RachelG

Happy to hear there is a walking/jogging track as I was looking at the deck plans and couldn't really tell for sure. That is a requirement for me. On the old Silversea Explorer, there wasn't a proper one, so I made one up which involved ducking under lifeboats, etc, but I did a lot of miles on that.

It depends where in the world you are. I have seen people swimming laps, etc before breakfast sometimes, but others, they still have the net over it.

Looking forward to following along. We have been to Iceland several times, and it is a favorite. We have never done the HOHO bus in Reykjavik as it is just a great city for walking, but the Golden circle tour is good, though it wouldn't be so good in the rain, so you were probably fine to just save your money.

loved reading your fair report. The Prime 7 dessert incident is one I wished I could have witnessed in person.

In Copenhagen, it is very feasible to do and I have done more than once. The resistance museum is nearby and worth seeing. Copenhagen is a great city for walking.

Big grain of salt to swallow there. your pictures of the Faroes are spectacular. When we were there, it was cold, very overcast,with strong wind and intermittent blowing rain. I was happy to leave because the weather was so terrible. How much a place is enjoyed is certainly afftected by the weather.

Another who agrees about the shows which have some loose plot. I have never seen one that made any sense. They just need to sing and dance and not attempt a plot.

Happy your arrival was smooth. And yes, that new Delta lounge at JFK is quite nice. Though sitting in the plane for 2 hours waiting to take off wasn’t.

Are your seats even upgradable? Not sure.

Charter is included. We arrive in Santiago late afternoon and were supposed to be on an evening flight on AA which would have been super easy. Flight was cancelled and we were taken to a hotel along with a huge Chinese tour group. The hotel was fine, but the offered included dinner was awful. We went to the bar which was much better. There was lots of coughing and hacking among the Chinese group. This was February 2020. Just saying. Husband got super sick after we got home and thought he was going to die. I was a little sick with a cough.

Loving your comments and photos. We have never tried that ice cream sampler in Pacific Rim. I usually eat too much in that venue and give dessert a no. But you have inspired me to try it next month.

Sounds awful. We have embarked and disembarked in Venice before when it was at the cruise terminal in town, and that was difficult enough. We kind of decided we weren’t going there again.

Good choice

If you walk to the right when you go out of the Hilton, there are some very nice restaurants right on the canal. The hotel restaurant is also quite good, and the breakfast buffet is wonderful, or at least it was pre-covid.

CWN's advice is good. We have had times change significantly. We have either had my husband and I were put into different times when the tour had multiple departures, so one of the first things I do when we get to our suite, even before unpacking is look at all the tickets and make sure the times are correct.

East coast of Greenland is stunning.

You can have other people's tickets to exchange. We often do this when traveling with friends.

you will find an envelope in your suite when you board with all the excursion tickets for the excursions you have prebooked. The day of the tour, there will be times listed in the chronicles/passages/whatever it is called, for each tour to meet either in the theater or on shore depending on the port and time. You will bring your tickets and exchange them for a number which designates which tour you are on. If you are traveling with friends, you need to have all the tickets to exchange at once. All parties don't have to be there in person (George rarely is) but should be close by as your number may be called quickly after and you need to be ready to go.

I should been more clear. Yes, there are glaciers in Iceland, but not the same as sailing for hours through dense icebergs with the captain having to cleverly figure out a path through and possibly having to change the entire north Part of the trip due to ice. Which happened in Svalbard. i love Iceland. Would go back in a heartbeat. But if you want real Arctic, go to Svalbard.

On our recent Silversea cruise, embarking in Helsinki, everything we received ahead of time said embarkation was at 2. So we had planned a morning's worth of activities. Then, when we arrived at the hotel in Helsinki the night prior to embarkaton, we received a letter that said transport to the ship would be at 11:30. Our bus arrived at the ship before noon, and we boarded immediately and had lunch same as usual. So the previously published time was incorrect.

Have done both multiple times. They are totally different though if you really want an Arctic experience, you need to do Svalbard. You will have the possibility of seeing polar bears there plus a lot of ice. Iceland is beautiful, but no ice or polar bears. It is countryside and geysers, waterfalls, volcanos and lots of small towns and villages, which are pretty few (really only one) in Svalbard.

The seats recline a little--it is like domestic First on Delta or AA in one of the narrow body planes.

my surgical assistant, her daughter, and her friend just came back from a Carnival cruise, and all are now covid positive.

We too don't really like the Vero bottles, because of the metallic taste, but if using, we wash and rinse using the shower gel.

Icelandiar is fine for day time flights only. The seats are very uncomfortable for sleeping.