Help Deciding on 7 Nt Norway Fjords Cruise for 2024

[katmu]

Hello-

 

I am trying to decide between these 2 cruises for next year to Norway.

 

 

Option 1:

Anthem of the Seas, would be in a studio balcony cabin on deck 7.  

Fri, Jun 14 Southampton, England 5:00pm

 Sat, Jun 15 At Sea 

 Sun, Jun 16 Haugesund, Norway 7:00am - 2:00pm

 Mon, Jun 17 Flam, Norway 7:00am - 4:00pm

 Tue, Jun 18 Molde, Norway 11:00am - 6:00pm

 Wed, Jun 19 Stavanger, Norway 11:00am - 7:00pm

 Thu, Jun 20 At Sea 

 Fri, Jun 21 Southampton, England 5:30am

 

Option 2:

Rotterdam HAL trying to decide on cabin type.  They do have a solo oceanview, regular oceanview or balcony.

Rotterdam 3:00pm

May 25 Rotterdam, The Netherlands 3:00 pm

May 26 Cruising

May 27 Eidfjord, Norway 7:00am - 3:00pm, Scenic Cruising Hardangerfjord

May 28 Alesund, Norway 10:00am - 10:00pm

May 29 Geiranger, Norway 7:00am - 4:00pm, Cruising Geirangerfjord

May 30 Bergen, Norway 8:00am - 5:00pm

May 31 Cruising

June 1 Rotterdam 7:00am

 

Royal Caribbean would be cheaper but the ship is quite a bit bigger than Sky Princess which is the biggest ship I’ve been on so that’s making me nervous.  I walk with a cane so I won’t be using the resort activities much.  I need some advice on the different ports in Norway to help me make my decision.  I have been to London a number of times before but never to Southampton.  Rotterdam would be new, as I’ve only flown through Amsterdam.  Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

[hallasm]

Anthem of the seas is my favorite ship. Cruise in June which is a good month.

One deep fjord into Flåm - excellent port of call

Stavanger with nice excursions opportunity to Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock

Haugesund and Molde not that interesting.

HAL is a bit early 
Deep  fjord cruising into Eidfjord and Geiranger - Geiranger is my favorite with nice viewpoints - some might be closed due to snow

Ålesund and in particular Bergen are very nice coastal cities.

 

Option 2 is the best itinerary but a bit early.

If I should choose between the two I’ll probably chose option 1 due to ship, time and still Flåm and Stavanger are two Nice ports.

 

Enjoy Norway.

 

 

[katmu]

15 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Anthem of the seas is my favorite ship. Cruise in June which is a good month.

One deep fjord into Flåm - excellent port of call

Stavanger with nice excursions opportunity to Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock

Haugesund and Molde not that interesting.

HAL is a bit early 
Deep  fjord cruising into Eidfjord and Geiranger - Geiranger is my favorite with nice viewpoints - some might be closed due to snow

Ålesund and in particular Bergen are very nice coastal cities.

 

Option 2 is the best itinerary but a bit early.

If I should choose between the two I’ll probably chose option 1 due to ship, time and still Flåm and Stavanger are two Nice ports.

 

Enjoy Norway.

 

 

 

Sorry, I looked again at HAL’s website.  They do offer that itinerary again on July 27th next year.  It’s only slightly more expensive than the earlier date.  I wish it would have popped up when I searched their site the first time.

 

Thank you for the reply.  I would feel better if I do decide to go with Anthem.

[hallasm]

5 minutes ago, katmu said:

They do offer that itinerary again on July 27th next year.

… and one can  argue that July 27 is a bit late - No snow in the mountains and much les ps water in rivers.

[kitkat343]

My concern is that if you walk with a cane, you'd need to research if you think pulpit rock will be accessible for you ( I think as far as hikes go it is a relatively easy one but you have a better sense of your exact mobility than I do).  We had to skip it since we  had a 2 and 6 year old with us, and we aren't capable of carrying them on a hike (most families are and bring kids there but it isn't physically an option for our family).  It might have been poor planning on my part, but Stavanger without Pulpit Rock was a bit underwhelming for us (we went on  a smaller boat to see the fjords, walked around the quaint town and visited (I think) the petroleum museum.)    It was a nice day, but absolutely not a must do (but I would imagine Pulpit rock is amazing, so I certainly understand the popularity of the stop).  Someone else may have better ideas of what to do in Stavanger besides pulpit rock. 

 

I am only familiar with Geiranger and Flam.  Both are excellent ports, and both are really accessible.  The train is the highlight of Flam, and it is very close from where you dock.  There's also the stegastein viewpoint that I think is accessible by bus (we took the kids to a goat farm in the afternoon so I can't personally confirm but hopefully someone else can confirm the amount of walking required).

 

Geiranger you usually take a bus around the major viewpoints, all of which are easily accessible with little walking.   The only issue in Geiranger is that the highest viewpoint is only accessible via a seasonal road, after the big avalanche (usually mid-lateMay/ possibly early June if you are unlucky.)  We were there in late May, unfortunately 2 days before it opened.  But the rest of Geiranger was amazing, although if you have a later cruise option that would be after the road opens that's something to consider.  

[katmu]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

My concern is that if you walk with a cane, you'd need to research if you think pulpit rock will be accessible for you ( I think as far as hikes go it is a relatively easy one but you have a better sense of your exact mobility than I do).  We had to skip it since we  had a 2 and 6 year old with us, and we aren't capable of carrying them on a hike (most families are and bring kids there but it isn't physically an option for our family).  It might have been poor planning on my part, but Stavanger without Pulpit Rock was a bit underwhelming for us (we went on  a smaller boat to see the fjords, walked around the quaint town and visited (I think) the petroleum museum.)    It was a nice day, but absolutely not a must do (but I would imagine Pulpit rock is amazing, so I certainly understand the popularity of the stop).  Someone else may have better ideas of what to do in Stavanger besides pulpit rock. 

 

I am only familiar with Geiranger and Flam.  Both are excellent ports, and both are really accessible.  The train is the highlight of Flam, and it is very close from where you dock.  There's also the stegastein viewpoint that I think is accessible by bus (we took the kids to a goat farm in the afternoon so I can't personally confirm but hopefully someone else can confirm the amount of walking required).

 

Geiranger you usually take a bus around the major viewpoints, all of which are easily accessible with little walking.   The only issue in Geiranger is that the highest viewpoint is only accessible via a seasonal road, after the big avalanche (usually mid-lateMay/ possibly early June if you are unlucky.)  We were there in late May, unfortunately 2 days before it opened.  But the rest of Geiranger was amazing, although if you have a later cruise option that would be after the road opens that's something to consider.  

 

My mobility issue is limited to my right leg from my knee to my ankle due to 23 fractures from an accident. My balance was not particularly impacted but I still deal with range of motion issues and swelling.  I watched a video of the climb to Pulpit rock and while I might be able to make the climb, it would likely impact the rest of my trip.  It reminds me of a climb I made up the side of a mountain in Japan about 6 months after I broke my leg.  I have beautiful photos of the temples but I still have nightmares about the climb.

 

I have normally only done 7 night cruises especially since I travel solo now, but there is this 14 night option on Sky Princess that would visit both Flam, Geiranger and Stavanger plus it adds Honningsvag.  The downside would be that I would probably need to stick to an inside cabin though.

 

Sky Princess

June 15 Southampton, England 4:00 PM

June 16 At Sea

June 17 Haugesund 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 18 Flam, Norway 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

June 19 Hellesylt, Norway 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

June 19 Geiranger, Norway 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM

June 20 At Sea

June 21 At Sea

June 22 Honningsvag, Norway 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 23 At Sea

June 24 Trondheim, Norway 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 25 Alesund, Norway 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 26 Olden, Norway 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

June 27 Stavanger, Norway 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

June 28 At Sea

June 29 Southampton, England 7:00 AM

 

 

[kitkat343]

The 14 day visits my 3 favorite ports from my 7 day cruise in Norway - Flam, Geiranger and Olden.  In Olden, you'd have the Loen Skylift, which is expensive but an amazing experience and very accessible for mobility.  It's also close to the Briksdal Glacier.  The Briksdal Glacier has been hit hard by global warming, but its a lovely drive and lovely hike to the glacier (you can rent a troll car that will take you most of the way there, and there is a completely flat brief walk the rest of the way to the glacier (I went with my 2 year old, not expecting him to make it to the glacier, but he slowly but steadily made walked all they way there from where the troll car left us to the glacier by himself.)  If you know not to expect a huge glacier, you will really enjoy this excursion.  You just might want to email Olden Adventures since they provide transportation to both excursions and can confirm if you can do both with a 4 pm onboard time.  We did both easily (and if you had a 5 pm all aboard I'd think you'd have no problem), but I don't know what time the Loen Skylift starts and that would be the priority because that's really spectacular.  We booked our Norway cruise at the last minute because my husband is (understandably) scared of traveling with small kids, and they only had inside cabins.  I was still really grateful to have been able to go.  I don't know most of the other port stops, but know that people seem to love Alesund, and would say overall that Norway was really one of the most special trips I took, and I'd love to see more of this beautiful country someday.  Hopefully people who know more than me can chime in soon.

Edited February 26, 2023 by kitkat343

[Coral]

On 2/25/2023 at 11:36 PM, katmu said:

 

My mobility issue is limited to my right leg from my knee to my ankle due to 23 fractures from an accident. My balance was not particularly impacted but I still deal with range of motion issues and swelling.  I watched a video of the climb to Pulpit rock and while I might be able to make the climb, it would likely impact the rest of my trip.  It reminds me of a climb I made up the side of a mountain in Japan about 6 months after I broke my leg.  I have beautiful photos of the temples but I still have nightmares about the climb.

 

I have normally only done 7 night cruises especially since I travel solo now, but there is this 14 night option on Sky Princess that would visit both Flam, Geiranger and Stavanger plus it adds Honningsvag.  The downside would be that I would probably need to stick to an inside cabin though.

 

Sky Princess

June 15 Southampton, England 4:00 PM

June 16 At Sea

June 17 Haugesund 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 18 Flam, Norway 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

June 19 Hellesylt, Norway 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

June 19 Geiranger, Norway 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM

June 20 At Sea

June 21 At Sea

June 22 Honningsvag, Norway 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 23 At Sea

June 24 Trondheim, Norway 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 25 Alesund, Norway 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

June 26 Olden, Norway 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

June 27 Stavanger, Norway 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

June 28 At Sea

June 29 Southampton, England 7:00 AM

 

 

This is a great itinerary!

[Coral]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:11 PM, kitkat343 said:

My concern is that if you walk with a cane, you'd need to research if you think pulpit rock will be accessible for you ( I think as far as hikes go it is a relatively easy one but you have a better sense of your exact mobility than I do).  We had to skip it since we  had a 2 and 6 year old with us, and we aren't capable of carrying them on a hike (most families are and bring kids there but it isn't physically an option for our family).  It might have been poor planning on my part, but Stavanger without Pulpit Rock was a bit underwhelming for us (we went on  a smaller boat to see the fjords, walked around the quaint town and visited (I think) the petroleum museum.)    It was a nice day, but absolutely not a must do (but I would imagine Pulpit rock is amazing, so I certainly understand the popularity of the stop).  Someone else may have better ideas of what to do in Stavanger besides pulpit rock. 

The boat ride in Stavanger is great - one can see Pulpit Rock that way.

 

Also - I would like to try: Flor & Fjære. 

[oakridger]

Go for the 14-day trip!  I've not sailed on Princess, but the itinerary is so good and covers a huge portion of the coast.  June will have the midnight sun at its best all the way north in Honningsvag.  You may even have a crossing the Arctic Circle ceremony on board!

 

Please let us know what you decide.

 

~Nancy

 

 

[oxfordgirl20]

Does anyone have recommendations for local tour companies?  I am going on a Celebrity cruise at the end of June to Bergen, Olden, Alesund, Stavanger and want to use local companies for excursions rather than the cruise line's - even though I do always need to check that they return in plenty of time for all aboard!!

[elaine5]

Stavanger-https://rodne.no/en/ Stavanger boat ride to pulpit rock

Olden-troll cars http://oldenadventure.com

Bergen-we bought tickets for funicular and walked down and another trip did the Hanseatic museums bldgs

Alesund is a great walk up the 500 steps to top of mtn (easy-5 yr olds were doing it) for great views--free