Tim & Anne’s Holland America Iceland/Scotland Cruise June 2024
Tim and Anne’s Holland America Iceland/Scotland Cruise June 2024
by Tim Larison, CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor
with comments by Anne Larison, Family Travel Gurus Travel Consultant
Our first visit to Iceland and Scotland! We had a wonderful cruise
on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendam to tour parts of these two countries, preceded
by a two-night hotel stay in Reykjavik, Iceland. In this report we will focus
on the amazing excursions we took, followed by some comments on the Holland
America cruise experience.
Reykjavik, Iceland
From 106 degrees in Arizona to 35 degree windchill in Reykjavik Iceland! After a long day of travel, we arrived at our Reykjavik hotel – the Hilton Nordica.
The hotel was a fine place for us to stay. They had one of the best breakfast buffets we have had at a hotel. We booked the hotel and cruise through Holland America. Transportation to the port was seamless on the day of our cruise departure. We arrived early and we were one of the first to board the ship.
Anne says: There were a few restaurants within walking distance, which was nice since we did not have personal transportation. The room had good black out drapes since the sun sets very late and there are only a few hours of darkness. There is also a Hop On Hop Off bus stop very close to the entrance of the hotel.
Snæfellsnes Peninsula Tour
On the second day of our trip, we took this 11 hour tour. Here the natural beauty of Iceland really stood out.
We saw waterfalls up close.
We climbed a long path to look into the crater of an extinct volcano.
We viewed dramatic landscapes.
All with the help of our expert native Icelander guide. He drove us around for this 11-hour tour with only 2 other tourists (a father & son) in his Land Rover.
At the end we were treated to dinner in a barn turned into an upscale restaurant (loved the fish I had) For nature lovers Iceland is an amazing place to visit!
Anne says: The waterfalls were amazing; we learned many things about Iceland and it was a pleasure to be on a small group tour. Our legs were sore after all the stairs up the volcano!
Heimaey Highlights Tour
For our next tour we were now on the cruise. We visited Heimaey, the only populated island (4500 people) off Iceland’s main island. As we arrived, we saw a Viking cruise ship anchored in the harbor. This Viking ship followed us throughout the cruise, sailing the same itinerary.
Heimaey has an interesting volcanic past & natural beauty.
Here we saw what is considered the best golf course in Iceland. A sunny day and warm (for Iceland) summer temperatures drew lots of golfers.
The island’s main attraction – puffins! We were fortunate to see many puffins today – the biggest puffin area in Europe & maybe the World.
We had sheep join us on our path to see the puffins, too!
Heimaey is called “The Pompeii of the North”. What’s that about? Well in 1973 the island had a massive volcanic eruption, and ALL the island’s residents were rescued – transported by fishing boats to the Iceland mainland. We toured a well-done museum which told the story of that day.
Anne says: Once again our tour guide was a local. He was informative, humorous and provided a lot of personal experience. He was the principal of the high school prior to his retirement to become a tour guide. He shared with us his family’s traumatic rescue from the island in the 1973 eruption.
Orkney Tour with Lorna from See Orkney
The only private tour we booked on the trip (not associated with the cruise line) was one of the best! Our Scottish guide Lorna provided detailed commentary of the sights we would see today.
First stop was at the Standing Stones of Stenness. The ancient stones reminded us of when we visited Stonehenge, however these stones were 900 years older than Stonehenge. As the picture shows the stones towered above us.
Next we visited the prehistoric village of Skara Brae. The ancient Atlantic coast village dates to 3100 BC. Lorna told us stories of how people lived back then.
On the grounds we toured the Skaill House – a 17th century mansion with much of its interiors restored.
Then we drove to see more ancient stones at the Ring of Brodgar. These stones are younger than the ones we saw earlier at the Standing Stones of Stenness yet still older than Stonehenge. Not as tall as the Stenness stones but still impressive as they are arranged in a circle.
Next, we saw the Italian Chapel with a remarkable story. World War II Italian prisoners of war were put to work on various construction projects. They asked if they could build a church in their spare time. They built this church out of Quonset huts. Still used for services to this day.
To conclude our tour we saw the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral. This Cathedral had quite a story of its own that Lorna was good to describe.
Anne says: Orkney is part of an island chain off the coast of Scotland. Once again, our tour was a small group of just 4 with our local guide. The tour guide, Lorna, is a native who moved from a smaller island to Orkney after they sold their cattle ranch. Since most groups of tourists stop at the same sights, Lorna kept us ahead of the large busses of people, so we didn’t have crowds at most of our stops.
Inverness, Scotland
Our last stop on the cruise was at Invergordon (Inverness), Scotland. I took this picture from our balcony as we were approaching the port.
We took a bus tour to see the lush and scenic Scottish Highlands. Here we had a good view of a Scottish Loch from on high.
And a mountain stream.
Near the port we visited this historic church and graveyard.
We don’t see telephone booths in the States anymore – they were here!
Anne says: The Inverness and Highlands areas were scenic, and we had better weather! I could take off my scarf and hat.
The Ship
Our ship the Nieuw Statendam is a sister ship of the Rotterdam. Both are of Holland America’s Pinnacle class. We have given an overview of the features of a Pinnacle Class ship (the Rotterdam) in our previous reviews. Rather than do that again here, we will tell of a few highlights we liked on the Nieuw Statendam.
This was our first time sailing with our own private balcony on a Holland America ship. We loved it! We found the stateroom spacious, and we enjoyed going out on our balcony as we were sailing by scenic spots. This cruise had three at sea days, so we made good use of the balcony!
Off the Crow’s Nest (on a top deck) we noticed the Game Room on the Rotterdam had been transformed to an Art Studio on the Nieuw Statendam. Here passengers can take Art classes. One evening when there was not an Art class, we used one of the tables to play a game of Scrabble. The Nieuw Statendam had a smaller game area on the opposite side of the Crow’s Nest compared to the Rotterdam, but you could play board games here, too, when no classes were in session.
Our cruise director, Clare, was one of the best we have had. I particularly liked her “Coffee Chats” with different crew members. Pictured here is a coffee chat with three officers telling us of their duties onboard. I also attended Clare’s coffee chats with members of the band performing most nights in the Rolling Stone Lounge, members of the cast of a production show in the main theater, and another with Clare telling her personal story of how she became a cruise director.
Clare gave several educational talks in the ship’s main theater. I always liked the large screens and the three quarters in the round seating featured in the Pinnacle Class ships’ main theaters.
A friend of mine had told be the apple pie in the ship’s Dutch Café was excellent. She was right! I had missed ordering the apple pie on the Rotterdam. I made sure I ordered it here and it did not disappoint!
The ship offered several activities at night and on the “at sea” days. Anne says of the line dance classes: The Activity Director, Jose, kept us on our feet and working up a sweat doing a variety of dances. He had at least one or two sessions each at-sea day. There was a great variety of line dances throughout the cruise (more than just Electric Slide) 😉
The Music Walk, as it was on the Rotterdam, featured the Rolling Stone Lounge, the Billboard Piano Bar, and BB Kings Jazz club. We liked the Billboard Piano Bar best, though we noticed it no longer featured “dueling pianos” but rather just one piano player. She was very good in playing popular songs from different eras.
I found the ship’s buffet especially good on this sailing. I had a made-to-order omelet each morning at the omelet station (pictured). I also liked the daily Italian section and Asian sections of the buffet.
Anne says: We ate in the main dining room a few nights. Otherwise, we enjoyed the variety of foods at the buffet. The Dive-In Burgers, Chicken sandwiches and Hot dogs kept us going back time and again!
Summary
We really enjoyed our trip on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendam. Holland America continues to be one of our favorite cruise lines. We enjoyed the natural beauty of Iceland. We were so impressed with Scotland that we have planned another cruise to different areas of Scotland next year!
If you would like to visit Iceland/Scotland on a cruise or take a cruise elsewhere, contact us!