Iceland Excursions PDF?

[vadraw]

Hello,

Does anyone have access to a copy of the excursion descriptions that are normally offered on the Iceland's Natural Beauty cruises (the circumnavigation of Iceland)?  I'm coordinating a group for the cruise and an easily referenced document would be very helpful rather referring everyone to the website.  I know they're not official until much closer to the cruise.

Thanks,

Don

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, vadraw said:

Hello,

Does anyone have access to a copy of the excursion descriptions that are normally offered on the Iceland's Natural Beauty cruises (the circumnavigation of Iceland)?  I'm coordinating a group for the cruise and an easily referenced document would be very helpful rather referring everyone to the website.  I know they're not official until much closer to the cruise.

Thanks,

Don

You don't need a pdf.

You can get all the information on the Viking Oceans website.

Just click on the various ports and you will see the "potential" excursions and descriptions.

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/baltic/icelands-natural-beauty/index.html

 

Example:

 

 

[CDR2001]

I’ve requested  a PDF list of excursions and details by using Chat on MVJ. Agents have been very helpful and sent it via email. 

[vadraw]

Thanks, that worked great!

[TayanaLorna]

22 hours ago, vadraw said:

Hello,

Does anyone have access to a copy of the excursion descriptions that are normally offered on the Iceland's Natural Beauty cruises (the circumnavigation of Iceland)?  I'm coordinating a group for the cruise and an easily referenced document would be very helpful rather referring everyone to the website.  I know they're not official until much closer to the cruise.

Thanks,

Don

I see Kent sent you the link to see them.  I did the cruise in 2021.  I can tell you the cost of any particular excursion if you wish - at least for then.  

[Hobson1754]

On 12/7/2022 at 12:59 PM, TayanaLorna said:

I see Kent sent you the link to see them.  I did the cruise in 2021.  I can tell you the cost of any particular excursion if you wish - at least for then.  

Good morning Lorna - we’re going on the Iceland, British Isles & Iberia cruise in September & are interested in a Golden Circle tour.  We are thinking of booking a tour through a tour company before we go but, as the tours are 8 hours+ I’m not 100% comfortable booking it for fear of being late back to ship, so would be grateful if you could provide some cost information on Viking tours just to compare.

[TayanaLorna]

8 hours ago, Hobson1754 said:

Good morning Lorna - we’re going on the Iceland, British Isles & Iberia cruise in September & are interested in a Golden Circle tour.  We are thinking of booking a tour through a tour company before we go but, as the tours are 8 hours+ I’m not 100% comfortable booking it for fear of being late back to ship, so would be grateful if you could provide some cost information on Viking tours just to compare.

Vikings Golden Circle was $199 per person.  It was all day and included a fabulous lunch.  

[Hobson1754]

Many thanks Lorna - that’s substantially more than some of the excursions I’ve been looking at, but I suppose for peace of mind I’ll probably ‘bite the bullet’ + a good lunch sound very attractive 😂

[vadraw]

On 12/7/2022 at 7:59 AM, TayanaLorna said:

I see Kent sent you the link to see them.  I did the cruise in 2021.  I can tell you the cost of any particular excursion if you wish - at least for then.  

Hi Lorna,

Could you provide the prices for the following excursions if you have them handy.  

Thanks

Don

Port                             Candidate Excursion

 

Reykjavik                   Black Beach & ATV Lava Tour

                             

 

Isafjordur                    Isafjordur by Kayak

                                    Isafjordur by ATV

                                    Vigur Island

 

Akureyri                     Whale Watching Safari

 

Seydispjordur             Vok Baths

 

Djupivgur                   Kyak the Berufjordur

                                    Halsar Hike

 

Heimaey                     Coastal Heimaey by RIB Boat

                                    Volcanic Landscapes by ATV

[TayanaLorna]

33 minutes ago, vadraw said:

Hi Lorna,

Could you provide the prices for the following excursions if you have them handy.  

Thanks

Don

Port                             Candidate Excursion

 

Reykjavik                   Black Beach & ATV Lava Tour

                             

 

Isafjordur                    Isafjordur by Kayak

                                    Isafjordur by ATV

                                    Vigur Island

 

Akureyri                     Whale Watching Safari

 

Seydispjordur             Vok Baths

 

Djupivgur                   Kyak the Berufjordur

                                    Halsar Hike

 

Heimaey                     Coastal Heimaey by RIB Boat

                                    Volcanic Landscapes by ATV

Well I am glad I keep everything ha ha.  

Black Beach by ATV was $299 and it sold out.  FYI people were saying it was meh.  They barely got out of Reykjavik and went in awful weather 

 

Isafjordur by kayak was $129, by ATV it cost $219 and Vigur Island was $119.  All sold out.  

 

Whale watching in Akureyri was $179.

 

Seydisfjordur Vok Baths cost $179.  We did this and Skalanes Nature & Heritage Center $139 and loved them both.  Even had time to walk through town.

 

Djupivogur Kayaking was $129 and the Halsar Hike $79 which sold out

 

Heimaey Coastal by RIB was $179 and Volcanic by ATV was $139.  Both sold out.

 

We spent a fortune on excursions, were out for 8-9 hours most days and it was well worth it!

 

 

 

 

[vadraw]

Thank you so much; this is very helpful.  Nothing like info from someone who has been there!  Were there any excursions, including ones I haven't listed, that you recommend?

Thanks,

Don

[Peregrina651]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:38 PM, Hobson1754 said:

Many thanks Lorna - that’s substantially more than some of the excursions I’ve been looking at, but I suppose for peace of mind I’ll probably ‘bite the bullet’ + a good lunch sound very attractive 😂

 

We did The Golden Circle with GrayLine Tours for half the price. We saw the same sights and lunch didn't cost us $100pp. They pick at the ship.  We happened to do it on disembarkation day. We took all of our luggage with us and we were dropped at our hotel at the end of the day.

[Hobson1754]

1 minute ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

We did The Golden Circle with GrayLine Tours for half the price. We saw the same sights and lunch didn't cost us $100pp. They pick at the ship.  We happened to do it on disembarkation day. We took all of our luggage with us and we were dropped at our hotel at the end of the day.

We have been thinking about taking a Golden Circle excursion with a tour provider other than Viking for a couple of reasons 1) The high price (think it’s about $199 and 2) There may be sold out by the time we can reserve tours as we are in a DV cabin - can you advise how long this tour actually took as my main worry is that the tour is late back for our sailing?

[Peregrina651]

 GrayLine stuck with their time schedule.  By the stated ending time the bus had already started dropping folks off.  You do have to allow time for drop offs at the end of the day, maybe up to half an hour.  

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

On 1/1/2023 at 1:09 PM, vadraw said:

Thank you so much; this is very helpful.  Nothing like info from someone who has been there!  Were there any excursions, including ones I haven't listed, that you recommend?

Thanks,

Don

Just an FYI on the Whale Watching app n Akureyri-the port is waaaay inland down a bay and apparently the whales tend to hang out near the mouth of the bay (at least when we were there in July 2021). We enjoyed the excursion but didn’t see any big whales. We saw a couple of Minke whales which I would have thought were dolphins if the guide hadn’t told us otherwise. We did have a great time watching a big pod of dolphins teaching their young to swim and hunt.  

 

Depending on when you go, be sure to bundle up, this was the only time we wore all our layers!

 

YMMV

 

[Hobson1754]

29 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 GrayLine stuck with their time schedule.  By the stated ending time the bus had already started dropping folks off.  You do have to allow time for drop offs at the end of the day, maybe up to half an hour.  

 

 

Many thanks for this - just have to convince my husband who’s always overly cautious time wise when catching flights, getting back to ship etc.😂

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, Hobson1754 said:

Many thanks for this - just have to convince my husband who’s always overly cautious time wise when catching flights, getting back to ship etc.😂

 

Hmm. Sounds exactly like the man I married. I have wasted so many hours of my life arriving way too early for soooo many events.

 

The good news is that I have managed to convince him that it is okay to take private tours, that companies don't stay in business by missing sailaway times.

 

[czrunner]

We did the same Golden Circle Tour with Grayline as Peregrina, except we did it on the embarkation day and utilized GrayLine to transport our luggage from the bus stop near our guesthouse to the ship.  The harbor was GrayLine's last stop, and we got there just after 5 p.m.  It worked out great, since at that time there were no other passengers and the check in was very fast.  We were not too worried about the late arrival, because the ship stayed in Reykjavik for another day.

 

I can't comment on independent excursions in other Iceland ports.  We had a 125% voucher from a previously cancelled cruise and used the extra money to book all remaining excursions with Viking.

[Peregrina651]

28 minutes ago, czrunner said:

We did the same Golden Circle Tour with Grayline as Peregrina, except we did it on the embarkation day and utilized GrayLine to transport our luggage from the bus stop near our guesthouse to the ship.  The harbor was GrayLine's last stop, and we got there just after 5 p.m.  It worked out great, since at that time there were no other passengers and the check in was very fast.  We were not too worried about the late arrival, because the ship stayed in Reykjavik for another day.

 

I can't comment on independent excursions in other Iceland ports.  We had a 125% voucher from a previously cancelled cruise and used the extra money to book all remaining excursions with Viking.

 

BUT keep in mind the kicker in czrunner's plan: they arrived in Iceland before embarkation day. 

 

You don't really want to go from the airport directly to do the Golden Circle. Not only will you be exhausted from the lack of sleep but the logistics are a lot more complicated.

[czrunner]

Good point, Peregrina.  We actually arrived three days before embarkation day, and also took a full day (10 hour) South Coast Tour with “Your Day Tours" the second day, after we recovered from the flight.  That was another excellent tour.  I thought that it was clear that we didn't take a tour immediately after arriving, since I mentioned being picked up near our guesthouse. But your reminder didn't hurt.

[Peregrina651]

It was clear to me but I also thought that it was the crucial detail in making it work, so I grabbed my yellow highlighter, just to make sure that it didn’t  get glossed over. 

 

[Hobson1754]

We are arriving the day before embarkation day so that probably is a better option. Discussed with & been informed by DH that he definitely won’t do a full day independent tour the day we are sailing for reason given above. Hey Ho!!😂

[pfibilly]

Has anyone taken the Iceland and Golden Circle post-cruise Extension? What is the timetable look like for departing the ship and travel to airport out of Bergen? Is this worth doing?

[Peregrina651]

Check flights out of Bergen to Icelamd.  There aren't a lot of them.  Figure that you will be on an early one.  Viking wants you off the ship by 10am, earlier if they can.  They will allow a good 2 to 3 hours at the airport before departure.  

 

[slewis7]

On 1/22/2023 at 10:52 AM, pfibilly said:

Has anyone taken the Iceland and Golden Circle post-cruise Extension? What is the timetable look like for departing the ship and travel to airport out of Bergen? Is this worth doing?

We are booked on that Iceland extension this summer.  Our current flight scheduled shows us leaving Bergen at 3:30pm.  The flight into Reykjavik is 2 hours 20 minutes via Iceland Air.  It seems like that day will be about transit with no real sightseeing.