Cruising to Norway

My family and I live in the US (2 adults, 1 teen, 1 primary schooler, and 2 grandparents) and are considering a cruise to Norway in June 2018. I see choices like Princess (Sapphire), Norwegian (Jade), P&O (Azura/Britannia), and HAL (Koningsdam). Would welcome any comments as to which of these cruise lines/ships may be more appropriate for my family size/age etc. So far, most of the reviews I've found for these ships are mediocre. We've cruised before on Celebrity, Carnival, RCCL, and Disney -- but all in the Caribbean. Any suggestions are very welcome. Thank you!

We are long time RCCL (and Celebrity) cruisers and we just got back from a Norway cruise. First off - we loved the Norway cruise. I think the ship is a little less important in Europe than in the Caribbean - it is more about the destination...

We went to Norway on Cunard, simply because it is the only dates that worked for us - and the Queen Elizabeth was very nice indeed.

You likely can't go wrong with any of those 4 ships. I know the Koningsdam is new and was docked next to us in Flam. That was our first choice but the dates didn't quite work out.

I would be looking at the stops and not the ships if I were you. (and also the departure ports as you may want to spend a few days there.)

I would be happy to answer any questions about our stops, (Bergen, Flam, Andalsnes, Stavanger). If I were to rate those on our experience (starting with the best): Flam, Andalsnes, Bergen, Stavanger. We left from Southampton and spent 3 nights in London.

I completely agree that Norway is about the destinations (and we'd rank Flam, Geiranger and Olden as our three favorite cities; we were in Bergen on a truly awful weather day so couldn't really appreciate it, and Pulpit Rock is the must-do for Stavanger. If you aren't planning on hiking to Pulpit Rock, you can skip Stavanger.)

We also sailed Cunard, and overall it was a lovely cruise. One thing to consider is that their dress code applies to the whole ship, not just the main dining room so there are few places you can visit on formal nights without being dressed up. People were fairly tolerant of the fact that I was really wearing an ordinary black day dress on formal night since my 6 and 2 year old guarantee I will be wearing food on my clothes at some point in the evening. But you will see ladies in evening gowns even in the buffet ( the only dining option in which you don't need to dress up formally.

The only other issue is that you cannot leave children behind in the kids club on Cunard without an adult staying on board. The kids club doesn't open until I think 2 pm on sea days. We took our kids on all the excursions, so this policy didn't matter to us but parents need to be aware of it in case they were planning on hiking to Pulpit rock without the kids.

I'll suggest RCCL out of Copenhagen - Serenade are operating Norway Fjord cruises in 2017 and 2018.

I did a Vision Fjord cruise with my 95 year old mother in law

Highlights and link to my review

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I completely agree that Norway is about the destinations (and we'd rank Flam, Geiranger and Olden as our three favorite cities; we were in Bergen on a truly awful weather day so couldn't really appreciate it, and Pulpit Rock is the must-do for Stavanger. If you aren't planning on hiking to Pulpit Rock, you can skip Stavanger.)

 

We also sailed Cunard, and overall it was a lovely cruise. One thing to consider is that their dress code applies to the whole ship, not just the main dining room so there are few places you can visit on formal nights without being dressed up. People were fairly tolerant of the fact that I was really wearing an ordinary black day dress on formal night since my 6 and 2 year old guarantee I will be wearing food on my clothes at some point in the evening. But you will see ladies in evening gowns even in the buffet ( the only dining option in which you don't need to dress up formally.

 

 

The only other issue is that you cannot leave children behind in the kids club on Cunard without an adult staying on board. The kids club doesn't open until I think 2 pm on sea days. We took our kids on all the excursions, so this policy didn't matter to us but parents need to be aware of it in case they were planning on hiking to Pulpit rock without the kids.

I woudnt call any of the inner Fjord ports mentioned a 'city'. They are all no more than a small cluster of shops around the dock offering access to the inland areas of Norway.

Stavanger offers so much more than just Pulpit Rock. We have been twice and never seen Pulpit Rock, but know we could see much more. We had a fine day in Bergen (very rare as it does rain there for 250Ish days a year), but one day was enough.

Princess Grand class ships, which also includes Azura/Ventura don't have a crows nest bar.

We have done Ventura and Eclipse to the fjords and would never consider a Grand Class again because of this aspect of the ship design.

I woudnt call any of the inner Fjord ports mentioned a 'city'. They are all no more than a small cluster of shops around the dock offering access to the inland areas of Norway.

 

Stavanger offers so much more than just Pulpit Rock. We have been twice and never seen Pulpit Rock, but know we could see much more. We had a fine day in Bergen (very rare as it does rain there for 250Ish days a year), but one day was enough.

 

Princess Grand class ships, which also includes Azura/Ventura don't have a crows nest bar.

 

We have done Ventura and Eclipse to the fjords and would never consider a Grand Class again because of this aspect of the ship design.

I agree, with the inner fjords comment. Even Bergen is not a very big "city" . I only put Stavanger down on our list because, we did have bad weather there, but excellent weather everywhere else. Flam is very small but the sail in (3 hours or so - I got up at 4 am and was the only one on the deck of our ship - really special) is worth it. Also, we took train up and biked down at Flam and that really was fun as well. That would be our don't miss day.

Azamara has 15 night cruises to Norway.

We are booked with HAL on the Koningsdam June 3 next year. We looked at the same cruises you are considering. We chose HAL because of the nice new ship, got a good price on a beautiful Aft suite, and the itinerary. Yes, we will miss Flam and riding the train. But all in all, HAL seems to be the best match for us. Good luck with your plans and maybe we'll even see you in board!

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We are booked with HAL on the Koningsdam June 3 next year. We looked at the same cruises you are considering. We chose HAL because of the nice new ship, got a good price on a beautiful Aft suite, and the itinerary. Yes, we will miss Flam and riding the train. But all in all, HAL seems to be the best match for us. Good luck with your plans and maybe we'll even see you in board!

 

 

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You know that your itinary is I think even more beautiful then the one that stops in Flamm.

In your case you have 2 sailing through the fjords. The day in Eidfjord and again in Geiranger. The geiranger fjord is as beautiful or maybe even better then the one to Flam. Yes you donot have the trainride but this tour, also offered by HAL,brings you to 3 amazing viewpoints near Geiranger. http://www.geirangerfjord.no/panorama-exclusive-bus

Since you have a nice long day in Alesund either book the long day tour to Trollstigen or rent a car.

You will enjoy this cruise!

The 12 nights out of Southampton with the Jade to the North Cape is great. Did almost the same out of Hamburg this year with the jade.

Since you have a nice long day in Alesund either book the long day tour to Trollstigen or rent a car.

You will enjoy this cruise!

Ine,

Thank you for the boost of confidence that we've chosen a great itinerary! Even though it's still a long time till June 2018, we have already rented a car and plan to do the Path of the Trolls in Alesund. So happy to read that you confirm this was a smart excursion choice.

Hopefully the OP has gotten some useful information from this thread too!

Freda

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Since you have a nice long day in Alesund either book the long day tour to Trollstigen or rent a car.

 

You will enjoy this cruise!

Ine,

Thank you for the boost of confidence that we've chosen a great itinerary! Even though it's still a long time till June 2018, we have already rented a car and plan to do the Path of the Trolls in Alesund. So happy to read that you confirm this was a smart excursion choice.

Hopefully the OP has gotten some useful information from this thread too!

We had 2 cruises before to Norway (and Flamm, Alesund and Bergen) and will sail again end of this month on Koningsdam. Thanks to another CC posting by Blocks I was made aware of going to Trollstigen by renting a car. I didnot realise before it was easy to do from Alesund and the long day there makes it possible. Check this link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2512295

Depending the weather in Bergen we might stay on board or (we did the Floybahn before) maybe go to this cablecar, https://en.visitbergen.com/things-to-do/ulriken643-p824813

We were in Geiranger once, but too early in the season as many things and roads were still closed.

Eidfjord is new to us, also here we have a rental car to go to the Voringsfossen waterfall. https://en.hardangerfjord.com/eidfjord/things-to-do/sightseeing-eidfjord-p1000833

Unfortunately no rental cars available in Geiranger this time, so we booked this tour. http://www.geirangerfjord.no/panorama-exclusive-bus

Looking forward to all this.

Thanks for everyone's responses -- our top two choices are (A) P&O Britannia, which goes to:

Stavanger - Olden - Innvikfjorden* - Nordfjord* - Romsdalsfjord* - Andalsnes - Bergen

*= sail through.

And (B) Princess Sapphire, which is more $$, but goes to:

Stavanger - Olden - Hellesylt - Geiranger - Bergen

Which one would you rather do?