*LIVE* from the Voyager: August 12-26, 2023 Reykjavik to Southampton

[WNcruiser]

Hello fellow CCers,

 

I hope you all will indulge me in this live from thread on the Voyager. It is a fantastic itinerary visiting Iceland, Shetland Islands, Norway, Amsterdam, Belgium and ending in Southampton. I have been inspired by some great live thread’s, especially @GeorgiaPeach51 Explorer and Navigator threads. I am hoping mine will be half as entertaining and informative 😊.

 

A little about me. I have been cruising about 40 years (I started young!) and cruise 2-3 times a year. Since Covid I have been cruising on smaller luxury lines such as Seabourn, Viking, Oceania and of course Regent. We are leaving for Reykjavik Iceland today flying on Icelandair from Boston and will have a couple days exploring Reykjavik before boarding Voyager Saturday. 
 

I will be posting photos of the ports, our suite, food and the ship. This is a port intensive cruise so please be patient if I fall behind. I am happy to take any requests or answer any questions you may have. Thanks for reading,

 

Steve 

[papaflamingo]

Looking forward to your review!  We board Voyager in Oct. for 22 nights so I'll be particularly interested in your impressions of the ship.   We also have cruised to many of the ports you'll be visiting so your reviews will bring back many good memories! 

Have a great cruise!  😎

Edited August 9, 2023 by papaflamingo

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Happy to see this!  Looking forward to your impressions of the Voyager.  We have not been on Voyager or Mariner and I am curious to hear your thoughts.  What a great itinerary!

 

Joanie

[RachelG]

lovely!  We have been to many of the ports before, and it is a great itinerary. 

[WNcruiser]

We are on board and enjoying a glass of champagne. First time on Icelandair, seats are very comfortable with a blanket, pillow, Iceland water and an amenity kit at the seat.  Not bad for a 5 hour flight! 
 

[RachelG]

Icelandiar is fine for day time flights only.  The seats are very uncomfortable for sleeping. 

[WNcruiser]

We made it! 😀 We are off to a great start. Icelandair was outstanding. They closed the door 10 mins early, departed 5 mins early and we arrived 20 mins early, The flight attendants were very friendly and the service from boarding to landing was excellent. If you are a gin drinker you will love Icelandair, they have 7 different gins and you can try them all. I had a Gull beer from Iceland which was very good. The food was very good as well and I loved the dessert presentation with crumbled cookies made to look like lava. 
 

[WNcruiser]

We were lucky enough to fly over the southern tip of Greenland and the scenery was beautiful. We just arrived at our hotel and are ready for some sleep before we start exploring Reykjavik in the morning. We will be visiting the Sky lagoon in the afternoon and then dinner on the water. Goodnight everyone. 
 

[WNcruiser]

5 hours ago, RachelG said:

Icelandiar is fine for day time flights only.  The seats are very uncomfortable for sleeping. 

Yes, I got a nap in but would be difficult to sleep on an overnight flight. We just did not want to arrive at 5 or 6 in the morning so this worked out perfectly. 

[briar14]

Does Icelandair have lie flat seats on their flights?

[rcandkc]

The worst part of flying out of REK is the lack of jetways.  So, they board business class first to the BUS.  So, you get a seat and then more and more people are loaded on the bus…hardly any standing room.  Your bus goes out to plane and then it’s EVERYONE  scrambling up stairs with their carryons all at once.  I will never fly out of there again.  I will fly in because usually down stairs and into terminal. 

[RELS]

Your subject heading had me baffled -- Are they time traveling? But I see that you actually mean 2023, not 2024. Typos are a real pain!

 

Looking forward to reading your live reports!

Edited August 10, 2023 by RELS

[annmarz]

You are off to a great start with your posts too!  Following with great interest!

[liptastic]

Great photos of your flight. Have a wonderful cruise and look forward to your posts.  Jean.

[forgap]

We loved sky lagoon!  It is more a giant hot tub than a bubbling volcanic basin like blue lagoon but calling it a hot tub doesn’t do it Justice.  It is very futuristic with stunning views.  Make sure to do the seven step ritual which was fabulous!  I’m sure you will also discover the swim up bar with pink champagne.  The waterfall is also not to be missed!  

[WNcruiser]

10 hours ago, RELS said:

Your subject heading had me baffled -- Are they time traveling? But I see that you actually mean 2023, not 2024. Typos are a real pain!

 

Looking forward to reading your live reports!

Ugh! Thank you, didn’t catch that 

[WNcruiser]

10 hours ago, briar14 said:

Does Icelandair have lie flat seats on their flights?

They do not. They are a domestic first class seat. Their longest flights are about 7 hours so I guess they don’t feel they need them. 

[mnocket]

18 hours ago, WNcruiser said:

Yes, I got a nap in but would be difficult to sleep on an overnight flight. We just did not want to arrive at 5 or 6 in the morning so this worked out perfectly. 

I'm afraid I'm stuck with an overnight to Iceland at the end of the month.  Even worse, since I'm coming from Colorado, USA I've got a 7-hour time difference.  So basically, we depart at 5PM and arrive at 6AM in Iceland which will be midnight for us.  I'd sure like to get some sleep on the flight.  We're headed straight to the Blue Lagoon upon landing since I've been told it's great for jet lag and our hotel room won't be ready till the afternoon.

[WNcruiser]

We woke up to a wet and rainy day but made the best of it. After breakfast walked over to the Harpa concert hall and walked all over downtown which was quite interesting. It’s in the mid 50’s which is very enjoyable in comparison to our Florida heat and humidity. Saw the first blue sky since we arrived after dinner. Here are some pictures of Harpa and downtown, 
 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by WNcruiser

[WNcruiser]

In the afternoon we went to Sky lagoon. This is a man made lagoon/hot springs only 15:mins from downtown. It was very crowded but still enjoyed it. The 7 step ritual was very relaxing and the views from the infinity edge are great. I’m looking forward to visiting the Myvatn springs on Monday from Akureyri to compare the two. 
 

Tomorrow is our Golden Circle tour which we are looking forward to. 
 

[forgap]

Glad you enjoyed it!  Did you get pummeled by the waterfall at the far end of the lagoon?

[1982CruzStart]

Pictures are great. Thanks so much for bringing us along on your trip. 

[WNcruiser]

21 hours ago, forgap said:

Glad you enjoyed it!  Did you get pummeled by the waterfall at the far end of the lagoon?

Yes! It was great 😊 

[WNcruiser]

Just an incredible day today. Iceland has so much natural beauty, we loved the Golden Circle tour. Huge mountains, rivers, lakes, green pastures, beautiful scenery at every turn. Met some very nice people and our guide was born and raised here so had lots of great information and history. It’s been a great three days but we are ready to board Voyager tomorrow and empty these suitcases. Yes, finally we can get to some cruise photos 😁
 

A few photos from today. Thingvellir National park, Gullfoss falls, and Kerid crater. 
 

[puppyluv1]

Beautiful photos!  Thanks for sharing.