Absolutely fabulous. Chiara the tour guide was brilliant, funny and very knowledgeable. Loved her many stories! Piotr (hope that's how you spell his name) our driver was also excellent, friendly and drove so well considering the very long day. The boat ride on this tour is a must among the icebergs.
The tour achieved what it was meant to. A quick 8 days around Iceland. The tour guide Thor improvised well as the schedule was changed due to weather conditions. This worked out well, the whale watching company cancelled on us but we went instead to Forest Lagoon which was better than Sky and Blue Lagoons in Reykjavik. Everyday of the tour was a travel day as there was little time and so much to see. I feel the tour would have benefited from a 2nd night in the place we visit before Vik as there are so many adventure activities to do like the ice caving, glacier hikes, ice climbing etc that I day could have been filled doing that. Then one less day in Reykjavik. What this Top Deck tour lacked was music. We didn't have a top deck song. I have been on other top deck tours such as through Morocco and on long drive days the guides have played games or had everyone select 5 songs and have turns at connecting tot he speaker and playing them. Stuff like that to keep people engaged. I feel bus life could have more engaging. I know there is nice scenery outside but so to on my other tours. Since there is so much back to back busing, this fun Top Deck is known for wasn't there. Thor was a really good guide. He told us stories about the elves and trolls in the areas we went through as well as the history of the local areas. He was funny as well. But the tour lacked a sort of youthfulness that top deck tours are known for. We also didn't do the daunting group introduction which I quite like because it puts everyone out of their comfort zone and the group bonds more quickly together. We can't do it while the bus travels though due to the road laws and dangerous conditions. Bus was always clean and the driver Brun was nice. I quite enjoyed the tour. I am glad we went all the way around the Island in winter where may other tour companies would not due to the unpredictability of road closures due to storms. But it didn't feel 'Top Deck'.
The best part of the trip was the 5 days of hiking hut to hut - in one view - glaciers, snow-covered peaks, fjords, wildflower meadows, tumbling waterfalls, bubbling streams and rivers - and, except for the water and the birds, both of which make delightful sounds, a wonderful quiet.