Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[librarylady19]

15 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Yikes!  What happened?  I hope, but don’t think, KEF has a Sky Club!

Only lounge at KEF is the Saga Club for_ passengers on Icelandic Air and others outlined in the link provided. 

Edited May 30, 2021 by librarylady19

[Travel2Learn]

1 minute ago, librarylady19 said:

Only lounge at KEF is the Saga Club for_ passengers on Icelandic Air.

Business class on United can use the Saga lounge.  Can not bring guests.  

[librarylady19]

11 hours ago, id4elizabeth said:

Very strange!  Perhaps Viking is becoming overwhelmed.  I've always found cheaper flights on my own and I'm a 9 times Viking cruiser.  You can always use Viking transfers even if you book your own air - as long as you're coming and going on embarkation and departure days.

I opted to book my own flights directly with Icelandair as Vikings pricing was ridiculous. It’s a 6-1.2 direct flight from Chicago for approximately $700 pp. Viking was charging $1099 pp ( makes no sense that we would be charged more than someone coming from Miami ). Even adding viking airport transfers transfers, we still came out ahead. 

[SantaFe1]

26 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

In Seydisfjordur the ship departs at 11 pm.  For those people who have access to excursion times, are there any excursions scheduled for the evening hours or late afternoon?

No, I was sad to see that they did not.  All back by 5:30 or so.  The latest included was 2:30.  I was hoping for a 5.

[Travel2Learn]

Video posted on May 27th.  

Maybe by the time we get there the lava will be closer to the parking area.  For now it is a long hike.  

https://youtu.be/yrz4ah3zwHg

Edited May 30, 2021 by Travel2Learn

[librarylady19]

29 minutes ago, gramfrog said:

thanks.  We will check on this!!!!  I have six people coming out of ORD.

 

 

Always a good practice to check Google flights before calling Viking Air, then you know what options are available. 

[AKexplorer]

Thursday we received a message from Air Canada that our Aug 2  IAD-KEF flight was cancelled. I called them to see if they could reschedule and the best they could do was turn a 6 hour trip into 16+ hours with two connections. We ended up rebooking on Icelandair for less money. BTW - we had originally paid for Viking air - but they would not allow us to extend our stay in Iceland. Fortunately they were very nice and willingly refunded the money paid for the air portion. So this is now our third go-around with scheduling air. For us, each time we were able to find a cheaper fare so there was a benefit in the end.

[Peregrina651]

50 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

In Seydisfjordur the ship departs at 11 pm.  For those people who have access to excursion times, are there any excursions scheduled for the evening hours or late afternoon?

 

Yes and no.

 

Wartime Museum 3:30 -- but it is a long tour and includes a meal, so back on board after 9pm

Elves -- last tour 1:30pm

Skalanes -- last tour 3pm (back on board for dinner)

Included tour -- last tour 3:30

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

No, I was sad to see that they did not.  All back by 5:30 or so.  The latest included was 2:30.  I was hoping for a 5.

 

Wow. What is schedule for July 3 is so different. Our last included is 3:30 plus two other departures for tours after 3pm. Strange!

[SantaFe1]

2 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Wow. What is schedule for July 3 is so different. Our last included is 3:30 plus two other departures for tours after 3pm. Strange!

My bad.  They added the Elves and Museum late tours later, after we booked, so I never checked again.  We also have those now. But the latest included is still 2:30.  I will keep checking because we would really like a later one.  

[Dukefan]

A tip for sometimes getting an Excursio before it is offically listed in your MVJ. 

 

In the past, if I have seen an Excursion listed on an earlier cruise's CC Roll Call but not on my MVJ for our cruise, I have used the "Chat" feature and ask if the Excursion was going to be added to our cruise.  If the answer was yes. I ask, can I book it.  Sometimes the answer is yes and they booked it right then, several days before it actually shows in the MVJ excursion list.  As soon as it is booked by Chat, it shows up on my MVJ calendar.   Sometimes when I ask if I can book it the answer is that it is not currently available for booking.  I've even had one Chat where I ask about two different Excursions and Chat said that both would be added to our cruise but their system would let Chat book one of them but not the other.

 

In any case, I felt this might be a good tip for any folks wanting to get a particular Excursion on your cruise that may not have appeared yet in your MVJ.

[Peregrina651]

The first sailing of the Viking Venus is history and a first-timer offers his review, including discussion of the Covid protocols. Sorry he didn't talk about the boarding procedure -- but maybe he covered that in an earlier post. Read it all here: #344   

[janetcbl]

14 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

I was thinking about this, but it's over two hours driving each way to spend less than an hour on the water. Is it still worth it vs. the other options?

IMO, Yes! The scenery on the way is spectacular and the town of Hofn is interesting. Not sure where you will be having lunch, but we ate at a small restaurant right on the coast (fish on the menu if I recall…very good). 

 

 

14 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

I was thinking about this, but it's over two hours driving each way to spend less than an hour on the water. Is it still worth it vs. the other options?

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by janetcbl
Typo

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 4/13/2021 at 2:10 PM, Heartgrove said:

Posted these websites on my cruise's July 17-24 Roll Call and wanted to share them here as well. Surfing the web, I found this site which has information on the ports of Iceland. I was curious what the more obscure, like Djupvogur which is a town of 400, would offer.

 

https://www.cruiseiceland.com/

 

https://issuu.com/cruiseiceland/docs/cruise-iceland-2019_brochure

Thank you so much for this information.  I just spent an hour flipping through the pages.   I'm a glutton for information, with "only" about two months before my cruise.  I'm behind in my planning, even though my "planning" doesn't have to be as broad as usual, given that Iceland doesn't trust us to roam their cities quite yet because of Covid (or perhaps Viking doesn't).   But I still love learning as much as I can before I cruise, even stuff like what the port area is like, so thanks for sharing the links. 

 

I see Seydisfjordur has a population of 700.  We might be doubling their size come late June through early September! 

 

Since you're from VA, I have to ask: Are you flying IAD to Reykjavik on Icelandair?  If so I'd love to hear about your experience later, should you feel have time/feel like it. 

[TayanaLorna]

47 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

The first sailing of the Viking Venus is history and a first-timer offers his review, including discussion of the Covid protocols. Sorry he didn't talk about the boarding procedure -- but maybe he covered that in an earlier post. Read it all here: #344   

Someone did discuss boarding early on but Portsmouth is going to be totally different then ours.  They all drive and park their cars.  Plus no one was on the ship before them.

[TERRIER1]

42 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

IMO, Yes! The scenery on the way is spectacular and the town of Hofn is interesting. Not sure where you will be having lunch, but we ate at a small restaurant right on the coast (fish on the menu if I recall…very good). 

 

 

 

I agree. The scenery is spectacular. If they are taking you all the way to the lagoon then I would hope they include a visit to Diamond Beach which is literally across the Ring Road 1 from the lagoon. 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by TERRIER1

[Heartgrove]

17 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

But no matter what be glad you weren’t on the flight today! 🤪

 

This is a bit long-winded but may explain the delay and the then snowball effect.

 

I may be wrong but I believe that DL246 had mechanical problems  leaving JFK. The 757-2Q8 (N624AG) was scheduled on May 28 with a 10:15 pm departure arriving at 8:05 am KEH the next day. The flight's flying time was similar to other days taking 4 hrs 35 min flight time. But it did not leave JFK until after midnight at 12:47 am and then arriving KEH at 9:22 am. It could be that Delta is using one crew on the Outbound-Inbound (DL246-DL247) flights and that the flight crew ran out of Duty Period hours of service. They would then need 10 hours rest. That meant that the return flight was  cancelled. Delta then went on to fly the scheduled 5/29 DL246 with 757-2Q8 (N707TW) that  arrived today to cover DL247. That DL247 is currently enroute to JFK but departed 17 minutes late. It will then fly to Seattle already showing 17 minutes late for Seattle. No plane is scheduled for the JFK-KEH DL246 today (5/30) which may see a cancellation and Delta will have N624AG (the original plane that started this!) fly the return 5/31 DL247.

 

The Delta 757-2Q8 planes were bought from American Airlines in 2007-2008. 757-2xx airplanes may look alike but are divided into subclasses by the original airline ownership.

[Heartgrove]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Thank you so much for this information.  I just spent an hour flipping through the pages.   I'm a glutton for information, with "only" about two months before my cruise.  I'm behind in my planning, even though my "planning" doesn't have to be as broad as usual, given that Iceland doesn't trust us to roam their cities quite yet because of Covid (or perhaps Viking doesn't).   But I still love learning as much as I can before I cruise, even stuff like what the port area is like, so thanks for sharing the links. 

 

I see Seydisfjordur has a population of 700.  We might be doubling their size come late June through early September! 

 

Since you're from VA, I have to ask: Are you flying IAD to Reykjavik on Icelandair?  If so I'd love to hear about your experience later, should you feel have time/feel like it. 

 

Your welcome! I have a few other sites to post including the one webcam that shows the Reykjavik pier where the ships will dock. 

 

Viking Sky is currently docked in Kristiansand, Norway. Here it is today in Kristiansand (sorry about all of the ads on the site.) It is scheduled to arrive in Reykjavik on or about  June 24. All of the crew must be vaccinated otherwise they would arrive sooner to quarantine.

 

Scroll down to the second camera.

https://bjost.no/webkameraer/kristiansand.htm

 

Yes, we are flying from IAD with Icelandair. Every trip that we fly to Europe I always include them in my airfare search. Even though we are staying in Iceland for an additional week after the cruise, there will still be plenty more to consider on a stopover that Icelandair promotes.

 

Jack

July 17-24 cruise

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Heartgrove

[SteelCity Cruiser]

On 5/29/2021 at 11:46 AM, StuLaurie said:

Good/Bad news today.... the weather here is miserable. 45 and windy with rain. Obviously not the best weather for the holiday weekend but

as I looked outside I thought to myself this is probable what the weather will be on the worst day in Iceland. Especially when we are either on the water or getting close to waterfalls. So what did I do.... I put on exactly what I am planning on packing for Iceland and went outside. Kinda looked like an idiot just standing outside in the rain but whatever🤣.  I then called my daughter and had her do the same. Bad news is I was really cold. I was planning on a t shirt with a sweater and then my pull over rain/windbreaker but it is obvious I will need one more layer. Same for my daughter and we decided that gloves are a must. It was such a good experiment I would highly suggest everyone doing it. 

I did the same thing this weekend. We were in NYC for our anniversary weekend and were out and about in the wet, cold weather quite a bit. I am a sincerely "cold-adverse" individual.  I found that a long sleeved shirt (poly/cotton blend), a micro-fleece zip up and my rain jacket kept me comfortable from the waist up for several hours outside.  But I do need to add thermal leggings under my jeans, along with a hat (oh heavens, the 'hat hair' we'll all have at the end of the day! LOL!) and a pair of gloves.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

3 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Your welcome! I have a few other sites to post including the one webcam that shows the Reykjavik pier where the ships will dock. 

 

Viking Sky is currently docked in Kristiansand, Norway. Here it is today in Kristiansand (sorry about all of the ads on the site.) It is scheduled to arrive in Reykjavik on or about  June 24. All of the crew must be vaccinated otherwise they would arrive sooner to quarantine.

 

Scroll down to the second camera.

https://bjost.no/webkameraer/kristiansand.htm

 

Yes, we are flying from IAD with Icelandair. Every trip that we fly to Europe I always include them in my airfare search. Even though we are staying in Iceland for an additional week after the cruise, there will still be plenty more to consider on a stopover that Icelandair promotes.

 

Jack

July 17-24 cruise

 

I love webcams but so far haven't had much time to look for them, because I keep spending all my time trying to read through this thread, plus read the new posts.  Found a few webcams already, though.  What will be fun is when Jupiter or Sky is in a port with a port webcam.  We can do a screenshot of the ship there and post it on this thread, or the appropriate Roll Call!  (I'm easily amused!)

 

I also love Marine Traffic.  I'm a big lighthouse nut, so I'm waiting for June 26 to roll around so I can go on MT and start looking to see when the ships pass a lighthouse, how far away, and whether passage is likely to be at a time when I just might be able to see it. 

 

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

19 hours ago, BlairsvilleCruiseGirl said:

We're on the 8/17 Jupiter.  When TA and I were on the phone last week with Viking finalizing payment, I gave the rep the flights I wanted (ATL-CHI-KEF on United, Business) and asked about AirPlus.  He put us on hold for awhile, then came back and said they were "out of business class flights entirely and only had economy.  And AirPlus was not going to be handling any more bookings for that sailing."   So, we're on our own for flights.  As a first-time-Viking-cruiser, I was surprised.  Never had RCCL, Princess or Celebrity reject booking flights for us!

 

Everything's a little weird now with airlines.....hopefully they'll get back to normal soon. 

[temerarious]

On 5/29/2021 at 8:46 AM, StuLaurie said:

It was such a good experiment I would highly suggest everyone doing it. 

I live in Southern CA.  I guess I'll have to take your word for it.😃  

[AKexplorer]

Here is a map of the southern portions of Iceland and some descriptions of the identified locations. This will help folks figure out just how far out of city they'll be traveling to get to some of the tour sites.

 

tour map.doc

[TayanaLorna]

16 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I love webcams but so far haven't had much time to look for them, because I keep spending all my time trying to read through this thread, plus read the new posts.  Found a few webcams already, though.  What will be fun is when Jupiter or Sky is in a port with a port webcam.  We can do a screenshot of the ship there and post it on this thread, or the appropriate Roll Call!  (I'm easily amused!)

 

I also love Marine Traffic.  I'm a big lighthouse nut, so I'm waiting for June 26 to roll around so I can go on MT and start looking to see when the ships pass a lighthouse, how far away, and whether passage is likely to be at a time when I just might be able to see it. 

 

 

Thanks for the reminder that the Jupiter has a webcam.  Although we sail on the Sky July 17, it will be fun watching the Jupiter beginning July 13!  I love Marine Traffic too and have the Viking ships in a group.  I like windy.com for weather also.  Can see what systems are around, their predicted movement over the coming days, wind direction and velocity as well as wave and swell height.  Gives you an idea what you may be in for.  You can also set the Display to show locations of the webcams.  Ths closer you zoom in the more webcams you see.  They are fixed but you can scroll through a 24 hour time line.  This app will keep you busy!

[TayanaLorna]

19 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

I did the same thing this weekend. We were in NYC for our anniversary weekend and were out and about in the wet, cold weather quite a bit. I am a sincerely "cold-adverse" individual.  I found that a long sleeved shirt (poly/cotton blend), a micro-fleece zip up and my rain jacket kept me comfortable from the waist up for several hours outside.  But I do need to add thermal leggings under my jeans, along with a hat (oh heavens, the 'hat hair' we'll all have at the end of the day! LOL!) and a pair of gloves.

Might be better to get rain/windbreaker over pants.  If your jeans get wet you will be cold thermal leggings or not.