Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[worldtraveler1234]

1 hour ago, BQEC said:

Re: Dining Reservations

Anyone know how to change reservation time for The Restaurant?

 

Thank you.

 

ps: Potential conflict with return time for excursions. (not yet available on MVJ)

You cancel reservations on My Calendar. If you cancel your reservation, there might not be another available at desired time. Have to cancel first then rebook.

[Peregrina651]

35 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Just something for the newbies: The Calendar section of MVJ allows you to print a nice summary of your calendar activities - dinner reservations, excursions, etc.  See "Calendar Summary" and "Print" in top right corner of the Calendar section.  

 

I found  it!  And printed it to a pdf which I will download to my phone.

 

Remember, everyone, that everything for our Iceland booking will disappear from MVJ when we board. We will not have access to it during the cruise. If there is anything we want to save from MVJ, we have to do it before we leave home. Besides the calendar, I downloaded some of the pictures.

[Mpc524]

12 hours ago, madrone said:

Where did you find the 3 weeks out forecast? 

 

My son is an airline meteorologist and has always said you cannot predict weather more than 3 days out. How they can predict it THREE WEEKS out is incomprehensible! 

[philw1776]

23 minutes ago, Mpc524 said:

My son is an airline meteorologist and has always said you cannot predict weather more than 3 days out. How they can predict it THREE WEEKS out is incomprehensible! 

They can't but obsessive planners like myself pretend they can. Even 3 days out in NE is an achievement.

[LindaS272]

5 hours ago, librarylady19 said:

It is the ‘official” CDC card. I just wanted as much documentation as possible. I did contact the 

health dept by fax and email and still waiting for a response. Calls a no go, they state they are working from home and can’t answer calls😗

We got our shots at our health provider’s clinic. Besides the CDC card, they put a letter in our online account signed by the director of health. You might have the same.

[TayanaLorna]

21 hours ago, philw1776 said:

Viking River & Ocean Cruise Friends is well moderated. Admin occasionally posts photos here.
Other site run by a TA
ANYONE can start a group

There are many Viking FB groups.Viking Cruises Travelers, Viking Cruises, Travelers Who Love Viking Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises Friends, Viking Cruuses Voyagers and the one mentioned above, plus the UK ones which don't appear to accept US members.  Probably more too.

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I found  it!  And printed it to a pdf which I will download to my phone.

 

Remember, everyone, that everything for our Iceland booking will disappear from MVJ when we board. We will not have access to it during the cruise. If there is anything we want to save from MVJ, we have to do it before we leave home. Besides the calendar, I downloaded some of the pictures.

I kind of doubt it but i an hoping the Viking Daily is still a printed document delivered to our stateroom.  I bring them home as a souvenir.  If the are only on the Voyageur app, they will disappear the next day.

[Peregrina651]

49 minutes ago, Mpc524 said:

My son is an airline meteorologist and has always said you cannot predict weather more than 3 days out. How they can predict it THREE WEEKS out is incomprehensible! 

 

The prediction that Heartgrove shared was general trends as opposed to the detailed prediction of daily temps and cloud cover that Clay found.

 

The article (translated by Google) predicts:

 

Next week June 14-21: Dominant N-direction and cold weather, even unusually cold for the season. The temperature in Akureyri is mostly around 5 ° C or about 4 degrees below the average of the season. Sunny south and fair days in the south under cover.

 

Week 2: 21. -28. June: More about shallow depressions and with SW and W directions mixed with N directions. Although only slightly warmer, it will still be cool in the country and rather showery or rainy. One slopes east and southeast of the country.

 

Week 3: June 28 - July 5: It is estimated that there is a 60% chance that the weather will remain rather cool and that the cold will extend from the Arctic to Scandinavia and south to mainland Europe. N-directions and again rather dry, but foggy times in the north. About 30-40% chance of turning to better weather and warming weather with S-low winds.

 

 

[madrone]

11 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I will be very happy if the weather for July 10-17 is exactly what is shown above. 
 

But as I said, I haven’t found the forecasts to be that good, this far out. 

Wow isn't that the truth!!  If that forecast holds then we are golden!! 

 

[TayanaLorna]

11 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t know what he uses? But my Accuweather app goes out 6 weeks-I haven’t found it particularly accurate that far out but below is what it is currently calling for in Reykjavik 

Highs in the 50's and lows in the 40's is what i expected no matter what summer month.  The big IF is how much wind.  If we have 20 knots of wind it will feel like the 30's & 40's.  

[Twitchly]

20 hours ago, philw1776 said:

While waiting for Chef's Table menus to be posted on MVJ I'll share my predictions:

My Chef's Table Prediction:

Saturday: Sardines a la Iceland

Sunday: Reindeer goulash

Monday: Seal stew

Tuesday: Cheek of Fermented Cod

Wednesday: Volcanic braised Sheep

Thursday: Puffin under glass 

Friday: Eider Duck Czech style

😄 Don’t forget fermented shark! Boy, that stuff is loathesome.

[BQEC]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I found  it!  And printed it to a pdf which I will download to my phone.

 

Remember, everyone, that everything for our Iceland booking will disappear from MVJ when we board. We will not have access to it during the cruise. If there is anything we want to save from MVJ, we have to do it before we leave home. Besides the calendar, I downloaded some of the pictures.

Thank you. This is my first experience with the calendar. Mine is blank, even though  booked The Restaurant for a number of nights. Do I need to put the restaurant reservations (and everything else) into the calendar myself? I will print it before leaving. Thanks for all the tips.

[BQEC]

2 hours ago, worldtraveler1234 said:

You cancel reservations on My Calendar. If you cancel your reservation, there might not be another available at desired time. Have to cancel first then rebook.

Thank you. Going to the calendar now. Excursions have not yet posted for 8/28.

[philw1776]

1 minute ago, BQEC said:

Thank you. This is my first experience with the calendar. Mine is blank, even though  booked The Restaurant for a number of nights. Do I need to put the restaurant reservations (and everything else) into the calendar myself? I will print it before leaving. Thanks for all the tips.

Restaurant reservations should be there. I know of no way you can put items into the calendar other than actually making a reservation. Maybe use Chat to ask Viking why your stuff isn't there and have them fix it.

 

[BQEC]

Just now, philw1776 said:

Restaurant reservations should be there. I know of no way you can put items into the calendar other than actually making a reservation. Maybe use Chat to ask Viking why your stuff isn't there and have them fix it.

 

Yes, The Restaurant bookings made and confirmed to me via email, but do not show up on the calendar.? I thought that bookings would "automatically" transfer to the calendar. I will try the chat feature as you suggest. Thanks. Ain't technology fun !!

[BQEC]

4 minutes ago, BQEC said:

Yes, The Restaurant bookings made and confirmed to me via email, but do not show up on the calendar.? I thought that bookings would "automatically" transfer to the calendar. I will try the chat feature as you suggest. Thanks. Ain't technology fun !!

OK, I see them now. Thanks.

[elegantlotus]

Hi, I have been reading this thread faithfully, and I am very appreciative of all the information that I have gotten. We are on the Aug 7-14 cruise and I am getting very nervous thinking about having to book shore excursions.  We will be out of town next week and I am worried about the timing and the internet access if the shore excursions come out and I have to deal with this. We did purposely book PV1, in anticipation of getting things in place before this upcoming trip but of course this didn't get us anywhere.. 

 

I did a chat this morning and the agent said that I just have to check emails everyday and have good internet access when we book, which might also be an issue..

 

Since several of you have already crossed this bridge, do you have any suggestions for me? I know that I should put a few excursions into the cart and check out vs putting everything in and checking out.

Is there a difference in efficiency in using credit card vs ACH? 

 

If all fails and we are in the middle of nowhere and have no internet access, I plan to come back home and see if my TA can do anything or I can write to Viking and tell my story.  

 

Thanks in advance.. and again.. all of you contributors have just been so amazingly helpful, snapshots, spread sheets, charts...and encouraging.. and funny!! 

 

Gerri...PS this is our first Viking cruise.. we cancelled out of the Crystal Endeavor.. that's a story in it self..

[philw1776]

Can you give your TA your list with alternates and ask them to book for you texting you with any unresolvable issues?
Have your credit card # or ACH data on a note so you can quickly cut & paste. no appreciable booking time difference I can see. Have done both.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, philw1776 said:

I know of no way you can put items into the calendar other than actually making a reservation.

 

We can't edit the calendar, other than to cancel dinner reservations (probably better that way) -- nor can we merge it with another calendar (a pain in the neck for those who want to see it all in Outlook or TripIt or Google or whatever) .

 

1 hour ago, philw1776 said:

Can you give your TA your list with alternates and ask them to book for you texting you with any unresolvable issues?

 

Ditto what Phil has suggested.  It is within what is reasonable to ask your TA to do for you and a number of people on these boards have indicate that is exactly how they handle it.

 

 

[elegantlotus]

Good idea about cutting and pasting... 

 

Questionable about having TA book for me.. I have already sent him an email and he said not to worry, he has never had any complaints from his clients regarding booking Viking shore excursions.. obviously he doesn't read cruise critic...

 

When the shore excursions are released, I will have to make reservations for both complementary as well as paid tours.  So is it better to book by the day.. or should I prioritize and book all the excursions for fee, then go back and book the complimentary excursions? 

 

Lastly, I did read that sometimes excursions were sold out but then opened up again.. was that due to the website over booking reservations or did Viking subsequently add more shore excursions? For example, you all are booked and settled (and ready to rock and roll!.. hopefully not the ship.. just the passengers) are all of the excursions sold out or are there many excursions still open for flexibility? 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

[NanciEA]

ElegantLotus, Viking now sends an email the day before you can book. 9:00am PT. I had a list in order of the days I wanted the most down to the least. I logged on at 12:02 (I'm in the eastern time zone.) I put my top excursion in and paid, then repeated the process. I got all the excursions and times I wanted. I was done by 12:15. All of the excursions posted on MVJ almost immediately. I was on my home computer, which is fast. It sounds like internet might be an issue for you. Reading this board made things extremely easy. Many thanks to the person who posted all of the excursions on a spreadsheet!  

[BQEC]

38 minutes ago, NanciEA said:

ElegantLotus, Viking now sends an email the day before you can book. 9:00am PT. I had a list in order of the days I wanted the most down to the least. I logged on at 12:02 (I'm in the eastern time zone.) I put my top excursion in and paid, then repeated the process. I got all the excursions and times I wanted. I was done by 12:15. All of the excursions posted on MVJ almost immediately. I was on my home computer, which is fast. It sounds like internet might be an issue for you. Reading this board made things extremely easy. Many thanks to the person who posted all of the excursions on a spreadsheet!  

NanciEA,

Thank you for the detail. I am PV1 with my shore excursions booking date of today 6/12. Nada from Viking. Specifically booked this category for early access. So I will be on the lookout for the Viking email. Last situation like this - not Viking - my TA texted and called me immediately as she had gotten an email about my reservations.

 

Elegantlotus,

I am in agreement with philw 1776I would prevail on your TA. He is earning commission on the cruise and the excursions. Under ordinary circumstances, he is correct. The last 15 months have been less than "ordinary" and he knows it, or should. Anyhow, your concerns are valid and should be his concerns also. I would send him your list and ask him to contact Viking on your behalf, book them and confirm. This is a reasonable request as you have concerns about your internet access and the timing of the excursion release.

[librarylady19]

6 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

We got our shots at our health provider’s clinic. Besides the CDC card, they put a letter in our online account signed by the director of health. You might have the same.

Happy to report that I received an email from health dept. today that lists dates/locations of our Covid shots (as well as flu shots, etc.). I feel better having all the official documentation I can get my hands on, at this point. It did take a couple of weeks but still 3 weeks till our cruise, so all good!

[FoggyEthan]

1 hour ago, elegantlotus said:

Questionable about having TA book for me.. I have already sent him an email and he said not to worry, he has never had any complaints from his clients regarding booking Viking shore excursions.. obviously he doesn't read cruise critic...

Sometimes it's best to just do things yourself. If you can't be at a computer to do the bookings, you can call Viking and have them do them for you. But you need to check your email nightly to see when the email comes in the night before.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Elegant Lotus: If your TA can't do it, I'd try to find a friend to do it for you, assuming you trust them with your credit card or ACH info.  If not, maybe you could put a small amount of money in a bank account and give the person that info to use, along with a list of excursions you want (title and time), prioritized, with second choices of excursions and/or times.  If you do it yourself I would guess that if you want to take one of the very popular paid excursions (Vigur Island, Wildlife of Heimaey by Boat, Lava Tube from Reykjavik, Zodiac Boat Trip for my Aug. 3 cruise) you may miss out on one or two.  Yes, I've found Viking very good about getting people on paid excursions in the past, even if you wait until a few days before arrival in a particular port. However, that was pre-Covid (with people doing independent tours), and that was NOT in Iceland, so this is now and that was then.   And, yes, there's a possibility you can get on one of the ones you want later, but it's far from guaranteed.  Then again, if Viking will do it for you by phone, I'd probably do that, assuming you find out you won't be around to do it in person. 

 

If you do them yourself, here's what I would suggest: First figure out what you want, with second choices of excursions/times.  If any excursions conflict with dinner reservations, change those - dinner can be changed easier than excursions! Prioritize the paid excursions you want according to how much you think they might be in demand (see my comments, post 1664, I think?) plus how disappointed you might be if you can't get them.  Don't worry about the complimentary ones at this point. And if you're traveling with someone and he/she is less passionate about his/her choices, don't worry about those (complimentary or paid), either!  Jot things down, with first and second choices.  As soon as you can book, reserve the high priority ones (regardless of port - don't go in order!), pay for them, and go back to the others.  I waited a while to reserve, and was humming along fine, getting every single excursion, and every single time I wanted, but then went to pay and got shut out of one of my priorities (Vigur Island, although the puffins might not be there in huge numbers when you're there; not sure).   Once you finish the high priority ones, go back and if there are any where you want to/CAN book a second complimentary excursion (leaving at least an hour in between excursions), do that.  Then go back and reserve the complimentary ones.  Those are the easiest, and each person gets to go on the complimentary excursion in each port.

 

If you're traveling with someone else, and have two devices to use, I suppose you might want to set up a second MVJ so each of you can book at the same time. 

 

If you don't get an excursion you want, see Peregrina's comments above about what to do.   

 

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea