Reykjavik – Day 1 can be found here.
We woke late in the morning, grateful for the time change that granted us an extra hour – we’d need it, as today’s schedule was filled with admin.
Parka exchange was bumped back to 1 pm, but boot exchange started at 8 am – and was moved from the mudroom on Deck 3 to Deck 5. We managed to exchange our Gargantuan Galoshes ™ (Men’s boots ranging from 10 to 12) for something more reasonable.
We then went to breakfast at the Restaurant, where adults and children alike had to make peace with the fact that we are no longer on a 10 day holiday, and so we would no longer be able to eat as though we were guests of honour at a 4-year-old’s birthday party. (With as many hot dogs – and as much wine – as that implies.)
So kids ordered some berries to go with their waffles – and had to choose between crispy bacon and sausages – while adults had this strange concoction called yo-girt and grah-know-lah? Weird, but we seem to feel strangely better eating that than we did when we were drinking mimosas and ordering pancake / fried egg sandwiches like the world was ending.
Breakfast done, we attempted another round of admin to try and slot ourselves into a zodiac group and find out what was happening with our flights home. Thankfully, this was a door-to-door cruise so – in theory – our return flights should be Someone Else’s Problem. But we won’t believe it until we have the tickets in our hot little hands. No luck on either front, unfortunately, though we have Silversea’s assurances that both will be dealt with in short order.
Then on to the enrichment lecture at 9:30 am – this time providing some fascinating insight into the background behind the Vikings and why they left Scandinavia to settle abroad. (Spoiler alert – Farming in Norway is even more difficult than it sounds.) We’re really lucky to have Kristian Pederson on board, and I think his lectures are going to be informative for kids and adults alike.
Unfortunately, one kid and one adult ducked out midway through because trivia was at 10 am and there was no way we were going to miss it. Rumour has it that Entertainment Host Daniel picked up fresh swag in Reykjavik, and my son wants first crack at it. Despite having lost two beloved members at the end of our last leg (sniff, sniff) we both added a new member and took first place. Not a bad start!
Daniel thankfully sped through trivia in record time, as I had a mandatory kayak briefing at 10:30 am – which will be done as a lottery, so may the odds be ever in my favour.
This was followed by the zodiac / AECO safety briefing at 11 am. The briefing was actually rather entertaining and I managed to find it on YouTube so, here you go:
AECO Arctic visitor guidelines – YouTube
That took us to just before 12 pm, so back to the room for a few minutes and then off to the Restaurant (again) for lunch. Please do not judge Silversea’s excellent food based on the terrible quality of my photography – the meals were excellent. And according to my wife, the fish chef seems to have improved since the last leg – the artic char was far less overdone than previous iterations.
Arctic char with a buttery lemon sauce
Shrimp and fish curry
But there’s no time to rest on our laurels – we had to go to the parka exchange. Which could prove difficult, as we don’t have any parkas to exchange. But the expedition team rolled with it, and we left with the best-sized parkas we could have hoped to acquire. (Which – in our daughter’s case – is laughably large, but we bought a parka for her in Reykjavik so we should be all set.)
And better still – we have a zodiac group! We’re real passengers after all! Granted, they’d initially split our family across four different zodiac groups but they got that sorted out in short order.
Surely now we could take a break, right? Yes. We did. In the Panorama Lounge. For about 28 minutes. At which point we were told that it was the very last call for our biosecurity briefing – despite our zodiac group’s window not starting for another 15 minutes.
So we abandoned our freshly-served chocolate chip cookies to go through the truly vital process of having our clothing checked for foreign contamination – Velcro in particular. With last call having just been announced, the line was daunting. But Silversea had several crew members assigned to the task and we were soon done and back in our rooms.
At this point, we reached a very important time of the day. Followers of the previous cruise will know what time that is – my nap time.
Back to the Observation Lounge for a bit which has become our go-to space for quiet reading time and watching for wildlife. There’s wonderful views and a surprisingly interesting library full of travel and wildlife books. Bonus is being able to order drinks to the lounge although it’s often faster to head down to the Pool Deck and bring them back yourself.
Observation Lounge courtesy of Silversea. Our view is currently iceberg-free
Then off to the Explorer’s Lounge at 6 pm to learn about tomorrow’s expedition. The daily briefings and lectures are held in the Explorer’s Lounge which is conveniently situated next to a bar. And there’s trays of drinks (champagne, specialty cocktail of the day, and non-alcoholic) at the upper entrance hall.
Explorer’s Lounge courtesy of Silversea
And what did we learn in today’s briefing? In short, is this – everything has gone wrong and nothing is going to plan.
(So, pretty much as expected.)
Whatever ‘expedition territory’ we’d entered into in our previous cruise has significantly expanded, particularly given that we are entering Greenland waters early in the season. That means that there is still a significant amount of ice around. The ice is mostly in the north, but sometimes it blows further south.
This is one such occasion – and so, as a result, it looks like we will be unable to cruise the fjords along Skjoldungen, and will instead need to just show up in Greenland and see what looks nice.
(As Expedition Leader Darryn put it – “Some of these fjords have never been visited by passenger ships. I’m going to see if I can find a new one. Maybe they’ll name it after me. The Darryn Fjord.”)
If we hadn’t just done an expedition cruise, I might’ve been concerned. But given our experience last time – and the way the team artfully exchanged Dunvegan for the Shiant Isles – we’re more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Back to the room to change, and then we managed to check off another few items of admin – we have flights now from New York to Toronto, as well as seats on the charter flight from Greenland to New York. We also got the credit card slips signed off. And – last time we checked – we hadn’t been broken up into new zodiac groups.
So I guess that means that the admin is… done? Seems difficult to fathom, but we’ll go with that for now.
And all just in time for dinner – another lovely meal at the Restaurant, during which Captain Andriy Domanin came up to introduce himself, congratulate our son on his trivia win, and ask how we’re enjoying the cruise.
The answer: Very much indeed.
Tomorrow’s Chronicles:
Continue reading Greenland – Day 3 here.