Land of the Midnight Sun (Norway) Cruise on Sapphire Princess

We are considering taking the Land of the Midnight Sun cruise in June 2019 on the Sapphire Princess and am looking for opinions on the itinerary and ship.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

The ship is scheduled for dry dock in March. There are a lot of negative comments about the ship after it came off of a 3 year charter. I am hoping they will all be fixed during dry dock.

I am scheduled for a similar cruise this June. There is a June 23rd and August 18th roll call for this year which has a lot of private tour information. It maybe worth reading those roll calls also. Our cruise in June is not going to Flaam.

The ship is scheduled for dry dock in March. There are a lot of negative comments about the ship after it came off of a 3 year charter. I am hoping they will all be fixed during dry dock.

 

I am scheduled for a similar cruise this June. There is a June 23rd and August 18th roll call for this year which has a lot of private tour information. It maybe worth reading those roll calls also. Our cruise in June is not going to Flaam.

Thanks Coral! I'll take a look at those roll calls.

I'm booked on the June 23 trip. Both it & the Aug. 18 are filling up FAST!

We did this last year on the Crown. If you like scenery you'll love it, some of the most amazing scenery ever.

Here are our photos.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/94468374@N02/Q5132D

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In Stavanger for something different than everyone else will be doing try Flor & Fjaere. I was there June 2017 and they added a special 11:00 departure with lunch due to cruise ship season. I loved it!. I know many people will doing Pulpit Rock in some way. I am sorry I did miss doing that, though.

https://florogfjare.no/english

In Stavanger for something different than everyone else will be doing try Flor & Fjaere. I was there June 2017 and they added a special 11:00 departure with lunch due to cruise ship season. I loved it!. I know many people will doing Pulpit Rock in some way. I am sorry I did miss doing that, though.

 

https://florogfjare.no/english

Wow - stunning. I need to rethink this. I wish I could do both.

We did this last year on the Crown. If you like scenery you'll love it, some of the most amazing scenery ever.

 

Here are our photos.

 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/94468374@N02/Q5132D

 

Sent from my VFD 900 using Tapatalk

Beautiful - thanks!

In Stavanger for something different than everyone else will be doing try Flor & Fjaere. I was there June 2017 and they added a special 11:00 departure with lunch due to cruise ship season. I loved it!. I know many people will doing Pulpit Rock in some way. I am sorry I did miss doing that, though.

 

https://florogfjare.no/english

I'm convinced! Thanks.

In Stavanger for something different than everyone else will be doing try Flor & Fjaere. I was there June 2017 and they added a special 11:00 departure with lunch due to cruise ship season. I loved it!. I know many people will doing Pulpit Rock in some way. I am sorry I did miss doing that, though.

 

https://florogfjare.no/english

The timing doesn't work with my cruise ship time (8-4). When did they add the 11 am departure before your sailing? The early departure doesn't get me back to the ship by 4. How did you hear about it.

We just did Northern Norway this past summer. We stayed onboard at Gravdal and took pictures from the ship as not much to do. We walked around town in Tromso and enjoyed that; we were going to take the bus to the cathedral and lift but it was rainy and didn't seem like a great idea. We loved our excursion to the bird sanctuary in Honningsvag where we finally got to see all the puffins one could wish for and some beautiful sea eagles then we walked around town - we stayed up on deck for hours that night to see the northernmost point with a large metal globe (North Cape) visible from the ship -well past midnight with the midnight sun. Love Norway! You will too!

The timing doesn't work with my cruise ship time (8-4). When did they add the 11 am departure before your sailing? The early departure doesn't get me back to the ship by 4. How did you hear about it.

Princess does have this excursion. It is the same time as the Pulpit Rock cruise I booked privately. I will have to play with this as I am interested in both.

Just looked and I can't do both!!!

Live From Thread from 2016 -

Shogun did a Live From thread on this very itinerary. I think you might find the inputs very useful..

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2368598

Live From Thread from 2016 -

 

Shogun did a Live From thread on this very itinerary. I think you might find the inputs very useful..

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2368598

This was fantastic - your reviews in the thread are especially helpful! Thanks for taking the time back then to contribute to the thread and for leading me to it!

We did this same cruise last June, with a few different ports, and loved it! The scenery is truly breathtaking! We also did the trip to Flor & Fjaere, booked through Princess, which also gave us time to enjoy walking around Stavanger on our return. The gardens are so beautiful and by doing the excursion with Princess, you get there before the gardens open to the public, so get to enjoy them without it being very busy. Obviously the downside to that is the higher cost of the trip.

In Flaam we also did the railway excursion through Princess, again an amazing experience with truly breathtaking views. It was a damp, day with lots of fine rain, can only imagine what it must be like if you have a dry, sunny day. Having said that, the weather really didn't detract from the experience at all. If you choose to book your railway trip independently of Princess then be careful with the times, we were slightly late docking in Flaam and the people in the cabin next door to us had booked the first departure of the train, which they missed due to the late arrival. Obviously no refund and no available seats on later trains, so to say they were disappointed is an understatement!

We also did a Princess excursion to the North Cape from Honningsvag, which was fabulous as well. Lots of lovely views on the way to and from the Cape, although much more stark beauty than at the previous ports. There is a visitor's centre at the Cape itself with an interesting video showing views over the Cape and surrounding area, plus some interesting displays and information and the Post Office where you can post cards which get a special "North Cape" postmark! That evening the Captain made an announcement as to when we would be sailing back past the Cape and it was interesting to see it again from the ship.

In Bergen we did the Princess excursion which took us up the funicular railway. It was a misty start to the day, but by the time we got to the top the mist had mainly cleared and we had good views out over the city. It's a shame that the port hours are short in Bergen as it appears to be a nice place to explore.

I do have all the Princess Patters from our cruise, so if there's something you wanted me to look up, would be happy to do so.

With regards to the Sapphire Princess, I've just returned from a 15 night cruise around Asia, departing from Singapore, Jan 24th to Feb 8th. I found the ship to be in good overall condition; yes, if you look for it there are signs of wear and tear with some of the carpets and soft furnishings, but nothing that's going to have an adverse impact on your cruise. Plus I believe the ship goes in for drydock before long. Everything worked in our cabin, D401, the lifts all appeared to be working, occasionally we noticed one of the ladies toilets not working in the ones near the theatre, but think this might have had something to do with everyone popping in to use it before going to join the tour groups meeting in the theatre! Whatever, it was usually fixed by the evening time. I would certainly be happy to sail again on the Sapphire Princess, actually, I'd be happy to sail again on any of the ships - just book me on another cruise :)

Hope you have a wonderful time, Norway is a fantastic destination.

Thanks for all the details Angekins!

Mary Anne I am so sorry that you stayed on board in Gravdal. Our visit to the Lofoten Islands was one of the highlights of an excellent cruise. We took the Princess excursion to the far south of the islands and the scenery was just magnificent, and so was the engineering infrastructure between the mountains and islands.

We loved the rest of Norway but this was as good as anywhere.

Who chartered the ship for three years..

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We are considering taking the Land of the Midnight Sun cruise in June 2019 on the Sapphire Princess and am looking for opinions on the itinerary and ship.

 

Itinerary:

London (Southampton), England

|

Stavanger, Norway

|

Flaam, Norway

|

Hellesylt, Norway

|

Geiranger, Norway

|

Trondheim, Norway

|

Honningsvag (North Cape), Norway

|

Tromso, Norway

|

Gravdal (Lofoten Islands), Norway

|

Alesund, Norway

|

Bergen, Norway

|

London (Southampton), England.

The only port we have visited before is Southampton. We have a friend that lives in Tromso so that day would be taken care of. I know the Flaam Railway is considered a must do by many but truthfully I haven't heard of the other ports. I am also researching ports on the Northern Europe board.

 

Ship: Sapphire Princes. We sailed on her in 2012 and enjoyed it but that was a long time ago! Does anyone have any current impressions to share?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

If you considering the June 23, 2018 sailing on Sapphire Princess please not Flaam is non on that sailing, only on the August sailing. The June 23 sailing goes to Skjolden

If you considering the June 23, 2018 sailing on Sapphire Princess please not Flaam is non on that sailing, only on the August sailing. The June 23 sailing goes to Skjolden

They are going 2019. Flaam is on that sailing.

They are going 2019. Flaam is on that sailing.

Thanks coral for pointing that out, I missed the 2019 date reference.

Who chartered the ship for three years..

 

 

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It was in the China market for 3 years. I haven't heard much more.

Just posted this on a similar thread so thought it might be useful here - We were on the Sapphire in Feb this year in far east for 17 days yes it was a little tired but having now been in dry dock prior to its European summer stay I'm looking forward everything all refurbished which i believe has been done well from i have read elsewhere - Anyway we are back onboard 23rd. June on the previously mentioned cruise.

FYI

In June 2017 we were on the Crown to Norway and in fact are going back again this time on the longer 14 day cruise in June - To answer the OP -In Bergen we walked off the ship rode the Funicular and then walked up to various lookout points and then walked back down to ship - The hike down was a bit of a challenge but very enjoyable and the scenery great - This time we will probably explore more of the town

Olden - Got off the boat and straight outside went into the tourist office and booked the Glacier Bus - The trip gives you plenty of time to walk up to the glacier through the waterfalls and at a fraction of the cost of the boat tour which has less time at the summit - At other ports we just walked - Haven't done much planning for this June yet but Im sure most of the time we will walk and find our own things

Just posted this on a similar thread so thought it might be useful here - We were on the Sapphire in Feb this year in far east for 17 days yes it was a little tired but having now been in dry dock prior to its European summer stay I'm looking forward everything all refurbished which i believe has been done well from i have read elsewhere - Anyway we are back onboard 23rd. June on the previously mentioned cruise.

FYI

In June 2017 we were on the Crown to Norway and in fact are going back again this time on the longer 14 day cruise in June - To answer the OP -In Bergen we walked off the ship rode the Funicular and then walked up to various lookout points and then walked back down to ship - The hike down was a bit of a challenge but very enjoyable and the scenery great - This time we will probably explore more of the town

Olden - Got off the boat and straight outside went into the tourist office and booked the Glacier Bus - The trip gives you plenty of time to walk up to the glacier through the waterfalls and at a fraction of the cost of the boat tour which has less time at the summit - At other ports we just walked - Haven't done much planning for this June yet but Im sure most of the time we will walk and find our own things

Tony - thanks for taking the time to share your information; it's very helpful.

We are considering taking the Land of the Midnight Sun cruise in June 2019 on the Sapphire Princess and am looking for opinions on the itinerary and ship.

 

Itinerary:

London (Southampton), England

|

Stavanger, Norway

|

Flaam, Norway

|

Hellesylt, Norway

|

Geiranger, Norway

|

Trondheim, Norway

|

Honningsvag (North Cape), Norway

|

Tromso, Norway

|

Gravdal (Lofoten Islands), Norway

|

Alesund, Norway

|

Bergen, Norway

|

London (Southampton), England.

The only port we have visited before is Southampton. We have a friend that lives in Tromso so that day would be taken care of. I know the Flaam Railway is considered a must do by many but truthfully I haven't heard of the other ports. I am also researching ports on the Northern Europe board.

 

Ship: Sapphire Princes. We sailed on her in 2012 and enjoyed it but that was a long time ago! Does anyone have any current impressions to share?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I did this cruise in 2015. Truly recommend the 2-week itinerary vs the 1-week. It was sunny at Lofoten Island and that was highlight of the cruise. Here are a few pictures. The photo album linked in my signature has full album.

Stavanger: Pulpit Rock

Lofoten: Reinebriggen (requires challenging hike)

Alesund: Fjord area