Gerainger fjord sail out - Anthem

[cbowls30]

Hi All

We are on Anthem Fjords in May. On many compass dailies it mentions 'Gerainger Sailaway' - 6-8pm. I understand sailing in and/or out of Gerainger is not to be missed but can anyone tell me if it actually takes until 8pm to sailaway out the fjord? reason i ask is that we're trying to make dinner reservations and obviously don't want to make them if we need to be able to see sailaway until 8pm? Has anyone done this sailaway and can advise please?

[MeHeartCruising]

53 minutes ago, cbowls30 said:

Hi All

We are on Anthem Fjords in May. On many compass dailies it mentions 'Gerainger Sailaway' - 6-8pm. I understand sailing in and/or out of Gerainger is not to be missed but can anyone tell me if it actually takes until 8pm to sailaway out the fjord? reason i ask is that we're trying to make dinner reservations and obviously don't want to make them if we need to be able to see sailaway until 8pm? Has anyone done this sailaway and can advise please?

 

Yes, it takes about that long to exit the long fjord.  Look at it on a map.  And it's narrow, so they go pretty slow.  After you pass the 7 Sisters Waterfalls, some might consider the rest of the trip a bit redundant.  Beautiful, but a lot of the same scenery.  I would plan a late dinner and see as much of the fjord as you desire.

[hallasm]

It takes significantly longer than two hours to sail through Storfjord and Geirangerfjord in/out to Geiranger (same fjord in/out).  My suggestion is to be up on the top deck in the morning at sunrise - snow on the mountains and water in the waterfalls.  Depending on when in May, sunrise is at 04:30 am and sunset at 10:30 pm.  
Then there might be time for dinner from 8 pm but don’t miss the sunset.

My video is from the beginning of June sailing through Storfjord  and Geirangerfjord.  Video starts in Storfjord at 04:30 am and we sailed into Geirangerfjord at 05:30.

Seven Sisters Watefall 30 minutes before arrival.

 Enjoy the Norwegian fjords?

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by hallasm

[Capt_BJ]

in round numbers the distance from 'open water' to Geiranger is ~ 56 nautical miles

 

 

due to the restricted water of the transit it is safe to assume 'full speed' is NOT the plan. An estimate would be 12 knots ( kt = one nautical mile per hour) and would make the transit (56 / 12) ~ 4:45 ....

 

Seven Sisters is only ~3.5 nautical miles from the town/port so inside the last hour on arrival and the first hour of departure . . . 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Capt_BJ

[cbowls30]

great, thanks for the info

[kitkat343]

I'm not familiar with Antham's layout.  On my last cruise, some specialty restaurants had outside dining.  If that's a possibility, it would be very special during a sail in/out of Geiranger.  

 

On Cunard, there were only 10 kids on the whole cruise (cruise from England during the school year and British parents face heavy fines for pulling the kids out of school) and they very kindly took the kids in the kids club outside on the deck to look at the seven sisters during the sailaway.

[orangedec10]

Thank you for posting this question! My family and I happen to also be sailing on Anthem in May to the Fjords, perhaps the same sailing as yours and I had not yet considered the sail away vs dinner reservations. Smart thinking!  Getting excited and a tad nervous, hoping there’s not rough coming from Southampton!

[hallasm]

10 hours ago, orangedec10 said:

Thank you for posting this question! My family and I happen to also be sailing on Anthem in May to the Fjords, perhaps the same sailing as yours and I had not yet considered the sail away vs dinner reservations. Smart thinking!  Getting excited and a tad nervous, hoping there’s not rough coming from Southampton!

Same way in and out of the fjord.  Get up with the sun and enjoy the arrival in the morning sun.  Allow two hours from departure to dinner.  It is not possible to enjoy the view from the restaurants.  

You might experience rough seas on the North Sea in May, but Antem can handle high waves just fine.
I myself have sailed with Quantum from Southampton towards New York in a November storm in the English Channel without major problems.

 

Enjoy your cruise.