We had a brilliant time, sailed through two storms, not to every one s liking but we liked it. We went to Akureyri
which was a nice small town we didnt do any trips on this stop just walked around the town and soaked up the atmosphere, taking in the views. Next stop was Isafjordur, only 3.500 live there and we saw about 3 of them, it was sunday so only a coffee shop was open, coffee priced at £1.80 for a very strong one. We walked as far as the church in the middle of the town with the cemetry next to it then went back to ship. As you would expect despite there being no snow on the ground the temp was 2c and windy. Next stop was Reykjavík where we had prebooked a helicopter ride to the volcano, for some unknown reason this was changed to a light aircraft so we didnt get to walk on the volcano as we wanted to do. Other passengers made their own way to the airport and went up in the helicopter for £150 each which was good as we had paid £265 each. The flight was amazing you saw the geysir / volcano / waterfalls / tectonic plates which were amazing. After another day at sea and another storm we called in to the Orkney Isles, not particularly pleasant place, the locals were not happy that we arrived late and they only put on one small shuttle bus for 1.200 passengers so alot of people didnt get to the town unless they did the 40 minute walk in miserable weather. We couldnt drop anchor at Portree in the Isle of Skye due to the bad weather and the fact that there was 7 - 9 feet swells and trying to get on a small tender would not have been safe. Last stop was Belfast, so much history, we had prebooked a trip to the Giants Causeway, it was brilliant, well organised and the tour guide knew his stuff. It was nearly a whole day trip we dropped some passengers off in town at 3.30 but they had to be back by 5 so not much time. All in all we had another lovely cruise on the Spirit - our 3rd time - but really disappointed to learn that Thomsons are not sailing out of the UK next year or for the foreseeable future. They are affordable, comfortable, relaxed and friendly and its going to be difficult to find another cruise line that sails from Newcastle - other than the floating nursing home otherwise known as Fred Olsens - that isnt owned by an American company where the tips are astronomical. Come back soon Thomsons !!!!