Scotland, Iceland & Greenland
July/August 2023

This past July/August, Cheryl Buchalter and a friend sailed with Regent Seven Seas Cruises for 15 nights from Copenhagen to Reykjavik aboard the Seven Seas Voyager. The cruise called on ports in Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland.

She started her trip with a 4-night pre-cruise stay at Villa Copenhagen, a beautiful hotel and former Danish Post and Telegraph office about 30 minutes from Regent's cruise port. The property is ideally located and neighbors a number of attractions and social hubs. The Central Station is literally across the street. The hotel itself was fantastic and included lots of spaces to enjoy, like the pool, relaxing outdoor spaces, great restaurants, and a bar with live music that locals often visit. It's a great value and Cheryl would highly recommend the hotel to anyone visiting Copenhagen. One of her highlights in Copenhagen was a canal tour with FriendShips – a great way to see more of the city from the water!

Boarding the Seven Seas Voyager in Copenhagen was easy, especially since Cheryl and her friend booked a Penthouse Suite, which gave them priority check-in. Although the Seven Seas Voyager is an older ship, it's been kept up beautifully. The ship was immaculate and everything was spot on, from dining and service to entertainment and excursions. Another perk of staying in a Penthouse Suite was having a personal butler, which was fantastic. Cheryl was greeted right away and was able to share her preferences about what types of beverages she'd like kept in the room along with any other expectations.

The Penthouse Suite had plenty of space for the two of them, plus a walk-in closet with lots of hanging and drawer space. The suite also had a large balcony, and when weather permitted, Cheryl and her friend enjoyed beautiful scenery from the comfort of their own suite.

They tried all the different restaurants onboard and all of them were equally delicious. One of Cheryl's favorites was Chartreuse, a specialty restaurant that serves French bistro style food. She also enjoyed all the wines onboard and the variety of menu options at Compass Rose.

Cheryl enjoyed a variety of different activities on shore, and with Regent, all of her shore excursions were included. Their first stop was Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, where they went whiskey tasking, birdwatched, and saw one of the world's largest natural harbors that was used during WWI. Next, they visited the Faroe Islands, which was one of Cheryl's favorite ports. Her favorite excursion was going on a boat tour of the Vestmanna Bird Cliffs, which were so magnificent and beautiful. She also really enjoyed learning about the undersea tunnels that connect different islands, including the world's first undersea roundabout!

After a couple days in Scotland, they headed to Iceland and Greenland. Cheryl absolutely loves Iceland – the people, scenery, fairytales, and history – and was excited to return during her cruise. She would highly recommend a visit to Iceland to anyone who loves nature. One of her favorite shore excursions was whale watching in Akureyri. They saw a few whales, but she said when you go at the right time, it's absolutely fantastic whale watching! The people in Iceland were all friendly and had a funny and sarcastic sense of humor. She can't wait to go back again to experience more of Iceland. Unfortunately a couple ports they were supposed to visit in Greenland got cancelled due to weather, but they were still able to see some really beautiful scenery from the ship. Plus, Regent jumped into action right away and the onboard programs shifted so there were new activities to enjoy – movies, trivia, onboard golfing, etc. – during the extra sea days.

In addition to visiting so many beautiful places, they also enjoyed the lecture series onboard. Since they had a few extra sea days, the guest speakers onboard continued doing deeper dives into the topics they were presenting – one was about the history of the Nomadic movement and the other was about using your iPhone for travel photography – both of which were very interesting!

Cheryl had a wonderful cruise and loved all the included amenities (especially free laundry service!) on Regent. One last fun tip she shared is to download the CruiseMapper mobile app, which allows you to enter your ship info and it will track your cruise and show you where you are on a map, along with the other cruise ships that are around you!