RachelG

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.

lovely! We have been to many of the ports before, and it is a great itinerary.

yes!

Glad you are doing a b2b. We have only ever done one and loved it. Hope to have more in the future after retirement, but that will be a while longer.

Suitcases have always been put on the bed the morning prior to disembarkation--both on Regent and on Silversea. I like the always available menu. Not that I order off it all that much, but it is there if I am just tired of fancy food and want something basic, which usually happens after about a week on board. If a one year old touched my drink or cookie, I would scold the child, whether it was my kid or someone elses. Maybe that would get the parents attention. As grandma to 2 2 year olds, I am really good at saying NO.

never have had a port fee refunded on Regent, Silversea, or Oceania.

The people who had early morning flights out of Guayaquil had a room provided by Silversea for overnight the two times we have done this trip.

George once asked if they had a meat grinder onboard (yes) and tried to get them to grind up a sirloin steak for him to make a hamburger. They wouldn't do it.

This sounds like a very interesting trip. I will be following closely.

Most people just stayed in the hotel. My husband and I walked to the Malecon, which is not far, during the day, and I felt ok about doing that. But I am fluent in Spanish and we have traveled in central and South America a lot. We didn't see any good looking restaurants--just street food and fast food (McDonalds type). The bar at the hotel is nice as is the restaurant, though we have been there twice now, and the last time the dinner was a set menu arranged by Silversea which was not all that good, though we didn't have to pay extra for it. The first time, we ordered off the regular menu and it was very good.

You definitely don't want a night tour of Guayaquil. See my post below. I was scared riding in the bus to the airport.

Same temperature as Tulsa

Ours. July 2024

Les, I am pretty sure taxis take credit cards in Iceland. We have done a lot of traveling there and used taxis fairly often.

That looks wonderful, but like JP, it would have to be after retirement. We are doing the Kimberley on SS next summer.

Gilly, just catching up to this as work has been very busy. So happy you are onboard, and I will be following along. I always enjoy your reports.

As grandma to 2 2 year olds, boy and girl, I do hope to take them on a cruise on regent someday. I think they are a little young now, though we are working on table manners and sitting through a meal without making a fuss, and both are doing great. I could even see possibly taking one of them now, but not both at the same time. I think I will wait a few more years. But you can be assured, they will not be allowed to run around like wild children.

Same cruise. What JP said. But nothing is very far In Reykjavik and taxis are plentiful.