Expedition cruises around Iceland set to fall 42 percent by 2027

Round-island cruises in Iceland are expected to decline by 42 percent between 2025 and 2027, according to Cruise Iceland, an association of 30 companies involved in receiving cruise ships in the country. The figures were reported by mbl.is.

The number of such cruises is projected to fall from 57 in 2025 to 33 in 2027, based on Cruise Iceland data. Sigurður Jökull Ólafsson, the association’s managing director, said instability and an unpredictable operating environment for cruise ships in Iceland between 2023 and 2025 were now having a significant impact.

The unified DOKK booking system currently lists 881 cruise ship arrivals across Iceland in 2027, a 27 percent decline from 2024. For 2026, 1,043 arrivals are projected, down 14 percent from 2024.

Sigurður said the smaller decline this year was partly due to strong interest in the total solar eclipse on August 12. The figures would have been worse without the natural phenomenon, he said.

Expedition cruises had increased steadily since 2012, when legislation was changed to encourage ships to stay longer in Iceland and visit more ports. The ships take passengers on board in Reykjavík and Hafnarfjörður and sail around the country for four months of the year.

However, Sigurður said increased government charges on the industry meant a complete collapse was now approaching. The decline will hit smaller ports and destinations particularly hard, including Borgarfjörður eystri, Djúpivogur, Húsavík, Patreksfjörður, Siglufjörður, Stykkishólmur, Djúpavík in the Westfjords, Grímsey and other communities across the country.

About 6.9 billion Icelandic krónur was paid by cruise ships to ports, municipalities and the state treasury in 2025, excluding the revenue they generated for businesses in each region, Sigurður said.

Last year, cruise ships visited 33 ports and destinations in 1,182 visits, carrying a total of 333,394 passengers who were spread across the country.

Sigurður said the global number of cruise ships was limited to just over 400. Decisions about which destinations to include in a ship’s itinerary were therefore made carefully. The part of the world where a ship would be based was decided three to four years in advance, after which ports, shore excursions and other activities were booked. The trips were then marketed to consumers about two years before departure.

Because of this lengthy process, up to four years can pass between the decision to include a destination and the arrival of the first passenger. The decline forecast for 2027 was therefore a direct result of government decisions made between 2023 and 2025, Sigurður said.