Has Iceland become a hot cruise destination?

[commodoredave]

It appears to me that Iceland has suddenly become one of the hottest cruise destinations in the world. I explore why in my latest blog post at:

 

https://gentlemansportion.com/2021/10/04/iceland-may-be-the-worlds-hottest-cruise-destination/

 

What do you think? And are you interested in cruising Iceland? Let me know. Thanks. 

[hallasm]

I have visited Iceland many times - both on holiday and on business.  A country with very beautiful and interesting nature.  Volcanoes, rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, thermal baths and historical sites.  
Personally, I would rather be some days in Iceland and visit the many sights than two or three days in connection with a cruise.  
An obvious option is to fly Icelandair between USA and Europe and in connection with the flight make a stop over in Reykjavik and stay for three / four days.

Maybe in connection with Greenland - more accessible by a cruise.

[Nitemare]

I agree with hallasm.  Seeing Iceland with 600 or 2000 other people on a ship is not my idea of Iceland.  Iceland is about the Wide Open Spaces, and Solitude, and exploring on your own or with no more than a dozen other people.  It's about getting into the inland spaces and going down a random road to see what's there (spoiler alert: It Is Spectacular down that road).  It's not about organized tours and scheduled meals and going to sleep in this cute town and waking up in the next cute town, it's about the journey between those two towns when you see a waterfall every mile and watch the sun set for about 3 hours and are pleasantly surprised by that glacier in the distance that keeps on getting closer and closer and closer and closer until it feels like it's right on top of you

[John Bull]

20 hours ago, hallasm said:

An obvious option is to fly Icelandair between USA and Europe and in connection with the flight make a stop over in Reykjavik and stay for three / four days.

 

 

Something we considered  a few years back from London to Denver with IcelandAir.

 

Our research showed Iceland to be surprisingly expensive - not a big deal for about 3 days, but then we came to the conclusion that Denver wasn't the best start point for an extensive road-trip - no rental soft-tops 🙄, so we flew to Vegas. Still gave us a lot of road-time in Colorado (Rocky Mountain Road, etc) and the UK isn't a million miles from Iceland

 

JB 🙂 

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, John Bull said:

Our research showed Iceland to be surprisingly expensive

Indeed very expensive- when having a stop over in Reykjavik you save on air - and Icelandair is reasonably priced.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, hallasm said:

Indeed very expensive- when having a stop over in Reykjavik you save on air - and Icelandair is reasonably priced.

Icelandair also gives deals when you combine staying at one of their hotels.

[Nitemare]

16 hours ago, hallasm said:

Indeed very expensive- when having a stop over in Reykjavik you save on air - and Icelandair is reasonably priced.

There are a few ways to save money in Iceland:

1) Camp.  Not for everyone (not for me for sure!), but there are hundreds of campgrounds and it will cost you under $50/night and usually much less than that to stay at a campground

2) Self cater.  Lots of bungalows and other rentable places with kitchens, and there are a surprising number of grocery stores in Iceland.  More expensive than at home in general, but many things are well priced such as local fish and baked goods, including incredible bread

3) Diesel fuel and gasoline are similarly priced, but diesel vehicles get much better mileage, so you can save money that way

 

We've never camped or done the self cater option, but we do book lodging that includes breakfast, and lunch is from grocery stores/bakeries.  Sandwiches, yogurt, fruit, and similar.  Dinner you can easily spend $100 without alcohol, but you can also easily spend $40 for a couple

 

Bottom line, Iceland doesn't have to be expensive.

[ljandgb]

Iceland and inexpensive should never be used in the same sentence. LOL

 

Yes, camping, self catering, etc, can offset the cost, but it is an island with few natural resources beyond geothermal energy.  Everything must be imported.  It is also wildly beautiful, isolated, and minimally developed or populated beyond the few "cities" which makes it a great tourist destination - which also will increase prices.