Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[TayanaLorna]

27 minutes ago, Bejay219 said:

Since we cannot go out of our "bubble" in ICELAND, what if you forget something or need something (toothpaste, etc.) which you would normally walk to a drug store/convince store to get?

Does Viking have hair  products and bath salts in the spa for sale?

Trying to start to pack....

 

The Spa does have all sorts of products for sale but never paid much attention.  Bath salts?  There is no bathtub in which to soak.  Also a little convenience store.

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, Dukefan said:

I just saw that the Viking Bermuda Travelers will now be allowed to travel outside the "Viking Bubble" on their own at the various Bermuda ports.  I hope that Viking and the Iceland authorities let us do that as well.  I basically see it as no different that allowing folks to travel on their own prior to boarding the ship.  The fact that we have onboard testing as well as contact tracing provides a significant means of early detection and tracing should a breakthrough case occur in order to minimize its impact..

In general agree with you though I wish they waited until they had a few cruises under the Bermuda belt before bursting the bubble.  Hopefully it won’t prove to be a mistake.  
 

I did some research this morning to be prepared if we are set free also. I was hoping to figure out a way to get to the ice lagoon but no rental car places appear in a Google search for Dijupivogar   😢

 

Found what I think is the whale watching tour we are signed up for in Akureyri. We could save $70 or so apiece but haven’t verified how far the tour Boat is from where we will dock.  So given we will be traveling with Mike’s mom, we may just keep it simple. 
 

Found a Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon tour I would love to do, but afraid we might miss sailaway so not going to risk it. Could do GC independently at a variety of price points but only way to really save money is yo go with a large tour bus so we decided we wouldn’t change that. 

[Dukefan]

9 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

In general agree with you though I wish they waited until they had a few cruises under the Bermuda belt before bursting the bubble.  Hopefully it won’t prove to be a mistake.  
 

I did some research this morning to be prepared if we are set free also. I was hoping to figure out a way to get to the ice lagoon but no rental car places appear in a Google search for Dijupivogar   😢

 

Found what I think is the whale watching tour we are signed up for in Akureyri. We could save $70 or so apiece but haven’t verified how far the tour Boat is from where we will dock.  So given we will be traveling with Mike’s mom, we may just keep it simple. 
 

Found a Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon tour I would love to do, but afraid we might miss sailaway so not going to risk it. Could do GC independently at a variety of price points but only way to really save money is yo go with a large tour bus so we decided we wouldn’t change that. 

I agree with your evaluation.   I looked at private tours at each site and really couldn't find anything that we liked better than what we are currently doing through Viking.  We could safe a few dollars doing the same thing we are currently scheduled to do but the few dollars we would save would probably result in more hassle than with Viking.   What we would like to be able to do on our own however is to explore each of these small towns we are visiting and meet the locals to get a better feel for Iceland.  Hopefully if they allow us off the ship without being on an excursion we will be able to do some of that.

[NeilP57]

4 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

What we would like to be able to do on our own however is to explore each of these small towns we are visiting and meet the locals to get a better feel for Iceland.  Hopefully if they allow us off the ship without being on an excursion we will be able to do some of that.

 

I agree its the short walk for a coffee/beer, or maybe a hike up a nearby hill. The opportunity to do a bit of souvenir shopping, or perhaps the opportunity to buy a fantastic Icelandic jumper. All of them part of the simple pleasures of travelling this wonderful planet we occupy.

[DaveSJ711]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Not sure if Europcar is at the cruise port, or has/doesn't have a person there for drop offs. But if so, that's a good company. We've used them a couple times in Europe.

We rented from Europcar yesterday at the Keflavik airport. Everything went fine except for the warning light that flashed on the dash when I started the car. Fortunately the car had a service manual, so we self-diagnosed the problem as an underinflated tire or tires. A quick trip to Europcar’s on-site garage and the problem was fixed — all tires now inflated to recommended pressure. So into the wild we go!

[LindaS272]

28 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

In general agree with you though I wish they waited until they had a few cruises under the Bermuda belt before bursting the bubble.  Hopefully it won’t prove to be a mistake.  
 

I did some research this morning to be prepared if we are set free also. I was hoping to figure out a way to get to the ice lagoon but no rental car places appear in a Google search for Dijupivogar   😢

 

Found what I think is the whale watching tour we are signed up for in Akureyri. We could save $70 or so apiece but haven’t verified how far the tour Boat is from where we will dock.  So given we will be traveling with Mike’s mom, we may just keep it simple. 
 

Found a Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon tour I would love to do, but afraid we might miss sailaway so not going to risk it. Could do GC independently at a variety of price points but only way to really save money is yo go with a large tour bus so we decided we wouldn’t change that. 

Tour guides out of Reykjavik are used to people off cruise ships doing private tours and will get you back to the ship on time. When we stopped in Iceland for the day on the TA in Sept. 2019 on the Sun, we had booked a private excursion with two other couples for the GC because Viking’s was sold out. We were able to customize what we saw and when, including a fabulous tomato soup lunch at Fridheimar on the GC. I don’t have the tour guide’s name to hand, but will research it to see if I can find him and let you know his name.

[jeremybe]

You are lucky you have excursions booked..We're booked on July 17 and basically everything is sold out -If Viking doesn't come through and open up more excursions or allow us to book on our own, we will be cancelling- The worst part is, before booking we checked the MVJ site and it said the excursions were available - It was only after paying when selecting the actual excursions that it says sold out.. 

[LindaS272]

Okay—found it. Stefan Helgi V. https://www.toursbylocals.com/GoldenCircle-private-tour. I think he was about the same price as Viking when we had six people. Highly recommend.

[Donaghadee]

I'm still looking for an answer to a question Viking seems unwilling to address.  I can't pry anything out of them.

 

On the last day, Viking likes to have everyone out of their cabins by 08:00 and off the ship by 10:00.  On all our prior Viking cruises, a hospitality room was provided for pax who had afternoon flights.  It was usually a nice centrally located hotel.  You could stay put, go for a walk or take a short tour.  Every hour or so, a bus would take a portion of guests to the airport.  It worked out very well.

 

I am in the dark with this cruise.  Will there be a midpoint, or is Viking going to dump hundreds of people at KEF all at once?  I'm not enthusiastic about sitting in an airport all day.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Donaghadee

[Dukefan]

25 minutes ago, jeremybe said:

You are lucky you have excursions booked..We're booked on July 17 and basically everything is sold out -If Viking doesn't come through and open up more excursions or allow us to book on our own, we will be cancelling- The worst part is, before booking we checked the MVJ site and it said the excursions were available - It was only after paying when selecting the actual excursions that it says sold out.. 

On the July 10th cruise everything was sold out except 5 of the 38 excursions a week ago.  About 5 or 6 days ago Viking was able to add to each of the excursions.  Only 8 of the 38 excursions on our cruise are showing sold out now.   Keep checking because my guess is that within the next 5 or 6 days almost every excursion will be available on the July 17th cruise.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, DaveSJ711 said:

We rented from Europcar yesterday at the Keflavik airport. Everything went fine except for the warning light that flashed on the dash when I started the car. Fortunately the car had a service manual, so we self-diagnosed the problem as an underinflated tire or tires. A quick trip to Europcar’s on-site garage and the problem was fixed — all tires now inflated to recommended pressure. So into the wild we go!

Enjoy, and let us know what you find!

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Just in case this helps someone:  If anyone's traveling on Ielandair and Viking booked your flights, Icelandair may not have given you seat assignments at the time of booking.  When the air arrangements popped up in MVJ, I called Icelandair to ask if I get them.  They told me I had to wait until Viking actually booked the flights.  Then I forgot all about seats.  But today I remembered, looked in MVJ, and found I had e-ticket numbers.  So I went on Ice's website and reserved seats.  So I don't know what the timing is for Viking to ticket once they reserve, but you might want to check periodically to see if you have the e-ticket number(s) you'll need to get seats. There are plenty of seats available, but I'm a little picky, and I was happy to tick off one more box on my To Do list. 

[DaveSJ711]

This is a rather large puffin I saw near an Iceland roadway. I’ve heard they get much, much bigger.

[BQEC]

1 minute ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Just in case this helps someone:  If anyone's traveling on Ielandair and Viking booked your flights, Icelandair may not have given you seat assignments at the time of booking.  When the air arrangements popped up in MVJ, I called Icelandair to ask if I get them.  They told me I had to wait until Viking actually booked the flights.  Then I forgot all about seats.  But today I remembered, looked in MVJ, and found I had e-ticket numbers.  So I went on Ice's website and reserved seats.  So I don't know what the timing is for Viking to ticket once they reserve, but you might want to check periodically to see if you have the e-ticket number(s) you'll need to get seats. There are plenty of seats available, but I'm a little picky, and I was happy to tick off one more box on my To Do list. 

Thank you for your tip. I was told by Air Dept. that they are ticketing 55 days out instead of the usual 75 days.. So, yes, keep checking. I keep checking for the excursions to show up, hopefully before specialty restaurants become available. 

[Envelope21]

3 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

This is a rather large puffin I saw near an Iceland roadway. I’ve heard they get much, much bigger.

Oh God! So Cute!

[Heartgrove]

I think that we are finding out that the "bubble concept" is Viking's doing, not Iceland's.

[FoggyEthan]

6 hours ago, Dukefan said:

I just saw that the Viking Bermuda Travelers will now be allowed to travel outside the "Viking Bubble" on their own at the various Bermuda ports.  I hope that Viking and the Iceland authorities let us do that as well.  I basically see it as no different that allowing folks to travel on their own prior to boarding the ship.  The fact that we have onboard testing as well as contact tracing provides a significant means of early detection and tracing should a breakthrough case occur in order to minimize its impact..

 

Not that I speak for Viking, but I can hazard a guess.

 

If someone tests positive upon boarding the ship, or even the next morning, they can be disembarked before departure from Reykjavik. Find them a local quarantine hotel and change the flight arrangements. Of course it would suck to lose your cruise, but the logistics wouldn't be super difficult.

 

But those other ports can be isolated. There may not be a local hotel that will be able to take a quarantined person. There may not be a taxi service that will agree to take a Covid-positive person. Viking could be in a difficult position logistically, possibly forced to keep the passenger onboard.

 

So they want to minimize the chance of any positive tests after day two. Also I believe that after the first test upon embarkation, you're supposed to avoid being around other people until the results come back. Perhaps I'm confused. So if you come back positive on embarkation, they won't need to quarantine anyone else as a result. If you test positive on a subsequent day, other people will be impacted.

[LindaS272]

1 minute ago, FoggyEthan said:

 

Not that I speak for Viking, but I can hazard a guess.

 

If someone tests positive upon boarding the ship, or even the next morning, they can be disembarked before departure from Reykjavik. Find them a local quarantine hotel and change the flight arrangements. Of course it would suck to lose your cruise, but the logistics wouldn't be super difficult.

 

But those other ports can be isolated. There may not be a local hotel that will be able to take a quarantined person. There may not be a taxi service that will agree to take a Covid-positive person. Viking could be in a difficult position logistically, possibly forced to keep the passenger onboard.

 

So they want to minimize the chance of any positive tests after day two. Also I believe that after the first test upon embarkation, you're supposed to avoid being around other people until the results come back. Perhaps I'm confused. So if you come back positive on embarkation, they won't need to quarantine anyone else as a result. If you test positive on a subsequent day, other people will be impacted.

I don’t know about everything you’ve posted here, but I do know that there have been quarantine hotels designated all over Iceland. They had to be used for locals that tested positive throughout the pandemic.

[LindaS272]

One view of the escarpment behind Country Hotel Anna on south coast of Iceland near ferry terminal for Westman Islands (we’re booked on ferry tomorrow).

 

 

[philw1776]

I thought I had everything under control but my brain just crashed from cruise overload (got one day notice of Malta bookings, researched and booked them today).

 

Did ICELAND comfort check-in last week and no vax info required.

For ICELAND are we supposed to send a copy/photo whatever of our vax cards to Viking?
If so...When? On 3 July sailing.
And...To what email address do we send it or what?

[SantaFe1]

4 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

I thought I had everything under control but my brain just crashed from cruise overload (got one day notice of Malta bookings, researched and booked them today).

 

Did ICELAND comfort check-in last week and no vax info required.

For ICELAND are we supposed to send a copy/photo whatever of our vax cards to Viking?
If so...When? On 3 July sailing.
And...To what email address do we send it or what?

We are leaving in ten days and Viking has not asked for anything.  The Iceland pre-embarkation document seems to indicate at the bottom of the second page that we just show them at embarkation.  If not, I guess we are in big trouble!

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-210524-RestartPreCruiseRequirement-Iceland-US.pdf

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 6/5/2021 at 11:00 PM, anaco_angler said:

Gateway to Iceland responded they have a tour to Reykjanes Geopark and we could be dropped off at KEF by 2:30. Research needed. I wonder if VO would refund the transfers if we don't use them. Based on everything that happened Friday I would doubt it.

If you're getting the vouchers because you purchased Viking air, I wouldn't think there would be anything to "refund."  But I've never used their air and not used the vouchers, so can't say.  

[ValarieDennis]

5 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

If you're getting the vouchers because you purchased Viking air, I wouldn't think there would be anything to "refund."  But I've never used their air and not used the vouchers, so can't say.  

I called and transfers are included when you purchase Viking Air. There isn’t anything to refund because you didn’t pay for. If you aren’t taking the transfer from Viking be sure to let the front desk know so they don’t go looking for you.

[shipster60]

3 hours ago, Dukefan said:

On the July 10th cruise everything was sold out except 5 of the 38 excursions a week ago.  About 5 or 6 days ago Viking was able to add to each of the excursions.  Only 8 of the 38 excursions on our cruise are showing sold out now.   Keep checking because my guess is that within the next 5 or 6 days almost every excursion will be available on the July 17th cruise.

We’re on the July 13 sailing and no additional excursion times have been added. I sure hope they do! 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

2 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

This is a rather large puffin I saw near an Iceland roadway. I’ve heard they get much, much bigger.

Since I assume you're on, or will be on, the island of Heimaey, I'm curious if you learn:

 

-When the huge outdoor festival in August is.  We'll be stopping in Heimaey August 10 - probably right after it, but just curious.  Might be a good thing; might be a disaster because of crowds. 

-Where do cruise ships generally bring their passenger to in Heimaey?  And how long of a walk is it to the center of town from the tender location - maybe 10 minutes?

-Do the boat tours offered there (perhaps Eyja Tours or Viking Tours or Ribsafari) offer much of a chance to see puffins flying?  And if not, what about passing the cliffs there on a tender boat or other boat?  Is it possible to see puffins flying around?

-Is there anything much to see in Heimaey (the town) if we're allowed in August to wander around?

 

Thanks.