Land of Fire and Ice Cruise – June 14-22 2026 Trip Report
Background
My report will be from a somewhat different perspective than some others posted here. I am 84, and don’t move as quickly as I once did, and my wife cannot walk more the a few steps without her walking sticks, a wall or railing, or someone’s arm for balance. So we are “those people” some here post about who slow down the excursions. We chose the less strenuous excursions, and found the pace of them worked well for us, though we would have preferred the 8:15 departures several days had been a bit later.
The weather was less than cooperative on our cruise, making some excursions less pleasant than they might have been, producing several evenings of fairly rough sailing, and causing two stops to be missed. Substitutes were provided, as I will cover in more detail below. Temperatures were mostly in 40’s, occasionally in the high 30’s and low 50’s, high winds some days, cloudy most days, and rain one day.
I’ll also try to include some details that answer questions we had before the trip.
Getting to Iceland
We flew Icelandair, an attractive option for many North American passengers because they offer direct flights from more than a dozen North American cities. Icelandair calls its best service Saga Class, which offers seating much like domestic US first class; no lay flat beds. This works from eastern North America where the flight times are around five hours or less, but perhaps not so well from western points with longer flight times. We found booking full fare “Saga Premium Flex” with the airline cost less that the fares Tauck offered. It also allows last-minute cancellation with no penalty, which we found useful two years ago when I caught Covid the day before we were to leave, and offers lounge access at many US airports.
We live three and a half hours from RDU airport, the closest one Icelandair flies from, and because the route to the airport is often congested we allowed lots of time. At RDU, like many US airports I think, Icelandair has only one round-trip flight daily and uses contract services at the airport. So, arriving more than three hours before our 8:30 flight we found no Icelandair check-in counters. At 5:30 several of the Lufthansa counters became Icelandair counters, and check-in proceeded quickly. At RDU Icelandair Saga Premium Flex passengers have access to the United Club, a fairly small but quite nice lounge with beverages, light snacks, and helpful staff.
When flying from east-coast US cities, seats on the left side outbound, and right side returning offer the best chance of seeing Greenland as you near Iceland. On our outbound trip we got only a brief view before it hid behind clouds, but we had an excellent view on our return.
We were the twelfth of thirteen Icelandair flights from North America scheduled to arrive at Keflavik airport between 6:00 and 6:40 am. The airport is fairly small, but still has long walks that challenge those less agile, culminating with a seemingly endless forced march though the duty-free shop. Keflavik has not fixed the huge backup at immigration that time of day. Once through that our bags were already waiting, and customs consisted of walking out the “nothing to declare” door. Tauck’s transfer people were waiting when we exited and drove us with one other couple the 45 minute trip to the city.
Pre-day In Reykjavik
We booked a pre-day in Reykjavik, at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica. Booking thought Tauck, even if you don’t have a Gift of Time available, offers the significant advantage of early check in, which is great when you arrive around 8:00 am. Not only did we get into our room without delay, but we had access to the extensive breakfast buffet both that morning and the next before starting the cruise. Our room was spacious and comfortable, furnished rather sparsely in a Scandinavian style. The only issue we had was there is no air conditioning, which I understand is common there, and our south-facing room got pretty warm on the sunny day.
The hotel, and the other used by Tauck, are a fair walk from the areas of interest. As others have reported, the downtown area is quite compact and suitable for walking for those without mobility issues. But that’s not us, so we booked a private auto tour of the city with Reykjavik Private Tours. The three-hour tour took us to all the points we were interested in, with plenty of time to stop and walk around were we wanted. In fact our guide was stretching to find points of interest before we were done. We drove though but did not walk the shopping and restaurant streets that many probably find interesting.
We did have time to take the elevator to the top of Hallgrímskirkja, which offers great views of the city. The elevator takes you to the level of the bottom of the clock faces. Climbing several flights of stairs took me to the bell level, with even better views. And very close to the bells that chime every quarter hour very loudly. We were glad we did that because the church is no longer a stop on the Tauck post-lunch tour since the city no longer allows coaches to stop there.
There are a number of restaurants, mostly quite casual, near the hotel. The reviews of the hotel restaurant did not encourage us to have dinner there, so we booked reservations at Brasserie Askur, a block from the hotel. It was excellent. On Sunday evenings they have a “steak buffet” which seems to be very popular with the locals, but also offer a limited version of their menu which we preferred. Reservations seem advisable, at least on a Sunday evening.
Sun Voyager Sculpture
Cathedral of Christ the King
Tjörnin Lake in Central Reykjavik
Hallgrimskirkja
Bells in Hallgrimskirkja Tower
View to the North from Hallgrimskirkja Bell Tower
Comments
Day One – Reykjavik
The cruise officially started at noon with a short ride to the Hapra Conference Center for lunch. The building of course is smashing, and lunch was very good and nicely presented. After lunch we re-boarded our coaches (same ones as before so carry-ons and coats could be left on the coach) for the Perlan museum. The visit to Old Town mentioned in the itinerary was not in evidence, and as I mentioned above the stop at Hallgrímskirkja is no longer allowed. But that left just enough time at the Perlan for us to see all three of the highlight exhibits – the northern lights show in the planetarium, the volcano exhibit, and the ice cave. The volcano exhibit with its Disney-quality “ride” to the bottom of a volcano was clearly our favorite.
We re-boarded our coaches for the half hour ride in rush hour traffic to the ship, which docks at Hafnarfjörður, not in Reykjavik itself. The ship is dashing, and at five years old still seems new inside. The coaches were staggered in time a bit, making boarding very fast. After surrendering our passports and getting our “ship cards” we were shown to our room. We booked a Privilege suite on deck 6, choosing the one on the port side so we would have a harbor view for the overnight in port at the end of the cruise. That proved to be an excellent choice as it also gave us a city view for the overnight in Akureyri. The Privilege suite is generous in size, with a walk-in closet/dressing room, perfect for quite types like us who aren’t looking for a lot of social interaction.
After the mandatory safety drill, which pointed out the disadvantage of a deck 6 room when we had to go back for our life preservers with the elevators are shut down during the drill, we headed for dinner as the ship set sail for Heimaey. The restaurant is open seating, open for several hours for each meal, with a number of tables for two and four, many for six, and there was one much larger one. We arrived well into the dinner hour asking for a table for two, and were asked to go down to the lounge until one was available. A short time later a waiter came to escort us to our table. As we finished dinner our waiter told us he would reserve that table for us for the rest of the cruise, and he did. That suited our natures very well.
Dining room service was excellent throughout the cruise. All the staff were very helpful, including recognizing my wife’s mobility issues and escorting her to the table when the ship was rolling a bit as it did during several meals. Our waiter magically appeared at the buffet area to carry our plates back to the table after we made our breakfast and lunch selections, and volunteered to go to the buffet to get juice, soup, and the like so we didn’t have to carry them. Breakfast and lunch had a generous buffet as well as a choice of hot items from the menu. Dinner was entirely served at the table.
Day Two – Heimaey
The captain had announced the evening before that high winds would be an issue but he expected to be able to land at Heimaey. There was a fair amount of rolling and pitching during the night, but still sleep deprived from our overnight flight, we slept well, awaking as we sailed in to port. During a bridge visit later a cadet there told me she had expected the captain to call off the stop because of the high winds as we entered the narrow harbor there, but the pilot was confident and we entered without incident.
Because we slept so late we only had time for a quick breakfast in the lounge before departing for our 9:00 am excursion. There was an optional hike up the Eldfell volcano which is not listed on the published itinerary, but we chose the standard tour to the south end of the island, followed by a visit to the Eldheimer museum. The views from the highlands on the south end of Heimaey were impressive, but "the windiest spot in Europe" was on full display. The high winds made the short walks to the viewpoints difficult, and to our disappointment apparently kept the puffins in their dens. The center piece of the museum is a home that was excavated from under the lava from the 1973 eruption, and there is a great audio self-tour of the exhibits of the eruption and subsequent impacts on the population.
We returned to the ship for lunch. There were a few hours for those who were interested to explore the town, which was a block away form the dock.
The captain’s welcome cocktail and “Gala Dinner” were this evening. Unlike other nights, there was a single seating for dinner after the cocktail in the theater. Several posters have asked about dress, and Tauck’s published advice is “the international mix of travelers on board tend to dress somewhat more formally than one might expect. Thus, you may prefer to wear a jacket and tie or a cocktail dress for special evenings like the Captain's welcome and farewell dinners.” This cruise, like all Iceland cruises this year, were 100% Tauck passengers. I spotted two men with neckties at our welcome dinner, but there might have been a couple more I couldn’t see. About half the men wore jackets, a few sweaters, and the rest wore just shirts. The women were perhaps a tad dressier. Dress at the farewell dinner was far less dressy, with very few men wearing jackets.
It was announced that rough seas were expected, and we should secure loose items in the bathroom. The ship’s doctor was at the service desk offering sea sickness pills for those who wanted them. Actually, we felt the worst part was just after we left the harbor, as dinner was being served, and slept without issue once we got to bed. But sometime during the night sprays were high enough to reach our deck 6 window, leaving it badly streaked with salt (it was nicely cleaned during our outing two days later).
Day Three – Grundarfjordur, Not
At the cocktail the evening before the captain announced that high winds would make it unsafe to land in Grundarfjordur, so an alternate stop at Akranes, not far past Reykjavik, would be made instead. We arrived there during breakfast. An excursion to Hraunfossar, a spectacular falls where the water pours out of the porous lava rather than from a steam above, was offered. The tour included a drive over fascinating farm country, a typical Tauck stop for refreshments, and a stop at a “Europe’s most powerful” hot water spring. An alternate excursion to a lava tube was offered for those who had selected a similar excursion at Grundarfjordur.
Because we had not gotten as far as planned because of the weather, the ship departed at 12:30 to make the long trip to the north. Again rough seas brought a warning to secure loose items, but while the motion of the ship made the handrails useful when walking about the ship and made walking to the dinner table challenging for those without their sea legs, we didn’t experience any real difficulty.
Day Four – Grimsey, Not
As we left Akranes, to our disappointment the captain announced that the weather would not permit tender operations at Grimsey. Instead a stop at the small island of Hrísey, deep in the Eyjafjörður fjord, was planned. The seas calmed as we entered the fjord, and we enjoyed the view from the Observatory Lounge as we sailed toward the island, which we reached in mid-afternoon. This was a tender stop, with both a “power walk” hike and a more leisurely guided walk around the tiny village there offered. Even in the fjord the winds were quite present, and there was a light rain. We chose instead to enjoy the view from the lounge. Those who took the walk in the village reported that most places there was closed because of the Iceland Independence Day celebration that day. The last tender back to the ship was scheduled for 6:00 pm but everyone was back on board by 5:00 and we departed for the short cruise to Akureyri. We concluded we had made the best choice for us.
We arrived at Akureyri about 10:00 pm, docking across the street from Iceland’s second largest city.
Day Five – Akureyri
Because the Myvatn Nature Baths had not re-opened after being closed for renovations during the winter, guests who had chosen that excursion were offered instead a tour to GeoSea Bath and Godafoss falls. There was also an extra option added that included horseback riding and the falls. These and the Siglufjordur excursions departed at 8:15. We chose the “Leisurely Akureyri and Godafoss” excursion, which left at 9:00. That included a pleasant drive through the mountainous countryside to the falls. The falls are impressive, but a fairly serious rain made the hike to the viewpoints less than pleasant. We were back at the ship for lunch.
There was more time to visit the city before we sailed for Ísafjördur that afternoon. We enjoyed the views from the Observatory Lounge as we sailed out of the fjord. The seas became rougher as we reached open ocean, but because the wind was coming from behind us the effect was not as great as before, and we had dinner and slept without issue. During the night we crossed the Arctic circle, and certificates for each passenger attesting to that were in our mailboxes in the morning.
Overview of Godafoss
Day Six – Ísafjördur
We arrived in Ísafjördur as breakfast was being served, and started our excursions, as most others did, at 8:15. We selected the “Dynjandi & Icelandic Farm Visit,” the replacement for the discontinued Vigur Island excursion, and I think enjoyed it more than we would have the Vigur trip. Our excursion took us through two tunnels, each over a mile long, and along two more pretty fjords, to the impressive Dynjandi falls. It is actually a series of falls, quite different that other falls we saw. The excursion was rated at a strenuous level 4, which is somewhat misleading. There is an easy path to the lower falls, which offers a very good view of the entire series of falls. There is a rough, rocky, path farther up to the base of the upper falls that does merit the higher rating, but there is no need to go that far for very nice views.
After a quick snack at the bus, we were off to the farm visit, with a brief stop at a white sand beach surrounded by very active bird nesting grounds. We enjoyed the farm visit, where we heard the story of the couple’s farming venture from the wife, got to pet the sheep and see the chickens and the cat who was “hired as a mouser but failed to get the email.” After a sample of lamb stew from ingredients raised on the farm, we were back to the ship for lunch.
Those interested in exploring the town, which was close by, had some time before we sailed for Hafnarfjörður at 3:00 pm. We spent most of the afternoon enjoying the views of mountains and fjords we passed by from the Observatory Lounge.
The farewell cocktail and dinner were held this evening because of the long excursions the following day.
Thanks for your excellent descriptions and pictures. Sounds like you did not have the best weather. We went to Iceland with Tauck back in 2016 and had much better weather. No matter what, it's a very interesting country to visit.
Day Seven – Hafnarfjörður & the Golden Circle
We arrived at Hafnarfjörður during breakfast to the prettiest day of the whole cruise, and prepared for the Golden Circle excursions which departed at 8:15. We chose the shorter eight-hour version, passing on the eleven-hour version that included the Blue Lagoon. After a drive of an hour or so we arrived at Alþingi National Park, where we could view the rift valley separating the North American and Eurasian plates, and walked through the interesting formations at the edge of the North American plate.
Then off to Friðheimar, a fascinating family enterprise combining a huge greenhouse facility producing two tons of tomatoes daily year-round, and raising Icelandic houses. After a brief show of the horses demonstrating their five gaits, we were able to “chat” with them. We were told they speak all languages. We then enjoyed a lunch in the greenhouse featuring very good tomato soup.
We then were off to see Gullfoss, the "Golden Waterfall," with its impressive two-level falls. Then to the geyser area of Geysir, which favored us with multiple eruptions. Then over an hour drive back to the ship for dinner and packing.
Day Eight – Departure
Tauck’s well managed departure process had waves of departures depending on the guests’ flight schedules. The first departure was at 5:30, with others continuing until 9:30. Except for the earliest group, bags had to be out by 6:30, and everyone out of their rooms by 8:00 so the crew could ready the ship for the afternoon’s arrivals. We had our final breakfast, then waited in the Lounge for our 9:00 departure. As has been mentioned before, for those with departures after 4:00 Tauck provides a morning excursion. They asked us to be discrete about it, so I’ll only say that it did not disappoint.
We arrived at the airport just after noon and found it relatively quiet at that hour. After checking our bags with the aid of a very helpful Icelandair agent, we had a light lunch in the spacious Icelandair lounge, which is included for Saga Class passengers. Unfortunately, the lounge is before the immigration checkpoint, which as flight time approached became only a little less hectic that the inbound immigration experience. Once we cleared that, boarding was straightforward.
The meal on board was good, and Greenland favored us with good views without cloud cover. The domestic first-class style seating was no issue with the daytime flight. Immigration at RDU was quick with their image-based ID system. It took a long time for Icelandair to deliver our bags, but once we had them customs “inspection” consisted in walking by a dis-interested looking official sitting behind a desk. We spend the night near the airport to avoid the three-hour drive after such a long day.
Thanks for your wonderful post! I'm taking this cruise next month and look forward to the interesting sights and experiences you reported.
Terry from Boone - Great recap and great pictures. Not too different from when we did it in July 2021, but a few things have changed.
One difference you highlighted, that being the Vigur Island visit. That was a fun excursion, with dive bombing Arctic terns and all, but the waterfall picture you posted looks like you got a good replacement. The Vigur island visit was on Day 5 of our tour.
Day 6 was Heimaey Island. That's when you visited Ísafjördur.
You also said that the stop at Grimsey Island got replaced due to weather with a stop at a different island. That happened to the tour prior to ours as well, but the weather cooperated for us and we were able to tender to the island. That stopped allowed people so inclined to walk to where they crossed the Arctic Circle. Tauck made a photo op of the Arctic Circle experience. Was you replacement island north of the Arctic Circle?
It sounds like Days 3 through 6 all got impacted to some degree by weather. That's too bad, but it sounds like Tauck's plan B were decent substitutes.
Great to relive my trip through your pictures and narrative.
Sam,
Thanks. The alternate for Grimsey was in the fjord near Akureyri. We only crossed the Arctic Circle in the dark of night, such as it is there, about midnight. The captain announced that we would, but said not to set an alarm because there was nothing to see. But I did hear one passenger say he got up and took a photo with coordinates to "prove" he was there.
I think the Tauck Ship Coordinator did a great job with the alternate stops. Apparently they had never stopped before at our first alternate, and he arranged coaches and guides, and got HQ to approve arrangements with attractions they had no previous relationship with. The second alternate was easier, as they had done the same thing two weeks before, and there were no arrangements other than walking tours hosted by Tauck directors.
You're welcome, Goddess. I'm glad you found it helpful, and hope you do a little better with the weather. But for us the only real issue was missing Grimsey Island, which we had looked forward to seeing. The other substitution we had was fine, I expect we enjoyed our excursion there as much or more than we would have the planned one.
Thank you for this wonderful post Terry. I will be on this trip in July, and this was a very helpful preview. Glad to see they offered Icelandic horseback riding. Hope we have better weather and we can see the puffins! Glad you had a good trip!
When we did the trip back in 2016 we went a day early, stayed in a hotel in the middle of town and set up our own riding of the horses.
You can see what we did at - https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2016Iceland-01.htm
@Terry from Boone - I put a note complementing you on your trip report and pictures, but it got in-between a couple of your postings so you may have missed it. Your photography was especially good.
Terry, have the immigration machines been connected and activated at the airport? That was our only delay when we were there. We passed through a big room full of kiosks still wrapped in plastic.
Sounds like some other airports these days - encountered the same thing in Copenhagen last month.
You're welcome, Mich4. I hope you found some useful information there.
Thanks, MikeHenderson. It was a fun project. I guess if you take enough pictures you can get a few good ones.
AlanS, I'm not sure. The incoming passengers were directed to one of two lines, one for EU residents and the other for everyone else. The EU line led to an area with a number of active machines. At the time we arrived there were no incoming flights from the EU, so very few passengers used that line. Those that did paused briefly at the machines and were on their way very quickly. Everyone else went in to a huge serpentine que. But there was also an unmarked third line, which families with small children were directed to. Also old people with obvious mobility issues were sent to that line, like us. It was far shorter and was served by a single person at an old-style window, who took our passports, checked something on a computer, then sent us on our way.
That leaves the question of how they were processing the main group, and I didn't see that well at all. I thought I saw a dozen or so booths, not stand alone machines like the EU people used. But someone in our group said they had their photos taken, which we did not. So the process was different than ours.
At departure they had people taking passports and doing something on the computer, at least in the families and old people line. The process for the main group seemed to be the same. I didn't see any machines there but there could have been some I missed.
Beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Bob.