AKexplorer

14 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Assume you saw my post on other thread!  I did the same panic until I realized I had to cancel The Restaurant rezzies.  This thread is making me rush, rush, rush with everything and not think!  

We purposefully did not make main dining reservations waiting for the specialty restaurant options to open - and because of that miscalculation we could only get very late reservations in the main dining hall as well. That's why I am thinking that having a group of 4 is what is causing this problem.

ARGH!!! Dining for specialty restaurants finally opened up for me and only times left are 8PM... We're morning people and that is very late for us. Only allowed one night in each specialty restaurant. Maybe the times are late since we are a group of 4?

1 minute ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Sorry to hear that. They probably won't have the money to upgrade in the near future either.

As long as we get there I'll have no complaints. I'm use to flyig to Australia so this trip is just a puddle jump in comparison.

19 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

 

I am assuming that you booked through JetBlue. Have you tried calling Icelandair with the reservation number from JetBlue? United partners with Lufthansa and we have had to call Lufthansa flying UAL with a LH segment for seating. 

We did but the Icelandair agent said she couldn't do anything for us 😞 due to the systems not talking...

2 hours ago, sleepybobo said:

Thanks for the analysis.  

 

No, I'm not irritated with Viking.  Just have some anxiety planning this trip.  We didn't use Viking Air.  I plan to redeem some of my Chase Sapphire travel rewards.  But I can't book flights until the excursion situation clears up.  So I have to monitor both MVJ and flight prices constantly.  

 

We have West Indies Explorer booked.  Sometimes I think it's just easier to wait until December to cruise again.  If so, I have to cancel by June 15.  

We used my Saphire points to book on Icelandair after Air Canada cancelled our flights. Some weird glitch with flights being booked through Jetblue on Icelandair - result is we cannot prepay for luggage or preselect seats. We're caught in the never-never land between two "partner" airlines whose system can't talk to eachother. Not very happy with that - but at least the cost was half of what we were initially paying for Viking Air (if paying in dollars) so that's a little consolation. Though using points for a budget airline is really a poor way to leverage their value.

I found a couple of errors and display issues that I have corrected on the spread sheet. It can be very helpful when planning/scheduling tours since it is easy to see overlaps.

VikingTours.xls

I put the shore excursions into a spread sheet so you can visually see how they would mesh together. I know times may be different for our cruise - but at least when they post I will have at least put together a potential game plan. All times for the free tours are in dark green. Hoping people will find it useful. I do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness so use with that in mind. Based on July 3rd sailing.

VikingTours.xls

I have a question concerning timing of tours. How long does the system require between bookings? For example if I have a tour from 9:00-12:30 what is the earliest I can book my next tour? If I have 5:45 dinner reservations can I book a tour returning at 5:00 or even later?

Here is a map of the southern portions of Iceland and some descriptions of the identified locations. This will help folks figure out just how far out of city they'll be traveling to get to some of the tour sites.

tour map.doc

Thursday we received a message from Air Canada that our Aug 2  IAD-KEF flight was cancelled. I called them to see if they could reschedule and the best they could do was turn a 6 hour trip into 16+ hours with two connections. We ended up rebooking on Icelandair for less money. BTW - we had originally paid for Viking air - but they would not allow us to extend our stay in Iceland. Fortunately they were very nice and willingly refunded the money paid for the air portion. So this is now our third go-around with scheduling air. For us, each time we were able to find a cheaper fare so there was a benefit in the end.

11 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We land on embarkation day at 6:20 am and theoretically could arrive via Viking at the ship before passengers disembark.  This is exactly what I was wondering.  Usually embarkation is at 11 am and one must wait until cabin is ready.  If it is true that cruises were sold at half capacity, are the unused cabins from previous cruise ready for us?  Guess we 7-17 people will learn from the 7-10 people.

I'm on the 8-3 cruise. I am hoping that airport testing for vaccinated people will be suspended by then. I also arrive at 06:30 so I am hoping I can just book an early, private half day tour before heading to the ship. I am traveling in a group of four and we are planning to use a private transport if we have to go directly to the ship since that would only cost us 35.50 USD each. There is a bus that costs $25 and goes to the city center and I think it also goes to all the city bus stops.

FYI - I got the email about the health questionnaire - it was forwarded to me by my TA.

According to today's viking TV show it was stated that they do not do the hot baths on the tours in Reykjavik since they are too crowded. They offer them later in the cruise at a place where it is not as crowded. I am not sure how that impacts a visit to the Blue Lagoon but something for people hoping to go there to double check.

My wife got the news they plan to eliminate testing in late June or early July (and the link) from a friend in Iceland - so the translation seems good enough. Her friend also said that the US is being moved to the low risk category. Everything seems to be moving in a good direction for travel from the states.

There is a choice to view articles in English if you click on the 3 lines in the upper right hand corner and scroll down you'll see English (in English).

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

Could you please pass along the link.  Of course our cruise is June 26.

https://www.visir.is/g/20212112713d

10 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Another reason not to change carriers or buy SIM cards, is Iceland May change the testing requirement by the time we get there.  Not expecting it, but who knows.

I saw an article this morning saying Iceland is planning to suspend testing for vaccinated visitors in July, maybe sooner. Hope it's true!

1 hour ago, Seaharvest said:

I would prefer my results come by email but all the info says text message which would mean a phone number. I have never used a prepaid data sim card so I will need to look into that and if my i-phone will take one..

If you have an old phone buried in a draw then you may want to use that. as a local phone. This way you still have access to your normal phone and messaging.

Here's a link to a local newspaper article talking about the eruptions. It's evidently a 2 hour hike from the parking area with porta-potties available at the lot.

https://www.icelandreview.com/nature-travel/plans-for-parking-lots-paths-and-park-wardens-at-eruption-site/

Another guide - what to buy and what NOT to buy at the airport when you arrive

https://www.mustsee.is/buy-not-buy-keflavik-airport/

It is a fun read...

Another interesting site if you want to know when sunset is and when it really gets dark, a.k.a "civil twilight"

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/iceland/reykjavik?month=8

1 minute ago, Doc who loves to travel said:

Can you bring alcohol onboard Viking?  We carry wine onboard a lot of cruises even if there is a corkage fee. 

 

Absolutely. When doing a river cruise through Europe I often bought a couple of bottles of the local beer to enjoy onboard.

I came across these sites for discounts. A little challenging to figure out but may save you a few dollars - a good number of food places.

3 hours ago, StuLaurie said:

Advice needed for the Blue Lagoon. We booked our tickets 2 nights ago and when I went on my CC the charged looked high to me.  I then went onto the Blue Lagoon website and of course had to pull up a conversion calculator and the price they charged me was correct but in my research our tickets for same day same time are a total of $30 cheaper now. I checked the cancellation policy and it says 100% refund but it also says if you make any changes they charge a fee and will not refund the difference if the price is lower. Ugh... I know it is only $30 but still we just booked. Is it worth cancelling and rebooking?  What would you do, any experience with cancelling with them?

thanks

If you plan to do this from the ship then you need to cancel. Once you're checked in with Viking you are limited to their "bubble". If you are doing your own travel and arriving earlier or leaving later then I would be tempted to just cancel. Wait for the refund and then rebook. I read an article about the Blue Lagoon and the writer strongly suggested getting the massage there. You can book it on the website. It's less expensive than what many other spas charge and it is supposed to be a wonderful experience.

16 hours ago, Cruiser1854 said:

Actually when I saw the silver sprits promo, i called Viking directly.  The agent was ready to rebook me with the promo with the same cabin. In my situation it turned out I had the previous promo price so it was not worth it.   So I think getting the silver spirit package is doable.

Good news! At first Viking told our TA that we'd have to cancel and rebook in order to have the promotional drinks package added to our booking. I suggested he mention that modifying the current booking had been done for others who had paid a fare equal to the currently posted fare just a day or so before the promotion began and we could get supporting information if they needed it. I guess a little knowledge is very helpful because that was  sufficient for them to just go ahead and add the package to our current booking. In my mind it didn't make a whole lot of sense for Viking to do all that extra work just to end up with the same outcome.

Many thanks to all!