Suite

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Luxury Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Reykjavik

Europe - British Isles & Western

Europe - All

Baltic Sea

Iceland

Denmark

Norway

Scotland

Sweden

Germany

Norwegian Fjords

Excellent

Seven Seas Explorer

Rarotonga

Fortunately for us our inclusive pre-cruise hotel in Reykjavik was in a great location in the old town, however talking to many of our fellow passengers it appears we were very lucky and most were in hotels some distance from the city centre. 

Taking advantage of our pre-cruise time we took a privately arranged Golden Circle Tour, which despite the so-so weather was an amazing day out giving a great introduction to the history and geology of Iceland.

Embarkation was by far the worse we have ever experienced with a huge queue outside on the dock before check-in. Fortunately the weather was ok as that wait would have been horrible in the rain. However, once onboard with a glass of champagne and efficient check-in, the wait was quickly forgotten.

This was our second cruise on the Explorer, the first being one of the early cruises post launch in 2016. On that cruise we felt the majority of the cruise staff were very inexperienced with many of the waiting staff making the most basic of mistakes. Fortunately a year on, service is much improved with the majority of bar and restaurant staff being highly competent and even remembering preferred drinks after a couple of evenings.

The itinerary was fantastic with 2 other ports in Iceland, then onto Faroe Islands and the Shetlands followed by 3 days experiencing the Norwegian fjords, along with ports of call of Skagen, Oslo and Gothenburg before disembarking in Copenhagen. The choice of excursions at each port ranges from sedentary bus tours to active cycling or hiking tours. They are well organised and usually led by informative and entertaining guides. Group size is limited and we’ve never felt the size to be too large to be able to fully enjoy ourselves.

There is an excellent choice of restaurants, all of them of extremely high quality. Our least favourite is the evening Italian restaurant Sette Mari where service can be quite chaotic, with either rushed or desperately slow service. It’s very popular so would be better if this was a reservation only restaurant to avoid the long queues or if the weather doesn’t allow for outside dining consider opening up the whole of the restaurant. At least one of the speciality restaurants is open at lunchtime which makes for a relaxed change from the more usual buffet fare available at the Pool or La Veranda.

Incredible northern cruise

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