Bookworm114

With the change in the schedule it turns out we will be in Papeete for our anniversary. We were thinking of having dinner ashore. For those who have been here before, does anyone have any suggestions for a nice dinner? French or Polynesian would be my first choice. 

Noon announcement included comment that the direction is clockwise. This is the same as on the Sea in November. 

Spotted a passenger I had not seen before walking the deck this morning.  

We arrived in Barcelona this morning. Even though flight from MIA was delayed about two hours this morning we were still walking out of the airport by 9:30. Took the bus into the city and it was 14€ for two. Super easy to find the bus at the airport. It dropped us at Plaça De Catalonia (end of the line) and it was a ten minute walk to hotel. Ride took about 30 minutes. Poured rain off and on thru the day but each cloud burst was not more then half an hour. It was windy and damp all day so quite chilly. We did the Sagrada Familia at noon and it was not crowded. I believe we could have done walk up tickets but we had already purchased online so I am not sure. Ate too many tapas for dinner and we have a Runner Bean tour tomorrow. Hope the rain holds off. 

Well the cruise went really well and we are in JFK waiting for the next flight. Two other things to share. We were late (communication error) in requesting the transfer back to the airport and Viking said it was to late to add. Lo and behold, there was an opportunity on board to add a transfer on day 4 or 5. We already had a taxi booked but it would have been less expensive to use Viking. And I don’t understand the restrictions on the Thermal Spa. We used it twice and there is signage stating a limit of four in  the big pool and two in the hot tub. The first time there were nine people total in the Facility and the second time there were seven.  I don’t know if they overstayed their time or if it is poorly enforced. Hubby resisted me asking so I did not pursue but I still wonder what was going on. 
 

Best wishes to those still to cruise. Have a great time. Lisa. 

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Glad to see you made it to Heimaey!

 

We had a lovely day on the mountain hike. Lunch at Tanginn was soup and sandwiches w chocolate cake. Choice of soup and the mushroom was delicious. It was cloudy and overcast this morning but now (3:00) the sun is shining and the skies are blue. 

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

You did better than we did!  We didn't ask for anything, as we were just planning to stay ashore after the first excursion and eat at one of the restaurants not far from the pier instead of going back to the ship for lunch.  But before I left the ship, there was a knock on the door, and someone was standing there with a bag with 2 small sandwiches, 2 apples, 2 bananas, and 2 bottles of water!  It wasn't a fabulous lunch, but it did solve the problem of where I could/should eat lunch!  I ended up eating mine a third of the way up Eldfell Mountain, and saw someone else doing the same!  My spouse decided to pass on the AM excursion and just eat lunch on the ship before joining me later. 

 

I don't know what places Viking might be offering vouchers for, but I read pre-cruise that Gott at Barustigur 11 is good, with a more varied menu than most restaurants in Heimaey.

I wish. The coupons are good for Langabud in Djupivogur and Tanginn in Heimaey. Both of them are right by the piers. Now I just hope we stop in Heimaey since the last five cruises have bypassed due to weather. 

It was too late to change OUR plans for the next two days. We booked two excursions a day so as to be off the ship. FYI. They are both tender ports coming up and if you have multiple excursions that don’t allow enough time to tender back and forth for lunch, Guest Services will give you lunch vouchers to use at a specific cafe on shore. I don’t know if they offer automatically but I asked how to handle lunch and then they offered them. Food on the ship is lovely so I hope the two places are good. 

On Jupiter. I’m rather annoyed at Viking right now. I just found out that you ARE able to book a private guide in each port. You are not allowed to wander on your own but I confirmed w an Excursions staff that you can book a private tour. You must let Guest Services know and they will get security to let you off the ship. I mentioned a group we had used, Troll Excursions, and he said they were approved. The PA announcements were phrased funny about the all aboard times so I asked. I asked first at the Tour Desk and she said “no way” but the Excursions staff said yes. It is too late for us (day four) but future cruisers may be able to schedule something. PLEASE confirm w Viking before you make plans to make sure it works on your sailing. I am going to reach out to tellus and see what they say. 

We did Iceland’s Natural Beauty today.  It was great. Did not count but there 25+ on the bus. People seemed to be wearing masks on the bus and a few took them off while walking. It has been very warm in Northern Iceland this week. It was around 57F but felt warmer. It was very windy  and sunny at the Myvatn lake stop. On the plus side, not a midge in sight. They don’t like the wind. Godafoss Waterfall was cloudy but still very nice and no rain. As you go up to the main lookout there is an inconspicuous stairway on the right that will take you down to water level. It is steep and the ground is uneven but sweet if you can manage it. 

27 minutes ago, covergirl1300 said:

one more question for those of you that went before or stayed after the cruise.

We are looking for a couple of nice places for dinner. Any suggestions? We have 2 nights before boarding Jupiter. Will ask our hotel to make reservations for us once we arrive. TIA!

 

We really enjoyed https://www.sjavargrillid.is/en/ which is in the center of town and https://koparrestaurant.is/en/home-2/ which is out in the old harbor. We were not crazy about Kol. 

15 hours ago, gramfrog said:

We are on Jupiter now, just leaving Reykjavik for isfajordur. Can anyone tell me which day and about what time of day the ship crosses the Arctic Circle?  After leaving which port?  Thank you. 

We are also onJupiter. If you look at the printed copy of the daily it mentions when we cross the arctic circle. I think it is around 8:45 tonight. 

46 minutes ago, gramfrog said:

Awesome!! Thanks!!  This is on Jupiter now, correct?

Yes. Picture taken from the Wintergarden looking at Viðey island

For those of you with the Silver Spirits package there are some tastings on board. They are listed on the back of the Silver Spirits flyer found at the bars. I saw them by accident. Three of the four are included at no additional cost (Malt, Cognac, Whiskey) and the Premium Red Wine gets a 30% discount off the $50 cost. 
 

Sorry for the scribbles. 

Another beautiful day on Jupiter. Rain was forecasted but at 12:45 nothing yet. Blue skies between the fast moving clouds. Two interesting things today. 15 people joined the cruise this morning. Their flight was delayed and we saw them come aboard around nine. Second  thing not so good. We were coming back from the horseback riding outing, which I recommend, and we had to wait to board while a man in his pjs and his wife in a paper gown were loaded into an ambulance. While we don’t know it was COVID a crew member sprayed/wiped down the ramp handles before we were allowed on. It would be even sadder if they were in the group of 15 from the morning. Will post if there is any announcement but I doubt there will be. 

Just now, Bookworm114 said:

Happy to. First half day was great. We were able to shift some but not all of the alternative reservations so hubby is happy. Gym not requiring reservations. You are limited to two Thermal Spa reservations per cruise but can check for availability when you want to go and see if it is possible. Have not done that yet so I will see how that goes. 

We are Lisa and Kevin from Anaheim. 

1 hour ago, LibraryJo said:

Bookworm114, We'd appreciate it if you'd keep us posted at to the weather and midges.  It's two weeks til our cruise!  Hope you have a great (and uneventful!)  time!

Happy to. First half day was great. We were able to shift some but not all of the alternative reservations so hubby is happy. Gym not requiring reservations. You are limited to two Thermal Spa reservations per cruise but can check for availability when you want to go and see if it is possible. Have not done that yet so I will see how that goes. 

For the future cruisers, as we were coming aboard Jupiter today a couple behind us came straight from the airport but NOT on a Viking bus. They turned in their luggage and confirmed w Katie Asst. Cruise Director that they could not leave bubble once aboard. She confirmed and then she said “I have not seen you go aboard yet” wink wink. I told them the city was a lovely 30 minute walk along the bay. You could see Harpa from where we were standing. It was just pushing 12:30 so they had plenty of time to explore. If they had been on a Viking bus it may have made a difference if they were checked in at the airport. 

This is a shot from the walk along the bay about two miles from the cruise dock. We came in early and had five days before joining the cruise. 

Got Onboard the Jupiter today. 636 passengers per Katie the Asst. Cruise Director. California Cuisine, Xiang, and Asian Panorama in the Chef’s Table. Weather was glorious today with broken clouds and blue sky (really!), no rain. Viking added some city tours this evening for those interested. 

On 8/16/2021 at 11:41 AM, JM0115 said:

We got on board around 11am.  I was also concerned that we would have an issue booking the spa (thermal suite) and went there right after the muster. Had no issues getting what I wanted.  Later on during the journey I could not get the thermal suite for extra bookings, but we were on the Sky that had the missing ports which made it more crowded as we had extra "sea" days. We had no issues getting extra Chef's Table reservations but did not get the exact times we wanted.  

 

@Bookworm114I tend to worry too much about these things too, but need to learn to relax more 🙂. When we were on board the Viking app kept crashing and was not really useful for making reservations at the restaurants. Hopefully this is fixed now.  Have a wonderful cruise!

Just what I needed to hear. Thanks!

Us to! We are actually sitting in the MSP airport on the way to Iceland. Tweaked the excursions bit and planing on a great trip. 

On 8/16/2021 at 11:41 AM, JM0115 said:

We got on board around 11am.  I was also concerned that we would have an issue booking the spa (thermal suite) and went there right after the muster. Had no issues getting what I wanted.  Later on during the journey I could not get the thermal suite for extra bookings, but we were on the Sky that had the missing ports which made it more crowded as we had extra "sea" days. We had no issues getting extra Chef's Table reservations but did not get the exact times we wanted.  

 

@Bookworm114I tend to worry too much about these things too, but need to learn to relax more 🙂. When we were on board the Viking app kept crashing and was not really useful for making reservations at the restaurants. Hopefully this is fixed now.  Have a wonderful cruise!

Just what I needed to hear. Thanks!

We are on the Aug 23 ship. We arrive a few days early and will join the ship from the hotel. I want to go aboard around 3-4 since once on we can’t leave. Husband wants to go aboard by noon to make restaurant/gym reservations. 
 

For the Sky/Jupiter sailings this week, would you share with me how it went for you when you made on board reservations? Early cruises said they had no problems making changes and additions but he is a worrier. Thanks. 

32 minutes ago, KarNog said:

So, I'm almost on my way to sail 8/21 on the beautiful Sky! I almost have a Covid test nailed down, I found my bug net that I ordered weeks ago and lost, I got my nails did.

I know y'all are all worried and for good reason, but I'm so excited I'm about to pee my pants.

Is it time to start worrying about plane crashes and missed connections? (aka more crap we cannot control)

Safe travels, everybody!

12 minutes ago, BarbRN said:

No kidding sound like me. We packed today. Don’t forget to cross pack with your roomie. Some people’s cases never arrive.