Ship's excursions in Norway vs do it yourself

[emckeeve]

On our cruise through Norway, we are interested in some biking, hiking and kayaking as well as the usual sights (Flam railway, Bergen funicular, etc). Can these be easily accomplished on your own or are we confined to ship excursions. Some of the prices seem over the top - $169 for a transfer from Honningsvag to the North Cape?? How much do you figure you spent on shore excursions?

[TLCOhio]

On our cruise through Norway, we are interested in some biking, hiking and kayaking as well as the usual sights (Flam railway, Bergen funicular, etc). Can these be easily accomplished on your own or are we confined to ship excursions. Some of the prices seem over the top - $169 for a transfer from Honningsvag to the North Cape?? How much do you figure you spent on shore excursions?

 

Hi, to our Texas friend! Yes, things are not cheap in Norway. Why? Many reasons. Their prime tourism season is short, labor is in limited supply, taxes and costs are very high there, etc., etc.

 

Norway is not like in parts of the Med or Carib where you will have a wider range of cheaper options. Cruise ships have high prices for such tours because of the local economics and costs. In the below live/blog from our July 2010 trip along that coast up to the North Cape, you can see many more details and specifics.

 

Which cruise line, ports, timing are you considering? Then, with more detailed information from you, we can make better, more specific suggestions on what best fits your needs and interests.

 

For Flam, that is a good example where you could save a little by booking it yourself. BUT, much depends there on how many ships are in port that day when you are there. AND, the ship could be delayed getting there, making your booked ticket time possibly not working. You pay the ship more, but it gives you added flexibility, if needed, to adjust to weather and other conditions, needs.

 

Flam, with a population of about 500, is nestled in a tributary of the world's longest and deepest fjord. It is 128 miles long and has a maximum depth of 4,291 feet. On the question of how deep are these fjords, local say: “A mermaid could swim all the way to China.” Our chief attraction here is the 66-year-old Flam Railway. It is widely known as one of the world's best railroad journeys. It includes twenty tunnels and eight stops as it goes up the mountain. This rail lines rises from Flam’s gingerbread rail station going up 2,835 feet to Myrdal and this "Roof of Norway" rail station. Railroad website: http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng.

 

We did lots on our own, including at the North Cape, as you can see by the photos below and the link to my detailed postings for Flam, Bergen, etc. We did rental cars on our own in three different ports and it worked out very well. Read through my postings and let me know your added questions, reactions, etc. !! Happy to provide more specifics and help.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 65,588 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Here is one view of the North Cape as we approached and the clouds started to clear and the sun broke through showing a great blue sky.:

 

 

 

This is one of my many puffin visuals, showing their bright orange feet, plus their cute and unique beaks. We had a private boat from is the harbor in Gjesvaer near the North Cape.:

 

 

 

On the way to Gjesvaer near the North Cape, here was a small part of the large herd of reindeer we discovered on the way to our boat charter. They believed that all of this territory, including the road, belong to them. The young baby reindeer were especially cute!:

 

 

 

This picture shows the Bergen Floibanen funicular railway coming up the steep hill with the harbor, fish market, etc. in the background of this charming Norway coastal town with so much great history and architecture. On the top, somewhat right, the Silver Cloud and Costa ships can be seen in the harbor.

 

 

 

Right near the Hanseatic merchant warehouse area is the Bergen Fish Market with lots of options to buy food to eat on site or just watch, enjoying the “show” as people ask questions and buy the various fresh fish items.:

 

 

 

From our early July 2010 visit to the highly-rated Sognerfjord, here is one of the views from the train going up and back.::

 

[NancyIL]

$169 for the North Cape transfer is quite high! Ship excursions can be pricey, but some cruise lines charge more for the same excursion than others. I'll be on a Royal Caribbean Arctic Circle cruise in June, and RCI is charging $109 pp for the North Cape transfer vs. $139 on the Caribbean Princess. My 3-hour Geiranger Fjord tour is $69 on RCI and $129 on Princess - although Princess includes a snack and an extra 15 minutes. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm sailing on RCI!

[emckeeve]

The one thing I wanted to do on my own (hike to Pulpit Rock in Stavenger) won't happen as we would be chancing missing the ship. Now that's one place I would LIKE to take a ship excursion. Boo hoo.

[shoreham01]

Unfortunately you will need the ships tour bus up to North Cape. The public bus service is not frequent and you stand a chance of not getting on it. When we got up to the North Cape last year it was a dreadful day, very very windy with nil visibility, however it was great fun knowing where we were. To find the big globe statue we had to hold on to the fence to get to it. You need strong shoes, and warm clothing as it is much colder up there than down near the ship. I have to say that their gift shop was very good indeed. You could actually buy things that were not too expensive, very unusual for Norway. The journey up and down to the visitors centre is wonderful, plenty of reindeer and good scenery. It was only at the top that the weather closed in.

 

Without doubt this was our favourite cruise. we went right up to Svalbard. Would be doing it again next year but the one date is wrong for us.

[grayjay]

Unfortunately I have to agree with shoreham. Our very knowledgeable TA just told me today that entrance to the North Cape alone costs about 50 Euros ( approx. 70 $) and that public transport is few and far between. And Norway is terribly expensive. I'm glad of not being a beer enthusiast :D...

In Southern Fiordland is much easier - we did all our shore excursions on our own ( for example Oslo, Bergen, Molde etc.) and saved a lot of money.

And - if you're over 62 or so - you get reductions at museums and public transport!

[TLCOhio]

Unfortunately you will need the ships tour bus up to North Cape. The public bus service is not frequent and you stand a chance of not getting on it. When we got up to the North Cape last year it was a dreadful day, very very windy with nil visibility, however it was great fun knowing where we were.

 

There is also the option of setting up in advance and doing a rental car as we did in July 2010. My live/blog provides more details on those specifics. We used that in order to go to the bird island near the North Cape on our charter boat.

 

BUT, as correctly noted by several, weather can be challenging and/or quick changing up there. In the summer you have 24/7 daylight, BUT, we went went from the beautiful blue skies shown below to heavy, heavy fog as our boat was coming back from the bird island. We were going to visit the North Cape Center by car, but in the deep fog around 10:30 pm, we decided to head back to the ship. We didn’t depart the Honningsvaag harbor until 7 am the next day. Our good luck was in seeing the North Cape from the waterside while on the top of our ship during our morning sail-by.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 65,335 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 74,006 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

In the small fishing village of Gjesvaer near the North Cape, here was the harbor scene as we had our picnic at an open table before going on our charter boat to the bird rock areas. That tree trunk/limbs shown didn't actually grow there. It was brought in and placed there. This far north, nothing major grows and the land areas are very much a type of tundra. Extremely interesting and beautiful area!:

 

 

 

This is the harbor in Gjesvaer with its various small boats shown. Notice the reflections in the water of the boats as the sky was so sunny and blue with the water so calm.:

 

 

 

This shows a huge colony of sea gulls along the rocks and deep into the large opening in the side of the mountain.:

 

 

 

This is a large flock of white birds with their different coloring at the top. I have been told that their official name is Northern Gannets. They are a seabird and is the largest member of the gannet family. They normally nest in large colonies, on cliffs overlooking the ocean or on small rocky islands.:

 

 

 

Going down into Gjesvaer, near the North Cape, here was a harbor scene/mountain scene that I had not previously posted. At the bottom right are some of the wooden fish drying racks. Second is a picture more from water level up to the mountains hanging over the water, a boat in the harbor, birds in the sky, etc.: