Please help! Deciding b/w Norway fjord itineraries

[Llbgal2024]

Hello!

 

I'm wondering if I can get some feedback. I'm deciding between two Norway cruises. Both are verandah/balcony staterooms BUT the Cunard Queen Anne would be partially obstructed view.

 

Both are 7 night cruises

 

Here are the itineraries:

 

Cunard, Queen Anne 

Southampton 

Stavenger

Olden

(Scenic cruising innvikfjorden, Nordfjordeid)

Geiranger

(Scenic cruising Sunnylvsfjorden and Storfjorden)

Haugesund

Southampton 

 

Holland America: Rotterdam 

Rotterdam 

Eidfjord

Bergen

Flam

Stavanger 

 

Please help! I'm a little put off by the obstructed view... I've been on HAL many times but never Cunard. 

[Llbgal2024]

I should also add that there is scenic cruising on the HAL itinerary -- through Hardangerfjord and Sognesfjord.

 

As an aside, if I do the HAL trip -- does anyone know if there is an excursion from one of the ports listed to see Geirangerfjord?

[hallasm]

Immediately I think that Cunard has the best Itinerary.

Cunard has two scenic deep fjords to Geiranger and Olden, while HAL has one to Flåm (Sognefjorden and Auerlandsfjorden) and not so interesting to Eidfjord (Hardangerfjorden).

Bergen is more interesting than Stavanger.

Both Haugesund and Eidfjord are less interesting ports.

If you want to see Geiranger Fjord, Cunard is the best bet - It is not possible with excursions to Geiranger from HAL ports.

[CCJack]

I would say they are pretty equal, yes Cunard has 2 long fjords, but HAL has  Bergen which would be a shame to miss if you are going to Norway.     How about the embarkation city, have you been to both London and Amsterdam?   If you have not been to one of those, then a pre cruise stay of a couple nights would be my plan and that would be the deciding factor between the two cruises. 

 

They both look like great cruises, have fun.

 

 

Edited May 2 by CCJack

[kitkat343]

My three favorite ports were Geiranger, Olden and Flam.  You'd get two of them on Cunard.  Flam is really lovely, but on any of those days you might have tough weather that makes it hard to appreciate the spectacular beauty of Norway, so on the Cunard cruise you have two shots at clear weather so you would be able to appreciate the most beautiful fjords.   If you do chose the HAL cruise, make sure you plan to do both the Flam railroad and Stegastein Viewpoint (if the weather is clear you can go to the viewpoint.  You should do the railway either way - we went with some rain/cloud cover and the railway was still lovely).

 

I've sailed Cunard and HAL twice (heaven help me both times on Cunard and once on HAL with small children).  I don't necessarily recommend either line for kids, but if you aren't crazy enough to bring kids with you on those lines, Cunard  is a lovely line with excellent food.  I actually prefer Cunard to HAL.  They do generally  take formal night quite a bit more seriously on Cunard than HAL, with dress codes applying to most of the ship, but I throw on an ordinary black dress and given the fact that I am chasing small kids no one said anything (on the second Cunard cruise I went all out and put a sparkly silver belt that did not match my ordinary day dress at all but at least was an attempt at the black tie required for Xmas/New Years Celebration). 

Edited May 3 by kitkat343