Iceland Bound

And so we begin our Iceland adventure.  But we must begin before the beginning...

As astute readers of this blog know, this started as a Bermuda adventure a couple of weeks ago.  But, due to some poor communication, and ridiculous COVID rules, that trip fell apart.  Thanks to Viking, it then morphed into this Iceland cruise and we were thrilled.  That is until travel plans blew up.

Viking booked us from Orland to Chicago to Reykjavik. So far so good.  That was until we examined the flights and found they mistakenly booked us for too low a class of flight to Chicago and not only would we have to pay $70 per bag, we would not be allowed to bring a carry-on bag - at all.

Since it was Viking's mistake, they made it good, changing our itinerary to Orlando, Newark, Reykjavik.  Sounds OK, right?  Nope.  Somehow, Viking and United couldn't make the change, and even after 12 hours on the phone with both United and Viking over the two days leading up to our departure, it looked online like we were not ticketed, even though Viking assured me we were.  They said we should just go to the airport and it would be fine.

On the positive side, Viking's pre-cruise communication was stellar.  They definitely learned from mistakes made on the earlier cruises, like our Bermuda trip, and really stepped up their game with checklists, reminders, and simply great communication.

This morning, we decided to leave a little early for the airport.  We parked in the north lot. Wow - it was full.  We had to park in the overflow parking area.  That doesn't bode well.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the airport crowded, but not crazy.  We tried to check in at the automated machine.  Nope - have to see an agent.  So, despite all Viking's assurances, we were not good to travel.  All-in-all, it took just over an hour with Viking on the phone, a United gate agent, a United gate supervisor, and United's help desk on the phone with the gate agent.  We finally got ticketed and were off through TSA to grab lunch at Ruby Tuesday at the airport as the lines at all the quick-service eateries were crazy-long. We got to the gate just before boarding.

The flight to Newark was delayed at takeoff for a weather cell to clear.  Other than that, it was uneventful and we landed on time.

We are surprised by Newark airport.  It gets a lot of bad press, but wow - this is an impressive facility.  Tons of gates, tons of shops, and eateries, tons of table-based seating.  It is clean, modern, and comfortable.  I'd fly through here anytime.

Our flight to Reyjavik is currently on time and we're sitting right next to the gate.  We have to go re-verify all our paperwork with the gate agent.  We take off just before 9pm and will arrive in Reyjavik at about 2:30am EDT which is 6:30am local time.  They will bus us to a hall before transferring us to the Viking Sky around 11am.  We will take a COVID PCR test upon arrival in Iceland and another saliva-based test when we board the ship.  We'll be in Reykjavik the next day as well.  Here's a map of the entire cruise.

Saturday, we will be getting familiar with the ship.  Sunday in Reykjavik will feature whale watching and a walking tour of the city.

The Kolbs are on the road again.  I'll update again from Iceland.