Prima Iceland / Norway August 2023

[PhillyTravelBug]

Final stop- Blue Lagoon

Amazing, as expected. Just completely unique to Iceland and unlike anything I’ve ever done . I’ve read reviews of it being crowded, and that wasn’t the case for us. Also, did not get that tourist vibe I hear all the time. We had plenty of space and were able to explore every nook. Very relaxing way to end the tour. 

[McGarrett5oh]

6 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Volcanic crater.

@PhillyTravelBug Did the crater have a name and/or where was it located on the tour?  TIA

[PhillyTravelBug]

1 hour ago, McGarrett5oh said:

@PhillyTravelBug Did the crater have a name and/or where was it located on the tour?  TIA

yes, Kerid Crater. Forgot to mention the name.

[ShannonSC2]

I am following along as we are doing this in Sept 2024.  We are arriving 2 days before the cruise and added 2 days at the end.  We have been looking at the Golden Circle Tour.  I am glad to see it includes the Blue Lagoon.  

[PhillyTravelBug]

Today is boarding day! But we have one last stop in Reykjavik. The Icelandic Phallological museum!  Not quite what I was expecting. 

 

We did get coffee this morning on our walk this morning. I’m not sure how too concerned Icelanders are with diabetes. We were trying to find Splenda or any sweetener and got perplexed looks. 

[Luvsparties]

Thanks for doing the live review; can't wait to follow along!  We board on 9/7.  Are you stopping in Bruges?

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 8/16/2023 at 7:10 AM, marys350 said:

Enjoying your review and pictures. What is the name of the tour company for your Golden Circle Tour? Was it a large group coach bus or a small group minibus or van? We've booked this cruise for June, 2024 and are really looking forward to it.

JLast year we spent three days post cruise in Reykjavik.  We used Nice Travels and they were fabulous.  Small bus, not the big 40+ people bus.    The drivers were so informative.  If you book two tours there is a 10% discount and three gets you 15% off.  We loved it so much we are going again in 2025!

[chillyw]

1 hour ago, ShannonSC2 said:

I am following along as we are doing this in Sept 2024.  We are arriving 2 days before the cruise and added 2 days at the end.  We have been looking at the Golden Circle Tour.  I am glad to see it includes the Blue Lagoon.  

 

For what it's worth, I much preferred our South Coast tour with superjeep over the Golden Circle tour.

 

The ice cave in Katla was awesome.

[PhillyTravelBug]

We are checking in! But we decided to walk from the hotel to the pier along the harbor in the cold rain. We were the only idiots doing that but we really wanted to see the harbor. We felt like true Vikings 

 

[skatie]

Now this is the weather I"m envisioning when we go in three weeks - I'll be watching your photos for ideas on clothes to pack!   Happy Check-in - hope you dry out and warm up soon!

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, chillyw said:

For what it's worth, I much preferred our South Coast tour with superjeep over the Golden Circle tour.

We’ve done both tours. The South Coast is stunningly beautiful from start to finish. The traditional Golden Circle tour is more focused on several important points of interest.  Both are worth doing. 

 

Folks who are interested in doing either tour in a minivan with about 16 people will find recommendations for private tour operators over in the Northern Europe ports of call forum. 

[PhillyTravelBug]

Just checked into our cabin. We have a spa balcony room booked.

We just finished lunch in Hudson’s, which was readily available and peaceful. Good food, a little small on the portions, but did not leave hungry.

[PhillyTravelBug]

40 minutes ago, skatie said:

Now this is the weather I"m envisioning when we go in three weeks - I'll be watching your photos for ideas on clothes to pack!   Happy Check-in - hope you dry out and warm up soon!

Pack warmer than you think. I honestly at times could have used a thin pair of gloves and a hat. Sweaters, long sleeves, and a fall jacket are perfect. It feels like Halloween in the northeastern US.

[DCGuy64]

Thanks for the excellent reviews and pictures. Your cabin looks lovely, the color scheme and layout are very modern.

[ShannonSC2]

We cruise Prima from NYC to Bermuda in April.  Nice ship but one of those either you like it or you hate it.  🙂  I have been curious how the outdoor space will work in colder weather destinations.  I did find that the rooms are spacious and lots of storage space.  

 

Thank you for sharing.  

[DCGuy64]

25 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Pack warmer than you think. I honestly at times could have used a thin pair of gloves and a hat. Sweaters, long sleeves, and a fall jacket are perfect. It feels like Halloween in the northeastern US.

Did you have a chance to buy any food/drink while you were on land? If so, are the prices as eye-popping as they are rumored to be? I understand a small snack can cost almost $20 USD and a beer is more than $10.

[PhillyTravelBug]

19 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Did you have a chance to buy any food/drink while you were on land? If so, are the prices as eye-popping as they are rumored to be? I understand a small snack can cost almost $20 USD and a beer is more than $10.

we had two days where we had several meals.  2 bottles Icelandic water for the large size (large Fiji size I usually drink) was less than $8.  Breakfast in a restaurant… açaí bowl, coffee, smoothie, and oatmeal. $40.

 

2 hot chocolates last night was about $11. 
 

dinner for 5 of us at the mountain lady restaurant  was about $525.  It was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. That included dinner, some apps, some drinks, and we all got dessert . Recommend dessert. All huge!

[PhillyTravelBug]

Observation lounge. Absolutely love the modern,

almost industrial decor with lots of nooks. It is not nearly the size of the lounge on the Bliss, so I am wondering how this is during the evenings and sea days. Beautiful though. Storms have rolled out and completely overcast.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by PhillyTravelBug

[chillyw]

24 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Did you have a chance to buy any food/drink while you were on land? If so, are the prices as eye-popping as they are rumored to be? I understand a small snack can cost almost $20 USD and a beer is more than $10.

 

Alcohol is the most expensive part, the government has a monopoly on supply. Food varies. The famous hot dogs run about $5 and it goes up from there.

 

I had the best meal of my life last night at Ox, which is Michelin Starred, and that ran about $450 per person without wine. So you can do the entire gamut (and we did while we were there lol)

[chillyw]

3 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Observation lounge. Absolutely love the modern,

almost industrial decor with lots of nooks. It is not nearly the size of the lounge on the Bliss, so I am wondering how this is during the evenings and sea days. Beautiful though.

 

I walked up that way earlier, already crowded but pretty spot. Really love the look of the ship, but it does feel a lot smaller then the Breakaway-plus class.

[golden6911]

Hey!  Pretty funny to see this post because it’s almost identical to our trip.  Flew out of Boston, most likely on the same Iceland Air flight, and took the same Golden Circle tour yesterday.  Also in a Spa Balcony.  
 

So far I really like the ship.  I can understand why people might think it is disjointed compared to other cruise ships, but I really like the variety of sights and sounds myself.  We were able to get a bar seat at Indulge for lunch since it’s just the two of us, but Hudson’s was a good call because all the casual places were crowded.

 

 

[DCGuy64]

14 minutes ago, chillyw said:

 

Alcohol is the most expensive part, the government has a monopoly on supply. Food varies. The famous hot dogs run about $5 and it goes up from there.

 

I had the best meal of my life last night at Ox, which is Michelin Starred, and that ran about $450 per person without wine. So you can do the entire gamut (and we did while we were there lol)

$450 PER PERSON WITHOUT WINE? Wow, I must be in the wrong line of work. I could literally fly to some European cities in Economy class for that much dough. Yikes. I can safely say no meal would ever be worth $450 for me. Wow.

[DCGuy64]

22 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

we had two days where we had several meals.  2 bottles Icelandic water for the large size (large Fiji size I usually drink) was less than $8.  Breakfast in a restaurant… açaí bowl, coffee, smoothie, and oatmeal. $40.

 

2 hot chocolates last night was about $11. 
 

dinner for 5 of us at the mountain lady restaurant  was about $525.  It was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. That included dinner, some apps, some drinks, and we all got dessert . Recommend dessert. All huge!

Thanks, those prices aren't great but not out of line with places like NYC. Desserts definitely look amazing!!

[chillyw]

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

$450 PER PERSON WITHOUT WINE? Wow, I must be in the wrong line of work. I could literally fly to some European cities in Economy class for that much dough. Yikes. I can safely say no meal would ever be worth $450 for me. Wow.

 

Hah yeah... Definitely NOT an every day type of place, it's a splurge, and probably only worth it if you appreciate that weird, eclectic, food / experiment that those types of places bring.

 

But the cool part about Reykjavik is even though it's tiny, it really is like NYC as far as food goes. Expensive, but you can pretty much get everything and any level you want.

 

We did hot dogs, cheap burgers, Ramen, etc while we were there. All really good.

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, chillyw said:

 

Hah yeah... Definitely NOT an every day type of place, it's a splurge, and probably only worth it if you appreciate that weird, eclectic, food / experiment that those types of places bring.

 

But the cool part about Reykjavik is even though it's tiny, it really is like NYC as far as food goes. Expensive, but you can pretty much get everything and any level you want.

 

We did hot dogs, cheap burgers, Ramen, etc while we were there. All really good.

Ironically, the price of that meal is higher than some round-trip fares I've seen to Reykjavik. 🤣 Some folks who've traveled there say the flights are cheap to make up for the exorbitant cost of food and hotels. (Not their fault, of course. Any place geographically isolated has to import things and that costs a ton.) I've been scheduled to visit Iceland several times since 2019 but the trip has been cancelled every time, mostly due to Covid except for 2019 where the tour manager couldn't get it together. One day!!