ljandgb

There was a lady on our cruise that dressed nicer than everyone else.  She looked quite nice, with long shift dresses and light jackets and gauzey over-dresses, with a different pair of fancy heels, usually 2 different outfits a day.  She was the one everyone talked about.  LOL.  Mostly of the "how many suitcases did all THAT take??" 

Very casual.  I brought a pair of Tevas and a pair of tennis shoes (princess and pea feet with orthotics here too!)  Honestly, you can also buy some elephant pants once you get there.  Touristy yes, but seriously light weight and cool.  My friend, who resisted until almost the very end said "it's like air conditioning for your legs!"

One of those trip reports are mine.  I don't remember if I mentioned the one thing I needed more of was deodorant.  I travel very light, carry on only, and I brought enough deodorant to last for a few weeks longer than I needed BUT did not factor in that I was showering 3-4 times a day, so was applying 3-4x more than I planned. Same would go for any toiletry you have limited amounts of. You can get more there, but something to consider.

As I get old, I don't function for long without a nap that first day.  Because the flight is short to Iceland, you won't get much sleep on the plane.

 When possible, I try to get the hotel for the night before, and let them know I'm coming in early the next morning.  I chalk it up to travel expense and it lets me dump luggage, shower, then power nap before heading out for the afternoon.

We embarked in Copenhagen, and had arrived a couple days early.  If the ship is leaving at 4:00, I agree you may not have time to do Tivoli for any length of time and still see some of Copenhagen.  We took a taxi to the port, which seemed to not be near anything interesting and in an industrial part of town.

I'd think the ship would offer shuttles to some point of tourist interest.

My kids really liked Tivoli.  It is just across the square from the beginning of the pedestrian zone, so you could explore a bit from the park, if you can tear the kids away.

No way would I want to arrive at 6:00am then, sit around with my kids for 8+ hours before getting on the ship.  Even just walking around Reykjavik for that long would be torture.  Don't forget that you will most likely be extra jet lagged as the time difference is the same as the rest of Europe but with a much shorter flight.  I never get any good sleep on that flight.

With 4 people, a private tour will not be much more expensive than joining a group.  Your luggage can either stay with you (it will be perfectly safe in the car there) or the company can hold it for you.  I'd definitely try to go out and see at least something.  With someone else driving, you can nap between stops.

If you really want to do it up big, check out Inside the Volcano.  That would take up a big chunk of the day and I guarantee the kids would be wowed.

Oh totally.  My kids would not have done well on a river cruise until 10-12.  They would have needed more room to move and be loud, let loose some night time energy.  But international travel, in general, is good at almost any age of kid.

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

make sure there of an age that ensures it means something.

Meaning "old enough" to... what exactly?  While probably a toddler has no clue where you take them, even younger kids can develop a better idea of the wider world.  My youngest was 6 when we started to really travel internationally.  We live in a very small, rural town.  Many people here never leave the state.  What he saw when we traveled - the vast array of different types of towns, houses, transportation, cafes, stores. Museums, old castles, different foods.  All accompanied by experiences with locals that by and large went very well.  I'd like to believe he grew up absolutely knowing there is so much more to the world than his small country town.  That just because someone does something one way, that's not the only way to do it.  That being different from what you're used to is not bad, just...different.  I think more people could do with understanding this this.

He's 18 now and has a deep passion for history and geography.

Honestly, I think most teens would be just fine with touring Europe in any form or fashion.  Yes, they can be moody (mom of 4 here, youngest just now 18) but overall even when cranky, they generally appreciate the trip afterwards.  All in all, our kids have really enjoyed traveling.  The one trip where one 16yo kid was especially prickly (a national parks trip to the Pacific NW) she told me a year later how much she enjoyed it and wanted to see more parks. LOL  

And truly, these kids are WAY closer to world history classes than I am.  I learned all about the Hanseatic League from my 16 yos on our Baltic cruise.

Yes, that is the correct airport (Keflavik.) The airport in Reykjavik is for domestic travel only.  There are several options to get from the airport to town.  Flybus and taxi are the most common, though I'm not sure what Oceania will (if anything) provide.  Best to ask them directly.  Flybus brings you to the bus station.  You can choose to take another, smaller bus to a bus stop near your hotel, or take a taxi directly to your hotel.

Any hotel in the 101 code is a good location for down town, FWIW.

If you wish, you can stop at the Blue Lagoon on the way to your hotel.  There is an easy luggage storage option there, and as the BL is close to the airport it's more time efficient to do it that way as opposed to a dedicated trip back out that direction.

This will all be influenced by the current volcanic eruption in that area which has the BL closed.  Presumptively your cruise is not until spring/summer when this will all likely be a non-issue.

Try the TripAdvisor forum for info on Iceland.  Lots of activity there.

I’m going to quibble that ABD caters only to younger kids. I personally know families of teens, even older teens, that have done ABD’s.  You can call ABD and they’ll tell you the ages of the kids booked on any specific trip if you wish. 

Tauck Bridges are family trips, and there is Adventure by Disney, which is family centered and not TOO Disney-fied.  They travel on AMA ships I believe, chartering out the entire ship for their trips.

One of my kids always brings their Switch when we travel.  Setting that up in the lounge after dinner has made them many friends over the years.  Even when they didn't share a language, they all understood Nintendo.  

Not Iceland, but a quick Viator story:  We recently did a river cruise thru SE Asia with friends.  My friend likes to book thru Viator and convinced me, against my better judgement, to book one of our tours thru it.  We met some folks on the cruise we wanted to include on our tours.  The Viator booking was literally impossible to add participants to, and I could get no one to answer my emails.  The booking I did directly with another company for a different tour was easy peasy.  I messaged the owner thru WhatsApp, got the ok to show up with 2 extra people, and had them bring cash to pay.

Never using Viator again.

I don't recommend booking thru Viator, as it is difficult to speak with a human if plans change, weather is bad, etc.  You can use Viator to see what's available, but then reach out to the companies directly to book.

Troll and Arctic Adventures are frequently mentioned as reputable tour companies.  There is a very good food walking tour that will take you around Reykjavik, though I think it's afternoon based.  It's a small city, and the main areas are easy to see on foot.  I heart Reykjavik is a popular blog that may also give you some ideas.  I believe the writer used to do tours, and may still do them occasionally.

We did the same with Avalon, also a small ship, so able to go thru the canals.  I agree that was a bonus.  Our cruise sounds much the same, though we were flown to Siem Reap.

Yes, Tauck Bridges is geared more towards younger kids, but looking at the excursions they offer would give you an idea of what sort of "active" excursions they offer.  Someone could then compare that with the standard Tauck trips, or any other line's offerings for that matter. 

Something else my kids have enjoyed with our travels to Europe (though it hasn't been a river cruise with them) is the history.  After AP World History, they knew quite a bit that my husband and I did not.  I got a whole lecture from my 15 yo on the Hanseatic League while on our Baltic cruise. LOL

Tauck has a Bridges section for family travel, which can skew more active.  You might compare their regular trips to see what matches.  Some lines have bikes that let you ride along the river while the ship transits.  Avalon, and I believe AMA, does this.  

Back on the ship, there is frequently just not much to do, as space is limited.  Some ships have a hot tub, maybe a small pool, though if the water is high access to it will be closed.

We did a ship excursion in Helsinki, to go feed reindeer.  It was the least "cultural" activity we did the whole trip, and saw very little of the rest of Helsinki, as it required a 90 minute drive out to a reindeer refuge.  It was, however, a lot of fun.

Not very DIY, but the one city we did that I don't regret the ship tour.

There weren't enough spots on the reindeer tour, so the rest of the family did a speed boat tour thru the little islands there.  They came back with so many good stories I almost peed my pants at dinner when we all got back together.

I think the meal pricing is somewhere in the middle. We were there in May for a 5 day self drive trip. Eating out was around $25/person for casual fare, $60+/person for nicer restaurants. Self catering, which we did the most of by far, was $13/person (and that included a boat load of snacks - we went  thru a tub of salmon dip every day.) 

Being on a ship tour, you will be at the mercy of where they take you, especially because there are limited options in most of those ports. We found our least favorite restaurants were at the main tourist points, where bus loads of people show up. Go just a few miles down the road and the options were better. 
 

One more reason to do Iceland as a land tour. 😉

Iceland frequently works better thru Facebook. If you can message them thru that, you may get a faster response. 

I replied to your other post. I’d recommend the top itinerary with several days land tour of Iceland on your own. You can drive the south coast and not be limited by what’s available from your ship. 

This issue is why I think Iceland is best done by land. So much to see and do, but not with 100’s-1,000’s of others in these tiny hamlets. 
 

TBH, the best way to see Iceland is by land.  It is easy to drive, or there are plenty of good tours.  The "ports" are mostly small villages with extremely limited tourist infrastructure, making you dependent on ship tours.

Consider a stopover in Iceland on the way to/from your Norway cruise.

We vastly prefer to find our own tours over those offered by the cruise lines.  The challenge with river cruises is that docking times and locations are frequently much more fluid than ocean cruises, making it hard to arrange a DIY tour.

If you do pick an outside tour, I actually do not recommend booking thru Viator.  If there is a problem, it can be difficult to speak to an actual human.  I do look on TripAdvisor, etc, to find potential tours, contact each company directly, and pick the one that has the best communication and willingness to provide what we are looking for.  Once in country, WhatsApp seems to be the communication option of choice.

Another option is WithLocals. They are pricier, but you can communicate directly with the guides to find something that works.  We've used them in several continents.

As for specifics for Prague, I don't have any experience that might help regarding the wheelchair.

Troll and Arctic Adventures are commonly named on the TA board, though I haven't used them myself.