Which itinerary for Norway?

We want to see the fjords and visit the North Cape of Norway next summer. At the moment, we are considering two great options so we seek feedback (mainly about itinerary) from those familiar with the region.

Option 1 - departing 30 June for 16 days on Pacific Princess: beginning at Dover/London, England; Bergen, Norway; Hellesylt; Geiranger; Tromso; Honningsvag (for North Cape); Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen); Trondheim; Alesund; Skjolden/Sognefjord; Haugesund; rreturn to Dover. Includes 6 days at sea.

Option 2 - departing 17 June for 14 days on HAL Prinsendam: beginning in Amsterdam; Stavanger, Norway; Alesund; Trondheim; Arctic Circle at sea; North Cape at sea; Honningsvag; Tromso; Narvik; Geiranger; Flaam; Bergen; return to Amsterdam. Includes 5 days at sea.

The fares for the two cruises are similar enough that isn't a factor in deciding.

Here is the map view (hope these transmit!):

Option 1:

Option 2:

Azamara also have a similar cruise on 1 July 2019.

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I would hands-down choose Option 1. The huge difference is that it's traveling all the way to the high Arctic. Longyearbyen is phenomenally far north, and a fascinating place in its own right. It's almost nothing like the rest of Norway (in fact, it's not actually part of Norway but is only administered by Norway) with an extreme climate and amazing flora/fauna to go with it.

If I did the comparison right, it looks like the differences (besides embarkation port) are:

Option 1 - Longyearbyen, Skjolden/Sogneford, Haugesund

Option 2 - Stavanger, Narvik, Flåm

Flåm is a popular favorite due to the Flåmsbana railroad and the sail-in through Sognefjord, but you'd still get the Sognefjord scenery (and a bit more of it) en route to/from Skjolden.

Stavanger is nice if you have enough time in port to do the Preikestolen hike, but while I'm fond of the city, I wouldn't consider it a must-visit. In town, there's far less to see/do compared to Bergen and Tromsø, which are included in both itineraries.

As for Haugesund and Narvik, I don't think either would really sway me in one direction or the other.

You'll have plenty of fjord scenery and the chance to visit Nordkapp on either cruise, but the chance to visit Svalbard is a unique opportunity!

I agree that I would prefer #1

We took a land trip to Norway last summer- we traveled via trains and rental cars... and it is an amazing country for its varied landscapes and dramatic nature.

We plan to return to Norway via cruise in the future to get to travel North...

I do love Flåm (for the Flåmsbana and the beautiful Stegastein Viewpoint) and Stavanger (for the boat trip on the Lysefjord) offered by HAL

But

I definitely think that the Pacific Princess itinerary sounds absolutely incredible!

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While a larger ship, you can also look at Sapphire Princess on June 15th. I did a similar itinerary this summer. The June 15th does go to Flam (ours did not).

I have a friend who did a trip similar to your #1 on the Pacific Princess and they loved it.

I would also go with option #1.

As has already been said, Longyearbyen is unique and therefore special. It is also a good place to get photos of the "polar bear signs", also the ones advising "that firearms must be left outside the (few) stores". Anyone venturing out of town must carry a firearm. Buildings are on stilts due to the permafrost, skidoos everywhere, and if you can, visit the little church and hopefully the minister will tell you about life there as she did us. There was free internet at the library inside the tiny shopping mall, and it was superfast. My understanding is that there is superfast cable running undersea all the way from there to the mainland. If you swing by the swimming pool/leisure complex you will be astonished at the number of activities, leisure classes and events advertised on the notice board. The kids play areas were surrounded by high fencing just in case a polar bear should wander into town.

No cats are allowed (too many birds), no persons over 65 can live there either as there are no care or nursing facilities. Lots more interesting info to learn about.

We have also been to Narvik. Unless you are interested in naval history, there is little to recommend it especially if it is pouring heavy rain as it was on our visit.

Turns out there is a big difference in price! While the original "list" price that we checked was similar, once we started working on a booking, we learned that HAL has several promotions on, so that the overall and per night prices are now quite different.

Turns out there is a big difference in price! While the original "list" price that we checked was similar, once we started working on a booking, we learned that HAL has several promotions on, so that the overall and per night prices are now quite different.

Princess also has promotions going on (3 for free) now. But I have to admit I was surprised when you said they were comparable in price. Being a smaller ship, the Pacific Princess (while a great ship ... been on her) is typically more per day.

It is so funny about the prices! When I first did my comparison spreadsheet for this trip back in March 2018, the cost per night per person (pp pn) for the Pacific Princess was $336 while for HAL Prinsendam it was $357, about 6% difference, which didn't seem like too much of a spread considering that in the next rung up we had Saga, Viking, Voyage to

Antiquity and Oceania at around $500 pp pn. This original comparison used the "cheapest balcony" numbers on the ************* website, to make everything comparable given that all their Viking cabins are balcony.

But now that we are looking at actually booking (and decided picture window oceanview cabin would be OK), the best price seems to balance out the opposite -- more for Princess, at $304 per person per night vs. $279 for the HAL Prinsendam, which would make the cost for the two of us on the 2 day longer voyage with Princess almost $2000 more. Yikes!

Princess fans might say the extra cost is worth it for the smaller ship...as the passenger capacity for Pacific is 688 while it's 835 for the Prinsendam. But I must admit I am curious to try the Prinsendam while she still sails with HAL. Also, we just returned from a close-to-perfect cruise on the Oceania Nautica, which is the same size and original structure/arrangement as Princess Pacific, so I fear that many of the cost-containment strategies Princess employs would be too much in my face, having seen how graciously things can be managed in the same space.

For example, Oceania makes all the dining tables available to everyone every night, maximizing flexibility, with reservations only required for the two specialty restaurants (which don't cost extra). I have leaned that Princess evidently charges extra for their two specialty restaurants, and bafflingly, closes one of them every night. They further reduce dining table capacity available for everyone by reserving a section of the MDR just for suite passengers. This apparently necessitates two seatings in the MDR with the early one already on a waitlist at 9 months out. This all sounds annoying but I suspect if I hadn't experienced how Oceania managed the same space to seat everyone who wanted formal dining with little inconvenience, it wouldn't seem quite so bad.

The great thing is that the HAL itinerary is also wonderful

[emoji4]

Norway’s natural splendor is the star

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