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

[PeabodyMa]

17 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I’m not onboard. But if you take a look at the online deck plans you can figure it out. 

Thank you, Clay. Just read Tom's post re: room numbers above tenders.

[DaveSJ711]

27 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I’m not onboard. But if you take a look at the online deck plans you can figure it out. 

Have a good flight, Clay! Looking forward to hearing your reports.

[stilltrucking]

55 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

 New to Viking so haven't a clue to their policies.

This is what they say in their FAQ:

Viking welcomes disabled guests; however, guests must realize there are inherent risks associated with traveling on board ships that are unique to cruise travel. For people who are ill, or have a mental or physical disability or impairment, the risks can be more significant. Guests must be able to independently move around the ship in case of an emergency or rough seas, deal with the lack of immediate access to medical services in certain parts of the world, and acknowledge that access to some areas of the ship and ports of call may be limited or impossible. Shore excursions may require the ability to traverse cobblestones or go up and down stairs. We reserve the right to determine whether a guest is fit to travel and to deny boarding in the event that a guest represents a risk to themselves or to the safety and well-being of those on board the ship.

When you make your reservation, please advise us of any disability that will require special attention while sailing on a Viking cruise and provide a completed Fit to Travel Form along with a physician’s letter.

[stilltrucking]

On a different FAQ they say:

Guests who have a disability, physical or otherwise, must travel with an able-bodied companion who can assist them as the staff is not permitted to lift guests or push wheelchairs. Guests need to provide their own wheelchairs, except in an emergency. Wheelchairs must not exceed 22" in width. For details regarding bringing a wheelchair on board, guests must complete the Accessibility Form and return to Viking no later than 30 days prior to departure. Motorized scooters are not typically suitable for international cruises and cannot be accommodated.

[Clay Clayton]

37 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

Have a good flight, Clay! Looking forward to hearing your reports.

Thanks!  We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to get our Delta boarding passes a couple of hours ago. We figured they would require us to show our barcodes before they would give them to us. 

[LindaS272]

21 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks!  We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to get our Delta boarding passes a couple of hours ago. We figured they would require us to show our barcodes before they would give them to us. 

They’ll check all that at the airport. There’s still time! (But hopefully they will just wave you through 🙂 )

[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, Snit13 said:

I am traveling with 3 friends so would not need help getting on/off ship.  I would have an issue standing in line at airport for multiple hours.  Viking has an area to sign for assistance thus I signed up.  Whatever will be will be.  I have been renting a scooter for Royal Caribbean the past few years.  New to Viking so haven't a clue to their policies.

All the best to you.

[madrone]

7 hours ago, VI_Lounger said:

Yes, but the cubes were out to sea and not many left. On the glacier side, the floating cubes were stunning. Still waiting to get my pictures posted but the other half is in need of a quick nap!

Oh my I'm disappointed as Diamond Beach was something I was SO looking forward to seeing!  I had asked if they were on the beach during Summer and was told absolutely they were.  That's ok though - I know it's going to be stunning anyway!

[Clay Clayton]

Perhaps I missed it, but have there been any reviews of the included excursion “Panoramic Akureyri”   Trying to decide if I would just as soon do a walking tour on my own.

 

TIA

[DaveSJ711]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Perhaps I missed it, but have there been any reviews of the included excursion “Panoramic Akureyri”   Trying to decide if I would just as soon do a walking tour on my own.

 

TIA

Akureyri is very walkable. It has a nice commercial district, a downtown church, botanical garden, and an excellent municipal swimming pool. Best restaurant is Kaffi Ilmur -- look for the little yellow building above the main street.

[azjoy]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Perhaps I missed it, but have there been any reviews of the included excursion “Panoramic Akureyri”   Trying to decide if I would just as soon do a walking tour on my own.

 

TIA

The Botanical Garden was glorious!  Quite a few flowers in bloom.  The rest of the tour was standard.  We took the tour in the AM, then wandered around downtown on our own in the PM.  We were in Akureyri a few years ago and took the National Treasures tour.  

[Peregrina651]

10 hours ago, PeabodyMa said:

What 3rd floor rooms are above the tender? Thank you in advance!

 

None.  

[Jay23]

20 hours ago, gramfrog said:

Puffins are sea birds, and as such, they spend most of their time at sea, believe it or not, creating nests in the volcanic rocks and soil "caves"for the purpose of breeding and raising young.  Icelandic Puffins have waterproofed feathers and can drink salt water and can live 20 years or more.  Cool article by the Audubon Society:  https://projectpuffin.audubon.org/birds/puffin-faqs

 

Thank you..  I have read that and will just have to hope that there will be some late leaving birds for me to see!!!!   J

[Dukefan]

Just arrived at KEF about two hours ago.  I can no longer recommend Airport Direct.  We prepaid for Airport Direct Premium which was to provide direct service to our hotel.  We also paid for an option that said Airport Direct would monitor our fly and be here if our flight is delayed.  Well our flight was delayed and we are waiting for an hour for an Airport Direct Premium driver who will be picking us up as well as several other folks to make stops at several places along the way.  Not as advertised!  Also it was the agent at KEF second day and he said he didn’t know how the option that we paid for worked - neither did our Premium driver who said it was his forth day. Based on our experience I would definitely not book Airport Direct in the future.  I’ll post later how they deal with our claim for a refund  of services not delivered as promised!

[VI_Lounger]

8 hours ago, madrone said:

Oh my I'm disappointed as Diamond Beach was something I was SO looking forward to seeing!  I had asked if they were on the beach during Summer and was told absolutely they were.  That's ok though - I know it's going to be stunning anyway!

 

[VI_Lounger]

15 hours ago, Seaharvest said:

Thank you so much for the information. And I am glad you are having beautiful weather and a fun time on board. I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise and have a good flight home.  

Arrived at the last port and are anchored amongst many amazing 'islands ' that are loaded with birds. There is our first chance of rain but later today so holding hope that we get in our mid day RIB tour so I can maintain zero use if my rain pants 🤞I can't believe we are at the end of our cruise but so thrilled to have this opportunity for world travel again. We have our boarding passes printed and our covid test results for delta thanks to our final saliva test onboard, woo hoo! Now off to enjoy the day!

[Louhut1]

So we were above the tender being let down. It wasn’t too bad and it didn’t last long.  My husband took pictures as he is always fascinated about the workings of the ship. We think it is super convenient place.  It has been a super trip with great weather. Great sights to see.  Iceland is awesome.  Today is first day of rain.  So sorry to see it end.  

[TayanaLorna]

14 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t think any.  I suspect Pergegrina is on Deck 4 or higher. 

Right.  The upper Atrium is above the tenders.

[TayanaLorna]

10 hours ago, madrone said:

Oh my I'm disappointed as Diamond Beach was something I was SO looking forward to seeing!  I had asked if they were on the beach during Summer and was told absolutely they were.  That's ok though - I know it's going to be stunning anyway!

They could be - depends on the flow from the glacier lake, wind conditions and temperature.  They move from the lake, under the road through a river and out to sea.  If the wind is on shore more will be on the beach.

[VI_Lounger]

5 hours ago, Jay23 said:

Thank you..  I have read that and will just have to hope that there will be some late leaving birds for me to see!!!!   J

Well, our reward for getting covered in mist (I call it rain but it was very light so I'll accept their description of mist) was seeing puffins on our RIB tour today! Our guide said puffins love the foggy mist and if it was sunny, they'd go out to sea so we were then grateful for our misty weather.  The tour was a blast and our guide Bjorn was excellent. We also had a fun captain who played great music and gave us a wild ride. Our guide told us the baby puffins are left behind when the parents leave in late August or early September and they come into town because of the street light that get their attention, so they rescue thousands of them each year. We had on full body rain gear so wear a lighter jacket as mine wouldn't fit under the suit so I left it in their storage room. I was plenty warm with just a long sleeve shirt under their suit. So another tour I'd highly recommend! 

[Clay Clayton]

Finally! The day we have been waiting for! This time tomorrow we will hopefully be in Iceland at the Blue Lagoon. We checked in for our @delta flights yesterday afternoon and happily were able to get boarding passes-we had been afraid that we might not be able to get them ahead of time and instead would have to show our vaccination cards at the airport. Just before we were heading to bed last night, all three of our phones dinged with an change from Delta. Unlike most, this change we were VERY happy about. They have changed the plane flying us from Boston from a single aisle 757 to a wide body two aisled 767.  When we booked our flights we paid a little bit more ($200 per person we think) to be in “Premium Select”. This is a class between Comfort+ Economy (extra legroom) and DeltaOne (lie flat business seats). The seats on the 757 are like domestic first class and DrltaOne wasn’t offered. The new plane doesn’t have Premium Select so we have been moved into DeltaOne!  One of us will be sitting at the window (Picture 2) and two of us will be sitting in the center section (Picture 3). All of us now will have direct access to the aisle rather than having to climb over a stranger! The last picture is of the seats we expected to be in. 🤞Delta doesn’t change their mind!

 

I will post “live” here as promised but it won’t be as detailed as what I intend/hope to do on Insta.  If you want the full report, feel free to follow us on there. We are @claynmike

 

Presuming no issues, my next report will be in Iceland!

Edited July 9, 2021 by Clay Clayton

[DJVKN]

5 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Finally! The day we have been waiting for! This time tomorrow we will hopefully be in Iceland at the Blue Lagoon. We checked in for our @delta flights yesterday afternoon and happily were able to get boarding passes-we had been afraid that we might not be able to get them ahead of time and instead would have to show our vaccination cards at the airport. Just before we were heading to bed last night, all three of our phones dinged with an change from Delta. Unlike most, this change we were VERY happy about. They have changed the plane flying us from Boston from a single aisle 757 to a wide body two aisled 767.  When we booked our flights we paid a little bit more ($200 per person we think) to be in “Premium Select”. This is a class between Comfort+ Economy (extra legroom) and DeltaOne (lie flat business seats). The seats on the 757 are like domestic first class and DrltaOne wasn’t offered. The new plane doesn’t have Premium Select so we have been moved into DeltaOne!  One of us will be sitting at the window (Picture 2) and two of us will be sitting in the center section (Picture 3). All of us now will have direct access to the aisle rather than having to climb over a stranger! The last picture is of the seats we expected to be in. 🤞Delta doesn’t change their mind!

 

I will post “live” here as promised but it won’t be as detailed as what I intend/hope to do on Insta.  If you want the full report, feel free to follow us on there. We are @claynmike

 

Presuming no issues, my next report will be in Iceland!

Congrats on the upgrade! I love Delta One.

[Doc who loves to travel]

5 hours ago, Dukefan said:

Just arrived at KEF about two hours ago.  I can no longer recommend Airport Direct.  We prepaid for Airport Direct Premium which was to provide direct service to our hotel.  We also paid for an option that said Airport Direct would monitor our fly and be here if our flight is delayed.  Well our flight was delayed and we are waiting for an hour for an Airport Direct Premium driver who will be picking us up as well as several other folks to make stops at several places along the way.  Not as advertised!  Also it was the agent at KEF second day and he said he didn’t know how the option that we paid for worked - neither did our Premium driver who said it was his forth day. Based on our experience I would definitely not book Airport Direct in the future.  I’ll post later how they deal with our claim for a refund  of services not delivered as promised!

Sorry you had that happen and we know how frustrating that is. We're using Hreyfill this weekend.  Hopefully they are better.  Their communication has been excellent so far. 

[shipster60]

I’ve been reading reports of flight cancellations today. Maybe Elsa related. Anyone here effected?

[worldtraveler1234]

Delta cancelled flight from Boston due to weather. 267 passengers affected.