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

[philw1776]

On 7/4/2021 at 12:16 PM, C-sea said:

Did anyone do the shore excursion "Iceland on Horseback" in Reykjavik? Was it enjoyable? Were there bothersome Black Flies? Details please!

Granddaughter did the excursion. Absolutely loved it. Viking excursion director said at port talk it is her favorite excursion. Yes there were midge flies.

[philw1776]

On 7/6/2021 at 7:45 PM, Shipshape54 said:

Is the gym open?  Do you need to reserve time/machine?  Always enjoy walking the treadmill while pulling into a port

Gym is open by reservation. no problem getting 10AM reservations Friday.

[Peregrina651]

22 hours ago, Doc who loves to travel said:

We're bringing a couple of dry bags for electronics.  We're doing kayaking and zodiac tours. 

5L https://amzn.to/3el1QJ1

2L https://amzn.to/2T5X6iY

 

The problem is keeping them dry while using them.  

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Clay or JMO, could you confirm that at Harpa, you can just go outside and walk around once you've  checked in?  And how do they do the buses once they start running to the ship - just form a line and get onboard when you can, I assume?  

 

Thanks for the info, and hope to get some comments for a couple excursions, especially the Through the Lens one in Reykjavik!  Haven't heard or seen a thing yet! 

[Doc who loves to travel]

1 hour ago, oldgeez said:

I see a number of happy reports from the Blue Lagoon. Congratulations.

We've been to Blue Lagoon a few times. Has anyone tried the new one near Reykjavik, the Sky Lagoon? We'll be in Reykjavik for a few days before our 14 August sailing and was planning to give it a try.

 

We’re going on Monday.  Will try to let you know. 

[Peregrina651]

11 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Clay or JMO, could you confirm that at Harpa, you can just go outside and walk around once you've  checked in?  And how do they do the buses once they start running to the ship - just form a line and get onboard when you can, I assume?  

 

Thanks for the info, and hope to get some comments for a couple excursions, especially the Through the Lens one in Reykjavik!  Haven't heard or seen a thing yet! 

 

The bus that brings you from the airport is the same bus that will take you to the ship.  You may leave your stuff on the bus other than what you need to check in.  

 

Once you have finished check in, you are free to wander -- or wander first, check in later.  

 

 

[philw1776]

As others have said arrival at 6AM 3 Jan had no airport lines. Off to Harpa and a breakfast snack, then walked around the city until 11ish AM ride to the ship. Painless check in.

Leaving KEF today 10 July was an absolute nightmare for us early Icelandair fliers. Almost 2 Hrs in HUGE line to check baggage. Then security where as always I received special attention and took a long time getting thru. Our departure gate was a 20 minute walk away. Made it in time to board and then a 40 minute takeoff delay loading luggage.

 

Interestingly, nobody ever asked us for our Viking vax papers on departure. Same with arrival in US.

 

The cruise was wonderful. Weather was superb. Fun excursions, ability to wander off the ship on your own. Magnificent excursion scenery.  Spectacular port departures. Great Viking onboard service.

 

Gym readily available for reservations but some folks told me they simply come early, walk in and use the equipment. At ~620 passengers, ship seems empty. No problem getting dining reservations. Restaurant went into it's pre-COVID "come anytime" mode. Much easier to get a spot for Wintergarden tea than on prior cruises.

 

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by philw1776

[TayanaLorna]

18 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

The bus that brings you from the airport is the same bus that will take you to the ship.  You may leave your stuff on the bus other than what you need to check in.  

 

Once you have finished check in, you are free to wander -- or wander first, check in later.  

 

 

Good to know.  Thx.

[alohadave]

31 July sailing Don't think we will bring long underwear...62 last week.

 

[dcl999]

Response to Snit 13 about wheelchairs. We have been on 3 Viking cruises. Ports have not been very handicap friendly. There was a disabled wheelchair user traveling with a large group of very fit friends or relatives. The group travels together and were used to helping him. He had no problems. No tender ports. A second person was traveling with a spouse. Viking helped to stow and unstow the wheelchair on the bus but not to get it up and down ramps. The spouse did not have an easy time. Again there were no tender ports. 

The only Viking cruise we have been on where there was active wheelchair help was the China river cruise. It was possible to hire wheelchair pushers on some of the tours.

[EJLobster]

3 hours ago, Oceanlover21 said:

We have a trip to the Blue Lagoon planned on our arrival day. The driver is meeting us at the cruise port at 12:30 pm. We arrive in Reykjavik at 6:30 am. For those who have gone before us, do you think we will make it to our driver in time?  

The Blue Lagoon is back near the airport- you will be doing alot of back tracking, I think.  You'll have plenty of time to meet your driver!

[Bookworm114]

On 7/7/2021 at 4:01 AM, Snit13 said:

Sorry to hear that.  We booked the end of May and  the drink package was included.  Totally wasted on me as I am lucky to have one drink a week.  Is there any real advantage to prepaying gratuities on Viking?  I normally pre pay on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

How important is it to bring the insect head covering as many have posted?  I saw on WalMart site they are much cheaper than on Amazon.  I have experienced how nasty the sand flees can be in FL and the  deer flies in GA and FL and I really prefer the netting over my head/face.  Did you take netting with you?

I guess since most are reporting good weather the waterproof boots aren't essential.  Your opinion please,

I am not a big drinker either but I do love a cold   non-alcoholic seltzer water. I was tossing back 6-7 a day. I even got one in the World Cafe in debarkation day that was coveted. Can’t say for sure but I would think juices and non-alcoholic drinks would be covered also. Smoothies anyone?

[Bookworm114]

Culture Night is coming. 

https://visitreykjavik.is/reykjavik-culture-night

 

For those cruisers who will be in the country there is a huge once a year festival that takes over central Reykjavik on Saturday Aug 21. People come from all over the country for the event. Art galleries,  museums, music venues will be open and free of charge.  It ends with fireworks at 11:00 over the harbor. 
 

I have never been but I spoke with a US Guide who said it was wonderful and not to be missed. We travel shoulder seasons and always seem to miss events so I was excited to see this one. We are coming in early and just stumbled on it. 

[shipster60]

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Greetings from aboard Viking Sky!  Nice to see Jupiter anchored within site. 
 

No reservations required for The Restaurant this week. Menus seem to be a repeat of what I believe were the ones on the 1st cruise. 
 

Lots of folks at the excursion desk-some are canceling or changing from what I overheard. 
 

I didn’t have any issue with getting to the 2mm line on the test tube (4 good spits) but Mike wasn’t as successful. 
 

From the number of folks walking around  and saying “oh look there Ethel, isn’t that pretty”, I think there are a fair number of Viking Virgins aboard. 
 

If there is something specific you want me to check out.  Let me know. 

We have a driver meeting us at 8:30 for 9 o’clock entry into Blue lagoon. Our plane is supposed to arrive at 7. I know you did something similar. Does this sound workable. They said I had until 10 to actually arrive. Thanks for all your help. I was holding my breath you’d make it. Fingers crossed for us. 

[SteelCity Cruiser]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

The bus that brings you from the airport is the same bus that will take you to the ship.  You may leave your stuff on the bus other than what you need to check in.  

 

Once you have finished check in, you are free to wander -- or wander first, check in later.  

 

 

We had thought of, after arriving at Harp, checking in and having some breakfast, that we'd just go out and wander around the city for a bit before heading for the ship sometime in the early afternoon using one of the shuttles Viking is providing.  Sounds like we'd miss our 'assigned' bus if we did that - but anyone know if that's an option?

[dcl999]

The information on one of our COVID cards was incomplete. I contacted the place we were vaccinated. They sent me pdf files from the state registration databank. They have all the information that Iceland requires typed out, a seal and a QR code. 

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, NeilP57 said:

Hi Clay, Is there much of line for speciality restaurant reservations? Any news on availability? Our lowly V cabin precludes us from making reservations before we board in 3 weeks time. 
 

 

They’re were lines but they appear to be working with folks to fine them a spot. We were able to get both a Manfredi’s and a Chef’s Table reservations for 6 pm. Those were much better than the 5:30 or 8:30 choices we had on the day of the great stampede. 

[Shoalwater]

6 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Greetings from aboard Viking Sky!  Nice to see Jupiter anchored within site. 
 

No reservations required for The Restaurant this week. Menus seem to be a repeat of what I believe were the ones on the 1st cruise. 
 

Lots of folks at the excursion desk-some are canceling or changing from what I overheard. 
 

I didn’t have any issue with getting to the 2mm line on the test tube (4 good spits) but Mike wasn’t as successful. 
 

From the number of folks walking around  and saying “oh look there Ethel, isn’t that pretty”, I think there are a fair number of Viking Virgins aboard. 
 

If there is something specific you want me to check out.  Let me know. 

What about the inside temp in the ship?  Comfortable for short sleeve shirt at night?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

2 hours ago, dcl999 said:

The information on one of our COVID cards was incomplete. I contacted the place we were vaccinated. They sent me pdf files from the state registration databank. They have all the information that Iceland requires typed out, a seal and a QR code. 

My Covid Vax Record Card appears to be complete, but could you (or someone) please tell me exactly what information Iceland requires?  The card has my name and DOB, plus 2 stickers (for 1st & 2nd doses) showing Mfg (Pfizer), lot #, date, and site.  My state also has a databank but I don't know if it has anything more than what's on the card. Thanks.  

[LindaS272]

30 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

My Covid Vax Record Card appears to be complete, but could you (or someone) please tell me exactly what information Iceland requires?  The card has my name and DOB, plus 2 stickers (for 1st & 2nd doses) showing Mfg (Pfizer), lot #, date, and site.  My state also has a databank but I don't know if it has anything more than what's on the card. Thanks.  

https://travel.covid.is

 

For reference, your vaccine card must have the following information to be valid for entry:

• First name and last name
• Date of birth
• Name of the vaccinated disease (COVID-19)
• Where and when the vaccinations took place
• List the number of doses required to complete
• Information on the issuer of the certificate
• Name of the vaccine
• Manufacturer of vaccine and batch number
• Written in Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, English or French

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

https://travel.covid.is

 

For reference, your vaccine card must have the following information to be valid for entry:

• First name and last name
• Date of birth
• Name of the vaccinated disease (COVID-19)
• Where and when the vaccinations took place
• List the number of doses required to complete
• Information on the issuer of the certificate
• Name of the vaccine
• Manufacturer of vaccine and batch number
• Written in Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, English or French

Well, I'm not so sure my card will be sufficient.  I guess I'd better do what you did.  Thank you very much for the information. 

[Clay Clayton]

15 hours ago, cfgrandma said:

Clay, thank you for all of the tips you have passed along.  We are Viking first timers and will be arriving on July 20th. i have learned a lot from all of you and are counting down the days.

 

If you have a chance would you take a picture of the ship at the Skarfabakki dock. I am making a scrapbook for my granddaughter to leave behind telling her where and what we will be doing each day.

Here is the one from yesterday and another one from this morning- I’ll try to get a better one on our way back aboard this afternoon. I forgot to try until I was on the bus. 

[Clay Clayton]

7 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

My Covid Vax Record Card appears to be complete, but could you (or someone) please tell me exactly what information Iceland requires?  The card has my name and DOB, plus 2 stickers (for 1st & 2nd doses) showing Mfg (Pfizer), lot #, date, and site.  My state also has a databank but I don't know if it has anything more than what's on the card. Thanks.  

Sounds like ours. Standard CDC-card

[Clay Clayton]

10 hours ago, Shoalwater said:

What about the inside temp in the ship?  Comfortable for short sleeve shirt at night?

It is for me but I’m wearing a polo this morning and most folks have on sweatshirts. So YMMV

[Clay Clayton]

11 hours ago, shipster60 said:

We have a driver meeting us at 8:30 for 9 o’clock entry into Blue lagoon. Our plane is supposed to arrive at 7. I know you did something similar. Does this sound workable. They said I had until 10 to actually arrive. Thanks for all your help. I was holding my breath you’d make it. Fingers crossed for us. 

That is what we had planned until the delays at immigration last week when we moved our pickup to 9. I called BL to see what would happen if we arrived after 10. She said we would have to buy new addmission if available.  I thought about canceling and rebooking but our transport advised against it and said that they hadn’t had trouble within a 2 hour window. 
 

Due to our long stay on the tarmac waiting for a gate, we ended up not getting to our driver until 9:30 or a little after and got to the parking lot of BL right at 10. Nothing was said when I presented our entry barcode. 
 

so no advice from me-who knows what the planes will do or how many immigration gates will be open.