Leaving the hotel (continued)
As we waited coaches were arriving and leaving, coming from the airport or from the lodges. After a while we went and sat outside to watch the marshalling of the coaches as even more passengers arrived and departed from the hotel.
We watched as our suitcases were pushed out to the coach in hotel cage by the two Princess Cruises receptionists. I felt sorry for them as they struggled to push the cage along the pavement especially when they declined any help. The cage was then emptied by the driver and we were checked off his list. We then boarded the coach for the 10 minute journey to the airport.
Icelandair 757
Icelandair check-in was open and we joined the short queue. Our cases were well below the weight so we had no issues, definitely a relief.
Airport security was quick and efficient and even had lots of humour for once, as the ladies on the metal detectors delivered lectures on this was a metal detector and this meant that passengers had to take all metal out of their pockets. This was after at least the fourth person in front of us had been sent back after leaving either keys or their mobile phone in their pockets.
The queue at the gate was short and we were soon boarding the plane much earlier than expected. We were on the port side of the 3×3 single aisle Boeing 757. I had been worried about the legroom after my experiences on this type of plane on other airlines. It was a pleasant surprise to find my knees didn’t touch the seat in front. I had access to a digital entertainment system and even a USB charger for my iPhone.
As we watched boarding proceed we were amazed at the sheer volume of hand baggage that was being brought onto the plane. The overhead racks around us were soon filled up and passengers were having to go way behind us to use the racks there.
I had ‘grabbed’ the window seat. We had a nice surprise as the aisle seat at the side of us was still empty when the doors were closed.
Flight to Reykavik
After ntake-off as the plane banked, I could see an array of parked aircraft lined up on the tarmac including C-47s and an assortment of smaller planes.
My seat give me great views as we passed over downtown Anchorage. Over the Elmendorf airbase I could plainly see C-17s and C-130 Hercules parked on the hard standings.
After the airbase we could see the inlets around Anchorage.
The on-board AV system had started before we left the terminal and had only been interrupted by the safety video. The Icelandair safety video used images of hikers in the Icelandic countryside to illustrate its messages. This was very entertaining and a great reminder of the beauty of Iceland.
To get to the main menu I had to wait for a whole series of adverts to finish. No skipping of these messages was allowed.
One of the adverts explained how flying Icelandair through Reykavik allowed travellers to opt to stay there for up to a week before carrying on with their onward flight. This was without any extra charges, other than hotels of course.
Through the clouds I caught glimpses of Alaska below.
Out of the window I can see Mt Dinali pushing above the clouds.
We had seen passengers carrying bags of food and drink and as we read the in-flight information we realised why. All the drinks and food had to be paid for.
I settled down to watch a movie this was the Oscar winning ‘The shape of water’ before lunch arrived. We chose our food off the menus and I added the specially brewed cans of IPA. This cost us aver £37 for an in-flight meal!
Out of the window I watched as we passed over ice-fields and the open sea.
The moving map on the AV system wasn’t much help but I guessed that we were somewhere over the Beaufort Sea.
