LIVE from "Iceland's Natural Beauty" -- All Sailings, 2021

[jtwind]

6 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

This is not about Viking's quarantine policy which is acceptable and reasonable. It is about Iceland's policy which overrides Viking's protocol. This information should be shared by Viking so we can make intelligent decisions.

What is Iceland's definition of close contact?

[bardstowntraveller]

Thought I would interject some positivity in this thread since it has spiraled into doom and gloom. We were on the 8/3 Jupiter sailing and loved every minute. Was the daily spit test a hassle? Yes. Would we have preferred not to wear a mask everywhere? Yes. Were we concerned about being quarantined due to contact tracing? Yes. But despite all of that we are so thankful that we were able to enjoy the beautiful ship and fantastic Iceland excursions, many of which included long bus rides. 

[bardstowntraveller]

11 hours ago, SBRworld said:

I’m wondering if horseback riding is a good idea or not. 
 

I’m also wondering about whale watching. I thought I read something about people not seeing whales or having to remain on land? 

We were on 8/3 Jupiter sailing. We did Golden Circle, Voks  Baths, Natural Wonders, Ice Lagoon and Wildlife of Heimaey by Boat excursions. We enjoyed all of them. The Golden  Circle, Natural Wonders and Ice Lagoon were all day tours requiring quite a bit of time on the bus. Buses were nearly full— restricted to no more than 30 people. Mask compliance was good. In the Voks Baths and on the Heimaey boat, no one wore a mask.  The hottest pool at the Voks Bath was very crowded.  Our favorite excursion was the Ice Lagoon. Least favorite was Natural Wonders because it was very similar to Golden Circle and the midges were terrible.

[Seaharvest]

17 hours ago, BarbRN said:

I doubt they will give you a hard time. Many men wear a shirt under those. It wouldn’t upset me. I’m sure you look great. 

I think the point is to have nicer clothing for dinner. So I would think a nice V-neck sweater would be fine. Probably not a V-neck sweater with some large logo or saying on it. 

[rbslos18]

10 hours ago, Sea-Traveller said:

We had no trouble getting on the plane after repeatedly testing negative. We made it back to the US and after a few days took another voluntary test, as per CDC guidelines, all negative as expected. I guess were were good to fly but not to sail, according to the current regulations..

Thank you so much for sharing your firsthand experience. What would you advise future travelers to Iceland based on what you experienced and have heard? What should we avoid?

Edited August 16, 2021 by rbslos18

[Sea-Traveller]

2 hours ago, rbslos18 said:

Thank you so much for sharing your firsthand experience. What would you advise future travelers to Iceland based on what you experienced and have heard? What should we avoid?

There is not much you can do beyond what already is required by Viking. You could avoid all bus excursions altogether and get your private taxi ride from KEF airport to the ship but then you will be confined to the ship for the entire time as people are not allowed to get on land on their own. Know your risks, travel safe, accept the possibility of interruption or postpone the sailing would be our advice.

[Jimmcdaniel]

There are still Puffins at Heimaey Island!

 

And you don’t need to board a bus on the Wildlife Boat Tour. 

[KarNog]

5 minutes ago, Jimmcdaniel said:

There are still Puffins at Heimaey Island!

 

And you don’t need to board a bus on the Wildlife Boat Tour. 

YES! Thanks for this update.

[gramfrog]

7 minutes ago, Jimmcdaniel said:

There are still Puffins at Heimaey Island!

 

And you don’t need to board a bus on the Wildlife Boat Tour. 

THANK YOU!  Now this is helpful. What excursion did you take to see the Puffins?

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by gramfrog

[bardstowntraveller]

33 minutes ago, gramfrog said:

THANK YOU!  Now this is helpful. What excursion did you take to see the Puffins?

 

Saw Puffins on Wildlife Boat tour. But be aware they are in the distance and much smaller than pictures you may have seen. They are about 1/3 the size of a seagull. They are recognizable because of how fast their wings flap

[Milliegirl229]

1 hour ago, Wander58 said:

I totally agree. We are sitting in airport heading to Newark and will catch the United flight to KEF  tonight. We'll be on the Jupiter tomorrow and I'll do my best to report actual news.

 

 

Thank you for your offer to share actual news, that's what is helpful. We fly Newark to KEF later in the month so any feedback on travel would be appreciated. Wishing you safe and enjoyable travels.

[rbslos18]

1 hour ago, Wander58 said:

We'll be on the Jupiter tomorrow and I'll do my best to report actual news.

 

 

It would be very helpful to have official clarification on the bus quarantine issue in Iceland. Is that still the practice ie if a person on a Viking bus excursion tests positive the entire bus is sent into quarantine off the ship. Thanks for your blazing a trail for us.

[hodges97]

I just got my cancellation confirmation from Viking.  I'm relieved.  They should have cancelled the trip and refunded.......but at least I can give the dust time to settle and decide what to do with our vouchers.  

[hodges97]

Also.....this thread has digressed a lot.  But folks, you have to understand that the frustration lies at Viking's feet.  If they would send out an email and say, if you go on a bus and we find your back seat neighbor is positive, you are going to have to quarantine.  Period.  But, we hear these scenarios from other travelers who may or may not be getting the story straight.  Viking's failure is in communicating.  Transparency is a must.

[Bookworm114]

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. 

[JM0115]

12 minutes ago, Bookworm114 said:

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. 

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!

[BarbRN]

1 hour ago, 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!

Ditto on worries 

[DaveSJ711]

1 hour ago, hodges97 said:

Also.....this thread has digressed a lot.  But folks, you have to understand that the frustration lies at Viking's feet.  If they would send out an email and say, if you go on a bus and we find your back seat neighbor is positive, you are going to have to quarantine.  Period.  But, we hear these scenarios from other travelers who may or may not be getting the story straight.  Viking's failure is in communicating.  Transparency is a must.

 

Amen.

[commencemilo]

Can anyone tell me if the included Snapshots of Reykjavik or Waterfalls of the Gods was all on bus or is it a walking tour.

I want to minimize bus tours at least in the beginning of the voyage

 

I would still like to go since this is such a unique itinerary but still sitting on the fence for the 9/7 cruise.

[tmccaleb]

Booked on June 26, but had to cancel due to illness. Invoked the 14-day risk-free policy. Rebooked for August 21. Two weeks ago, we began to have doubts, primarily concerned with rise of delta in both US and Iceland, diminished effectiveness of vaccine (we were among the first), but actually less concerned about the virus itself than the possibility of being sick or quarantined outside the country. So we started to cancel again invoking the 14-day policy, but then decided to defer the decision for two weeks. So two weeks is now, we feel no more comfortable than we did two weeks ago, and we are put off somewhat by the reports on this board about the August 10 cruise. This morning we cancelled. We did buy the travel protection plan so should get vouchers for the cruise fare, more restrictive than the 14-day vouchers, but on the other hand, we do get some cash back (shore excursions, gratuities, transfers, but of course not the travel protection plan premium), which we didn't with the 14-day plan. Fortunately, we paid about $600 extra for fully refundable fares on Icelandair, so we get that back, and we get ecredits for our Delta flight to Boston. We felt we were fully informed until we read the experience of the August 10 cruise, and while we might have cancelled anyway, that did throw us over the edge. Whether that is a result of Viking's policy or Iceland's policy is immaterial, it's just not at the level of the risk we were prepared to take. Two months ago, seemed like a good idea, today not so much. Best wishes to the rest of you, and wishing for you a completely uneventful and joyful cruise. I have, by the way, encouraged Viking to add this itinerary to their catalog of future cruises.

[travelordie]

We're on the August 28th sailing.  Does anyone know whether Viking will provide us with disposable masks or are we expected to bring them aboard?  We have cloth masks for the flights but don't know what sort of masks are expected on board.

[SkystheLimit]

3 minutes ago, travelordie said:

We're on the August 28th sailing.  Does anyone know whether Viking will provide us with disposable masks or are we expected to bring them aboard?  We have cloth masks for the flights but don't know what sort of masks are expected on board.

There are two packages of disposable masks(comfortable for both of us) provided.  Think there were 10 to a package.  2 Bottle of hand sanitizer are also provided.  These should be in your stateroom when you arrive the first day.

[travelordie]

2 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said:

There are two packages of disposable masks(comfortable for both of us) provided.  Think there were 10 to a package.  2 Bottle of hand sanitizer are also provided.  These should be in your stateroom when you arrive the first day.

Thanks for this helpful information.

[SkystheLimit]

3 hours ago, commencemilo said:

Can anyone tell me if the included Snapshots of Reykjavik or Waterfalls of the Gods was all on bus or is it a walking tour.

I want to minimize bus tours at least in the beginning of the voyage

 

I would still like to go since this is such a unique itinerary but still sitting on the fence for the 9/7 cruise.

Waterfall of the Gods is definitely a bus tour although we spent a lot of time outside at each of the stops. I believe Snapshots is also but read one post that it was a small group.  

[rbslos18]

11 minutes ago, travelordie said:

We're on the August 28th sailing.  Does anyone know whether Viking will provide us with disposable masks or are we expected to bring them aboard?  We have cloth masks for the flights but don't know what sort of masks are expected on board.

People have reported masks were on the desk in their cabin on previous cruises. Enjoy and be safe!

Edited August 16, 2021 by rbslos18