The Arctic Crossing

[Vera/Lee]

Can you see the Northern Lights on the Arctic Crossing in September?

[mek]

2 hours ago, Vera/Lee said:

Can you see the Northern Lights on the Arctic Crossing in September?

It should be dark enough in the evening, but they are always a crap shoot - it depends on atmospheric conditions and if the skies are clear.

[lakelorain]

Did 2 crossings in September.  Saw the Northern Lights several nights on one of them.  Conditions have to be right. 

[kccrzr]

We did aboard Vision on September 1, 2017.  To our delight, everyone received a complimentary photo of the Northern Lights.

[Another_Critic]

7 hours ago, kccrzr said:

We did aboard Vision on September 1, 2017.  To our delight, everyone received a complimentary photo of the Northern Lights.

That was a fantastic cruise.  I loved the 2 overnights in Iceland.

 

For others:  We left Akureyri and were sailing near the Arctic Circle, IIRC, around 12 midnight.

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Another_Critic

[pspercy]

The new solar cycle is starting up so there's a decent chance of seeing something. Good luck.

 

Check out:  https://www.spaceweather.com/

Edited June 11, 2021 by pspercy

[kccrzr]

20 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

That was a fantastic cruise.  I loved the 2 overnights in Iceland.

 

For others:  We left Akureyri and were sailing near the Arctic Circle, IIRC, around 12 midnight.

 

 It really was a great cruise.  I was just looking at the photos on my phone from that cruise a few days ago - brought back great memories. 

 

We love Iceland.  I briefly considered a cruise next summer which is going to Iceland but the times in port were disappointing so I booked  British Isles and Arctic Circle cruises instead.

[pstone1]

We loved the Vision TA!  Can’t wait to do it again!

[ONECRUISER]

7 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

We loved the Vision TA!  Can’t wait to do it again!

Nice! Thanks for posting

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, kccrzr said:

 It really was a great cruise.  I was just looking at the photos on my phone from that cruise a few days ago - brought back great memories. 

 

We love Iceland.  I briefly considered a cruise next summer which is going to Iceland but the times in port were disappointing so I booked  British Isles and Arctic Circle cruises instead.

I'm on the 2022 Voyager Arctic Crossing.  An overnight in Reykjavík, but only a day in Akureyri.  While Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon were interesting, I preferred the scenery around Akureyri.

[kccrzr]

13 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I'm on the 2022 Voyager Arctic Crossing.  An overnight in Reykjavík, but only a day in Akureyri.  While Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon were interesting, I preferred the scenery around Akureyri.

We thought Akureyri was a great port in which to have an overnight.   We rented a car the first day and made a big loop with the furthest point being the Myvatn mud baths.  It was much less touristy than the Blue Lagoon (though we've enjoyed that as well).

 

We also liked getting into port in Reykjavik in the morning so we had all day and into the night to rent a car and drive to Reynisfjara black sand beach, stopping at many waterfalls and beautiful sites along the way.

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, kccrzr said:

We thought Akureyri was a great port in which to have an overnight.   We rented a car the first day and made a big loop with the furthest point being the Myvatn mud baths.  It was much less touristy than the Blue Lagoon (though we've enjoyed that as well).

 

We also liked getting into port in Reykjavik in the morning so we had all day and into the night to rent a car and drive to Reynisfjara black sand beach, stopping at many waterfalls and beautiful sites along the way.

We also rented a car in both ports.  🙂

[LisaMT]

I am going on the Iceland & Ireland cruise in May, 2022.  To the cruisers who rented cars in Akureyri and Reykjavik: did you just rent the car for the day or did you keep it overnight and return it before the ship left the next afternoon?  If you kept it overnight, where did you park it?

[kccrzr]

10 hours ago, LisaMT said:

I am going on the Iceland & Ireland cruise in May, 2022.  To the cruisers who rented cars in Akureyri and Reykjavik: did you just rent the car for the day or did you keep it overnight and return it before the ship left the next afternoon?  If you kept it overnight, where did you park it?

In both Reykjavik  and Akureyri we rented from holdur.is (Europcar)

 

Europcar  had a small building at the port in Reykjavik.  We kept the car overnight  and parked in the large parking lot right at the port. 

 

In Akureyri we  only had the car for a long day/night as we scheduled a whale watching tour the following morning.    There was after hours drop-off.

[LisaMT]

1 hour ago, kccrzr said:

In both Reykjavik  and Akureyri we rented from holdur.is (Europcar)

 

Europcar  had a small building at the port in Reykjavik.  We kept the car overnight  and parked in the large parking lot right at the port. 

 

In Akureyri we  only had the car for a long day/night as we scheduled a whale watching tour the following morning.    There was after hours drop-off.

That is very helpful!  Thank you!

[Another_Critic]

7 hours ago, kccrzr said:

In both Reykjavik  and Akureyri we rented from holdur.is (Europcar)

 

Europcar  had a small building at the port in Reykjavik.  We kept the car overnight  and parked in the large parking lot right at the port. 

 

In Akureyri we  only had the car for a long day/night as we scheduled a whale watching tour the following morning.    There was after hours drop-off.

Same for us.  Rented from Europcar.

 

We parked overnight in both ports the same place we picked up and dropped off the cars.

[LisaMT]

32 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Same for us.  Rented from Europcar.

 

We parked overnight in both ports the same place we picked up and dropped off the cars.

Good to know!  I think that is probably what we are going to do as well.