WisRiver

You can do the Holland America Voyage of the Vikings. I am not sure about the 2023 itinerary, but in 2019 we left from Boston, visited the Maritimes, Iceland and Norway, and ended in Rotterdam. After a day in Rotterdam, we reversed the itinerary and ended in Boston. Otherwise you could leave from FLL on Holland America in the spring,, spend the summer in Europe and come back in the fall. There are worse ways of spending the summer. We have done six transatlantic in the past ten years. We have to fly one way ( Icelandair seems to have the best one way fares).

We have sailed twice with a group of ten. We had anytime dining and gathered at 8 PM. Absolutely no problem. The first night staff seated us at a large table, and that was our table for the rest of the cruises (7 day cruises to Alaska). We got to know our wait staff and they got to know us. It might be a problem if your group wants to eat earlier, but you can ask. Late dining seems to always be less crowded than the earlier times.

There is a reason why aquarium class cabins are less expensive than upper deck cabins, the upper deck cabins offer a better experience. The lower deck cabins can be darker because of the smaller windows. There is more noise. Even if you are tall enough to look out of the windows, you are looking at the water surface. I personally think the better experience is worth the added cost.

We have taken two Viking River Cruises, Bucharest to Amsterdam (21 days in 2019) and Basel to Amsterdam (7 days in 2021). On both boats we used the laundry service. We had no problems or complaints. In the morning we would stuff the bag with dirty clothes, fill out the form and leave for the cabin attendant. Laundry would be back that evening or the next day. We do a lot of cruising, so we do not take anything delicate, shrinkable or not colorfast. We take clothes that we have run though our washing machine at home.

If your schedule permits, I would try to arrive in Europe a week early. In October, 2022 we did Basel to Amsterdam on Viking River. We flew into Paris 10 days before departure. Our experience is that the first two or three days after a US-Europe flight time for recovering from jet lag. In 2022 we took a train from Paris to Basel, overnighted in Basel and then got on the boat. There were several people who flew into Zurich, and started the cruise immediately. It seemed they were not fully in the swing of things for a couple of days. I would also add that you should be prepared for rain. Viking has umbrella's available, but waterproof walking shoes and a rain jacket are helpful.

When we were in Husavik we did not go whale watching. We did not see puffins in Husavik, although we did not go looking for them. We saw puffins on our excursions from Patreksfjördor, Bakkagerdi, and Heimaey.

In October, 2022 we took the Viking River cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. We chose to fly into Paris, spend a week in an AirBNB, and then took a nonstop train from Paris to Basel. We took a 25 Euro taxi from the train station to the Hotel Basel (which we highly recommend). We spent three nights in Basel before boarding the ship. Basel is a great city. Interesting museums, good food and great walking. The week in Paris allowed us to recover from jet lag.

We have sailed twice with a family group of ten. We had anytime dining. In 2015 we were on the Noordam and 2019 the Eurodam. On both ships there were tables for ten. Look at HALfacts for sketches of the dining rooms. We had a Neptune suite, so the concierge was able to book one of tables for ten at 8 PM. I think it is easier if you book a later time. I had all the cabin numbers for our group. We. had the same table for the entire trip.

Yes, there are scary stories about car rentals in Iceland. On the other hand we rented a car from Enterprise for 20 days in August, 2021 and Cars Iceland/Blue Rental for two days in June, 2022. While expensive (especially the two day rental) we had no issues with our experience or problems with damage to the car. We did not drive on F roads, but several roads in the West Fjords and North Iceland were gravel. We avoided the dirt tracks, and felt we missed nothing. We picked up and dropped the cars in the city of Reykjavik did not have to return the cars at the airport. We did stop to wash the cars before returning the vehicles at an outdoor car wash next to the gas station where we did the final fill-up.

Sea conditions were not bad. On the day we missed Grimsey Island, the strong winds were from the south and east, so the waves were not high. Our veranda cabin was on the starboard side. At night (?) the sun did not shine in.

We just returned home from an 8 day Hurtigruten Expedition circumnavigation of Iceland on the Fridtjof Nansen. We started and finished in Reykjavik and made 6 stops. We were on the first cruise on the Nansen since late 2019. The ship had been in dry dock since its last cruise. As a result the ship was sparkling clean, and interiors appeared to be freshly refurbished. The crew, especially the dining room staff were still working out the kinks. We were in an Expedition Suite on the 8th deck. There are three restaurants Aune (the buffet), Lindstøm (upscale dining for suite guests and Fredheim (a sit-down restaurant with varied menu). We ate most of our meals in the Lindstøm since we had an 8th deck cabin/suite. The food was fairly good. The buffet had good variety, but I liked the service of the Lindstøm. Dinner hours were from 6 PM to 9 PM and The menus were changed every two days, with a choice of meat, fish and plant based. If you had the halibut on Tuesday, you could have lamb on Wednesday. If you liked the lamb you could have it two nights in a row. Our cabin was excellent, one of the best cabins we have been in. We are 4* Holland American Mariners, and the cabin was comparable to a HAL signature suite. We had a large balcony, nice bathroom with a heated floor, and lots of storage space. Our cabin attendant was excellent. She provided twice daily room service. The crew is divided into four groups. The officers are Norwegian, the hotel and food service management was European, the expedition staff was multinational, but primarily Northern European and the support staff (waiters, room attendants, deck crew and cooks were Filipino. The cruise was multilingual, all announcements were in English, German and French. I would estimate of the 400 passenger on board, 1/3 of the guests were Anglophones (US and UK), ¼ German and ¼ French and the remainder Northern Europeans. The excursions are the reasons to sail with Hurtigruten. We made six stops in our eight days, and there were no "sea days". All of stops had a "free" excursion, usually a walk into the port town although one excursion was a zodiac (small boat) tour in a fjord. There were also paid excursions in each port. You could also take hikes with expedition staff that were usually described as strenuous or demanding, or difficult. The Germans were most of the hikers. We have sailed with Hurtigruten before, and given the right itinerary (e.g. Galapagos) we would sail with them again.