Can I see a glacier ( Norway or Iceland ) Southampton sail?

[bunny76]

I would like to see a glacier but I hate flying, so would prefer to sail to Norway ( or Iceland?) from Southampton so that I could view the glacier from the deck of the ship.

I know about tours on land at Olden, but wondered if there are any fiords that a glacier can be seen whilst cruising past?

 

Itineraries that have interested me include the QM2  7th - 18May 23 but I don't know if any of the cruise-bys offer a chance to see a glacier - Innvikfjiorden. Nordfjiord, Lustrafjiorden, and Sognefjiord.?

(also there is  a port stop at Alesund.)

 

If anyone has been on a Norway ( or Iceland cruise) and seen a glacier from the deck of the ship, I would be grateful for information.

[Lanky Lad]

The only place I know of where you can see a Glacier is on a trip from Olden. 

[milamber]

Yes, we saw several glaciers from the deck as we did the fjords. Obviously they are some distance, but were visible with the naked eye and would be better with binoculars. Think this was on the way up to Flam though and I've read there might be issues with going to that port. There was definitely a trip from Olden as mentioned above. I don't believe we saw any from the ship in Iceland 

[exlondoner]

I’m not trying to do Cunard out of business, but you could take a train to Switzerland.

[bunny76]

49 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I’m not trying to do Cunard out of business, but you could take a train to Switzerland.

I don't think you can see a glacier from the train any more as they changed the route some years ago?

[bunny76]

5 minutes ago, bunny76 said:

I don't think you can see a glacier from the train any more as they changed the route some years ago?

- I meant the Glacier Express- but I don;t think the Bernina Express goes past a glacier now either?

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, bunny76 said:

I don't think you can see a glacier from the train any more as they changed the route some years ago?

No, I wasn’t suggesting you could, though it may be possible, but a day’s train journey to Switzerland would surely put you in easy reach of many glaciers. They claim to have 1,800.

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Iceland - no (or you wouldn't notice it), Norway - yes (depending on the time of year).

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Mercruiser]

8 hours ago, bunny76 said:

I don't think you can see a glacier from the train any more as they changed the route some years ago?

Yes, the express trains go under the mountains in tunnels. But you can still ride trains over the passes on a local train that stops at every town. 

[Mercruiser]

1 hour ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

Iceland - no (or you wouldn't notice it), Norway - yes (depending on the time of year).

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

You can also go to/from Iceland on a 2-night ferry from Denmark  See https://www.visiticeland.com/article/ferry-to-iceland.

If you really want to see glaciers, it's a lot better if you have time on land.

[bunny76]

1 hour ago, Mercruiser said:

You can also go to/from Iceland on a 2-night ferry from Denmark  See https://www.visiticeland.com/article/ferry-to-iceland.

If you really want to see glaciers, it's a lot better if you have time on land.

 

[bunny76]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

Cublet - what time of the year and which fiord would you suggest please? I would have to see if any suitable cruises going from Southampton..

 

I was hoping to be able to see a glacier from the warmth and comfort of a ship- I have no desire to stand on a glacier lol and wanted to avoid a long trek in the cold.

 

If no definite fiord for glacier viewing from a ship -  then Olden on QM2 in May might be my best option with one of the golf buggies to minimise the trek?.

 

I know QE2 does Hubbard and Glacier Bay viewing from ship ,which would be more spectacular, but that involves long flights and I hate flying, and I think I would be quite content to see the Briksdal one.  🙂

 

 

[TheOldBear]

We have the QE to Alaska as a future possibility [not many glaciers in Dubai, so the QE2 is not in consideration] but despise flying so that pushes Alaska out of immediate consideration.  We find a transatlantic round trip with a side trip much more appealing. 

 

We did the QM2 Northern Lights version of the Norway sailing - and in November any fjords were by moonlight at best. Both QM2 and QV have Norway sailings each season - but despite this being the Cunard forum, you may want to consider some of the smaller ship options [Viking and Hurtigruten spring to mind]

 

Checked Hurigruten's 'expedition' web site [us version] and they are showing an 11 day Dover round trip "Spring Expedition Cruise"; fares from $3570, some sailings without a single supplement.

 

You may want to visit their cruise critic forum and ask some questions over there as well.

[Ray66]

1 hour ago, bunny76 said:

 

If no definite fiord for glacier viewing from a ship -  then Olden on QM2 in May might be my best option with one of the golf buggies to minimise the trek?

 

I can recommend the troll cars excursion to see the Briksdal glacier in Olden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Ray66

[bunny76]

48 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

 

I can recommend the troll cars excursion to see the Briksdal glacier in Olden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

🙂

[bunny76]

I never thought about sailings from Dover - I'll have a look at Hurtigruten- thank you.(I would be sailing with my husband ). 

[naturelovergirl]

Yes… Alaska for Hubbard and Glacier Bay  in Alaska are your best bets for seeing spectacular glaciers from the ship. 
 

I love Olden… the Lovatnet Lake in Loen (which has an excursion from Olden) is magical with scenery.

[bunny76]

39 minutes ago, naturelovergirl said:

Yes… Alaska for Hubbard and Glacier Bay  in Alaska are your best bets for seeing spectacular glaciers from the ship. 
 

I love Olden… the Lovatnet Lake in Loen (which has an excursion from Olden) is magical with scenery.

I've just looked up Loen and found there is a shuttle bus from Olden to the Loen skylift , from the top of which you can see the Jostedalsbreen glacier.( plus a nice warm restaurant at the top). 🙂 

[kitkat343]

Olden was lovely, and Norway is spectacular, but I do need to warn you that the Briksdal glacier  has been hit hard by global warming.  Some of the tripadvisor reviews from it 5 years ago indicated that people who had seen glaciers in Alaska were really disappointed.  That being said, I personally recommend that people who aren't expecting  a huge, impressive glacier will have a lovely time doing this excursion.  The drive from Olden to Briksdal is beautiful, and the hike to the glacier is lovely (you can hike the whole thing or rent the golf carts most of the way).  The Loen Skylift (5 minutes from Olden) is absolutely stunning and Olden was a wonderful port. We were able to easily complete both excursions in one port day, with a 2 year old in tow.  Someone on the Northern Europe board might be able to direct you to better glaciers in Iceland or Norway (we'd been to Alaska so that wasn't so important for us).   There's more detail about how we did both in my cruise review in my signature line.  

 

As a general rule, you want to choose a cruise line for a trip like this for itinerary.  The one exception is NCL, which has lately been dropping and shortening ports after final payment for environmental reasons or for safety (safety is a normally a very valid reason to change itineraries but when you drop Costa Rica and replace it with Acapulco not so much)

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by kitkat343

[Camgirl]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:55 AM, bunny76 said:

- I meant the Glacier Express- but I don;t think the Bernina Express goes past a glacier now either?

Both the Glacier and Bernina Express still go past glaciers, visible from the train. There are also other opportunities, such as the Gornergrat train, that take you to/past glaciers in Switzerland.

 

On the other hand, I don't remember any being visible from the ship in Iceland and only one in Norway, and I have a feeling that has retreated somewhat in the last few years. As others have said, the best way to see a glacier in Norway is on a trip.