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

[Peregrina651]

Jupiter looks lovely this evening in the setting sun:

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

35 minutes ago, gramfrog said:

I have, twice, and was successful twice.  

gramfrog, did you bid a lot of money?  Do you remember if you bid in the green part of the little pie chart thing, or something less?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

There is more discussion of the Covid positive(s) on Jupiter here: On Viking Jupiter, We are not feeling safe! - Viking Ocean - Cruise Critic Community  It looks pretty new.  

[hodges97]

I wish Viking would post a statement telling everybody exactly what the situation is.  

 

[gramfrog]

14 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

gramfrog, did you bid a lot of money?  Do you remember if you bid in the green part of the little pie chart thing, or something less?

Both times around $450 extra, no  more.  I think it just reached the yellow green.

 

[Pug Traveler]

On 7/14/2021 at 3:04 PM, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Oh thank you so much.  I needed to hear that about Vigur.  You've made my day here in Silver Spring, MD!  Any feedback from anyone who did the Iceland Through the Lens excursion in Reykjavik?  I'm signed up for it, but that Heart of the Glacier excursion has also been tempting me.  I guess I need to decide before the "shut down" period a week pre-cruise, as I don't know if the vendor will allow Viking to add another person on embarkation day.  

Not sure if anyone has responded yet to your question about Iceland Through The Lens. It turned out to be a road trip through Reykjanes Peninsula, which we really enjoyed. Amusing tour guide. We didn’t learn that much about photography but the trip was geared to folks taking photos. Wish we’d taken our walking sticks for one of the stops.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

gramfrog, couple more questions and then I'll leave you alone!  Do you know if it's possible to bid again if your bid isn't accepted?  And if you've used the Saga seats yet, did you feel they were worth it?  If nothing else, I'm thinking they'd be a little less crammed in, both in terms of how many people are around and how much room/legroom we'd have.  (I did look at the description on Icelandair's website. Extra luggage and food aren't important, but comfort/safety is.  But it's hard to evaluate those things from just a chart.)

 

[Pug Traveler]

On 7/26/2021 at 10:12 AM, Camden lady said:

Thanks BrynMawrPA.   I have given up on the VeriFLY piece and will just let Viking handle when I get there.  I found a place that will give me the PCR test at 9.30 on Wednesday morning with results by  5 PM same day.   This should cover either flight....first or second.  First flight is 2.30 Friday afternoon and second flight is 10.30 Friday night.  Cost is 150 but to me it is worth it to be certain I can go and certain that I won't be putting anyone else at risk.  I have no intention of removing my mask to eat or drink on the flights so hopefully all will be good.   Still 3 weeks out for me but getting psyched for this cruise.  Could stand some cooler weather...97 here today.  Whew!!!

We flew back yesterday and I was frankly a lot less worried about Covid than the germs spewing from the guy across the aisle with the obvious full-on head cold. I double-masked myself, and I hate wearing masks!

[Pug Traveler]

On 7/25/2021 at 4:27 PM, TayanaLorna said:

The same thing happened with us on Icelandair. We had to read, check, sign and date a form where we certified we had a negative PCR test upon departure from Keflavik Airport.  However when we arrived in JFK, we had the test in hand but the agent did not look at it.  

Same experience yesterday with Delta. We were checked twice by Delta at KEF (showing copy of negative test results), but not re-confirmed at JFK on arrival.

[Pug Traveler]

On 7/24/2021 at 4:48 PM, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

OK, I'm not in your situation, but I did my and my spouse's VeriFLY stuff this afternoon.  I didn't see a way to take two pictures of a vax card, i.e., both sides of the card.  But I think if you can make a copy of one side of the card, then put the other side of the card below it, and use the app and the phone camera to take a picture, the app will likely accept that. I would think that would be cumbersome but doable and acceptable. The app does send back a note first saying acceptance is pending, then later that it was accepted.  Then the info is sent to Viking.

Another alternative might be asking if the place which did your vax could give your spouse another card, or if there's a way to get another record of it. Where I live there's a databank, but I doubt all states have that.

I had trouble taking a selfie on the app...was told I was too close, too far, poor light, not centered, lots of glare, lots of red flashing circles...annoying but eventually the app accepted my selfie. The rest was relatively straight forward, though I probably spent close to an hour fiddling with it for both of us. 

I've also read that if necessary, you can present your card to Viking to be cleared. But doing it on VeriFly will get us all on the ship faster! 

Good luck.

Oh, and don't have Verifly pulled up on another device at same time. That can cause problems.

 

I resolved the two-sided vaccine card as stated above- copied one side then put the other side below the copy and created a pdf of the two sides lined up.

[Pug Traveler]

On 7/23/2021 at 3:07 PM, minka34 said:

We downloaded the Hreyfill app and just ordered it in the morning.  We weren't sure if there would be taxis waiting - one of the Viking staff said there would be the night before, but in the morning the staff said no, there were no taxis just waiting (like at FL ports) but said  that they could call one for us.  The app was easy.  This is the website.  https://www.hreyfill.is/en/

We used Grey line to the port from the airport and from our hotel to the airport.  Worked well and was about $110 for 2 of us round trip.  We used the taxi from the port to the bus station to get our rental car, as Grey Line only does airport transfers and tours.  We returned the car to the bus station the night before and walked back to the hotel for some sight seeing. 

We used Hreyfill several times pre-cruise for on-the-fly taxis and also for a pre-planned transfer from airport-Blue Lagoon-Reykjavik hotel. Every car was clean and comfortable and every driver was professional and friendly. The app was sometimes quirky but we were able to call or have someone call to order a

 car without any trouble. Everyone takes plastic.

[SkystheLimit]

18 minutes ago, Pug Traveler said:

Same experience yesterday with Delta. We were checked twice by Delta at KEF (showing copy of negative test results), but not re-confirmed at JFK on arrival.

Once you were checked in in KEF it was in the system.  No further input or checking after that.

 

[gramfrog]

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

gramfrog, couple more questions and then I'll leave you alone!  Do you know if it's possible to bid again if your bid isn't accepted?  And if you've used the Saga seats yet, did you feel they were worth it?  If nothing else, I'm thinking they'd be a little less crammed in, both in terms of how many people are around and how much room/legroom we'd have.  (I did look at the description on Icelandair's website. Extra luggage and food aren't important, but comfort/safety is.  But it's hard to evaluate those things from just a chart.)

 

No problem at all!  You can CHANGE your bid, but the seats go to the best offers on the day before the flight, if that makes sense to you.  So, if you were flying on August 15 on IcelandAir, you could bid $400 today, and then overthink it on August 5th and bid $475, and then freak out and bid $445 on August 12.  So the $445 will be your only bid.  On, say, august 13 there were five Business or First class seats left, then IcelandAir takes the best five, the highest five, bids that are on the final list.  And yes, I've been so happy with SagaClass.  We bid this year again and I am HOPING no one bids higher than we did.... haha.  There is so much room, and the service is exceptional.  Food is great too. 

[jtwind]

3 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

You have to be in contact with the person for a cumulative 15 minutes or longer for it to count -- and I have never waited that long in the gelato line.

 

But, if you are seated in the dining room with someone behind you for your whole meal, that could easily be counted as a contact for spouse and not the other.

Can you tell us everything you know about the contact tracing?  Is it a time and distance formula?  Do you know what that is?  Do they take into account whether the people were masked or unmasked at the time?

[Heartgrove]

8 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

gramfrog, couple more questions and then I'll leave you alone!  Do you know if it's possible to bid again if your bid isn't accepted?  And if you've used the Saga seats yet, did you feel they were worth it?  If nothing else, I'm thinking they'd be a little less crammed in, both in terms of how many people are around and how much room/legroom we'd have.  (I did look at the description on Icelandair's website. Extra luggage and food aren't important, but comfort/safety is.  But it's hard to evaluate those things from just a chart.)

 

 

I was going to bid on upgrading to Saga Seats on our flight to Iceland. But I was doing dummy Saga bookings and when we could bid, only the "throne" seats were left. I had already paid for the extra legroom seats (7F, 7G outbound and 7A, 7B return) so that money would be lost. It is not much better for our return flight this Saturday. The flight from Dulles to Keflavik is barely longer than flying to the West Coast from Dulles.

 

Also be aware that Row 8 is missing a window.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Heartgrove

[Snit13]

14 hours ago, jtwind said:

It has to be dark.  Try this handy tool:  https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/iceland/reykjavik

Thanks for the site.

[Snit13]

12 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Someone asked about darkness, or at least viewing northern lights.  Here's from a webcam of the church around midnight.  It is definitely getting dark at night these days in Reykjavik. 

By the time we arrive it should be dark enough to see some northern lights.  Thanks for posting the photo.

[philw1776]

14 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

If anyone has flown Icelandair and "bid" on an upgrade to Saga Class, could you let me know if you were successful?  Thanks. 

I bid and failed.
Disclosure: I am a descendant of thrifty Scots

[gramfrog]

2 hours ago, Snit13 said:

By the time we arrive it should be dark enough to see some northern lights.  Thanks for posting the photo.

Northern lights even in January and February is not a given!  Along with absolute black skies, no ground light scatter, there cannot be clouds except for an occasional whisp. And the solar activity must be strong. I’ve been to Iceland in January 2017 and February 2020 and only saw Northern Lights once, and that from my airline seat. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

11 hours ago, gramfrog said:

No problem at all!  You can CHANGE your bid, but the seats go to the best offers on the day before the flight, if that makes sense to you.  So, if you were flying on August 15 on IcelandAir, you could bid $400 today, and then overthink it on August 5th and bid $475, and then freak out and bid $445 on August 12.  So the $445 will be your only bid.  On, say, august 13 there were five Business or First class seats left, then IcelandAir takes the best five, the highest five, bids that are on the final list.  And yes, I've been so happy with SagaClass.  We bid this year again and I am HOPING no one bids higher than we did.... haha.  There is so much room, and the service is exceptional.  Food is great too. 

Well, I went ahead and bid.  But I also looked at Icelandair's website, and when I acted like I wanted to book a Saga seat, it said there was only one available.  There are two of us, and the program is set up to change both seats if they accept your bid.  So I'm thinking there's little chance of us getting to travel in Saga.  But we'll see what happens next week, and I just plan to sleep, so hopefully I can do that in economy.  Some people don't particularly like Icelandair, but we flew on them once before and found it not that different from U.S. airlines, except for the food for purchase in economy.   And a nonstop instead of flights with a connection is always a good thing.  Thanks for your help - and Phil, your input too! 

Edited July 28, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[Peregrina651]

13 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

but comfort/safety is. 

 

That is exactly why we booked Saga class seats for this trip.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

2 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

That is exactly why we booked Saga class seats for this trip.

Yes, the safety is why I want it. 

[Peregrina651]

10 hours ago, jtwind said:

 Do they take into account whether the people were masked or unmasked at the time?

 

How is a rfd disk that is designed to record contact with other disks nearby going to know if you have your mask on or not?

[LindaS272]

3 hours ago, hutch1994 said:

Try looking up Viking Cruise Travelers and/or Viking River and Ocean.  Affected persons reported on both sites.

I’m not on FB.

[Clay Clayton]

Reposting from the site which cannot be named-hopefully this might help return the lost SIM card to its owner.