Cruising

I have never taken a cruise, but we go to Iceland often. If you want to actually see and experience Iceland, then go by land. The cruise port stops are incredibly limited and you will only get to see a teensy tint bit of the country.

Our first rip to Iceland was to drive the Ring Road. We circumnavigated the island and stopped at quite a few wonderful places. There is no place on earth like Iceland.

Several years later we had several days in Rekayvik on a Disney Cruise of the North Atlantic. We had two tours, the first to an electric plant fueled by geothermal energy and Thingvellir, and the second to Myvatn and points west. We enjoyed both tours, but we had been to those sites on our first trip, so their brevity was not disappointing.

We have since graduated to Viking cruises, and next fall we will be stopping in Iceland again on our Arctic cruise. If you are thinking about Viking's "Iceland's Natural Beauty" cruise I'm sure you will enjoy it. If you are new to cruising or have never visited Iceland you will have a treat in store. The ocean ships are beautiful, the service is top notch, and the ports of call indicated on the map duplicate those night-time stops we made on our first trip.

I think the first question is have you cruised before and did you like it? If you have enjoyed cruising, you are likely to enjoy a cruise around Iceland. It is pointless to compare a land trip with a cruise because they are two completely different types of travel. They each have advantages and disadvantages. What matters is what you are looking for as the top priorities for your trip.

I have noticed that excursions in Iceland tend to be expensive, even by cruise standards. Make sure when you are pricing your trip that you consider the total cost and not just the base fare.

We cruised around the island on Windstar, after four days with a car. We've been on ten cruises, so I am not bad-mouthing cruises when I observe that you are very limited as to what you can reach from a cruise-ship bus when cruising Iceland. It's just too big a place, with narrow roads and slower speeds.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/western-iceland-by-car-summer-2023

Look at the ports where the cruise stops. Many are very small towns where you either have to take the (expensive) Viking excursion or be stuck walking around doing nothing for several hours. I'm not knocking Viking, but if I were you I'd research the cruise ports to see what the activities are and how much the excursions cost.

Some of the included tours that Viking offers--there is at least one in each port--are actually decent. and there is always an option for independent exploration We are healthy seniors and enjoy independent travel but we are approaching the age where we are aging out of car rentals and luggage schlepping and appreciate allowing someone else to drive and handle details. We were a lot younger when we rented a car in Iceland, in Italy, and Costa Rica.

We just finished the Viking Iceland's Natural Beauty 8 day cruise around Iceland and enjoyed it very much. we added 2 days pre-cruise and 3 days post cruise on our own in Reykjavik and with those additional days we managed to see the sites we wanted to see along the Ring Road from the 5 ports of call and then once back in Reykjavik did a bus tour of the Golden Circle and the South Coast. We were there also for the solar Eclipse, which wasn't that successful because of the cloud cover, but still a memorable experience nonetheless. I'll write up a trip report later.

Contrary to the prevailing belief on this forum, I disagree that the only way to see Iceland is to drive. We did not drive.We weren't going to drive. with proper planning and booking third party tours from each port, we saw the major sites including the major waterfalls, the glacial lagoon and diamond beach, Lake Myvatn, etc.

We were never going to do a glacial cave hike or lava tube walk or hike out to the crashed airplane, so even if we had driven around the island, we were never going to do those things anyway.

So, we liked the cruise and recommend it as long as you add some extra time to do Iceland on your own from Reykjavik.

On our own in Reykjavik, we ate at wonderful restaurants like Skal and Messinn. We did Flyover Iceland, the Lava Show and the Perlan Museum. We saw a show at the harpa concert all called "How to be Icelandic in 60 minutes" which was funny and well done.
We did a walking tour, where we learned a lot about the social aspects of living in Iceland. The walking tour was excellent and a good way to start your visit here, and a food tour, which we also did pre-cruise. We shopped at the Handkniiters Association store and two second hand stores along Laugevegar street for authentic Icelandic wool sweaters.. We shopped at bookstores and bought copies of the books our tour guide recomended we read such as "Independent People" by Halldor Laxness, Iceland's only Nobel laureate in Literature.

So more later in a trip report. Don't let the majority of people on this forum tell you that driving is the only way to see Iceland. It isn't.

derek, I noticed that you didn't mention Thingvellir Nationak Park or Geysir. Did you get to those? Did you get to bathe in a local hot-spring facility? (not so important which one!) Did you get to any of the South coast waterfalls?

Yes we did do the Golden Circle tour and did visit Thingvellir National park as well as the Geysir Geothermal area and Gullfoss waterfall. We had lunch at the Hotel Geysir (but not the tomato farm).
We also took a tour of the South Coast and visited the waterfalls there- Skógafoss and the renisfjara black sand beach and basalt columns, the town of Vic and seljadsfoss.

These tours were done on our own post-cruise with bus companies. So yeah, we didn't drive. And the viking cruise isn't going to do the golden Circle or South Coast unless you pay for their expensive optional excursions when it is docked in Reykjavik.
That's why we did it on our own.

And we did both Sky Lagoon and Blue Lagoon

Derek, I look forward to your trip report when you have time.

My husband and I took Viking's "Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes" which went from Bergen to Reykjavik; we did the additional pre-tour from Oslo before the trip. We had a wonderful time and would definitely recommend the trip. We had a wonderful time.

Are there other ways to do trips before and after the cruise besides big bus tours? Did you have help booking your hotels?

We did a cruise last year and spent four nights in Reykjavik before it started. We stayed at a hotel recommended in the RS guidebook (Local 101), which was easy to book online and well located. One of our days was spent on a van tour of the Golden Circle, which was easy and interesting. There were about eight people with an excellent English-speaking guide. We used Nice Travel but there are other choices, not all big buses. I think there are also tours to the South Coast and the Snaefelsnes (sp?) Peninsula, or you could rent a car for part of your stay.

Assuming that you're flying to Iceland from North America, it would seem like a good idea to spend a few days adapting to the time change before you start the cruise. Of course you could do more with time after the cruise as well. Depends on your available time and budget.

We also did Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes with Viking from Bergen to the Faroe Islands, then around the north side of the country and disembarked in Reykjavik. Viking’s shore excursions in Iceland were actually very good, and the cruise itself was a great introduction to the country. My husband and I aren’t crazy about a cruise, but if you like that experience, I definitely would recommend this one. Iceland is small enough that the excursions get you deeper into the country than other places, and it’s also very easy to combine it with things you can book on your own.
From Reykjavik, after spending a couple of nights at Local 101 (small rooms but excellent food), we took a 3 day tour of Snæfellsnes and the Silver Circle with Nice Travel (included two spa experiences), after which we rented a car and did the South Coast and Heimaey on our own, and we booked an all day jeep tour of Þórsmörk with Midgard. We found the driving very easy, and if we make it back, we will have no hesitation renting a car again. So Iceland gives you lots of options, there’s no one right way. Look at all the advice and opinions of seasoned travelers, but in the end choose the things you're the most comfortable with. It’s a beautiful county, so enjoy!

We rented a campervan in 2018 and spent 14 days driving the Ring Road. It was the best and most beautiful trip we've ever had! A cruise would really limit what you see and do. There are probably more hotels now, so you could probably do a similar trip with a car.

cindyeb--Our first trip was in 2015, but just a 3 night stopover, so we barely saw anything. Then we did a ring road trip in 2021 with a regular SUV and there were plenty of places to stay, but of course like you say, there are many more now. That trip got us hooked and we have been back 1-2x each year. I love the camper van way of traveling, which we have done there as well. I head back in May and we are doing a 14 day camper van trip. Needless to say I am anxious to get back!

Just got back from an NCL cruise that started in Reykjavik, and had stops in Norway, Scotland, and ended in Southampton England. My advice would be to look carefully at the cruise stops and what excursions are offered through the cruise line and other companies, and what will work for you. The stops are often in very small towns that may not have much to do if you are not booked on some kind of excursion. You can book your own tours, but understand that ship arrival/departure can shift and affect plans. Our favorite part of the Iceland part of the cruise was the 2 days of independent travel we had prior to embarking lol - we rented a car, made hotel reservations, and off we went. Beautiful, and would go back for sure.

mikliz---It's great that you're going back. We talked about returning because we didn't go to the Highlands, maybe we should! If you have time, drive down to Mjolfjordur on the east coast, it's a stunning drive. We only went as far as the campground at the bottom--we did not take the road to the lighthouse.

cindyeb--We have done that and I am hoping to do that in May, but it all depends on the roads of course. This will be my 10th trip:). Yes, you can say it is our happy place;)

It does help to know the Viking itinerary, but just looking over one of theirs (Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes), it looks like it would take in several ports - Seydisfjördur, Akureyri, ĺsafjördur, and Reykjavík in Iceland - and all seemingly are pretty "reasonable" from how easy they are to visit via ship ( https://www.canidothisport.com/cruise-ports/northern-europe/ ).

Viking will do a wonderful job for the cruising part of the journey, and seeing Iceland by sea will also unlock whether you will return and give you a good idea what you would like to focus on in the future.

If you're looking for a relaxing vacation packed with as much scenic beauty & adventure as you can handle, the Viking cruise will likely be a great option. Enjoy!

And at the end of the day sailing in to the ports (or the smaller ones anyway) gives you views you wouldn't get from land, because of a lack of roads.

Also in the smaller ports you get ship's guided tours which are simply not available to those turning up in their 1's and 2's by car- because car borne people simply don't bring in enough trade.

There are two ways to approach the subject.