Cruise Day 7 - At Sea

The last day of the cruise was at sea, heading back to New Orleans.

Quite a perfect day it was, too.  Taking it easy, going to the hot tub, imbibing adult beverages, and watching a show.

Sadly, we then had to pack up and be ready to go.

This was tempered by having an excellent diner at the French Bistro on board as our final dinner on the ship.

To say it was fantastic is an understatement. Service was the best we had experienced on board and the food was beyond amazing.

I had escargot for the appetizer, and the sole grenobloise for the main course. Quite superb.

 Dessert was the marquise au chocolat. Which was the best dessert I've had in a long time.  A chocolate aficionado's dream.

 Really fantastic food. Norwegian certainly has some of the best food at sea, or anywhere, really.

After that, we took a walk around the ship and we had left the Gulf of America and were on the Mississippi River.

It was a bit foggy out and the tightness of the channel led to ships appearing seemingly out of nowhere to be right close by.

 

Neat to see and it was a very pleasant night to be walking laps of the deck.

Heading back inside, the lights were low in the main areas, and decoratively lit up for the evening.

 

Headed back to the stateroom, and the luggage was already picked up.

In the morning we were back in port in New Orleans.  So we got up, had breakfast, disembarked, and headed to the airport back home.  That had been a great vacation.

March Cruise Day 2

Day 2 of the cruise was at sea.

 

It started with  full English breakfast in the Irish pub on board.

 

We wandered around the ship, walked the decks, and had a nice time. 

Lots of things to see and do on board.

Exploring around the ship, we found a niche with a small seating area and lots of plaques commemorating ports the Getaway has visited, as well as a scale model of the ship.

After dinner we went to see a comedy show.

The comedian noted it was his first time performing in the Gulf of America. Yes when you're in the Gulf, weather apps are now referring to it as the Gulf of America - no dead-naming the Gulf now.

It was a good and quite funny show.  We then stayed for the later R-rated comedy show from a second comedian (they would switch throughout the cruise, with one doing the PG show and one doing the R-rated one every other night.with fresh material each time) and it was laugh-worthy as well.

Cruise Day 11 - Last Night on Board

For the last night on board we decided to dine at a specialty restaurant and also do another special activity.

First, however, we sadly headed off to our cabins and packed for our departure and got our suitcases outside the cabins to be picked up for departure. 

We decided to try the French restaurant on board to make it a special night. Turns out it was a great choice. We got dressed up for it, and checked in for our reservation.

The food and service were top-notch. I'd have to say it was the best specialty restaurant on board.

I had the Dover sole and it was exquisite.

 Certainly some of the best fish I've ever tasted, anywhere.  All other dishes served were similarly wonderful. The desserts were pretty killer, too.

After dinner, we had paid for and booked the kids on a fun activity -- racing.

There happens to be a multi-level go-kart track on the Norwegian Prima, which is pretty amazing. It tended to get booked up rather quickly.

There were a couple of crashes during the race, but no one went over the side and interestingly enough, any crash causes all the carts to automatically stop where they are until reset by the operators.

Even after being hit from behind by an overeager fellow in one of those crashes, Leah stuck with it and ended up in second place out of 15 cars.

After that we admired the sunset for our last night on the cruise. A Disney ship was pulling out of the harbor, which made for some lovely sunset photos.

We then headed back to our cabins for the last night.

Cruise Day 11 - Reykjavik - Sky Lagoon

For Reykjavik we decided to do tours on our own rather than the ones offered by Norwegian.  

We did this as the cruise ended in Reykjavik we had no worries of an activity going overtime and missing the boat. We would be back on board for one more night and then disembarking the next morning.

So after a leisurely morning and breakfast, we setup our own trip to Sky Lagoon.

Not as well known as the famous Blue Lagoon, it has some advantages - being closer to Reykjavik, so less time spent getting back and forth and, since it is lesser-known, it tends to be a lot less crowded.

The passes we bought included transport from the cruise terminal, so we got picked up by a cab specifically sent for us, with a very nice and informative driver.

Sky Lagoon is right near the Reykjavik airport - a smaller airfield not to be confused with Keflavik airport that has international big jet service.

Sky Lagoon offers thermally heated waters in a stunning environment.

 

Yes, the water was very pleasantly warm and it was great to swim/wade in.

It has a neat infinity wall where it creates an illusion that the Lagoon goes on right into the ocean.

 

There is also a waterfall you can stand under or just admire.

 

They also had a bar you could swim up to, with local beer, cider, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages drinks on tap.  Most civilized. Icelandic beer is good stuff.

We did the full "Ritual":

This ritual was a lot of fun and a very relaxing experience.  Getting into the cold plunge, which was seriously cold, after being in the warm lagoon was rather bracing to say the least. The sauna was great, as was the steam room .

The ritual ends back in the lagoon where you can relax in the warm water or do the cold plunge again. We did and had a contest as to who could stay in the cold plunge the longest - yes, I won that one - and then I had to get back in the lagoon quick to warm back up again. 

We then had a snack there at the Lagoon which was awesome.  Lots of small Icelandic dishes like gravlax - fresh cut to order, a pate of some sort, Icelandic cheeses, freshly made bread and crackers and all of it was fantastic and hit the spot after the spa.

We then got to watch a helicopter flying around the pattern at Reykjavik airport as we waited for our same cab driver to come pick us up.

 

f

We then headed back to the ship after a very enjoyable and relaxing day at Sky Lagoon.  

If you visit Reykjavik, I'd really highly recommend going to Sky Lagoon if you want a nice relaxing time in some lovely warm water.  You come out feeling like a million Icelandic Krona (That's only US$7,579, so you can feel like a millionaire at a bargain price!).

Cruise Day 10 - At Sea Again

This was our third day at sea.

We were supposed to visit Isafjordur, Iceland. It was not to be.  Apparently there was an issue with the docks being overcapacity, and the ship couldn't visit as planned.

So instead we got a nice slow cruise in the waters off of Iceland.

 On deck was chilly and windy, so most people stayed inside.

This led to pretty crowded areas especially at lunch so we put on sweaters/sweatshirts and had on lunch on deck by Indulge as there was no seating inside at all.

We left Iceland behind and there was not much to see but the rather bleak Greenland Sea.

We did hit the hot tub, which had steam rising above it nicely given the difference between the water and air temperature. Getting out was a tad chilly-making.

We took in a show together and then I played some more craps and came out a bit ahead, making up for the loses of prior sessions nicely.

For dessert, there was nothing like heading to the bar and getting a mudslide.

Tasted even better than it looked.

It was a nice relaxing day at sea.

Cruise Day 9 - Akureyri, Iceland

We arrived early in Akureyri, Iceland.  Akureyri is the fifth largest town in Iceland with about 20,000 inhabitants.

The tour was to take in nature and, Leah's favorite animal, horses.

We started off from the port and first headed to the Lystigarður Akureyrar, the Akureyri botanical gardens there.

Lots of nice plants and flowers and it was a very pleasant stroll

 

Then we went to an Icelandic horse farm to see the rare Icelandic Horse.

The icelandic Horse has more gaits than any other horse, 5 to the usual 4.

The 4 are walk, trot, canter, and gallop.

The fifth is Tölt and the sixth is the flying pace. 

We got to see the horses in action.

The Tölt is so smooth you can carry a glass of wine on horseback and not spill any as you move at a decent clip.

She rode up and down the line at a fast clip without spilling a single drop.

Pretty neat to see. The horses after the demonstration then got to mingle and get petted by the horse enthusiasts in the crowd. 

The owner of the horse farm, the bearded gentleman above, talked about the horses.  Among many interesitng things, he stated that due to concerns about the spread of certain horse diseases into Iceland, once an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland to be in a show or is sold and transported to another owner off the island, it can never return back to Iceland.

After that we went to the Goðafoss waterfall.

Named for an event where a Viking that converted to Christianity allegedly threw the idols of the Norse gods into the falls. The waterfall is quite spectacular.

Next, we went to  Laufas, an historic manor farm with a manor house dating to 1866 built for the priest, alongside the church built in 1865, replacing earlier churches that had been on that spot since 1047.  The manor house has buildings that were interconnected with turf roofs.

The interior is arranged as it was historically in the 1860s.

 

Pretty cramped quarters but very functional/

The turf roof design was rather interesting.

Iceland was rather poor, and glass for windows was costly to import. Originally, windows were not made of glass but instead from the amnions, perioneum, and even skate skin scrapped thin to form a screen window.

 

These windows were rather fragile, and vulnerable to both harsh winds and cats.

We then got to depart the tour before it got to the ship for some free time in Akureyri.  Some people stayed on the bus but many got off to wander around.

We wandered around I went to a bookshop that had books in both both English and Icelandic.

It seems the ILOH is popular even in the far north of Akureyri, Iceland/

 You could also get a set of Harry Potter translated into Icelandic.

I bought a work Icelandic Historical fiction, in English,  Swords of Good Men, by Snorri Kristjansson.  It's quite good, and once I finish I'll need to pickup the next two in the trilogy on Amazon.

Tash found an Icelandic craft shop and got some good Icelandic wool for weaving and other crafty stuff.

We then headed back to the ship. took a nap after a long day on foot, and then headed to dinner.

For dinner we decided to try the Hibachi Specialty restaurant.

It has a significant difference from your standard Hibachi - they don't use fire as part of the entertainment while cooking the food.  Open flames on a cruise ship are heavily frowned upon.

Even without the fire, the hilarity of our chef was above and beyond that of a standard Hibachi restaurant.  The guy was hilarious and the performance was top rate.

 

and the food was not just amazing but there was way more than a typical Hibachi restaurant, indeed it had special "I Love You" Rice: 

Simple fantastic. The entertainment itself was worth the price of the meal, and the meal was more than worth the price.

It was a very long but amazing and fun-filled day.

Cruise Day 8 - At Sea And Circling

The eighth day was another relaxing day at sea.

The highlight was the announcement that we were crossing the Arctic Circle on the way to Iceland.  Kinda cool.

Other than that nothing remarkable to report on that day. Eating, strolling, playing some craps (and losing some of my winnings but having fun anyways). 

Certainly we were not bored by any means  lots to see and do, went to some comedy shows, hit the hot tub, and had a good time.

The next day we reached Iceland.

Cruise Day 7 - Alesund, Norway

We arrived in the port of Alesund nice and early.

We then got on a bus and took a ferry across the Fjord there.

We were able to get off the bus and wander around the ferry and take in the landscape.

Again, it's another stunning fjord.

We then got to take a gondola to the top of Mt. Stranda.

Mt. Stranda is popular for skiing in the winter at 2,592 feet tall.

If you have a fear of heights, being in a Gondola on the way up the mountain may not be for you.

Leaving the Gondola, we climbed a bit higher over the very rocky terrain, and were just under the clouds and able to have a beautiful view.

There was still a patch of snow on the mountain.

Maneuvering amongst the rocks took quite a bit of balance work, as the rocks often shifted, some were slippery, and there were bits of moss and muck abounding.  

I definitely got a workout walking the mountain.  After some time sightseeing, we then made our way back to the Gondola station to take it back down and continue with the tour.

Since we had worked up an appetite on our trek up and down Mt. Stranda, the next stop was a feast.

It was an amazing buffet of traditional Norwegian food. Cooked salmon, gravalax, and much more, including many interesting local beverages to try.

The food was amazing, the desserts heavenly, and everyone was very well fed before they left.

We then toured Alesund, including the heights above it where the Germans had emplaced some bunkers in World War 2 and learned a lot of the hisotry of the town.

Sadly we weren't allowed to explore those, but we went to a promontory to view the town from above.

The tour guide gave an excellent narration throughout the day, covering the history and culture of the area.  She also noted that strawberries in Norway will be sweeter than strawberries we are used to as the northern climate encourages them to make sugar quicker.

So, after the tour ended, we wandered into a grocery store to buy some and test the theory.

We then walked to a park we had seen on the way and tried the strawberries.

The survey was unanimous that these were some of the best strawberries we've ever had, so her claim had definite merit.

It was a great day in Alesund and the area around it.