Port Stop: A Lesson in Optimism and Positivity in Akureyri, Iceland
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After a sea day, we were headed to our last country on our NCL Prima 11 Night Northern Europe cruise and would start in the north of the land of fire and ice: Akureyri, Iceland.
LOGISTICS
PORT-Akureyri | CURRENCY: Icelandic Krona (ISK)
PORT | Arrival: 9:00 | Overnight | Departure 04:00 | Itinerary change with no stop in Ísafjörður | 1 USD = 130.58 ISK (CURRENT EXCHANGE RATE)
LANGUAGE: Icelandic
Halló – hello (Hah-loh) | Bless – good bye (bless) | Því miður – sorry (thvee mi-thur) | Vinsamlegast – please (vin-saam-leh-gast | Takk – thank you (tak)
MONEY MATTERS
Credit cards were widely accepted (we were able to use Visa and Mastercard throughout Iceland but I couldn’t always use my AMEX). We found that other than for tipping in local currency, we didn’t need to carry cash (ie tipping guides on already paid tours). Speaking of which, Iceland is similar to Norway in that tipping is not obligatory with high/living wages and strong workers laws so there isn’t a need for a tipping culture (vs in the US where workers are reliant upon tips as part of their salary). As such, it is a nice gesture of appreciation to tip if you receive great service.
COMMUNICATION
English was widely spoken.
BEAUTIFUL TIP: Reminder that arrival times for port days are estimates for when the ship will be docked and may not be when the port has given approval to the ship to allow passengers to get off. IF the activity start time is close to arrival times, I will always reach out the activity/tour provider and find out exactly what their policy is if I am not able to be there on time. I have found that many operators are flexible especially if the majority/all of the participants are from the cruise ship but some may not be able to accommodate late arrivals with no refund given. Whilst both scenarios are valid business practices, don’t make the mistake of finding out it’s the latter when you aren’t able to join! See below in what we did for more info on this
I had already seen in the Facebook Prima group that NCL had not docked at Ísafjörður for the entire season including the immediate three sailings before us so I wasn’t surprised about the itinerary change notice when we embarked and hadn’t booked anything for that port.
Akureyri
Often called the capital of the north, Akureyri sits at the base of the Eyjafjörður Fjord. It is Iceland’s second largest town with 19,000 inhabitants and is known for its cultural attractions and the incredible surrounding natural wonders.
The town is also beloved for its Hearts of Akureyri and there’s a heartwarming story behind them – and yes pun fully intended <3. Actually I have heard a number of stories about their origin with one alleging when Iceland’s economy collapsed during the 2008 global banking crisis, they were installed around town to help spread optimism and to remind people to put focus on what really matters. Another telling is that a mayor had them installed to help spread cheer and love through the long winters. And there’s yet one more version which seems most credible since it comes from the official Visit Akureyri’s website is that they were installed during one of Akureyri’s annual festival “Ein með öllu” which occurs in the summer. As the financial crisis unfolded, “there was a recognized need to spread positivity and optimism” and a campaign called “Smile with Your Heart” was born. It was focused on “spreading positive messages as widely as possible and encouraging participation that saw “tremendous engagement”.
Taking photos with red hearts in the stop lights proved to be so popular, that the above pictured special selfie traffic light was installed to safely allow for safely capturing photos. FYI you can find this near the Hof Cultural House (which is about 400 meters from the cruise port) – I love how consideration was put in for the background since it also includes the famous church.
WHAT WE DID
How cute is this lil pup?! And this was my first time seeing a seal in the wild! It was a great way for us to start our time here as this was en route to the taxi stand.
Goðafoss
The BSO Taxi stand is ~600 meters away from where the ship docks in Akureyri and is about a 10 minute walk. I have always found that there are taxis available but you can also reach out to them before via phone or email. Tours to Goðafoss was running at €75/person but we were able to book two 8 passenger taxis for 41,500 NOK or ~US$315 each.
Goðafoss can be roughly translated to waterfall of the gods (again Nordic names are no nonsense: foss = waterfall in Icelandic). Exactly why that name is what is unclear: is it because the waterfall is so beautiful it is God-like? There’s a legend that when Iceland’s assembly was debating which religion the country should practice, a Viking leader called Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, who was a pagan priest himself, meditated for a day and a half and decided on Christianity. He said to have thrown his Pagan statues in the waterfall to symbolically and literally showcase the embracing of Christianity (and in true Icelandic fashion, there was a compromise and pagans could still practice in private and some old customs were kept)
One of the great things about getting a taxi is that we could stay as long as we wanted – this allowed us to explore the area in depth such as seeing the waterfall from a high vantage as in the first photo and climb closer to the water in the above photo. We also lucked out in that our driver had worked as a tour guide and he was eager to share his knowledge with us.
Taking enough time to notice things like how the dew looks like crystals or diamonds shimmering off of the fauna
The waterfall is fed by the Skjálfandafljót river which runs in a 7000-year-old lava field from the Trölladyngja volcano.
Goðafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland and flows over a 98 feet (30-meter) wide horseshoe-shaped rock that rises in the center separating the waterfall in two. One section is about 30 feet (9 M) and the second is 55 feet (17-meters) high.
One thing that is great about an overnight in Iceland during the summer is midnight sun and the opportunity to really maximize your time in an area. Note: this wasn’t taken during this cruise but during another visit to Akureyri and Goðafoss.
Explore/Lunch In Akureyri
The town is easy to navigate and explore especially with one of the main street a car free – pedestrian zone where you can find this Love Akureyri sign
I actually have NO idea why some of the trash bins around town have these knitted costumes but I am here for it…thoughts for why?
Whale Watching from Downtown Akureyri
After lunch, we headed to the meeting point which was a 8 minute walk from where we had lunch (probably the same amount of time from the cruise ship) for our 3 hour whale watching tour.
Eyjafjörður is Iceland’s longest fjord is known for attracting humpback whales for summer feeding so we were hoping that luck would be on our side. Two thirds of the group had never been whale watching and were really wanting to see these majestic beasts out in the wild.
It was a fairly typical summer day for Akureyri with some sun and cloud coverage so being on the water in these temps made for a chilly excursion – here’s one of my fave sayings: there is no such thing as bad weather just wrong clothing. So wear layers or if you tend to get really cold, you can go grab a full body cold weather thermal suits/coveralls. We were out on the water for nearly two hours before we finally came upon some humpback whales! It was well worth the wait – as we were able to see multiple whales and in action including diving.
I am really happy that we did the RIB experience in Geirangerfjord and not here, the family would have KILLED me. Use that info how you want.
Fun fact: a whale tale is called a fluke and researchers use the patterns on the fluke to identify individuals as they are that unique!
A closer look at the NCL Prima in port
WHAT WE ATE
Taste / Malik Kebab
Some of the family had burgers from Taste and others went to Malik for kebabs for lunch
Café inside Penninn Bookstore
I always visit this place when I go to Akureyri and here’s my go to coffee order: flat white. Pro tip if you are here when it’s available:the pumpkin spice latte is the best I have EVER had
Turninn
Unfortunately this ice cream shop is now shuttered
WHAT I SPENT
Reminder that these NCL port posts are unlike my other posts in that I only have a sampling of costs (plus my sister ended up covering a number of items ie lunch + hot chocolate here)
- Activities $142.93 $135.72 Taxi to Goðafoss ($654.14-$327/41.500 ISK /taxix2 + $89 Whale Watching Tour: $89-adults/ $80-seniors/ $44-children /$0-2x infants
- Food $5.17 Flat white coffee 675 ISK
- Misc $7.65 Souvenirs (magnet 999ISK)
ALTERNATIVE ITINERARY IDEAS & OTHER TOP SPOTS TO EXPLORE
Forest Lagoon
Perhaps my favorite geothermal spa in Iceland due to location, vibe and the late hours.
Akureyri Botanic Gardens
I LOVE Botanic gardens and this one is not only really interesting and beautiful, it’s free!
Myvatn Nature Bath
The drive here is GORGEOUS besides you’re in Iceland, you definitely should visit a geothermal bath!
TOURS
- This 5 hour Port Akureyri: Godafoss Waterfall, Laufas & Forest Lagoon takes you to a number of great stops and still will leave time to explore Akureyri
- Want to see the most you can around the area? Then this is for you: Lake Myvatn, Dettifoss and Goddafoss Waterfalls Day Tour from Akureyri
