Norway DIY or ship excursions?

[Cruisenovice1]

Hi

We are going on a 10 night Norway cruise in August with celebrity, and are looking at the excursions. Has anyone tried to do the Flam railway independently and NOT been able to get on because it was too busy? Also any other suggestions for DIY trips. We stop in Oslo, Stavanger, Alesund, Geiranger, Olden, and Bergen, and are travelling with our 2 young children. Many thanks :)

[zoncom]

Ship excursions are one of profit centers of any cruise line. Go to your library and get travel books on cruise ports out. Many excellent ones now. Also search Norway on line. Trip Advisor ports and Norway forums.

[PennyAgain]

You can book the Flam railway yourself online and in English. There are fine tourist WEB sites in English that have much info.

 

I did mostly DIY experiences in Norway with no problems. I would avoid any tours that have a long day of riding on a bus (watch for tours that have a lunch stop and/or include lunch).

 

The bus riding won't be fun for children.

[Alaskanb]

Check out the Northern Europe and Baltic board --lots of current info on Flam and the other ports.

[cruiserking]

Hi

We are going on a 10 night Norway cruise in August with celebrity, and are looking at the excursions. Has anyone tried to do the Flam railway independently and NOT been able to get on because it was too busy? Also any other suggestions for DIY trips. We stop in Oslo, Stavanger, Alesund, Geiranger, Olden, and Bergen, and are travelling with our 2 young children. Many thanks :)

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic Cruisenovice1. Have a look at the various excursions offered in the ports and see which ones appeal to you the most. What we like to do is do two or three ship excursions and the rest on our own.

 

Since this is your first cruise it is always much simpler to book the ship tours and sit back and enjoy the day. Especially, if the tour is late returning the ship will wait for you. If you are late returning the ship will not wait.

 

Do some research in guidebooks, tripadvisor as mentioned above and various sites online. Once you familiarize yourself with these ports you will easily be able to determine how to proceed.

 

Jonathan

 

Some of your stops are easy to walk on your own like Oslo and Bergen