Akureyri, Iceland

Last evening's menu at Waterside where we dined.

We began last evening with our first visit to the Waterside Restaurant of this voyage. We will be dining at Waterside for three consecutive evenings including a formal night.
 
Before dinner, we stopped by the Crystal Plaza to converse with fellow guests and members of the Crystal Serenity Team. We think of the ship as if it is a small village on land. The size is small enough we can walk out our front door and leave the car at home. We walk for a couple of minutes down a hill (in this case down six flights of steps) and we are near where we will be dining. Nearby there is a place to get drinks and/or to listen to live music. There are areas where you can get assistance with services provided by members of the concierge, reception, and shore excursions teams or if you would like to book a cruise or need help with the loyalty program help is available as well. We have known the members who comprise this village and who represent these areas for many years including some for 15 years or more. Others from the village passed through last evening and we chatted with them as well including members of Crystal Serenity and several guest who live in the village a portion of the year.  For us, it is the people who make this village so very special in addition to the lovely amenities found within this village. The major difference between this village and the ones on land is we keep moving 

​We began last evening with our first visit to the Waterside Restaurant of this voyage. We will be dining at Waterside for three consecutive evenings including a formal night.
 

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

August 16 – Akureyri, Iceland

We began last evening with our first visit to the Waterside Restaurant of this voyage. We will be dining at Waterside for three consecutive evenings including a formal night.
 
We had a wonderful time at Waterside. We were taken care of by an amazing team.  It starts with Restaurant Manager Paulo who returned from holiday the day we boarded. It continues with Senior Head Waiter Jaques. Our Senior Waiter was Enver. Enver was our Waiter in 2023 assisting Senior Waiter Marcin who after many years in what was the Crystal Dining Room which was renamed to Waterside on Serenity in late 2018 is now a Butler. Most recently, Enver took great care of us for Lunch one day during the 2024 Holiday Cruise. He is assisted by waiter Sami who is from Mumbai Our Sommelier is Dusan who has taken care of us on prior cruises.
 
This team has a lot in common, and this includes passion, enthusiasm, love of Crystal, teamwork, caring for guests and attention to detail. They don’t miss a beat. It seems like the alarm goes off or the lights flicker when we need a refill of wine because if you look up there is Dusan or the same holds true when your water glass needs filling because there is Enver or Sami or another waiter who came by from a nearby table to assist.
 
We enjoy conversing with each other through the meal and with the waitstaff team and enjoying many laughs and dinner is usually two hours or more. 


How do we sum up dinner?  We can in just a few words. Food was delicious.  Service was outstanding.

Since our last cruise they have introduced a couple of nice touches related to butter and bread/rols. Each evening they serve two different types of butter and accompanying the basket of rolls they serve a different type of focaccia bread each evening. Focaccia is a flat leavened over-baked Italian bread and

Focaccia is a flat leavened oven-baked Italian bread. In Rome, it is similar to a type of flatbread called pizza bianca. Focaccia may be served as a side dish or as sandwich bread and it may be round, rectangular or square shape.

​Since we had such a great time we will return back to Waterside this evening and for the formal night tomorrow evening.

Today's Daily Reflections Menu

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

This morning we arrived to Akureyri, Iceland. Views from 5:00 AM before arrival.

​Akureyri is located at the base of Eyjafjörður Fjord in northern Iceland. Its overall population is 20,000 residents. The Akureyri Church is located in the town and dates back to 1940 and has stained-glass windows portraying scenes from Icelandic Christian history. It offers views of the fjord. Near the church is the  Akureyri Art Museum which displays contemporary art from Iceland. To its south are the Botanical Gardens, with specimens from across Iceland. 

Considering it is located 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, the weather is moderate.  Thank goodness for us. LOL.

Although we didn't select a tour, five different tours were available for booking including a visit to the GeoSea Baths and Gobafoss Waterfall, Whale Watching, a Polar Flight to Grimsby Island and a couple of tours for guest to take-in the beautiful scenery of the surrounding area.
 
Its overall population is 20,000 residents. The Akureyri Church is located in the town and dates back to 1940 and has stained-glass windows portraying scenes from Icelandic Christian history. It offers views of the fjord. Near the church is the  Akureyri Art Museum which displays contemporary art from Iceland. To its south are the Botanical Gardens, with specimens from across Iceland. 

Although we didn't select a tour, five different tours were available for booking including a visit to the GeoSea Baths and Gobafoss Waterfall, (Waterfall is located about 45 minutes from town) Whale Watching, a Polar Flight to Grimsby Island and a couple of tours for guest to take-in the beautiful scenery of the surrounding area.

We were in port with our merry bandmates, or is that a trio of musicians and singers, or a trio of dancers, or better yet a trio of passenger cruise ships? Since we are on a ship it must be the latter. Yes, the two ships who were with us at Reykjavik, and again yesterday in Isafjordur were here with us today. We can't seem to get rid of them. LOL.  Or maybe they want to get rid of us.  Today was also payback time. We ended up tendering yesterday while the other two ships docked.  Well today we were docked with the very large ship while the other kid on the block was docked at the container port meaning they would need a bus to travel into town while we could easily walk

Before proceeding ashore, Keith went out on the verandah and was not going to wear a jacket. However, Anne Marie would have none of that and had her jacket. Feeling guilty or better yet not wanting to be second guessed, Keith put on a jacket. Well, as usual Anne Marie was right. As we got off the ship the wind picked up and the wind picked up as we walked into town. We thought when we turned around to walk back to the ship there would be less wind. Think again. It was windier on the way back. We think of this as Icelandic air-conditioning.  

Overall, we had beautiful weather in spite of the wind. The temperature was very moderate starting in the 50's and just like a cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae our dessert was having a sunny day with no rain.  

We enjoyed our stroll around town including some beautiful scenery. In spite of the wind, Keith hiked up to the entrance of the church. He held onto the handrail for dear life. Well, NOT.  
 
​

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith