Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[Donaghadee]

3 hours ago, Porcupine 52 said:

So how do everyone think we can get to the Volcano...Rent a car...shuttle...Just wondering how this will work?

I've been watching the volcano on live cams.  Hate to say it, but it's pretty quiet.  The flow is oozing down lava tubes and not providing near the spectacle it once did.  Just lots of smoke and hot, black basalt is all that's in sight at the volcano.  Downhill from the vent you can watch the lava fill the valley as it creeps toward the ring road.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Donaghadee

[azdrydock]

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Occasionally a port will ask for proof that you're on the cruise.  Port of Miami comes to mind.  We hadn't brought the actual paperwork and a port employee had to go to the cruise line to check things out before we could enter the port terminal. 

 At POM when there are multiple embarkations in the same terminal there are agents at the gate to direct you to the correct counters. Some of the larger cruise lines ask to see your paperwork prior to getting in line to make sure you are arriving at your designated processing  time.  Viking  has been first come first served for processing.  A while ago there was a health form you would fill out and they would collect them while you were on line.

 

 

[peribit]

11 hours ago, azjoy said:

I was speaking of the pre-registration bar code - not test results.  Th e government of Iceland is no longer testing vaccinated visitors as of today.  I know this for a fact because we landed a few hours ago and no test was done.

That's good news.   Have a wonderful cruise.

[TayanaLorna]

Marine Traffic is showing the Viking Sky deploying 3 tenders in Heimaey today.  They are moving people.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

18 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Marine Traffic is showing the Viking Sky deploying 3 tenders in Heimaey today.  They are moving people.

Yes, although no doubt some people will be a little upset that it will be difficult to get on a tender as early as they want for their own exploration.  But the ship has to anchor pretty far out, and they are apparently limiting number of people on board due to Covid precautions, so it's difficult in Heimaey.

 

But here's a webcam.  Once you pull it up, you will have to click the arrow to start the cam.  Then you need to look to the left side part to see if there's an orange tender at the pier, near the small orange tent on the pier (customary Viking person, water?).  If there's no tender there, or perhaps even if there is, you can look for the tender coming from the right hand side of the picture or hovering nearby.  You can get full screen by going down to the bottom, tapping the "box" thing next to the camera.  And warning, you will probably have to suffer through a few seconds (or more) of ads!    Here's webcam --

Webcam Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), Iceland - Online (balticlivecam.com)

 

[TayanaLorna]

10 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Yes, although no doubt some people will be a little upset that it will be difficult to get on a tender as early as they want for their own exploration.  But the ship has to anchor pretty far out, and they are apparently limiting number of people on board due to Covid precautions, so it's difficult in Heimaey.

 

But here's a webcam.  Once you pull it up, you will have to click the arrow to start the cam.  Then you need to look to the left side part to see if there's an orange tender at the pier, near the small orange tent on the pier (customary Viking person, water?).  If there's no tender there, or perhaps even if there is, you can look for the tender coming from the right hand side of the picture or hovering nearby.  You can get full screen by going down to the bottom, tapping the "box" thing next to the camera.  And warning, you will probably have to suffer through a few seconds (or more) of ads!    Here's webcam --

Webcam Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), Iceland - Online (balticlivecam.com)

 

I saw one tender coming and one leaving at some point.  Can see tender at pier occasionally.

[Clay Clayton]

28 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I saw one tender coming and one leaving at some point.  Can see tender at pier occasionally.

There are two docked at the moment 9:54 am EDT

[Doc who loves to travel]

We booked the kayaking tour for the first day.  Is anyone else considering that tour (we are on July 13). I bought a new rain suit for that and bad rain if it occurs.  Hopefully won't need it other than for kayaking.  The first one I tried was too big and I don't like a lot of velcro on them because it snags everything if it's not closed correctly.  I really liked this one a lot for the fit.  Bought both the ladies pants and the jacket.  Hubby kept the original one we bought.  Pants: https://amzn.to/3AmiRM9 and jacket: https://amzn.to/3AooUja

[FoggyEthan]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

But here's a webcam.  Once you pull it up, you will have to click the arrow to start the cam.  Then

Is anyone planning on climbing that big hill visible in the camera?

[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, Doc who loves to travel said:

We booked the kayaking tour for the first day.  Is anyone else considering that tour (we are on July 13). I bought a new rain suit for that and bad rain if it occurs.  Hopefully won't need it other than for kayaking.  The first one I tried was too big and I don't like a lot of velcro on them because it snags everything if it's not closed correctly.  I really liked this one a lot for the fit.  Bought both the ladies pants and the jacket.  Hubby kept the original one we bought.  Pants: https://amzn.to/3AmiRM9 and jacket: https://amzn.to/3AooUja

Very stylish.  Mine is not lol.

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Very stylish.  Mine is not lol.

Not mine!  In fact unstylish is the word that first comes to mind. 
🤞 I never have to wear them. 

[patchicago]

Were you on the Beluga Whale Center excursion? How did you get to the center? Is there any portion of the excursion spent on a boat? I’ve seen some beautiful photos taken from watercraft and would hate to be on an excursion that didn’t include a ride on a boat. TIA.

[ejc14]

7 hours ago, Doc who loves to travel said:

We booked the kayaking tour for the first day.  Is anyone else considering that tour (we are on July 13).

We are on the kayak excursion on day 3, in ĺsafjördur.  On the July 13th sailing.

[SteelCity Cruiser]

7 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

Is anyone planning on climbing that big hill visible in the camera?

We're signed up for the hill climb, but if its the one on the right I might be begging off that after all!  

🤔

[FoggyEthan]

1 hour ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

We're signed up for the hill climb, but if its the one on the right I might be begging off that after all!  

🤔

That hill can be climbed (clumb?) but I doubt it's on any standard itinerary. It's rough and you have to climb up ladders and scramble along ledges.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

10 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

Is anyone planning on climbing that big hill visible in the camera?

No me.  It certainly looks daunting, and I'm not young, and not a hiker. But I'm thinking that's probably not the volcanic cone Eldfell that is offered as an extension to one of Viking's included excursions. Several travel books I skimmed a while ago imply that from the town, Eldfell is a 1.5 km hike to the top, taking 30 minutes to one hour.  So who knows, maybe I'll try it if there's time.  The view is reportedly quite good, which doesn't surprise me!  Does anyone know more about Eldfell?  I haven't had much time to google it.  But I remember Steves covers it in his book.

Edited July 3, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[minka34]

21 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Does anyone know more about Eldfell? 

There is some info on it here  https://fullsuitcase.com/westman-islands-iceland/

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

OK, I just looked at a map of Heimaey, and the extension to the included walking tour is definitely NOT up THAT "hill."  Eldfell is out of view of the webcam.  Steves has a good map showing the way up to the top.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

19 minutes ago, minka34 said:

There is some info on it here  https://fullsuitcase.com/westman-islands-iceland/

Oh, thank you - excellent site!

[faxoncat]

Any word on when Viking may lift the onboard mask requirement for Iceland voyages? Since all passengers are fully vaccinated, and Iceland no longer has a mask mandate, it seems that would be possible🙂

Edited July 3, 2021 by faxoncat

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

3 hours ago, patchicago said:

Were you on the Beluga Whale Center excursion? How did you get to the center? Is there any portion of the excursion spent on a boat? I’ve seen some beautiful photos taken from watercraft and would hate to be on an excursion that didn’t include a ride on a boat. TIA.

There's a little bit of information on the Beluga Whale Center in the "Fullsuitcase" blog mentioned above by minka34.  But obviously someone's report on the actual excursion would be helpful.  Maybe someone from the next cruise will go on that excursion and report back.

[shipster60]

4 hours ago, patchicago said:

Were you on the Beluga Whale Center excursion? How did you get to the center? Is there any portion of the excursion spent on a boat? I’ve seen some beautiful photos taken from watercraft and would hate to be on an excursion that didn’t include a ride on a boat. TIA.

I saw a FB post about that excursion. They said they didn’t go on the boat today because the whales weren’t out in that area. I’m not exactly sure what that means. 

[C-sea]

7 minutes ago, shipster60 said:

I saw a FB post about that excursion. They said they didn’t go on the boat today because the whales weren’t out in that area. I’m not exactly sure what that means. 

We're booked on this excursion in August. I guess I need to learn more about it. Will need to check on Viking's cancellation policy, if the Beluga Whales may or may not be there that will matter.

[firefox33]

On 7/1/2021 at 4:52 PM, anaco_angler said:

I just used the chat function on MVJ to ask about luggage tags and here's what I was told:

Dennis, I haven't been seeing guests receiving luggage tags for our welcome back cruises. Once you arrive in Iceland you will be able to rendezvous with your transfer through the Viking employees present at the airport and they will have your name listed and any luggage tags or other things needed prior to embarking on the ship!

 

I’ve never seen a “Chat” dialogue box while in MVJ.  How did you initiate it?

[FoggyEthan]

3 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Oh, thank you - excellent site!

I hadn't meant to imply that hill was the Eldfell of the official tour, only that someone very ambitious might try to conquer it. Not me either, however.

 

There is another volcano mount just south of Eldfell which is about half the height. It was "the volcano" before Eldfell blew up in the 70s. It may be an easier hike up than Eldfell, and of course you have a view of Eldfell from it.