Norway Fiords Cruise shore excursions

[Joesh123]

We are three couples that are going on the Celebrity Constellation Cruise Departing Amsterdam 26/06/14 for 12 nights to Norway.

 

The ITINERARY is:

 

DAY – DATE - PORT – ARRIVE - DEPART

Thu - Jun 26 - Amsterdam, Holland

Fri - Jun 27 - At Sea

Sat - Jun 28 - Stavanger, Norway - 7:00am - 5:00pm

Sun - Jun 29 - Olden, Norway - 10:00am - 7:00pm

Mon - Jun 30 - Molde, Norway - 8:00am - 6:00pm

Tue - Jul 1 - Alesund, Norway - 7:00am - 10:00pm

Wed - Jul 2 - Geiranger, Norway - 7:00am - 4:00pm

Thu - Jul 3 - Flam, Norway - 8:00am - 6:00pm

Fri - Jul 4 - Bergen, Norway - 8:00am - 5:00pm

Sat - Jul 5 - At Sea

Sun - Jul 6 - Oslo, Norway - 7:00am - 5:00pm

Mon - Jul 7 - At Sea

Tue - Jul 8 - Amsterdam, Holland

 

I am looking for information on the best way to explore those locations (not through the cruise line excursions).

Any help will be most appreciated.

Yoram

[CruiserBruce]

Just look down the board...each port is covered extensively. Not knowing your interests or limitations, budget or mobility issues, hard for us to recommend things,.Then, after narrowing down this very broad question, we can help you with more specific info.

 

Also, reading the excursions offered by your cruise line will help focus on the highlights in an area.

[Alaskanb]

We are using Rodne cruises in Stavanger for an excursion. Bergen will be on our own --loads of internet info. Alesund will be on our own also--again lots of info on-line. Oslo we did on our own last year using an Oslo Pass. As Bruce says the ports are covered extensively on this board. I suggest you get Rick Steve's Scandinavia -- not sure how much he covers Norway in his new Northern Europe cruise book.

[MeHeartCruising]

Even when I don't care to purchase my excursions from the cruise line, I still read all of their offerings and usually use that as a basis for starting my research about what I might want to do. They generally cover most of the things that cruisers would like to do when in port. Then I do internet search on the topics/locations/places and sometimes find alternative sources of the same offering or I put together the details on how to do it myself. If I still don't find the comfort level I'm looking for, then I might reconsider using the cruise line's excursion after all for the convenience factor.

[LondonTowner]

I do the same as MeheartCruising, by starting with what the cruise ship excursions offer. I read through the destination forums on Tripadvisor and information on the local tourist board websites and of course, Cruise Critic.

 

On our Norway cruise in 2012 we didn't take any cruise ship excursions as we found every port of call easy to do ourselves and I have limited mobility.

 

Once you have done your research you can then ask more specific questions. I find the research part of the fun of planning our holidays.

[In Retirement]

Greetings/Shalom!

There has been some discussion of our ports and so far the folks in 15 cabins have joined a direct email group to explore independent and private tour options. Indeed, I was beginning to survey "Olden" on the Northern Europe ports forum to look for some guidance as I have some ideas for a private tour and have been unable to obtain good information from Nettbuss Stryn (that provides tours/vans, etc.). Apparently there may be time for a good drive to either the Norwegian Glacier Center-Fjaerland or to the Jostedal National Park Center. I'm not certain how any branch of the Jostedal Glacier will look late June/Early July, but pictures of the valleys involved are very nice. The majority of us are signed up for the independent fjord cruise at Stavanger 10am/1pm that charges as little as $57 for someone actually 58 years, while the same cruise (on another vessel) I believe goes for $119! We also have found good independent options for Geiranger and Flam. I'm In Retirement (DJ) on the Roll Call and you can drop me a note on balticports@yahoo.com.