One of my favorite things about cruising is waking up in a new destination. When it’s a port I’ve been dreaming about for years, it honestly feels like Christmas morning. I get giddy like a little kid!
That’s exactly how I felt when Jewel of the Seas arrived in Iceland during our 12-night cruise from Amsterdam. Our itinerary included four days in the country, with an overnight stay in Reykjavik and additional stops in Ísafjörður and Seyðisfjörður.
Before the cruise, four days sounded like plenty of time in Iceland. We would visit three different ports, drive the Golden Circle, explore Reykjavik, hike to a waterfall, and sail through some of Iceland’s most dramatic fjords. What more could we want?
As it turns out, a few days wasn’t long enough!
Iceland was even more spectacular than I expected. The scenery was unlike anything I had seen before, and each day left me wanting more time. Although cruising made the trip convenient and fairly affordable, our visit also changed how I would plan another vacation to Iceland.
I wouldn’t necessarily skip cruising to Iceland, but I would approach the trip differently. Here are seven things I would do next time if I cruised again to Iceland.
I would treat the cruise as an introduction to Iceland, not the entire trip
Cruises are one of the easiest ways to sample a new destination. You can unpack once, visit several places, and let the ship handle most of the transportation, lodging, and meals.
At the end of the day, this ultimate convenience is why I love cruising so much. However, Iceland is difficult to experience in small pieces. The country’s biggest attractions are spread out, and driving between them takes time. Even with four full days scheduled in Iceland, I quickly realized that we were only scratching the surface.
Our cruise gave us a fantastic introduction to the country, but it didn’t feel like a complete Iceland vacation. We saw enough to fall in love with Iceland—and enough to realize how much we were missing.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I often say that a cruise gives you a small taste of a destination. If you fall in love with it, that just means you need to plan another trip!
However, I would set this expectation before booking a sailing to Iceland. A cruise can show you several beautiful parts of the country, but it probably won’t satisfy someone who wants to explore Iceland in depth.
I would still choose a smaller, less expensive ship
When we started researching Iceland cruises, I was surprised by the price differences between itineraries.
Some cruise lines offered newer ships with more restaurants, activities, and entertainment, but the fares were significantly higher. We also found a few itineraries that spent more time in Iceland, but they were outside our budget.
Ultimately, we booked Jewel of the Seas because our 12-night cruise in a balcony cabin cost around $3,000 total. That broke down to approximately $125 per person, per night, which felt very reasonable for transportation, lodging, food, and entertainment.
At the time, planning a comparable land trip was going to cost nearly as much once we added hotels, a rental car, meals, and transportation.
Jewel of the Seas was not the newest or most exciting ship sailing in Europe, but that didn’t bother us. We booked the cruise for Iceland, not for waterslides or dozens of specialty restaurants. The smaller ship also felt well-suited for a destination-focused itinerary.
I would make the same decision again. When the ports are the main attraction, I don’t need to pay a premium for a brand-new ship, especially when I plan to spend most of my time ashore.
I would only book an itinerary with an overnight in Reykjavik
Our overnight stay in Reykjavik was one of the best features of the itinerary.
Normally, a port day comes with a strict schedule. You can venture away from the ship, but you always need to leave enough time to return before departure. Missing the ship is not exactly how anyone wants to end a day in Iceland!
Because our ship stayed overnight, we had much more flexibility. We rented a car and spent an entire day driving the Golden Circle without constantly worrying about the clock.
We visited waterfalls, geysers, and craters before returning to Reykjavik for dinner and drinks. It felt more like a day on a land-based vacation than a traditional cruise port visit.
The following morning, we visited Sky Lagoon and spent more time shopping and sightseeing around the city before returning to the ship.
Even with an overnight, we couldn’t see everything. However, those two days allowed us to explore at a more comfortable pace. If I were booking another Iceland cruise, an overnight in Reykjavik would be nonnegotiable.
I would rent a car again, but I’d plan an even more ambitious route
Renting a car was one of the best decisions we made during the cruise. We considered booking a cruise line excursion to the Golden Circle, but the rental car saved us around $400.
More importantly, it allowed us to explore on our own schedule. We could decide how long to spend at each stop, pull over when we saw something interesting, and avoid traveling with a large tour group.
Not to mention, driving through the Icelandic countryside was an experience in itself! Around practically every corner, there was another view that looked like it belonged on a postcard.
If we returned, I would rent a car again without hesitation. However, I would explore even further than we did and drive farther from Reykjavik.
We didn’t have enough time to visit Iceland’s southern coast, including its famous black sand beaches and waterfalls. We also had to choose between Sky Lagoon and Blue Lagoon rather than experiencing both.
Those were reasonable sacrifices during a two-day port visit, but they were still sacrifices. With a more ambitious route, we probably could have seen more.
I’d remember that Iceland’s weather can change the entire cruise
A few weeks before our sailing, a massive storm disrupted travel around Iceland. Several cruise ships were unable to dock, meaning some passengers missed the country entirely.
That possibility had crossed my mind when booking, but it suddenly felt much more real.
Weather can disrupt any vacation, including a land-based trip. The difference is that cruise ships operate on an extremely strict schedule. If conditions make it unsafe to enter a port, the cruise line might not have enough flexibility to wait or return another day. Your dream destination can be removed entirely from the itinerary.
Cruisers often say that you shouldn’t book a sailing exclusively for its ports because itineraries can change at any time. That’s fair advice, but it is much easier to accept when you aren’t flying across the world specifically to visit Iceland.
I would have been heartbroken if we had missed every Icelandic port.
Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we completed our planned itinerary. Even still, I would think carefully before relying on a cruise as my only opportunity to visit a bucket-list destination.
I wouldn’t underestimate the value of Iceland’s remote cruise ports
Although I wanted more time near Reykjavik, the cruise gave us one major advantage: we could easily visit remote parts of Iceland.
After leaving the capital, we sailed to Ísafjörður and Seyðisfjörður. Visiting both towns from Reykjavik on a land trip would have required a tremendous amount of driving. Instead, the cruise ship transported us there while we ate, slept, and relaxed onboard.
In Ísafjörður, we rented electric scooters and rode along the fjord. We also visited a local bakery and walked around the town before returning to the ship. Our port day was relatively short, but the scenery was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing.
The next day, we arrived in Seyðisfjörður and took an excursion to hike Hengifoss. Between the towering waterfall and the colorful layers of red clay and black basalt, it was one of the most memorable landscapes of our trip.
We also enjoyed incredible views while sailing through Iceland’s fjords. That perspective would have been difficult, if not impossible, to experience during a traditional road trip.
Had we visited Iceland entirely on land, we probably would have concentrated on Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, and the southern coast. The cruise introduced us to places we might never have considered otherwise.
I’d combine the cruise with several days on land
Looking back, this is the biggest change I would make.
Rather than choosing between an Iceland cruise and a land-based vacation, I would combine the two. Ideally, I would book a cruise departing from Reykjavik and spend several days exploring the country beforehand.
This would offer the best of both worlds. We could rent a car, visit the southern coast, and explore at our own pace before boarding the ship. Once onboard, we could relax while sailing to Iceland’s remote ports or other destinations in Northern Europe.
We already like to spend extra time in our embarkation and disembarkation cities when the budget allows. After a few busy days of navigating transportation, hotels, and restaurants on our own, we are always ready to board a cruise where everything is already taken care of
That approach would have worked perfectly in Iceland. Instead, our itinerary included three additional stops in the United Kingdom and Ireland after leaving Iceland. We had already traveled extensively in those countries, so those ports were not necessarily highlights for us.
I would have gladly traded them for more time in Iceland, but you can’t cherry-pick the perfect cruise itinerary—unless you own your own cruise ship. In that case, please let me sail with you!
A cruise was a fantastic way to see Iceland—but four days wasn’t enough
Our Iceland cruise was convenient, affordable, and absolutely beautiful. We experienced Reykjavik, drove the Golden Circle, visited remote towns, hiked to a waterfall, and sailed through dramatic fjords.
We also returned home feeling rested because we had sea days between our adventures. That’s something I always appreciate about cruising. Instead of spending the entire vacation driving and changing hotels, we could relax while the ship transported us to the next destination.
Still, four days wasn’t enough time for Iceland. We left wishing we could visit the southern coast, see more of Reykjavik, and drive deeper into the countryside.
I don’t regret taking the cruise. In fact, it showed us parts of Iceland that would have been difficult to visit on our own. But it also confirmed that some destinations deserve more than a handful of port days.
Next time, I would arrive early, spend several days exploring Iceland by land, and then board a cruise to see its remote coastline.
You live and you learn—and, thankfully, there is always another trip to plan!
