satie37

Check out Krysuvik. So much to see in Iceland!!

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Personally I loved Fontana spa. They have various temperature pools with different depths. It is located overlooking a lake. Also the steam rooms get the steam from a geothermal right under them. You might want to check out their policies for ages though. Keric Volcano was amazing - there is a small climb up to the crater and then a climb down into the water filled basin where there is a path around the bottom of the crater. Totally not stroller friendly however the view from the top is worth the stop. Another suggestion on the way back to Reykjavik is a town where there are board walks amongst the steam pools. I forget the name of the town but could locate it and post again.

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The 'golden circle' is really a good day's outing and yes you can do it with strollers. The Thingvellir (sp) park has board walks and is stroller friendly. Even Gullfoss can be done with strollers or at minimum a shortish walk for the kids. Geyser is totally stroller friendly. I guess if you just did a real quick trip for those three sites you might be able to do it in a short time but there is still the drive to/from Reykjavik ..... you might be able to get to the Blue Lagoon in the late afternoon...... I believe it is also open in the evenings so you might want to spread it out a bit. Frankly, my fascination with the Blue Lagoon was a bit deflated once I found out it was not a natural occurring Lagoon but actually man made using the run off from the local geothermal plant. It is an interesting experience and I guess something to do once if in Iceland.

Thanks for your reply and good to know that I can likely get reservations once on board. I guess 'ONBOARD' credit really means one has to be 'onboard'.

~ Pat

We are cruising the Baltic July 1 for 14 days and notice that some CC members are stating there are 3 gala nights on that cruise..... do they have gala nights on sea days? Just wondering if that is the connection? Also I am in a bit of a quandry as following our cruise we are on a 7 day hike in Germany and limited to 20Kg max luggage and obviously packing rain gear, packs, hiking boots etc. ..... included in our luggage. So..... how 'dressed' up do people get on gala nights....my husband will not be packing a suit but slacks and shirt/tie would be ok. We may have to do some creative wardrobe planning ....... Are some dining locations less dressed up than others? We were thinking of booking specialty dining on our sea days but now I am wondering if we would have to be dressed even more formally at the specialty restaurants on a gala night.

Your shipboard credit can also be used to pay your Hotel Service Charge -- which can take quite a chunk of that money depending on the length of your cruise.

I checked my cruise reservation and it indicates that I have pre-paid hotel service charges, a prepaid Journeys ashore discount... not sure what the discount is .... and $400 onboard credits. Guess I will just have to take my chances and hope I can get a reservation after boarding.....my previous experience on other cruises (limited experience) is that the specialty restaurants get booked up very quickly.

Thanks for everyone's quick response - I am so impressed with how helpful and informative everyone is!!!

That is unfortunate.... thanks.... guess we will be enjoying some nice bottles of wine.

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I am trying to book some specialty dining reservations and have a $400 on board ship credit. I don't see any option to apply the credit to the cost of the dinners. I am being asked for a credit card..... does anyone know how to book specialty restaurants and have it apply to the onboard credit?

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Our cruise is not offering a train option only a bus. That is my question are all the options on the website so there IS no train option for Prinsendam? Or will there be more choices once on board ship?

We booked through Icelandic Mountain Guides. We were not on a cruise so you will need to see if the timing works for you. They are small group tours and were excellent.

Thanks for the info regarding the ship bus tour. The ship also offers a shore excursion which is travel to Berlin by bus and then sightsee on your own and then travel back on the shore excursion bus. I noticed that HAL also offered a on your own shore excursion to Berlin by train but do not see that offered for our cruise. That is why I am wondering if all excursions show up on the site. Given the cautions about traffic I would think the train would be the safest and fastest option but don't want to do it independently.

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Does the HAL website include ALL the shore excursions? Reason I ask is on our July 1 Baltic cruise for the Berlin port there is no train option to get to Berlin just bus. I see other HAL cruisers who had the option to book a train. We were interested to do a HOHO tour of Berlin rather than the package drive by tour offered by the ship. Also if we have to go by bus where does it drop us off? These important details seem to be missing.

I have been to Iceland twice and there are many things to see on the golden circle in addition to the park. There are a number of parking lots in the park - one at the top of the valley near the visitor centre and it is quite large. The other two are further down the road at the base of the valley. We were there in July and parking was not a problem. We spent an hour or so walking in the rift area. There are good easy paths and boardwalks so it is easy strolling. We spent a full day in the area which included some time at Fontana spa which is geothermal heated. You can certainly do the golden circle on your own. There are small group tours also and I did one in January with Icelandic Mountain Guides and they were fantastic. If you prefer big bus tours Greyline corners the market on these. Not sure how many of you there are but compare costs of renting vs driving as rentals are expensive. Other sites on the circuit are Gulfoss, Keric volcano - not active amazing blue water filled - geysers, the hydroponic gardens etc.

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It is from HAL. We booked direct through their site.

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I am impressed with the quick replies. Thanks so much

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I am sailing on the Prinsendam in July and have $200 on board credit.... what can I spend this on.... am I allowed to apply it to gratuities, shore excursions...etc. I know different cruise lines have different rules about the use of OBC. I am a first time cruiser with HAL.

Thanks!!!

I have $200 in onboard ship credits and unsure what I can spend them on..... I don't think I can use them towards gratuities?? What about shore excursions??? Not sure what is allowed with onboard ship credits.....