My Passport’s Travels

Friday, June 12, 2026

Good morning from Akureyri! We did not have any formal plans beyond “head into town and wander”, which also meant no alarm clock! I awoke to Cruise Director Nick telling us the gangplank were open. “Go to deck A as in Apple Cinnamon Roll. Ga naar dek A van appelkaneelbroodje.”

We got ready to face the day and enjoyed breakfast at the buffet. The view of the town is lovely!

While we ate, Nick announced that to celebrate

Philippine Independence Day, they would hold a flag raising ceremony and ‘fun and friendly’ tug of war in the main theater and everyone was welcome to join in. We didn’t stay for the celebration, but thought it was great they were having it.

Once off the ship, we passed a French navy vessel docked next to ours and made our way along the waterfront into town.

Sadly, Mom wouldn’t let me rent one of these scooters.

Our first goal was the Akureyrarkirkja (Akureyri Church). It sits at the top of a hill overlooking the water.

We made it up the stairs to find that the church was closed for a funeral. We were able to enjoy the views over the town, and the church bells rang.

We continued down the road enjoying the beautiful landscapes.

Our goal was the Akureyri Botanical Garden. It opened for the year just a few days earlier on the first, so some of the plants were still coming in.

There was a little coffee shop in the gardens, but we were still too full from breakfast to stop and enjoy.

It was a lovely walk even if they did charge 300 Krona ($2.50) for the restrooms. They were sparkly clean! And they provide the funding for the gardens, so we didn’t mind paying.

It was about this point when we realized that when you walk 2-3 miles away from the ship, at some point you have to walk them back. It was time to turn around and head back. (Downhill!!) We did get a great view of the French ship, though!

When we got back to the downtown area Mom decided to head on back to the ship. I stayed to shop, but only stayed out another 20 minutes or so. Long enough to catch this little family fishing for lunch as I walked back!

My high school mascot was the Viking, but I sure don’t remember him looking like this!

Back on board we went up to deck 10 for lunch – I had a Caprese salad and cheese pizza while Mom had a Rueben. Then we headed up to the Crow’s Nest for an afternoon of games. The captain came on around 5:45 with lots of information! He:

• gave us an update on the evening’s sail away (it’s going to be on time at 7pm),
• warned us that it looked to be foggy this evening so the fog horns may sound,
• taught us that if you’re at sea level, the horizon is 3 miles away, but if you’re on deck 12, the horizon is 12 miles away, and
• Told us there would not be a sunset or sunrise tonight. It will stay twilight.

Then, he told us everything again, this time in Dutch!

We were cold, so we decided to watch sail away from our stateroom, where we found our stateroom hosts had already been in for turndown. They had left certificates on our bed that showed we crossed the arctic circle during the previous night.

We needed to cash out our bank at the casino, but decided to play a bit more before we did. I had another couple of big wins, which would be more impressive if I hadn’t almost given back everything I won earlier in the week. LOL!

Neither of us felt like changing for the dining room and since it was “Dressy night”, our jeans felt a little under for the occasion. So we ate on the buffet. Mom had a beautiful made-to-order salad with rolls and cheese and I had a great made-to-order stir fry. Pound cake for Mom and Dulce de Leche coconut pie for me rounded out a good meal. I did have to jump up in the middle of dinner to take some pictures – the fog was layered against the mountains and looked amazing!

We heard from Eve! Evidently I managed to lose Mom again! LOL!

We have to get to bed, tomorrow’s the last full day and it starts early!

Trip Report Index
* Thursday – Saturday, June 4-6, 2026 – Flight over and Rotterdam 
Sunday June 7, 2026 – Embarkation day
Monday June 8, 2026 – Day at Sea** Tuesday June 9, 2026 – Invergorden, Scotland
Wednesday June 10, 2026 – Day at Sea
Thursday June 11, 2026 – Seydisfjördur, Iceland
Friday June 12, 2026 – Akureyri, Iceland
Saturday June 13, 2026 – ľsafjörður, Iceland
Sunday – Monday, June 14-15, 2026 – Reykjavik, Iceland and Helsinki, Finland

Today’s Daily: