Steve and Cathy's Blog

After such a busy day yesterday, and knowing that we will be boarding MS Sirena by 2:30pm today, we take our time getting started. Enjoying another wonderful breakfast buffet, packing up, checking out, and stowing our luggage until it’s time to go to the ship. We also take time to thank the young lady who we had managed to allow us to ride in the bus taking her Oceania guests to the ship and explain that we won’t take her up on her offer to take us as well. We want to spend as much time in town as possible. She is, of course, very gracious about it.

We have already planned to take the Hop On – Hop Off Bus tour around the city. Around 9:20, we walk to the Hilton Hotel to board the tour. We only have to wait ten minutes. The friendly bus driver tells us to pay for the tour later, so we head for the upper deck (this franchise always uses buses that look like the London double-deck buses, even down to the bright red color). 

From the moment we arrive, the weather has been perfect. Well, perfect in that there has been no precipitation, even when predicted, with mostly sunny skies. The temperature has ranged from 45 degrees when we arise to 55 in the late afternoon. We feel very fortunate, and dare to think that the bad weather karma that has so often plagued us has dissipated…for now.

The narration covers everything. Steve took notes madly, but they all ended up a bunch of random facts and subjects, so that is how this post will be “organized.” Here we go:

• Our first stop is where an Azamara cruise ship is docked. Hop-On/Hop-Off makes stops at the cruise docks (summer only, of course), and we see why. In our case, the bus hits the mother lode. What was a practically empty bus is now packed. 
• Iceland in general, and the capital region in particular, has grown exponentially in recent years. Many immigrants recruited to serve the tourist trade, but there has also been industrial growth in fish exporting, pharmaceuticals and metals processing and other areas. The city looks new in many, many neighborhoods, all with similar architecture.

• We pass by the place where the 1986 Summit between President Reagan and Premier Gorbachev took place. Iceland proudly states that this is the place where the Cold War ended.
• Iceland has no army. There is a defense agreement with the United States, and Iceland is a founding member of NATO.
• We pass by a building named the Marshallhusid, named after US Secretary of State George Marshall, after whom the Marshall Plan was named. Iceland suffered little infrastructure damage in WWII, essentially because it was occupied by the United States military. However, there were significant losses of men involved in the fishing industry and in other endeavors supplying the Allies. For that reason, the country did receive well-deserved Marshall plan funds to improve that infrastructure.
• The Germans occupied Iceland in the early days of WWII, replaced by the Brits in 1940, and then the Americans in 1941. The country was used as a base to organize convoys of ships sending supplies to Murmansk, Russia.
• We pass by the Whales of Iceland Museum. They offer something quite unique for a museum: they host marriage ceremonies there.
• As has happened all over the world, Iceland urbanized after WWII. Many moved from the rural countryside – especially eastern Iceland – to the Reykjavik area. 
• Iceland is considered one of the most literate countries in the world for the number of books published annually here. In fact, receiving a book for Christmas is considered a very special gift by most Icelanders. 
• We pass by an area where, way back in 1913, a quarry was located that shipped stone to the docks by railway to build breakwaters. It was the only railway ever attempted in the country, and, of course, is long gone. Apparently, it was great fun for the children to hop on the loaded cars for a trip to the docks, where they would hop on the empty cars for the return trip back to the quarry.
• Iceland’s Independence Day is celebrated on June 17^th. That day in 1944, Iceland declared their independence from Denmark. (Our guide the previous day noted that it wasn’t exactly an act of brave defiance on the part of Iceland as Denmark was fully occupied by the German Reich at the time and hardly in a position to dispute the move.)
• When settlers from Scandinavia arrived in the year 874, the island was 60% covered by small scrub trees. The demand for forest products to build houses and to heat those houses slowly but surely reduced that percentage. By the end of the 18^th century, the percentage had dwindled to 1%. There has been a move to replant forests, the efforts of which can be seen everywhere, especially around farms where windbreaks have been planted.

We are still recovering from our trip here, so we do not get off the bus to tour any of the many interesting museums, churches or other attractions in this interesting city. The more we see, the more convinced we are to come back and spend much more time.

We “hop off” the bus back at the Hilton Hotel, and walk back to our hotel. Enroute, we pass by the United States Embassy, a very attractive building complex that looks fortified to repulse an all-out military assault. Shadows of 9/11. Unfortunate but necessary in this day and age.

It’s only 11:30am and we had previously scheduled ourselves to board at 2:30pm, but we are just too tired to use the next three hours productively, so we catch a cab and head for MS Sirena. The boarding process is easy-peasy as always; even the Covid part. All we needed to do is fill out paperwork, show our vaccination records and board. 

We dump our carry-ons and head to Waves Grill on Deck 9. This is a semi-outdoor restaurant area open to the pool deck. The temperature is in the 50s, so we are comfortable “eating outdoors,” so to speak. They serve burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and the like. It’s quick and easy and very pleasant. We are happy to be back. 

After lunch, we head for the ship Library on Deck 10. Cathy is especially eager to pick out some books to read, observing that of course the best selection is available on embarkation day. Of course, she finds two or three to read, and even Steve finds a John Grisham novel to take out. There is no checkout procedure. Everything is on the honor system. It’s a very nice place to be.

Back to the room for quiet time, and to await the arrival of our luggage. Naps are in order, after which we unpack. At 6:30pm, we dine at the Grand Dining Room, which is our preferred location. 

This would be a good time to explain the dining options. The Grand Dining Room is open for all three meals, dinner always being served from 6:30pm to 9:30. Dress is “country club casual,” meaning no jeans, sweatshirts, t-shirts or shorts. You can dine alone or choose to sit with others. The food is incredible, the service impeccable. 

The Terrace Café on Deck 9 is a buffet situation. The same offerings found at the Grand Dining Room are available, and wait staff is there to help you get seated and to clear tables and bring any wine or beer you might order. Many, many guests never venture anyplace else for their meals, because they like the informality and the speed with which you can consume a meal.

We rarely go there for dinner, unless all we want is sushi and dessert. It is crowded, sometimes difficult to find a table, and generally a madhouse. It’s not as if you just take a tray and go down a line asking for what you want to eat. It’s a free-for-all. People are often barging in where you are, completely oblivious to their surroundings. The staff is super polite and patient, but end up having to explain what they are serving over and over to people who should have read the %$@& menu ahead of time. The only saving grace is, weather permitting, you have an opportunity to dine out on the stern, which is a lovely place to be at sunset. 

There are two specialty restaurants as well. Red Ginger serves Asian food. Toscana Steak is an amalgamation of what used to be two different specialty restaurants. Toscana featured delicious Italian cuisine. The former Polo was a steakhouse. The combined menu serves some of each. Both restaurants require reservations in advance. We will go to one at some point just for a change of pace.

So we have a fine leisurely dinner at the GDR (as we have come to call the Grand Dining Room), after which we head back to the room. There is much evening entertainment available, of which we have never availed ourselves on any cruise we have ever taken. It’s fine entertainment, but we are just not interested in it. Many are, and good for them.

Now we are aboard and have set sail as of five o’clock, heading to the small town of Isafjordur in the Westfjords region of Iceland. We are glad to be back on an Oceania ship and very much look forward to our thirty-two-day adventure.