Choosing a cruise to Iceland begins with your interests and the activities that are on your list. Other aspects to consider are your travel style, the time of year you want to go, and the amount of time you have budgeted to get away.
Come up with a bucket list using the following suggestions to narrow down what you want to do, how you want to travel, and what you want to see. With list in hand,
contact a member of our team who can organize a cruise that ticks all the right boxes for a great escape to Iceland.
Interests and Activities: What do you want to do?
Iceland cruises make leisure time an adventure with a wide range of activities to choose from.
Whale watching, observing the
northern lights, kayaking, photography, and hiking are a few of the options available. For those who want to relax and enjoy the time away, there are
spa cruises that let you unwind on board the ship, taking advantage of the on-board spa while traveling through exotic landscapes.
Travel Style: How do you like to travel?
Iceland cruises come in many shapes and sizes.
There are luxury ships that pull out all the stops with amenities that include multiple dining areas, spas and gyms, state- of-the-art technology, and staff that chronicle your journey visually as a keepsake.
Other vessels offer more immersive trips, taking you to far off villages and important historic sites.
Ship size is another consideration. The majority of boats that sail in Iceland are expedition ships, with less than 200 passengers. There are also smaller yachts that carry fewer people and can navigate the waters to sites that the bigger boats can’t access.
Time of Year: When do you Want to Go?
Most ships take to the Icelandic waters in the spring, summer, and fall.
Each season has its highlights. Spring travel typically has fewer crowds, and wildlife like Puffins and whales are arriving after spending the winter elsewhere. Summer is the time of the midnight sun, when daylight lasts well into the night offering opportunities to see wildlife and explore natural sights past the normal hours of excursions. Fall is a shoulder season. Early August still has long hours of daylight, but by the middle of September there are dark skies at night where the
Northern Lights start to make an appearance.
Budgeting Time Away: How Long do You Want to Be There?Iceland Cruises range from short 5-day cruises to 18-day journeys that not only visit the must-see spots in the country, but also stop in neighboring Greenland and Spitsbergen.
Short cruises give you the highlights but you will miss out on the bigger picture of Iceland. Longer cruises of 8 to 12 days let you explore more of the country; including fjords, islands known for their wildlife, towns known for whale watching, and far off regions where the way of life is a far cry from the modern world.
