kaisatsu

17 hours ago, mahdnc said:

What kind of tourist services would be unavailable during the later part of the season? I know that’s a pretty general question but while that sounds quite logical, I can’t imagine what that would mean in my case. I imagine stores are still open? Are certain important attractions closed? Private guides can still be hired? I would imagine the ship would still offer their normal range of expensive shorex offerings?

Small ports like Geiranger (~250 residents) operate largely on a seasonal basis, so when traveling in low or shoulder season, it's important to research up front if the activities you want are available. For example, the sightseeing bus, RIB boat tours, electric car rentals, etc. will all stop running at the end of the season. In the past, the season typically ended by September, but due to climate change and increased cruise traffic, some operators now have longer seasons. Some ship excursions will likely be available, but the selection and capacity may be reduced. Advanced research and early bookings are essential.

Tourist shops may also close, since they often rely on seasonal workers, and won't see enough off-season visitors to warrant staying open. (There are a few small corner-store style groceries that are open year-round.)

In larger coastal cities, there tends to be more year-round visitors, so they are less impacted by seasonal closings. However, if you're looking at outdoor activities, this is another thing to check as seasonal offerings may vary.

On 9/21/2024 at 2:43 PM, mahdnc said:

The midnight sun thing is a cool phrase, but in reality I don't find it all that interesting unless I can be awake for all 24 hours.

You really just have to stay up until around 1 am, because you’ll start to be able to see that the sun is rising again without ever having set.

On 9/21/2024 at 3:12 PM, mahdnc said:

In particular, I was surprised that both of you felt that Option 1 was better than Option 3 because between the two, I was leaning towards #3 because of Bergen.

Itinerary alone, I do think #3 is better, but it’s extremely late in the season. Even if you’re not keen on the Midnight Sun, the earlier sailing will be much more likely to have tourist services operating.

On 9/21/2024 at 3:12 PM, mahdnc said:

I am also "unhappy" that Option 2 does not have Geiranger in it because to me, Geiranger represents the quintessential Norwegian fjord experience probably due to all the photos I have seen and some good marketing.

Flåm is a wonderful port to visit. And though Geiranger is famous and admittedly beautiful, there are many spectacular fjords in Norway. While it’s one of the favorite fjord ports, it’s not at all a case of “you must see this place while you’re in Norway.” It (along with Flåm) are simply on the shortlist of best places to visit from a cruise. (For those on driving holidays, the advice is often to skip them in favor of smaller less-touristed places, since you don’t need to rely on local tours or Infrastructure.)

On 9/21/2024 at 3:04 PM, mahdnc said:

 

Where did you go to see the eclipse this past April?  I am glad that you got to see it because the weather that day was kind of crazy because it was cloudy in a lot of places--but that is April weather in the USA.  

I was in central Indiana.

Comparing the Norwegian ports…

1. 6 Jun: Haugesund, Stavanger, Olden, Tromsø, Honningsvåg, Molde, Ålesund, Geiranger (plus Zeebrugge)

2. 15 Aug: Haugesund, Ålesund, Flåm, Bergen

3. 29 Aug: Stavanger, Ålesund, Olden, Tromsø, Honningsvåg, Trondheim, Molde, Geiranger, Bergen

Between 1 & 3, the difference in ports is swapping Haugesund and Zeebrugge for Bergen. Bruges is nice, but Bergen is one of the best port cities in Norway. Haugesund is pretty forgettable.

However, 29 August is quite late. Some seasonal tourism operators may likely have ended their season by then. Thanks to global warming, the last few years have seen fairly mild temperatures into September, and we hit the low 20°s C in Oslo this week. However, you’d need to be prepared for cooler weather (though you’ll need some layers up in the Arctic even in June).

between the weather and the Midnight Sun, June is definitely the better time of year. And given how very late in the season a 29 Aug departure is, I think I’d give the advantage to #1 over #3 in spite of swapping Bergen for Bruges/Haugesund.

As for #2 as a southern Norway cruise, it’s not bad at all. Most 7-night itineraries only visit one major fjord, and Flåm is a great choice for that. It includes Bergen, which is another big plus, and Ålesund brings a much different coastal vibe with its art nouveau architecture. Not a bad lineup for a shorter southern area cruise. (And Haugesund can be interesting if you’re into WWII history.)

Edited: I just realized that you said “another” total eclipse, which I suppose does factor in a bit. I think I’d still go for the one-time opportunity, unless there are reasons you wouldn’t be able to visit the Arctic another time.
_____

Will the ship be in the path of totality? If so, hands-down due the solar eclipse cruise. Norway and the Midnight Sun are around every year, but witnessing a total solar eclipse is such an amazing opportunity. It truly is magnitudes more amazing than a partial eclipse.

I flew to the US in April for the eclipse, because it happened to pass over my hometown, so some friends and family all gathered to try to see it. We assumed that if the weather didn’t cooperate, we’d still get to spend time with everyone visiting from out of town, and we had a place to stay without dealing with the crazy hotel costs or traffic. In the end the weather worked out, and it was honestly incredible to see.

If you have the option to see it from a cruise without having to battle the travel logistics of being in the right place at the right time, I would jump on that opportunity. And if the weather is disappointing, you still have ports to explore and enjoy.

I’d save northern Norway for another time. Either a mug night sun trip, or maybe a vcryise or visit to Tromsø to see the northern lights.

Okay, I went and looked these up, because I was curious, and I see that they also visit Trondheim, Lofoten, Tromsø, and Honningsvåg. That makes a difference (I love Lofoten and Tromsø, by the way).

If you’re spending that much time in the Arctic, I’d choose the June sailing so that you have a chance to witness the Midnight Sun. While I do think Skjolden and Ålesund are the better choice for the southern ports, for me the difference isn’t enough to outweigh the 24-hour daylight experience. Neither fjord port is phenomenal, but Eidfjord will have a lovely long sail-in and sail-out, and you’ll have a good taste of Norwegian coastal towns in Trondheim and Tromsø. So I’d choose the June sailing for the Midnight Sun, and just plan and book well in advance for Måløy and Eidfjord.

You say those are the differences. Are there other ports?

Eidfjord and Skjolden will both have some nice sail-in/out scenery, but both are small towns with limited port excursion options. Between Måløy and Ålesund (both coastal ports, rather than fjords), I think Ålesund has a lot more to recommend it with its larger size and notable art nouveau architecture.

In the 17 years I’ve lived in Norway and been posting on this forum and TripAdvisor, I don’t think I have ever heard of Leirvik. Besides yours, the only posts on CruiseCritic that mention it are a single Rotterdam sailing where it was a last-minute substitution, possibly with no excursions available.

For the UK ports, you might get better feedback elsewhere. Aberdeen is mostly known in Norway for its oil industry, and having spent a week there for work, I didn’t find it particularly pretty or interesting. I don’t know much about Lerwick, but we have a handful of Shetland Islanders among our immigrant community, and it sounds small but charming.

I think it depends a bit on what you’re looking for. Neither Eidfjord + Måløy or Skjolden + Ålesund will give you much of a taste of Norway. But if those are the only options, I’d choose Skjolden + Ålesund, because at least Ålesund is a fairly well-liked port.

It’s common for the larger ships to use a single landing site for the full day. So while a 200-pax ship may do both a morning and afternoon activity, the larger ships may need the full day to rotate through all the passengers. Especially in the event that local conditions change (e.g. swell increases) causing delays in landing operations.

Some ships try to offer additional sea-based activities like zodiac cruising and kayaking at the same time as landings, so that people don’t have to spend as much time on the ship, but this is hit or miss.

Honestly, I’ve heard people who went on larger ship say they felt they had plenty of time, but I’ve never heard that from anyone who’s done both a larger ship and a smaller ship. Personally, I did a ~200-pax ship after having done a ~100 pax trip before that, I definitely noticed the difference. The downtime from the 200-person rotations probably made a more relaxing trip, but it was definitely half the time ashore.

On 9/12/2024 at 2:53 PM, OnTheJourney said:

a cruise departure out of Buenos Aires is really nice. We

Curious what you enjoyed about this?

My last Antarctic expedition wasn’t able to disembark in Ushuaia due to COVID, so we had to sail up to Montevideo instead. It was fascinating to see the huge fleet of Chinese squid fishing vessels with their insanely bright lights all lined up along the border into international waters, but other than that, I just found it to be a lot of quiet days at sea.

I live in Norway and haven’t carried any cash for the past four years.

That said, there were some tourists at my local grocery last week (probably using an AirBnB in the area) who had trouble because the card reader wouldn’t accept a magnetic strip. Usually you can use tap to pay, but having a chip (preferably chip & PIN) is nice as a backup.

To offer another perspective: In my opinion, the primary reason to include the Arctic is to visit Tromsø and ideally Lofoten. For Norwegians, Lofoten has long been considered the most beautiful place in the country (i.e. prettier than the fjords). Though it has become magnitudes more touristed since the dawn of Instagram.

Also, the Arctic tundra up around Hammerfest and Honningsvåg is a fascinating contrast to the landscapes in other parts of the country. And without traveling to Svalbard, Nordkapp is probably the farthest north that most people will reach in a lifetime!

I would recommend cruising the fjords over cruising the Arctic. I love the Arctic but it’s not what most people are expecting when they think of Norway, and the fjords are beautiful and well worth seeing.

Few Norway cruises would be much of a party atmosphere, regardless of the cruiseline, since it’s an expensive place to travel and the draw is the scenery. That said, I haven’t heard great things about MSC in terms of the shipboard experience, but I’ve never cruised with them. I have sailed Cunard on a cruise that combined the fjords with the high Arctic, and it was a much older passenger demographic than any other cruise I’ve done. We were in our late 20s then and were actually mistaken for staff several times. My only qualm with Cunard for the fjords is that we were doing a fair amount of hiking, and returning to the ship in muddy trekking gear got us some unpleasant looks from some of the fancier passengers.

There are so many Norway cruises these days, since they reduced the Baltic market after the loss of St.Petersburg. I’d be surprised if you can’t find something better. Geiranger, Flåm, and Olden are the top three fjord ports, so a sailing that visits two of them is great. For other fjord ports, look on Google Maps, etc to see how far inland they are and how narrow the waterways are. Longer sailing from open water and narrower waterways mean better scenery. Among the coastal cities, Bergen is a perennial favorite and well worth visiting.

36 minutes ago, Hilaurennn said:

 

1. STAVANGER, OLDEN, HELLESYLT, HAUGESUND

 

2. MALOY, FLAM, HAUGESUN, KRISTINAND.

 

3. ALESUND,HELLESYLT, HAUGESUND, LERWICK

 

4. HAUGESUND,NORDFJORDEID, FLAM, STAVANGER. 

1. Olden is one of the three favorite fjord ports. Hellesylt gives you access to Geirangerfjord, but you’d need to book an additional excursion or ferry to make the trip to/from Geiranger. Stavanger is a bigger city with a handful of sights and close connections to the North Sea oil industry. Haugesund is less interesting, but has some WWII history. This includes one great port, one with potential, a larger coastal city, and one port that is less exciting.

2. Flåm is another of the favorite fjord ports. Måløy is a less common port, so I don’t know as much about it. Kristiansand is not a highlight. Haugesund is described above. That’s one great port, one unusual, and two less exciting. I don’t think I’d recommend this one unless you’ve been before and are looking for new destinations.

3. Ålesund is a coastal city known for its art nouveau architecture. It’s well-liked as a Norwegian coastal (I.e. not fjord) port. Lerwick is a wholly different country, though the Shetlands share some climate and cultural similarities. Personally I think it fits thematically and geographically better into a Scotland cruise. This is the most varied with excursion access to one iconic fjord, a pleasant coastal city, a Shetland call, and one less exciting port. However, you don’t actually call on any of the favorite fjord ports. You do get some pretty fjord sailing into and out of Hellesylt, and you have access to Geiranger while in port.

4. Nordfjordeid is a pretty small port, and you’ll have a nice sail-in but not as long as the sail-in to Olden. This cruise gives you one great fjord port with Flåm, one additional fjord port with Nordfjordeid, a larger coastal city with Stavanger, and Haugesund, which you’re getting on all of them.

If you’re primarily wanting the fjords, I’d choose 1 or 4. They each have two fjord ports - one favorite and one that’s less popular. I lean towards 1, because it’s not hard to visit Geiranger from Hellesylt with a little planning, which gives you two of the three favorites. Unless you’re particularly interested in the Flåmsbana railway, in which case 4 might be the better choice for you personally.

Which fjord are you trying to visit? The most scenic parts of the Sognefjord around Flåm are a long daytrip from Bergen, and Bergen is a lovely little port city in its own right.

It’s a shame to have so few fjord ports if you’re interested in a fjord cruise, but you will have some fjord scenery on the way in and out of Olden. Are there any excursions to Geiranger from Åndalsnes?

(Sorry! I completely misread that as fjord “Cruise” rather than fjord “Center”)

Are these excursions from Geiranger or Hellesylt?

If they’re from Geiranger,

 I’d choose Dalsnibba, because you will sail the full length of the fjord on the ship, and you can just go out on deck and enjoy the fjord-cruising views as you arrive. (I recommend a top deck, where you can easily move from one side to the other if you want to admire all the waterfalls.)

If you’re only sailing to Hellesylt, it would depend on your other ports. If you don’t have any deep fjord cruising on the itinerary, I’d pick the cruise through Geiranger to maximize the scenery and to get the perspective of how deep and narrow the fjords are. And because the weather at the top of Dalsnibba isn’t always clear.

Which ship are you on? I’ve traveled on Fram, and the boots were provided, but I don’t know about the big 500-passenger ships. If your documentation says they’re provided, I would expect it to be correct.

You will need waterproof pants. The typical choice is a rain pant that you can layer over your wool base and any insulating layers you might want. This is important as the landing boats can be splashy and in some cases (less common with Hurtigruten’s polarsirkel boats) you need to step out into water.

If Hurtigruten is providing a parka, it’s typically just waterproof and uninsulated, so you’d need insulating layers underneath.

Hat, scarf or neck gaiter, gloves, sunglasses. Don’t underestimate the wind (especially when the ship is under way), but the temperatures around the peninsula are usually at or just below freezing.

These are inner fjords that are a long way from open seas. The conditions are more like a lake than the ocean, so there will be some movement, but it’s typically much less than I experience on trains or buses. Or even on cruise ships in some cases.

The cruise in Flåm is electric, and I find those boats to have less vibration than the combustion engines. If you’re on the car ferry to Geiranger, then there may be some engine rumbling.

What kind of photography are you looking to do? I’ve been on several fjord trips over the years with a variety of lower-end digital cameras, and I’ve never had a problem. If you can use your camera on the cruise ship, you’ll be able to use it on a fjord ferry.

There's a company in Skjolden offering RIB boat tours: https://www.adventuretours.no/

They also mention customized tours, so if there's something in the area you're particularly interested in, you could try contacting them.

On 7/29/2024 at 10:28 PM, danny8826 said:

Any updates from anyone?

We are leaving at the end of Sept and doing this tour:  Tour from Alesund to Trollstigen, The Land Of The Trolls, at the beginning of Oct. 

If you have done the tour recently, please share your experience.  Would you recommend it?

Trollstigen will be closed through the end of 2024 due to the continued risks of rockslides.

https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-tips-a-z/norwegian-scenic-routes/trollstigen-road-closed-2024/

2 hours ago, NightOne said:

 

All the documentation I am seeing refers to the UNESCO world heritage fjords which are only Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord.

 

This does not appear to be applicable to Aurlandsfjord, Sognefjord, Sunnylvsfjord, Storfjord, Innvikfjord,  Njordfjord, or others. (or does it?)

 

In that case sailings to Flam can continue as well as those to Olden. Also, as long as ships make stops at Hellesylt and let regulation complying small excursion boats do Geirangerfjord for cruise passengers then it seems like business as usual except no direct visits to Geiranger dock and tender spots.

 

What am I missing?

The UNESCO-listed western fjords refers to the Nærøyfjord and Geirangerfjord areas, not just those fjords themselves. The listed area refers to five fjords: Nærøyfjord, Aurlandsfjord, Geirangerfjord, Sunnylvsfjord and Tafjord. Flåm is within the area typically defined as the Aurlandsfjord, so it is likely that it will also be affected. Similarly, Sunnylvsfjord is the stretch of fjord that leads to Hellesylt and that the actual Geirangerfjord branches off of, so it is quite likely that Hellesylt will also be off limits. Tafjord has less impact on cruise traffic, since there are no common cruise ports on that arm of the fjord.

Although Storting approved the resolution, the details of its implementation are still being hammered out, and several organizations have submitted proposals. If you want a deep dive, you can read the amendments proposed by the Norwegian Maritime Authority, which is available in an English translation.

5 hours ago, Laura Matic said:

Hi all, we are cruising from Southampton on the MSC Virtuosa August 24th for 7 nights. We're a family of 5 (3 boys 3,7&11) Can anyone give me some advise on what clothing to pack?

Layers and rain gear. Adjusted for wind chill, expect temperatures to likely be between 5° and 25°C. Rain is easily possible, as is sun. It’s fairly late in the season, but you may still encounter warmer weather. So choose pieces that can be put together for more warmth if it’s cool and worn separately if it’s warm.

I’ve also done the reverse trip on Ortelius. In theory. In 30 scheduled days, besides the sub-Antarctic islands, we managed only two heli operations (one flight seeing trip and one landing), one zodiac landing, and one zodiac cruise. A combination of weather and ice conditions caused us to skip the peninsula entirely, and we were still racing to reach Ushuaia on time (to the extent that we couldn’t even have regular meal service, because the ship was moving too much to let go of the dish you were eating from). I was glad I’d already been to the peninsula twice, so I didn’t feel I was missing out on too much (besides the Ross ice shelf and McMurdo Station, which were two of the reasons I’d booked the trip in the first place).

There are definitely some more luxury lines that sail East Antarctica. Scenic Eclipse is one that also carries helicopters. Without helis, Ponant has some Ross Sea voyages. As do Aurora and a few others.

It’s a great view, but not a great hike. Most of the route is not especially scenic, and the trail is very crowded in good weather or high season.

The trips on the NZ side are very different from the South America trips to the peninsula.

First and foremost, it’s much farther south on the NZ side. You won’t reach the continent until you’re well beyond the Antarctic Circle, and it takes several days of sailing each direction. So although these trips tend to be much longer than the common peninsula trips, much of the time is spent on the way down and back.

There are far fewer landing sites, so even on the smallest ships you will be lucky to have one operation per day (if that). Also be aware that some sites like the Dry Valleys are typically accessible only by helicopter, and not all trips have helis.

However, if you’re more interested in polar history than wildlife, the NZ side is by far the better option with several historic huts from the early polar expeditions. And the aforementioned Dry Valleys are one of the world’s most unique places.

In general, though, I’d recommend most first-time visitors head to the peninsula, because of the easy access, the variety of scenery, and the plethora of wildlife. If you have the time and money for a longer trip, include South Georgia and the Falklands.