Guide – I cannot say enough good and nice things about Arni. His knowledge about Iceland was rich in detail and he conveyed it in a manner befitting a former teacher, i.e. in small digestible units that were always laced with interesting tidbits. Arni is the kind of man that you could be stuck with in an elevator with for hours and never really care too much about when your rescue would occur. A gentleman and a true scholar. His knowledge about the geology, of Iceland, is on a par with the few professional geologist I have met in the course of my business pursuits. If there were things I did not like about this tour (read on), they were easily mitigated by the positive contributions of Arni. I think the highest tribute was paid to Arni by our excellent bus driver, Ingvi, who said this was the first such tour he had driven with Arni, but compared to all the other guides he had met, Arni was far superior. My thanks to Arni for making Iceland not only interesting, but making me interested in Iceland.
Weather – We had the very best luck with the weather. It rains frequently in Iceland, but we had only one day when it drizzled a little, but it did not interfere with our tour in the least. Our guide, Arni, said this group had the best weather he had ever experienced with such a tour. I even joked at one point about closing the drapes in a room where the group was gathered as there was too much sun on this trip.
Medical – While this group was very luck with the weather, they were particularly unlucky with accidents and health related problems. At the beginning of our out-of-Reykjavik bus adventure one lady (Clara) sprained her ankle with a miss-step while exiting the bus, and required an ankle support for most of the remainder of the trip. In Egilsstadir a very nice man (Bob) was walking with another couple from the tour along the same sidewalk I had traversed earlier. I noted a large (2 foot diameter) rock on the sidewalk as apparently the person that cut the grass alongside the walkway rolled the rock onto the sidewalk to mow the lawn, and forgot to roll it back later. Apparently poor Bob was engaged in conversation while walking and tripped over the rock. He went to the hospital for some first aid and lost a front tooth in the process. While in Selfoss a very nice lady (Betty) became ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was transferred from the hospital in Selfoss to a hospital in Reykjavik, an indication of the seriousness of her condition. Our departing day report on Betty was she had been transferred from intensive care to a standard care floor awaiting approval from the doctors to fly back to the States. The last incident occurred while the bus was climbing the very steep and narrow road to the Dyrholaey headlands to see the Puffins. Yet another very nice lady (Donna), who I befriended early on the trip, had a diabetic coma. When Ms Becky became aware of the situation she took over from the two ladies who had diagnosed the problem and were helping as best they could. Ms Becky had Donna about 80% back to normal by the time the ambulance arrived to take Donna to the hospital in Selfoss. The quality of Ms Becky’s care was made evident about 20 minutes later, as the bus drove towards Selfoss we were greeted by the returning ambulance, and doctor, who released Donna back onto the tour bus.
Icelandair - My low opinion of Icelandair started with their policy of not allowing the majority of seat assignments prior to airport check-in. I could come up with no rationale for this system, but noted it worked against us as we had a short connection time between our United flight arrival and the Icelandair departure. We did get pairs of seats together, but they were at the back of the plane. I was thrilled with my middle seat, it does a 100K mile flier good to sit for nearly 5 hours in a middle seat every now and then. During our wait to get through airport security, the crew of our flight showed up and was given priority in the queue waiting to move through the gauntlet. I was very surprised when 2 of the 5 flight attendants tripped the security system and had to take of their shoes or jewelry; I wondered aloud if they had every been through airport security before.
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The Icelandair onboard service was as poor as the pre-boarding experience. The movies were shown on just a few small TV screens hanging from the ceiling, so there was no individual choice. Some choice would have been welcomed since the two movies shown were from the 1970’s: “Cactus Flower” with Goldie Han and “The Candidate” with Robert Redford. Not only was the entertainment from the 70’s but so too the dinner meal served shortly after the 9:30 PM take off. It was some kind of tomato and cheese dish that perhaps had a few flakes of pasta. It was not spaghetti, it was not lasagna, yet it was strangely familiar. When I asked Ms Becky what she thought it was, the high school girl sitting next to me volunteered “It tasted like Chef Boyardee” and indeed that was the ancient taste memory that I would best associate with this dish. After the meal service the flight attendants were essentially never seen again until the pilot announced we were landing.
Vantage – I have only traveled with Grand Circle and Overseas Adventure Travels (OAT) in the past, so I have limited experience (3 trips) with tour groups. Several members of our group were on their 4th to 7th Vantage Tour, so they obviously liked Vantage Deluxe Tours. I take exception with the word “Deluxe” in Vantage Deluxe Tours. I think Vantage cut several corners (expenses) on this trip, that were unnecessary and in at least one case idiotic.
- Upon arrival in Reykjavik were we taken to a fishing pier dinner for a breakfast on our own (nickel) with the excuse that this was the only place open at this early (7 AM) hour. This is not the kind of ‘Welcome to Iceland’ experience that starts the trip on the best footing. Why not take us to our hotel (Hotel Loftleidir) and provide us with the buffet breakfast, served everyday from 5 AM, before embarking on our city tour?
- No planned activities on Day 2 in Reykjavik. What a Vantage Tour faux pas this was! Travel over 6,000 miles to see a very interesting country, and city, and be dumped on the second day with no itinerary, an outrage at the least. Had this been our last day in Iceland, then the culture shock would have been much less; indeed the Icelandic people are very friendly, although a bit reticent. I cannot forgive Vantage Tours for wasting this day of my tour.
- The lunch stop in Reykholt on Day 3 illustrated the idiocy of Vantage. Granted this was a remote area of Iceland and there were no other choices but soup & bread at the small country hotel. Since there were no other dinning options, and this was a fixed menu, why didn’t Vantage simple add $10 to the tour price and cover this lunch? Who would have passed over a tour to Iceland because the price was $10 too high? The Vantage people are either ‘skin flints’ or idiots, and I think the later is the more accurate descriptor.
- We visited some rural areas of Iceland and one has to expect less than three star accommodations (European 3 star system) in some areas. But other than the two nights we spent in Laugar (Days 3 & 4) there was no excuse for the poor accommodations. The hotel in Reykjavik (Hotel Loftleidir) was very nice, but a bit too distant from the city center at 20 minutes walk; note this hotel is owned by the demonic Icelandair. While near the very beautiful city of Akureyri, we had comfortable accommodations in a converted barn at the Country Inn, but it was so far from the city that photographs taken of Akureyri, from the Country Inn, only show the beautiful fjord. The last straw was in Egilsstadir where we stayed in yet another Edda Hotel, a.k.a. dormitory. What is the Vantage Tour excuse for these accommodations? Their glossy pre-tour publication indicates a nice 3 star hotel, which exists in Egilsstadir, yet we were housed in a dormitory? Wisely, Vantage ended our tour with the excellent hotel facilities at Hotel Selfoss.
If you take a Vantage ‘Deluxe’ Tour and find it to be an exceptional value send me an email. If you are considering a Vantage ‘Deluxe’ Tour, look for other tour providers.
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