Jim_Iain - Summit Live Post B3B Greenland / Iceland / Canada Aug 7, 19 and 31, 2022

[dani negreanu]

26 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Dani, that was SUCH a fun Roll Call group, wasn’t it? @DrKoob’s photo name tags at sail away and another get-together sure were fun.

 

It was the BEST roll call ever.

 

@Jim_Iain -- so sorry about your cancelled stop tomorrow. Such a pity you don't get to enjoy another day in amazing Iceland.

 

I'm glad we got to talk about our stops in Iceland. I went online to check on the tour company, SAGA Travel, which we used then with utmost satisfaction, and they went belly-up during the Covid "era".

 

I'm happy to report that they're back in business, for all those who have Iceland in their future itinerary.

[TomTN]

14 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just found out due to expected high winds, our stop in Isafjordur will be cancelled and will be a day at sea instead.  
 

That is a common occurance there. It happened to us a few years ago.

[Smmessineo]

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just found out due to expected high winds, our stop in Isafjordur will be cancelled and will be a day at sea instead.

That stinks. I feel bad for you, and especially for those who aren't B2B.

Back in 2013, we were on a transatlantic cruise with Iceland and Greenland. An extratropical storm put an end to all 3 port days up there. I learned a tough lesson about never planning a cruise around the ports.  That's one reason I'm so intrigued by your trip this year! I would love a b2b to maybe b in that region. Redundancy !

[Jim_Iain]

Last night we had a Birthday party for Mar and Joe in Retreat.   Fun time

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lexmiller]

44 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just found out due to expected high winds, our stop in Isafjordur will be cancelled and will be a day at sea instead.  
 

Captain Costas, on the Edge TA this year, during one of his amazing talks, recommended the app, "Windy" to keep track of the weather.  We downloaded it and refer to it frequently.  And WOW, Iceland is definitely currently getting slammed with powerful winds to the NW, and essentially circling the country to a lesser degree - fascinating.  Definitely recommend this app - hey, if Captain Costas Nestoroudis not only recommends it but uses it personally, it's got to be good!  And it is.  

[Jim_Iain]

We also celebrated Penelope  and Alex going home. 

The Concierges in Retreat are now Mar and Lyle. 
 

[Jim_Iain]

13 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

Captain Costas, on the Edge TA this year, during one of his amazing talks, recommended the app, "Windy" to keep track of the weather.  We downloaded it and refer to it frequently.  And WOW, Iceland is definitely currently getting slammed with powerful winds to the NW, and essentially circling the country to a lesser degree - fascinating.  Definitely recommend this app - hey, if Captain Costas Nestoroudis not only recommends it but uses it personally, it's got to be good!  And it is.  

I originally found Windy by a recommendation from John Escobar a Retreat Concierge, I believe on Edge. 
 

Definitely a great app. 
 

Thanks for the reminder.   Haven’t checked it today.   Been too kicked back. 

[Jim_Iain]

After looking at Windy I understand why we will be skipping the port 

 

 

 Bob of Karen and Bob had heard mention of the port cancellation and typhoon strength winds.   Bob - you were spot on.  And I discounted it because it was so smooth yesterday. 
 

I also watch  Wave model. 
http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=natla_height

 

[ohiojohn]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just found out due to expected high winds, our stop in Isafjordur will be cancelled and will be a day at sea instead.  
 

Not to start a riot, but we are on the ship behind you at Reykjavik, the Viking Mars.  Our first stop is the same as yours.  So far we are on our way to Isafjordur. Maybe we are docking and the Summit was scheduled to tender.  Tendering with high winds not so good.  Been on the Summit many times.

we could find ourselves waking up tomorrow going in circles 

Edited August 19, 2022 by ohiojohn

[takemewithyou]

1 hour ago, ohiojohn said:

Not to start a riot, but we are on the ship behind you at Reykjavik, the Viking Mars.  Our first stop is the same as yours.  So far we are on our way to Isafjordur. Maybe we are docking and the Summit was scheduled to tender.  Tendering with high winds not so good.  Been on the Summit many times.

we could find ourselves waking up tomorrow going in circles 

If my recent one and only Viking experience is any indication, you will be going in circles in the am and the communication is much less from their officers than my experiences with Celebrity and Azamara ….sorry.

edited to say….hopefully you may be docking.

Edited August 19, 2022 by takemewithyou

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

I'm glad we got to talk about our stops in Iceland. I went online to check on the tour company, SAGA Travel, which we used then with utmost satisfaction, and they went belly-up during the Covid "era".

 

I'm happy to report that they're back in business, for all those who have Iceland in their future itinerary.

 

Well, I hope they're enjoying all the ill-gotten gains from all of us who booked tours with them in 2020, had to pay in full in advance, and then they declared bankruptcy and we were out hundreds of dollars.  I would never book with them again.

[dani negreanu]

2 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Well, I hope they're enjoying all the ill-gotten gains from all of us who booked tours with them in 2020, had to pay in full in advance, and then they declared bankruptcy and we were out hundreds of dollars.  I would never book with them again.

 

Oy, Linda, I'm so very sorry to read that. Since both couples of my friends were refunded, I assumed everyone was refunded and so many refunds were the reason for bankruptcy.

 

I therefore retract my recommendation of SAGA Travel.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Oy, Linda, I'm so very sorry to read that. Since both couples of my friends were refunded, I assumed everyone was refunded and so many refunds were the reason for bankruptcy.

 

I therefore retract my recommendation of SAGA Travel.

As far as I know, the only ones who got refunded were the people whose credit cards did the right thing and had their back.  Unfortunately, when I found out the tour company didn't take AmEx, I grabbed my Capital One card.  Big mistake.  Needless to say, I don't do business with them anymore either, and I withdrew the $100,000 I had on deposit in their bank.

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, ohiojohn said:

Not to start a riot, but we are on the ship behind you at Reykjavik, the Viking Mars.  Our first stop is the same as yours.  So far we are on our way to Isafjordur. Maybe we are docking and the Summit was scheduled to tender.  Tendering with high winds not so good.  Been on the Summit many times.

we could find ourselves waking up tomorrow going in circles 

LOL, one never knows who you run into posting on Jim _Iain live blog. 

Ohio John , hope you are having the best cruise on the the Viking Mars.

Cheers,

Patti

[amcco]

Finally caught up! Great as usual. Played around a bit to get rid of some of the blue 😉

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

4 hours ago, lexmiller said:

Captain Costas, on the Edge TA this year, during one of his amazing talks, recommended the app, "Windy" to keep track of the weather.  We downloaded it and refer to it frequently.  And WOW, Iceland is definitely currently getting slammed with powerful winds to the NW, and essentially circling the country to a lesser degree - fascinating.  Definitely recommend this app - hey, if Captain Costas Nestoroudis not only recommends it but uses it personally, it's got to be good!  And it is.  

Our captain after the 3rd typhoon was forecast told us about Windy.  He said the free version works pretty well for most.  1 of the typhoons didn’t cause any real concern the other 2, both on the same cruise, did drastically change our itinerary. It caused extra maneuvering because of needing exit stamps for our visas! 

[Travelicious]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 A big shout out to Karen and Bob who brought us a Fitbit Charger from LA.   

Heh!  Fitbit chargers must be a commonly forgotten item when packing for cruises.  The cruise lines should sell them onboard.

[abbydancer2003]

1 minute ago, Travelicious said:

Heh!  Fitbit chargers must be a commonly forgotten item when packing for cruises.  The cruise lines should sell them onboard.

Problem is that every model has a different charger.  I have quite a collection right now.

[Ipeeinthepools]

4 hours ago, ohiojohn said:

Not to start a riot, but we are on the ship behind you at Reykjavik, the Viking Mars.  Our first stop is the same as yours.  So far we are on our way to Isafjordur. Maybe we are docking and the Summit was scheduled to tender.  Tendering with high winds not so good.  Been on the Summit many times.

we could find ourselves waking up tomorrow going in circles 

 

Please let us know when you dock.

[bob@karen]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Relaxing day.   A big shout out to Karen and Bob who brought us a Fitbit Charger from LA.    What a sweet couple and so fun to get to know.    We ended up chatting at Al Bacio for 1 1/2 hours.   

 

Thank's again and again. 

 

My Fitbit is plugged in and already up to 25%.   

 

It's incredible how much we depend on our watches to see things like how well we slept.... duhhhhh...   If your tired you didn't get a good night sleep. 

 

 

You’re welcome! Were we really in Al Baccio for 1 1/2 hours? You are as entertaining in person as you are online so the time flew by and we forgot about CC meet up, too. 

Glad to hear that the charger is bringing your Fitbit back to life! We are just as dependent on our Apple watches. 

 

Hope to see you (and meet Iain) before the end of this cruise. We are enjoying your posts and photos here. 

Karen

 

[Jim_Iain]

Last evening I checked out route out to see how we were avoiding the storm.  I thought we might hug the coast but to my surprise saw we were heading east.   I believe because the winds and sears are expect to be strong he is going around the island so we are protected by Iceland.

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, ohiojohn said:

Not to start a riot, but we are on the ship behind you at Reykjavik, the Viking Mars.  Our first stop is the same as yours.  So far we are on our way to Isafjordur. Maybe we are docking and the Summit was scheduled to tender.  Tendering with high winds not so good.  Been on the Summit many times.

we could find ourselves waking up tomorrow going in circles 

 

Will be interesting to to hear of your adventure.   May be a good opportunity to grab a tour since all of ours were cancelled.  

 

I just looked on Cruise mapper and you are indeed not diverting.   

 

Will be interesting to see if our Captain was just very conservative due to the size of our ship and the need to tender.    If the winds and waves were up it would be difficult for tendering.

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Our captain after the 3rd typhoon was forecast told us about Windy.  He said the free version works pretty well for most.  1 of the typhoons didn’t cause any real concern the other 2, both on the same cruise, did drastically change our itinerary. It caused extra maneuvering because of needing exit stamps for our visas! 

 

I used it first on a TP to Japan and the Japan immersion.    The typhoon was bearing down on us on turn around time.   We got a phone call at 6:00 AM for all B2B to meet in Rendezvous lounge that we were being evacuated to a hotel because they didn't have time to board the new guests.     We dodged 2 more typhoons on the immersion.    I had 8 tours screwed up. 

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, Travelicious said:

Heh!  Fitbit chargers must be a commonly forgotten item when packing for cruises.  The cruise lines should sell them onboard.

 

I had mine but one of the pins broke a spring.  You don't realize how much you use your watch until you don't have one. 

[Jim_Iain]

After my fist coffee of the day I decided to check on @ohiojohn progress.    I have a feeling they are delayed if Cruise Mapper is reporting correctly.  Since it is now 8:03 AM here -   they look like they are at least going to be late to port and are experincing 4.7 meter ( 15 ft) seas.