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

[PeabodyMa]

Exactly where is the PCR Testing Lab located?

[patchicago]

5 hours ago, bardstowntraveller said:

Our 8/3 cruise is fast approaching and I am trying to finalize our touring plans. Could anyone provide feedback on the following tours

Isafjordur & Bolungavik Village Tour

Seydisfjordur on Foot Tour

Beluga Whale Center & Bay by Boat Tour

Heimaey on Foot Tour

Wildlife of Heimaey by Boat

 

Am considering replacing Beluga Whale Center with Wildlife of Heimaey by boat and cancelling the ships tours  If I do, we will tour Seydisfjordur and Heimaey on our own and enjoy ship in place of Isafjordur tour. Will I miss much if I do?

A couple of days ago I saw a review of the beluga whale center that led me to believe it wasn’t worth $99. There was no boat trip included and the excursion was the equivalent of visiting an aquarium. So we canceled that excursion and for grins I looked to see if there was a Heimaey by boat excursion available, even though I knew that it was sold out. It was my lucky day because they were two spots open so we took them. I’ve read that people on past cruises have had luck finding excursions once they get onboard and get on the waiting list.

[Peregrina651]

21 hours ago, Triptkr said:

Curious...is that what you were told?   I just ask because our experience very recently on our Bermuda cruise was different.  Yes, we had wear our contact tracing devices all the time but we never wore them in plain sight.  Usually in a pocket or bag.  Never had an issue - no one ever said anything to us.     🙂

 

Ditto for our experience on the Sky.  I put mine in my cross-body bag along with my room key and left it there for the duration. No one ever asked to see it.

[Heartgrove]

Viking Star has just arrived at Seydisfjordur after sailing from Gibraltar. No passengers are aboard. It is delivering a package, according to a Sky officer, to the Viking Sky and transferring it using one of Viking Sky"s tenders. It will then wait for the Viking Jupiter to arrive two days from now and do the same with Viking Jupiter. Viking Star will then return to Gibraltar.

 

In one photo I caught the port anchor hitting the water.

 

 

 

[Jaea]

4 hours ago, KiwiClaire said:

We are doing exactly that - we cancelled the whale centre because its right in the middle of town and you can walk and do it on your own.  We are going the included bus tour and the Heimay by boat in the afternoon, leaving the morning free to see the town and visit the whale centre. We will probably take a packed lunch from the ship with us. 

How do you get a packed lunch from the ship?

[KarNog]

11 minutes ago, Jaea said:

How do you get a packed lunch from the ship?

I don't know, but I hope the packed lunch is a possibility. I'd like to get away from my1000 new best friends for a little alone time off the boat.

[patchicago]

We have 1 hour between the end of our Day 7 Heimaey by boat excursion and our Snapshots of Heimaey bus tour. I thought maybe we could have lunch between excursions but I’m not sure that an hour is long enough. Google map shows me restaurants in the area but not where my first excursion ends and my second one begins. I can reschedule my second excursion to add an extra hour in Port. I’d rather hang around the port than tender back-and-forth to Jupiter between excursions.  I don’t see any shops on the google map at the harbor.  Are there shops there to browse while killing time? Thanks!!

Edited July 21, 2021 by patchicago

[Heidi13]

30 minutes ago, Jaea said:

How do you get a packed lunch from the ship?

 

Submit a request at the customer service desk, or mention it to the Restaurant Manager. Getting packed lunches is not very common these days, due to limitations on bringing food ashore and liability from lack of refrigeration.

 

However, on the World Cruise, I recall seeing a few people with a packed lunch in a port. Must admit, I did find it surprising, as I haven't seen them for many years. They used to be common back in the 70's & 80's.

[WanderingBrit]

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

Viking Star has just arrived at Seydisfjordur after sailing from Gibraltar. No passengers are aboard. It is delivering a package, according to a Sky officer, to the Viking Sky and transferring it using one of Viking Sky"s tenders. It will then wait for the Viking Jupiter to arrive two days from now and do the same with Viking Jupiter. Viking Star will then return to Gibraltar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a spectacularly expensive package.

 

[IheartNYC]

5 hours ago, Steve NH said:

 

This was shared by a member of an Iceland Facebook group. Hope this helps a little. Maybe a live-chat would provide an answer for you as well? We are traveling two hours to get our rapid test done. The Azova test would be easier by far! 

 

Here is the answer from live-chat of covid.is:

 

## Mál þitt hefur verið leyst! ##

  new border rule  

 

 Lilja

 Tue, 07/20/21 11:26 pm 

 

Changes to border control measures that take effect at 00:00 on Tuesday 27 July, ie. on the eve of Tuesday;

 

All vaccinated persons and those that can present a certificate of a prior COVID-19 infection must present a negative PCR or antigen (rapid) test that is no more than 72 hours old before departure to Iceland.

 

-According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), antigen tests should have a sensitivity of ≥80% and a specificity of ≥97%.

 

-Furthermore, residents of Iceland and others that have widespread social ties in the country are encouraged to get tested as soon as possible after arriving in Iceland, even though they are asymptomatic. If you can´t get tested at KEF airport after landing, then you can order a test trough the live chat on heilsuvera.is or call 1700.

 

COVID-19 infections have risen considerably in Iceland recently. Most infections are of the Delta variant. According to research, fully vaccinated individuals can get infected by COVID-19 and can infect others. The Chief Epidemiologist believes that unchanged measures will increase the risk of the virus spreading and therefore action must be taken to halt the spread and avoid domestic restrictions on gatherings.

 

*Non vaccinated individuals (or 1/2 vaccine) will continue to be required to present negative PCR test results no more than 72 hours old and undergo double PCR screening with a five-day quarantine in between.

 

**Children born in 2005 or later will continue to be exempted from all border measures.

Thanks! Yeah, so much easier if the home test would be valid. I ordered it and scheduled my video conference with the person who is supposed to authorize my test. I will ask her if this will be sufficient and if there is any doubt, I will probably just swing by an urgent care facility after work- one that is open late since I am working long hours the last 3 days before flying out for vacation. Ugh what a hassle!

[gramfrog]

35 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

That's a spectacularly expensive package.

 

Wow it is!! If I were placing a bet, I’d imagine it would be Covid testing supplies, directly following the Health dictate a couple of days ago. Or perhaps you all won a chest full of jewels from the briny sea….

[Steve NH]

25 minutes ago, IheartNYC said:

Thanks! Yeah, so much easier if the home test would be valid. I ordered it and scheduled my video conference with the person who is supposed to authorize my test. I will ask her if this will be sufficient and if there is any doubt, I will probably just swing by an urgent care facility after work- one that is open late since I am working long hours the last 3 days before flying out for vacation. Ugh what a hassle!

I agree--it is a hassle. We thought we would be avoiding these issues. We went through them when we traveled to Hawaii in March and I was adamant I didn't ever again want that stress right before a trip. In northern NH we don't have many places that will do the rapid test for travel, believe it or not. The few that do are charging +$200. And they aren't nearby. Soon we will be on the ship and this will be behind us.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Submit a request at the customer service desk, or mention it to the Restaurant Manager. Getting packed lunches is not very common these days, due to limitations on bringing food ashore and liability from lack of refrigeration.

 

However, on the World Cruise, I recall seeing a few people with a packed lunch in a port. Must admit, I did find it surprising, as I haven't seen them for many years. They used to be common back in the 70's & 80's.

 

1 hour ago, WanderingBrit said:

That's a spectacularly expensive package.

 

Yes, I was thinking the same thing about Star's mission!    But Heartgrove, thanks for solving the mystery. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

2 hours ago, patchicago said:

We have 1 hour between the end of our Day 7 Heimaey by boat excursion and our Snapshots of Heimaey bus tour. I thought maybe we could have lunch between excursions but I’m not sure that an hour is long enough. Google map shows me restaurants in the area but not where my first excursion ends and my second one begins. I can reschedule my second excursion to add an extra hour in Port. I’d rather hang around the port than tender back-and-forth to Jupiter between excursions.  I don’t see any shops on the google map at the harbor.  Are there shops there to browse while killing time? Thanks!!

Someone pointed me in the direction of this good blog: How to Visit Westman Islands + Things to Do on Heimaey Island in Iceland (fullsuitcase.com)

 

It does mention food toward the end, and a lot of interesting things in between!

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

For anyone interested in Heimaey, here's a screenshot of the harbor area.  The screenshot isn't the best, but hopefully you can get an idea of what's around the tender area.  Where the tenders have been coming is right by the "Tanginn" restaurant.  There's a coach area across the street from there, so I doubt this location for tendering will not change from week to week.  And I'm assuming that the Snapshots excursion will start and end in the coach lot.   On the screenshot, you can (hopefully) see Eyja Tours, a marker for the Belugas (not sure if just ticket kiosk or what), restaurants, etc. That's no guarantee that those restaurants are still there, or that they'll be open, but at least it's a start! 

[jan_az]

On 7/19/2021 at 2:09 PM, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Well, at least Viking will email you something at the 2 week mark which charts out what you need to do for them and for Iceland, and when.  But of course they may now need to revise/customize the letter to include testing at home.  

 

But timing of the test might be a little tricky.  I don't even know how long it takes to get test results these days. I guess the rapid antigen tests are fast, and allowed, so perhaps that's my best bet in order to get results (not just tested) within Iceland's timeframe. I know many sites notify by text, but I'd prefer something more concrete. We'll see.

 

Where I live ( Phoenix area AZ) Embery womens health does free PCR testing ( and antibody testing too) all over the valley - my last set of results took 12 hours 

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Submit a request at the customer service desk, or mention it to the Restaurant Manager. Getting packed lunches is not very common these days, due to limitations on bringing food ashore and liability from lack of refrigeration.

 

However, on the World Cruise, I recall seeing a few people with a packed lunch in a port. Must admit, I did find it surprising, as I haven't seen them for many years. They used to be common back in the 70's & 80's.

 

More likely.

 

Here in Bermuda taking food off ship onto shore is a big no-no, except for drinks and sealed snacks.

 

 

[jan_az]

4 hours ago, PeabodyMa said:

Exactly where is the PCR Testing Lab located?

You need to find one in your city , state?

[KiwiClaire]

3 hours ago, Jaea said:

How do you get a packed lunch from the ship?

Ask your room steward. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, bluesea777 said:

 

More likely.

 

Here in Bermuda taking food off ship onto shore is a big no-no, except for drinks and sealed snacks.

 

 

 

Bluesea - thanks for confirming Bermuda requirements. Very few ports permit any food to leave the ship these days.

[patchicago]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Someone pointed me in the direction of this good blog: How to Visit Westman Islands + Things to Do on Heimaey Island in Iceland (fullsuitcase.com)

 

It does mention food toward the end, and a lot of interesting things in between!

Thanks, you once again come through with great info!  If I run into you on board I’d like to buy you a drink.  Pat.

[bluesea777]

4 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Bluesea - thanks for confirming Bermuda requirements. Very few ports permit any food to leave the ship these days.

 

Not "very few" but a lot. Particularly in the Caribbean, Hawaii, and many island nations. No fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, etc. If one must sneak something ashore, make sure to take the trash (wrappings, leftovers, scraps, etc) back on the ship to dispose!! 

 

 

[minka34]

9 hours ago, KiwiClaire said:

can walk and do it on your own

We also tried the Whale Center on the july.13 Jupiter sailing... locked up.

 

I enjoyed the walking tours in both Seydisfjordur and Heimaey. Our Heimaey guide lived through the volcanic eruption so has so.e first hand accounts. That was neat to hear about from a child's perspective (he was 7, I think). 

Our guide in Seydisfjordur looked like a Viking (in my opinion), and was an interesting guide.

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by minka34
Change photo

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, patchicago said:

Thanks, you once again come through with great info!  If I run into you on board I’d like to buy you a drink.  Pat.

We can recommend the restaurant Gott at Barustigur 11. We had lunch there (opens at 11:30). Excellent food. What we liked is that they have an eclectic menu and not just the usual Icelandic fare.

[BarbRN]

21 hours ago, Australia08 said:

We we sat out on the balcony with drinks tonight to watch the sun set at 11:30 pm. It was beautiful. Our weather has been stupendous. Yesterday we loved our  Vigur Island tour. Felicity Aston who leads the tour is marvelous. We saw hundreds of puffins, nesting eider ducks and arctic terns. One of the best cruise tours I’ve ever taken. 

The only time we’ve used our rain pants was at the Heart of the Glacier tour because there is lots of melting dripping ice inside the glacier. Outside the glacier interior the weather was great. 
 

This afternoon we were talking to an Indonesian bar staff member telling him how much we enjoyed Indonesian food when we visited there several years ago. We said we thought there should be some Indonesian dishes on the menu since there were so many Indonesian staff members - they’d know how to make the authentic dishes. He pulled the head chef over and said that we should tell him. We thought he meant we should just make sure it would be good to add to the menu. The chef immediately asked if we would be in the Restaurant tonight. We said yes and he said to tell the wait staff that we wanted Nasi Goreng and the  Satheesh (the head chef) would take care of it. So we had Nasi Goring and Satay tonight for dinner, excellently seasoned. I felt like I was back in Jogjakarta. What personalized service. Why is this only a one week cruise????

I like very positive posts like this. Much needed right now