6am arrival Reykjavik 6pm cruise departure - recommendations on tour with transportation

[Bakeandshark]

Hello, my family of 4 is arriving at KEF airport at 6am. Our cruise sets sail at 6pm. Im trying to find a tour that could possibly pick us up from the airport and drop off at the cruise port - or recommendations on how to get from desired starting and ending point with little hassle. Traveling with 2 children and luggage after a long overnight flight so prefer not to rent a car or do anything too strenuous. We have never been to Iceland. Golden Circle looks really interesting. As beautiful as it is I don’t think my family will be inclined to go into the Blue Lagoon water.    Any advice or sharing of experiences would be greatly appreciated!

[nini]

You will arrive very early and may want to get some breakfast. I am only good at finding excursions from a port and not the airport. Have you considered renting a car for all of you and then doing a self-guided tour? Of course, then after returning the car, you would need to arrange for a transfer to the ship.

For me, I am a worrier and would just get through the airport and take the transfer to the port. Typically, we are on Princess and would be able to board about 11:00 am and enjoy the ship. But then again, we never arrive on cruise day, especially after flying.

[Bakeandshark]

19 minutes ago, nini said:

You will arrive very early and may want to get some breakfast. I am only good at finding excursions from a port and not the airport. Have you considered renting a car for all of you and then doing a self-guided tour? Of course, then after returning the car, you would need to arrange for a transfer to the ship.

For me, I am a worrier and would just get through the airport and take the transfer to the port. Typically, we are on Princess and would be able to board about 11:00 am and enjoy the ship. But then again, we never arrive on cruise day, especially after flying.

Thank you for the suggestion.  I am also a worrier and would love nothing more than to just head straight to the ship, drop off our bags and then consider light sightseeing once we off loaded our luggage but I’m not sure how early NCL will allow us to board. I don’t know if they would store luggage at the port?  For sure I would think no boarding before 11.  
 

I’m sure others have been in this predicament where their flight arrives early morning, but boarding isn’t until evening.  I need to figure out transportation options between airport, cruise port and tourist attractions.  I get the impression Reykjavik is compact but perhaps the air/cruise ports are more remote.

[nini]

You set sail at 6:00 pm. Typically, our Princess cruises have sailed anywhere between 4:00 and 6:00 and we are walking on by 10:30 or 11:00.

I think that if I were you, I would deplane and et the luggage and look for a place to eat. Then I would get the NCL transfer to the ship (I assume they have one or more).

 

At least you will not be as exhausted as we are because we live on the Washington state coast and fly out of SEA or PDX.... a much longer flight.

[milolii]

Try. Iceland Everywhere.  
 

https://www.icelandeverywhere.is/destination/private-golden-circle-kerid-crater/

[nini]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

Try. Iceland Everywhere.  
 

https://www.icelandeverywhere.is/destination/private-golden-circle-kerid-crater/

 

@Bakeandshark This is a 7-8 hour excursion. Keep that in mind for your schedule.

[Bakeandshark]

4 hours ago, nini said:

 

@Bakeandshark This is a 7-8 hour excursion. Keep that in mind for your schedule.

Thank you for the recommendations!

[milolii]

 You welcome, Ziggy will amend the schedule to fit your needs. So 7-8 hours can be adjusted. along with the price. He’s very fair and accommodating. He also has the ability to bring in a second driver if his day is full with another excursion. Even so book as soon as you can. If he is full, he will recommend  a different company.

 

[ljandgb]

No way would I want to arrive at 6:00am then, sit around with my kids for 8+ hours before getting on the ship.  Even just walking around Reykjavik for that long would be torture.  Don't forget that you will most likely be extra jet lagged as the time difference is the same as the rest of Europe but with a much shorter flight.  I never get any good sleep on that flight.

 

With 4 people, a private tour will not be much more expensive than joining a group.  Your luggage can either stay with you (it will be perfectly safe in the car there) or the company can hold it for you.  I'd definitely try to go out and see at least something.  With someone else driving, you can nap between stops.

 

If you really want to do it up big, check out Inside the Volcano.  That would take up a big chunk of the day and I guarantee the kids would be wowed.

[Bakeandshark]

Thank you for the guidance!

[CCJack]

We took an independent Golden Circle Tour (Our ship docked in Reykjavik for 2 days) - note that our excursion was 2 hours late returning to Reykjavik due to a traffic jam.  A lot of the excursion driving is on 2 lane highways and I would not have expected traffic jams in Iceland, but it doesn't take much to have a long backup on a 2 lane highway.  I am sure we were the exception and not the rule but something to keep in mind.   I likely would not opt for a big excursion that goes far from Reykjavik but I would look for a smaller excursion closer to the city.

  

[nini]

4 hours ago, CCJack said:

We took an independent Golden Circle Tour (Our ship docked in Reykjavik for 2 days) - note that our excursion was 2 hours late returning to Reykjavik due to a traffic jam.  A lot of the excursion driving is on 2 lane highways and I would not have expected traffic jams in Iceland, but it doesn't take much to have a long backup on a 2 lane highway.  I am sure we were the exception and not the rule but something to keep in mind.   I likely would not opt for a big excursion that goes far from Reykjavik but I would look for a smaller excursion closer to the city.

  

Excellent advice- it is boarding day!

[Bakeandshark]

I reached out to Iceland everywhere- thank you Nini for the recommendation- and we are going to just make our way to the port and join the Golden Circle group tour with them.

The contact was extremely helpful and there was really no downside to reserving with them as we can provide payment upon arrival so if we have the misfortune of a flight delay and miss the tour we won’t lose anything.  They even offered to hold our luggage which was my biggest concern.

Thank you all for the advice! One port down…9 more to go ! ☺️

[nini]

3 hours ago, Bakeandshark said:

I reached out to Iceland everywhere- thank you Nini for the recommendation- and we are going to just make our way to the port and join the Golden Circle group tour with them.

The contact was extremely helpful and there was really no downside to reserving with them as we can provide payment upon arrival so if we have the misfortune of a flight delay and miss the tour we won’t lose anything.  They even offered to hold our luggage which was my biggest concern.

Thank you all for the advice! One port down…9 more to go ! ☺️

You are welcome. Enjoy your cruise!