Doc who loves to travel

Is alcohol included in a cabana? We don't have a package.

Do you all think Viking is going to reinforce windows as the investigation board suggested? Anyone heard anything?
 

Viking Polaris Antarctica Expedition Tragic Accident Factual Investigation: Drake Passage Rogue Wave
https://youtu.be/OyKUJaFR-i0

21 hours ago, Brad1185 said:

Have they finished the final repairs to the Polaris yet. Tried googling it and not much came up. Were booked Jan 2025. 

It was temporarily repaired 9 months ago (video) but I’ve seen photos of it from this summer (attached photo from May) and it looks like the windows were replaced. We had friends in one of the four affected cabins during the drake passage incident. So between the video and photo there is a clear difference. 
 

Viking Polaris Temporarily Repaired and Sailing to Antarctica Again after Deadly Rogue Wave Incident
https://youtu.be/ZIVXffan5HM

For those who don’t know, Ray passed away in March 2023. We put together a playlist of our times with him and there will be more to come! 
 

Ray Coussins
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo4nl-sebkFkqmMzozSk3foKVbgn4S4Ld

22 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

From my Marine Traffic App it looks like Polaris is on her way to Greece, probably somewhere to be repaired. 
 

Hope she is ready for passengers again soon. Fair winds and calm seas to her and her crew. 

They are sailing to Antarctica with a temporary repair of the affected cabins. No passengers are in those rooms. The CEO is on board. They passed inspection to proceed. 
 

Viking Polaris Temporarily Repaired and Sailing to Antarctica Again after Deadly Rogue Wave Incident
https://youtu.be/ZIVXffan5HM

17 hours ago, SightCRR said:

We have all seen the damage from the outside to the windows but I wonder if there was failure to the non structural bulkheads that may have contributed to the injuries.   

Yes non structural interior walls collapsed and the debris from the affected cabins moved aft to the farthest sixth cabin. 
 

https://www.luxurytraveldocs.com/2022/12/viking-polaris-has-tragic-accident.html

This is what we saw. https://www.luxurytraveldocs.com/2022/12/viking-polaris-has-tragic-accident.html

We are praying for the people affected. Tragic. 

In what ways have you used the aarp e-cards successfully? 
on board only?

pay cruise fare?

Pay for excursions? TIA 

On 3/16/2022 at 7:29 AM, PBodek said:

Hello!

We're scheduled for "Ultimate Iceland" a 5 day pre-cruise extension in June. While the extension does include many excursions there are parts of days where we are on our own for exploring and dining.  We are staying at the Reykjavik Konsulat Hotel.  We're on our own the whole first day.  Any recommendations for sightseeing and dining within walking distance of the hotel?  On day three we travel to Snaefellsnes and are staying at the Fransiskus Hotel.  Sights and dining there?  Thanks so much for any input.

We stayed at the konsulat last summer. Great hotel. We listed restaurants here with links so you can see menus and make reservations. I highly recommend the sky lagoon - easy taxi. https://www.luxurytraveldocs.com/2021/08/convenient-and-comfortable-oasis-in.html

Are there any general roll calls for this itinerary?  My specific roll call doesn’t have a lot of activity. I like to see ideas that I don’t think of! 

3 hours 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.

Yes I would watch the trends with Viking and other cruise lines.  I would betcha that the south and Central American countries won’t be as stringent as European ones. There have been some cases of covid on other cruise lines in Caribbean and Europe and I haven’t seen anything about individuals/ships not being allowed into a country- except the July incidents in Iceland.  I’ve been following it for our future cruise plans. 

On 9/18/2021 at 1:40 PM, zelker said:

Tried searching under the main Viking forum and got nada so guess this is the best place to ask the question - does Viking offer Splenda sweetener? 

Hubby had it on the Jupiter 

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

Someone on the Sky just reported trip interruption on Facebook due to being on the bus with a COVID positive passenger.  That's what happened to a some on our July Jupiter cruise: https://www.luxurytraveldocs.com/2021/07/how-we-dealt-with-covid-19-and-contact.html 

That is the one thing that will keep us from going on a viking cruise again right now.  I hope it may just be Iceland?  I don't want to get stuck somewhere like the one girl did in Malta. We are contemplating cruising again in November and December but we are monitoring the situation closely and haven't booked yet because of things like this. 

2 hours ago, covergirl1300 said:

one more question for those of you that went before or stayed after the cruise.

We are looking for a couple of nice places for dinner. Any suggestions? We have 2 nights before boarding Jupiter. Will ask our hotel to make reservations for us once we arrive. TIA!

 

We went to Messin - great fish pans and not super expensive.  https://messinn.com/english/

Apotek.  Great food and desserts. Not cheap. https://apotekrestaurant.is

and Kol. Excellent, gourmet but not cheap. https://kolrestaurant.is

photo of our scallops from Apotek.  great presentation. 

17 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I don't remember anyone mentioning midges/knats on the Halsar Hike.  I think mostly they're at the Lake Myvatn area (excursion from Akureyri), but I could be wrong. I didn't pay much attention to the hikes. The midges were atrocious at the area of Dimmubogur ("Dark Castle" rock formations), but I think their activity depends somewhat on weather/moisture conditions, so maybe they don't always bother people there. 

 

I'd offer to mail you my midge hat but I doubt it would get to you in time, so I'll just hold on to it.  But at least the midges don't bite.  They're just annoying.  And I don't think any insect repellent phases them. At least a face mask will keep them from getting in your nose and mouth!!!

Cute!  We bought ours on Amazon.  https://amzn.to/3B91dLe Two pack and easy to throw in the bag.  We didn't have a lot but we had a missed port due to covid on Viking Jupiter July 13.  Per reports northern Iceland is the bad spot. 

32 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

So has there been only one sailing in which people were quarantined for the rest of the cruise by Iceland, in other words, because they were on the same bus as a positive person?   It sounds like the positive case on Dukefan's July 10 sailing was handled using Viking's protocol and that either the positive person wasn't on a bus or else the person tested positive before Iceland decided all people on the same bus as a positive person should be quarantined on the ship for multiple days.  Does anybody have any more information about this?    

It happened on our July 13 Jupiter sailing at least to one couple.  We were never contacted by any others that had a bus contact quarantine. https://www.luxurytraveldocs.com/2021/07/how-we-dealt-with-covid-19-and-contact.html

46 minutes ago, BQEC said:

Quarantined to the cabin for the entire time. 26 people decided to fly home rather than do that. 
Since it is only a bus policy, better to book with outside vendor rather than tour with Viking. 
Oh wait. We were told that Viking expected that we would not be allowed off ship unless we were in the Viking bubble!! Including the Viking bus. 

And quarantined on the ship, according to someone we know who was, means no leaving the room and no service inside the room.  Everything is delivered to the door and you would have to clean your own room.  Not that I don't do that at home, but on a cruise is different...

13 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

I just did a search for the poster’s name and there are lots of that name but none of the pictures match.  Strange…if I was a conspiracy theorist….

Glad you got screenshots Clay. 

1 hour ago, Bruce4fun said:

 

I have friends on Jupiter August 10 departure and now they have at least 1 positive case onboard.

They called to report, as internet is so slow on the ship right now they cannot use it.

My friends were notified they were on the same bus as someone who tested positive but no symptoms.

They have been ordered to stay in their room for 7 days. They have tested negative, but are not being allowed out at all. Viking told them they can get off the ship in the next port and fly home, but otherwise they have to stay quarntined in room for a full week(the entire remaining cruise).

They were told this is Iceland Protocol now.

I have to say it does not seem to make sense they can get off and get on a airplane if they have been exposed to someone?

Anyone else have more information?

That is exactly what happened on July 13 Jupiter- bus exposure but quarantined anyway despite negative tests.  Doesn’t sound like things have changed. 

27 minutes ago, DAVE & PAT said:

I'm aware that saliva samples must be given to steward by 8am each morning. Just want to make sure we are  able to leave cabin prior to that time for coffee, walk or whatever.

You can leave cabin but you must provide sample before eating or drinking. We left our samples in the room.  It was helpful to me to leave tube in the bathroom by my toothbrush to remind me before brushing my teeth.  A little video about how to do it but it is not rocket science! 

59 minutes ago, Wander58 said:

From someone on the ship.  Refer to post #2417.

We know one couple who were quarantined due to contact tracing for 5 days on our sailing July 13 with negative covid tests all along.  While it seems most contacts have not had this happen, we aren't sure why this couple was singled out.  Maybe Viking has got their act together since then. 

52 minutes ago, Tarheel1952 said:

I know tipping is not expected, but when tipping guides and drivers, are most using US dollars?

 

Thanks!

Yes!

52 minutes ago, taylorbun1 said:

Can you post a link to the type of rain suits you chose?

 

Here’s what we used in July 

Rain suit pants https://amzn.to/3iFGQxZ

Rain suit jacket get one size larger to fit over jacket/fleece https://amzn.to/3wTR2aR

35 minutes ago, Msgolferfhcc said:

Packing for 8/17 sailing. On the coldest day, did anyone really need fleece top under  rain jacket?  Layers are good I know, just trying to lighten the carryon. Maybe the light thermal undies would suffice?

We wore all our warmest things on a few days. We didn’t have long underwear but fleece under puffy coats and fleece pants /long socks. It’s cold if windy or rain.  We went on July 13 Jupiter