Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[Travel2Learn]

Can we take a glass of wine at lunch back to the stateroom?  

[Peregrina651]

20 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Not if you use the ones from your in stateroom fridge.  If you’re in a V category, most bartenders are happy to hand you an unopened canned soda or mixer during meal hours so you can restock it yourself. If you need juices, most are on the breakfast room service menu. 

 

But if you get them from the bar, outside of meal hours, they will charge you.  

[Peregrina651]

25 minutes ago, Travel2Learn said:

Can we take a glass of wine at lunch back to the stateroom?  

 

Yup

[PeabodyMa]

Practical Info: Iceland

- Everyone speaks and reads English.
- Menus are in English & Icelandic.
- Iceland tap water is the cleanest you will ever drink. Refill your water bottles directly from the tap. No need to buy bottled water...seriously. 
- Wifi is everywhere, including buses & taxis.
- Taxis accept credit cards.
- Credit cards are used for everything, even a cup of coffee. 
- In Reykjavik during the Midnight Sun, people are out and about laughing, singing, talking and running in the streets until 3:00 am or so.
- Reykjavik: Great lamb-based hotdog stand called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur (translation is "Best hotdog in town")  Hotdogs are lamb with pork & beef. All 4 locations have different hours. The one on Tryggvagata is open until 4:30 am on Fridays & Saturdays.

 

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, PeabodyMa said:

Reykjavik: Great lamb-based hotdog stand called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur (translation is "Best hotdog in town")  Hotdogs are lamb with pork & beef. All 4 locations have different hours. The one on Tryggvagata is open until 4:30 am on Fridays & Saturdays.

 

http://www.bbp.is/information-in-english

[DaveSJ711]

28 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

http://www.bbp.is/information-in-english

The ritual of Friday night/Saturday night pub crawling in Reykjavik involves drinking oneself silly (either at home or at actual pubs), making lots and lots of noise until the wee hours, and finishing off the night with a hotdog or two or three at BBP. That's why the stand closes so late on the weekend.  

[Travel2Learn]

Not sure when this video of the volcano was filmed.  The man taking the video also had a drone.  He barely got it back.  The heat became so intense it nearly melted the drone.  Best viewed in full screen and with sound.  

Edited May 22, 2021 by Travel2Learn

[Peregrina651]

Cool! It worked!

 

Amazing video.

[vslparis]

12 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

Not sure when you are planning to go to the Blue Lagoon, but right now the Blue Lagoon  states that you can not go there until you have your airport Covid test results. This means no stopping there on the way from the airport at the moment. Of course this could change , but right now this is their policy.

[AKexplorer]

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/

 

[FLORIDA FLOUNDER]

22 hours ago, shans said:

Were you able to book the included tours and just not any of the optional ones? Or do you still have days with no excursions? Thanks

We have a few days with the 1.5 hour included walking tour and the other few days with nothing. I just can't see spending thousands of dollars to go for a 1.5 hour walk and then sit on the boat for the remainder of the day.😏 Unless things change, we'll be forced to cancel, unfortunately.

How 'bout you guys? Any luck?

[shans]

1 hour ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

We have a few days with the 1.5 hour included walking tour and the other few days with nothing. I just can't see spending thousands of dollars to go for a 1.5 hour walk and then sit on the boat for the remainder of the day.😏 Unless things change, we'll be forced to cancel, unfortunately.

How 'bout you guys? Any luck?

Hopefully more space will open for you. We are on 7/13 sailing and not able to book excursions yet.

[gskimmel]

1 hour ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

We have a few days with the 1.5 hour included walking tour and the other few days with nothing. I just can't see spending thousands of dollars to go for a 1.5 hour walk and then sit on the boat for the remainder of the day.😏 Unless things change, we'll be forced to cancel, unfortunately.

How 'bout you guys? Any luck?

Did you book after excursions already opened?  We booked the July 27th a few days ago and are still waiting for excursions to open. I would be pissed to spend close to $10k just to sit on a ship. 

[TayanaLorna]

12 minutes ago, gskimmel said:

Did you book after excursions already opened?  We booked the July 27th a few days ago and are still waiting for excursions to open. I would be pissed to spend close to $10k just to sit on a ship. 

We booked the July 17 sailing on the Sky as soon as the first 4 Welcome Back sailings opened.  Shorex have not been posted or listed yet.

[StuLaurie]

10 hours ago, vslparis said:

Not sure when you are planning to go to the Blue Lagoon, but right now the Blue Lagoon  states that you can not go there until you have your airport Covid test results. This means no stopping there on the way from the airport at the moment. Of course this could change , but right now this is their policy.

I’m sorry but at what point did I imply that I was planning on going strait from the airport?  This is not the first response of someone informing me of what the rules are. Let’s remember that these boards are a place where people can ask for suggestions and share their experiences. I would guess that about 99% of the people on these boards have read every post and are well aware of the rules.  Just to clarify we have a night flight home after the cruise and will be going to the Blue Lagoon on our way back to the airport. 

[Donaghadee]

3 hours ago, AKexplorer said:

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/

 

The length of the hike certainly throttles how many tourists are there.  If they put in a new road and lot, the place will be swarmed.  Conversely, we might have time to see it.

[Travel2Learn]

Educational video on the volcano

[Peregrina651]

29 minutes ago, StuLaurie said:

This is not the first response of someone informing me of what the rules are.

 

Don't get bent out of shape over this. Think of it not as people telling you "what the rules are" but as friends taking care of you -- because we don't want anyone learning the hard way, when it is too late to fix it. 

 

Moreover, remember  that responses are not just for the benefit of the person who posed the question but for everyone reading, so that no one, no matter when they started reading the thread, is confused about the rules and restrictions that we are facing on this cruise.

 

[BQEC]

Just booked 8/28/2021 Viking Iceland - following for information on Shorex. Thank you. And, thanks to PeabodyMa for the local information.

[id4elizabeth]

General question - if Viking decides to cancel a cruise (not in an emergency, but just generally, let's say they don't get enough bookings, or they find they are unable to put together shore excursions) how soon ahead of sail date do they usually cancel?  Asking those who've had cruises canceled by Viking in the past?

[JeriGail]

On 5/19/2021 at 1:57 PM, TayanaLorna said:

It did say "small device".

Someone on today's UK cruise posted a photo of the device on a different social site.

[SantaFe1]

So we have to wear this all day every day?  I hate lanyards!

[FLGators#1]

5 hours ago, FLORIDA FLOUNDER said:

We have a few days with the 1.5 hour included walking tour and the other few days with nothing. I just can't see spending thousands of dollars to go for a 1.5 hour walk and then sit on the boat for the remainder of the day.😏 Unless things change, we'll be forced to cancel, unfortunately.

How 'bout you guys? Any luck?

No luck here either.  We will probably decide whether to cancel 15 days before.  I wish they’d have a tour to the volcano too.  Read somewhere they put in a path to viewing sites and now it’s only a 50 minute hike.  May just wait till Iceland and their relationship with cruise ships opens up so we can hike to volcano, go to Blue Lagoon, see the puffins and black beaches etc. ... now after I written that I see we also are spending thousands of dollars to NOT do anything we want to do in Iceland. Food for thought. 
 

 

 

[FLGators#1]

2 hours ago, Donaghadee said:

The length of the hike certainly throttles how many tourists are there.  If they put in a new road and lot, the place will be swarmed.  Conversely, we might have time to see it.

I read somewhere they have created a path and the hike is now a 50 minute trek.  Would LOVE to do this!

[Dukefan]

5 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

So we have to wear this all day every day?  I hate lanyards!

Take it off the lanyard and put it in a pocket.

 

I wonder how it will work in the steam room & the snow Grotto.

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by Dukefan