CrNorwegian Fjords cruise - Itinerary & ship questions

[MTV43]

Hi all,

I am currently planning a family trip for June 2017. Due to our time restriction, we don't have much choice. There are only two ships: 1) out of Amsterdam with Holland America and the itinerary includes: Flaam, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Oslo, Cruise SogneFjord and OsloFjord. 2) out of Southampton with Norwegian Jade and the itinerary includes: Hamburg, Aalesund, Hellsylt, Geiranger, Flaam, Bergen. Greatly appreciate your help with the following questions:

1) I know it is unpredictable what mother nature can do, but in general how rough is North Sea sailing during summer month. We had sailed Baltic and Mediterranean and the sea was very calm. Is the sea rougher out of Southampton compared to Amsterdam?

2) Our first time with HAL and there are not many cabin for 4, except for family suite on the first deck. We usually prefer on upper deck, but how is cabin on deck 1.

3) Norwegian is less expense than HAL with 9 days vs. HAL 7 days but HAL cruise Fjord. Greatly appreciate the difference as far as sightseeing is concerned.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

[mhb1757]

Don't know your situation, age of children, how much planning you want to do on your own, etc however you might look at something with Hurtigruten. They run daily trips up the Norwegian coast that you can tailor to your own schedule. Just another option you might want to look into.

 

Personally I would be inclined to opt for the Holland American option of the 2 you listed. I'm not really a fan of NCL Their low end cabins tend to be not great. One advantage to a HAL cabin on deck 1 is you will feel a lot less ship motion there than you would on an upper deck. You can check specific cabin sizes... If it was me and I was having 4 in a cabin I would definitely consider square feet. I suspect HAL will provide more space. Food and service will likely be superior on HAL as well.

 

One other consideration is getting to and from Southhampton is something of an additional hassle and expense while flying into Amsterdam is likely to be cheaper and it will definitely be easier and less expensive to get from airport to cruise port.

Edited November 7, 2016 by mhb1757

[Eboracum_d]

We went out of Rotterdam with HAL last year having used the ferry from Hull to get there. There are 4 berth cabins on that ferry so it might be worth considering -- as an extra you can book return coach transfers between Europoort and Amsterdam.

 

Although I like Hurtigruten I would not recommend it for a family.

 

Have you looked at Thomson which are doing a couple of trips to Norway from UK this summer?

 

 

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[kitkat343]

We were on NCL to the Baltics due to limited options, and I'd agree with the concerns about the food and small cabin size. However, the food at the fee- based restaurants was generally really good, and if suites are available that might be another nice option. If food is really important to you, then I'd just factor the cost of the specialty restaurants into your base fare when comparing the two cruises.

 

The kids club is excellent on NCL, and my son really liked the Star. He was only 3.5 so I think with older kids it is very different.

[phxbne]

Hi

 

We cruised from Amsterdam to London this past July. Sailing from Amsterdam to Norway there were no issues. It was rough as we headed across to Iceland. We loved all the Norway ports we visited. Here are some of my thoughts:

- the sail in and out of Flam is along a beautiful fjord - absolutely breathtaking. Not sure how old the kids are, but the fjord safari excursion in Flam is amazing! We enjoyed it much more than the train

- we really enjoyed our day in Oslo - one of the easiest big cities to navigate I have ever been to - great museums - we particularly enjoyed the Fram Museum

- we liked Stavanger for the Oil Museum

- Bergen is fun to wander around, even in the rain

- Geiranger is tiny - you need to do an excursion there, so I would check what appeals

I have sailed HAL and liked it, but never NCL.

Have fun!

[roothy123]

We went to Norway and UK on Oceania. While we didn't go to all of the cities you mention, we did go to Alesund and Geiranger. Geiranger is located at the end of a fjord, and we liked the small town there plus the cruise out of the fjord. Make sure, though, that your itinerary includes cruising to or from Geiranger during daylight hours - Norwegian daylight hours! As a photographer, I loved Alesund - very pretty city and easy to walk around there admiring the architecture if that interests you. There are webcams that show Alesund if you're interested in a preview.

 

The stop in Hellesylt is likely just to pick up cruisers on a ship's long excursion. There's very, very little there, and we weren't allowed off the ship there. Then again, I suppose other cruise lines may make an actual stop there.

 

Geiranger has RIB (rigid inflatable boat) tours that might be fun for older kids; I hear the little open rental cars are fun too.

 

I'm not sure I'd want more than one day of fjord cruising, but of course everyone is different.

 

I haven't been to Bergen, but hear it's beautiful.

 

Southampton is a long way from London Heathrow. You probably won't see London, and will spend a couple hours getting to the ship. For Amsterdam, I've never been there on a large cruise ship, so don't know how easy it is to get from the airport to the ship. I would guess, though, that it's not bad.

 

There's info on Kristiansand (if that's how it's spelled; think there's also a Kristiansund too) in a Toms Port Guides (google that site - free and excellent guides aimed at cruisers.)

 

I don't remember any bad weather (motion wise) from Southampton to Scotland to Norway when we cruised (late summer).

 

I always compare number of actual city stops versus days at sea (including fjord cruising) to determine which cruise I'll like better. Of course, if you love days at sea, that won't matter.

 

I'd definitely cruise the NCL itinerary based on the ports listed. HAL usually has way too many sea days for me, but of course everyone's different.

 

The new Viking Oceans cruise line (Viking Star) goes to Norway in June. They're likely to be more expensive than HAL or NCL, but they're awesome. However, the price includes a free excursion in each port where the ship is there a full day (and Norway's very expensive!), and more freebies: beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks, specialty restaurants and I think internet. It may not be cost-effective or fun for a family, but just thought I'd mention it just the same.

[happy_travellers]

Hi all,

I am currently planning a family trip for June 2017. Due to our time restriction, we don't have much choice. There are only two ships: 1) out of Amsterdam with Holland America and the itinerary includes: Flaam, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Oslo, Cruise SogneFjord and OsloFjord. 2) out of Southampton with Norwegian Jade and the itinerary includes: Hamburg, Aalesund, Hellsylt, Geiranger, Flaam, Bergen. Greatly appreciate your help with the following questions:

1) I know it is unpredictable what mother nature can do, but in general how rough is North Sea sailing during summer month. We had sailed Baltic and Mediterranean and the sea was very calm. Is the sea rougher out of Southampton compared to Amsterdam?

2) Our first time with HAL and there are not many cabin for 4, except for family suite on the first deck. We usually prefer on upper deck, but how is cabin on deck 1.

3) Norwegian is less expense than HAL with 9 days vs. HAL 7 days but HAL cruise Fjord. Greatly appreciate the difference as far as sightseeing is concerned.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

 

Hi, we did the NCL cruise that you are looking at in May 2014 and now we are doing the 12 day one June 2017 with some repeat ports.

I would not book deck 1 unless that is the only option, to far from main decks, we like to walk the stairs so try to get middle or upper decks. We did not find the seas rough at all.

Alesund, Bergen and Geiranger are easy to navigate on your own and thereby saving you money on excursions. Geiranger "hop on bus" will take you to two nice lookouts. Bergen has the funicular to a wonderful lookout and then a beautiful town area to walk around, castle/fort. Alesund is lovely but you might which to splurge on an excursion to the "Troll ladder" area. The Flam railway can be done as an excursion or on your own. We did the excursion and then got off the train and walked down part way, a highlight of our cruise.

This next Norway cruise we will go up to the North Cape. Hope you enjoy your cruise, Norway is beautiful!

Happy planning , Karen

[Eloise4Ever]

Hi, we did the NCL cruise that you are looking at in May 2014...

 

Hi Happy Travellers, we are considering a Celebrity itinerary in late May 2018 which includes Alesund, Bergen and Geiranger. Can I ask you what the weather was like when you were there in May? I know it's impossible to predict the weather in any part of the world these days but would still be interested to hear about your experience.

 

Eloise

[Eboracum_d]

They say that in Bergen it's either raining or about to rain and I guess that also holds good for Alesund. We have been going regularly over the last 20 years. In the main days in both have been pleasantly warm but more often than not we have had rain for some part of the day. But we have also usually had sun for part of the day.

 

At Gerainger we have been luckier. On one visit we arrived as the rain was stopping . Every other time it's been fine throughout the day. The temperature when we there last Year was fairly cool but mostly it's been shirt sleeve weather on our visits.

[happy_travellers]

Hi Happy Travellers, we are considering a Celebrity itinerary in late May 2018 which includes Alesund, Bergen and Geiranger. Can I ask you what the weather was like when you were there in May? I know it's impossible to predict the weather in any part of the world these days but would still be interested to hear about your experience.

 

Eloise

 

Hi

I checked our photos and we were in Geiranger on May 20/2014. It had snowed in the mountains the week before and so the mountains looked beautiful with a little snow on them. The sail in was cool but by afternoon we were sitting at Brasserie Posten on the patio with our jackets off basking in sunshine. It was about 20C maybe a bit warmer in the direct sun.

 

We were in Alesund on the 21st and we wore light fleece for our trip up the Troll Road. I have a pic that shows the weather reading 21C and we had clear blue skies.

 

We expected rain in Bergen and it did not disappoint, cloudy and rainy in the morning for our trip to the Stave Church and Griegs Museum and Bryggen. However it cleared in the afternoon when we took the funicular and did some hiking at the top. Light fleece jackets and long pants for that day but again probably 18-20C. Wear layers and something for the wind and you will be fine. The sails ins where cool but they had coffee and drink service out on the decks.

 

The snow topped peaks and spring flowers were lovely, we would not hesitate doing that cruise in late May again. Our next cruise is in June further north of where you are going.

 

Karen

[Eloise4Ever]

Thanks so much for the replies, seems we don't need to worry too much about the weather in May.

 

Karen - you paint a lovely picture of what we have to look forward to - "the snow topped peaks and spring flowers" sound wonderful. Thank you :)

 

Eloise