Saturn's Iceland and Norway's Arctic Explorer-July 19-August 2 LIVEish

[Clay Clayton]

It is so nice to see Reykjavik with sunshine and beautiful weather. We wore shorts!  We had a delicious fish lunch at Höfnin right on the water. After the hotel recommended the same place as was recommended on here didn't think we could really go anywhere else.  We had fish and chips and the daily fish special.  Both were delicious!  We of course split them half and half.
 

After lunch we returned to the hotel and rested a bit until time to go to The Secret Lagoon. We had a wonderful afternoon there enjoying the warm water and beautiful views.  It's much more civilized than Blue Lagoon!  And ran into Paul (and wife Sandy) who organized our CruiseCritic Meet & Greet for after we are aboard. Just floating around minding my own business when this stranger says, are you Clay?😂

 

We returned to the hotel about 7 and had Icelandic hotdogs (so yummy) and a waffle for supper and dessert from the food carts across the street from our hotel and next to the Church.
 

It's now 8pm and we are headed to bed. We are waaay past the age where we can stay up and go for 34 hours straight!  Night!

[Azulann]

Your lunch looks amazing ! 

[wynnsr]

40 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

We are in a very small room, it's noisy, but a great location.  It's fine for our one night especially given how tired we are. But wouldn't want to stay here any longer.  

Edition is VERY nice, convenient location (next to Harpa) and pricey (we're using Marriott points). Whatever you choose, book early as prices go up and availability goes down.

Edited July 18, 2023 by wynnsr

[slewis7]

By the way, Clay, your post mentions the Secret Lagoon, but your photo shows the  Sky Lagoon.  Which one did you go to?  We visited the Blue Lagoon on our trip and loved it, but I am definitely open to trying a different lagoon on our next visit.

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We are in a very small room, it's noisy, but a great location.  It's fine for our one night especially given how tired we are. But wouldn't want to stay here any longer.  

 

I stayed in the same hotel two years ago.  I agree with Clay.  Fine for one night, maybe.  The folks at the front desk were great and arranged carry out breakfast for us both mornings we were there, as we had early starts.  Sorry we didn't get to check out the breakfast buffet.

 

Note the following about the hotel.  No elevator.  Not handicapped accessible, including the lobby.  No air conditioning and no screens in the windows (or at least not in our attic room). Not all of the rooms are in the building that Clay photographed; they are in a building across the street. Attic rooms are particularly to be avoided  because of low ceilings that are not easy to avoid banging your head on. 

[CCWineLover]

Clay - I can't believe how wonderful it looks!  Would love to revisit Reykjavik in the sunshine!  Enjoy all that Vitamin D for sure and count your blessings.

Love all the pictures - especially the ones of food!  I see you did your traditional Hot Dog (from your previous trips).  🙂

 

[CurlerRob]

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

It is so nice to see Reykjavik with sunshine and beautiful weather.

 

I think you guys may have slipped into an alternate universe. If it's sunny when you get to Bergen, that will prove it! (Based on a combined 8 days in the two cities - every one with rain - still great spots). 🍺🥌

[wynnsr]

Watching Saturn dock on port webcam. Almost ready to celebrate Mike's 60th in grand style. 🎉

[Mpc524]

Boarded Saturn this morning. So excited to see Damien Solesse is our CD! He’s one of our absolute favorites. Also, we’ve sailed with Harry and Steph from the troupe as well as Laurence the guitarist. All of them are the BEST! Here’s the board….

[paulpcsma]

Hi All.    Our meet and Mingle is the same date and time, but has been relocated to Torshavn.   The staff has prepared name tags for us based on the roster I sent them and you will also get an invitation sent to your room.   Sorry about the last minute venue change.    

[Clay Clayton]

18 hours ago, slewis7 said:

By the way, Clay, your post mentions the Secret Lagoon, but your photo shows the  Sky Lagoon.  Which one did you go to?  We visited the Blue Lagoon on our trip and loved it, but I am definitely open to trying a different lagoon on our next visit.

My bad, it was Sky Lagoon!  It's much much much more pleasant than Sky Lagoon.  

[Clay Clayton]

There is a first for everything! Pretty long line to board Viking Saturn this morning.  After receiving our key cards at the outside tent, we then boarded and had to wait in Manfredi's for about 15 minutes. Then went to Chef's Table where they checked our passport and sent us to our muster station for a life jacket demonstration.  Probably an hour from exiting the cab to being "free". 😂

So happy to be back onboard.

[WanderingBrit]

1 minute ago, Clay Clayton said:

There is a first for everything! Pretty long line to board Viking Saturn this morning.  After receiving our key cards at the outside tent, we then boarded and had to wait in Manfredi's for about 15 minutes. Then went to Chef's Table where they checked our passport and sent us to our muster station for a life jacket demonstration.  Probably an hour from exiting the cab to being "free". 😂

So happy to be back onboard.

 

 

 

What time did you arrive at the harbor?

[Azulann]

Yea! You are finally on board.🥂

I too always end up at the Aquavit terrace once we do the muster stuff.  It is one of my favorite places on ship . Love eating outside  for breakfast and lunch  whenever I can on  the ship.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Azulann

[CCWineLover]

7 hours ago, Mpc524 said:

Boarded Saturn this morning. So excited to see Damien Solesse is our CD! He’s one of our absolute favorites. Also, we’ve sailed with Harry and Steph from the troupe as well as Laurence the guitarist. All of them are the BEST! Here’s the board….

We absolutely loved Laurence on the guitar.  To our opinion he is easily the best guitar person we've had in many cruises.  Not overbearing, nor loud, nor falsetto, nor dissonance like we've seen from others. 

Please enjoy him to the fullest!!

[CCWineLover]

Clay - so fantastic that you are able to sit outside at the Aquavit Terrace deck to have lunch and/or snacks as you arrive today!!   One of our favorite places to eat, but on our Iceland cruise, there weren't many days you could do that.  You are all indeed blessed by this sunshine!

[janetcbl]

Clay, When you find a minute would you please ask some officer (crew member?) on board to please fix the Webcam? Those of us “traveling with you” would enjoy seeing where you actually are. Thanks!

[SJD117]

@Clay Clayton and Mike — thanks for getting together with us in Reykjavik this morning after we disembarked our cruise and before you embarked on yours. Great fun to meet you at last! Have a wonderful cruise just like we did, with good weather to match!

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, WanderingBrit said:

What time did you arrive at the harbor?

I failed to note the time but it was around 11am

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, SJD117 said:

@Clay Clayton and Mike — thanks for getting together with us in Reykjavik this morning after we disembarked our cruise and before you embarked on yours. Great fun to meet you at last! Have a wonderful cruise just like we did, with good weather to match!

Backatya on all counts!  Enjoy your post cruise stay!

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, janetcbl said:

Clay, When you find a minute would you please ask some officer (crew member?) on board to please fix the Webcam? Those of us “traveling with you” would enjoy seeing where you actually are. Thanks!

Thanks for the reminder. I forgot to do so today. But will try to remember tomorrow. 

[Clay Clayton]

10pm Somewhere off the coast of Iceland. 
 

Nice day getting back aboard Viking after being away since 2021. Other than the less than speedy embarkation, we have noted (at least so far) no major negative changes onboard since our previous cruises. But there have been changes which I'll try to capture. 
 

We had a nice lunch in the World Cafe sitting in the beautiful day we were so happy to have. After lunch we unpacked - love the new drawers in the closet!  and suddenly it was time for pre-dinner. 😂

 

We met Gary (our friend from Houston-hereafter referred to as G) at the Aquavit and enjoyed cocktails, seafood, and sushi while we left the pier. Our friends Scott and Robert (from Asheville and Durham-hereafter S&R) attended the first lecture which was about Iceland. They said it was informative.   This is the first time I recall Viking having lectures at 6:15. There is another one tomorrow at the same time. The schedule is pretty empty otherwise.  No trivia😢

 

After we got cold (and had finished our pre-dinner)we headed to the Explorer's Lounge while waiting for the Lecture attendees to appear. From their G headed to bed and the remaining four headed to The Restaurant. We had a nice dinner. It appears that most portions are smaller than previously but that isn't an issue to me. The only one that wasn't was Mike's cheese plate he ordered for dessert. It was enough for the whole table! We had a great time interacting with Alexandria (from Macedonia) our bar server. We were seated next to one of the doors to the kitchen-it was amazing to see how many folks they had to run out of there who were looking for the restroom😂. Unlike other recent reports, we didn't find service slow. We went into the restaurant some time after 7:15 (we did have a 5 min or so wait in line) and we were done at 8:43. 
 

I started writing this on our balcony (with the last view of snow covered mountains you can see below) but had to finish it inside as it was too

goodnight!

[aungrl]

First question for tomorrow morning - pistachio buns??  Inquiring minds are waiting to know!

[Clay Clayton]

Not as inquiring as mine!

[FetaCheese]

Cheese connoisseur here.  Have enjoyed the cheese plate on V.  If possible, can you describe what was served, and from which countries since they most likely sourcing from Europe.  Will be on V later this year to Hawaii. 

 

Thanks, nice to see you're back onboard, and especially for your live from.