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Hafnarfjorour (pop: 25,000) is a port town on the Southwest coast of Iceland, about 10 kilometers/6.2 miles south of Reykjavík and where Iceland cruises sail from. It is the third most populous city in Iceland and Hafnarfjorour’s name (spelled many different ways which always drives me crazy) means “harbor fjord.” The excellent natural harbor has continuously traded since the 1300s.
Compagnie du Ponant owns and sails what they refer to as, “Luxury small yacht cruises” around the world. This particular Iceland cruise is on L’Austral and our Tauck Tour has approximately 160 guests on board out of the maximum 264 guests carried. The ship has 132 staterooms and suites with private baths on six decks, and 136 crew members. Each stateroom and suite has: two twin beds, one king or one queen bed, safe, flat-screen TV, video on demand, minibar, radio, telephone, individual air conditioning, ocean views and 95% have private balconies. Our deluxe Cabin 326 does have an outside balcony and is located on the third level, near Reception and main lounge.
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Other features are: 24-hour room service, two restaurants with open seating, three bars, library, three computers in the Observatory Lounge on Deck 6 (Wi-Fi is available throughout the ship), beauty center, spa and fitness center (a manicure is 45 Euro), outside pool (not that it was ever warm enough to use), shop, theater, elevators to all decks and medical facilities.
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L’Austral ship in Iceland
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L’Austral ship theater, Iceland cruise
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Gastronomic Restaurant, L’Austral Iceland cruise
Breakfast and lunch is served buffet style in both restaurants. Only dinner in the Main Restaurant on Deck 2 is sit down and accommodates all ship passengers in one seating. We ended up eating almost every meal in the Buffet Restaurant on Deck 6 for two reasons: dinner began at 7:00p instead of 7:30p in the Main Restaurant; and there was more to choose from. I was in hog heaven with the at least 6-10 different desserts, ice cream, meringue, brownie chunks and cheeses at each meal.
Tauck Tours books at least 2/3 of the L’Austral for their “Land of Fire and Ice” tour” (other passengers are European), and likes to boast that this one-week cruise has sold out four or five years in a row. All meals, tours, unlimited alcoholic and soft drinks, the cruise, and all gratuities are included in the Tauck price. They also provide clean and safe drinking water which is really a moot point since tap water is potable throughout Iceland.
We embarked after lunch at the Perlan Restaurant and short tours in Hallgrimskirja Church and National Museum and were greeted by welcome drinks and canapés.
L’Austral Embarkation procedure:
– Passengers get in line to surrender passport kept by ship during the entire voyage and are given key cards used to: open cabin door, pay onboard expenses, and scanned each time passenger leaves and/or returns to ship;
– Photographer is next in line. Hand over key card and he takes a fast photo which is used to identify passenger when key card is swiped; and
– Cabin steward escorts passenger to their cabin.
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cabin on L’Austral ship, Iceland cruise
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cabin bathroom with spacious shower on L’Austral ship, Iceland cruise
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Welcome to L’Austral Iceland cruise
Surprise! Three pieces of someone else’s luggage was in the cabin along with our two pieces. The steward must have thought, “Wow. Five pieces of luggage for 7 days?” The spacious cabin has a wonderful, big shower with ample towels and L’Occitane amenities, large closet, drawer space without locks which tells me rough seas are not expected, and a balcony. Also in the room was tons of information, and Wi-Fi password. A daily bulletin dedicated to Tauck Tour passengers is placed in the cabin each day.
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Reception on L’Austral ship, Iceland cruise
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our cabin was on Deck 3, L’Austral ship, Iceland cruise
L’Austral is a drop-dead gorgeous, state of the art, luxury yacht with a wonderful crew, and yummy food as we discovered in the Grill Buffet Room. Neither one of us particularly likes standing in a buffet line but there were so many different buffet stations, this became a non-issue and it was interesting how this restaurant became more and more crowded as the week went on. If a passenger wanted a steak, all you had to do was ask and a freshly grilled steak would arrive at the table, done just the way it was requested. There was always 4-6 salad choices, too many options to note for entrees, a dessert buffet, cheese buffet, different breads, rolls, while attentive waiters rushed around, freely pouring bottles of wine (included in the Tauck Tour).
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kidney bean salad on L’Austral ship buffet, Iceland cruise
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small section of breakfast buffet on L’Austral ship, Iceland cruise
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breakfast juice selection, L’Austral ship, Iceland cruise
If I ever win the lottery, Compagnie du Ponant ships is my choice of cruise lines.