August 3, 2023 Sea Day #6

   There was no time change overnight. It is Sea Day #6 travelling from Ísafjördur, Iceland to Akureyri. Last evening the captain said that this voyage is usually done overnight, but leaving the newly dredged Ísafjördur harbour and the dock, the ship had to wait until the evening high tide to depart giving guests a longer stay in Ísafjördur with all aboard at 10:30 p.m. The ship would not have enough time to arrive in Akureyri with time for the longer land tours. It was a leisurely speed (7 to 8 knots) along the northern coast of Iceland today.

   


In our mail slot this morning were two certificates that we had crossed the Arctic Circle early this morning at the north west corner of Iceland. This morning’s temperature was 8° C and wind WNW 13 km/hr with overcast skies.

   We met Ellen and David for breakfast and learned about their tour yesterday. They also had time to check out the grocery store. At 9 a.m. Coffee with Tjalling in the Rolling Stone Lounge had coffee and pastries to consume while listening to one of the corporate Ice Pilots describe his job and answer guest questions.

    There was plenty of time to walk around Deck 3 and watch the coast scenery. We also walked up on Deck 10 around the retractable pool roof and continued walking back to where it overlooks the Sea View Pool. We found the shuffleboard and bean bag toss area.  Above them were the round domes that contain the satellite communication equipment.  There were at least six maintenance staff painting the walls along the Deck 10 route. We stopped to order Americanos to take down to the World Stage for the Terrells presentation about Akureyri and Reykjavik. They explained about Iceland’s neutrality before and after Germany invaded Denmark. At that point Iceland declared its independence from Denmark. It did however allow 25,000 British and Canadian troops to establish bases on the coast in 1940. In May 1941, staffing of the bases was transferred to neutral United States of America for the defence of Iceland. Between 1940 and 1944, construction of air fields, piers, two hospitals and other military and civilian construction took Iceland into the 20th century and prosperity. On June 17, 1944 Iceland became a Republic.

   Both Lido Market and the main dining room had an Indonesian theme for lunch. We went up to Lido where a section was decorated for the Indonesian theme.

   Zuiderdam was cruising about 12 miles out from the coast of Iceland all day. At his noon announcement the captain mentioned that some people had seen a whale.

   In the afternoon, Mike West spoke about an engineer’s look at the Titanic. We read before attending Andrew Green and Manuel Cini’s playing of Unknown Music from the Holocaust later in the afternoon. We joined Cee Kaye and Brad for dinner and they told us that they had seen dolphins in the morning.

    The evening show was Gravity Diva Fusion songs sung by three female singers. The front four elevators are still in limited use. We went to the ship’s library for Larry to choose another book – The Cartographers  by Peng Shepherd.  We continued the climb up Lido Market on Deck 9 for tea and cake, then returned to our stateroom to read.

  Total steps  13,193



the northern coast of Iceland


the shuffleboard and bean bag toss area

an Indonesian theme for lunch





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