Let me know if I've missed anyone!

Ngaire and Ken
Marcie & Tom
Mike and June
Jan & Charles
Leslie & Brad (2nd seg.)
Peggy & Jerry
Frank and Wendy
Ray and Penny
Jan and Fred
Pat and Jim
Gary and Carol
Chuck and Valerie
Betty and Al
John and Christina (2nd seg.)
Andi and Doug (2nd seg.)
Kristin and Greg (1st seg)
Margo
Tom and Mona (2nd seg)
Joanna and Tony (1st seg)

Olivia--add us to the list (we're on both segments).

I can't believe I left you off! You really were penciled into my list, that I am keeping right on my invoice!

MikeG should be Mike & June

Thanks

Please add Frank and Wendy!

Penny and I think we will do both segments and will probably book them during the WC.

Cheers! Ray

What a fun cruise this is turning into!!

Please add Fred and Jan. Our first cruise with B&K!

Add Pat & me to the list - we booked with Ngaire last week.

Jan & Fred, we'll see you on the full Navigator Discovery Cruise too.

Jim

Jim, wonderful, I will add you and Pat to the list! Didn't get enough time to be with you much on FJORDS, except that one time in Horizon's outside deck when you were gracious enough to snap my daughter Joanna and I on the back deck!

Olivia; Please add Valerie and Chuck to the list
booked with Ngaire when we returned from LAMB
Thanks
Chuck and Valerie

We're in there, too -- just hoping the $$ gods don't shoot us down!

Betty & Al

This is Arlene. Gil and I have booked the 2nd segment. We're excited to be with such a great group of people. Plus I know I will get to play Pooch again.

Welcome aboard, Gil and Arlene! I will add you to the list!

Wonderful group developing here. Some bona fide POOCH addicts and some "yet to be pooch addicts" among you. Going to fun!

$$$ Gods shot us down today ... :mad:

Aloha
Don't know if it's OK to post on this thread but Christina and I are booked on the last segment, from Reykjavik to Southamption. Looking forward to meeting all of you that we have read so much about.

John & Christina
.

What a great group! J&C - you're going to have a blast. Wish we were going ... ;)

JC, we look forward to meeting you.

Pat and I signed on while on MAYANS last week - both segments, with SSS, on-board booking and back-to-back discounts. But since its the Voyager, and all suites have showers, we've wait-listed for a G on deck 6 midships. The North Atlantic can still be mean in May!

John and Christina are a great couple who now are POOCH ADDICTS too. Well John did do a victory lap around my cabin when he won so I think that qualifies him. So looking forward to having them on board VIKINGS.

Doug and I signed up for the second leg while on Caviar. Looking forward to a great trip!

I will add you to the list, Andi! Glad to hear you and Doug are coming aboard!

Aloha
Yes, Christina and I are now trained POOCHERS!
We are also in possession of the official "Ngaire" score sheet (eat your hearts out).We will be practicing, so watch out for the Douglas's.
I will not name any names (Brad) but you have been warned ! See you all in May.

John & Christina Pooch

Anyone up for a 7 to 10 day small group post-cruise tour of Ireland? Pat and I would like to try and do that, and would be willing to put something together, if we can. Hopefully with better luck than our effort in the middle of PANDA. But that ran into the Chinese National Holiday week at the beginning of October, and we had a very nice post-cruise tour, so it worked out for us.

How I wish, I love Ireland! But that's a long cruise, and I will be ready for home after that many days on the ship!

We just booked the first segment of VIKING!!! :woh:

I see a few sea days there which will come in handy when we attempt to learn this POOCH game we have been hearing about!

Kristin, welcome aboard! I will add you to the list~

I hope to see some of you on the first segment the day that you're in Boston - May 13th!!

Andrea:

We could host a Welcome to Boston Shore Excursion.

Are you running the Falmouth Road Race this weekend.

FV

Andrea--we'll look forward to seeing you again! Maybe we can also see Andi and Doug (and maybe others) when we stop in New York -- although Andi and Doug may be too busy getting ready to meet us in Rekjavik.

Those extra meetings would be great! Would love to meet as many of you as possible. If you can believe it, we have never been to Boston OR New York (except a layover at JFK). We are lonnnnng overdue. :o

Greg was wondering if the Red Sox will be in town when we're in Boston...ha! Ever the sports fan...

Love the idea of a VIKING Boston (non-tea) party with the Bostonians! We're there Wednesday, May 13th. 9-7.

Kristin, I'm with Greg....maybe the Angels will be playing the Red Sox in a day game?

Kristen and Marcie, I'll keep an eye on the Sox schedule.

Peggy, I am definitely looking forward to seeing you and Jerry again!

Frank, I would have loved to run Falmouth but really didn't know about it until it was too late to submit an entry for the lottery. I will definitely try next year!

Andrea ...the Falmouth race is a great one....We love Teaticket and the whole of the Cape...when you run it let us know in advance and we will decend on my classmate there to cheer you on.

I love the idea of a Viking warm up in NY! We could give you our luggage and have less to fly with! Great idea..anyone game???? How about an eating walking tour of the lower east side? We'd be glad to arrange something...

Andrea:

I am running in it on Sunday with a few friends, My condo is right at the finish line, being a taxpayer I am exempt from the lottery, but the window is so small I even missed it being out of town during the exemption period. So I had to sponsor the race with my company. With the charities you are running for in your other races it should be a snap for you next year to get entries, and if you have any problems I would be happy to secure a spot for you next year, because you can bet I will not miss the exemption period next year, the good news is all the money goes to different charities: and what a party after the race at the two bars at the finishline.

Good luck on your race.

FV

Marcie:

Non-Tea Party for sure:

Us Bostonians will have to step up our game and put on our Boston Charm for all the Vikings. The good thing about this city is you can cover a lot more on foot than you ever could in a Car.

A nice lunch somewhere is a must!!!

FV

Peggy & Jerry:
when does the ship arrive in NYC? We'll be there to see you. We'll work something out to have some great NYC fun. & the more the merrier! Locals? On-board friends? It is a big city. Let us & other locals play host!
Then on to Iceland!

Doug

How nice to have "built-in" private excursion guides for these cities! I'm game, as I was just wondering what the heck to do in those cities!

One of the best tours we have taken is a food walking tour of Greenwich Village. It starts at noon and goes for a couple of hours. It shows all the hidden places and talks about the history of NYC food and you eat your way around. If anyone is interested, it's on ZERVE.

Otherwise, we can pick up a group of you and show you around. We know the city too. I am a member of the Guggenheim and can bring guests in for $5 each. Let me know what interests the group...No need to pay for inflated Regent prices. There are all sorts of great walking tours. There is a tenement tour that I liked and a tour of just about every area in the city. The Circle Line boat tour is great too and the Intrepid will be open again. If there is time, I could pick up anyone and bring you to our 400 store discount designer mall...it is unbelievable...it is about 90 minutes out of the city.

To Andrea and Frank the marathon runners: (there is no "we're not worthy" graemlin to choose) You two are unbelievable!

Now I am even more pumped up to visit Boston and NYC...with those who really know where to go. On foot sounds excellent, I am sure we will need it after those first 2 sea days!

Andi & Doug,
Such a wonderful offer ! I'm afraid we may be tied up with relatives for the day in NYC...maybe we'll get them a guest pass and bring them on board the ship too.

We'll see as it gets closer but THANKS!

Andi & Doug --we'll be in New York on Monday, May 11 - 8 am to 6 pm. The food walking tour sounds like great fun. We'd also enjoy the Circle Line tour (haven't done that in years!!!) and Jerry, always the Navy man, would love to visit the Intrepid. But we're easy--whatever everyone wants to do will be fine with us. Also, bring your luggage to the ship--we'll be glad to keep it for you in our stateroom. (If it's a lot, maybe we can find some others to share providing the storage space with us) It'll be so great to see you guys in New York and Andrea and Jerrell in Boston-what a bonus for this trip!

Kristin--so glad you've booked on VIKING--it'll be great to meet our neighbor. Maybe we can form an all Texas Pooch Team :D

Marcie: How do you get a guest pass for lunch. I have kids in Boston and New Jersey. Maybe they could come aboard for a look? Jean

Marcie: How do you get a guest pass for lunch. I have kids in Boston and New Jersey. Maybe they could come aboard for a look? Jean

oops!

Ray & Penny would also be happy to store any of Doug & Andy's luggage.

Looking forward to our "LCT" stops.

Cheers! Ray & Penny
p.s.: Tenement tour, Intrepid and Circle Line sounds interesting although we may be in the City this Fall and do some of those things.

Thanks, Peggy! Yes, Texas Pooch Team sounds great! I know this sailing is a long ways away, but it sure is shaping up nicely. Andi & Doug, we'll certainly help with the luggage storing, as well. It would be great for you not to have to lug it to Iceland (presumably on Icelandair).

BTW, anyone ever flown Icelandair? We've got it booked already on the return (to Boston). They don't seem to have an alliance/partner, so we joined their FF ("Saga") program. Who knows, we may end up loving Reykjavik enough to return there...we've heard nothing but great things so far.

Kristin, regarding Icelandair, if you keep your expectations low, you won't be disappointed ;) . Unfortunately the flights from Boston or NY to Reykjavik are red eye flights and the seats on these planes are really uncomfortable (small with little leg room) so don't plan on getting any sleep. The upside is that the flights are only around five hours and therefore, somewhat endurable if you grit your teeth. Even knowing what we do, we'd fly on Icelandair rather than spend a whole day connecting through London on some other airline. You made the right choice.

Frank, good luck tomorrow!! I'll keep my eye on the race results. I'm guessing you're a heck of a lot faster than the penguin pace I run!

My running buddy and I were talking about it this morning, and she told me about the Falmouth in the Fall Road Race on 11/2. I think we're going to send in applications - they only allow 400 runners. I had been considering the Manchester 1/2 in NH but not sure if I will be sufficiently recovered from Nike yet. 7.1 though is doable.

Kristen, we will definitely walk you around Boston. It's really the only way to go!!

Thanks for all the offers for luggage. We'll keep our suitcases to two. (Need one for the shoes!) ;) You know how many Doug packs. Can't wait to see you all. As we get closer, we'll firm up what we want to do and how many. We'll also look at weather reports.

You'll be docked right next to the Circle Line and the Intrepid on the West Side. Too bad Broadway is dark on Monday, so no matinees.

Peggy, ahh, yes, the expectations are in check on this one. Luckily, we are flying the reverse route - Reykjavik to Boston - on the 5:00pm flight, so no redeye. We did book their business class which is fully refundable, so if we could find any other alternatives, we might just change over. I just didn't see any other airlines that fly direct to the US.

According to their website, they are refitting their aircrafts, supposedly by the end of this year (we all know how THAT goes), but maybe we'll get lucky and have some new fabric on the seats - LOL!

Gil and I would also love to get-together with folks when the ship is in NY. I'll leave the planning to the expert (Andi). We were also thinking about leaving our bags if anyone is game. We'd only have one suitcase.

I see our dress codes have been posted...3 formal and 1 informal on the 1st segment; 2 formal and 1 informal on the 2nd segment.

I am actually kind of excited to see my beau in a tux again, it's been awhile (last time was on Silversea). Not fun to lug the formalwear around, but we'll all look SMASHING <img border="0" alt="[naughty]" title="" src="graemlins/naughty.gif" /> for a few nights there!

And again, we'd be glad to help anyone out with the luggage issue - when we get closer to the sailing, we can get everything arranged!

The 2009 Red Sox schedule has been posted, and they are playing the Angels, but in LA. We'll have to find some other way to entertain you in Boston!

Darn! Oh, but I am sure we can find SOMEthing else to do while in Boston, LOL!

Funny Andrea....isn't that just our luck! Tom will want to go to a sports bar to watch it on TV. BTW, last night's opening playoff game didn't go as planned for us. :D

Marcie, I'm a horrible Red Sox fan, because I didn't even know the series had started until my run buddy said they won when we were running yesterday morning!

Ngaire has been working with me - I've been hesitant, but tonight I've decided to go. Once I have my booking confirmed you can add me to the roll call - it will be wonderful to meet so many of you after all our time on LCT.

Margo, that is GREAT news!! I can't wait to meet you in person!

It's with great regret that Pat and I have bowed out of this cruise. The market swoon and the great increase in business air costs were the prime culprits, with an able assist from the general decay in Regent service, food and emoluments. Basically, we decided we weren't willing to lay out more than $30K for 24 days cruising followed by a long hassle getting home. We will particularly miss the great LCT group traveling on this cruise, and wish you all well.

Mike, I'm sorry you and Pat won't be there.
I just deposited....and will be in cabin 648!

128 days until we sail.

Well, we just made final payment so it must be for real!!! All of our air and hotel arrangements have long since been made...we are set! It drives me nuts that I can't view our booking online, though. Hopefully Regent will get that portion of the website up and running soon!

We're really looking forward to meeting everyone who's on board for the first segment.

So glad we are FINALLY going to meet you Kristin, it has been a long time coming.

Oh, thanks, Ngaire - and likewise. We are so looking forward to being on an escorted cruise - what a treat/added bonus this will be, for sure.

Kristin, I diddo Ngaire...looking forward to meeting you !!! I've loved your seamail in the past.

You are too kind, Marcie! Looking forward to meeting you, as well!

SWMBO booked our air to Reykjavik today!

Viking here we come! Can't wait.

Doug

Oh gosh I so wish we were going with you'all, but alas we even cancelled our Oceania cruise due to the economy, however, we will be there with you'all in spirit - this is the RSSC one we would have done if we could have.

We wish you were with us JoAnn!

Now we've made final payment and it's getting closer! Any updates on this roll call ?

Yes, there is an update. Mona and I will be sailing on the second segment of this cruise. I'm working on flights and hotels now.

We're planning to arrive two days early in Reykjavik. And we'll probably spend a night in Southhampton after the cruise.

It will be great to see those of you we've cruised with before. And we look forward to meeting some of the other people from LCT. Tom.

Tom, so happy we get to cruise with you and Mona again !!

One new reason I am sorry to miss this cruise, Tom and Mona have joined in the fun! List is all updated, I think!

Looks like a fantastic group! Have fun you'all, we will be thinking about you and anxiously awaiting SeaMail.

For those on VIKING....if you need a hotel room for one night as we do, I just got the newly refurbished Crowne Plaza (4 star) at Heathrow airport for $52. on Priceline. Tom's happy because it has a complimentary fitness center and the rooms & 2 restaurants and 2 bars sound nice.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/cp/925/en/ha/lonha

We're staying over a night too but I was planning on remaining in Southampton since we've never been there. I'm looking at hotels now. Tom.

I'm planning to travel to London for a post cruise stay...anyone else interested in organizing a car for the trip between Southampton and London?

Also, any hotel recommendations for London?

I'm meeting a friend from home for a week of touring in London and then I'm off to the Cotwolds for a few days and then Devon....I'll head for home on the 15th of June - what a wonderful trip this will be!!!!

Good for you Margo!!!! 5 1/2 weeks of bliss -

We've been to London before so that's why we decided to just go straight to the airport. We're doing Regent air (1st time) and it includes transportation from Southampton to the airport on May 31st.

Margo; Lynn and I really enjoyed The Goring in London. The room was very nice and the food/service was impecable. We did it on a Regent post-cruise package from Dover. At first it seemed expensive, but it was quite reasonable when all things were considered. We had private transport and a tour on the way to and in London with lunch( Westminster Abbey and a river cruise included ), 2 nights at the Goring with full breakfast, private transport to/from the theater with our pick of shows ( we took Mama Mia ), and private transport to Gatwick. The Goring was one of the best hotels we've stayed in and we normally go 5 star.

Thanks Doug, I'll check it out. How nice to hear from you! Hope you're both doing well and dancing the nights away as always.

Margo; You and Tom might want to look at the Silver Spirit Transatlantic cruise 3 Jan 2010. It's a fantastic deal and a brand new ship.

Thanks Doug...unfortunately Tom is now cruising with a higher power so I'm forced to strike out on my own. I'm doing a Seabourn cruise over the holidays 2009-2010. Thankfully I'll be joining friends for 4 week of luxury.

Margo; Sorry to hear about Tom. Somehow I missed the news on that. Even though I didn't get to know Tom that well, I did enjoy his company and chats with him.It's good to see that you're still traveling. I would hope that Lynn would do the same should something happen to me.

After much recent debating we booked 1st leg of Viking,on Friday - wish it could be all 23 nights but spur of the moment decision and to get Tony to agree to 13 nights a miracle on short notice - I love the Voyager, 5 sea days, cruising into NY Harbor and Boston sounds pretty good to me! Look forward to seeing you May 8th! Joanna and Tony

Yea Joanna!! So glad you just jumped in and did it, I know how badly you wanted to do this. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time and be glad you did it!!! Wish we could be there with you, so have a toast to us now and then.

Have a wonderful time, and we will be there in spirit!

We are sooooooo thrilled...may take between now and May 8th to get our arms back in the socket we've been twisting so long !

Yes, you and I have talked so you knew my "desire" and hope we can jump in a 2010 cruise, too, with you and Frank! Look forward to seeing Kimmi and John in Lauderdale and Frank and Carla in Boston and meeting Margo and Kristen after many emails - and, of course, connecting with LCT buddies - we will think about you two, often, and have great memories of B2B -

Marcie: Tony did not book to please me, although he is trying to get mileage out of "agreeing" to the trip - he had "Tom withdrawal", plain and simple - let Tom buy him a double Sambuca Double Expresso and Tony will be in heaven XXOO

Joanna, so glad to hear you booked the first segment!

Nancy

:app: :app: :app:

Joanna and Tony: I was anxiously awaiting the public announcement, and hallelujah, I finally got it! :D :D :D

:hello1: :hello1: :hello1: Kristen finally public got invoice tonight all looks A plus - soooo excited!!!

Joannna....I'm so excited!!!! What great news.

See you in May.

Joanna - I am SO happy to hear this. I was just thinking about how long it's been since I've seen you!!

The May Boston Tea Party keeps getting bigger, except instead of tea we will have Sambuca on the Harbor!!!!!!

It will be great to see you guys again.

FV

Great news Joanna--we'll look forward to spending time with you and Tony again.

This morning I was FINALLY able to log on to see excursions that are offered for both legs of VIKING. Remember...today was the FIRST DAY and already there are several in Reykjavik that say SOLD OUT ???

We are spending 5 nights in Iceland before embarking - the first 3 nights in Reykjavik and then renting a car and driving west to Snaefellsnes Peninsula for 2 nights.

Here are a few companies I've come across offering day excursions from Reykjavik.

I've read good things about this one - we are taking their tour to the South Coast & Thorsmork:
Iceland Excursions

Nature Explorer
We met one of the owners/super jeep drivers of this company at a temple in Bhutan! We are signing up for his Golden Circle super jeep tour.

the biggest operator is:
Reykjavik Excursions


for private tours:
KGB Tours

There are lots more companies if you want some links.

Be sure to ride an Icelandic horse at a horse ranch. They have a very comfortable gait & it is nice to see the scenery off road.

Jackie, I'm not on VIKING, but riding an Icelandic horse sounds fun.

Leslie, you are such a good planner. Wish we were going with you. :)

Thanks for posting this, Leslie! Guess we'll have to start planning, as well, since we'll be staying in Reykjavik for another night following disembarkation.

Question about the currency!? Should we get any of their krona? Or do they want Euros now? I read this on Wikipedia:

In October 2008, the effects of the 2007/08 global financial crisis brought about a collapse of the Icelandic banking sector. The value of the króna plummeted, and on 7 October 2008 the Icelandic Central Bank attempted to peg the króna at 131 against the euro. This peg was abandoned the next day. The króna later fell to 340 against the euro before trade in the currency was suspended (by comparison, the rate at the start of 2008 was about 90 krónur to the euro). After a period of tentative, very low-volume international trading in the króna, activity had been expected to pick up again throughout November 2008, albeit still with low liquidity, as Iceland secured an IMF loan. However as of January 2009 the krona was still not being traded regularly, with the ECB reference rate being set only intermittently, the last time on December 3, 2008 at 290 ISK per euro. One senior Icelandic official has stated that due to the crisis "the krona is dead. We need a new currency. The only serious option is the euro."

I imagine we'll use credit cards for most of our purchases, but we've learned it's always a good idea to have cash on hand when traveling...so which currency to take?

Kristin, I just checked on Oanda.com and the Iceland Krona is trading at around 114 to the $ today and at 155 to the Euro, so it appears they're still using and trading the currency. Check the Iceland Forum on Trip Advisor--credit cards are accepted everywhere and you'd be best off sticking with cc's when you can. There's also ATMs everywhere if you need a few Kroner. Although the excange rate with the dollar is pretty good, Iceland has high inflation, so things are still pretty expensive there. Also, there aren't any small bills, so if you use cash, you end up with a lot of small coins at the end of your trip. We still have a bunch from our last trip there, but you can always turn them in at the airport before you leave.

I used a bank in downtown Reykjavik on the recommendation of hotel where I stayed. I don't think they charged any exchange percentage.

Thanks, Peggy and Betty! I keep forgetting about Trip Advisor - haven't been there in ages.

Betty, what hotel did you stay at? We're supposedly in "the heart of the city center" - at the Radisson SAS 1919. I hope it's decent!

I think that hotel is fine, one of the better hotels in Reykjavik and it's right in the center of downtown as I recall. We stayed at the other Radisson SAS when we were there--it was near the University and also very nice, but the rooms were small. Regent used both the Radisson hotels for a while which is why we stayed there, not sure which hotel they use now.

Thanks, Peggy! We did choose it because of the location. Hopefully we'll be able to walk around and take the town in. This will definitely be the first COLD weather cruise/vacation we have taken...we'll have to dig out our "real" winter clothing! :ohmy:

Kristin, yes, it is in town. I stayed down the same street at the Hotel Borg a few years ago right next to a public park-type square. Have to tell you, though, not much to see in the town. You really need to go out to see the real sights that Reykjavik is known for. We rented a car and had a great day pre-cruise.

I stayed at the Hotel Borg. It's across the street from the Parliament building.
Staying at the Radisson in town would be better than staying at the other one. Unless things have REALLY built up - the other one isn't close to anything.

Oh yes, we definitely plan to see more of the sights - it would be such a waste not to. I sure wish you were still able to go, Olivia :( but hope you are making a good recovery!

Kristin - I hope you will do the Blue Lagoon. I can't seem to get anyone else interested & it was my favorite thing I did while there.

Leslie & Peggy, you always give us good links...thanks so much!
Kristin, like you...we're a bit up in the air as to what we're doing. Should we need chump change we find the ATM's are the best way no matter where we are.
Betty, need to go check out Blue Lagoon ! I remember you mentioning that before.

B2B Viking cruisers...it is now possible to book our excursions on line! I don't think dinner reservations are available yet...but it's progress!

Mona and I are arriving two days early on May 19th. We're staying at the Hotel Holt. I've planned a Golden Circle tour on the 20th.

I'd like to go to the Blue Lagoon but after I mentioned the high salt content in the water to Mona she's not too enthusiastic about it.

Joanna, I'm so glad you and Tony are on the cruise but I'm sorry it's not on our leg. I hope we get a chance to see you. Tom.

Tom I hope we get to see you both, too, even if for just a hug! Joanna

Wow, Kristin, that's early. Ours must not be far behind :app:

Yes! Be on the lookout, Peggy! :) (They came by FedEx Home Delivery, fyi)

I always get an email from B&K letting me know when they're going out but haven't heard anything yet.

The tickets now come DIRECTLY from Regent so you wont be getting an email Marcie they will just turn up and surprise you.

That's a load off your staff, Ngaire!

Yes, I must admit when they started this I was quite pleased. It took Debbie most of the day to just handle tickets.

Debbie was not happy though she LOVED contacting people about their tickets, you would have thought she lost her best friend. I had been trying to get her to give that duty to some else but she would never give up that responsibility.

I have her on so many new projects I think she is fine with it now.

I, for one, will miss having a "real" excuse to talk to Debbie! If she can adjust, so will I! :(

Yippee just got word from Ngaire....Viking #2 segment is a GO barring anything unforseen found in Rome dry dock ! (fingers & toes still crossed!)

Since only the last 10 of 23 days of the cruise are actually happening, I think the cruise name should be shortened to:

ING

Maybe Ngaire can trade in her Leif Erickson pins for an orange lion. :D