Cruising Transatlantic - Sea Days

While there are all sorts of interesting activities on board a ship crossing the Atlantic to reposition for a different season of sailing in another part of the world, one of the most popular is the lecture series. Several speakers were booked on the Crystal Serenity to speak on a variety of topics including the places we were to visit, politics, and gem stones.

One speaker, Jon Sigurdsson, was actually from Reykjavik, Iceland. Look at his last name. One of the first things he told us was that Icelanders name their children by signifying who their father was. His son’s last name is Jonsson.  He went on to show us magnificent pictures of Iceland and talk about the volcanoes and the part they play in the lives of Icelanders. Homes and buildings are kept warm with geo thermal heat that is piped in from the numerous hot springs. It is also a source for their electricity. I guess if you live on top of volcanic activity you make the best of it.

We were surprised and pleased to discover that this was also an NFL Legends theme cruise. On board with us were Coach Don Shula, Coach Dan Vermeil, and Dr. Jim Tunney who is known as the “Dean of NFL Referees.” Each gave a talk—Shula about football and Vermeil and Tunney more motivational talks. All together on stage one day they kibitzed about bad calls and bantered about football past and present.

 

The highlight of the last day at sea before reaching Reykjavik however was the spectacular sunset which occurred at about 11 p.m. It was still a little too early in the season for the “midnight sun” in the North Atlantic, but it was getting close to that. Sunrise the next morning was a little after 4 a.m.

 

 As we watched the sky redden, we couldn’t help but hope that the old saying, “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” would hold out for us and bring us a beautiful weather day for Iceland. So far, the North Atlantic had been more than kind to us. It was not without its bumps a couple of times but nothing like the video from Deadliest Catch.