Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[Seaharvest]

10 hours ago, EJLobster said:

Yesterday, I watched the viking TV broadcast- and this week it was about Iceland- given by a Viking official- sorry, can't remember his name. He talked about all the logistics, and new problems that had to be solved- including this.  He speculated about a place nearby the ship where people can space out (I am thinking- socially distance), sit, drink, eat something and be comfortable.  Sounds like they are working out these details.   You can watch the broadcast, too!  These comments were at the end - in the Q and A section.

I also watched that video and in addition to the above he mentioned the hope that they could arrange some type of bubble bus tour for us that day. My thought was taking the long, scenic way from the airport to the ship. He didn’t make any promises and so I won’t get my hopes up. He also kind of dodged the question about how many passengers will be on saying something like they will open it up to as many as they are allowed. 

[shipster60]

16 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Or were from Canada. We did a May cruise in the Ukraine and they were the only ones in shorts most of the time.

 

 

We have heard all sorts of reports as to what the numbers will be, anywhere from 50% of cabins to 100% of cabins. No way of knowing which is right.

 

 

Hmm. Not in my mailbox. I have not gotten anything from Viking since we booked except ads and responses to my e-mails to TellUs -- not even the standard welcome e-mail.

 

 

Confused. Booking for shorex has been available for the July 10 cruise since May 7.

Oops sorry, keep me straight. I’m on the July 13 sailing. It’s early!

[shipster60]

21 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Excursions for July 10th have been posted for several weeks. 

Yep, I was wrong, I sail on the 13th.  Glad to know someone’s reading my posts😆

[AKexplorer]

FYI - I got the email about the health questionnaire - it was forwarded to me by my TA.

[AKexplorer]

11 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We land on embarkation day at 6:20 am and theoretically could arrive via Viking at the ship before passengers disembark.  This is exactly what I was wondering.  Usually embarkation is at 11 am and one must wait until cabin is ready.  If it is true that cruises were sold at half capacity, are the unused cabins from previous cruise ready for us?  Guess we 7-17 people will learn from the 7-10 people.

I'm on the 8-3 cruise. I am hoping that airport testing for vaccinated people will be suspended by then. I also arrive at 06:30 so I am hoping I can just book an early, private half day tour before heading to the ship. I am traveling in a group of four and we are planning to use a private transport if we have to go directly to the ship since that would only cost us 35.50 USD each. There is a bus that costs $25 and goes to the city center and I think it also goes to all the city bus stops.

[patchicago]

53 minutes ago, AKexplorer said:

I'm on the 8-3 cruise. I am hoping that airport testing for vaccinated people will be suspended by then. I also arrive at 06:30 so I am hoping I can just book an early, private half day tour before heading to the ship. I am traveling in a group of four and we are planning to use a private transport if we have to go directly to the ship since that would only cost us 35.50 USD each. There is a bus that costs $25 and goes to the city center and I think it also goes to all the city bus stops.

i’m on the 8/3 cruise also. It occurred to me after I booked my flights that I should have planned to get to Iceland a couple of days early to see a few sights independently. Now it’s too late because airfares have shot up and I don’t want the additional expense of flight changes. If you find a half day tour please share what you learn. That sounds like a very good idea. Thanks.

[TayanaLorna]

12 hours ago, id4elizabeth said:

Except I was told by a tellus@Viking rep that our sailing (7/17) was 928 passengers out of a possible 930 which is pretty much bursting at the gills - not anywhere near half capacity.  If the sailing before us was that full, it would mean that they had to clean all the cabins - not just half of them.  Here's hoping what I was told about # of passengers was wrong!  And that your theory is the correct one - for lots of different reasons! 

I just listened to to Joost from the Wednesday Viking live presentation about our Iceland cruise.  He said the initial cruises were booked with limited capacity but, depending on how it goes, they will open up as demand indicates.  He did not say which dates were initial cruises.  Our July 17 was the last of the four first Welcome Back cruises.  My Viking booking agent told us that a significant number of cabins were held back when we booked.  We only got a cabin because someone let their deposit payment deadline slide.  Who knows if they opened more cabins after that.  He also said they were still determining what to do with early arriving passengers.  He said they wanted to make it a very nice first day for us.  He even indicated that they were considering a coach ride around with appropriate social distancing.  Still a work in progress I guess.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, AKexplorer said:

There is a bus that costs $25 and goes to the city center and I think it also goes to all the city bus stops.

 

FlyBus goes to the central bus terminal in Reykjavik and from there in smaller vehicles to the various bus stops around town. One of those bus stops is the Skarfabakki Harbor.

 

 Reykjavik bus stop map: https://busstop.is/

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

41 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

FlyBus goes to the central bus terminal in Reykjavik and from there in smaller vehicles to the various bus stops around town. One of those bus stops is the Skarfabakki Harbor.

 

 Reykjavik bus stop map: https://busstop.is/

 

 

I don’t see a stop so labeled?  Am I missing something on the map?

[Cruiser1854]

7 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t see a stop so labeled?  Am I missing something on the map?

Another option is Grayline.  https://grayline.is

[stilltrucking]

52 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I just listened to to Joost from the Wednesday Viking live presentation about our Iceland cruise.  He said the initial cruises were booked with limited capacity 

I don't know what to make of the "limited bookings" story that has been floating around on these threads for weeks.  I thought Joost's answer to the question was vague enough to fall into the "I don't know/I'm not supposed to say" category.  Also undercutting confidence in his answer to this question was his answers to some other questions, e.g.:

Q:  What raingear should I bring?

A:  A windbreaker

Q:  How many times will we tender?

A:  One time.  (Actually my invoice shows three tender stops.)

The shore excursions and Manfredi's/Chef's Table reservations disappeared pretty quickly for a partially filled ship.

[Peregrina651]

16 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t see a stop so labeled?  Am I missing something on the map?

 

Buses are banned in downtown Reykjavik, so they set up a series of bus stops. That is what is covered by the map.

 

The Shuttle bus and tour companies -- FlyBus, GrayLine, etc. -- us these stops PLUS many others across the city. When you buy your ticket, there is a drop-down menu listing all of the destinations. Hotels that are within the restricted zone will use the bus stops.

 

 

Yellow highlights the drop down menu. I wanted to get a picture of the menu itself to show what it looks like but that wouldn't work.

 

 

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, AKexplorer said:

FYI - I got the email about the health questionnaire - it was forwarded to me by my TA.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Mine was just forwarded.

[TayanaLorna]

56 minutes ago, stilltrucking said:

I don't know what to make of the "limited bookings" story that has been floating around on these threads for weeks.  I thought Joost's answer to the question was vague enough to fall into the "I don't know/I'm not supposed to say" category.  Also undercutting confidence in his answer to this question was his answers to some other questions, e.g.:

Q:  What raingear should I bring?

A:  A windbreaker

Q:  How many times will we tender?

A:  One time.  (Actually my invoice shows three tender stops.)

The shore excursions and Manfredi's/Chef's Table reservations disappeared pretty quickly for a partially filled ship.

Agree that some answers were vague and was surprised that some questions were not easily answered like the tender locations which are clearly indicated on our guest statements.  It does give hope that we can dock in Seydisfjordur, the other two tender ports don't look big enough.

 

As far as raingear or warm clothing, i remind myself that he lives in Norway and I live in the Caribbean.  Plus he won't be outside for hours at a time on an excursion.  I have no plan to shelter on a bus no matter how cold, windy or rainy it is.  Iceland is a one time deal.

 

 Now as far as shore excursion filling up quickly possibility due to a full ship, my question is how many times was each excursion offered?  A girlfriend of mine did the Viking Bergen to Iceland cruise in mid August and brought me her Viking Daily for Iceland ports.  It was a full ship.  There were 2 Golden Circle times, 2 Northern Treasure times, 2 Vigur Island times, 3 Blue Lagoon times, 2 Skalanes to mention the popular ones, all the others offered to us plus a whole bunch more.  Plus they were using full coaches.  Even with half boat, they would fill up fast if only one time was offered and limited other choices.

 

I still have hope.

[TayanaLorna]

13 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Too much conflicting information at this point to support this assumption.

 

 

Temperature is subjective. It can say  70 on the thermometer and half the people are going to be yelling that it is too warm and the other half will complain that it is too cold.  It's a lose-lose situation.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, we are beating these issues to death.

[SantaFe1]

9 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

some questions were not easily answered like the tender locations which are clearly indicated on our guest statements

I immediately noticed that, too.  But then I heard him say that Viking had done very well securing docking, so I just figured things had changed since we booked on April 6. I hope so too!

[emptyK]

1 minute ago, TayanaLorna said:

Now as far as shore excursion filling up quickly possibility due to a full ship, my question is how many times was each excursion offered?  A girlfriend of mine did the Viking Bergen to Iceland cruise in mid August and brought me her Viking Daily for Iceland ports.  It was a full ship.  There were 2 Golden Circle times, 2 Northern Treasure times, 2 Vigur Island times, 3 Blue Lagoon times, 2 Skalanes to mention the popular ones, all the others offered to us plus a whole bunch more.  Plus they were using full coaches.  Even with half boat, they would fill up fast if only one time was offered and limited other choices.

 

I still have hope.

It is difficult to compare shore excursions for this cruise to pre-pandemic. Previously many cruisers would go it on their own for shore excursions. Viking's "bubble" rule forces us all to use their tours, meaning they will need many more than usual...especially if the ships are full. Add reduced capacity due to social distancing and I can certainly see their dilemma.

 

I'm still holding out hope but becoming increasingly concerned about the shore experiences Viking will be able to deliver.

[Donaghadee]

15 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

 

 

I'll probably sign up for that excursion, too.  But as to where the photographer takes us, who knows?  It's a long enough excursion to get out of the city a little bit, and I hope we do.  And for inside the city, I'd love to photograph the church again, which apparently has no scaffolding now, which is good. There's a nice view of it from one of the adjacent streets, plus a nice straight on view, plus view of city from up top. In the city, perhaps we'll be taken inside Harpa Hall -- inside sounds good for photography.  And nosing around the harbor area (not port, but old harbor area) might be decent, though not exactly astounding.  Part of the Golden Circle is less than an hour away by car, so I suppose that might possibly be one place we could go if there aren't whole coach loads of us going.  Or we could take the little ferry over to Videy Island.  I'm not expecting to see much wildlife, and no puffins, as I read that because the seas have warmed up so much, the number of puffins has been decreasing.  But who knows where we'll end up going?  We'll see what happens.     

I've put down my money for this one.  I did a bit of searching trying to determine who actually operates this excursion.  This is the only one I could find that seems to fit the description:

 

https://icelandictimes.com/iceland-through-the-lens/

 

Edit: His site: https://arcticexposure.is/

 

If someone finds a better fit, post it up.  I'd love to see it.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Donaghadee

[Roger88]

30 minutes ago, emptyK said:

It is difficult to compare shore excursions for this cruise to pre-pandemic. Previously many cruisers would go it on their own for shore excursions. Viking's "bubble" rule forces us all to use their tours, meaning they will need many more than usual...especially if the ships are full. Add reduced capacity due to social distancing and I can certainly see their dilemma.

 

I'm still holding out hope but becoming increasingly concerned about the shore experiences Viking will be able to deliver.

These days excursions are only available for very small groups. Some destinations are simply closed. In such a way, I would rather stay on board than go on a trip somewhere. I am quite afraid to get sick or something .. 

[Travel2Learn]

New article about CDC relaxing mask mandate and social distancing.  

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ab/agents/variation-a/articles.cfm?

[patchicago]

The only thing worse than waiting for the July cruisers to have access to shoreX is knowing that as soon as that happens those of us sailing in August will be in their shoes….checking MVJ multiple times a day. ShoreX for 8/3 sailing were due today.

[StuLaurie]

4 hours ago, AKexplorer said:

I'm on the 8-3 cruise. I am hoping that airport testing for vaccinated people will be suspended by then. I also arrive at 06:30 so I am hoping I can just book an early, private half day tour before heading to the ship. I am traveling in a group of four and we are planning to use a private transport if we have to go directly to the ship since that would only cost us 35.50 USD each. There is a bus that costs $25 and goes to the city center and I think it also goes to all the city bus stops.

You could also consider renting a car. There are a few car rental places at the cruise terminal that are open when ships are in. This way you will have someplace for your luggage. Assuming airport testing is over by the time you travel.
 

Would love to hear if anyone has done this and has any suggestions. We have decided to fly in a few days early, quarantine at our hotel until we get our results which will be easy for us as we get in at 9pm and then explore the next day. 

[ejc14]

16 hours ago, id4elizabeth said:

Except I was told by a tellus@Viking rep that our sailing (7/17) was 928 passengers out of a possible 930 which is pretty much bursting at the gills - not anywhere near half capacity.  If the sailing before us was that full, it would mean that they had to clean all the cabins - not just half of them.  Here's hoping what I was told about # of passengers was wrong!  And that your theory is the correct one - for lots of different reasons! 

I've asked 4 different reps about the capacity of our cruise, and gotten 4 different answers.  The tellus rep that called me fell over herself apologizing about the misinformation, to which I responded, somewhere, someone knows exactly how many people (and who they are) that are sailing on each one of these welcome back trips.  I don't understand why this information can't be shared with us, especially when I was told when booking that these cruises were sailing at reduced capacity.

[FLORIDA FLOUNDER]

What ever happened to the nice fabric zippered tote Viking sent with cruise documentation, tags and stickers? Everything is now sent in a throw away paper envelope?? ☹️👎🏻

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

 

 Now as far as shore excursion filling up quickly possibility due to a full ship, my question is how many times was each excursion offered?  A girlfriend of mine did the Viking Bergen to Iceland cruise in mid August and brought me her Viking Daily for Iceland ports.  It was a full ship.  There were 2 Golden Circle times, 2 Northern Treasure times, 2 Vigur Island times, 3 Blue Lagoon times, 2 Skalanes to mention the popular ones, all the others offered to us plus a whole bunch more.  Plus they were using full coaches.  Even with half boat, they would fill up fast if only one time was offered and limited other choices.

I don’t think you can tell how many excursions there are just by how many times each excursion is offered. Reason being that while you might have two excursion times for the same offering, you may get several buses per time slot. I have no idea what the tour capacity is in the hinterlands outside Reykjavik but Icelanders are resourceful so maybe they’re scrambling to get buses or vans out to service cruisers.