Comparing a few companies for a northern route to the dunes

I've been digging through old posts here trying to find recent feedback on operators that run trips starting from the north, and it's trickier than I thought because most focus on Marrakech departures. I'll be in Tangier for a few days and really want to make it down to the Sahara, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the options. I've narrowed it down to a couple that include overnight stops in the blue city and the Middle Atlas along the way. I'm trying to figure out which of these best desert tours from Tangier offer a good balance of driving time and actual activities, not just sitting in a van for days. One includes a walk in the cedar forests near Azrou which sounds lovely, another focuses more on getting to Merzouga quickly so you have two nights in the desert. Has anyone done a similar loop recently and can recommend whether the extra night in the dunes is worth sacrificing a stop somewhere else? I keep going back and forth.