Ideas for Iceland Cruise

[Luv2cruz1000]

I noticed a post on one of the ports being a small town which would be lovely but also looking for ideas on the other ports and if there are any local tours as opposed to the large ship tour offered. (Small group as we cannot afford private.) 

Would like opinions if seeing Iceland from the cruiseship is the best route. When you are sailing is it like Alaska and sailing close to shore? 

Ports are: Reykjavik, Grundarfjordur, Akureyri, Seydisfjordur It is part of Carnival Legend cruise which also stops in Belfast, Portree, and Shetland Islands in July 2021.

thanks for your help

 

[ljandgb]

Reykjavik and Akureyri have big bus tours, like Grey Line, that will go out to the main sites, and tour providers with smaller groups as well.  For the smaller ports, you may be stuck with what the ship offers as those hamlets have little infrastructure for the few cruises that come thru.  Definitely search TripAdvisor and the travel forum there.  You'll get a good idea of what's available in the main towns and if there's anything at all in the smaller ones.  

 

I've not cruised Iceland so can't comment on how close to shore you are.

[Nitemare]

We love cruising, but I would never chose to see Iceland from a cruiseship, unless it was a tiny one.

 

Iceland to us is about nature and solitude, and you can't get that on a ship with 2000 or more people.  Not even on a 600 person ship, as those small towns get overwhelmed with visitors, and all the tour sites within 25 miles will be full of people.

 

Iceland is very easy to self-drive from  May to September (winter comes early and ends late near the Arctic Circle), with well signed roads, and almost everyone speaks English.  Get in a car and set out for a destination understanding the best stops will be down random dirt roads or on the spur of the minute when a herd of horses starts running alongside your car.

 

We were last there in September and spent hours, just the two of us, on the edge of a glacier just hours after it was just us and one other couple at a hidden waterfall.  That's not going to happen on a cruise unless you rent a car and set out from those ports.  They aren't going to this glacier or that waterfall.  They are going to the ones with infrastructure and lots of other folks.

[mconthehighseas]

On 1/10/2020 at 8:21 AM, Nitemare said:

We love cruising, but I would never chose to see Iceland from a cruiseship, unless it was a tiny one.

I feel that way about many itineraries (Hawaii, the Mediterranean, etc.)

However,  You are sometimes constrained by budget, time, and the people you are vacationing with.  I would be thrilled to spend 2 weeks (or more) in Iceland, but my family is not convinced.

You did mention renting a car.  Do you have any recommended car companies and/or one-two day itineraries that I could work with, in planning our cruise to Akureyri and Reykjavik?

[Nitemare]

41 minutes ago, mconthehighseas said:

I feel that way about many itineraries (Hawaii, the Mediterranean, etc.)

However,  You are sometimes constrained by budget, time, and the people you are vacationing with.  I would be thrilled to spend 2 weeks (or more) in Iceland, but my family is not convinced.

You did mention renting a car.  Do you have any recommended car companies and/or one-two day itineraries that I could work with, in planning our cruise to Akureyri and Reykjavik?

 

We used Blue Car Rental last time and were pleased with them.  They seem to be highest rated in posts on TripAdvisor.  We have also used Hertz and Avis successfully.  There are some bad companies there, like SADCars and Sixt who must be avoided.

 

Lotus and Lagoon are well regarded as well

[shudie]

We are hiring a car in Akureyri and Reykjavik this coming August.

 

We will self drive the Golden Circle one day with a lunch stop at Friðheimar  (the tomato greenhouse) and evening swim at Blue Lagoon (cheaper after 7pm) and explore Reykjavik on the 2nd day (with a visit to the Northern Lights Museum).

 

Akureyri , we hired a car to get us out to horse riding, the grass houses, Santa's hut and wherever else interests us.

 

We went with Holdur/Europcar as I believe they are one of the only ones to have the car at the port.  

 

[shudie]

We had to go with HAL for Ísafjörður as we wanted to see the Arctic Fox and when I emailed them, they said there was no way of getting there apart from ship tours, not even taxi - so probably similar for your smaller ports. 

[cruise kitty]

Hi there,  we used Europcar in Reykjavik,  there rental shack is literally steps from where you dock.  It's essential that you pre book with them, & also sign up for their quick pick up program (you fill out forms online ahead of time)   we were there two days (overnight with Celebrity) The sail into Reykjavik is nice, but the sail into Akureyri is spectacular in my opinion.  

 

With our car in Reykjavik, we did the golden circle on day one, & went to the Blue Lagoon on day two,  nice thing having a car is that we managed to avoid the bus tours at all stops as we were ahead of them.   We scheduled our Blue Lagoon pass in the morning as well to avoid the cruise crowd.   Driving in Iceland is super easy,   husband started us out, but part way through day 1 I took over & drove us the rest of both days.

 

In Akureyri, we used Saga Iceland,  we did one of their group tours, we were in a minivan with probably 10 other people,  it was pretty affordable, (they give discounts if you book early)   & nice, as our guide basically drove the route opposite of what the buses were doing, so we didn't encounter any crowds.  

[Luv2cruz1000]

53 minutes ago, cruise kitty said:

In Akureyri, we used Saga Iceland,  we did one of their group tours, we were in a minivan with probably 10 other people,  it was pretty affordable, (they give discounts if you book early)   & nice, as our guide basically drove the route opposite of what the buses were doing, so we didn't encounter any crowds.  

Did you go to the hot springs? Was there an option for you if you didn't want to swim? We are going to blue lagoon and really don't want to do it twice!

 

[cruise kitty]

26 minutes ago, Luv2cruz1000 said:

Did you go to the hot springs? Was there an option for you if you didn't want to swim? We are going to blue lagoon and really don't want to do it twice!

 

 

Hi, we did not go to the hot springs we did this tour:

 

https://sagatravel.is/stc023-lake-myvatn-from-akureyri-port/   they also made a couple of extra stops to see some sites (they consulted everyone on the van first)  I liked that we got back early enough to walk through Akureyri town,   we walked up to the church (it was closed)  but still cool to see, & I bought a tee shirt from the 66 degrees north shop