Last month I flew to Reykjavik, Iceland to enjoy a weeklong sailing on a Tauck “Small Ship Cruise” around that small Northern European Country. (Iceland is about the same size as Kentucky)
Now, if right off the bat you’re saying “What’s a Tauck Small Ship Cruise” or “I didn’t know Tauck did Cruises??”, etc. then visit here to learn what Tauck’s “Small Ship Cruises” are all about.
As mentioned in that post, Tauck doesn’t own any of their own Cruise ships, they either paritally or fully charter space on well-established Cruiselines like Ponant, Silversea, Windstar, etc.
FYI, my Tauck Cruise in Iceland was on a French-based Cruiseline called Ponant… as I talk about in the caption under this picture, I DON’T recommend you sail on Ponant unless you do so through Tauck, but with Tauck, no worries… everything will be 100% catered to us North Americans/everything will be communicated in English, everything will run super smoothly including all shore excursions and everything will be included in your upfront price. (Airport transfers, tips, drinks, wifi, etc.)
Okay, back to Iceland.
As I originally booked this Cruise in June, 2019 to sail in June, 2020… we all know the story of how those plans turned out! :-(… it felt like a Very long-time coming before I got to actually experience a visit to Iceland but it was definitely worth the wait!
Not only is Iceland a Very scenic & unique Country (Not many Countries are 1 big volcano!) but the people are super friendly in Iceland and their lifestyle in many parts isn’t rushed & busy/busy like our North American lifestyles are… when in Iceland you definitely get some fond memories of how things used to be “back in the day” for us all! 🙂
So, what did I see & what did I exprience when in Iceland… let me “Show” you!! 😉
First off, as I talk about in this blog post here and this blog post here and in other areas of my site/in my galleries, in emails to my clients, etc. it’s NEVER a good idea to fly into your Cruise or Tauck Tour the day it starts!!
As I always follow my own advice 😉 I got to Reykjavik a couple of days before my Tauck Cruise in Iceland started… not only did that help me acclimatize and help deal with any potential flight/bag delays but it also gave me time to check out Iceland’s Captial city.
As you’ll see in the pictures here (Make sure to check out all the captions under the pictures/videos in my Gallery as I do my best to add lots of details to give you some great tips/help you get a “feel” for if this trip is a good one for you to take, etc.) not only is Reykjavik a pretty place to walk around & explore but they have a Great food tour there too! 😉
After enjoying a couple of days in Reykjavik on my own, I met up with my Tauck group for our sailing around Iceland… as I talk about in the caption under this picture Tauck got us off to a GREAT start, treating us to a “Welcome” Champagne Reception & Lunch at a private restaurant in Reykjavik’s Beautiful “Harpa Concert Hall”…
…and then we went to the “Perlan Museum” and visited the “Hallgrimskirkja” Lutheran Church which is an iconic symbol of Reykjavik!!
After our full afternoon enjoying a yummy lunch and exploring some of Reykjavik, we boarded Ponant’s 184 guest “Le Bellot” ship which Tauck had fully chartered. (There were 139 of us onboard) Between the included “Veuve Clicquot” Champagne (that’s NOT a normal Ponant thing, only for Tauck guests), a comfy room & a Great first dinner, I knew it was going to be a nice week sailing around Iceland!! 🙂
If you want to see what this very small Ponant ship is all about, visit here & read the captions under the few dozen pictures & videos that I took all around the ship to “show” you around!
After sailing away from Reykjavik, we embarked on our weeklong Journey around Iceland and made port stops each day to get a taste of what Iceland has to offer… as I talk about in the caption under this picture and in the section here (Around 5 paragraphs in) titled “Hands down, the #1 reason why I’d say you may want to consider a “Small Ship Cruise” Ocean Cruise with Tauck is that Tauck “does the land better than anyone”!“… Tauck does their Shore Excursions/Day Tours REALLY well no matter if you’re on an Ocean Cruise, River Cruise or Land Tour with them… due to all the extra “attention” you get from all the “Tauck Directors” they bring onboard their Cruises!!
Alright, let’s look at some of the ports we visited where these “Tauck Directors” showed us around:
Grundarfjordur– For our first port stop in Iceland with Tauck we docked in Grundarfjordur where we went to a Shark museum, visited a small fishing village/hiked up to a lighthouse and then did a hike up “Mount Helgafell”… as these pics will show, the scenery in this area is absolutely stunning! 🙂
FYI, no worries, if you’re not a hiker/aren’t looking for active tours… each port had choices/other options that were way more relaxed tours… I’m just showing you the highlights of what I chose to do! 😉
Arctic Circle– Typically when you go to Iceland on the bigger Cruise ships they never go this far North but with Tauck one of our port stops was above the Arctic Circle so our next port day was an exciting one too as it’s not every day that you get to cross the Arctic Circle!! 🙂
Akureyri– During our port stop in Akureyri, Iceland I decided to take Tauck’s Excursion option where we enjoyed a visit to the Myvatn Geothermal Baths (SO NICE & warm and healing, no wonder these baths are so popular in Iceland!!) & then we took in some impressive views of “Godafoss Falls”… as you’ll see in these pictures & video, it was another fun day with Tauck in Iceland!! 🙂
Isafjordur– In Isafjordur, Iceland Tauck took us to the Arctic Fox Center to learn about Iceland’s only Native Mammal… although no doubt they can be dangerous animals, the rescue pups there were so cute!! 🙂 And then we followed that with a hike to a nearby waterfall… as the pictures & video here show, the scenery in this Fjord area is for sure impressive!!
Heimay in the Vestmann Islands– Another stop during my “Fire & Ice” Cruise with Tauck in Iceland was where we visited Heimay in the Vestmann Islands… the “sail in” to town offered some spectacular scenery as did the sites we saw around the Island… and of course, Puffins are always fun to watch!! 🙂 With that said, they’re SO hard to photograph as they fly VERY fast!! Our tour concluded with a visit to the “Eldheimar” Museum which showed what life was like on this Island before/after their devastating 1973 Volcano… WOW! As you’ll see in these pictures in my gallery, it was another Great day Cruising around Iceland on Ponant with Tauck!!
Reykjavik– It was a FULL day back in Reykjavik, Iceland for the last day of my “Fire & Ice” Small Ship Cruise with Tauck on Ponant’s “Le Bellot” Ship! Between our “Golden Circle” tour to Thingvellir National Park/Geysir Hot Spring/Gullfoss Waterfall… lunch at a Very unique Tomato Greenhouse/Restaurant and on-premises private Horse Show https://www.fridheimar.is/en… and then pure relaxation in Iceland’s Famous “Blue Lagoon”… it was a busy 11hr day and a Wonderful way to finish off our Epic “Small Ship Cruise” with Tauck in Iceland!! 🙂 These pictures & video show you what that Great day was like.
Alright, that’s the end of my “Review Of My Tauck Cruise In Iceland” blog post… I truly hope it gave you a great overview of what this sailing is like, I hope it answered any questions you may have & I hope it helped you figure out of it’s a good sailing for you/one you’d enjoy experiencing!!
Any other questions or if you’re ready to book this Tauck Cruise in Iceland, or any other Ocean Cruise or River Cruise or Tauck Land Tour, simply contact me here and I’ll take Great care of you as always! 🙂
I Appreciate You!
Shawn Power
Your Trusted Cruise & Tauck Tour Expert!