Iceland/Greenland Trip of a lifetime: Need everyone's input

[cr8tiv1]

I am currently booked for a voyage to Iceland and Greenland (all in one).  It is one of my bucket list cruises.  After traveling so much in 2023, I am not sure I am up to this cruise.  Reserved this booking years ago to get my treasured Window Suite.  

 

What's holding me back?

Very long flights from West Coast to LHR (via EZ Air)

Expenses for hotels (LHR and Southampton)...if you are going that far....might as well tack on a few extra nights

More sea days than days in Iceland and Greenland

Expensive excursions

 

Would love to hear from other passengers who have gone to Iceland and/or Greenland.  Was it worth it?  I know I can do Greenland from the East Coast.  This may be one of those "not meant to be".  I've cancelled (or had cancelled) 4 cruises to Iceland or Greenland.  I know of people who have done land tours.  

 

Thank you in advance for your comments.  Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

 

 

[Carnevale]

We cruised around about 75% of Iceland this past July and loved it. It’s so interesting in terms of the land (the contrast of fire and ice and the implications of both) and experiencing the midnight sun. We found the people very friendly and really enjoyed the hot springs. It’s a very expensive place so we were happy to be on a ship where the daily cost for accommodation and meals was so much more affordable than on land.  We had to miss a couple of ports in the north due to high winds so we’re disappointed that we couldn’t do the excursion to see the puffins but even with the missed ports it’s a country we really enjoyed.  We have not yet been to Greenland so I can’t comment on that.

[Torfamm]

We did Norway and Iceland in 2019 and were on the cruise to Greenland from NU this past August. All three were fantastic but for me, the standouts were Norway and Greenland. The Norwegian fjords are stunning but the icebergs in Greenland took my breath away. It was something truly unique for me. Iceland was beautiful and fascinating from a geological perspective.
 

I can only speak from my own experience but I was happy with both itineraries and feel all three were well worth the trip. Are you interested in seeing Iceland and Greenland separately? Have you been to the Canadian ports on a Greenland cruise from the US? Have you been to Norway? Combining that with Iceland might limit sea days. It is important to be aware that Greenland ports are often missed due to weather.
 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Torfamm
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[HotRoot]

We went to Iceland in about 2005 on a land tour.  Highly recommend it.  We did Norway on a land tour in about 2019.  Highly recommend it.  We have Greenland booked next year on a cruise.  Lots of sea days.  We love sea days.  But. was ready to cancel until read lots of positive things on Cruise Critic.  All are expensive.  Only you can decide if it is worth it. 

[Tranquility Base]

If possible try to cruise on a schedule which includes a scenic cruise through Prince Christian Sound in Greenland.

We had an unscheduled transit through there on Coral Princess earlier this year.

[SCX22]

Cruising isn't the best way to see destinations on your bucket list.  Too many variables that could prevent the ship from calling in destinations.  The primary one to be concerned about is weather.  Because the climate in these destinations are like Alaska, the season is during the summer only, which also coincides with the Atlantic hurricane season.  If there is a hurricane sailing in the ship's path, there's a chance that itinerary will change, which may or may not include Greenland and Iceland.  This summer, Carnival and RCCL's Greenland cruises from NYC ditched Greenland altogether for New England and Eastern Canada because of a hurricane.  Winds can be a problem in Iceland.  I had friend who twice went on a Norway and Iceland cruise on Princess and both times the ship never called in a port in Iceland because of high winds.

 

Iceland and Greenland are expensive period.  They are islands and everything has to be shipped in.  Last time I was in Reykjavik (this was Iceland Air still flew to SFO), a cup of plain brewed coffee converted to around $5 at every coffeeshop.

 

Great destinations and one of a kind scenery to be seen, but expect the unexpected if visiting by cruise ship.

[Rick&Jeannie]

We did this cruise in May of this year. We had some challenges that I shared in this thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2939159-sky-princess-iceland-missed-ports/&ved=2ahUKEwjzmpyd4uGCAxU_ke4BHUuMA1kQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1e4OXwDjssMQtxaL26yusV

 

We enjoyed the cruise...we just didn't quite get the cruise we signed up for. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Rick&Jeannie

[Go-Bucks!]

I've cruised to both countries and, thankfully, was able to stop in Greenland and cruise its fjords...amazing! It was quite expensive; a very small buffet lunch was $40pp and a pair of thin gloves were also $40! 

 

My cruise stop in Iceland was canceled as our ship kept trying to get into the harbor but high winds prevented it.

 

I've been to Iceland 7 times and I really think a land trip is best. I always take Icelandair (to Europe too). It leaves from many US cities...check out their package deals! Easy to get around, amazing scenery, lovely people, English spoken everywhere, and don't miss the Blue Lagoon (as long as the lava spares it). I love staying at the Silica hotel there, but Reykjavik also has many nice places to stay.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Go-Bucks!

[mtnesterz]

10 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

What's holding me back?

It doesn't mean as much to you as it once did. 

What changed? You, I, we all, change.

Where do you want to go...now?

Like you, had Greenland booked, but Covid cancellation. Have not rebooked.

Edited November 26, 2023 by mtnesterz

[Ken the cruiser]

11 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I am currently booked for a voyage to Iceland and Greenland (all in one).  It is one of my bucket list cruises.  After traveling so much in 2023, I am not sure I am up to this cruise.  Reserved this booking years ago to get my treasured Window Suite.  

 

What's holding me back?

Very long flights from West Coast to LHR (via EZ Air)

Expenses for hotels (LHR and Southampton)...if you are going that far....might as well tack on a few extra nights

More sea days than days in Iceland and Greenland

Expensive excursions

 

Would love to hear from other passengers who have gone to Iceland and/or Greenland.  Was it worth it?  I know I can do Greenland from the East Coast.  This may be one of those "not meant to be".  I've cancelled (or had cancelled) 4 cruises to Iceland or Greenland.  I know of people who have done land tours.  

 

Thank you in advance for your comments.  Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

We went on a Greenland and Iceland B2B in August 2022 on the Celebrity Summit and had a great time and even saw some Northern Lights cruising from Iceland to Greenland. If you expand my below Signature area, you'll see my Live From thread. The major difference is that we left from NJ and disembarked in Boston. 

 

But I know you enjoy cruising with Princess, so this B2B may not be an option for you. As far as excursions go, we walked around the Greenland port and the Iceland ports were all easy walking, except for Reykjavik, which I would highly recommend splurging and taking the Golden Circle excursion around Iceland.

 

Princess Cruises - Excursion - Best of the Golden Circle

 

It is a long flight from SFO to London that's for sure. However, there seems to be quite a few nonstop flights that a little over 10 hours, which isn't too bad, especially since it's nonstop.

 

But I will say if you haven't been to these two locations before, they are pretty cool!

[cr8tiv1]

4 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Cruising isn't the best way to see destinations on your bucket list.  Too many variables that could prevent the ship from calling in destinations.  The primary one to be concerned about is weather.  Because the climate in these destinations are like Alaska, the season is during the summer only, which also coincides with the Atlantic hurricane season.  If there is a hurricane sailing in the ship's path, there's a chance that itinerary will change, which may or may not include Greenland and Iceland.  This summer, Carnival and RCCL's Greenland cruises from NYC ditched Greenland altogether for New England and Eastern Canada because of a hurricane.  Winds can be a problem in Iceland.  I had friend who twice went on a Norway and Iceland cruise on Princess and both times the ship never called in a port in Iceland because of high winds.

 

Iceland and Greenland are expensive period.  They are islands and everything has to be shipped in.  Last time I was in Reykjavik (this was Iceland Air still flew to SFO), a cup of plain brewed coffee converted to around $5 at every coffeeshop.

 

Great destinations and one of a kind scenery to be seen, but expect the unexpected if visiting by cruise ship.

I know what it is like to live in an island where everything is shipped in.  One of my biggest concerns is missing the few port stops due to weather.

 

Mahalo Nui Loa to all that have posted.  Really appreciate your insights.  Yes, I realize the final decision is mine and mine alone.  

Edited November 26, 2023 by cr8tiv1

[jagoffee]

We did a “repositioning” cruise in August of this year as it was on our bucket list.  The cruise did not disappoint.  You need to be prepared for rain and cooler temperatures.  And hopefully you get mostly good days. We flew directing to Iceland for Chicago.  We flew in four days before our cruises and explored the South end of Iceland and also enjoyed the museum.  We would recommend even more time pre cruise and perhaps a guided land tour on the front end.  (We just did day tours).

 

The cruise stopped at two ports in Iceland, one in Greenland, NovaScotia, and Newfoundland.  We disembarked in Boston.  The only port that was changed was that we were demoted to the smaller stop in Greenland.

 

Shore excursions and land tours are expensive.  I would not fly any further East than Iceland.  
 

As an alternative you could fly to Iceland and take a cruise only around Iceland and add a land tour for the places not visited on a land tour.  
 

I agree that you do not want to miss PrinceChristian Sound in Greenland.  We were fortunate to have great weather and spent almost the whole day visiting different Glacier and breathtaking scenery.  We all agreed that it was our favorite.  
 

The  Waterfalls in Iceland are spectacular.  It is a very live and active Island as you can tell from the current news.  A little scary actually.

 

i hope you can find something that works for you.

 

Good luck.

[cr8tiv1]

@jagoffee Starting in Iceland would be ideal.  Guessing this was not a Princess itinerary.  

[milolii]

We cruised to Iceland and Norway this summer. We had a fabulous time.  We used Iceland Everywhere for Reykavick, Grundarfjordur and Akurekri.  Wonderful trips every day.  We are researching some of the new Greenland cruises from the east coast or Canada.  Although you can never predict the weather we booked mid summer to “try” and avoid nasty weather.  Not a guarantee at all, though. 
 

I understand about the long trips from California.  The good part is that many airlines serve SFO-LHR, LAX-LHR, or even SAN-LHR, so many choices.  We’ve tried a few different things over the past several years.  Business class is a wonderful way to travel, but it is expensive or requite many airline  points. Many of the airlines now have a Premium cabin which is a bit cheaper.  It’s more like an old business class with reclining seats.  We have also flown to NYC; then a day or two later, caught one of the 6/ 7 hour DAY flights departing around 0830 and arriving about 2000 at LHR.  UA flies out of EWR; AA and BA have flights out of JFK.  This spring we are flying SFO- UA Polaris class over and Premium Plus on the return.   I usually book EZ air flights, but often cancel when I find a good fare on the airlines website. 
 

Premier Inn is a budget hotel chain in the UK, with some prime London locations.  Haven’t used them, but have used points for stays at Marriott and Hilton.  I am watching now for cyber hotels sales in May for London. 
 

Good luck with your decision.

 

Edit:  I sure there could be more airports in CA with direct flights. I know of the three I mentioned as I’ve used them before. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by milolii

[Mary loves to travel]

6 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We did this cruise in May of this year. We had some challenges that I shared in this thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2939159-sky-princess-iceland-missed-ports/&ved=2ahUKEwjzmpyd4uGCAxU_ke4BHUuMA1kQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1e4OXwDjssMQtxaL26yusV

 

We enjoyed the cruise...we just didn't quite get the cruise we signed up for. 

We were on the cruise  3 weeks after yours - the difference was night & day.   Weather was perfect, we made every port.   4 in Norway, all 4 in Iceland.

 

@cr8tiv1 we did all independent excursions in Iceland - all excellent - and for about half the price of Princess excursions.     Iceland Everywhere for 3 ports; Arctic ShorEx for Isafjordur.

 

Trip of a lifetime.

Mary

 

 

[homedepot124]

We went to Greenland this summer on Caribbean Princess.  Greenland is certainly not green.  It is very rugged and stark.  Nook is the Capital and was the highlight of the cruise.  The National Museum in Nook is excellent.  We saw lots of icebergs even in the middle of summer.  

[nymshowdown]

Princess has a voyage in 2024 (eastbound) and one in 2025 (westbound) that are repositioning cruises NY to/from London. They include stops in both Iceland and Greenland. The one-way itinerary cuts down on your flight time and you have more or less the same amount of sea days as a RT. Could be an option to look at

[2 cruises a year]

17 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I am currently booked for a voyage to Iceland and Greenland (all in one).  It is one of my bucket list cruises.  After traveling so much in 2023, I am not sure I am up to this cruise.  Reserved this booking years ago to get my treasured Window Suite.  

 

What's holding me back?

Very long flights from West Coast to LHR (via EZ Air)

Expenses for hotels (LHR and Southampton)...if you are going that far....might as well tack on a few extra nights

More sea days than days in Iceland and Greenland

Expensive excursions

 

Would love to hear from other passengers who have gone to Iceland and/or Greenland.  Was it worth it?  I know I can do Greenland from the East Coast.  This may be one of those "not meant to be".  I've cancelled (or had cancelled) 4 cruises to Iceland or Greenland.  I know of people who have done land tours.  

 

Thank you in advance for your comments.  Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

 

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines! Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover!”

Mark Twain

[Stonewolf Cruiser]

If you are willing to consider other cruise lines, Holland America has an interesting itinerary that they run once each year.

 

I did a 25 day cruise this past Summer that included 2 stops in Greenland, 6 stops in Iceland, 1 day cruising Prince Christian Sound, multiple stops in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, 2 stops in Maine (Portland and Bar Harbor), and 1 day at the island of Saint Pierre.  The ship (ZAANDAM) did a complete circumnavigation of Iceland.

 

This trip required no international flights.  The cruise started and ended in Boston.  As I already mentioned, this itinerary is only offered by HAL once each year.  Hope this helps.

[SCX22]

Another thing to consider is that there is high volcanic activity in Iceland at the moment.  No one knows when this will end.  The situation is being closely monitored.  In 2010, air traffic over Iceland was closed due to a major eruption, which cancelled a lot of flights.  Not sure how this would affect cruising, but I imagine if there was major volcanic activity, this would prevent cruise ships from calling.

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, nymshowdown said:

Princess has a voyage in 2024 (eastbound) and one in 2025 (westbound) that are repositioning cruises NY to/from London. They include stops in both Iceland and Greenland. The one-way itinerary cuts down on your flight time and you have more or less the same amount of sea days as a RT. Could be an option to look at

 

I will look into other voyage.  I know the Island will do one (not interested).  

[satxdiver]

We were on a TA in 2018 and stopped at three ports in Iceland.  We did several private excursions and they were great.  The weather was clear so great ports.  Last year we did the NYC to Greenland cruise stopping at three tender ports.  The fourth one was missed due to wind.  It was a great cruise in that we were able to experience Greenland but do not want to repeat it.  In the three ports we did not do a tour as they were few offered so instead we got off and just walked around the small town taking in the scenery and their small town.  All three ports were obviously not tourist places and the locals all came out and watched us.  They were friendly.  The only thing we bought was chocolate.  It was delirious hand made.  Both were very interesting but we have no desire to go back as our tickets were punched. .

[CaptainPedantic]

We did this cruise on Island Princess in August this year and loved it. We had considered it a 'do once' trip when we booked it, but we agreed at the end that we would definitely do it again. Being based in the UK is an advantage of course, to avoid the long flights which would be a big negative for us...

 

Ship-organised excursions were expensive and also scarce - we booked this cruise late and most of the best tours were already fully booked. But we did manage to find some great independent excursions. We had two magical yet very different whale-watching tours on RIBs in Iceland (in Akureyri and Isafjordur), and our Iceberg Safari in Nanortalik was also excellent. Blue Lagoon was well worth a visit, although we were forced to do this through the ship (due to availability) and didn't really have enough time in the water to truly appreciate it. We also enjoyed Falmouth having never visited Cornwall before, and Cobh was lovely. 

 

Yes a lot of sea days - although one of those was spent cruising through Prince Christian Sund, which was spectacular and a wonderful surprise, since it wasn't on the itinerary. The 4 straight sea days on the way back to Southampton were very relaxing if a little on the cold side.

 

We did get lucky with the weather on the whole, apart from a foggy morning in Qaqortoq (which lifted into the afternoon) and a foggy afternoon in Falmouth - and we did get to stop at all the ports, so we didn't have any disappointments on that front. 

 

All in all we had a fabulous holiday and would definitely do this itinerary again!

[Musky Ike]

2 hours ago, CaptainPedantic said:

We did this cruise on Island Princess in August this year and loved it. We had considered it a 'do once' trip when we booked it, but we agreed at the end that we would definitely do it again. Being based in the UK is an advantage of course, to avoid the long flights which would be a big negative for us...

 

Ship-organised excursions were expensive and also scarce - we booked this cruise late and most of the best tours were already fully booked. But we did manage to find some great independent excursions. We had two magical yet very different whale-watching tours on RIBs in Iceland (in Akureyri and Isafjordur), and our Iceberg Safari in Nanortalik was also excellent. Blue Lagoon was well worth a visit, although we were forced to do this through the ship (due to availability) and didn't really have enough time in the water to truly appreciate it. We also enjoyed Falmouth having never visited Cornwall before, and Cobh was lovely. 

 

Yes a lot of sea days - although one of those was spent cruising through Prince Christian Sund, which was spectacular and a wonderful surprise, since it wasn't on the itinerary. The 4 straight sea days on the way back to Southampton were very relaxing if a little on the cold side.

 

We did get lucky with the weather on the whole, apart from a foggy morning in Qaqortoq (which lifted into the afternoon) and a foggy afternoon in Falmouth - and we did get to stop at all the ports, so we didn't have any disappointments on that front. 

 

All in all we had a fabulous holiday and would definitely do this itinerary again!

Thanks for the great info. We have that cruise booked for August of next year.