbabubba]

27 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Thank you for what you do as an administrator! The listening, the problem solving, the parents (oh, the parents!) I hope you had a rejuvenating summer! Did you cruise?

Thank you! Amazing teachers and staff make all the difference. When do you go back? If you answered that earlier, and I feel like you did, I apologize. 
 

I did my first cruise this past June, an Alaskan out of Vancouver. An amazing cruise and amazing city to cruise out of (I wish I would have planned more time in Vancouver). As soon as we got back I booked another cruise for next summer (Western Caribbean). 

[Sugar Magnolia]

21 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

March break. 7 months until the next cruise seems like a long time to wait!

 

It seems more unfair to the rest of us to have to wait that long for more cake with @YVRteacher. It was a glorious quick succession of adventures on the Jewel, the Spirit and the Star* (note the asterisk), but now we arrive at the end of another road. Seven months might as well be seven years for those of us who have developed an addiction for your cakes, collages and clever conversations. Whatever shall we do?

 

[YVRteacher]

On 7/23/2023 at 3:05 PM, bluesea777 said:

The latter 2 are for Diamonds and above. 
 

WE get to experience them on our next cruise!!! We made Diamond during our last cruise!

 

 

I really enjoy Sail and Sustain! On which ship is your next cruise?

[YVRteacher]

2 hours ago, Mrhubbabubba said:

Thank you! Amazing teachers and staff make all the difference. When do you go back? If you answered that earlier, and I feel like you did, I apologize. 
 

I did my first cruise this past June, an Alaskan out of Vancouver. An amazing cruise and amazing city to cruise out of (I wish I would have planned more time in Vancouver). As soon as we got back I booked another cruise for next summer (Western Caribbean). 

There are also cruises at Thanksgiving Break, winter break, spring break…

(I’m an enabler!)

 

We go back Sept 5. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by YVRteacher