Iceland's Natural Beauty General - 2022

[DaveSJ711]

14 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Someone on another travel site that cannot be named just posted this description for the included tour in Seydisfjördur that they received from Viking:

The walk should include the famous Rainbow Street that leads to the church. Seydisfjordur has had a Pride celebration since 2014.

[Clay Clayton]

9 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

The walk should include the famous Rainbow Street that leads to the church. Seydisfjordur has had a Pride celebration since 2014.

I would think since it shows in every picture I’ve seen online of Seydisfjördur! 😂🏳️‍🌈

[Australia08]

On 5/7/2021 at 7:21 PM, SantaFe1 said:

Let me try again

Is there a description for the Legend of the Deacon of Myrka tour? This one is not listed on the Viking website. 
Also, do all the tours give exact times for booking rather than the broad “afternoon” or “morning” ?

 

Thanks

[SantaFe1]

Yes, once you get into the booking section, you can see the exact times.  I’d ignore the morning or afternoon designation on the front page showing in what I posted before.  It’s not usually comprehensive enough.

 

here is the Deacon description:

[Peregrina651]

6 minutes ago, Australia08 said:

Is there a description for the Legend of the Deacon of Myrka tour? This one is not listed on the Viking website. 
Also, do all the tours give exact times for booking rather than the broad “afternoon” or “morning” ?

 

Thanks

 

Yes, when you click on LEARN MORE .

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Peregrina651

[Australia08]

2 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Yes, once you get into the booking section, you can see the exact times.  I’d ignore the morning or afternoon designation on the front page showing in what I posted before.  It’s not usually comprehensive enough.

 

here is the Deacon description:

Compared to all the other tours, this seems quite expensive for 3 hours and a snack. What am I missing?

[SantaFe1]

I think it’s the 4x4 vehicle.  It can only take a couple of people, unlike a bus.

[Australia08]

2 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

I think it’s the 4x4 vehicle.  It can only take a couple of people, unlike a bus.

Missed that!  

[DaveSJ711]

More stories about the Bardardalur Valley.  https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/regina/an-elf-woman-catches-a-ride-across-a-glacial-river-a-folklore-from-bardardalur-in-north-iceland

[Australia08]

7 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

More stories about the Bardardalur Valley.  https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/regina/an-elf-woman-catches-a-ride-across-a-glacial-river-a-folklore-from-bardardalur-in-north-iceland

Wow!  Thank you so much. That area is beautiful and the stories enchanting!

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Australia08 said:

Compared to all the other tours, this seems quite expensive for 3 hours and a snack. What am I missing?

The 4x4 probably only carries 4 passengers plus the driver.  More guides, more vehicles, more money.  Kind of like Volunteer Point in the Falklands.

[Seaharvest]

14 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

The 4x4 probably only carries 4 passengers plus the driver.  More guides, more vehicles, more money.  Kind of like Volunteer Point in the Falklands.

Tayana, you have mentioned the SA cruise several times and each time I mean to respond then forget. But this morning as I wait for our excursions to show up I have time. When did you take that cruise?  We were on the December 2019 cruise from BA to Santiago. It was a wonderful cruise and Volunteer Point was the highlight for me. 

[Clay Clayton]

19 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

The walk should include the famous Rainbow Street that leads to the church. Seydisfjordur has had a Pride celebration since 2014.

I would think since it shows in every picture I’ve seen online of Seydisfjördur! 😂🏳️‍🌈

[Clay Clayton]

Argh-2 hours on the phone and Im worse off than when I started. Here is the test of an email I just sent to Tellus. 
 

I am writing to express my frustration with three recent interactions with Viking’s call staff-all of which were caused by technical issues with My Viking Journey. 

 

Alternative dining opened for us today. Because the system does not allow you to see available times when one already has a dining reservation elsewhere  (and because I have a second booking for my mother-in-law so needed a table for 3) I called this morning. The agent was able to locate satisfactory times for us in Manfredi’s but said because she was having computer issues she was unable to cancel our reservations for The Dining Room she couldn’t book Manfredi’s. She suggested I call back and speak to another agent. 

 

When I did this, the next agent confirmed that actually our reservations for The Restaurant had been canceled but was unable to book Manfredi’s purportedly because reservations wouldn’t open until noon pacific time. This obviously wasn’t the case as others on my CruiseCritic rollcall in the same stateroom category texted they had made reservations while I was on the phone. 

 

I then called a third time and the agent was also able to see the 6:30 availability we wanted at Manfredi’s but the system wouldn’t let him book it. I requested he rebook our times at The Restaurant however he was unable to do this either. 

 

So at this point, I have spent almost two hours doing nothing to move us forward and instead we find ourselves without reservations that we had (which also took a phone call to resolve several weeks ago). 

 

I fail to understand why Viking builds online systems that don’t work well which then requires so much addition effort by guests and your call center staff. The money in call center salaries that are wasted on something that should be simple must be astounding.

 

Please don’t have someone call me to tell me how much Viking cares about me and appreciates my feedback. However, if someone has the ability to help me book dining reservations between 6 and 7 pm I would appreciate assistance. Otherwise, I hope this email documents technology issues that Viking needs to resolve.

 

Thank you. 

Clay

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[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, Seaharvest said:

Tayana, you have mentioned the SA cruise several times and each time I mean to respond then forget. But this morning as I wait for our excursions to show up I have time. When did you take that cruise?  We were on the December 2019 cruise from BA to Santiago. It was a wonderful cruise and Volunteer Point was the highlight for me. 

We did it end of January into February 2020.  Fabulous cruise.  We were on the first tender to land in the Falklands, got started on our Patrick Watts tour but were called back after about a half hour out.  Winds picked up and subsequent tenders were having great difficulty docking so they called off the entire stop.  Winds did pick up to 50 knots that afternoon.

[Peregrina651]

30 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

We did it end of January into February 2020.  Fabulous cruise.  We were on the first tender to land in the Falklands, got started on our Patrick Watts tour but were called back after about a half hour out.  Winds picked up and subsequent tenders were having great difficulty docking so they called off the entire stop.  Winds did pick up to 50 knots that afternoon.

 

I have heard that because of the winds, Falklands is always a maybe.

[Australia08]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Argh-2 hours on the phone and Im worse off than when I started. Here is the test of an email I just sent to Tellus. 
 

I am writing to express my frustration with three recent interactions with Viking’s call staff-all of which were caused by technical issues with My Viking Journey. 

 

Alternative dining opened for us today. Because the system does not allow you to see available times when one already has a dining reservation elsewhere  (and because I have a second booking for my mother-in-law so needed a table for 3) I called this morning. The agent was able to locate satisfactory times for us in Manfredi’s but said because she was having computer issues she was unable to cancel our reservations for The Dining Room she couldn’t book Manfredi’s. She suggested I call back and speak to another agent. 

 

When I did this, the next agent confirmed that actually our reservations for The Restaurant had been canceled but was unable to book Manfredi’s purportedly because reservations wouldn’t open until noon pacific time. This obviously wasn’t the case as others on my CruiseCritic rollcall in the same stateroom category texted they had made reservations while I was on the phone. 

 

 

 

 

We experienced similar frustration.  Last week, I emailed Tellus to say that it is very unfair that the online systems forces one to cancel a perfectly fine Restaurant reservation without having any idea what might be available in the alternative venue.  You are flying blind.  I really sympathize with you because I was frustrated and I didn't have the added complication of coordinating with another cabin.

 

I had also been given the incorrect "you must wait until 12 noon PDT."

 

I just happened to be checking onboard services about 7:30 am EDT and noticed that the dining was already open.  Now I distrust everything I hear and am constantly (and anxiously) checking MVJ every 10 minutes for verification of what might actually be happening.

 

Thank you to everyone who is providing feedback on their interactions with Viking since that helps to better understand what might be actually happening.

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I have heard that because of the winds, Falklands is always a maybe.

Yes, maybe half of the scheduled cruises get there.  Problem is that ships must anchor in the outer harbor.  Depending on the wind direction, going into and out of a tender from the ship in the choppy seas could be dangerous.  If the outer harbor is protected from the wind direction, the wind can be blowing directly into the inner harbor with the seas building at the tender dock.  Both are dicey situations.  In SA Puerto Montt could also be a missed port depending on the wind direction and if docking or anchoring.  

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Yes, maybe half of the scheduled cruises get there.  Problem is that ships must anchor in the outer harbor.  Depending on the wind direction, going into and out of a tender from the ship in the choppy seas could be dangerous.  If the outer harbor is protected from the wind direction, the wind can be blowing directly into the inner harbor with the seas building at the tender dock.  Both are dicey situations.  In SA Puerto Montt could also be a missed port depending on the wind direction and if docking or anchoring.  

We were on this Santiago to BA cruise ending Mar. 15, 2020, just as the airport was closing in BA! We made it into the Falklands and the penguin colony was absolutely the highlight of the trip. Didn’t make it into Puerto Madryn however so had four days at sea—during which Viking announced cruises were shutting down. Got out of BA just in time and made it home by various re-routings of our flights but Viking was superb on scheduling everything for us.

[TayanaLorna]

5 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

We were on this Santiago to BA cruise ending Mar. 15, 2020, just as the airport was closing in BA! We made it into the Falklands and the penguin colony was absolutely the highlight of the trip. Didn’t make it into Puerto Madryn however so had four days at sea—during which Viking announced cruises were shutting down. Got out of BA just in time and made it home by various re-routings of our flights but Viking was superb on scheduling everything for us.

Yes, I followed your cruise.  Glad you made VP.  We did a 7 hour private in Puerto Madryn to Peninsula Valdes and saw lots of penguins and wildlife there - only 4 of us and it was fantastic.  Made up for VP.

[Cruiser1854]

3 hours ago, Australia08 said:

We experienced similar frustration.  Last week, I emailed Tellus to say that it is very unfair that the online systems forces one to cancel a perfectly fine Restaurant reservation without having any idea what might be available in the alternative venue.  You are flying blind.  I really sympathize with you because I was frustrated and I didn't have the added complication of coordinating with another cabin.

 

I had also been given the incorrect "you must wait until 12 noon PDT."

 

I just happened to be checking onboard services about 7:30 am EDT and noticed that the dining was already open.  Now I distrust everything I hear and am constantly (and anxiously) checking MVJ every 10 minutes for verification of what might actually be happening.

 

Thank you to everyone who is providing feedback on their interactions with Viking since that helps to better understand what might be actually happening.

 

I had the same experience and was told by Viking customer service that reservations are loaded by 12 noon PDT.  After digging on the internet I learned that it is actually 12 midnight PDT.  I know you must think I am crazy but I actually set my alarm for 3am EDT this morning and sure enough I booked all my restaurant reservations.  Good thing that I fell back asleep easily after that and I am also retired 😄.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Cruiser1854 said:

 

I had the same experience and was told by Viking customer service that reservations are loaded by 12 noon PDT.  After digging on the internet I learned that it is actually 12 midnight PDT.  I know you must think I am crazy but I actually set my alarm for 3am EDT this morning and sure enough I booked all my restaurant reservations.  Good thing that I fell back asleep easily after that and I am also retired 😄.

 

When did they go back to Midnight? For a while it had been Noon -- which is a lot better than waking up at 3am.

 

 

[SantaFe1]

I have two cruises in Dec. 2021 and Sept. 2022 whose invoices say booking opens at 8 pm Pacific time.

[JM0115]

50 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

When did they go back to Midnight? For a while it had been Noon -- which is a lot better than waking up at 3am.

 

 

I also woke up early (by accident) and was able to book the reservations. I am not sure if Viking meant to have it open at midnight or if it was by accident.  

[Peregrina651]

18 minutes ago, JM0115 said:

I also woke up early (by accident) and was able to book the reservations. I am not sure if Viking meant to have it open at midnight or if it was by accident.  

 

I'm so confused.

 

I'm glad I'm done with reservations and shorex!

Edited May 11, 2021 by Peregrina651