Iceland trip report

Good morning! Sounds like your trip is going great. I'm sure everyone is excited to read another trip perspective. I had private messaged you a few days ago requesting that you start a new thread, as I think it is confusing to have multiple trip reports under one thread. I have asked the moderator to close this thread, and just wanted to give you a heads up so you can start your own trip report. Thanks in advance, and hope your trip is terrific.
Sorry-- I tried to open the PM, but couldn't for some reason. I have spotty access and in the end will probably only offer up a short summary when I get home. But seems to me to be more convenient to keep trip comments about the same itinerary under one thread, as much of what I would otherwise write would mirror your excellent reports. But doesn't really matter to me, and no worries if this thread is closed!
 
We are on the trip now and it's an amazing trip! We've loved everything on the itinerary. Some days are long , but there's SO MUCH to see and there's a lot of distance to cover so you just learn to roll with it and enjoy the ride.

As far as the hotel rooms... all have her clean and accommodating just fine. It's definitely bright at night and we appreciate the eye masks ABD gave us and the blackout shades in the rooms. The rooms can get warm but again, it's nothing unique to this trip... hotels are all quirky in their own ways all over the world.

The food so far has been really tasty. Plenty of choices for many tastes, and the guides have been diligent in making sure my husband doesn't get any dishes with onions :)

We always say our favorite things on ABD trips are the unexpected. We ADORED Elvar at his salted cod restaurant and the fermented shark tasting. His energy and enthusiasm isn't a gimmick ... he's passionate about his work and he's one heck of a smart businessman. We spent considerable time talking with him and we feel blessed to have met him.

As far as meals on your own... that's something we wouldn't change. It gives everyone a chance to go at their own pace and explore. Sometimes we are ready to slow down and just relax with comfort food. Sometimes we want to venture and explore and.guides are always ready to assist with suggestions. I'd struggle if those opportunities were taken away!

It's been nice here in Akureui to have a few dinners on our own. Our preference was to take a 10 minute walk to the market and get sandwich fixings! We heard lots of talk on the coach about good restaurants everyone went to.last night as well so there's something for everyone
 
Oooo! That sounds wonderful! Was this the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon? :)
Oh! I was told Alyssa would be one of our Guides in September. I guess not! I wonder who it will be.

Sayhello
There are 2 Alyssas. The Alyssa that's been in Norway and Iceland is leaving ABD right now.
 


This is really disappointing to read. A hallmark of ABD has been the Tinkerbell luggage service.
I'm sure someone already answered, but bell hops don't exist in Iceland so there's literally not enough physical bodies to move all that luggage. The guides said They would happily help anyone that needed help with their bags tho!
 
I agree - this report is super helpful in getting my mindset right (although I do hope by August they will have fixed some of the negative aspects!)

Iceland is also famous for their lamb dishes, which I was really looking forward to. Bummer that hasn’t been a featured option
We have had lamb on a number of menus
 
@tsgirl,

If schlepping our own weight restricted luggage is going to be a thing with ABD now, we will also start looking at Rick Steves tours If we are going to do the work, why pay extra?

Anyway, thanks again for all your info and great attitude and Yay lamb!
It's not a "thing " not to move your luggage. There is literally no bellhop service here to do it. The guides cannot possibly move an entire group's luggage . They have happily offered every time to move anyone's luggage who wants help.

This is one of those travel things that you just go "hmm.. ok, no porters in Iceland. No biggie!" Of course it's nice but it's just a quirk.of Iceland travel!
 
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Our horseback experience was fun! We are a group of 37 and they split us into 2 groups... the first roughly half was experienced riders and went first to.head out. Then the second half of us headed out. Maybe took 10-15 minutes to get our group of inexperienced riders on. We went on a trail ride, all the horses were gathered for a group photo, then on the way back we all got to try the unique Icelandic horse gait called the tölt. I felt like having 2 groups worked great and while it was a guided trail ride, we all found it enjoyable and my son was very proud to have learned to ride a horse!

We don't have any rain, but they still offered pants and jackets for anyone who wanted them. We all wore helmets.

I felt like even though we have a large group, it went smoothly and was well run.
 
There are 2 Alyssas. The Alyssa that's been in Norway and Iceland is leaving ABD right now.
Right, and that's the Alyssa I was told would be our Guide in Iceland in September. But obviously, plans change! I just wonder who we'll have now. Guess it's time for another call to ABD. :)

Sayhello
 
Right, and that's the Alyssa I was told would be our Guide in Iceland in September. But obviously, plans change! I just wonder who we'll have now. Guess it's time for another call to ABD. :)

Sayhello
Ah!! Pretty sure it will be Drew! He said he was back for Sept
 
Regarding the warm rooms- geothermal heating is so cheap in Iceland that pretty much every structure runs on full heat and the “thermostat” is opening the window or door. I literally slept with the window open in March, while it snowed.
It’s completely opposite of what we do here. I can just hear my dad “what, are we heating the whole neighborhood?!” LOL
 
Regarding the warm rooms- geothermal heating is so cheap in Iceland that pretty much every structure runs on full heat and the “thermostat” is opening the window or door. I literally slept with the window open in March, while it snowed.
It’s completely opposite of what we do here. I can just hear my dad “what, are we heating the whole neighborhood?!” LOL
Right?!?! Makes us laugh!
 
It's not a "thing " not to move your luggage. There is literally no bellhop service here to do it. The guides cannot possibly move an entire group's luggage . They have happily offered every time to move anyone's luggage who wants help.

This is one of those travel things that you just go "hmm.. ok, no porters in Iceland. No biggie!" Of course it's nice but it's just a quirk.of Iceland travel!


While I see your point, and I admire your cheerful lugging, my point is slightly different. Part of the price for ABD calculates in the expense of logistical time and tips to porters for luggage handling. If we are in a place where this does not occur, fine. But in Iceland, we are still paying for that, and Disney is pocketing the overage. I'm sure it's only a tiny fraction of what they've built in to the overall expense, and obviously we wouldn't be doing these trips at all if money was an object, but it is a factor in comparing to other companies, who do not advertise seamless travel and do not charge for it either.

I can remember standing in the airport in Ecuador, watching a family with another tour company struggle with corralling their bags, while our ABD guides organized our group's bags onto dollies. Several times they sang out "This is the Disney Difference! This is why you go with us!" And they were right. If there's not a Disney Difference (whether luggage portage or anything else) in a particular country, then it makes sense to consider other companies when deciding on a travel experience.
 
While I see your point, and I admire your cheerful lugging, my point is slightly different. Part of the price for ABD calculates in the expense of logistical time and tips to porters for luggage handling. If we are in a place where this does not occur, fine. But in Iceland, we are still paying for that, and Disney is pocketing the overage. I'm sure it's only a tiny fraction of what they've built in to the overall expense, and obviously we wouldn't be doing these trips at all if money was an object, but it is a factor in comparing to other companies, who do not advertise seamless travel and do not charge for it either.

I can remember standing in the airport in Ecuador, watching a family with another tour company struggle with corralling their bags, while our ABD guides organized our group's bags onto dollies. Several times they sang out "This is the Disney Difference! This is why you go with us!" And they were right. If there's not a Disney Difference (whether luggage portage or anything else) in a particular country, then it makes sense to consider other companies when deciding on a travel experience.
And I would think, at the least, ABD should have noted it on the website that this particular trip does *not* include luggage portage. They had to know this ahead of time, and it should have been disclosed.

Sayhello
 
I don’t think ABD is charging you for luggage portage that isn’t happening. Iceland is an isolated island and is expensive. Most people that travel there are surprised at how expensive it is, especially when flights there are so cheap.

Agreed that if you pay that amount of money, it would be nice to have them do everything, but in this case I honestly don’t think that extra was factored in just so ABD can pocket it.
 
I don’t think ABD is charging you for luggage portage that isn’t happening. Iceland is an isolated island and is expensive. Most people that travel there are surprised at how expensive it is, especially when flights there are so cheap.

Agreed that if you pay that amount of money, it would be nice to have them do everything, but in this case I honestly don’t think that extra was factored in just so ABD can pocket it.
Agree 100%. My husband has said it before.... if you are trying to break down trips as line item costs, then you've missed the point in our opinion. There's been many trips (including this one) where guides have thrown in surprises that weren't listed in the "cost" of the trip. You really just can't try to nitpick individual costs of things on a trip and say because one is missing , Disney is somehow making out better.

Some companies use kids to schlep luggage in Iceland. Disney won't do that for liability reasons I'm sure. When we took our 1 internal flight, our 2 guides retrieved all the luggage off the carousel and loaded it on the bus (except for this families like ours who chose to handle it ourselves to take some of the burden off of them for the 50 yard walk to the coach).

I think Iceland is a unique trip in that aspect and as a global traveler you have to learn to roll with things. There's been other countries with their own quirks that we just go with their flow.

I DO think ABD should make a note somewhere on the website about it not being available. That always helps with expectations.
 
My husband says if having luggage porters is your #1 Disney magic, pick a different itenerary For us, not having it has literally been a non-issue . We are in ICELAND doing amazing things with amazing people. Worth every single penny we've handed over!
 

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