Our hand-picked favorite 2026 Iceland Cruises

A dozen or more companies are offering cruises around Iceland in 2026. How do you pick the best 2026 or 2027 Iceland Cruise for you? Here are some things to consider, along with our recommendations.

No matter which Iceland cruise you pick, we can book it for you! Clients who book their 2026 Iceland Cruise with us often save hundreds or thousands of dollars because of our Iceland expertise. We’ll work with you individually to pick excursions, whether they’re provided by your cruise line or not. We’ll pick the best airport transfers for you, often saving hundreds compared to what the cruise lines charge. And we can customize your itineraries for before and after the cruise to help you find classic sites and hidden gems throughout Iceland

Look for circumnavigation itineraries for your 2026 Iceland Cruise

Iceland is only about the size of Kentucky, and so it’s easy to make it around the entire island with a 7-10 day cruise. You’ll spend less time sailing and more time at each port, since you’re never cruising between countries.

This also makes airline tickets easier, since you can purchase a roundtrip ticket to and from Iceland instead of having to deal with multiple cities.

Here’s what a typical itinerary looks like:

Look for a smaller ship for your 2026 Iceland Cruise

There are larger ships from Norwegian and Celebrity that do circumnavigation Iceland cruises. But these ships can overwhelm the smaller ports in Iceland. Did you know that Iceland has fewer than 400,000 people who live there, and most of those people live in or near Reykjavik? If you look at the map above, Grundarfjörður is a lovely village in West Iceland with a population of around 900. Nine hundred! Imagine if 2,000 people pour off of a cruise ship into that town.

Look for a ship with a capacity of under 1,000 people, and preferably under 500 or so.

Sailing on a smaller boat almost always ends up costing more than on one of the mega cruise ships. That’s already a splurge. But beyond that, most people should find the service and amenities more than adequate on any of these small ships. Okay, you do get more with the ultra-luxury small-ship lines. Seabourn has a submarine on their ship, if that’s important to you!

But the least expensive small-ship cruises around Iceland are fantastic. They’ll have 24-hour room service, tastefully decorated suites, luxury dining options, and impeccable service.

Our picks for your 2026 Iceland Cruise

Here are the 2026 Iceland Cruises that we think are great options for many travelers! All of these companies are offering 1 or more sailings in the summer of 2026. We’re also planning lots of cruises for the 2026 Iceland Eclipse; fill out the form below if that’s what you’re looking for!

Windstar Around Iceland

Windstar’s Star Pride ship makes weekly trips around Iceland in July and August of 2026. Ships leave Reykjavvik every Monday, though the August cruises are filling up because of the eclipse. The ship holds just 312 passengers, and that’s only if all of the triple rooms have 3 people in them. Prices start at $4,799 per person (double occupancy) though you’ll likely want to spend a few hundred more than that for a larger picture window.

Hurtigruten split off its expedition cruises in 2024, under the new brand HX. So the Iceland cruises are now under the HX Travel brand.

Because of the split, in 2026 HX will only have a ship in Iceland in May. That’s early in the Iceland cruise season, but it’s a great time to visit: You’ll find fewer crowds but still 24 hours of daylight.

The ship is the MS Fridtjof Nansen, which was just built in 2020. It holds 490 people, so it’s the largest of the small ship cruises I’m recommending here. But it’s a great ship, which was named the safest and most sustainable cruise ship in the world soon after it was built. And there’s an on board science lab for doing citizen science experiments!

Prices start at $4,119 per person, or even less if you are a member of AARP. (Fill out the form below for more information about that!) And even the most expensive cabins top at under $7,000 per person, and include your own private hot tub!

Viking’s Iceland’s Natural Beauty Cruise sails from Reykjavik 7 times in 2026, from June to August. Prices start at $7,499, and include a base excursion in each port. With their $25 deposit, these cruises sell out quickly!

Let us help you plan the perfect 2026 Iceland cruise (or 2027!)

We’re a certified Iceland Specialist Travel Agency, and I’ve personally taken 2 Iceland circumnavigation cruises! We’d love to work with you to plan your Iceland trip. Just fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!

(We can also help with cruises from any other company, including Silversea, Seabourn, Celebrity, Norwgian, and more!)