Norway

which itinerary would you recommend and why? Looking at the new HA ship for 2019 Thanks!

What are your choices?

Does not get offered often, except on the Prinsendam, but any Norway cruise that extends over the top and into the White Sea, Solovetsky Islands and Archangel Russia is what we think is the all time winner Norway itinerary. If choices are to be made, i would pick the one that goes the furtherest North over those that are more day tripper impacted in the South.

But there is not one single part of any Norway cruise we have been on that has not been wonderful. Prepare for changeable weather, intemittent rain and cold Sometimes the fjords are socked in with fog and you can see nothing, other times sunny and picture perfect.

FWIW, we've booked the Voyage of the Midnight Sun on the Nieuw Statendam for the June 9 sailing next year. Only 364 days to go!!! :D There wasn't any single factor that led to our choice, but we're happy with our decision.

That’s the ship we are looking at but only for 7 nights. There are two different itinarys so would like to hear what would be a better one and why.

We just did Norway 7 night on the Koningsdam and we loved our itinerary. We visited Eidfjord, Alesund, Geiranger, and Bergen. Our favorite day was during the Alesund port. We rented a car and drove to Trollstigen. Completely awesome! We really enjoyed getting out of town and into the countryside. We were in port there from 7 or 8 to 11 PM. Highly recommend this trip! Waterfalls galore and scenery like no where else I’ve been. Have fun!

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We did the 2nd Midnight Sun trek on the new Koningsdam in 2016 up to Honningsvag and loved every minute of it. It was amazing to see the sun hit the horizon and then start to come up again. We didn't have a sunset for 72 hours. The fjords were beautiful and the people were amazing. If you can, I would suggest that you do the 14 day trip to really immerse yourself in the country, the scenery and the culture.

There are no bad itineraries in Norway, let's start with that. There are some that are longer than others, and some that don't go as far north as others.

Some have smaller towns, while there are those which stop in larger cities.

I don't know what itineraries you are looking at, nor what your interests are, so can't be specific about what to choose. If you want to post what you are considering, and what you would like to do, I (and others) may be able to direct you somewhat.

I've been to Norway more times than I can count, including all the ports, most several times. My absolute 'best' was the one that went well north of the northernmost tip, continued to Longyearbyen in the Svalbard Islands, and then continued even further north to the Polar Ice Cap.

But I am also happy with the cruises that don't go much past Bergen.

It's all about how much time you have, and what you want to do when you get there.

Ditto the previous post. Cruising along the polar icecap as the sun is up almost all night is awesome! An amazing trip

Have not been on HAL yet but our one trip to Norway was enough to keep us planning for more trips back.

Alesund was one of our favorite ports even though it rained half the day.

In Gerainger it was snowing in the AM, turned to rain mid morning and was hot and sunny by 1pm. So plan to layer your clothing.

I think most have it right in shooting for the trips that go further North.

It's truly am amazing mystical journey through Norway.

-Sean

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Norway: clean, safe, scenic, accessible. What's not to like anywhere in Norway. The high prices in Norway can sting, so plan carefully when in port. However with excellent public transportation and highly walkable cities, one can get around fairly well on their own.

We did a 7 day cruise on the Rotterdam sailing from Rotterdam last spring.

We stopped in Alesund, Geiranger, Eidfjord and Bergen.

It was wonderful. Our only complaint was that it was only 7 days, next time, we'll do a longer cruise and see more of Norway.

We just did Norway 7 night on the Koningsdam and we loved our itinerary. We visited Eidfjord, Alesund, Geiranger, and Bergen. Our favorite day was during the Alesund port. We rented a car and drove to Trollstigen. Completely awesome! We really enjoyed getting out of town and into the countryside. We were in port there from 7 or 8 to 11 PM. Highly recommend this trip! Waterfalls galore and scenery like no where else I’ve been. Have fun!

 

 

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rittsail,

I would love to hear how challenging/easy it was to drive yourself to Trollstigen. Anything thing that you did or didn’t do that you would do differently if you could? Thanks for any info.

It was so easy! Not a challenge at all. You really can’t get lost as it’s a pretty straightforward loop. We rented a car from Avis which is short walk from the port. We were very satisfied; diesel Volvo sedan, plenty of room for 4. We stopped so much along the way for short little hikes, or just to stop and take pictures. Really, an amazing day.

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One more thing, we stopped for lunch at a very pretty place, with very good food. Almost like a rest area/camp site. Very picturesque along a waterfall and river. It was called Gudbrandsjuvet. Highly recommend, but it was just along the side of the road in the countryside. We drove right past it, then saw the waterfall and turned around. Totally worth it! Got one of our best family pictures of the trip with the river in the background.

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One more thing, we stopped for lunch at a very pretty place, with very good food. Almost like a rest area/camp site. Very picturesque along a waterfall and river. It was called Gudbrandsjuvet. Highly recommend, but it was just along the side of the road in the countryside. We drove right past it, then saw the waterfall and turned around. Totally worth it! Got one of our best family pictures of the trip with the river in the background.

 

 

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Thank you for all the info. Just not sure if hubby would be willing to drive since it limits his chances to view. We aren’t in port as long as you were. How many hours did you spend on the road? We port 10-7.

I understand your husband’s concerns. We did stop so frequently, that I don’t think my husband felt shorted, on the views. He was tired at the end of the day, but not horribly so. I remember he went and picked up the rental car about 8, and the kids and I met him at the parking lot about 8:30/8:45. We got back to port ( and we didn’t rush our day at all) about 5.

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Hubby just corrected the time. He picked the car up at 9 and we met him about 9:15. And back a little before 5.

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Hubby just corrected the time. He picked the car up at 9 and we met him about 9:15. And back a little before 5.

 

 

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Thanks!

I've been enjoying this thread as we leave on Thursday for Amsterdam with a Sunday departure on Koningsdam for Oslo. Maybe I'll have something of value to add in July...

I've been enjoying this thread as we leave on Thursday for Amsterdam with a Sunday departure on Koningsdam for Oslo. Maybe I'll have something of value to add in July...

You will enjoy both the ship and Norway, as well as Amsterdam!

Hope the Norway weather improves by your sail date. We read today there is snow in this week’s forecast for Geiranger and the road to Dalsnibba is closed due to snow. We were there the first week of June and the weather was perfect. Hope it turns out that way for you too. Enjoy your cruise!

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