Help compare Norway itinerary please!

I am looking at a Norway cruise for 2019. Right now I'm comparing an Azamara itinerary for 2019 to a Seabourn itinerary for 2018 (assuming the 2019 itinerary would be similar when it's released; our travel would be in 2019 in both cases). We have previously cruised both lines.

Background: We were booked on a Viking Ocean Norway/British Isles cruise for 2017 and had to cancel due to illness in the family. I was really looking forward to trying Viking Ocean. I started looking to re-book but found these two itineraries that I like better than our originally scheduled one. Many of the ports are very familiar to me from having meticulously planned for the trip we didn't end up taking. Some of the ports are unfamiliar however.

Azamara:

1-Dep Oslo

2-At Sea

3-Flam 7-2:30/Gundvangen 5-5:30

4-Geiranger 12:30-5:30, arrive Alesund 10PM

5-Wake up in Alesund, dep 5:30 PM

6-At Sea

7-Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands, 8-5; followed by cruising Trollfjord 7-7:30

8-Tromso 9-9

9-Honningsvag 11-9

10-At Sea

11-Bodo 8-4

12-Trondheim 1-8

13-Molde 8-8

14-Olden 8-6

15-Bergen 8-11

16-At Sea

17-Arr Edinburgh

Seabourn:

1-Dep Copenhagen

2-At Sea

3-Flam 8-6

4-Cruise Sognefjord, arr Alesund 10-8

5-At Sea

6-Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands 8-5, followed by cruising Trollfjord

7-Tromso 9-5

8-Storstappen Island 5:30-7:30 AM, followed by Honningsvag 11am - 9 pm, followed by cruising North Cape

9-At Sea

10-At Sea

11-Olden 9-6, followed by cruising Nordfjord

12-Cruising Hjelterfjord, followed by Bergen 8-6

13-Stavanger 8-4

14- Skagen, Denmark 10-6

15-Arr Copenhagen

Other factors: Have not been to Oslo or Edinburgh but likely to go to Edinburgh at some point when we visit Scotland on a land trip. We have been to Copenhagen fairly recently. Otherwise, these are new ports to us. The ports that I already know what we would do in from our prior-planned trip are: Flam, Svolvaer, Alesund, Tromso, Honingsvag (I think), Bergen, Geiranger (a real hole in the SB itinerary), Molde (eh). I don't know anything about Bodo, Trondheim, Olden, Stavanger or Skagen.

Obviously the SB ship is newer, nicer and somewhat higher end. The port times for AZ are better. I don't know which ports are better. Can anybody help sway me one way or the other?

Having been to Norway quite a few times....we would choose the Azamara cruise....even with the knowledge that Seabourn is a somewhat higher end product. Why? For starters, we think cruising the Geiranger Fjord provides on the more picturesque days in Norway. And since you have never been to either Oslo or Edinburgh...these are both excellent places for some extra days of land stay (pre and post cruise). Bergen is also a favorite city of ours (just there last month) which can easily be explored on one's own....assuming you have the ability to do a lot of walking.

Hank

Olden is quite nice - the loen skylift opened this season and is gorgeous. The briksdal glacier has been hit hard by global warming, but is still quite a lovely hike and place to visit. If you have mobility issues, there are golf carts you can book to take you most of the way there.

We loved flam, especially the goat farm experience where you visit a lovely goat farm and sample local meets and cheeses. Combined with the railway it's a special day.

Stavanger has pulpit rock, which we couldn't hike bacause our 2 year old came with us. Aside from that, it's a nice city but not a must see (pulpit rock is supposed to be amazing in good weather though). Pulpit rock isn't a technically difficult hike, but we can't carry our 2 year old if he decided halfway he was done walking (he's the size of an average 3 year old).

Azamara definitely has the better itinerary, in my opinion. The absence of Geiranger on the Seabourn trip alone is enough to sway me. On shorter cruises, I'm willing to overlook it as long as one of the other top fjord ports like Flåm is included, but on such port-intensive itineraries, there is absolutely no reason to skip Geiranger.

It doesn't say above whether the Seabourn trip will sail to Gudvangen, but that's another bit of fantastic fjord sailing. The route from Flåm to Gudvangen takes you through Nærøyfjord, the second UNESCO-listed Norwegian fjord (Geiranger is the other). It's a very narrow fjord with steep cliff walls on either side, and it's actually too narrow for many ships to pass through, so most people only visit this fjord via a ferry or small boat cruise from Flåm.

Trondheim is a charming little city with its own colorful wooden waterfront (not as large or as famous as the one in Bergen) and the beautiful Nidaros cathedral. Gothic architecture and detailed stone-carving are probably not what you're headed to Norway for, but the cathedral makes for a nice "something different" as a change of pace. You can also visit the Crown Regalia nearby, which is somewhat interesting for royal watchers (though nowhere close to the crown jewels of Denmark and Sweden). Outside Trondheim is the Sverresborg Trøndelag open-air museum, which is worth a visit if you have time to make the trip and the weather is nice (we just took a city bus out for a few hours).

I haven't been to Bodø yet, but I'm intrigued by the Saltstraumen Maelstrom. I've heard that it's not always so interesting to look at, but that it's worth taking a zodiac boat trip across it. And honestly, I always kind of though that open-water whirpools were a figment of the imagination dreamed up by cartoonists and old-world cartographers, so I'm somewhat fascinated.

On the Seabourn side, I don't know much about Skagen other than as an alternative for a day in Frederikshavn (at the other end of our Danish ferry line).

Stavanger is a nice little city, and I think it's worth a port day, but to me, it's not a strong enough selling point to make up for the advantages of the Azamara itinerary. Stavanger has a charming little old town area with cobbled streets and white wooden houses. The cathedral is worth a peek around, but it's not terribly exciting. The waterfront is small but has some great patios for an "utepils" if you luck into good weather (not common in Stavanger, but it has been known to happen)! The petroleum museum is surprisingly interesting and does a great job of explaining the incredible engineering challenges that the Norwegian oil industry has overcome in order to produce the North Sea reserves. And of course, there's the lure of the Preikestolen hike if it fits into the schedule (and the weather conditions)!

So, my vote is firmly in the Azamara camp. Especially if you're interested in spending some pre-/post-cruise days in Oslo and Edinburgh. (And I'm happy to answer any Oslo questions if you end up going that route!)

I am looking at a Norway cruise for 2019. Right now I'm comparing an Azamara itinerary for 2019 to a Seabourn itinerary for 2018 (assuming the 2019 itinerary would be similar when it's released; our travel would be in 2019 in both cases). We have previously cruised both lines.

 

Background: We were booked on a Viking Ocean Norway/British Isles cruise for 2017 and had to cancel due to illness in the family. I was really looking forward to trying Viking Ocean. I started looking to re-book but found these two itineraries that I like better than our originally scheduled one. Many of the ports are very familiar to me from having meticulously planned for the trip we didn't end up taking. Some of the ports are unfamiliar however.

 

Azamara:

1-Dep Oslo

2-At Sea

3-Flam 7-2:30/Gundvangen 5-5:30

4-Geiranger 12:30-5:30, arrive Alesund 10PM

5-Wake up in Alesund, dep 5:30 PM

6-At Sea

7-Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands, 8-5; followed by cruising Trollfjord 7-7:30

8-Tromso 9-9

9-Honningsvag 11-9

10-At Sea

11-Bodo 8-4

12-Trondheim 1-8

13-Molde 8-8

14-Olden 8-6

15-Bergen 8-11

16-At Sea

17-Arr Edinburgh

 

Seabourn:

1-Dep Copenhagen

2-At Sea

3-Flam 8-6

4-Cruise Sognefjord, arr Alesund 10-8

5-At Sea

6-Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands 8-5, followed by cruising Trollfjord

7-Tromso 9-5

8-Storstappen Island 5:30-7:30 AM, followed by Honningsvag 11am - 9 pm, followed by cruising North Cape

9-At Sea

10-At Sea

11-Olden 9-6, followed by cruising Nordfjord

12-Cruising Hjelterfjord, followed by Bergen 8-6

13-Stavanger 8-4

14- Skagen, Denmark 10-6

15-Arr Copenhagen

 

Other factors: Have not been to Oslo or Edinburgh but likely to go to Edinburgh at some point when we visit Scotland on a land trip. We have been to Copenhagen fairly recently. Otherwise, these are new ports to us. The ports that I already know what we would do in from our prior-planned trip are: Flam, Svolvaer, Alesund, Tromso, Honingsvag (I think), Bergen, Geiranger (a real hole in the SB itinerary), Molde (eh). I don't know anything about Bodo, Trondheim, Olden, Stavanger or Skagen.

 

Obviously the SB ship is newer, nicer and somewhat higher end. The port times for AZ are better. I don't know which ports are better. Can anybody help sway me one way or the other?

I'm back again, with another itinerary to compare. I think I like this one best of all, but I'm interested in the wisdom of the the cruise critic family!

Crystal:

1-Embark Reykjavik

2--Reykjavik, depart 6 PM

3--Isafjordur, Iceland 8 pm - 6 pm

4--Akureyri, Iceland 8 am - 7 pm

5--At sea

6--At sea

7--Arrive at A, Lofoten Islands 8-8:30 (would get off and rent car or book excursion starting in A)

Ship goes on to Leknes from noon - 6 PM

8--Tromso 9 am - 8 pm

9--Honningsvag 9 am - 10 pm

10--At sea

11--At sea

12--Hellsyit from 7 - 8:30 AM

Ship goes on to Geiranger from 9:30 am - 5 pm

13--Flam 8 am - 6 pm

14--Bergen 8 am - 10 pm

14--At sea

15--Copenhagen arrive 8 am

16--Disembark Copenhagen

I'd be excited to get a taste of Iceland, and the other ports in Norway have great times and present good options. Crystal is a nicer line than Azamara, though the cabin size would be smaller than the suite we were looking at on AZ. Better inclusions too.

Can I tap the CC family again for feedback?

Seabourn has its Antarctica Ventures team with zodiacs, lectures, naturalists, etc. on board for Norway cruises as of last year. For that reason only Seabourn is absolutely the way to go. Nothing comes close.

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Would love feedback on the Crystal Iceland/Norway itinerary. . . please?

Comparing it to the Azamara (since that was my choice of the two you listed before)...

The Azamara itinerary is focused solely on Norway, so in exchange for the Iceland ports (and additional sea day) you're giving up Ålesund, Bodø, Trondheim, Molde, adn Olden. Ålesund, Molde, and Olden are all typical fjord area ports, but you still have Flåm and Geiranger, so you'll get to see some of the most iconic fjords of the Crystal sailing, but you won't spend as much time in the area. Bodø isn't an especially common cruise port call, so you probably won't miss it, simply because it doesn't get talked about much! Trondheim is an interesting little city, but I wouldn't consider it a dealbreaker.

Overall, I would say that the Crystal itinerary gives you a decent overview of the Norwegian coast, so if you're especially interested in the Iceland stops and you don't feel the need to spend more time in the fjords, it's probably a good choice. However, if your primary interest is the fjords, be aware that you're giving up three days of fjords in exchange for the time in Iceland. At the end of the day, it's a personal choice about where you want to spend the time.