WisRiver

We have sailed out of Fort Lauderdale four times. We usually stay in a hotel along 17th Street, Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, etc. The first time we took the free hotel shuttle from the airport and the shuttle from the hotel to the cruise ship. When we took the "free" hotel shuttle we had to wait almost an hour, boarded in a crowd, and I had to stand. As a result there was a long line at check in. The next day we had booked seats on the hotel shuttle at 11:00 AM. There was a crowd waiting to board, and we had a hot ride to the ship. Again we had to deal with a crowd getting off the bus. The next departure (two years later) we used a cab (pre-Uber) from the airport and from the hotel. No crowds (but there was a line for cabs), air conditioned cab, and help with our bags. In the last few years we have used a cab from the airport and Uber/Lyft from the hotel. No problems. The Uber/Lyft/taxi was about $15, less than two shuttle tickets. I have negative reviews about Uber/taxi services, but our experiences were positive.

We have sailed out of Civatavecchia on HAL twice. The first time we took the HAL shuttle. We did a lot of waiting. First we had to wait for the bus after our flight landed. Second we had to wait for other passengers from other flights to arrive. We were loading a 44 passenger coach. Finally our group was checking in at the ship at the same time. The second time we took a taxi. This was in 2018, but the taxi cost was about the same as for two persons for the shuttle. There was no problem finding a taxi. When we arrived (1 PM or so) at the port, we were ahead of the bus and almost no wait.

We were on the Noordam in October and November, 2022 from San Diego to Sydney. We had a crew show during the afternoon of a sea day. We also had a passenger show demonstrating their newly learned ukulele and hula dancing skills. Both shows were fun.

For some of the excursions you will board at one stop and meet the ship one or two stops later. This is especially true for the North Cape excursions.

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.

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.