My little luxurious cruise was the best way to see Iceland. Great value

I sailed in Iceland for $6,500 on a 7-day Windstar cruise. The ship was small and luxurious, and in the end it became a truly valuable investment.

I have witnessed the best ways to see Iceland for years. This year, I finally realized that.

We booked a 7-day cruise voyage through Iceland on Windstar’s Starpride ship. The continued views of fjords, waterfalls and colorful villages from the small comfortable boat were very valuable.

In the end, it becomes a huge value and I’m sure it’s one of the best ways to go around and see it.

I was immediately shocked when I arrived at Reykjavík

My cruise started in Reykjavik. I decided to fly to the capital early in the morning and get over the jet lag by visiting Sky Lagoon Spa before boarding the boat in the afternoon.

I chose Sky Lagoon instead of the more famous Blue Lagoon. Because it was quite close to town. When my short taxi ride cost over $100, I was immediately grateful.

This has become something like a theme. Popular ride-sharing programs like Uber and Lyft are not open in Iceland, and both taxis and car rentals were surprisingly expensive.

The more I explored, the higher the prices everything from groceries and restaurants to clothing. Even the beautiful Icelandic wool sweaters I thought I might buy as a souvenir were pop at least $300.

Cruises offer a way to travel around the country at a fixed price

We were celebrating our birthday so we stopped by a short stop to book our upgraded cruise and paid $6,500. But realistically, I could have done the entire trip with less perks to get closer to $5,000.

It may sound like a lot, but everything was taken care of for us on a cruise.

I ate almost every meal on the boat – even on the day we were in the harbor – because it was the best cruise dish I’ve ever had. Dining in Iceland would have really delved into my budget.

We also got access to difficult-to-reach destinations, such as Haimai Island.

The sparsely-lived archipelago has recently become active volcanoes and plump in the Atlantic Ocean. It would have been a real shame to miss that.

Just as I loved visiting places like Seydisfjordur, Akureyri, and ísaf jörður, it was not the beautiful port that made this trip awfully surprising. The cruise itself was such an experience.

Crossing the top of the Arctic Circle felt like a real expedition, especially as all the waves were crashing in the darkness outside.

From the deck of the ship I stared at Iceland’s wide open sky, waterfalls, bright green moss and deep blue seas.

I’m so happy to book a cruise rather than exploring Iceland yourself

Believe it or not, at the end of the cruise we had to pay a little bit on our travel budget.

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We booked an early morning trail ride on Icelandic horses, where we passed through a misty field just outside Reykjavik. Everything was quiet apart from the hooves covering the horse’s sweet clip.

During this beautiful end of my trip, I felt peaceful – my bank account would not fall on the nearest fainting sofa when I got home.

After that I had a taxi to the airport that costs $150 for a 20-minute ride. It solidified how valuable the cruise is.