We heard so much about the beauty of Iceland, so we decided to go see it firsthand with Viking, who impressed us with their River Cruises. The Viking Star was great. Our Veranda stateroom was comfortable and extremely quiet. The service from the staff through the Star was beyond expectations. With our fare we were entitled to specialty dining and found Manfredi’s to be extremely worth our time and tastebuds; the Chef’s Table gave us a smattering of Icelandic tastes.

The Cruise director, Aoibhin (ay-veen) O'Neill, was a familiar voice and face everyday and she had a one-person show in the Theater that was great. Reykjavik was very walkable. English was spoken everywhere. I would strongly suggest getting a money conversion app to help convert Icelandic Krona to US dollars. The smaller ports were interesting, even if they were measured in the hundreds of people and thousands of gallons of fish oil.

The only disappointment was the availability of excursions which within 9 minutes of being made available, the best were closed. They would have shown us even more of the place called “the Land of Fire and Ice.” Luckily, the country is so beautiful, and the Viking Star was so good that you will leave awestruck regardless of any drawer backs.