ARCTIC VOYAGE
HEADING TO BOSTON - June 18, 2026
The flight from Charleston to BWI left about an hour late. The flight from BWI to Boston left about two hours late, so we arrived about 7 PM rather than about 4 PM. These days I consider that to be a success.
We caught up with Lyn and Tony from Tasmania in time for dinner at the hotel. Tony was as sick as a dog with a constant cough. Not a good start for Tony or possibly the rest of us! The food and service at the hotel restaurant was "very average".
Early to bed for all of us - at $400 a night I wanted my money's worth.
VISIT TO STURBRIDGE - June 19, 2026
First thing in the AM Lyn and Tony headed to the doctors where he was assured that he had a virus and not an infection and was therefore not infectious. Meantime I bussed over to the airport and picked up the rental car.
Back to the hotel to pick up Tony and the two ladies. The drive to Sturbridge was a bit busy but we made it in about 90 mins. Tickets into Sturbridge were free – we think because of the Juneteenth Holiday. But all the "action" activities were not in "action".
Back on Boston by about 6PM. Dinner at Chick-fil-e in downtown Boston. Early to bed again, Tony still not feeling well.
DEPARTURE - Saturday, June 20, 2026
Breakfast was much better than dinner. We were on our way to the ship via LYFT by 11AM
The boarding process was a bit of a disorganized mess but we were on board by about 1PM in plenty of time for lunch in the buffet.
Time to have a look around the ship before departure. The "Volendam" was very similar to the other Holland-America "dam" ships we had cruised upon. About 1,400 guests, quite the "gracious and traditional" design that I remembered.
Our cabin was #2587 (took me quite a while to remember that vital piece of data) located on the second level, about midships. Lyn and Tony were nearby on the same level. It was a very stable location - we slept like logs and seldom felt any ship movement or vibration.
The ship was underway on time at 4:30 PM
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| Maybe it's on the other side? |
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| The wonderful, beautiful and gracious Volendam |
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| Tony & Bob - Dinner Day 1 |
PORTLAND - Sunday June 21, 2026
We woke up docked in Portland after a great night's sleep - although there was a rattle some where in the cabin! (We told our "cabin-man" and it was fixed by the time we got back from breakfast.)
Our first buffet breakfast was good - I even liked the coffee.
We had visited Portland on Tide Hiker back in 2017 and so we were happy just to wander around the waterfront. Deidre had forgotten her coat (maybe left it in Kylie's car after the drive to the AP?) so we took Uber to a mall and bought an inexpensive lined raincoat in a “disposal store”. Coffee at Starbucks. It rained a bit.
The ship was underway on schedule at about 4:30PM.
We started a routine of "DBD" (drinks before dinner) in the Crows Nest) at about 5 PM followed by dinner in the dining room at about 7 PM followed by a show in the theatre exactly at 9 PM. We kept up the routine for just about the entire 28 days. Sometimes after dinner we drifted into the Ocean Bar and listened to the band.
The dinner service was amazingly civilized and enjoyable. The dining room was at two levels in the stern, with 3 sides of glass, and it was hard not to have some view of the ocean. The food was served and presented very professionally but the meat was only average and there was a lot of "heated" meals rather than "cooked" meals. Over the next 28 days we learned how to pick the meals that were the most enjoyable.
I had ordered 8 bottles of wine ($15 bottles from Total Wine that cost me about $38 each on the ship) for my dinners, so I had to ration those out. Lyn and Tony's "package" had included unlimited booze. And after a while we had that system nutted out so that all four of us could benefit.)
Comedian in the theatre that night.
SEA DAY - Monday June 22, 2026
SAINT PIERE - Wednesday June 24, 2026
This is a bit of a weird place - its French territory. I am tempted to investigate why, but its honestly not worth it.
There was a free "bus" but the place seemed deserted so we walked along the waterfront into the "town" which also seemed deserted. We thought "maybe we could get a coffee" but where? There was a liquor shop and it was open - so I bought a bottle of MANDARINE NAPOLEAN instead.
Definitely not the Champs Elysees!
The girls were a bit bored.
There was an interesting ship at another dock. It looked like a large modern ship, but powered by sail. The photo is a bit weak, but it was a foggy and my phone is cheap.
(18, 310 steps)
SAINT JOHNS - Thursday June 25, 2026 (2 days)
This port had an impressive entrance and a very busy port. Lots of offshore petroleum service and shipping boats. Impressive entrance and small busy port. This port played an important roll during the WW2 battle of the Atlantic.
St Johns was a bigger city than expected – maybe 300K population? And was quite busy.
We rented a car for the day and headed out of town to find a moose-burger. I was driving and was not impressed with the speed limits (really low) and the local drivers (really slow). We found a place that offered moose-burgers but they were "out of moose" so that was a bit disappointing. \
We parked and walked to a lighthouse.
(11,725 steps)
SAINT JOHNS - Friday June 26, 2026
We were going to try the "get on get off" bus but got tired of waiting and hired a cab to take us up to "Signal Point". Good views of the port.
This was the location where the first wireless transmission from Europe was received. This was also the main contact point of wireless transmissions with the Titanic.
Tony and Lyn walked back. Bob and Deidre took a few photos and took a cab back to the boat via the rock
museum. There were some great rocks but the best part was the wifi!
St. Johns played a big role in WW2 Battle of the Atlantic and ships based there were often involved in saving lives.
AT SEA - Saturday June 27
AT SEA - Sunday June 28, 2026
Still on our way to the North Coast of Iceland
Calm seas, sunny skies and a bit cold.
The Captain had told us that we would pass over the Arctic Circle today, but I spent all day on the Promenade deck looking for it, but missed it.
AT SEA - Monday June 29, 2026
I just do not remember this say at all. But I got XXXX steps
ISAFJOROUR - Tuesday June 30, 2026
Our first port in Iceland. Small and neat fishing town. Not connected by road to the rest of Iceland, so you need a boat or a plane to escape. Located on the side of a branch of a larger fiord. If you want to "get away from it all" this might be the place for you. But quite a spectacular setting.
You may wonder why anyone would select this place for a settlement? Well, as it happens, one day a troll was walking down the other side of the fiord and decided that the other side would be a good place to live. Having made his decision, he sat down on the mountain and made himself a seat. Apparently he was a big guy.
Informed of that interesting history, we walked into small downtown. Found coffee and a "look-a-like" chocolate lamington that was probably as heavy as our famous troll. But also dome wifi. And that was it. Small neat fishing town in spectacular setting.
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| Now you can see where the troll sat down! He was obviously a big guy. |
AKUREYRA – Wednesday, July 1, 2026
This town is considered to be the "Capital of Northern Iceland". Believe it or not, it was settled by Norsemen in the 9th century. Apparently the fishing had to be "seen to be believed" and the harbor was typically ice free in the winter. (So they could still swim)
As a result it is now a busy place and has a population of about 20,000 and an airport and university. And a fancy church.
We rented a car to explore the many lakes and waterfalls and many larvae plains. . We headed towards our target waterfall and were also directed to a place reputed to be the place where the European continental plate is pulling away from the North American plate. (I am not convinced)
We drove on to a small town with the reputation of being the largest whale spotting port in Iceland. Fish and chips for lunch.
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| The Falls |
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| The big crack |
SEYDSFJORDUR – Thursday, July 2, 2026
We have now made it to the East coast and South a hundred miles or so.
Small, nice town located on another deep fiord with a bonus waterfall opposite the dock. Sadly, I do not remember much more, not even where we might have found a cup of coffee.
Day 12 – Friday - DJUPIVOGUR
Our next stop is so small that it does not have a dock big enough for our ship - so we have to "tender to the shore."
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| A tender being lowered into the water. |
Was a very small place. Its claim to fame are its 34 large sculptured bird eggs.
But we did get a beer and a donut at a local cafe. (The donut was so stale they could have used it to sculpture the next egg.)
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| Deidre is a "Good Egg". Our ship in the distance |
HeimaeyDay 12 – Saturday, July 4, 2026
Now this was a cool place. It's an island off the Icelandic coast.
Set along a compact fiord harbor with a narrow entrance full of ships and boats ! Our ship "parked" just outside the harbor entrance alongside some steep cliffs. The ship held its position without an anchor, but with just forward and aft thrusters. We took the tender into the dock. Really neat and busy place.
The harbor was almost blocked by a larvae flow in the 1973 eruption. The fire department and ships successfully sprayed the advancing larvae with salt water. Lots of lava around the town.
The only sad thing about this day is that we missed July 4, President Trump's 250th birthday.
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| Our tenders working in the harbour. (Note correct spelling) |
The Heimaey "Anchorage"
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| If you look closely, there are sheep grazing half way down the cliff |
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| These photos were taken from the ship. |
Leaving Heimaey
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| Can you imagine living in that little house on this little island in the middle of winter? |
Reykjavik - Sunday, July 5, 2026
The ship docked close to the center of the city. This was to be last port in Iceland. We rented a car (5 speed stick shift, just for a change) and headed out of town along the coast, generally east on a peninsular.
This seems to be a flatter part of the island, and most of the area seemed to be covered in "old" lava. Its interesting to note that most of the two laned roads in the countryside were elevated on a berm about 4 or 5 feet above the surrounding area. We concluded that this was in case of an eruption to help avoid the lava "flooding" the roads. It made it a bit spooky to drive because if you run off the pavement you would head off the side and crash into the hard lavea. Sometime on the drive we saw such a situation and the car was quite smashed up.
First settlement we came to was Keflavik where the international and USAF airport is located. Not much to see.
We continued around towards Grindavik where we started to run into more geothermal activity - including a geothermal power station. It was obvious that this area had experienced recent volcanic activity because we started to see a lot of "new larvae" which is black.
We stumbled over an rea with bubbling mud and steam geysers. (And I have a bunch of bubbling videos but this Blog system does not want to show host them. I am working on it.
We stopped in Grindavik for a funny lunch in a place at the 3rd level of some sort of factory.
Sometimes we got a bit lost but the street signs helped us find our way back.
Reykjavik - Munday, July 6, 2026
Today was our last day in Iceland. We took a taxi to a fancy church and then walked our way back thru downtown. It was a perfectly sunny day, and about 45F. There were plenty of shops offering snug-looking Iceland gear - but not much interest to people who live in the sweat capital of the world.
Hot Larvae Museum
They actually had a furnace they used to melt rock and have it flow red hot thru a small theatre. It was just amazing! The presenter was all dressed up in special gear and we all had to wear special glasses. This fellow poked and pulled and stretched the molten material and explained all about it! Plus it smelled great!
Sea Day - Tuesday July 7, 2026
This was a bit of a rough day. So far the weather had been pretty tame. We had clear days, cloudy days, foggy days but no rough days. It was windy enough for the captain to close my "hiking" train on level 3.
The captain also chose this day for us to have our Emergency Practice Day. At this point I should admit that our group of 4 probably were in the youngest 5% of people on board. Including Deidre, we were also probably in the fittest 5% of people on board. If the ship sank I expect only 25% of the passengers would even make it up (or down) the stairs (the elevators were shut down) to the assembly deck.
Today we started seeing plenty of icebergs. Apparently Greenland is the birthplace of most Atlantic icebergs.
We were heading for the southern tip of Greenland with the aim of passing into the Prins Christiansund fiord. Deidre and I were up at 5:30AM local time in time for our 6 AM arrival. (Getting up early was easy on the ship because it basically had been daylight all day for ages. At some point I noted that sunset was expected at 11:50 PM.)
We entered the fiord after winding our way through a bunch of jagged islands. Our viewing spot was at the front of the boat level 7 just under the bridge. It was rather windy and quite cold. By the time we had entered the fiord and absorbed the geography were a bit fruzed and so headed down for breakfast.
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| Approaching Prins Christiansund |
The further we ventured into the fiord the more impressive it became.
After breakfast and about 10 miles into the fiord the ship turned right into a tributary fiord that housed an "active" glacier.
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| Equipment outside the fish factory! |
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| This photo taken out of our cabin window "late at night" NANORTALIK - Friday July 10, 2026 Nasty morning: foggy, windy with rain/sleet. Nanortalik did not look very appealing. It maybe looked a bit bigger than Qaqortok - but otherwise "more of the same". We decided to go back to bed and maybe have a look a bit later in the day. We had a peek outside a bit later. It looked like the tenders were having some issues. We decided to get some photos from Lyn and Tony who had gone ashore. That evening at dinner, the Captain thanked the tender crew for their hard work and bravery. Apparently it had been a hard day for them. But Lyn liked the cold, rain & wind!  TWO DAYS AT SEA: Saturday and Sunday July 11 and 12 We are now heading south, on the way back to Boston. The two days at sea are amazingly easy to fill. Breakfast, some laps on the promenade, lunch, maybe a presentation in the theatre (perhaps the "Iceberg Pilot") a coffee, another few laps, a shower and a snooze, BDD in the Crows Nest with a bit of music, dinner, then a show in the Theatre, followed by a bit of live music in the Ocean Bar - and bed. Next say - repeat. CORNER BROOK - Monday July 13 About 20K people, nice little port, on a surprisingly warm day. The port and town were located bout 20 miles up a fiord on the west coast of Newfoundland. There was a Tim Horton's on the main street so we visited for a coffee and used the WiFi and walked in a park. Pleasant, relaxing and that's it. CAP-AUX-MEULES - Tuesday July 14.  The weather was a bit shitty today. Bad enough that our scheduled visit to this small port city on a small isolated archipelago in the middle of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (oops, sorry - now the Gulf of Saint Trump) was cancelled. Bit of a shame as it did look interesting. Instead we continued our way south and east towards the Atlantic and then south to Halifax. HALIFAX- July 15 and 16, 2026 Deidre and I has spent a week or so in Halifax while on Tide Hiker. So we let Lyn and Tony head off into town the AM, while we took our time over breakfast. Eventually we left the ship and wandered along the water front pedestrian path. The waterfront is a busy tourist and entertainment area with plenty of people watching. My objective was to go as far as a WW2 "Flower Class" frigate ship museum, the same design as the "Compass Rose" of "Cruel Sea" fame. Why they painted her light blue is totally beyond me. (Reminded me of a silly American WW2 movie when they painted a submarine pink!)  Deidre and I decided to rent a car and show Lyn and Tony around the area, visiting Lunenberg, (where Tide Hiker also spent some days) Peggy's Cove and the Bay of Fundy. We had coffee in Peggy's Cove and lunch in Lunenberg but ran out of time to visit the BOF. But it was a good day.  Handsome guy at Peggy's Inlet  The dinghy dock at Lunenberg DAY AT SEA - Friday July 17, 2026  BOSTON - Saturday July 18, 2026 De-boating is harder than de-planing. We were off the boat by about 9 AM and at the AP by about 10 AM, We were not home until about 3 AM, 17 hours later. 2026 |
