On Wednesday, August 1, 2018, Pam and I drove up to Las Vegas to meet up with our dearest friends - Mary and Bill. Our ultimate destination - The HOLLAND AMERICA NORTHERN ISLES CRUISE!!!! Wow - we got to visit the Netherlands, Scotland, Iceland (our favorite), Norway, and finally returned to Amsterdam for our flight back to Las Vegas on August 19, 2018. We stayed over with Mary and Bill for a couple of days, leaving for and arriving in Burbank on Tuesday, August 21st. We were gone a full three weeks!!!
The ship slated for this cruise-of-a-lifetime was the newest ship in the Holland America fleet - the gorgeous Koningsdam. I have devoted a full page with pictures and videos to this ship. It was built in 2016 - so it was just 2 years old when we took this adventure. We flew American Airlines from Las Vegas to Dallas, then boarded a BIG jet for the 9+ hour flight to Amsterdam. Now, let me warn any of you contemplating a trip to Europe that requires going through Amsterdam. Don't go!!! That has to be the world's most inefficient airport. After spending a couple of days in that interesting city (we happened to be there when the gay pride parade was being held), we headed to our ship. But one of our most memorable experiences was visiting the historic museum and seeing some priceless works of art! Wait till you see the pictures on that page!!!
OK - an overview of the cruise. This was the itinerary:
Aug 01 - drive from Burbank, CA to Las Vegas, Nevada
Aug 02 - leave Las Vegas airport via American Airlines for Amsterdam by way of Dallas, TX
Aug 02-04 - stay in the Movenpick Hotel (a super place!) and checked out the sights of Amsterdam
Aug 05 - boarded the beautiful Holland America Koningsdam and headed out to sea enroute to Scotland
Aug 06 - spent all day and night on the ocean
Aug 07 - spent the day and night in port at South Queensferry (Edinburgh), Scotland, United Kingdom. (excursion: Panoramic Edinburgh)
Aug 08 - spent the day in Edinburgh (excursion: Edinburgh Highlights and Castle)
Aug 09 - spent the day in port at Invergordon (also referred to as Inverness) Scotland. (excursion: Panoramic Loch Ness)
Aug 10 - spent the day and evening on the ocean
Aug 11 - spent the day and evening in Reykjavik, Iceland (excursion: Easy Reykjavik)
Aug 12 - spent the day in Reykjavik (excursion: Falls)
Aug 13 - spent the day in port at Isafjordur, Iceland (excursion: Arctic Foxes and Farmland)
Aug 14 - spent the day in port at Akureyri, Iceland (excursion: Falls and Farmland)
Aug 15 - spent the day and night on the ocean
Aug 16 - spent the day in port al Alesund, Norway (we walked off the ship and checked out some local places near the port)
Aug 17 - spend the day in port at Bergen, Norway (excursion: Panoramic Bergen)
Aug 18 - spent the day and night on the ocean
Aug 19 - arrived in Amsterdam at about 6 AM, then scurried off to the Amsterdam airport for the return flight to Dallas and then to Las Vegas.
All of the ports of call were exciting to see. None of us had been to any of these three countries (Scotland, Iceland and Norway). Between the four of us, we took over 2,000 pictures and a bunch of videos! It will take me lots of time to go through all of them to pick out those that provide the best images of our travels. This website will be in a constant state of update for some time. So, visit it periodically to see the new material that I will be adding!
Iceland was of special interest to Pam. Her grandmother, Oddny, was born and raised in Iceland until leaving the country in her early 20's (she had been battling tuberculosis and she needed desperately to get to a warmer climate). Our daughter, Debbie, had the opportunity to visit Iceland with Pam's mom, Clara, along with Debbie's cousin, Jacob, and aunt, Lisa back in 2002. Debbie had told us after that trip if we gave her a choice of two trips to Hawaii or one to Iceland, she would take the one trip to Iceland!!
After spending just a few days in that country, we can better understand why Debbie felt that way! Of the three Iceland ports we visited and took tours of the surrounding areas, Akureyri was our favorite. More on that city as well as the other ports of call will be shared in the detailed pages on this website.
Below is a link to the voyage log given to us by Holland America. Check it out!!!
With this as an introduction, grab your iced tea or other favorite drink, settle into a comfortable chair and enjoy sharing our experience on this unbelievable cruise!
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