Voyage of the Vikings Cruise

1 year ago

@williamneel

No entries have been mapped yet.

Flynn Cruiseport Boston

Jul 20 2024

We made it to Boston and are getting on the Zuiderdam!

So much luggage to load!

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.

Closing out the day with some music

Waiting in line to board

Exploring the ship amenities

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!

Pickle Ball!

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.

Swimming pool - first stop for Jacqueline

@williamneel

1 LIKE

Bar Harbor

Jul 21 2024

First port of call - Bar Harbor, Maine (all ‘R’s are silent today)

Taking the tender boat ashore

Breakfast in the dining room

Back on board for dinner

Walking around Bar Harbor

The Bar Harbor Historical Society

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

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

… and blueberry pie!

Cadillac Mountain

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

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

Our cruise ship

Egg Island Lighthouse

@williamneel

Jul 22 2024

At sea day today

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

Taking in a show

Queen of the pool

@williamneel

1 LIKE

Sydney

Jul 23 2024

Sailing into Sydney, Nova Scotia

Low Point Lighthouse

St. Alphonsus Church

The Legendary Voyage Band

Classical trio

Breakfast on our balcony

Trip to Baddeck and cruise on Bras D’or Lake

Sailing away

Really old Anglican church

Walking around Sydney

The Giant Fiddle

Kidston Lighthouse

Slice of pizza for lunch

Estate of Alexander Graham Bell

@williamneel

Corner Brook

Jul 24 2024

Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador

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

Docked at the pier by the cargo crane

Band playing to welcome us

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

Walked around Corner Brook Stream Trail

@williamneel

PH93+7Q Red Bay, NL, Canada

Jul 25 2024

Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador

Back on board and in the pool!

Penney Island in the middle of the harbor

Some Basque whale hunters

Boardwalk around island

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

Back to Red Bay

Red rock around the harbor

Tender boats to get ashore today

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

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

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

@williamneel

Jul 26 2024

Somewhere in the Labrador Sea between Canada and Greenland

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

☹️

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

@williamneel

Tasermiut Fjord

Jul 27 2024

Greenland! \240Icebergs!

Hyperion Knight performing on the World Stage tonight

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

Glacier at the end of the fjord

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

Nanortalik

@williamneel

Nanortalik

Jul 28 2024

@williamneel

Prinz Christian Sund

Jul 29 2024

Foggy start to the morning - they had to keep sounding the fog horn through the night

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

@williamneel

Jul 30 2024

Day at sea

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

@williamneel

Ísafjörður, Iceland

Jul 31 2024

Docking in Ísafjörður, Iceland today

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

Roll out of bed and start taking pictures of the fjord

Puffins and Arctic Terns

Saw humpback whales on ride back

Puffins

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

Icelandic kitty cats on our morning walk around town

The 3D crosswalk!

Baby tern

Eider ducks

In the afternoon we took a boat ride to Vigur Island

@williamneel

Akureyri

Aug 01 2024

Akureyri, Iceland

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

Namaskardh - bubbling sulfur pots

We got very wet here as the rain picked up

Godafoss waterfall

Troll heads

Lava field Dimmuborgir

Skútustaðagígar craters

Lake Myvatn

Giant marshmallows for the trolls

Heart shaped red traffic lights in town

@williamneel

Aug 02 2024

Sea day, somewhere in the fog between Iceland and Norway

Brunch in the dining room

@williamneel

Aug 03 2024

Another day at sea, still heading toward Oslo

Dinner in the Dining Room

@williamneel

Oslo

Aug 04 2024

Sailing into Oslo, Norway

Oscarsborg Fortress

Langåra tåkeklokke - fog bell

Royal Palace

City Hall

The Scream by Edvard Munch!

Guard dude - not nearly as uptight as Kensington

Oslo Tree - LED leaves light up

Munch selfie

Walk down Karl Johans gate street

The Nobel Peace Center

Rothko

Rooftop

Akershus Fortress

And another Munch selfie

Opera House

The National Museum

And the bolle shop for a sweet treat

@williamneel

Aug 05 2024

At sea from Oslo to Rotterdam

Too windy for pickleball

@williamneel

Wilhelminakade 635, 3072 AP Rotterdam, Netherlands

Aug 06 2024

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Halfway point of the voyage

Hotel New York

Market Hall

Marveling at the Dutch engineering as we sail out

Erasmusbrug Bridge

Taking a water taxi

Some of the giant North Sea surge protection works

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen (museum storage center)

Yellow cube houses and hostel

@williamneel

Aug 07 2024

At sea in the English Channel today

@williamneel

Cobh

Aug 08 2024

Cobh,, Ireland

Pronounced “cove”, it is the port near Cork

Lismore Castle

Sheep dodging our bus

Cahir Castle

Rock of Cashel

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

Bus ride to County Tipperary

Sail away past Roche's Point Lighthouse

Cobh was the last port for the Titanic

Driving on the left side

@williamneel

Dublin

Aug 09 2024

Dublin, Ireland

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

Took a tour through Dublin today

One of many European tech company headquarters in Dublin

Sailing away

Boat ride on the River Liffey, Dublin

Back in Dún Laoghaire, walking along the waterfront

American Embassy

Customs House

Convention Center

@williamneel

Belfast

Aug 10 2024

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge

Whitepark Beach Bay

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

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

Port of Belfast

The Titanic Museum (no time to visit today tho)

Dunluce Castle

Where the Titanic was built

Over here Mr. Sheep! \240

@williamneel

Aug 11 2024

At sea today, heading back to Iceland

@williamneel

MPCJ+MJ Djúpivogur, Iceland

Aug 12 2024

Djúpivogur, Iceland

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

Piano bar guy on the ship that evening

The town and looking up the fjord

Walked out of town a bit

Cold, rainy and rocky tender port today

@williamneel

Skarfabakki 315 (Cruise Terminal)

Aug 13 2024

Reykjavik, Iceland

We are here for two days, very exciting to be staying in port overnight

These Icelandic toilets are sooooo uncomfortable

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

Curculeight - interactive video on four walls

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

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

Harpa Concert Hall

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

Rainbow Road

Ice cave exhibit at the Perlan science museum

Cat sitting on a pile of blankets in a store

@williamneel

Thingvellir National Park Visitor Center

Aug 14 2024

Golden Circle tour today

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

@williamneel

Geysir Centre

Aug 14 2024

Geysir, site from where ch we get the word geyser

@williamneel

Gullfoss Falls

Aug 14 2024

Gullfoss Falls

Icelandic horse

@williamneel

Kerid Crater

Aug 14 2024

Kerid Crater

@williamneel

Aug 15 2024

At sea today, traveling back to Greenland

@williamneel

Prins Christianssund

Aug 16 2024

Back to Greenland

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

@williamneel

PX5F+8C Qaqortoq, Greenland

Aug 17 2024

Saw the Aurora Borealis tonight (not very strong though)

Exploring town of Qaqortoq, Greenland

@williamneel

St. Anthony

Aug 19 2024

Day at sea yesterday, arrived at St Anthony, Newfoundland this morning

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

L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site

Where Leif Eiriksson landed around 1000 a.d.

They had some more recreated sites here

Sunrise

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

Tender boat to get to shore

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

Performance last night by “Breton Thunder”

@williamneel

1 LIKE

@#lauriestrom Interesting

Corner Brook Cruise Terminal

Aug 20 2024

Due to the potential risk of hurricane Ernesto meeting us on our way to St John’s, we are back in Corner Brook today

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)

Paper mill

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

@williamneel

1 LIKE

1041 Marginal Rd, Halifax, NS B3H 4P7, Canada

Aug 22 2024

Halifax, Nova Scotia

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

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse

Back in Halifax

I’ll just take this…

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

@williamneel

Aug 24 2024

@williamneel

680 E 1st St, Boston, MA 02127, USA

Aug 24 2024

Back in Boston

Old North Church of Paul Revere fame

Trinity Church

@williamneel