Norway Fjord Cruise Q&A - Keys to Successful Planning

[saltshell]

Thanks. Now if I can just figure out what " layers" involves.

[hallasm]

18 minutes ago, saltshell said:

Thanks. Now if I can just figure out what " layers" involves.

Depending on the time of the year

Base layer (underwear layer): wicks sweat off your skin
Middle layer (insulating layer): retains body heat to protect you from the cold
Outer layer (shell layer): shields you from wind and rain

Here is for the cold

[CruisingFox27]

That's exactly what we did, as depending on what you're doing the weather varies. We needed all of the layers when up the mountains but in the towns it was quite pleasant when we visited in June.

[naturelovergirl]

Your layers will depend on what you are doing and how the weather is... Weather is unpredictable in Norway.

I was there in August two years ago.

I get cold, by nature... so I was very glad to have my layers. Have good walking shoes (my choice was waterproof hiking boots... my husband chose hiking shoes) and good rain gear. Luckily I brought what I needed, and was glad for it. (You do not want to have to buy something there because you are cold or wet)

When I was on a ferry or tourist boat I was also happy to wear an ear warmer headband... this kept my ears warm.

I also often wore gloves on a ferry or tourist boat... again, I get cold. I feel certain, that my cruise there will include all of these clothing items when I am out on the decks and our balcony.

While I was hiking, I would often start to remove my layers... because I would get warmer.

The main advice is to be prepared.

 

[ransclan]

We are planning a Norwegian Fjord cruise for 2020 and are currently looking at a 14 day BTB on Holland America but am wondering if an eight day would be long enough to get a good feeling for the fjords?  We have bee to Oslo before on a Baltic cruise and we’re mainly interested in the scenery.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[naturelovergirl]

34 minutes ago, ransclan said:

We are planning a Norwegian Fjord cruise for 2020 and are currently looking at a 14 day BTB on Holland America but am wondering if an eight day would be long enough to get a good feeling for the fjords?  We have bee to Oslo before on a Baltic cruise and we’re mainly interested in the scenery.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I should think so- if your ports are interesting... western Norway is stunning... I love Oslo- but it is totally different landscape-wise than fjord country

What are the ports on the 8day?

[hallasm]

58 minutes ago, ransclan said:

but am wondering if an eight day would be long enough to get a good feeling for the fjords?

Yes - 8 days will be enough for the fjords - my recommendation is to find a cruise which does include the scenic sailing of Storfjord and Geiranger Fjord to Geiranger or Hellesylt as well as Sognefjord and Auerlandsfjord to Flåm.

 I  believe Bergen is a must - other ports might be Stavanger or Ålesund.

[ransclan]

Thanks so much for the information; I’m looking at cruises that include the fjords and ports you have mentioned.

[dami.b]

Hi, we are first-time cruisers and we've booked the MSC Meraviglia Norway fjords cruise from Kiel for August 10-18, 2019. One of the stops is Hellesylt/Geiranger (in at 7am out at 5pm). Would anyone have an idea if the boat would actually dock in Hellesylt or in Geiranger? We wanted to get the HoHo in Geiranger but have no clue if we'll need to take the ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger or if the cruise ship will take us there and if it does, roughly around what time. Any advice is welcome.

[Conelectric]

What temperatures can I expect in July for 2 weeks cruising the fjords? Difficult in deciding what to pack. 

Thanks

lenny

[Grandma Cruising]

The answer is layers - temperatures could be from 10C to 25C, can be sunny, cloudy, damp, showery, heavy rain, windy!

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, Conelectric said:

What temperatures can I expect in July for 2 weeks cruising the fjords? Difficult in deciding what to pack.

Depends on where i Norway - examples min / Max

Bergen 54° / 65° F
Tromsø July  50° / 63° F
Honningsvåg 48° / 55° F

... and be prepared for rainy weather

[dcdisney]

HAL eliminated Flamm and Geiringer from next summers cruises, apparently due to new environmental regulations.  Have the other cruise lines made these changes as well?

 

[chechya]

11 minutes ago, dcdisney said:

HAL eliminated Flamm and Geiringer from next summers cruises, apparently due to new environmental regulations.  Have the other cruise lines made these changes as well?

 

We’re booked on Celebrity at the end of June for next year and those two ports are included. 

[dcdisney]

It looks like there may be changes for all lines in Flam and Geiringer for 2020 depending on their emissions.  http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/happy-days-for-norway-but-green-legislation-could-be-a-spoiler.html

[ski ww]

8 hours ago, dcdisney said:

HAL eliminated Flamm and Geiringer from next summers cruises, apparently due to new environmental regulations.  Have the other cruise lines made these changes as well?

 

We're doing 14 Day Voyage of the Midnight Sun on the Nieuw Statendam 5 Jul 2020 and Flamm is included in the itinerary. Unless it's changed since we booked?

[ski ww]

8 hours ago, dcdisney said:

It looks like there may be changes for all lines in Flam and Geiringer for 2020 depending on their emissions.  http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/happy-days-for-norway-but-green-legislation-could-be-a-spoiler.html

Some very good info here. A lot of places seem to be over run by tourists in Europe, there are other post on this same problem.

[dcdisney]

I'm cruising in April and just got the email about changed ports yesterday.  It's only partially changed on the cruise website right now.  The map is correct but the wording of the itinerary hasn't changed yet on the main page and then on my planner the map is wrong but the wording and excursion booking has switched to the new ports. 

[dfish]

46 minutes ago, dcdisney said:

I'm cruising in April and just got the email about changed ports yesterday.  It's only partially changed on the cruise website right now.  The map is correct but the wording of the itinerary hasn't changed yet on the main page and then on my planner the map is wrong but the wording and excursion booking has switched to the new ports. 

Thanks for the heads up.

[hallasm]

On 6/21/2019 at 9:23 PM, dami.b said:

Hi, we are first-time cruisers and we've booked the MSC Meraviglia Norway fjords cruise from Kiel for August 10-18, 2019. One of the stops is Hellesylt/Geiranger (in at 7am out at 5pm). Would anyone have an idea if the boat would actually dock in Hellesylt or in Geiranger? We wanted to get the HoHo in Geiranger but have no clue if we'll need to take the ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger or if the cruise ship will take us there and if it does, roughly around what time. Any advice is welcome.

August 14 MSC Meraviglia will arrive in Hellesylt at 07:00 and depart for Geiranger at 14:00 - arrival Geiranger 15:30 and depart at 17:00. If your preference is Geiranger you can take a ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger . The ferry will depart 08:00 from Hellesylt ferjekai (Stranda) and arrive 09:09 at Geiranger HBkai (Stranda) - link to time table and ticket information

[dami.b]

Just now, hallasm said:

August 14 MSC Meraviglia will arrive in Hellesylt at 07:00 and depart for Geiranger at 14:00 - arrival Geiranger 15:30 and depart at 17:00. If your preference is Geiranger you can take a ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger . The ferry will depart 08:00 from Hellesylt ferjekai (Stranda) and arrive 09:09 at Geiranger HBkai (Stranda) - link to time table and ticket information

Thanks, Hallasm, could you please let me know where your information comes from? I'm completely lost now - between the moment I posted and the moment my post and your answer appeared here, I had contacted the Geiranger Fjordservice Bilettkontor who told me that on that date MSC will be in Geiranger from 7AM to 2PM and will use the sea walk, and after goes to Hellesylt from 3:30PM to 5PM, and I had also contacted MSC who took a long time to respond but just today emailed me to tell me that "the debarkation will be operated by tender (special boat) from the pier - HELLESYLT PIER /GEIRANGER PIER - address : GEIRANGERFJORD CRUISE PORT - 6216 Geiranger. Thus you'll stop only in Geiranger." See? It's a complete mess!
 

[gnome12]

7 minutes ago, dami.b said:

Thanks, Hallasm, could you please let me know where your information comes from? I'm completely lost now - between the moment I posted and the moment my post and your answer appeared here, I had contacted the Geiranger Fjordservice Bilettkontor who told me that on that date MSC will be in Geiranger from 7AM to 2PM and will use the sea walk, and after goes to Hellesylt from 3:30PM to 5PM, and I had also contacted MSC who took a long time to respond but just today emailed me to tell me that "the debarkation will be operated by tender (special boat) from the pier - HELLESYLT PIER /GEIRANGER PIER - address : GEIRANGERFJORD CRUISE PORT - 6216 Geiranger. Thus you'll stop only in Geiranger." See? It's a complete mess!
 

My understanding of this, from my (now cancelled) cruise and Rick Steves, is that Hellesylt is a technical stop; it is only used to offload passengers, or, in your case, to pick up passengers that are taking an overland excursion between the 2. No one else gets on/off at Hellesylt. Basically, the port stop is Geiranger until 2 pm, and you can choose to either cruise to Hellesyt (and enjoy the fjord scenery which you might have missed before your 7 am arrival in Geiranger), or take an excursion that will take you overland to Hellesylt to reboard your ship. It might have to be a ship sponsored excursion because of the pickup; on my cruise - where most excursions were to be included - it was an extra cost option. The overland tour gives you a chance to see the fjords from above, which is a different perspective.

[HLGW60]

4 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

My understanding of this, from my (now cancelled) cruise and Rick Steves, is that Hellesylt is a technical stop; it is only used to offload passengers, or, in your case, to pick up passengers that are taking an overland excursion between the 2. No one else gets on/off at Hellesylt. Basically, the port stop is Geiranger until 2 pm, and you can choose to either cruise to Hellesyt (and enjoy the fjord scenery which you might have missed before your 7 am arrival in Geiranger), or take an excursion that will take you overland to Hellesylt to reboard your ship. It might have to be a ship sponsored excursion because of the pickup; on my cruise - where most excursions were to be included - it was an extra cost option. The overland tour gives you a chance to see the fjords from above, which is a different perspective.

This is my understanding as well.  In 2020 we are taking a cruise with Carnival and our first stop will be in Hellesylt. Only passengers with a booked shore excursion at this port will be allowed to disembark.  I think the ship stays there a couple of hours before proceeding to Geiranger. I am now trying to decide whether or not to take an overland tour from Hellesylt and ending in Geiranger. 

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, dami.b said:

Thanks, Hallasm, could you please let me know where your information comes from?

Sorry - my mistake - I got the two ports swapped.

Information from  from the official Hellesylt / Geiranger Cruise Port web site

Link to Cruises ship arrivals

Technically this is the same port at two different location.

So alternatively take the ferry from Geiranger to Hellesylt

[dami.b]

Just now, hallasm said:

Sorry - my mistake - I got the two ports swapped.

Information from  from the official Hellesylt / Geiranger Cruise Port web site

Link to Cruises ship arrivals

Technically this is the same port at two different location.

So alternatively take the ferry from Geiranger to Hellesylt

OK, thanks a lot, this is also what the guy from the Fjordservice quoted. So this means that we have to back on the ship by 13:30 to sail from Geiranger to Hellesylt, correct?