Splendor in Iceland!

[cruiseej]

We were on this cruise as well. Sorry I was too busy traveling with my nonagenarian parents to post during the cruise. And all four of us traveling returned home and tested positive for Covid within two days, so I've been out of commission for a week.

 

We stayed in the Hilton Nordica pre-cruise and the Fosshotel Reykjavik post-cruise, both through Regent. Neither were convenient to the main downtown area, requiring cabs for every outing. Neither hotel had air conditioning, but both offered small transom windows which could be opened — but then you got noise from the street; we were hot both nights. On a previous trip to Iceland, we stayed at the Canopy by Hilton hotel, and I would strongly recommend it over either of these two if you have a choice.

 

For our post-cruise day, we booked a private tour with Tours by Locals to visit the south coast. We got picked up at the port, avoiding the bus transfer to a hotel we couldn't check into. It was a long day with lots of driving, but we had a great guide and it made for a worthwhile day. 

 

Thanks to @boblerm for capturing so many details of our cruise in this thread! I'm happy to answer any other questions anyone might have. 

[boblerm]

3 hours ago, Flygal2020 said:

Huge attraction was the Fjords and we missed most due to travel at night.

Sorry that the cruise didn't meet your expectations.

I would prefer to cruise during the night so that we can spend our days in port, no?

 

3 hours ago, Flygal2020 said:

As it were, we went in tours that had guides that were so old that they put the bus to sleep,

I guess this is the luck of the draw.  All of our tour guides were interesting, knowledgeable and engaging, most were quite delightful.

 

3 hours ago, Flygal2020 said:

traveled on a boat tour that was so foggy that we could not see out,

Again, the luck of the draw.  Weather conditions are always a factor that can determine the enjoyment of a port, sadly, it is out of Regent's control.

 

3 hours ago, Flygal2020 said:

We never save the captain again after the initial introduction, in fact, we hardly saw his staff. I can’t remember a cruise where you didn’t interact with the command staff.

I can neither confirm nor deny, as this is something that does not interest me in the least.  I thought that the cruise director and assistant, and the social hostess were readily available.

 

 

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

We stayed in the Hilton Nordica pre-cruise and the Fosshotel Reykjavik post-cruise, both through Regent. Neither were convenient to the main downtown area, requiring cabs for every outing. Neither hotel had air conditioning, but both offered small transom windows which could be opened — but then you got noise from the street; we were hot both nights. On a previous trip to Iceland, we stayed at the Canopy by Hilton hotel, and I would strongly recommend it over either of these two if you have a choice.

It is baffling to me as to why Regent chooses these hotels that are so inconvenient and not of the best quality when there are so many choices in Reykjavik that would be such better choices.  We stayed at the Hilton Konsulat pre cruise, which we far preferred to the Grand where they put us up post cruise.

 

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

And all four of us traveling returned home and tested positive for Covid within two days, so I've been out of commission for a week.

 

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear this.  I hope and trust that everyone is on the mend, and that your parents are well.

I read on Facebook that apparently quite a few of our fellow cruisers came home with Covid.  Fortunately for us, we escaped.

[cruiseej]

1 hour ago, boblerm said:

It is baffling to me as to why Regent chooses these hotels that are so inconvenient and not of the best quality when there are so many choices in Reykjavik that would be such better choices.

 

I'm guessing it's a combination of capacity — larger hotels with availability for larger groups — and price. I hindsight, I wish we had ditched the included hotel and paid for one on our own for at least one of the two nights in Reykjavik (although it's hard to turn down something you've already paid for in the inclusive price).

 

1 hour ago, boblerm said:

I hope and trust that everyone is on the mend, and that your parents are well.

 

Thanks. Fortunately we're all pretty well over it, but it knocked us on our butts for a week (all with different symptoms!). For three years, we've successfully stayed safe from Covid, but I let my guard down and wasn't wearing a mask in the airport or plane on the way home. Or perhaps we caught it on the ship before disembarking? We'll never know. Glad you made it home free of the nastiness.