Atlanta to Iceland

Jane Behrend just returned from a cruise with Iceland ProCruises. Here she shares some of the things she learned:

Tourism to Iceland is booming and we need to remember that it is a relatively young destination for tourism. The country has 330,000 residents and is currently hosting 2 million tourists a year. Most hotels, other than some in Reykjavik, are sold out for the summer. Iceland ProCruises does have some space available on a few of our Iceland Circumnavigation trips, on our Iceland & Greenland combination trips, and our Northern Lights and Whales in mid September.

Don’t be afraid that our cruises are too active for some of your clients! There are such a wide variety of excursions available for guests to suit their needs – from bus tours, foodie tours (the fermented shark really is dreadful), museum visits, golfing, walks and longer hikes for those who want them. Guests can also hang out in the ports on their own.

Think of most of our trips (especially the Circumnavigation departures) as a floating hotel. When possible, we arrive in ports early in the morning and are often in port all day. If guests want to eat lunch or dinner at a restaurant in port – no problem!  We did find that meals in Iceland were so expensive, that most people chose to come back to the ship to eat meals and then would head off again.

The fishing is GREAT. Guests can fish at a couple of our ports – My husband caught 450 lbs of Cod and Wolf Fish in two hours. He was in heaven.

Book your guests excursions in advance. This way you receive commission (5%) and some excursions sell out.  Signature guests also receive a $100 credit towards excursions!  The Whale Watching Rib Boat excursion in Husavik was a favorite of mine – think whales and around 100,000 puffins!   If they want to do other excursions they read about, we can probably make arrangements for them – and also private tours.

A few other tips: Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere in Iceland.  Bring waterproof pants and jackets and dress like an onion.