Norway Cruise - 7 night or 11 night?

We are looking at cruising to Norway next summer (2019). I cannot decide between the 7 and 11 night cruise. We want to do "Norway only", as opposed Norway just being one stop. We are of Norwegian descent so I would really like to see the country of my ancestors. Here are my thoughts -

I cannot decide between the 7 night and 11 night cruise. If we are taking the time and expense to go to Europe, we might as well stay a while. I would also like to see the midnight sun at the northern cape which is only offered on the 11 night cruise. But 11 nights is a long time to take off work and to be away. And will we be bored on an 11 day cruise? Maybe 7 nights is "enough"? If 7 nights is long enough, maybe we could spend a couple extra days touring Germany.

Has anybody done the 7 or 11 day Norway itinerary? Do you have any insights on whether you would do a 7 or 11 night if you had it to do over again? It will be me (45), my mom (66), and my daughters (12 and 17) if that makes a difference.

TIA!

I'm doing 14 nights in 26 days and I could NOT be more excited. I don't know if you or your family will be bored, that's something only the individuals themselves can answer. If there was a 7, 11, and 14 night itinerary offered, I would have picked the 14 night every time.

Cruising 4 days in Norway (that's what you get in 7 days Norway cruises) it's very nice, but might not be enough.

I'll try to explain in detail, in the MSC 7 day cruises you tipically get two Fjords days: Geiranger and Flam (Sognefjord), plus you can make it another one in Stavanger by visiting the Lysefjord with an excursion (totally recommended). The other port day usually is Bergen which is also very nice and scenic. I did that 3 years ago an it was just amazing. However, it was only 4 port days, so it might not be enough to have the Norway feel that you are looking for.

In order to maximize the experience I woke up at 4:00 am the day of Geiranger and Flam because sailing the Fjords just has to be seen and it you wake up at a normal time you miss part of the experience. At 4 am it's already dawn in June. Of course you sail the way out in the afternoon, but trust me it's worth it waking up early as well!

Have never done the 11 days one, so can't really comment, but you get only 2 more port days I think, and you also have 2 more sea days (that can be cold up there). To me, experiencing midnight sun was not a priority, i think the best part are the landscapes. But I understand it might be important for you.

Here are two alternatives you might consider:

Hurtigruten: much more expensive and not a proper cruise, but you depart from Bergen and can go up to Kirkenes in a week (or the other way round). Navigation is much closer to the coast than proper cruises, the time in port however is limited. We want to do this someday, but 5.000€ for a week in an ugly ferry style oceanview cabin is not good enough value for us at this moment, still young with loans to pay back.

Another option is Pullmantur, their 7 days itinerary is much more port intensive because again you only go up or down. It's Malmo (Sweden but connected to Copehnaguen / Denmark with a bridge, so can fly there) to Trondheim. I've never been to Pullmantur, it's an spanish brand. A full spanish audience cruise ship doesn't sound appealing to me at all, though, and I'm spanish. I prefer not dealing with loud people when travelling. On the other hand their value is good and drinks are included.

So there are not perfect options to me! But you will sure have a nice time whatever you decide.

We sailed with MSC Orchestra, nice eonough but without a covered swiming pool. I would focus more on itinerary than ships in this case.

Hope this helps

I vote for 11 nights! We did 10 last year and could have easily done more. We started in Amsterdam- traveled to hamburg to board the. Cruise. It was open jaw and ended in southampton. Ours had 7 stops- haugesund, Kristiansand, alesund, Bergen, stabenger, Flam, & Gieranger. Norway is right up there with Venice and the Greek Isles in my book. I would not hesitate- book 11 and don’t look back. The Norway area of this forum was super helpful - great folks post there. Have a great trip!

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Which MSC Norway cruise lasts for 11 days? Usually then also Spitzbergen or Iceland is included. Anyway, this question can only be answers if you give us the exact route. We did a couple of Norway cruises form 7 to 14 days, all were good.

We just did 10 nights (11 days?) in Norway following the UK (3 weeks total from/to Hamburg--which us also quite beautiful). We'd both recommend the longer trip especially if it goes all the way to Honningsvag. We have NEVER enjoyed a cruise so much in great part to the beautiful Norwegian scenery.

Cruising 4 days in Norway (that's what you get in 7 days Norway cruises) it's very nice, but might not be enough.

 

I'll try to explain in detail, in the MSC 7 day cruises you tipically get two Fjords days: Geiranger and Flam (Sognefjord), plus you can make it another one in Stavanger by visiting the Lysefjord with an excursion (totally recommended). The other port day usually is Bergen which is also very nice and scenic. I did that 3 years ago an it was just amazing. However, it was only 4 port days, so it might not be enough to have the Norway feel that you are looking for.

 

 

In order to maximize the experience I woke up at 4:00 am the day of Geiranger and Flam because sailing the Fjords just has to be seen and it you wake up at a normal time you miss part of the experience. At 4 am it's already dawn in June. Of course you sail the way out in the afternoon, but trust me it's worth it waking up early as well!

 

Have never done the 11 days one, so can't really comment, but you get only 2 more port days I think, and you also have 2 more sea days (that can be cold up there). To me, experiencing midnight sun was not a priority, i think the best part are the landscapes. But I understand it might be important for you.

 

Here are two alternatives you might consider:

 

Hurtigruten: much more expensive and not a proper cruise, but you depart from Bergen and can go up to Kirkenes in a week (or the other way round). Navigation is much closer to the coast than proper cruises, the time in port however is limited. We want to do this someday, but 5.000€ for a week in an ugly ferry style oceanview cabin is not good enough value for us at this moment, still young with loans to pay back.

 

Another option is Pullmantur, their 7 days itinerary is much more port intensive because again you only go up or down. It's Malmo (Sweden but connected to Copehnaguen / Denmark with a bridge, so can fly there) to Trondheim. I've never been to Pullmantur, it's an spanish brand. A full spanish audience cruise ship doesn't sound appealing to me at all, though, and I'm spanish. I prefer not dealing with loud people when travelling. On the other hand their value is good and drinks are included.

 

So there are not perfect options to me! But you will sure have a nice time whatever you decide.

 

We sailed with MSC Orchestra, nice eonough but without a covered swiming pool. I would focus more on itinerary than ships in this case.

 

Hope this helps

Thank you for your detailed answer! We will definitely look into this.

Which MSC Norway cruise lasts for 11 days? Usually then also Spitzbergen or Iceland is included. Anyway, this question can only be answers if you give us the exact route. We did a couple of Norway cruises form 7 to 14 days, all were good.

We are looking at the Orchestra leaving on May 25, 2019. I know we are early :cool:

1Sat, May 25, 2019Hamburg, Germany

-6:00 PMDocked2Sun, May 26, 2019At Sea---3Mon, May 27, 2019Alesund, Norway

10:00 AM6:00 PMDocked4Tue, May 28, 2019At Sea---5Wed, May 29, 2019Honningsvag, Norway

3:00 PM-Docked/Tender6Thu, May 30, 2019Honningsvag, Norway

-2:00 AMDocked/Tender6Thu, May 30, 2019Tromso, Norway

1:00 PM7:00 PMDocked7Fri, May 31, 2019Leknes, Norway

1:00 PM7:00 PMTender8Sat, Jun 01, 2019Trondheim, Norway

2:00 PM8:00 PMDocked9Sun, Jun 02, 2019Andalsnes, Norway

8:00 AM2:00 PMDocked