Disney Cruise--11 Night Northern Fjords July 2019 #6 Akureyri and day at Sea

Texas Twin Sis

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Akureyri, Iceland July 27, 2019 and day at Sea July 28, 2019

A beautiful morning with low cloud cover that broke every once and a while to show us the mountains hiding behind the town of Akureyri. We pulled right into the dock area and could view most of the town from the ship. We had a 9am on shore and a 5:15pm all aboard time. Plenty of time to see the sites and it looked like it was going to be another beautiful day.
We took another early tour AK05 Leisurely Akureyri and Godafoss which was near capacity with adults. Our guide was a local family man who was an avid bicyclist originally from the Netherlands. He was quite knowledgeable and very conversational in his presentation (not sounding on script) filling us in on local information as well as history. It was a 45 minute drive to Godafoss, another large waterfall. As we left the dock area we drove pass the circular Civic Center to a bridge crossing to get on the other side of the fjord. There we took the scenic route up the mountain following the fjord (instead of the tunnel) and got wonderful views of the hot springs pouring water into the fjord, the fjord entrance and the Disney Magic. It was quite a climb up the mountain and as we broke through the cloud layer at the top of the pass we were rewarded with sunshine. Again great mountains with snow on top but no trees. Some of the mountain tops seemed flat and my sis (the ecology/science teacher) explained to us that what we were seeing was the result of long ago magma pushing up that hit an ice layer (glacier) then spread out creating the flat tops. She was in hog heaven because she teaches about Iceland in her Eco classes. As we came atop what I would call another plateau, we saw the bridge crossing the river rapids below Godafoss and small gift shop center. There were parking lots on each side of the falls and it seemed that most of the cars were parked on the near side and buses were crossing the bridge to the other near the gift shop.
We had a 35 minute stop at the falls. From where the bus dropped us off we walked up a path towards the falls with spectacular views of the river rapids below. It took us approximately 10 minutes to get to the top viewing area. The falls were shaped much like Niagara Falls in the USA. It was a horseshoe shape with a small island that split the falls into two sections. It was stunning. We waved at the very small people viewing the falls from way on the other side and they waved back. Besides the road bridge there was also a foot bridge to cross to the other side. Inside the gift shop were the restrooms. Again these required payment unless you were with a tour group and had your sticker clearly visible. Here we had time to purchase some Icelandic chocolate. Our guide told us people here liked the kind that was black licorice covered chocolate. Not a licorice fan I chose the plain and one with pieces of toffee candy inside—both were wonderful and later at a shop on the dock I bought more to bring home. On the way back our guide was very entertaining with is his information and we could see more since the clouds were breaking up. As we came down the fjord again he told us where to look for whales as we were sailing out. Good to know. Back in town we had a stop at the Botanical Gardens, which were lovely. Driving back through the town we learned that most of the area was built up during and after WWII, being a site for RAF airfields and later because of the fishing industry. A lovely tour where we never felt rushed.

Back on the ship we had a great lunch on deck and spent the afternoon shopping close to the dock. We purchased more chocolate, especially when we found out there would be no problem taking it through customs on the way home.
All aboard time and we were underway. Witnessed another pilot jump to a pilot boat, but not with the same flourish as before. On the way out of the fjord, right near where our guide said look for whales, we got a sighting of one and a tail flick, My sis shouted, "whale ho!” and we had two more quick looks, all on the port side of the ship. Quite exciting. We had a great dinner again with only a slight roll to the ship with a 30 knot headwind. So we went to the room to slipped into some of our winter gear to go our on deck to get our last look at Iceland before the show. And we had been pixie dusted! On the desk was a gift basket, popcorn & mickey treats! A great surprise. The show tonight was a one woman presentation by Susan Egan the original Belle in Beauty and the Beast on broadway. A real treat! She also gave sessions the next day at Sea.
Later that evening around 22:32 we crossed the Arctic Circle and were above it for about an hour and a half. The next day each person received a “Blue Nose” Certificate commemorating crossing the Arctic Circle, neat! Only something Disney would do.

Day at Sea, July 28, 2019
We had no real plans for today so we slept in and got to breakfast around 8:30am. This was late for us but had it's reward. From the port inside aft eating area we had four more whale sightings through the glass windows. The whole eating area really enjoyed nature's show. Not much on the schedule for the rest of the day except getting photos to fill up the photo book we per-purchased before the trip and trivia games. Our 87 year old mother (not on this trip) likes taking the photo book to the beauty shop to show her friends. My twin sis and I teamed up with a mother and her teenager son and won the Disney Trivia. A hint, get a team together for trivia with a range of age groups. We were good with pre 1980 Disney music & movies our team mates made up the rest. Later, while on deck 4 midship waiting for a picture op, I saw that the line for future bookings was very long. Glad I did it the first sea day. The show tonight was a Bubble Master and Light Painting show. Interesting and entertaining. Returned at 11pm to another towel animal with chocolates but we had to close the curtains to sleep since the sun was still up and sunrise was to be at 3:55am. On to Norway!
 

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