Iceland ProTravel about to close out on its fifth season with Iceland ProCruises, sailing mostly 10-day circumnavigations of the country with at least one port stop per day aboard the Ocean Diamond, according to the 2019 Expedition Market Report by Cruise Industry News.
The ship is on a seasonal charter agreement and moves to Antarctica for the winter with another operator. Iceland ProTravel has a deal to charter the ship through 2022, with a season going from early May through late September.
The company is working hard to bring Iceland aboard the 210-guest vessel, according to Anka Bröcker, managing director and partner.
““We are working with CMI Leisure to buy goods in Iceland, especially when it comes to food,” said Bröcker. “We have an Icelandic expedition team on the ship, we try to have beer from a local micro-brewery, and we buy local fish.”
At least one menu item each night is a local dish, sourced locally, she said.
An Icelandic chef is aboard too, training chefs on the ship throughout the season.
“This will differentiate us from other ships going around Iceland,” Bröcker said.
Despite the influx of capacity, the small 1974-built Ocean Diamond can fit basically anywhere, allowing the company to avoid the congestion spots.
The ship has 1D ice class and a speed of some 15 knots, with a draft of just 4.9 meters.
Cabin categories include 10 balcony suites down to six triple cabins. Most accommodations are outside cabins with windows.
“We want to go to the small harbors, where they can only take the small ships, and we don’t see many ships doing that,” said Bröcker.
Later in the season, the line adds a week-long cruise targeted at the growing American source market. There are two such voyages scheduled for September 2020.
The U.S. source market represents around 65 percent of the company’s guests. The balance is from German-speaking markets.
Those numbers have flipped since 2015, when the company started its cruise operation with mostly German-speaking guests.
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About the Expedition Market Report:
The 2019 Expedition Market Report by Cruise Industry News is a comprehensive overview of the booming expedition market, profiling 39 operators, over 40 new ships and projecting capacity growth through 2027. The 196-page PDF is a deep dive into all aspects of the expedition cruise market.
