Iceland circumnavigation: Seeking comments/information

[FogGuys]

Recently returned from a wonderful 7-day Tahiti cruise on Star Breeze, and enjoyed the immersive French Polynesia experience.  Looking ahead to a new and active adventure.  We would appreciate comments from anyone who has taken the 7-day Windstar Iceland circumnavigation cruise.  Did you feel that traveling by cruise ship provided an efficient and acceptable way to visit Iceland versus lengthy land journeys?  Were the cruise ports and offered excursions interesting?   Are long bus rides required from the various ports to experience attractions?  It appears that most ports have piers without need for Tenders, so hopefully cancelled ports due to rough seas is not an issue.  Would appreciate any comments about Windstar Iceland cruise as we decide on our next Windstar itinerary. 

[r&rd]

We have done this twice. Would recommend arriving a day or two early and doing the Golden Circle day tour first. We actually filmed a video with Tours by Locals on this tour which you can see on You Tube - Tours by Locals - 15 years. Last October we went and hit very heavy storms. Ship was delayed 2 days leaving Reykjavik and did miss a few ports (two because of delay and 1 because seas were too rough for ship to navigate harbor. In other words, don’t count on ports not being missed. Some of the excursions are quite a ways by bus but there are also things that don’t require long drives.

[avalong]

18 minutes ago, r&rd said:

We have done this twice. Would recommend arriving a day or two early and doing the Golden Circle day tour first. We actually filmed a video with Tours by Locals on this tour which you can see on You Tube - Tours by Locals - 15 years. Last October we went and hit very heavy storms. Ship was delayed 2 days leaving Reykjavik and did miss a few ports (two because of delay and 1 because seas were too rough for ship to navigate harbor. In other words, don’t count on ports not being missed. Some of the excursions are quite a ways by bus but there are also things that don’t require long drives.

Did you find it crowded in the indoor venues during cold weather? I've heard that the stretched yachts don't have quite enough inside space for the increased number of passengers when everybody wants to be inside. Your thoughts?

[SkiWave]

r&rd - Thank you for your comments.  Yes, we would definitely plan to arrive a few days early to do the Golden Circle and enjoy Reykjavik. We will check out your video.  Our plan would be to travel in August, and understand that the weather is unpredictable.  Just seeking out a bit of an outdoor adventure via cruise ship.    

[r&rd]

Weather is definitely unpredictable- be prepared for cold, wind, rain and sunshine. I hadn’t realized that when a hurricane hits the east coast of the US it can keep going! Somehow our weather people in the US don’t mention anything beyond Canada. You might be a bit early but we saw amazing Northern lights! You just let the reception people know to call you in the middle of the night if the bridge people see the lights. It might be freezing cold and 2:30 in the morning but well worth the wake up call.

[r&rd]

If the ships are sailing full it is a bit crowded in the indoor venues - especially the Yacht Club and the Veranda. If there are big events in the lounge they have done things twice to accommodate everyone - for instance the captain informing everyone about hurricanes!

[AmateurGO]

r&rd's description of that Sept/Oct cruise "around" Iceland is spot on...  we were there also.  We scheduled our trip with a couple of days in Reykjavik after the cruise for the Golden Circle and a south coast tour.  I understand that WS will discontinue Iceland cruises a week or two earlier now.  

In addition to the missed ports and not a real circumnavigation of Iceland, I have to point out the other potential issue related to weather.  Those high waves and wind will toss the ship around a bit and we did have a couple of days of that kind of weather.  We could feel the effects, but were not significantly affected by the motion, but many people were.  The last night (after the roughest day) Amphora only had about 1/3 to 1/2 as many people dining as normal.  Motion sickness remedies were quietly being provided, but if you are at all susceptible to motion sickness, I'd suggest you bring your own medications.

I do rather complete trip reports of our trips: if you want to read/view the report of this trip, check my personal (non-commercial) web page: http://hammocktree.us/Iceland23//Iceland-23.htm

There is a video from the last day of the cruise that will give you an idea of the movement.

[Host Jazzbeau]

15 minutes ago, AmateurGO said:

I understand that WS will discontinue Iceland cruises a week or two earlier now.  

In addition to the missed ports and not a real circumnavigation of Iceland, I have to point out the other potential issue related to weather.  Those high waves and wind will toss the ship around a bit and we did have a couple of days of that kind of weather.

We did a 'circumnavigation' of Iceland on Ponant in August 2019.  Not hurricane season, but a Nor'easter settled right over Iceland with its counterclockwise winds ringing the island.  We had sailed smoothly from Reykjavik north and all the way across the top of Iceland when our Captain called everyone in to the theater and showed us windy.com's wind map – and explained that we could make it to Seydisfjördur and into its fjord, but if we turned right on exiting we would face the brunt of the storm going south and also heading back west.  He said "the ship can handle it, but I don't think you want to."  Also the headwinds would slow progress so we would have to miss our next stop, Heimaey, in any case (especially with the narrow and treacherous entrance to its harbor).  So we all agreed with his decision to turn back after Seydisfjördur and head straight for Reykjavik.

 

My point is that no matter what time of year, circumnavigations of Iceland are risky.  

 

Ponant no longer schedules this itinerary – they do Heimaey from Reykjavik and then head north and east as far as Grimsey and Akureyri before returning to Reykjavik, missing Seydisfjördur (no big loss) and Jökulsárlón (which they never did).

 

I'm OCD enough to want to do a 'complete circle,' but I have to admit that Ponant's new itinerary is much more likely to be delivered as advertised.

 

As to timing:  August was already too late for puffins on Grimsey Island.  So maybe July would be ideal.

[Steelydad2021]

On 4/6/2024 at 9:39 PM, AmateurGO said:

r&rd's description of that Sept/Oct cruise "around" Iceland is spot on...  we were there also.  We scheduled our trip with a couple of days in Reykjavik after the cruise for the Golden Circle and a south coast tour.  I understand that WS will discontinue Iceland cruises a week or two earlier now.  

In addition to the missed ports and not a real circumnavigation of Iceland, I have to point out the other potential issue related to weather.  Those high waves and wind will toss the ship around a bit and we did have a couple of days of that kind of weather.  We could feel the effects, but were not significantly affected by the motion, but many people were.  The last night (after the roughest day) Amphora only had about 1/3 to 1/2 as many people dining as normal.  Motion sickness remedies were quietly being provided, but if you are at all susceptible to motion sickness, I'd suggest you bring your own medications.

I do rather complete trip reports of our trips: if you want to read/view the report of this trip, check my personal (non-commercial) web page: http://hammocktree.us/Iceland23//Iceland-23.htm

There is a video from the last day of the cruise that will give you an idea of the movement.

Thank you AmatuerGo

 

Insightful comments, useful info and well written ... plus nice pics in the link.  At least WS had a fall back of sorts so you saw some unique areas that makes this island a draw.

 

Booked WS Iceland for this August and hoping for puffins (we know northern lights in summer is not realistic) and smooth sailing but suspect anything can happen and for that matter anywhere.

 

We have been bounced in to seasickness and missed ports in the Caribbean on a pre-stretch WS yacht. Just off the much bigger Oceania Vista in the Carib a few weeks ago and springtime high winds canceled one port.  Suspect many wished another one was canceled too given the tender smashing against the ship during loading. 

 

Even a stretched Star Pride is not real big.  Big WS fans for same reasons as you but have to wonder if bigger cruise ships fair better around Iceland?

 

[mnocket]

We were on the same sailing as @AmateurGO and @r&rd.  We missed the first 3 of 5 ports due to weather.  It can happen🙁  That said, we really enjoyed our pre-cruise time in Reykjavik and the port stops that we managed to make.  As for cruising vs a land tour of Iceland...  We discussed this after returning home.  My thought was that I think a cruise was the right decision for us, but if we were younger and looking for a very active vacation, a land tour would have been better.  In fact, we wish we had done a land vacation in Iceland 20 years ago.  My advice would be, if you're looking for (and capable of) an active vacation where you spend your days hiking and exploring independently come rain or shine, then by all means do a land vacation in Iceland.  If you prefer a more comfortable and relaxed vacation, then a cruise will definitely fit the bill.

[Doh15]

We did this recently as a last minute thing and really liked it more than we expected even (we did not miss any ports).  

 

A cruise is not the same as a land tour but we didn't realize before we took the trip how difficult it would have been to see the places we saw by land.  We really liked the Westfjords and the Westmann Islands, for example, and those would take a lot of effort to see on your own.  We also got the chance to do some decent hikes to waterfalls and it felt reasonably active. So without diminishing the benefits of a land tour I think the cruise offers at least competing benefits.

 

The yacht club did get a little crowded at times but I don't recall ever really being frustrated.  We did sometimes bundle up outside.  Didn't mind the bus rides- a couple excursions had long rides to and fro through pretty countryside and a couple had 3 or 4 stops where you had to get on/off the bus to see multiple sites which lets you see a lot but also gets a little old I think.

[rmalbers]

As you can tell from these posts, no matter how you do Iceland, the weather you get is going to affect the experience more than anything else.  FWIW: Not sure if you have ever checked out Viking Ocean but they do a nice Iceland cruise and their ships have a retractable, glass roof that can cover the upper deck pool, etc,. area, completely enclosing it, so there is a lot more room on the ship if the weather is cold or rainy or snowy.

[Ski Mom 2]

We have signed up for an Iceland cruise in 2025 but are waiting for 2026 itineraries and hope to transfer to a different cruise. 
 

When our son was in college, he and his then girlfriend flew to Iceland and rented a car and drove around Iceland hiking and camping along the way. They had a wonderful time and got some spectacular photographs. My theory is I’m too old and spoiled to back country camp or spend nights in hostels anymore and the thought of being on the cruise ship is right up my alley! I think it will be a different experience than my sons but one we will enjoy nevertheless.