Next cruise booked: port info needed

[Dark Knight]

Morning Forumites

We have booked our latest cruise and we are going to the following:
Stornaway
Reykjavik
Isafjord
Akureyri
Lerwick
Bergen
Ulvik
Eidfjord

Having only been to Bergen, any port advice, excursions etc would be helpful
we depart late August

[Manoverboard]

Reykjavik .... dead easy DIY, just walk around the clapper boarded town but don't buy anything.

Akureyri ... take the ' Jewels of the North ' trip to see the Earth's crust close up

ps ... welcome back

[Kenmo1]

Welcome back Dark Knight - glad you enjoyed your holiday. We were unsure about a trip to Iceland but we absolutely loved because it is like another world to visit. We went in June 2012 and were reasonably lucky with the weather although you need a bit of everything. We are keeping an eye on a PO cruise in June to Iceland again.

We are usually quite tight about doing excursions but we were glad we did the following ship excursions :-

Reykjavik - The Golden Circle Tour - We saw the geysir Strokkur (?) and it was amazing - we could have spent hours watching it. We also saw some fantastic waterfalls, I think Gullfloss was the name of one and we also went to the Thingvellir National Park where there is a huge rift in the earth where the tetonic plates are separating. You can also go to the Blue Lagoon to bathe but we didn't do that.
Akureyri - we did the Jewels of the North Tour - wouldn't have missed this for anything. Again we saw some fantastic waterfalls but the place which will always stick in my mind were the mud springs, boiling hot mud springs coming up where the earth is so thin. Incredible.
Eidfjord - an extremely pretty village at the top of a lovely fjord. Luckily it was a sunny day so we just walked round so I'm not sure what to do if the weather was bad. It was worth being up on deck for the beautiful sail out from the fjord.

Maureen

[Quizzical Bob]

Welcome back Dark Knight - glad you enjoyed your holiday. We were unsure about a trip to Iceland but we absolutely loved because it is like another world to visit. We went in June 2012 and were reasonably lucky with the weather although you need a bit of everything. We are keeping an eye on a PO cruise in June to Iceland again.

We are usually quite tight about doing excursions but we were glad we did the following ship excursions :-

Reykjavik - The Golden Circle Tour - We saw the geysir Strokkur (?) and it was amazing - we could have spent hours watching it. We also saw some fantastic waterfalls, I think Gullfloss was the name of one and we also went to the Thingvellir National Park where there is a huge rift in the earth where the tetonic plates are separating. You can also go to the Blue Lagoon to bathe but we didn't do that.
Akureyri - we did the Jewels of the North Tour - wouldn't have missed this for anything. Again we saw some fantastic waterfalls but the place which will always stick in my mind were the mud springs, boiling hot mud springs coming up where the earth is so thin. Incredible.
Eidfjord - an extremely pretty village at the top of a lovely fjord. Luckily it was a sunny day so we just walked round so I'm not sure what to do if the weather was bad. It was worth being up on deck for the beautiful sail out from the fjord.

Maureen

Maureen, I should warn you that we are also keeping an eye on this one, Arcadia isn't it? Now that the Getaways are a thing of the past it will be interesting to see what happens to the pricing.

The famous waterfall is Goðafoss (Waterfall of the Gods).

[Dark Knight]

we are not going with PandO
We were so impressed with Thomson, we are going with them on the Thomson Spirit, out of Harwich

[Kenmo1]

we are not going with PandO
We were so impressed with Thomson, we are going with them on the Thomson Spirit, out of Harwich

I'm sure Thomsons excursions will cover the same areas as we saw some private tours advertised with much the same route as these are some of the main sights in Iceland

We always enjoyed our Thomson cruises (Emerald x 3/ Destiny/ and Celebration x2), its just it is easier for us to sail from Southampton so we changed to PO but we always found the atmosphere excellent on Thomson ships. We watched the Celebration sail out of Piraeus in October and it brought back some happy memories.

Maureen

[Dark Knight]

Kenmo
I guess the excursions are pretty similar where ever you go, the Thomson excursion list is out tomorrow, I think, so I can start looking

[Gill W]

I'd second the suggestions for The Golden Circle Tour for Reykjavik and The Jewels of the North for Akureyri

Isafjourdur is a very remote corner of Iceland. We did a tour to the abandoned village. It was a boat trip up the fjord to an even more remote area, where people used to live but moved out in the 1950's. It was a beautiful sunny day, I'd never seen such a blue sky, and the air was so clean and fresh. When we got back to Isafjordur, we took some pictures of Arcadia with a back drop of snow capped mountains (this was July). Then, although we were just south of the Arctic Circle, we were able to sit out on our balcony in shorts and t shirts. There was also a tour where you could get up close to the bird life, which I'd have liked to have done, but maybe another time.

I think Isafjordur was the highlight of that cruise, and one of my abiding memories of cruising in general

[Kenmo1]

I forgot to mention that you could do a whale watching trip from Akureyri - we didn't go on it but as we sailed away we saw whales in the distance at two different places. I think if we do the trip in June (yes, Q/Bob on Arcadia) then we would do the whale watching trip this time as hopefully they get nearer.

Maureen.

[Dark Knight]

had a look at some of the excursions on line, expensive but they look impressive

[Mervyn and Trish]

From your list we've been to Reykjavik, Isafjord, Akureyri, Bergen and Eidfjord

You've already been to Bergen, but just be aware that sometimes the ships berth right in the town and a DIY stroll is easy, sometimes further out with a mandatory shuttle bus to get you out of the dock area. If you do decide to DIY we'd recommend the funicular up to the top of the hill. Very easy and fab views.

As others have said Eidfjord is a beautiful village in a fabulous setting. There are tours to be done but you can just site back and enjoy the views. The sail in / out is glorious.

Of the three Iceland ports the one I'd definitely say do a tour is Isafjord. The town is tiny with little to offer. From Reykjavik if you are a swimmer a trip to the Blue Lagoon to have a dip is something very different. If you moor where we did in Reykjavik there is one of those hop on / hop off city tours which comes right to the cruise terminal.

We've been to Akureyri twice. On one occasion we did a tour, on the other just wandered. It's an easy walk into the town from the berth and there are some interesting things to see - a bit of an old town with some quaint buildings, and a botanical garden which, I seem to remember, is free to get in.