I have updated the roll call-Please let me know if there are any inaccuracies!

Eugene and Gail 711
Rod and Cynthia
Dave and Joan 645
Ken and Sheila 647
Cindy and David
Ngaire and Ken
Mitch and Bert 643
Andrea 648
Mark and Cheron 646
Maddy and Paul 716
Jan and Fred 730
Paul and Susan 709
Dave and Maxine 729

Susan & Russell 652

Carolyn and Don 654

Shamrock - - We are in: Rod & Cynthia

Guess we are on both !!

SHAMROCK and ROCK

Rod

Glad to see some former cruise mates which we have not seen for a while joining the cruise.

Rod

Rod and Cynthia, it will be good to travel with you again.

We have the nucleus of a great group already! It's never too early to begin celebrating.

Dave & Joan - 645 (both segments)

I vote with Mitch, this is shaping up to be a great group. At least the lounges won't be empty at night.

We are on the list...... we are REALLY trying to decide though about the second segement. We were on Fjords, so don't really know if we want to spend that much to do Norway again, but what a great trip. We are dying to do the British Isles piece, and don't want to get off that ship and leave everyone!!!

So if I'm just on the first portion is it SHAM? I'm in 648, with a possibility that Mister N. will join me.

OK, this may change things!

We're in 647. Sheila and Ken.

Yes Cindy, I was just going to write you a note!

We're in 650.

--------------

Eugene and Gail

We are on both Shamrock and Rock in room 646

Yay Mark & Cheron!!

We're on Shamrock in 721. We'll be spending some time exploring Iceland after the cruise.
Andrea, I hope you can convince Mr. N to join us.

Mary Ellen and Jim

Andrea you need to do the entire trip and bring Mr. N

Wow. This will be so much fun. Looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.

Late as usual....

Maddy and Paul 716

(sons Rob and Chris from the Jan 2011 Fiesta will not be cruising with us this time unless they marry into wealth soon)

We are on both as well. Will add suite number later.

Jan and Fred

Was not sure where to post this info but think this might be most appropriate.

In telcon with British Airways today I was told that all the flights for June and July 2012 have not been loaded as yet due to changes needed to handle the London Olympics traffic. Had not thought of that whan trying to book my return flights for SHAMROCK. Others may want to consider this. I had expected that the return in June 2012 would be before the Olympics and not impacted. As I am using recently earned BA miles I decided to book the less than ideal itn. I requires an overnight at LHR hotel and a transfer from London City airport to LHR area but at least I know I have a return and it was only 67,500 miles plus $641.70 for business from CPH to London city airport and First from LHR to LAX. From my view not a bad deal.

SHAMROCK cruisers may want to put their air flight plans in place now rather than later.

In case anyone is interested in changing their suite on SHAMROCK, I just noticed that 649 is available.

We have had to cancel our GRAND PRIX cruise and will be joining you folks on SHAMROCK instead. Please put Paul and Susan down for 709.

By the way, we moved to 711. Paul and Susan, we're your next door neighbors now.

---------------

Eugene

We will try not to make noise like your neighbors on WINES did! :)

FYI, there has been an itinerary change on SHAMROCK. On June 21st, the afternoon port call in Gudvangen has been eliminated. Instead, we will be in Flåm from 8 am to 7 pm.

Only 190 days to go. :app:

Intersting itinerary change. I wonder how the folks that take the tour to Voss and then Flam railroad get back to ship? If the ship doesn't sail between the two ports, I wonder how you pick up waffles?

The itinerary change is not on the website and we haven't received any notice of it from B&K. Wonder whats up. We have done the train before so should affect us much.

Just looking at excursions and there are some that are already sold out. Trying to decide which ports we will really want to do something private. Thinking maybe Dublin.

Our suite number is 730 for the roll call.

Jan and Fred

Jan,

When I check the website, I see Geiranger, Norway on June 20th and Flåm, Norway on June 21st from 8 am to 7 pm. Originally the website had Flåm on June 21st from 8 am to Noon and Gudvangen on June 21st from 2 pm to 7 pm. How does what you see on the website differ from what I'm seeing?

Hi all,

Gudvangen has been obitted from the update of RSS
menu. It is posted on the cruises.

Rod

Is confusing isn't it? Whatever the itinerary it is fine with us.

Is this roll call up-to-date? I thought there were more of us. Anyway, we're now in cabin 711.

------------

Eugene (and Gail)

Russ and I had to cancel. We have alot going on with rebuilding our lake house and our daughter getting married in August.

It will be a great trip, and I hope there are lots of posts.

We will miss you, Susan! Bert and I are on the second half of this adventure. We will be getting into Reyjkavik several days early. I will see if there might be a nice bar close to where the ship docks that we might meet at the Tuesday night the Voyager is in port before we embark on Wednesday. Otherwise, Bert and I will see if we can't meet some of you after dinner in the Observation Lounge for a drink--

Hey Rod, Jim and Jill Glanville will be on this, you met them on CANADA, sister and brother in law of our other friends Jack and Laura. They may do a lot on their own but maybe you guys can hook up with them for dinner one night.

Hi All: Dave and Maxine will be in 729 for both cruises. We are not part of your "Sham and Rock" groups but have 200 days on Regent and no doubt have run into some of you on previous cruises. It looks like a great couple of itineraries. Please add us to the roll call.

Yes, I remember Jim & Jill - - will be good to see them again. Why are you two not on this voyage?? I tried to contact you a couple of times without avail - - glad to see you are still around !!

We can't do both this and Grand Prix Rod, just can't make the travel budget work.

How have you tried to contact me? We talked on the phone not too long ago re Hawaii.

My email is the same, and the office phone you called me on is the same. Try again by email on the icon at top. Weird, nothing has changed.

Here is an updated roll call-Please let me know if there are any inaccuracies!

Eugene and Gail 711
Rod and Cynthia
Dave and Joan 645
Ken and Sheila 647
Cindy and David
Mary Ellen and Jim 721
Ngaire and Ken
Mitch and Bert 643
Andrea 648
Sheila and Ken 647
Mark and Cheron 646
Maddy and Paul 716
Jan and Fred
Paul and Susan 709
Dave and Maxine 729

Actually, I think our names show up twice on the list.

I just removed one of you! Thanks.

FYI, dining reservations on SHAMROCK are now open for booking.

Mitch, Please remove our names from the list. What a wonderful cruise this will be but we just had to cancel when we booked Taj Mahal.

Carolyn and Don

We will miss you-I have updated the list again.

Mitch, you can update the roll call on your original post by clicking the button at the top of your message

Fred and I would like to see the Giants Causeway while in Belfast. But he can't walk fast enough to keep up with the group so I have been looking into a private guide. I have found one that gets good reviews and will customize a day for us. He has a 6-passenger van.

We walk pretty slow and Fred doesn't do anything very strenuous - although he walked up 122 steps in Hawaii last month! Sometimes he waits for me while I go exploring and come back and get him. We were thinking of a full day to see that area of Northern Ireland, with a stop for lunch at an Irish Pub.

Is anyone interested in joining us? If you are, let me know and I'll get you the information.

We would be picked up at the ship.

Jan

Jan, I took The Giants Causeway excursion last August off the Voyager. Once you get to the site, there is a restaurant and souvenir shop. You can take a bus down and back, so Fred won't have to walk. I recommend getting in line early to come back up as on our trip, the line was long.

Thanks, for the info, Beth. Unfortunately, the vistors center is under major renovation so we don't know whether it will be fixed or not.

It is just very difficult for us to do any of the included tours anymore with any kind of walking. We can't keep up with the group so don't hear the guide and are often way behind getting back to the bus.

So I think we will still do a private excursion.

We don't mind the tours that don't have a lot of walking.

This is one reason we are trying Seaborne in 2013 so we don't pay for excursions we can't do.

Jan, The new visitor's center was in the construction stage in August. I forgot to tell you that once our bus reached the visitor's center we were on our own for over an hour. So we were at our own pace after that.

Hope you can find some fun ways to enjoy the ports. I know the other passengers will be a lot of fun, too!

Bert and are getting into Reykjavik a few days before we join Shamrock and I am getting final plans ready for our hotel stay, tours, etc. Ran across several articles claiming that Reykjavik may be home to world's best hotdog. Thought some of you might find these links of interest:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victoria-haschka/best-hot-dog-in-the-world-iceland_b_844305.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=762AoHV2OX0

Thanks, Mitch. Sounds great. I've bookmarked the page so I won't forget to get a hot dog in Reykjavik.

Actually the great hot dogs are available at service stations in Iceland. Wrapped in bacon!!

Yum! Can't wait. That has to beat the putrified shark which is apparently a local specialty. I have fairly wide-ranging tastes and consider myself a liberal eater, but I think I will pass on that one.

Mitch,
There's an excellent seafood restaurant by the harbor in Reykjavik. It's in an old sailing boat. The local cod and lobster are both superb. There's also another seafood restaurant near there (don't remember the name but it's advertised.) We'll try that one when we get there in May. Did you know you can get your bus ticket from the airport to city online? http://www.re.is/Flybus/ You can arrange drop off at most local hotels. The 1 hour trip would cost a fortune by cab.
Jim

Jim-

I think you may be talking about the Fish Company. We have made reservations there the day we get to Iceland. The Around Iceland tasting menu is supposed to be delicious. Another popular seafood restaurant, the Seafood Cellar, has closed. Here is a link:

http://www.fishcompany.is/English/About_FishCompany


I was able to make a reservation on-line via email. Shouldn't have bothered with google translate-received a reply in English.

Second night we are trying an Indian restaurant with great reviews called Auster India. Here is that link:

http://austurindia.is/?lang=en

We are thinking about visiting the Blue Lagoon on our way from the airport to the hotel using the flybus.

Mitch, by all means go to the Blue Lagoon -- but be sure to bring your swim suit so you can get in it! The nice warm water is great for all those aches and pains you get from flying on Icelandair ;) If you have time, also do the Golden Circle trip -- speectacular scenery and interesting history of Iceland.

Oh yes, by all means do the Golden Circle!

Too bad Seafood Cellar has closed--very good, but pricey. We will have to check out the Fish Company. We are boarding Silversea Explorer on June 13th--same day as Voyager is in town. Still working on transport from airport to Hilton. George doesn't like buses so will probably spring for car and driver. Last time we were in Iceland we did a 3 day precruise and rented a car. But don't need to do that this time as we are only there overnight.

Hi Peggy-
We are scheduled for the Golden Circle and the day we board ship, we are doing a morning whale watching, Puffin Island tour. Say hi to Jerry! We are having one more dinner with Betty and Al next month and we will miss you!

Mitch,
The Fish Company is the other restaurant I mentioned. The one on the sailing vessel is a block or so from the Fish Company and is tied up at a pier. Both are excellent.
Jim

We've started thinking about clothing for SHAMROCK. To get started I downloaded some historical weather data for most of the ports we'll visit. Obviously what happened in the past is no guarantee of the weather we'll encounter on SHAMROCK but it gives you a good general idea of what to expect. Note that some of the data comes from nearby locations and not from the port itself.

Southampton , Falmouth , Cork , Dublin , Douglas , Belfast ,

Portree , Kirkwall , Reykjavik , Isafjordur (no data available),

Akureyri , Torshavn , Lerwick , Alesund ,

Geiranger (no data available), Flam (no data available),

Bergen , Oslo , Copenhagen .

Hope this helps in planning for the cruise.

Thank you Dave. Looking forward to meeting you on the cruise! Looks like the weather will not be greatly different from a typical June in the Pacific Northwest!

Yes, thanks, Dave. As a near native Floridian, the plan for comfort will be layers. Can't wait!

We are flying into Heathrow before SHAMROCK and have been following the UK immigration staffing problem. Let's hope it is resolved before June 1. See the problem here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120501-713094.html

I addition, the weekend we arrive and then leave for boarding in Southampton is the Queen's Jubilee!

Thanks for the climate information Dave. Definitely bringing our LL Bean wet weather gear! And for those needing great breathable jackets and pants, Bean now has free shipping.
www.llbean.com

Fred and Jan are in 730. Jan is leaving Sat May 19 for two weeks in south of England before Fred joins her in London.

Will post about immigration lines (if any) after I arrive May 20.

Jan

I added your suite number to the roll call, Jan. Looking forward to meeting you. It shouldn't be too long before we are doc dancing-

My mate John says " If you are looking for a good Pub lunch on the outskirts of Belfast try "The Chimney Corner", when in Dublin look for "The King's Citrick" (Seafood)"

When in Falmouth there is a good restaurant/pub close to the dock (5 degrees West). A traditional English pub without warm beer (The Seaview) is an uphill walk.. Try "Bangers and Mash", "Bubble and Squeek" or "Toad in the hole".

Doc Dancing! Just got cruise documents in the mail. I like the new format. Much easier to pack.

Jan and Fred

Just received ours also. Interesting new spiral "booklets." One item of interest on the itinerary is all the ports at which we'll be anchoring; I counted nine ports.

There also is a photo of the suite and the location on the relevant deck.

All our shore excursions are also listed on a couple of pages with start times. The rest of the shore excursions are also included with reserved ones indicated.

It's also nice that all the luggage tags are filled out for us and included in the booklets.

All and all, I'm impressed with the new format.

-----------------------

Eugene

You are probably a week ahead of us since we are on the second half of the B to B. Maybe the next iteration of the documents will include a freeze dried portion of Dover Sole and a powdered cocktail mix so we can get into the Bon Voyage mood while doc dancing!

The Shamrock pin

WOW! Looks great.

That is the cutest pin ever !!
If there's any extra I'd LOVE to have one...pretty pleeeeze

perfect!

We've been in Reykjavik the past 3 days working our way to Cossacks. The weather has been delightful, clear skies and temperatures 55 to 60 degrees F so a light jacket is sufficient. There are a lot of new restaurants in the old town & harbour area. The Icelandic lobster is small (tails about 3" long) and excellent. Even the appetizer serving has several tails on the plate. The lamb is outstanding, as good or better than NZ lamb. The whales are back from their winter vacation in the south for those taking a watching tour. The exchange rate is approx $1.00 = ISK 120.00. Everyone speaks excellent English and they are very friendly. American credit cards work well so don't exchange money unless you are spending more than one day here.
Jim

Thanks for the report, Jim. Hope the weather holds. Please save some lobster tails and lamb for us!

Sounds good. We are looking forward to our return to Iceland and to our Silversea Explorer trip which leaves Reykjavik same day as Cossacks.

Assume you mean SHAMROCK. I don't think COSSACKS is going to Iceland .

---------------------

Eugene

I do mean Cossacks. We do a lot of land travel in conjunction with cruises and we're spending 7 weeks in Europe starting in Iceland and ending with Cappadoccia and Amsterdam after Cossacks. We also have an Adriatic cruise on Azamara before Cossacks. So much to see and so little time to see it.

BTW, Iceland has gone non-smoking inside buildings, including restaurants and bars. Outside seating (where smoking is allowed) is quite popular on sunny days but there is usually a breeze to keep smoke away.

Mitch,
The Fish Company isn't what it used to be, but is still OK. You should also check out The Fish Market and Cafe Paris restaurants. Lots of others also. The easiest hot dog stand to find is along the waterfront across from the Radisson Blue Hotel.

Arrived at Heathrow about 12:30pm On Sunday. No lines at all at immigration. Through customs and on my way in less than 20 mInutes.

Now in Stow on the Wold for a few days. Absolutely beautiful weather. Taking a hike today to several other villages. First time in England.....very, very green

Jan

Nice to know the the advanced scouts are in position so by time the rest of the Shamrocks arrive, the party can start. Glad there were no delays through Heathrow-

This is a picture of the area that the Isle of Mann walk excursion will explore, near Cregneash. Wow!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sound_IOM.JPG