kaisatsu

PS - If you want to eat reindeer, you’ll usually be able to find it in a few restaurants in most larger cities. And it’s fairly common in salami-style sausages (spekepølse) sold in most larger supermarkets.

If you are considering including northern Norway, I love Tromsø and Lofoten Islands (Leknes, Gravdal, or Svolvær) almost as much as the iconic fjords. Even in winter, reindeer sledding is not nearly as common as dogsledding. Reindeer are farmed for meat and hides more than for transportation. In the far northern plateaus, it’s not uncommon to see reindeer herds out grazing, as this is the area where it is most common, and the traditional Sami lifestyle is most prevalent. I’ve seen them en route to the Nordkapp (North Cape) landmark on an excursion from the Honningsvåg port.

My Falklands/South Georgia/Peninsula trip was with Hurtigruten, and we too sailed into the northern area of the Weddell Sea to cruise among the tabular bergs. It’s not my only peninsula trip to do so, since the tabular bergs are a popular highlight for ships already visiting Brown Bluff. If you’re referring to more southern areas in the Weddell Sea, then it’s true that Hurtigruten has not yet planned any Snow Hill or deep Weddell itineraries.

If you’re only interested in the fjords, it’s not the strongest option, but if you want to see most of Norway’s best highlights, it’s actually pretty lgood. As mentioned, Olden is the only iconic fjord port on the list, but Bergen, Lofoten, and Tromsø are my very top non-fjord port choices, and Honningsvåg is very popular for the visit to Nordkapp.

FWIW, my own Oceanwide trip wasn’t a basecamp itinerary, but it had several of the most experienced staff of any trip I’ve been on. More than one had done multiple seasons at research stations. In addition to all the usual knowledge of wildlife and history, the staff’s experience included a scientific expedition to collect readings inside the Erebus caldera, being at Deception Island during an eruption, multi-day scientific expeditions in the dry valleys, and even guiding a documentary trip for Steve Irwin.

I’ve heard some disappointment from people who joined the basecamp trips and were unhappy that there was less wildlife than they were expecting (since many of the landing sites were chosen for the activities rather than the nature). I would definitely only recommend them to someone wanting a more activity-focused trip. Pure speculation, but I think some of the issues with the expedition staff may come from the fact that they need guides with training and experience in the activities themselves, which leaves less staff capacity for region experts.

You’re looking for the trips that are typically referred to as “Fly-Cruise” trip. Quark Expeditions also offers one, and I think I’ve seen some from other expedition companies before. Keep in mind that the flights are even more weather-dependent than the rest of an Antarctic expedition, so there’s a chance of multi-day delays at either end. Be sure your travel to/from Punta Arenas has plenty of flexibility.

I think @PerfectlyPerth may have been to East Antarctica, but it’s not very often visited, so I don’t know of any other regulars who’ve been to that side of the continent. I’ve been to the area around Cape Adare and Robertson Bay, but no farther into East Antarctica.

I would not recommend boots if you’re not planning to hike. However, I do always recommend water-resistant footwear if you expect to do a lot of walking. I would usually wear GoreTex hiking shoes (not boots). If that’s not an option, you’ll probably be fine in tennis shoes, but they may get wet. Accessibility can be a challenge in some places, because a lot of older buildings aren’t set up for it. Just getting around should be fine as long as you’re okay with some uneven surfaces like isolated patches of cobbles, tram tracks, etc.

In the sheltered ports of southern Norway, weather disruptions are more common in the off-season (October to March) or the shoulder season (e.g. April or September). Strikes are a more common reason for missed ports in Norway, considering the number of people involved in docking a large cruise ship. I happened to be sailing during a large strike by the pilot boat drivers (not even the pilots themselves, but the captains of the boats that shuttle the pilots to the ships). However, strikes usually have fair warning, since the goal is to negotiate an agreement before it comes to that. So if you need to cancel 24 hours in advance, keep an eye on the news for ongoing labor disputes.

I haven't been there since before COVID, so I don't really remember.

I haven't been there since before COVID, so I don't really remember. You probably ought to buy them online if you're worried you might have to wait. If you're in port on a weekday, you could also consider stopping for a coffee on the way from the ship, and using the coffee shop wifi to buy the ticket (through the website or the app). [On weekends they probably wouldn't open early enough.]

If you're traveling in June, then I don't think there's a significant difference. In the winter, I'd definitely recommend the 8 am, since you'd have daylight for most of the trip, but in June that's not an issue. If you're traveling direct, I'd probably prefer the noon not just to avoid the early start, but also because the Norway in a Nutshell route would typically need to use the earlier departure to have time to make the side trip to Flåm and Gudvangen. So the noon departure is usually a bit less crowded with tickets available closer to travel.

I’d expect temperatures around 5-10°C with a chance of it going down to 0 or up to 15. Note that a lot of mountain roads will not be open at that time of year, and the seasonal tourism operations may not have started up yet.

My experience has been that there’s almost no line for departures early in the morning, and then it was much longer around late morning and mid-day before tapering off again in the afternoon. In addition to the website and app, you can also buy tickets from the ticket machines (which accept card). Note that there are separate queues to buy tickets and to board the funicular.

Also worth doing a quick search. There was a recent thread that mentioned the walkability of Visby, and Tallinn has been a favorite port for several years. It’s discussed less since the closing of St.Petersburg has reduced cruising in that are, but the older threads may still be relevant.

Are you seeing the correct dates??? Before the “fix” the times remained fixed and didn’t adjust by display time zone. In the latest version, I see “invalid date” regardless of time zone, and the times have begun shifting. I sent a follow up to the frontend developer, but I think he’s tired of me now!

They told me they’d fixed it, but I’m. It sure this is an improvement! 😂

Flåm is a tiny town without a lot of need for taxi service. The website you posted has an email address (flam-travel@outlook.com) and a phone number (+47 57 63 34 00). I’d try one of those. The site also mentions the TaxiFix app, but when I tried it (same app is used in Oslo) and set my departure to an address in Flåm, it replaced the normal booking options with a button to call, so I don’t think the automated systems are set up for areas with so little business.

I’ve reported the issue to the Flåm Port and the website developer.

Solved! I also saw the MSC Euribia as 02.05.24 so I changed my phone time setting from Oslo to Honolulu and refreshed the page. It now it shows the Euribia as 01.05.24 and the Apex as 22.07.24 Apparently the website developers inadvertently used a localizable date format, so while it’s correct in Flåm, it can shift depending on the time zone of your web browser.

If you’re looking for the Norwegian scenery you usually see in pictures, then the Prima sailing would be the one to choose. The Star sailing is very much an Arctic-focused trip, which is quite different. Tromsø is probably the only port that resembles a traditional Norwegian coastal cruise, and it’s a lovely little city with beautiful surrounding mountains. The Lofoten Islands are also stunning scenery with their dramatic mountain-to-sea juxtaposition. Both places have fjords (though neither are easily in visited in a port day), but they are not the iconic fjords of the southern coast. Longyearbyen is an exceptionally different cruise port. My first visit was on the QE2, and the ship didn’t offer any excursions, leaving most people disappointedly wandering around the tiny town (since it’s illegal to leave town without an armed guide). We had thankfully booked a kayaking trip across Adventfjord (again, geographically a fjord, but not the scenery most people think of) with a local company. Svalbard is a fantastically interesting place, but it’s a challenging place to visit on a port call and is much better seen on a multi-day visit or expedition cruise. Alta and Hammerfest are typical Arctic cities and can be a bit underwhelming. And Honningsvåg may be overrated on this itinerary. Nordkapp is considered the northernmost spot in continental Europe (the actual northernmost spot is a kilometer or so away from the monument), but if you’re visiting Longyearbyen, you’re traveling hundreds of km farther north, making Nordkapp seem a bit silly. While that probably sounds super negative, I personally love the polar regions and the Arctic. But it’s not always the most beautiful scenery and I’ve encountered plenty of people who were disappointed. If you’re genuinely interested in the area and its subtleties, then I think the Star has a potentially interesting itinerary. But if you’re looking for postcard Norway, I’d choose the other.

It’s a very different trip, so kind of an apples to oranges comparison. It doesn’t visit any of mainland Iceland, so if you wanted to see any of the famous sights in Iceland, you’d need to plan some pre-cruise exploration. Geiranger is the only traditional fjord scenery on this cruise. Kristiansund is a less-visited coastal town, probably most similar to Ålesund on the other trips (but without the art deco architecture). The second half of the trip is focused on the Arctic coast with what looks to be two days in the stunning Lofoten Islands (Reine and Leknes, according to Scenic’s website, which are actually quite close to one another). Lofoten has long been considered by Norwegians to be the most beautiful part of the country (yes, even above the fjords) and has become more famous since the rise of Instagram. It looks like they’re hoping to use Eclipse’s on-board helicopter to offer flightseeing trips (weather-permitting) which I imagine could be breathtaking. The trip ends in Tromsø, which is a lovely Arctic coastal city surrounded by mountains and probably the most famous Arctic cruise port. If you’re specifically looking for Norwegian fjords, this probably isn’t the best choice. But if you just want a taste of the fjords along with a variety of other beautiful scenery, this could be a good choice.

I’m also seeing the 23rd: https://www.flamport.no/arrival-list Could you share a link to the page where you’re seeing the wrong date?

Replied in the other thread: