Windstar to expand Iceland sailings for 2017

Make that two Windstar ships operating cruises around Iceland.

The small-ship cruise company says the 208-passenger Star Pride will join the 208-passenger Star Legend in the summer of 2017 for a series of complete circumnavigations of the country.

Only the Star Legend is going to Iceland this year, in July, for what will be the line's first circlings of the destination.

With the addition of a second ship, Windstar will be able to offer six circumnavigations of Iceland in 2017, up from four this year. Such voyages only are possible during a short window at the height of summer.

Beginning and ending in the Iceland capital of Reykjavik, the seven-night trips will include visits to Surtsey Island, which rose from the sea in the 1960s, and Heimaey, where a volcanic eruption created a modern-day Pompeii in 1973.

The sailings also include an overnight stay in Seydisfjordur, a quaint town of 700 people that is a jumping off point for bird watching in nearby Skalanes Nature Reserve and trekking to the area's spectacular Hengifoss Waterfall.

Other stops include Akureyri, nestled at the head of Iceland's greatest fjord, and Isafjordur, a village of 2,600 people.

Also recently adding around-Iceland cruises is Iceland ProCruises, an Iceland-based small-ship operator that started up in 2015. Adventure cruise operators Zegrahm and Lindblad also have been offering sporadic Iceland circumnavigations in recent years.

Windstar's new Iceland itinerary comes in the wake of a major expansion at the line that brought three new ships in 2014 and 2015. The vessels included Star Legend and Star Pride as well as sister Star Breeze. Windstar acquired the three yacht-like ships from luxury line Seabourn.

For a peak at what the new vessels are like, click through the carousel at the top of this story. The carousel below offers a look inside one of Windstar's three sailing ships.