Iceland - questions answered

[babydoc2]

41 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

In addition to Nitemare's suggestions, you might also want to email some of the reputable, bigger tour operators, like Saga Travel/GeoIceland, and see if they have anything to offer.   Even though they won't be located in the small ports, the nature of Iceland is such that some of the tour providers have a sort of "regional" operation.  If they can't help you, they may be able to recommend someone.     

 

Enjoy your trip!

Thank you both very much. I already tried Saga and another major operator. Will definitely try the "Google Machine" some more but may have to swallow the bullet and go with ship's tours.

[cwsdks48]

We generally take the ship’s tours and have enjoyed them for the most part. But we also take the $50 Shore excursion credit (Norwegian). Usually the credit appears as soon as we return from our tour. That is our evening drink money. Just enough for us.

We have been to Iceland twice, once on an Iceland air stopover (2 nights each), and last year on a cruise. We rented a car during the first stopover (did take the wind/ash insurance). Iceland is easy to navigate, it does get windy, so hold on to your car doors when getting in and out.

[Turtles06]

47 minutes ago, babydoc2 said:

Thank you both very much. I already tried Saga and another major operator. Will definitely try the "Google Machine" some more but may have to swallow the bullet and go with ship's tours.

 

I'm not a huge fan of ship's tours either, but I have to say that one of our best tours last summer in Iceland (aboard HAL) was a ship's tour out of Djúpivogur.  This is a tiny port in east Iceland that HAL added at the very last minute, just days before the ship sailed.  We had very few options at that late date, and so we booked a ship's tour to Hoffellsjökull -- a glacier that was some distance from the port.  The scenery on the drive to and from was spectacular, as was the glacier, and our guide was excellent.  The latter is not always the case on ship's tours, so we felt very fortunate.   I hope you are as lucky!

 

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[babydoc2]

Beautiful! 

[ljandgb]

I'm a fan of DIY'ing ports, or private tours, but, most "ports" in Iceland are tiny hamlets with a handful of buildings. There just isn't the economy available to support tour guides/companies, or rental car agencies, outside of Rekjavik or Ayekuri.  Definitely google, but there's a strong chance if you want to see anything other than the few buildings near the port, you'll need to do a ship's tour.

[ljandgb]

Akureyri. Good gracious my Icelandic spelling is atrocious!

[jpalbny]

38 minutes ago, ljandgb said:

Akureyri. Good gracious my Icelandic spelling is atrocious!

 

You and everyone else. It makes my autocorrect blow a gasket!

 

But I did teach my phone how to spell Eyjafjallajökull! It's now in my autocorrect. As is Akureyri. 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

 

You and everyone else. It makes my autocorrect blow a gasket!

 

But I did teach my phone how to spell Eyjafjallajökull! It's now in my autocorrect.

Is that the volcano that erupted in 2010? If so, it almost messed up my Antwerp to Amsterdam tulip time river cruise. I crossed the Atlantic on the first day that more than a few flights made it (they were still cancelling flights, including the one I was supposed to be on) and rather than flying to Brussels I took the train, bus, and train from Frankfurt airport to Cologne to Brussels to Antwerp. But I made it for a late dinner. We only had 47 passengers on that cruise; many couldn't get there.

[jpalbny]

That's the one, gnome12! Luckily our trips to Europe were in February and June of that year.

[sjo82v]

On 7/21/2013 at 3:32 PM, karlth said:

 

 

Hello,  I am visiting Reykjavik on  Sunday 30 June/ Monday 1 July on Ventura and would like to do a Golden Circle tour on the first day.  However, we dock at 9am.  Does anyone know if it is possible to do this tour with a later start? The companies I have contacted so far pick up at 8 or 9am.  Thanks for any suggestions.  Sarah

 

Not sure where that top bit came from!🤔

[Turtles06]

9 hours ago, sjo82v said:

Hello,  I am visiting Reykjavik on  Sunday 30 June/ Monday 1 July on Ventura and would like to do a Golden Circle tour on the first day.  However, we dock at 9am.  Does anyone know if it is possible to do this tour with a later start? The companies I have contacted so far pick up at 8 or 9am.  Thanks for any suggestions.  Sarah

 

Have you tried getting a small group together on your Roll Call to book a private tour so that you could leave when it fits your ship's schedule?  

 

Also, some of the operators I would think would want to schedule around your ship's arrival time in any event, and fill a mini-van by themselves (that is, without you or anyone else trying to organize a group).  Have you written specifically to tour operators to ask them about this?   We had very good luck last summer with GeoIceland in scheduling tours around our ship's timetable.  

 

Good luck!

[libby10205]

We are sailing on Iceland Pro Cruises.Ocean Diamond in September. This will be our third time to Iceland and we are looking forward to the trip. We arrive early the day before sailing and cannot check in to hotel until after 3pm. Any suggestions for how to spend that time.