Sometimes you have to travel a long way to find what is near.” ~Paulo Coelho
Another adventure in the books for Team Clas. On July 4, we embarked on an 11-day cruise across Northern Europe from Hamburg, Germany to Scotland, Iceland, back to Scotland, and finally returning to Hamburg on July 15. The experience was amazing and we left with a newfound respect for the people of Iceland who brave those tough waters year around to provide for their loved ones. We learned firsthand the North Atlantic sea is a force to be reckoned with.
The Journey
Claudia and I wanted to try something new for our final excursion in Europe before we head back to the U.S. after I finish my current assignment. We have never been on a cruise before this experience, but we heard great things from others. Honestly, I was just looking forward to a vacation experience that required us to fly, or drive hours on end.
Claudia found a great deal on an 11-day cruise package through a commercial travel company online and we ensured we had all the requirements squared away before we arrived to the port for boarding. The kids were stoked and couldn’t wait until we were on ship sailing away into the open sea. We were worried initially about the kids reaction to the trip once we arrived and they saw the size of our ship. Fortunately, they were not phased and we were all excited to be on our way once we arrived to the Port of Hamburg.
Scotland
We disembarked from the port at Hamburg and sailed to Invergordon, Scotland. Upon arrival, we found the first tour guide we could and headed to Inverness to see Loch Ness Lake. The kids enjoyed the walk around Urquhart Castle and we appreciated the opportunity to stretch our legs on land after a full day at sea. After a day of seeing the sights, we continued on our journey and headed across the North Atlantic to Reykjavik, Iceland for our next stop.
Iceland
We arrived to Reykjavík, Iceland on July 8. The waters were rough and Dominic and I learned we were not meant for the sea life. Claudia and Brianna had no issues, but Dominic and I were a different story. Definitely felt lucky, Claudia decided to bring anti-nausea medication on the trip. I will never watch the show “Deadliest Catch” with the same lens. Sailors and ocean professionals are tough!
After two days of taking in the local sites in Reykjavík, we once more took to the sea. The next stop had way more of a Icelandic Viking paradise feel, Ísafjörður, Iceland, welcomed us with its small time charm and snowcapped mountainous terrain. The fjord we arrived in forcing us to take smaller boats to get to port was the icing on the cake for the kids. The image of our ship at bay is from when we arrived at Ísafjörður, Iceland. We experienced three diverse locations. Once we departed Ísafjörður we headed to Akureyri, Scotland, a beautiful northern Iceland state.
Upon our arrival at Akureyri, we set out to find a Whale Tour to test our luck in finding Willy. Those of you born after the mid-90s probably have no frame of that reference. However, we were faced with the reality that our junior travelers were not ready, myself included, for a three-hour excursion in the north sea.
This fact was solidified when one of the tour guides walked into the office after just returning from a tour scheduled earlier that day. Her face was beat red, she was trying to warm up and get ready for the next scheduled whale excursion in the rough sea leaving shortly. I thought about how my junior travelers would have responded to that experience of a lifetime and to preserve the sanity of my wife and I we decided against that course of action. We couched a large part of our trip up to serving as a reconnaissance for a time when the kids are more amicable to sacrificing comfort for more grand experiences.
Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves a marks on your memory, your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” ~Anthony Bourdain
I’ll have to admit, after we departed from Akureyri, we were at tracer burnout as adventurers. This sentiment was met with another full day crossing the Northern Atlantic to our last stop before returning to Hamburg, and the waters were actually worse this time around. It was so bad I had to take two anti-nausea pills just to keep my meals down.
The captain of the ship notified us they locked down the all of the decks and outdoor areas because of the rough waters. I was a mess, but had to ensure we were taking full advantage of activities planned by the cruise. We had breakfast, skipped lunch, took the kids to the Kid Zone, hit the gym, participated in family trivia, had dinner, saw a great curtailed rendition of Swan Lake, Brianna ate this up since she does ballet; and Claudia and Brianna had mother-daughter time in the Kid Zone. Dominic and I were nursing our nausea by that point and hit our racks in the cabin to sleep through the rest of the ocean turbulence.
The Lessons
I am extremely grateful to have shared this experience with my family at such an early phase of Dominic and Brianna’s lives. I get extremely humbled thinking about how far my family has come in such a short time. I was eighteen the first time I ever took a trip on a plane. Claudia was no stranger to poverty growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico as a young girl. I’m anxious to see where Dominic and Brianna take our family to prepare for the next generation, but with experiences as special as theses it’s easy to savor the moments as they come. We did, however, learn a few lessons to help us prepare for the next family cruise when it comes.
Packing
When you sign up for a northern cruise, understand that summer in Northern Europe means temperatures will be in the mid-50s (Fahrenheit) on average. This means pants, layers, and wet-weather gear should be at the ready. We lucked out big by having more of a dry climate throughout our trip, but it was likely a fluke. It is also a good idea to include formal wear in to your wardrobe. Dinner on the ship was in an assigned restaurant which rotated between formal and casual wear as appropriate based on the days themes. The theater is also another opportunity to floss your best attire as they have a show every night of the cruise. Additionally, unless you want to pay the cruise line’s prices for laundry, it’s better to have clothes to last the entirety of the trip. There were no do-it-yourself options on the ship.
Packages
We learned it would have been cheaper to roll everything into our trip earlier because the cost of parking, excursion and even drink packages were way more expensive once we boarded the ship. In retrospect, we are glad we did not pay for the excursions or the drink packages with our family dynamic. There was no way we would have enjoyed a five-hour excursion and there no way Claudia and I could have consumed enough alcohol to make the drink packages worth our while and keep a responsible parent status. A couple more learning points were you have to buy a drink package for all drinking age adults in your cabin and you cannot buy alcohol from duty free and consume it in your cabin until the last night of your trip. Yes, we did try to game the system.
WiFi
Connectivity doesn’t seem to be an issue now a days with international phone plans and WiFi applications like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Signal. However, when it comes to international waters, it’s the same as flying. We were offered two data packages as options throughout our cruise, enough bandwidth for talk and text at 10 euros a day, or enough to stream at 15 euros a day. This was also per device, so if you think it’s as easy as sharing a password with your fellow cabin members, it’s not. on the positive side, this was a forcing function for the family to out our digital media entertainment aside and connect the old fashioned way.
Cost
If you are looking for a bargain-buy experience, or economical way for a family vacation look elsewhere. We learned after the fact about the unspoken costs throughout our cruise. the first one we learned gratuity is included with all hospitality charges at 15 percent. We did not have an issue with this, but definitely something to take into account along the way. Another fee we discovered was a 10 euro-a-day service fee for the cleaning crew per cabin member. Another fee we didn’t mind as they cleaned our room twice-a-day and provided us with the next day itinerary at the evening turn-down service. None of these costs were unreasonable, however, they weren’t expected either. Honestly, the professionalism of the cruise staff made it an easy cost of doing business to accept.
Togetherness
If you thought COVID restrictions and quarantine was a forcing function for family time, trust me a cruise will definitely top that experience. Fortunately for me, I love spending time with my family, whether they like or not. Every place we traveled to was a new country or city we never visited before and Claudia and I have learned our kids enjoyed the cruise and want to plan the next one already. It was an amazing experience overall, and even though Claudia and I agreed 11 days is a bit much for our next excursion, we are definitely a cruise family and are looking forward to the next adventure. Bon voyage, friends! One team, one family! ~Doc
Jiujiteiro Spotlight
I would like to give a shoutout and congratulations to everyone who was promoted this Saturday, July 23, 2022, by Professor Vuong Doan at Vuong Doan Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Wiesbaden, Germany. Great job teammates! When one of us makes it, we all make it!
Claudia and I have trained at VDBJJ for the last two years and were met with northing less than a warm reception which made it an easy choice to continue our both of our journeys under the instruction of Professor Vuong and the rest of the VDBJJ family. We will truly miss everyone at the VDBJJ Academy as we move-on to the next chapter of our journey.