August 18th Linda- Owner of Starship Travel and Karen- front line agent , along with some friends and family sailed with Celebrity Cruises to Iceland and Greenland. This trip is something they have both been looking forward to for quite some time! They began their expedition in Reykjavik Iceland for embarkation. Our lovely ladies spent the day soaking up the views on the way to the port, stopping for photo ops of course, and exploring their new home away from home for the next 12 days.
The small group started day 2 of their cruise in Isafjordur, Iceland. They took the day to enjoy all the wonders this town had to offer. Visiting the waterfalls, lakes, rivers and exploring the small, quaint town in itself before heading back to their ship, and trekking forward. The waterfalls were amazing, so fresh and clean and a great hike to get there!
Their final port in Iceland, and day 3 of their journey, was Akureyri IS. Once again, they spent time visiting many beautiful waterfalls and breathtaking plains along with a few hot springs!
Days 4 and 5 of their trip were sea days well spent. Starting day 4 with a presentation of all the shore excursions Celebrity offered on their sailing, as well as how and when to look for the northern lights. Followed up with bingo where Linda and her daughter won the largest prize of the entire sailing, $800 which was well spent on the cruise, tours and shopping!
On day 5 our agents enjoyed a relaxed day of shows, and views of the Prince Christian Sound. Fun Fact: did you know icebergs only look blue on a cloudy day? This is because ice does not have any air bubbles, and therefore reflects the most blue light. On overcast days, the ice appears a lot bluer than on sunny days. This is because there is less light to be reflected by the upper ice layers, making the blue in the deeper layers more visible. Learn something new everyday!
By day 6, Starship Travel President, fellow Starship agent Karen, with friends and family, had finally reached their port in Greenland, Nanortalik (meaning the place with the polar bears) to be exact. When they arrived it was pouring rain in the small town, a town only accessible and traversable by plane, boat, and snowmobile. Our agents decided not to do much in town, they wandered around the historic village, visited the Nanortalik Open Air Museum, of course stopped to see nature’s beautiful icebergs and take a few photos, and stopped by a historic church. Linda described the town as “Alright, nothing to write home about though.” They may have enjoyed the town better if it wasn’t pouring the entire time. There was nothing to do in this town, not sure why it is a stop at all.
Days 7 and 8 of their travels were spent at sea. This particular sailing had 6 days at sea which made the girls a little nervous since that’s so many more than normal, but found themselves enjoying exploring the ship and spending time with good company. They spent time watching amazing on-board shows, and attending National Geographic’s, Brent Nixon’s informative presentations on the Aurora Borealis, whales, puffins, seals, & bears.
On the 9th day of their cruise they arrived in St. Johns, Newfoundland. This 500-year-old city is one of the oldest in the “New World” and is the easternmost city in North America. Its roughly 100,000 residents enjoy a mix of big-city luxury and small-town charm. The town is quite walkable and drivable, with lots of great shopping, restaurants, historical sites, and more. To begin their day, our agents spent quite a bit of time at Signal Hill. As its name implies, centuries before the advent of ship-to-shore radio, signalmen perched on Signal Hill and surveyed the ocean for ships headed toward the port of St. John’s. Flag signals flown on the hill communicated the names of arriving ships to those who inhabited the harbor-front below. They explored the Johnson Geo Center, spent time in the small but lovely town, shopped, and had lunch before returning back to their ship. Our agents also took time to see the Jelly Bean houses. These houses are all brightly colored, Folklore tells the bright colors helped returning sailors spot their homes through the fog when they returned from a long voyage.
Day 10 of their travels were spent at sea truly enjoying the ship talks, shopping, enjoying the great meals and each other! There was never a dull moment on board the Celebrity Summit! Linda took 2 books anticipating time to reach, she read 12 pages! Too busy!
On Day 11, our girls arrived in their final port Halifax, Nova Scotia. All of our travelers loved this port and said it was absolutely beautiful. They visited the show stopping Peggy’s Cove to start their journey, our agents highly recommend stopping here if ever in Halifax; the views were something straight out of a movie! After spending some time there they paid a visit to the Titanic cemetery, this was a very emotional moment for everyone. Most grave markers here are nameless, since the bodies could not be identified. Many families could not afford to travel to Halifax in order to identify people in the morgue. The numbers “254” and “229” are engraved to represent the order in which bodies were recovered from the water. Number “4” was a two year old child. Before returning to the ship and setting sail back to The United States, they stopped and enjoyed some delicious food. As the days got warmer they really enjoyed the sun!
Day 12 of their cruise was spent at sea, and on day 13 they arrived back in Boston and headed back to Chicago from there. All of our travelers and agents have said wonderful things about the ports, cruise ship, food, etc.