Ryndam Norwegian Fjords OR Scandinavian Getaway

[I like vacation]

I am narrowing down my vacation plans for this summer and would appreciate some input to help me make my decision. I am looking at the July 31 departure on the Ryndam called the Scandinavian Getaway which stops in Oslo, Skagen, Copenhagen and Helsingborg. My other choice, Norwegian Fjords, leaves on August 7th and stops in Alesund, Flam, Bergen and Stavanger. Both cruises begin and end in Dover (London).

 

Is one itinerary more scenic than the other? Big cities vs. small towns? More interesting shore excursions on one vs the other? All comments appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Don

[I like vacation]

No comments? No one has done either tour??

[diathoney]

You might want to ask over in the Northern Europe & Baltics board

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

[KirkNC]

I can comment in July when I get back ;)

 

Kirk

[MATHA531]

I came up with a great solution...I'm doing both back to back although the 29 May departure (it was listed on my internet travel agent's site first as one cruise until I investigated further that indeed it was two cruises...doing Scandanavia returning to Rotterdam and then the fjords.....the compromise, of course, was taking the cheapest interior cabin which unfortunately was not upgraded. Oh well.

[Ine]

The sailing to Flam, Alesund and Bergen is by far more scenic than the other which is more cities.

Sailing to Flam through the Sognefjord is awesome, plus you can take a great trip by train to Myrdal with a stop at a waterfall.

Alesund was rebuil beginning 1900s after a big fire, nice interesting small city.By taking a tour on a scenic tram you will have a nice overview. From there various interesting tours can be made.

Bergen is easy to do to walk around. Take the floybahn and see the town from above.

[I like vacation]

Thanks for the replies. I just discovered another possible tour-the 12-Day North Sea Adventure which sails from Copenhagen to London and makes stops in Norway and Scotland. This cruise is on the Eurodam which is one of the newest ships. We did the Volendam in 1979 to Bermuda and the Veendam in 2009 to Alaska so it might be nice to try one of the larger ships for once and go on a longer cruise too.

[sansterre]

Is one itinerary more scenic than the other?

We are doing the Norway fiords in June. I suspect that cruise is more scenic than the other cruise. The fiord cruise goes to smaller towns than Oslo and Copenhagen which will provide city excursions and city sites. It seems the Norway fiord port excursions are more nature and vista oriented, although Bergen is quite a large city it features a funicular.