[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
Today is turnaround day aboard the Viking Sky. The 14-day “Iceland & Norway’s Arctic Explorer” itinerary comes to an end. The 14-day “Iceland, Greenland & Canada” itinerary begins. We are welcoming about 480 new guests on board. But there are also 450 “transit guests” – including 220 world cruisers – who will continue on to New York.
For the 450 transit guests, Viking arranged several optional excursions in our current port, Reykjavík, Iceland. It was challenging enough that the excursion departures, disembarkations and new embarkations were all happening at the same time. But this chaos was exacerbated by 50-mph winds blowing through the city and cruise terminal.
The two of us had temporarily disembarked at 7:30 am to go through immigration. In the many times we have been here in the past, we have never seen the weather as bad as this. Guests literally had to have two crew escorts to walk down the gangway, lest they be blown away by the winds. After immigration, we reboarded the ship. Our plan was to disembark once again at 8:45 am for our excursion.
At 8:00 am, the port authority closed the gangway for safety reasons. When we got to the exit at 8:45, there was a long line of passenger waiting to leave – both for excursions and to catch flights.
We were joining our friends Deb and Jack for a non-Viking “Golden Circle” tour. Deb had arranged a car to meet us at 9:00 am. At 9:30 am, we were still aboard ship.
When the gangway finally re-opened, we dashed out as fast as we could. Deb hailed a taxi, and we all sped to the downtown meeting place. We barely boarded the tour bus by the 10:00 am deadline.
The “Golden Circle” tour is one of the most popular excursions in the Reykjavík area. Viking was sending three busloads of guests on this excursion, but we opted for a private tour. There are many different versions of the “Golden Circle.” Our eight-hour day would visit three main locations, then (hopefully) get us back aboard ship before the 7:00 pm all-aboard deadline. Given the intense winds, our driver/guide Gunnar chose to drive very slowly. (Other cars were passing us on the road.) But we got there and back safely.
After an hour’s drive, our first stop was Thingvellir National Park. This is famous for being the site of the first parliament in the world, Iceland’s Althing. But it also sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and North American plates. In fact, it’s the only place in the world where you can literally stand between these two continental plates on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Another hour’s drive brought us to our second stop, Geysir Hot Springs, a geothermal area in the Haukadalur valley. (Geysir is the source of the English word “geyser.”) Several geysers are famous for erupting every five minutes or so. We were not around long enough to see a large spray, but we saw several small boils.
Our third stop was a short drive away: Gullfoss, which translates to “Golden Falls.” Gullfoss is arguably Iceland’s most famous waterfall. The Hvitá river plunges in two stages: 36 feet and 105 feet. The waterfall carries 5,000 cubic feet per second in the winter.
When we returned to the ship, we were astonished to learn that most of Viking’s excursions for Reykjavík had been cancelled that day, due to the high winds. The “Golden Circle” tours were turned back after two hours of driving, and only made it to a restroom break. As a result, we were some of the only passengers who got to experience the “Golden Circle.”
Even more, the captain announced that we will miss the next two ports on our itinerary: Heimaey (June 4) and Djúpivogur (June 5). Instead, we will remain overnight in Reykjavík and enjoy another day here on June 4. June 5 will be a sea day.
The wind will be just as bad tomorrow as it was today. Gail has already declared that she is not leaving the ship tomorrow. Fortunately, we are returning to Iceland in September, so we will have a chance to revisit the missed ports… hopefully in better weather.
