LIVE from "Iceland's Natural Beauty" -- All Sailings, 2021

[susanlik]

No outside tours unless you have your luggage with youlast day in Reykjavik might as be at sea

Only golden circle tour avaiable

Free Panoramic tour was sold-out by noon

[Snit13]

56 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t know that we were brave but we enjoyed our Iceland cruise even with the protocols that we knew were in place prior to booking. 
 

You can delete the “supposedly” from you post.  Viking offers beer, wine, and soda at all meals…even breakfast aboard the River Boats as there was a bottle of sparkling on the buffet when we sailed. 

This was to be my first Viking cruise.  I normally sail Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.  Due to Covid,  I missed cruises 38 thru 42 so I guess I am back to 38.  Beats staying at home.

I enjoyed all of the information you shared during your cruise and am happy you and your family had such a good time.

 

[Snit13]

KarNog,

 

Thanks for your response to my question this morning.  So happy you didn't experience any lockup in your cabin or pack your bag and get off the ship while you were enjoying Iceland.  Very inclusive rewiew of your week.  Happy Sails

[pageca1]

On Viking Sky with 5 friends on the August 14th sail. What a GREAT time!

We all accepted the restrictions (which were in place for our safety).  Not a big deal to us.  Yes, some hassle.

Saw beautiful country and yes, probably missed a shopping opportunity.  We went on Viking excursions.  Passengers wore masks on the bus.  No problems.

Staff couldn’t have been nicer..Of course our bubble of 6 all had the drink package and staff knew our drink order as we walked in. Even the entertainers knew us and  added to our fun memories.  The dining room staff called us “family “.

So glad we didn’t cancel.  Great memories of a fun time.

 

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I really don't understand how Viking room attendants can memorize many, many people's names in only a day when it takes me two days to remember one room attendant's name.

 

Luckily on this cruise, our attendant was named Isa, although I don't know if he spells it the way I spelled it.  But it was pronounced the same as the first part of the port we sailed into after Reykjavik, so that made it easier for me to remember.  

[Clay Clayton]

1 minute ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I really don't understand how Viking room attendants can memorize many, many people's names in only a day when it takes me two days to remember one room attendant's name.

 

Luckily on this cruise, our attendant was named Isa, although I don't know if he spells it the way I spelled it.  But it was pronounced the same as the first part of the port we sailed into after Reykjavik, so that made it easier for me to remember.  

Room Stewards have it easy…I can’t figure out how the bartenders remember your name, drink choice, and stateroom number!

[KarNog]

4 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I really don't understand how Viking room attendants can memorize many, many people's names in only a day when it takes me two days to remember one room attendant's name.

 

Luckily on this cruise, our attendant was named Isa, although I don't know if he spells it the way I spelled it.  But it was pronounced the same as the first part of the port we sailed into after Reykjavik, so that made it easier for me to remember.  

They are professionals. Remembering details is an important part of the job and they are magnificent!

[Camden lady]

21 minutes ago, KarNog said:

They are professionals. Remembering details is an important part of the job and they are magnificent!

 

We had Nick for 5110 and he was fantastic.   Any request was quickly fulfilled.   Also, Ronan sp?  in the dining room always remembered who we were.  I was amazed that he was in the restaurant, and I also saw him in the World Cafe and the last morning before departing we requested room service at 4.45 AM.  Guess who showed up with our breakfast????  Ronan.  I think he must have worked 24 hours a day.   I was so impressed with the service provided by all the people on Viking Sky.  I found that to be true for the river cruises also that I have taken.  

 

[KarNog]

48 minutes ago, Camden lady said:

 

We had Nick for 5110 and he was fantastic.   Any request was quickly fulfilled.   Also, Ronan sp?  in the dining room always remembered who we were.  I was amazed that he was in the restaurant, and I also saw him in the World Cafe and the last morning before departing we requested room service at 4.45 AM.  Guess who showed up with our breakfast????  Ronan.  I think he must have worked 24 hours a day.   I was so impressed with the service provided by all the people on Viking Sky.  I found that to be true for the river cruises also that I have taken.  

 

My fav told me he works 14-16 hour days, split shifts. No labor laws on cruise ships?

[Snit13]

12 hours ago, KarNog said:

They are professionals. Remembering details is an important part of the job and they are magnificent!

The same way teachers remember the names of their students.  When you have 150 or more students they expect you to quickly learn their names.  Must admit I am better at remembering faces or where you are from than I am at learning names.  Bartenders would have a difficult time remembering my drink order as I order whatever I am in the mood to drink at the time, but never Scotch.

[covergirl1300]

On 9/5/2021 at 7:18 AM, Snit13 said:

We were supposed to be on the August 31-September 7 cruise but decided to cancel due to the rules and conditions.  I have seen very few posts from brave cruisers who did not cancel.  Wonder how their week went.  

We took advantage to the Grand European river cruise for 2022 with our future cruise credit.  They were not offering the free drink package but were offering free airfare.  Since Viking supposedly offers beer and wine for us the free air trumped the free drinks as we are not big drinkers.  Now we just have to hope and pray Covid has run its course and goes away forever.

We returned last night from the Jupiter Aug 31-Sept. 7. 

no reports of Covid on our ship that we know of. 

no non-Viking tours allowed, no self wandering about in town either, unfortunately.

Last 2 ports were cancelled due to very high seas and these are both tender ports. 

We were very disappointed to miss Djupovigor where we were supposed to do the zodiac in the Ice Lagoon, but happy that the Captain had our best interests at heart. The seas were quite rough and tendering would have been impossible.

Overall, the cruise was great. Service was awesome, food was great as always, and the bar service was stellar. 

The performances in the Star Theater were hit and miss. One of the female performers was unable to perform and the other female was pretty weak. The 2 males were both awesome and Robbie even did a special performance on our last night since we were on board all day with no shore excursions.

The Cruise Director Edward and the Assistant Cruise Director Katy were both awesome and both very good performers too. They were very attentive and spent time casually talking with us on 2 different occasions.

Would we do this again knowing what we do we now, yes definitely. Were there some dissappointments, yes, but we would do it all again.

We flew in 2 days early so got to do some exploring on our own before boarding this ship so that does help make it more worthwhile. I am very glad we went early and were able to do so much while in Reykjavik. We did the Golden Circle including 2 hours at the Bluu Lagoon and that trip was amazing. We spent 1 day just walking around town and exploring, went the Hallsgrimskirkja Church and did a little shopping/eating around the downtown area.

Stayed at Radisson Blu 1919. Great location. Basic room. 

Let me know if you have any questions...

 

[SBRworld]

14 minutes ago, covergirl1300 said:

We returned last night from the Jupiter Aug 31-Sept. 7. 

no reports of Covid on our ship that we know of. 

no non-Viking tours allowed, no self wandering about in town either, unfortunately.

Last 2 ports were cancelled due to very high seas and these are both tender ports. 

We were very disappointed to miss Djupovigor where we were supposed to do the zodiac in the Ice Lagoon, but happy that the Captain had our best interests at heart. The seas were quite rough and tendering would have been impossible.

Overall, the cruise was great. Service was awesome, food was great as always, and the bar service was stellar. 

The performances in the Star Theater were hit and miss. One of the female performers was unable to perform and the other female was pretty weak. The 2 males were both awesome and Robbie even did a special performance on our last night since we were on board all day with no shore excursions.

The Cruise Director Edward and the Assistant Cruise Director Katy were both awesome and both very good performers too. They were very attentive and spent time casually talking with us on 2 different occasions.

Would we do this again knowing what we do we now, yes definitely. Were there some dissappointments, yes, but we would do it all again.

We flew in 2 days early so got to do some exploring on our own before boarding this ship so that does help make it more worthwhile. I am very glad we went early and were able to do so much while in Reykjavik. We did the Golden Circle including 2 hours at the Bluu Lagoon and that trip was amazing. We spent 1 day just walking around town and exploring, went the Hallsgrimskirkja Church and did a little shopping/eating around the downtown area.

Stayed at Radisson Blu 1919. Great location. Basic room. 

Let me know if you have any questions...

 

Covergirl I’m so glad you had a good trip! 
 

I have one question. I know I should spend at least two hours at the Blue Lagoon but do you think I can be in and out in an hour?

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, SBRworld said:

Covergirl I’m so glad you had a good trip! 
 

I have one question. I know I should spend at least two hours at the Blue Lagoon but do you think I can be in and out in an hour?

Not cover girl but I think that would give you at most 30 minutes in the water. Which isn’t nearly enough in my mind. From dropoff to pickup for us was just under 3 hours and to make that work, we got out of the lagoon long before any od us wanted to do so. 

[SBRworld]

9 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Not cover girl but I think that would give you at most 30 minutes in the water. Which isn’t nearly enough in my mind. From dropoff to pickup for us was just under 3 hours and to make that work, we got out of the lagoon long before any od us wanted to do so. 

Clay thank you for your response.  The Blue Lagoon looks amazing and I wish I could spend a whole day there- I have watched so many videos and I am so excited to have the opportunity at all! 

[jtwind]

I'm surprised so few tried to go to the active volcano.

[SBRworld]

4 hours ago, jtwind said:

I'm surprised so few tried to go to the active volcano.

The biggest reason I'm not trying to see the lava flow is because of time... well time and I think I read it's a super long hike after you get as close as possible... like hours?

[Clay Clayton]

30 minutes ago, SBRworld said:

The biggest reason I'm not trying to see the lava flow is because of time... well time and I think I read it's a super long hike after you get as close as possible... like hours?

I don’t think it is as far as it used to be to get as close as you can.  You just can’t get to the volcano itself anymore because of the lava field.  

[Jay23]

A request to anyone who is in  Iceland on Jupiter at the moment 7th to 14th September.    We were booked on this last cruise of the series but had to cancel because of (non covid) health problems.  We would love to hear how this cruise is going.  Many thanks.  Judith

[MZS123]

12 hours ago, SBRworld said:

The biggest reason I'm not trying to see the lava flow is because of time... well time and I think I read it's a super long hike after you get as close as possible... like hours?

We were on the July 24th cruise and on the day of arrival did a late tour to the volcano.  Viking did let us off the ship and at that time Iceland was level 1 Covid so we had private tours for everything.   It was a rough 2 mile hike in and was pouring rain.  But the skies cleared up at the top and it was a glorious view of the volcano - the highlight of our trip!

[Doc who loves to travel]

On 9/8/2021 at 12:13 PM, SBRworld said:

Covergirl I’m so glad you had a good trip! 
 

I have one question. I know I should spend at least two hours at the Blue Lagoon but do you think I can be in and out in an hour?

You could consider the new Sky Lagoon. We loved it but we spent about 4 hours there.  You could easily spend 1.5-2 hours and feel you got the whole experience.  It’s a lot closer to Reykjavik.
 

For us the active volcano hike was canceled due to high winds.  It was advised to not venture out there. 

 

we Met with the marketing director at sky lagoon and got a fair amount of insight:

https://www.luxurytraveldocs.com/2021/07/how-we-dealt-with-covid-19-and-contact.html

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Doc who loves to travel

[Sea-Traveller]

We were on the Sky sailing in early August. We got kicked off the ship after the second day because of allegedly contact tracing to someone who tested positive. We are fighting with Viking up to this date to get reimbursement for excursions we were not able to take. We also had critical feedback for the cruise ship doctor and general manager. We were told that those are filed and are handled 'higher up', which means no visibility via customer service. We feel it is our responsibility to let other customers know, that little device they give you can lead to an instant switch from being a paid customer with excellent service to a liability faced with coldness and zero empathy. We got our vouchers for the remaining days that are valid for a year but we seriously think if we are going to use them or just stay away from Viking. 

[LindaS272]

3 hours ago, Sea-Traveller said:

We were on the Sky sailing in early August. We got kicked off the ship after the second day because of allegedly contact tracing to someone who tested positive. We are fighting with Viking up to this date to get reimbursement for excursions we were not able to take. We also had critical feedback for the cruise ship doctor and general manager. We were told that those are filed and are handled 'higher up', which means no visibility via customer service. We feel it is our responsibility to let other customers know, that little device they give you can lead to an instant switch from being a paid customer with excellent service to a liability faced with coldness and zero empathy. We got our vouchers for the remaining days that are valid for a year but we seriously think if we are going to use them or just stay away from Viking. 

Our greatest fear, and the reason we canceled a Welcome Back cruise to Malta/Adriatic coast.

[SantaFe1]

12 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

We got kicked off the ship after the second day because of allegedly contact tracing to someone who tested positive.

I have a question about the contract tracing in General.  We were on the first Iceland cruise and everything was fine.  From later cruises we learned about the contact tracing problems, and were told that the rule about being removed from the ship was Iceland’s rule, not Vikings.  And since those cruises were entirely within Iceland, people did have to leave the ship, occasionally.  But our next cruise in December is the Panama Canal cruise.  We visit five foreign countries, only for one day each.  So I am wondering if you were contract traced in Mexico but were leaving for Columbia that evening, if you would have to leave the ship.  It seems more complicated when there is more than one country.

[JeriGail]

40 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

I have a question about the contract tracing in General.  We were on the first Iceland cruise and everything was fine.  From later cruises we learned about the contact tracing problems, and were told that the rule about being removed from the ship was Iceland’s rule, not Vikings.  And since those cruises were entirely within Iceland, people did have to leave the ship, occasionally.  But our next cruise in December is the Panama Canal cruise.  We visit five foreign countries, only for one day each.  So I am wondering if you were contract traced in Mexico but were leaving for Columbia that evening, if you would have to leave the ship.  It seems more complicated when there is more than one country.

That is my biggest concern for our TA in November that goes from Barcelona to San Juan.  We visit Spain, Morocco, Portugal, and St. Martin.  What are the rules of those countries for close contacts of positive testing people?

[SantaFe1]

2 minutes ago, JeriGail said:

What are the rules of those countries for close contacts of positive testing people?

Well, I think we all have to do our homework and look up the rules for the countries we are visiting.  But my question is more to do with what happens if you are leaving immediately and will not be setting foot in that country again.  So if Mexico has a rule that says you have to leave the ship and quarantine and then go home, but the next port, in Columbia, does not have that rule, what will Viking do with you?  I really think the contract tracing makes things unnecessarily difficult.