SIGLUFORDUR, ICELAND - DAY 11

Today's activities listing.
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​A few additional comments we forgot to mention.

When Captain Thomas spoke at the presentation the other evening he mentioned this can be a very busy cruise with often more than one visit each day and the opportunity to book excursions for each place visited.  The choice is nice so one can be as busy as they would like.

Our Zodiac driver mentioned the evolution of expedition sailings in that initially some focused on the expedition itself and the on-board experience was more limited to buffet meals and say a piano player at night.  Contrast tis with Crystal Endeavor where you have a combo experience between Expedition Style and Luxury Cruising.  This is very true.

When we were out on the zodiac cruise we also had another zodiac with one driver and no guests.  Our driver mentioned that they try to do this for several reason; one is for experience for the other driver, two is so if the water gets too choppy for some people or if anyone wants to go back they do have a method to get guests from one zodiac to the other and three another set of eyes looking for wildlife.  The latter reminded me of a safari where you have two in the front; driver and scout.

One interesting site were two sheep (we saw many others) who were resting on rock near the shore line.  This seemed unusual to us thinking they would be more comfortable on the grass.  

Switching gears or should we say moving along we wanted to mention the entranceway doors to our suite.

We have two doors to unlock to get into our suite.  The first one is an exterior door.  Inside are two suites; ours plus our fellow guests next door.  The second door takes us into our suite.  

Unlike the Ocean Vessels you do not inset your shipboard card into a slot but rather you hold it towards the light.  Initially we took the card out of the Crystal Provided Card Holder until Anne Marie discovered with the holder closed you can tap it over the light and the door is unlocked.
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We hadn't posted the Waterside Breakfast Menus so thought we would so you could get an idea what is available at Waterside.  When Market Place opens this will provide another venue for breakfast and there is also The Bistro.

Dinner menus from last evening at Waterside.

We had planned to dine in our room last night as part of our plans for social distancing but feel very comfortable dining out for dinner so we too the car (LOL) over to Waterside.  Well, NOT.  We walked down four flights of stairs and a few seconds later were at Waterside.

The Waterside team is very attentive and there is lots of time to speak with them.  We have had Dris as our Senior Waiter, Nico as Waiter, both Milo and Rado as the Sommeliers (no we don't drink so much that we need two) LOL, and Head Waiters Jarred and Igor along with Restaurant Manger Slavko who is responsible for all Restaurants and Food & Beverage.  

We enjoyed another amazing dinner.

You can tell we have have a lot in common other than dessert.

We had the same appetizers, salads and entrees.  We had an absolutely amazing and fresh Seafood Cocktail, followed by a crispy Caesar Salad with dressing on the side and an amazing (double amazing) entree of Turbot.  Everything was fresh and the Turbot was moist.

So you wonder where do we differ.  Keith had cheese and Anne Marie had Chocolate Nougat Slice.  

​Then there was the wine to complement each course. We differed on this with Chardonnay for Anne Marie and Cabernet for Keith.

While we slept Endeavor sailed towards Siglufordur.   It's easy to fall asleep on the ship.  The bed is very comfortable and we always appreciate the slight movement when at sea.

Keith was up first.  While all rooms have a coffee maker, we utilize it when the two of us are awake given the noise they make.  Similar to the river cruise vessels there is what is known as the Pantry on-board Endeavor.  It is one deck above us and located next to the library and right near Palm Court.  It is open 7x24.  It has various beverages including coffee so this is where Keith gets his early morning coffee.  If not for COVID-19 they would also have light snacks there including fruit and pastries and other items for the guests.

Like the Ocean and River Cruise vessels the Fitness Center is open 7x24.  After Keith's workout he spent a few minutes outdoors enjoying another sunrise.  Each morning has had a different look and this is one of the many special pleasures of sailing at sea.

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After enjoying breakfast in our room we got ready for for another day.

In his talk the other day Captain Thomas mentioned because the Bridge Lounge will  not be open for this cruise he would have tours of the bridge organized.  We noticed in today's activities program signups for the tours began so Keith stopped by the reception area to sign us up and we went with August 14 at 1:30 PM.

Originally, we planned to take an excursion.  However we changed our mind as we learned from the daily program we would not be docked as the information we previously received indicated and we instead would have to take a tender.  We didn't want to take a tender with COVID-19 in mind.  

The good news is Keith checked with one of the members of the expedition team and there was room for the two of us on a Zodiac Cruise so that is what we did.

Unlike yesterday no rain, and it was sunny and very little wind all making for a perfect Zodiac Cruise.  Our guide was Casey and in total eight of us on board.  Casey was born in Cape Town, lived in England and now in Canada North of Vancouver and her husband is also part of the Expedition Team.  We sailed around the Fjords, saw lots of birds and learned so much about the area as well as science.  Someone had asked me the other day about water temperature and today around 52 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will notice we wore both layers of our jackets.  The reason was if we didn't bring the outer layer it would have rained.  LOL but you know how that goes.

We are so fortunate to have excellent weather since we arrived to Iceland as we know this time of year it can be rainy and windy.  Each day we don't have sub-optimal weather is a day we consider ourselves fortunate.

After our return to Endeavor we enjoyed a lovely afternoon on-board.  This included lunch and walking around outside the ship.

Life is good.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith