Azura Fjords Cruise - First Time Cruisers!

Hi All,

Myself and the Wife are booked on our first cruise departing September 8th and I have a few (probably stupid) questions I'd like to ask! The two of us are 'fairly active' and would like to make the most of the 4 (Stavanger, Flaam, Olden, Bergen) stops where possible.

Q1/ How worthwhile is it going with the 'official P&O excursions? They do appear to be more pricey than looking to do things unofficially.

Q2/ We were thinking Stavanger may be one place where we stick to the town itself and don't explore further. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Also I notice P&O do 'Stavanger by Foot' at a cost. I assume there is no issue with just hopping off the Cruise and doing your own thing?

Any input would be much appreciated! :D

Stavanger is very much a port where you can do a lot by foot on your own visit the old town, cathedral, park and the shops are all easily reachable by foot without an excursion.

The oil museum in Stavanger is close to the dock and a great place to go if it’s raining. The Norway ports are usually in the village (apart from Bergen depending where you dock) and they are lovely just to wander around. I’m sure that you’ll be back to the fjords once you’ve been there!

Bergen is easy to walk around town yourself. Some nice nook and crannies to explore.

Would recommend the train trip in Flaam. It’s very popular so recommend you book up soon if you want to do this. I’ve heard different things about whether or not you can book it independently, but it does fill up.

Ship excursions are often more expensive than doing it independently, but the main reason we book them is that if the tour arrives back late, the ship will wait for you. Otherwise you may find yourself finding your own way to the next port and have been on board when folks have been left behind. Have been grateful to have done ship excursions in places like Naples and the Amalfi coast, where we’ve been delayed 2-3 hours due to traffic. Norway may be less risky doing it yourself.

Have a great first cruise. Unfortunately cruising becomes addictive....so beware you may want to repeat the lovely experience.

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It's easy to do the Funicular at Bergen yourself. I'd recommend you get off early (perhaps you'll need to take the shuttle if you're berthed a little out of town) and make your way to the Funicular as it gets busy and queues develop. You can book ahead and jump the ticket queue. The funicular station is close to the Bryggen so very central.

http://floyen.no/en/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIst-gnKPK3AIVpbXtCh3yBQ5YEAAYASAAEgLCn_D_BwE

It gives a great view of the city - there's a cafe at the top and some lovely walking trails in the parkland on the top.

The Bryggen is interesting to explore - round the back and down the alleys and there's a colourful market on the harbourside with local take-away food and goods for sale.

Don’t miss the singing moose head in the Bryggen!

If you like history then I strongly recommend doing a guided walking tour of Bergen. This includes the funicular. Bergen is one of the original Hanseatic ports and its history is fascinating, and while its a great place to explore yourself, as others have said, this is a really interesting tour if you like that sort of thing. Take a jacket. It rains 310 days a year in Bergen!

Flam. Do the Norway in a nutshell tour. Bit pricey but well worth it. Includes 2 trains and a Smorgasbord lunch.

Have a great time.

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We have just returned from this cruise and did all the excursions ourselves. The reputable tour operators know when your ship is going to depart and make sure they get you back in good time. We have done many cruises and, apart from our first when we didn't have the experience we do now, all of our excursions have been pre-booked with local tour companies before departure. From speaking to other passengers, you can expect to pay a high mark up if you book trips via P & O. As others have said, the funicular up Mt Floyen in Bergen is easily doable on your own and if you pre-book tickets online in advance and print them out, then you will avoid the queue at the ticket office. We also did the fjord safari in Flam (extremely good) and took the bus up to the Briksdaal glacier (not to be missed, in our opinion). In Stavanger, we walked around on our own. Easy to do as the town is quite small.

Hubby and I are on this cruise as well and are planning on doing our own thing in every port. Stavanger we are planning on just having a wander around. For Flam we have reserved tickets for the train independently and reserved bikes at Myrdal to cycle back down to Flam. Olden we are going to book with an independent company for a bus to Briksdal Glacier and then we will walk up. In Bergen we are planning on taking the funicular up Mount Floyen and walking back down.

We usually head for sunnier climes on our cruises, but I have been wanting to visit the fjords for ages so I am really looking forward to this trip.

There is a roll call set up for this cruise in the P&O roll-call section. Not very many of us on there, but please come and join us!

Regards,

Michele

Thanks for all your helpful comments - much appreciated!

Hubby and I are on this cruise as well and are planning on doing our own thing in every port. Stavanger we are planning on just having a wander around. For Flam we have reserved tickets for the train independently and reserved bikes at Myrdal to cycle back down to Flam. Olden we are going to book with an independent company for a bus to Briksdal Glacier and then we will walk up. In Bergen we are planning on taking the funicular up Mount Floyen and walking back down.

 

We usually head for sunnier climes on our cruises, but I have been wanting to visit the fjords for ages so I am really looking forward to this trip.

 

There is a roll call set up for this cruise in the P&O roll-call section. Not very many of us on there, but please come and join us!

 

Regards,

 

Michele

Could I ask where you reserved the bikes from? We were also looking at doing this.

Many Thanks

If you have seen glaciers before then think about missing the Briksdal one. It has receded so much there really isn’t a lot to see. Don’t expect a glacier wall with that famous bluey tinge.

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We have just returned from this cruise and did all the excursions ourselves. The reputable tour operators know when your ship is going to depart and make sure they get you back in good time. We have done many cruises and, apart from our first when we didn't have the experience we do now, all of our excursions have been pre-booked with local tour companies before departure. From speaking to other passengers, you can expect to pay a high mark up if you book trips via P & O. As others have said, the funicular up Mt Floyen in Bergen is easily doable on your own and if you pre-book tickets online in advance and print them out, then you will avoid the queue at the ticket office. We also did the fjord safari in Flam (extremely good) and took the bus up to the Briksdaal glacier (not to be missed, in our opinion). In Stavanger, we walked around on our own. Easy to do as the town is quite small.

Couldn't agree more. We only ever take ship excursions in very rare circumstances and as you say, local operators want to preserve their reputation.

In Flam we have done the railway, which is easy to book online. In Olden we did the Briksdal Glacier with Troll car and booked direct online. In Stavanger we booked Pulpit Rock boat trip online with Rodne.no who operate the ship tours and depart about 50m from ship and in Bergen was raining heavily, so did HOHO.

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The Fjords is a great first cruise, we did that one first and have cruised every year since, have a nice time.

Hi All,

 

Myself and the Wife are booked on our first cruise departing September 8th and I have a few (probably stupid) questions I'd like to ask! The two of us are 'fairly active' and would like to make the most of the 4 (Stavanger, Flaam, Olden, Bergen) stops where possible.

 

Q1/ How worthwhile is it going with the 'official P&O excursions? They do appear to be more pricey than looking to do things unofficially.

Q2/ We were thinking Stavanger may be one place where we stick to the town itself and don't explore further. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Also I notice P&O do 'Stavanger by Foot' at a cost. I assume there is no issue with just hopping off the Cruise and doing your own thing?

 

Any input would be much appreciated! :D

Hi we did this itinerary in June. The only place I would recommend a tour is Olden, there is very little to see otherwise. Stavanger is pretty and very easy to DIY. Flam we got off the ship around 10 a.m. walked to the train station and purchased tickets for 1 p.m. really enjoyed this trip and would recommend. Bergen is also easy to DIY and others have suggested things to see and do which I would agree with. This was our 10th cruise but the first to the fjords and although it is staggeringly beautiful we found it too quiet and we have decided we won't be returning.

In Olden, if you like walking, we walked from the town to the lake. If you scroll down this link to page 13/52 there is a map. We walked from A via the green route to the lake at F then returned via the blue route (the road - but not busy!!!!). Not a lot in town, I would agree but if you enjoy a walk in the countryside this may be worth considering. On the green trail you track the river along a hiking trail then cross a bridge when you get to the lake.

http://www.cruise-norway.no/viewfile.aspx?id=3756

I think we must have picked up this or a similar map in the town at the tourist office.

Hi Young_First_Timer,

We have hired our bikes via Café Rallaren - they have a website: - www.caferallaren.no

We have reserved 2 bikes at a cost of 700NOK. They have sent us confirmation but we don't pay until the day.

Regards,

Michele

If you have seen glaciers before then think about missing the Briksdal one. It has receded so much there really isn’t a lot to see. Don’t expect a glacier wall with that famous bluey tinge.

 

 

 

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I have to agree with this if you have been to Alaska or anywhere similar you will be sorely disappointed. The Norwegians themselves are too and blame global warming for how quickly the glacier has receded.

Have a wonderful time, our first cruise to Norway too, but not our first cruise, have found this thread facinating. Thank you to all the contributors.. have booked Flåm railway and Loen ski lifts with P& O rest we’re doing ourselves slight change of thread but do you know what nights Black Tie are? ( sorry talking about 8/9/18 )

I have to agree with this if you have been to Alaska or anywhere similar you will be sorely disappointed. The Norwegians themselves are too and blame global warming for how quickly the glacier has receded.

Slight change to the above, whilst the glacier is not awesome, the scenery is well worth the trip. Just don’t expect a magnificent glacier because sadly it isn’t any more.

Hi Milliemoominmoo,

As far as I can tell, the first formal night will be Sunday 9th (first sea day) and then I think the second one, which will also be the Black & White night, will be Thursday 13th (Bergen).

Of course, these aren't guaranteed, but seem most likely.

Michele