They’re being cold as ice.
Dozens of cruise ships that were scheduled to stop in Iceland are canceling their journeys there due to a new infrastructure fee the government imposed on Jan. 1.
Ships now have to pay a daily per passenger fee of 2,500 krona, or about $18, to visit an Icelandic port, The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RUV reported.
That’s five times the previous fee, MSC Cruises’ Port Operations Director Francesco de Curtis said in a statement obtained by Cruise Industry News.
Although the government expected the law to earn the country $10 million, it is backfiring since cruises are nixing trips there instead.
In just the first few weeks of the year, harbormasters in multiple ports said more than 80 cruise ship visits were cancelled compared to last year, and even reported some ships scheduled for 2026 have backed out, RUV reported.
While not all cancellations are due to the fee, their reports said the fee was cited by many.
In particular, ships set to circumnavigate the island nation and stop at multiple ports are dropping Iceland as a stop.
Sigurður Jökull Ólafsson, chair of Cruise Iceland, which promotes the industry and provides services to cruise ships when they dock there, told RUV the change should have been more gradual and come with more notice.
While it sounds like a small amount, a ship that visits Iceland seven or eight times per year and stops at multiple ports could see the fees balloon to over $3 million that the company would have to cover, he said.
He also said the government should clarify where the money is being allocated.
“We would have, first of all, wanted to see this implemented in stages so it wouldn’t hit operations as hard as it does now,” he told the outlet.
“It’s reasonable for this sector to contribute. But it must be implemented with adequate notice, and let’s not forget that this is an infrastructure fee, not an infrastructure tax. If it’s an infrastructure fee, then it’s logical that it should be allocated to infrastructure development.”
