passiontotravel

We had looked into a driving tour but ended up going with an Ocean Diamond cruise instead. We are so happy we did. It was amazing. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see every corner of Iceland. The stops around the island were well chosen and very different each time. They day tours were very interesting and informative. For us there is no other way to tour Iceland. We loved it.

They accept credit cards in most places in Iceland. The Iceland krona is the accepted cash of choice. We used both while travelling here.

The food was excellent. Every meal had a choice of meat, vegetarian or fish. Lots of salad and fruit and the meals were all very tasty. You could order more than one plate if you wanted to. Every meal was wonderful. If you took a day tour they made you a packed lunch to take with you. It included a sandwich, cake, cookies, yogurt, fruit and water. Delicious. No complaints about the food at all.

Loved this cruise in May/June 2016. Was perfect for us.

Never heard any slamming door noises at all on the Ocean Diamond. The cruise was perfect.

Cruised with Iceland Pro Cruises on Ocean Diamond May 24th thru June 2nd 2016. It was fantastic. No banging doors. Beds were really comfortable. Everything about the cruise we loved. We did a land tour 8 out of the 9 days we cruised and loved them all. We are both seniors and have no complaints. Loved the casual wear and no formals. Add a scarf if you want to be more dressy. It works. Food was excellent. Staff were amazing and very helpful. Zodiac tours were lots of fun. Free rain jacket was a nice souvenir. For me this is the only way to Iceland. I am not a travel agent. You have nothing to be concerned about doing this cruise. They are very professional and look after your every need.

We were on this same cruise and it was awesome. We enjoyed everything about it. We were also upgraded to a balcony cabin. For me it is the only way to see Iceland comfortably. We took a land tour every day except one. And yes I agree the zodiac tours were fun and surprising. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you why. We loved it. Food was excellent. Staff were amazing. Ship was clean and well maintained. No complaints from us.

Great review... Any issues with the ongoing air traffic controllers strike in KEF airport? So many troubling stories there about that .

We left KEF on June 7th to fly to Toronto Canada. We had no problems or delays.

We are going May 24th. I will post updates when we return. ....

We took this cruise on May 24 thru June 2nd 2016 and it was awesome. We did book our tours before we left Canada but you can book them on board ship. They have a presentation each night before the port you will be going to although I hear those presentations are not too good. We researched all the ports before we left for the cruise and booked ahead. We got all the tours we booked. Some people who waited could not book the tour they wanted as they were all full. We took a tour 8 days out of the 9 cruising days and they were all wonderful. It is important to take all the tours you can as the island is beautiful and so different from port to port. Expensive yes but so very worth it.

We have just returned from our Iceland Pro Cruises circumnavigation of Iceland and it was fabulous. We were on the ship from May 24th to June 2nd 2016. This is our first small cruise ship so did not know what to expect and we were not disappointed at all.

The ship was clean, well maintained and all the staff were very helpful and friendly. We were celebrating our 45th Wedding Anniversary and Iceland was our place to visit.

We boarded the ship very easily with no difficulties and because of only 225 passengers is was very quick. We were shown immediately to our cabin and there was a welcome feast waiting for us. We had a lovely surprise as we had been upgraded from a port hole cabin to a balcony cabin as an Anniversary gift. The cabin was wonderful. Our first night at sea the water was choppy so the boat did rock a bit but nothing too worry some and to my knowledge no one felt sea sick. The bed was very comfortable and the cabin had black out drapes. We did find that beneficial as 24 hours of daylight is hard to sleep in.

There is the main dining room on the 3rd floor and a smaller one on the 4th floor. You could choose either dining room. There was no set seating so you could choose what was best for you. Breakfast and lunch was served as a buffet and dinner was always from a menu. At breakfast they would cook to order any eggs you wanted and bring them to you. The rest you helped yourself to. Lunch always had meat with hot trimmings, salads, vegetarian choices, soup and dessert. The same choices were on a menu for dinner. Lunch and dinner foods were always different from each other. I purchased wine at dinner by the bottle but some bought by the glass. They would keep the unused portion of the bottle and give it to you the next time you wanted it. The cost started at about $29 per bottle although the last 2 days of the cruise they had a 20% off deal. Everyone was given a free blue Iceland Pro Cruises rain jacket which is very nice. If once on board the size you ordered does not fit there is no problem changing it for the right size.They ask that you do not bring alcohol on board although to my knowledge they don't have x-rays to check what is in bags when they are taken on board. Our room had a refrigerator so we could keep anything we liked in it. We did not use any room service as we did not have the need. The ship is small enough you can get around easily. All during our cruise we had free internet in 2 of the lounges which was a nice option. When any wildlife was around a staff member would announce it on the PA so that everyone could go and look.

We took a bus tour at every stop except one so 8 of our 9 days was very busy. We loved all the tours. Most of them were about 8 hours. We wanted to see as much of Iceland as we could and we certainly did that. Each area had it's own unique specialties. We would get back from a tour relax until dinner which was at 7pm have a few drinks with friends then go to bed. We were too tired to go to the theater and see any of the things going on there. We did go to the mandatory muster station drill and also the zodiac boarding drill. We did 2 zodiac tours that were free and they were fun. They don't announce it on their schedule as it is based on weather and water conditions as to where it's safe to put them in the water. Even though we did a tour each day there was still time to do the zodiac tours as well. We did not have to miss any because of a bus tour. Most of our bust tours were on the bus owned by Iceland Pro Cruises. They had 2 drivers. One drove the tours during the day then the other drove the bus on to the next port ready for us for the next day. Sometimes they drove 5 hours or more after dropping us off. Two tours were done with an outside bus company as one bus needed to be an off road vehicle as we crossed through 3 streams and the road was unpaved. The other was because so many people wanted to do the trip they needed two buses. Most of the tours were done in 2 separate busses. One English spoken and one German. That was very nice. Some of the presentations done on board ship does both languages together which makes the presentations a bit long and drawn out. We did not go to the next port presentations as we had booked all our tours before we left home. I had researched all the places on the internet so know where we wanted to go. From what I heard the presentations did need some improvement as there was no set format or routine. I can't confirm that as we did not go. It is certainly a cruise I would recommend. I am not a travel agent we are just regular people who love to travel. We did look at the road and hotel route and also the camper route to do Iceland. After being there for me cruising is the only way. On our bus tours we drove for miles and miles and saw beautiful countryside but 8 hours a day of that was enough for me. It was lovely to get back to a nice room and a nice cooked meal and be waited on. It got very cold at night so camping in a tent or camper would have been quite cold. Gas for your car was $2.04 per liter so would cost a lot plus many roads were unpaved and some you are forbidden to go on unless you have an SUV vehicle. Our buses did drive on many unpaved roads but not on the SUV roads. There are many miles of road where there is nothing for ever. No house, no where to eat, no gas stations and hopefully you have a working cell phone on you in case of emergency. This is not the case if you are driving just the circle road from Reykjavik. But as we were in many remote parts of Iceland this would be the case. This is one of my best vacations ever. After our cruise we stayed in Reykjavik for 5 days and rented a car for 2 of those days. We did a lot of walking in and around Reykjavik. There is a free bus that runs to a beautiful mall from the tourist information center and there are 2 grocery stores in the mall. We rented a small one bedroom apartment in Reykjavik so we could cater most of our own meals. It did not have black out drapes and it was very hard to sleep in daylight. The apartment was very clean. I took 16 gig of photos of our vacation so I won't be posting all those. Lol.

Go to all things cruise.com (all one word) and look for iceland-pro cruises. Saying good bye to a magical trip. This link and this persons story and photos are amazing. They went with Iceland pro cruises. I am so please I am booked. I can't wait to go now I have seen these lovely photos and the writers story of their trip.

We have booked with Iceland Pro Cruises for May 2016. We got the early bird special and are really looking forward to it. We booked our cruise by phone directly with Iceland Pro Cruises and they were very helpful. Once booked they emailed an invoice advising of payment schedule. We booked our own air from Toronto with Iceland Air. It's a direct flight. Air prices were excellent and priced in Canadian dollars. We have already booked our bus from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik Hotels with Gray Line Iceland. It cost 17:00 Euro's per person one way. We have booked our trip both ways. We know someone who has used it and its an excellent service. We are staying for 6 days extra in Reykjavik and have booked a studio apartment. Again this is recommended by a friend who has already stayed there. The cruise leaves from right downtown Reykjavik and is convenient walking distance from our studio apartment. We are relying on Cruise critic for more information about the cruise itself but we are now booked to leave on May 24th 2016 so are going anyway. If anyone is booking the same dates as us I would be happy to chat about what we know and learn. Thanks to everyone who posts on this topic. We have done a mixture of luxury vacations and cruises to backpacking and staying in hostels in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand plus many other parts of the world. I believe from what I have read on this board we will have a great cruise. For me it's about the adventure and my passion to travel. Iceland is a beautiful place and we are there to see all that it has to offer. Happy travels everyone.

I too am looking for information about Pro cruises and ocean diamond ship in particular. We are going to Iceland and would like this itinerary. Also does any one have any information about GOWAY travel based in Toronto Ontario? Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance

We have booked with Iceland Pro Cruises for May 2016. We got the early bird special and are really looking forward to it. I have never used GOWAY travel although I am aware of that company. We booked our cruise by phone directly with Iceland Pro Cruises and they were very helpful. Once booked they emailed an invoice advising of payment schedule. We booked our own air from Toronto with Iceland Air. It's a direct flight. Air prices were excellent and priced in Canadian dollars. We have already booked our bus from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik Hotels with Gray Line Iceland. It cost 17:00 Euro's per person one way. We have booked our trip both ways. We know someone who has used it and its an excellent service. We are staying for 6 days extra in Reykjavik and have booked a studio apartment. Again this is recommended by a friend who has already stayed there. The cruise leaves from right downtown Reykjavik and is convenient walking distance from our studio apartment. We are relying on Cruise critic for more information about the cruise itself but we are now booked to leave on May 24th 2016 so are going anyway. If anyone is booking the same dates as us I would be happy to chat about what we know and learn. Thanks to everyone who posts on this topic.

We are back from our circumnavigation cruise of Iceland. Lots of feedback from it is being provided. Some negative, but mostly positive.

Understand that the trip we were on was the first sailing of this company in Iceland. They had done a practice run with some travel agents and others, but not a commercial run per se. So, there were a number of issues that they were working on that had not fully been fixed. A work in progress, so to speak, so by the time you sail many of the problems may have been rectified. For example, the swimming pool was not in use (it was cold outside, but they don't heat it at all, so will always be cold, if they can use it at all), and no sauna available. the exercise room is minimal (but you will get enough exercise on the land tours). Since it is so new, there was a problem with the organization of things: often there was lots of confusion. But even so, they were very anxious to get it right, and were really helpful and desirous of making it right.

 

Will start with the positives: we all thought that this is the only way to see Iceland, especially if you are elderly, like the 4 of us are. no unpacking and tedious driving through vast wildernesses and fending for ourselves. And the beauty of the coastline and islands and fiords is always visible. We docked in the ports right in the heart of the towns, and took the optional tours in each port. We had rented a car at the airport and spent 3 days around Reykjavik before boarding the ship. One of those days was driving the Golden Circle. Although the driving was easy, it was nice to be able to be a passenger in a van or bus that had big windows so I could gawk at the scenery without worrying about the road. However, being in a bus for 10 days as the only way to see the country would have been awful, so the ship was a perfect compromise. We would recommend this trip to anyone without hesitation.

 

Now for the negatives. There are a lot of minor negatives but if you are aware of them before you travel, it will lower your expectations enough so you will actually have a better trip.

 

Ocean Diamond is an old ship, recently purchased by a new company. It is not at all luxurious. In fact, it is badly in need of an overhaul. To start with: the rooms are clean but dowdy. The mattresses are awful, and I have a bad back, and the beds made it very uncomfortable to sleep. They are very narrow and poor support and lumpy. Cheap pillows too. BTW: I am a bed nut, having a great bed and expensive pillows, down comforters etc at home, so am probably overly critical. There is lots of storage space in the rooms. Carpet is gross -- seams are coming apart and there were some loose screws along the edges, but seemed to be clean enough. Just wear slippers! Bathroom is fine, small and sufficient but again, minimally comfortable.There is a hair dryer, but it is the old wall unit kind that barely blows air, so it is inefficient. Heating is a problem -- the thermostat doesn't work properly. It was first freezing cold where the ceiling unit poured cold air, but the wall side was too warm. Poor circulation. Otherwise the rooms were okay: didn't spend much time in them anyway. They are re-doing the rooms, one at a time, so maybe by the time you sail your room may be better. Also, the PA system did not work in our room -- it did in some other rooms. The PA system was a problem throughout the ship, and they were working on it to try to fix it.

 

Food: occasionally very good, often mediocre or just fine. No complaints. Just don't expect too much. The wait staff was still learning the ropes and inefficiency was common, but it would be hard to say anything but positives about them as they were eager to serve, make things perfect, accommodate your needs. So very friendly and pleasant -- made up for any problems.

 

Dining rooms: The main dining room on the 3rd floor is dark and unpleasant. Breakfast and lunch are served there, (buffet style but with made to order eggs in the morning, and they do serve you drinks, soup, and will fetch anything you want, so not entirely cafeteria like). Dinner is also there, but it is a la carte (menu). I found the room to be too tightly packed (and we only had 130 passengers out of a possible 240), and the windows are tiny, can't see out, and no natural light in it. I really disliked the dining room. However, for dinner, there is another dining option: on the 4th floor is a small, light filled room with large windows that we ate at almost every night. Takes a bit longer as the food has to come from downstairs, but it is worth it if you want a more pleasant dining environment. Since it is so small (holds maybe 36 people) it is necessary to get there just before it opens to assure you get a table. Many of the passengers do not know it is available -- I thought it was only for groups the first day, but asked and it is open to all (or was on our voyage.)

 

Tours: all of the tours we took were great. There were variations necessary b/c of weather (it was exceptionally cold on this trip) but there was good value for all of them.)

 

On board lectures: this was a problem that they must resolve. It is promised there will be naturalists on board. Maybe our expectations were too high, but most of the passengers were disappointed with the quality of and scarcity of lectures. The last 2 days, Pieter gave 2 lectures about birds and geology, but even though they were pretty good, they were not sufficiently informative and they were very late -- it would have been more useful if they were done early on. On another point: each evening there was a 'recap'. This was basically useless and annoying. the proportion of English to German speakers was 30% (at most) English. The 45-60 minute recaps were done in German, then English, with the German about 2/3 longer, and it is irritating to sit through it. We requested numerous times that they run two separate talks, one for each language, but that did not happen. Hopefully it will in subsequent trips. On the positive, though, the bus tours had separate English and German buses, so this was not a factor on the tours.

 

Can't think of any more to add. Hope this is helpful. Our overall impression is that we are very very glad we took this trip, so even though it seems like a lot of nattering, it is truly a good experience. It is quite a costly trip, though, and thus we expected a higher degree of professionalism, but I think it will evolve over the summer and become a better trip in the future. Go with a lot of patience and good humor, only middling expectations, and you will enjoy it. The best part is Iceland itself!

Thank you for your awesome review. We hope to take this cruise in 2016. We are trying to decide between a driving vacation or this cruise. You have answered a lot of my questions. We guessed it would have some teething problems being a new venture. I am pleased that Iceland has this tour in the offering. We have only been on the larger cruise ships so were uncertain of going on a smaller one. We guessed it may not be too luxurious but we are there to see Iceland. Hopefully we will see more reviews from other travelers. Thanks again.