kaisatsu

Sorry about that! I didn't realize that I'd copied an old link! 🤦‍♀️ I took a look at the website, and it looks like it still has the problem that the dates and times get converted to your local time zone instead of showing the actual port times. They told me they'd fixed that, but I think they just made the problem worse (i.e. now it changes the times, not just the dates). However, poking around a bit, it seems you can actually access the full port schedule from https://api.flamport.no/Open/ Unfortunately they show all the ships as tendering, so I guess that data is still missing.

It’s on the port schedule (but is subject to change): https://www.flamport.no/ship-arrivals2021 “Kai” = docked ”Anker” = tender

@Karen Lynn If I read correctly, this excursion is only the Nærøyfjord cruise and then a bus up to Stalheim and back to Flåm? If you’re doing a small boat cruise in Lysefjord as well, I would lean towards the Flåmsbana for the variety. The train isn’t bad at all. It just doesn’t offer the kind of beautiful views and fjord scenery that some people expect.

Do you have any other ports where you will be visiting a scenic fjord overlook? If so, I think I would also choose the cruise, because Nærøyfjord is noticeably narrower than the other fjords you will sail, and it’s quite dramatic how steep the sides are. However, if you aren’t visiting an overlook anywhere else, I think it’s worth getting the view from above at least once. These are the perspective you usually see in photos, and it’s a very different view from what you see closer to water level.

I’m aware that the US is behind Europe, which is why I mentioned the old magnetic strip cards. I was in the US last week and was pleased to see that they have mostly moved over to contactless and chip, but I have still seen US people with mag-strip cards, so I thought it would be worth mentioning that they might not work everywhere here in Norway. I don’t know if the OP is beginning their cruise in Copenhagen, since they only mention the fjords, but my information still holds true for Norway. A one-time vendor here in Norway is very unlikely to purchase a card machine. The street vendors you describe in Copenhagen sound more like the people who do so on a more periodic basis. Of course Norway has plenty of farm stalls, knitters, and other micro-scale independent street vendors, and those will all accept card. However, a teenager selling cookies to fund their school’s music corps may not have ordered a card terminal in advance, and often choose instead to rely on the Vipps payment app. Similarly, a food vendor at a local event may just choose to use Vipps for the convenience, since they don’t have to handle the card terminal and then rewash their hands. (PS - If it wasn’t clear from my original post, I live in Norway.)

I thought I read that the zipline took you down the steepest part of the descent, and that the descent from the end of the zipline is not so steep The zipline takes you past the steepeat part where many people choose to walk their cycle. It starts at Vatnahalsen, which is a little over 1km from Myrdal. The Rallavegen path is a 8% grade down for 850m followed by 250m back up at 7.5%. This is certainly an incline, but not the most extreme part of the route. If you pick up the cycle at the train station, you may need to cover this section either riding walking the cycle. The other end of the zip line is at Rallarrosa sølsysteri, down in the valley. https://www.vatnahalsen.no/en/flam-zipline That takes you well past the section of switchbacks on the cycle path that have an average descent of over 25%! It’s not a surprise that even experienced cyclists walk that bit! Returning to Flåm from the Rallarrosa end of the zip line, it is an overall downhill journey, but it does have some small ups and downs, so it’s not just coasting the whole way: And if your curious, here is the full profile from Myrdal to Flåm for comparison:

There are places where a magnetic strip will not work (hence the recommendation for chip or contactless), but otherwise a card will cover 95% of all possible scenarios. Tipping in cash is not a thing. Even if your tour guides mention it, it’s absolutely not something you should feel you need to do. They are legally entitled to a comfortable living wage by their employer. Paying for something small by card is expected. I have made purchases of less than 1 USD on my bank card. Vendors are used to doing everything by card, so switching to cash for small amounts is inconvenient. The only places you might not be able to use a chip or contactless card would be very small independent operations. Kids selling baked goods for a fundraiser, a onetime pop-up vendor at a food or craft festival, or an independent free walking tour*. These kinds of operations typically use our local person-to-person payment app Vipps, which isn’t available to foreigners. Locals use this system extensively, even to split restaurant bills, so most of us never carry cash or even think about it. *Any guides affiliated with museums or tourism organizations will be paid by their employer, so this only applies to the kind of free tours that are available in some larger cities and operate wholly on tips in lieu of a fixed price.

None of my Norwegian cruises have included a balcony, and I’ve never really missed it. I do prefer having a window to bring in an indoor cabin, since it feels weird to be completely shut away from the beautiful scenery. But that’s just a matter of being used to an inside cabin and knowing how to compensate. I actually have a balcony in Norway, and honestly I only sit out on it in the evening a few times per year! But I can understand wanting the option to be available. However, if you’re going to be spending time on it (especially when the ship is under way), be prepared to bundle up a bit!

If you don’t have time to see the whole route, then I’d choose based on your own interests. You will have plenty of fjord sailing on the way in and out if Flåm, though it’s not as dramatic as Nærøyfjord, and many people are satisfied with that. The Flåmsbana is popular as it’s a change from a lot of the other fjord activities, and it does include some nice views of the valley and is an interesting feat of engineering. If the normal Nutshell route doesn’t fit the port timing, the MSC excursion sounds like a fair alternative. But if you’re looking to save money and would be happy spending your remaining time exploring the small town of Flåm, you’ll probably be happy enough doing just the roundtrip on the Flåmsbana.

As for the rail trips themselves, the draw of the Flåmsbana is the engineering and the elevation change. Very early/late in the season, you can notice the difference in climate between the bottom and the top. The scenery is pretty, but you’ll mostly be looking at hills and valleys when the view is clear, since the valley curves immediately behind a hill and the fjord itself is out of sight shortly after leaving the station. The stop at the waterfall includes a brief musical performance, which is cute. The route between Myrdal and Voss is up on the plateau above the tree line and covers part of the highest section of the Oslo-Bergen rail line. It’s a very different kind of scenery from most you’ll see on a Norwegian fjords sailing, with more in common with the Arctic ports than the port areas that far south. In the first half of the summer, it’s not uncommon to see some remaining snow in the more shadowed areas (we were actually skiing near this area last May). While I think the high-elevation section is interesting, I personally wouldn’t pay $200 extra for it, even if it included lunch. I do think the cheaper independent Nutshell is worth the extra cost, since it includes the fjord cruise as well. Otherwise, my choice would be to do the rail-and-bike combination or to pair the roundtrip Flåmsbana with a visit to one of the scenic fjord viewpoints.

Norway in a Nutshell includes the boat cruise from Flåm to Gudvangen through the Nærøyfjord. If the excursion by bus used the name before, it’s likely they were violating the trademark which could explain the name change. I would definitely choose the Nutshell route over the roundtrip train, but I would NOT pay that price to take a bus to Gudvangen. The Nærøyfjord is one of the two UNESCO-listed fjords and is too narrow for most large cruise ships to navigate. You can book the ferry-bus-train-train combination as a roundtrip from Flåm via the official Fjord Tours website: https://www.norwaynutshell.com/original-tour/ A quick test search shows the price around 1600 NOK ($160 USD) per person. 500 NOK/person for lunch would be on the higher end of average if it includes an alcoholic beverage. We usually spend around 200-350 pp before drinks.

The Lysefjord is a bit rockier than Geirangerfjord and Sognefjord, but if you have seen both of those, you won’t have a dramatically new experience in Lysefjord. It’s a pretty area, but if there’s something else you’re more interested in seeing/doing in Stavanger, then I wouldn’t worry about missing anything. The “old city” in Stavanger is charming to walk around with lots of white wooden houses and cobbled streets, and the petroleum museum is vaguely interesting. The colorful wooden waterfront buildings of the bryggen are worth seeing if you aren’t calling in Bergen (which has the best/most in their UNESCO-listed waterfront).

I like to be on deck taking photos in the morning, and being on an upper deck makes it easier to switch between sides of the ships to get both views. For the sail-out, I like to relax in an upper-deck hot tub (especially when the temperature outside is a bit chilly) to relax from a day of exploring, and because the view looking upwards is a fun and different perspective.

The 1½ hours closest to Oslo will be incredibly smooth as you’re sailing through the narrow inland Oslofjord. Every time I’ve crossed the North Sea, there has been noticeable ship movement, but I’ve only crossed between the UK and the Norwegian west coast. I would definitely plan for a bit of movement, because you never know what the weather and sea conditions will be like in any open water sailing. It’s very rarely at extremely dangerous levels, but if you’re prone to seasickness, statistically speaking you should be prepared for a bit of sway.

Some public-space restrooms are paid, and most of them use small chip-based card devices. There used to be a few coin-based systems, but since locals don’t carry any cash, most of those have been replaced. Nearly all cafes have a toilet facility, so as a backup, you could always buy a drink or snack and use those.

If you’re in Tromsø overnight, I’d look at the local aurora chasing tours. If you can survive without a bus bathroom, some of the smaller van tours will drive all the way to the Finnish border to reach areas that are free of cloud cover even when most of the area is overcast.

Shops and restaurants will all take cards. The only caveat is that some smaller vendors and unmanned payment terminals don’t accept magnetic-strip cards, so chip-and-pin or tap-to-pay options are more versatile. I haven’t carried cash in Norway since before COVID, and even back then I would carry around the same “just in case” 200 NOK note for several months without using it.

I haven’t used them specifically, but they’re listed on the VisitSvalbard.com official tourism site, so I wouldn’t worry too much. I do recommend reconfirming your booking and meeting details directly with the company. Especially since some tours may be canceled if there aren’t enough participants to warrant the trip. When we visited Longyearbyen on a traditional cruise, we reconfirmed everything with the local outfitter in andvance, and it all went smoothly.

If you’re looking for Norwegian fare, it tends to appear at either end of the spectrum. Expensive places for special occasions and cafeterias or local pubs. For the former, Den Gamle Rådhus (the old city hall) & Statholderens are the first that come to mind. In the latter category, Kaffistova and Dovrehallen are staples. There is one mid-range option I often suggest: Lorry pub and restaurant, northwest of the palace park. It has a long history as a meeting place for jour a lista and politicians and serves a few traditional dishes alongside more common pub fare. Oslo isn’t a Mecca for seafood like the west coast, but Fiskeriet serves some traditional fish soup, bacalao, etc. Vulkan Fisk at the Mathallen food hall is another affordable seafood venue. Norwegian salmon is widely available, and you’ll find plenty of sushi places around every corner offering it up cheap in its uncooked form. Just check reviews to find a good rated shop nearly anywhere in the city. Mostly locals dine out on foreign cuisines that are harder to make at home. Thai, Turkish, annd (North) Indian are common options, and there are a few good Italian pizzerias (Villa Paradiso, Mamma Pizza). There are a few food truck courts around the city offering smaller scale eatery options, but they can be a bit pricey if you want a lot of food. I’d recommend Vippa, Mathallen, and Via Vika as there has been some questionable predatory business choices by the owner of Oslo Streetfood and Bar Code Streetfod. One novel concept that I really like is the Posthallen bar court. It’s like a food truck court but for local cocktail bars, and a few of the mixologists have some great creations showcasing local flavors.

In the past, port calls were divided the Søndre Akershuskaia pier alongside the fortress and the Filipstadkaia pier to the west (marked on the map above). However, the port authority has moved most of the Akershuskai traffic nearly to the docking facilities on the opposite side of the peninsula at Revierkaia, across from the opera house. It has been improved to provide more sustainable shore power and is now taking far more large cruise ships than before. You can find the pier assignments here: https://www.oslohavn.no/globalassets/oslo-havn/dokumenter/cruise/forventede-cruiseanlop-8.2.2024.pdf SAK is Akershuskaia, the old pier alongside the fortress REV is Revierkaia on the opposite side of the Akershus peninsula FIL is Filipstadkaia, west of the city center Note that pier assignments do sometimes change before the arrival date.

You can usually get cellular service during sail-in and sail-out, but most cruiselines move out to international waters after they leave port, so they can open the casino and duty free shops. That usually puts you too far out to use land-based cellular services. However, since Silversea uses smaller ships, they might not have as much reason to stay out of local waters, and could sail closer to shore for the scenery. You might try asking on the Silversea board.

If you’re also calling in Geiranger, the scenery is similar to the sail-in there (though still more narrow), so I might consider the train in that case. If you’re not, and dramatic fjords is what you’re in the area for, I’d do the Nærøyfjord cruise. I’ve taken the train a few times, and I always think it’s disappointing that you don’t get to see much of the fjord at all. It’s a nice pretty ride and interesting engineering, but if you’re there to see the iconic fjord scenery, I’d focus on that. There are mountain trains in other areas. The most interesting part to me is going from sea level to mountain plateau so quickly, and that really is astonishing and helps underscore how dramatic the fjord landscape is.

Lindblad has an excellent reputation, but if you're after 5-star dining and accommodations, you may be disappointed. Ponant has a long history in the luxury polar expedition market, but they don't offer camping. Regarding the Ultramarine, if you're in it for the luxury, maybe you can just factor the extra charges into the overall price. While Silversea doesn't have the long history of some of the others, the world of polar expedition staff is small, and most of them rotate between companies based on schedules and availability. I've seen several excellent staffers doing rotations on Silversea recently. The two main passenger thresholds are generally <150 and <250. Most ships that can carry under 150 passengers reduce that number far enough to have a single landing rotation. In the 150-250 range, you usually get the same number of landings but less time ashore. Traveling on a ship >250 passengers is pretty limiting and not something I would do unless it was enough of a bargain to just pick up an go for the hell of it. One thing to be aware of is that most Antarctica trips start at around 11 days (usually including one night pre-embarkation), so you may need to be a bit upwardly flexible on the timing. The suggestion to seek out a specialist travel agent is a good one. There's a lot of information within the polar travel community, but luxury is not the strong suit for most of us!

There's a description of the Princess excursion in this thread and it looks like there are some blogs/reviews posted further on: I've always just stayed on the ship, because the cruising between Hellesylt and Geiranger is some of the most iconic fjord scenery there is, so I never mind seeing it twice. There are waterfalls on both sides, so if you're watching from a balcony, that gives you the chance to see both sides. I prefer to be up on the upper decks where I can see easily switch sides as the scenery changes. And I watch the sail-out from an outdoor hot tub, for a different perspective, leaning back and looking up a the towering fjord walls above. Also recovering from my hikes up to some of the overlooks.

Northbound tends to be more popular among one-way tourists, in large part due to the longer calls and daytime arrivals in several of the cities. If you're in it for the scenery rather than the ports, the shorter times in port are less of a concern. The southbound route does have more daytime in Lofoten Islands. Since you're keen on the Northern Lights, you could also consider booking a shorter port-to-port trip to or from Tromsø and spending a few days in the city to chase the aurora. There are a lot of great aurora operations that track the surrounding microclimates and will drive you out to areas with clear skies when it's cloudy over the city.