Norwegian fjords advice!!

[Calders]

Hi there, just booked on the brittania Flords cruise on the 27th of Aug, booked last minute as it was the only cruise that suited our dates, not knowing anything about the fjords the things that stand out are the flamm railway the boat trip and the troll car whatever that is lol. am I better off booking these independently or through p&o, any advice in general about the brittania or the Flords would be appreciated, thanks!!

[happy v]

We did a fjords cruise in June. There were only 4 excursions available to book when we boarded. I think they did manage to get a couple more, but not what I would say were the popular tours. So if there are any you particularly want to do I would advise you to book soon.

It may have been the only cruise to fit in with your dates but I don't think you will be disappointed. I haven't heard of anyone not being impressed. Enjoy it.

Edited August 5, 2016 by happy v

[the english lady]

Hi there, just booked on the brittania Flords cruise on the 27th of Aug, booked last minute as it was the only cruise that suited our dates, not knowing anything about the fjords the things that stand out are the flamm railway the boat trip and the troll car whatever that is lol. am I better off booking these independently or through p&o, any advice in general about the brittania or the Flords would be appreciated, thanks!!

 

Flam railway either book the ships tour now, or make sure you are among the first of the ship to diy. The q's for that do build up. The cruise ship block book seats, so there are not always a lot of seats to book on the day. (just thought some people have posted they have booked the tickets on line before they go, direct with flam railway, you could always do that) Remember its not just the going up train ,its the coming down one as well.

Have a look at the ports of call on the cruise critic website. people will have posted on there what they did in the various places, and how they did it.

We will be going back on our 5th (I think) visit to the fjords soon. Wonderful wonderful scenery that takes your breath away.

[kevinyork]

The Flam railway is bookable direct at https://www.visitflam.com/en/flamsbana/flamsbana-timetables/ however it looks like the only availability for your day in port is either too early or too late. We tried to be the first at the booking office a couple of years back but despite that all trains were full. Your only option would be the ships tour, if they still have space and I would book now if you can.

 

The troll cars are used to go up to the Bryksdal Glacier. These tend to be fully booked by the trips. If you have no mobility issues the walk is around 45 minutes from the car park. There is a local bus from Olden and local excursion minibuses from the quayside to the car park however, having done the trip we found it a little disappointing as there was very little of the glacier to see and as you are there in midsummer there may be even less. The area around Olden looked lovely and my advice would be to take a different trip or a walk into the small but pretty town.

 

Here is what we could see of the glacier in June last year.

 

 

Stavanger is a lovely town. You dock right in town next to the beautiful old town. It's a nice town to wander with great shops, though expensive. There is a boat trip from the opposite side of the quay up the fjord to Pulpit Rock but the fjord isn't as impressive as other ones and the view of the Rock is from a long way down. I would recommend wandering round the town.

 

If you need anymore info feel free to ask.

 

 

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[GaryT-UK]

I'm just back from the Fjords. We had Olden & Flamm substituted for Alesund & Andalsnes, but never having been to any of them that was fine for me.

Stavanger was very nice to walk around. Not much there, so you can see it in a couple of hours. There is an oil museum, which I didn't visit.

I've been to Bergen before and last time walked round the UNESCO Bryggen Wharf and went up the funicular railway to the viewing point myself - all easy to DIY (but there were queues for the railway). This time I did the ship's RIB boat ride tour round the wharf & out into the fjords - lasted 45 mins, but was great fun.

Word of advice - it poured down in Bergen, but was hot or showery other days - much like a UK summer. I'd take layers, shorts & waterproofs. Also make sure you watch some of the sail in/outs - the fjords are lovely.

My week in Norway was very relaxed - I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[Calders]

Thanks for all your quick replies!!, quite fancy doing the flamm railway so will look at booking with p&o, the main thing is just getting away from London for some time to regain some sanity lol,

visited Switzerland many times and the fjords looks very similar, we've only cruised twice before on anthem of the seas and Ventura and loved them both, really looking forward to sailing on brittania and visiting the flords.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Recently back from our second trip to the fjords - fabulous.

 

You can buy tickets for the Bergen funicular in the tourist office above the fish market, which saves some queuing :)

 

This is a good little book. You can download on a Kindle or Kobo.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cruising-Norwegian-Fjords-Brian-Anderson-ebook/dp/B009K3186I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1470586188&sr=8-2&keywords=fjords

Edited August 7, 2016 by CRUISIN LINDA

[Hatters cruiser]

The Brittania is a large cruise ship, and when it gets to Flåmm it takes up virtually all the places available for the railway for its excursions.

 

One way to do the funnicular in Bergen is to make sure you go there first, get off the ship using the shuttle bus and walk,straight there, the ships excursions normally take a little bit of a tour around the city before they get there, so you should beat the queues that way. After that come back down and visit the wharf area, the museum there is quite intresting.

[whoops]

My cruise in July was supposed to visit Flamm (that was the reason I booked) but ended up being substituted with Olden which though pretty is not what was advertised. It seems from the various posts on this board that Flamm is often advertised but not visited.

[Thejuggler]

I'm just back from the Fjords. We had Olden & Flamm substituted for Alesund & Andalsnes, but never having been to any of them that was fine for me.

Stavanger was very nice to walk around. Not much there, so you can see it in a couple of hours. There is an oil museum, which I didn't visit.

I've been to Bergen before and last time walked round the UNESCO Bryggen Wharf and went up the funicular railway to the viewing point myself - all easy to DIY (but there were queues for the railway). This time I did the ship's RIB boat ride tour round the wharf & out into the fjords - lasted 45 mins, but was great fun.

Word of advice - it poured down in Bergen, but was hot or showery other days - much like a UK summer. I'd take layers, shorts & waterproofs. Also make sure you watch some of the sail in/outs - the fjords are lovely.

My week in Norway was very relaxed - I'm sure you'll have a great time.

 

There must be two Stavangers if the one you visited can be seen in a couple of hours. We have visited the city twice and filled a day on both occasions. We stoll haven't found all the Anthony Gormley statues and Pulpit rock will wait until our next visit.

[GaryT-UK]

In fairness I hadn't done much research & really just walked around the town - I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw though, but for me it was a (happily) lazy day. Maybe there's a tip there to do some research beforehand.

[Calders]

What reason do p&o give for swapping ports in the fjords, I don't imagine it's because sea state etc, we recently done a cruise including Guernsey and was told we could not stop at st peters port due to the sea conditions, spent 24hrs anchored up at sea although it seemed very calm I respected the captains decision, I've read a number of complaints about p&o recently swapping ports and wondering what excuse they could give for swapping ports in the fjords.

[Mysticalmother]

What reason do p&o give for swapping ports in the fjords, I don't imagine it's because sea state etc, we recently done a cruise including Guernsey and was told we could not stop at st peters port due to the sea conditions, spent 24hrs anchored up at sea although it seemed very calm I respected the captains decision, I've read a number of complaints about p&o recently swapping ports and wondering what excuse they could give for swapping ports in the fjords.

 

Many of the Ports in the fjords have a limited number of berths available, several of them only 1 or 2 . How the relevant port authorites decide who can , and who cannot berth I know not... Maybe money talks? i dont know, and I am sure others witll speculate. But with bigger and bigger and more ships with the fjords itinerary, some are going to lose out.. But in the fjords, it is unlikely to be the weather...the waters are usually calm.

[daiB]

What reason do p&o give for swapping ports in the fjords, I don't imagine it's because sea state etc, we recently done a cruise including Guernsey and was told we could not stop at st peters port due to the sea conditions, spent 24hrs anchored up at sea although it seemed very calm I respected the captains decision, I've read a number of complaints about p&o recently swapping ports and wondering what excuse they could give for swapping ports in the fjords.

 

 

A number of cruise lines run weekly cruises over the season and so are in the same port each week. It looks like they are being given priority over the likes of P&O who mix their cruises up. This also happened in the Caribbean earlier this year when the regular ships got the better berths than Ventura when we were on a Southampton to Southampton Caribbean cruise.

 

 

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[GaryT-UK]

What reason do p&o give for swapping ports in the fjords, I don't imagine it's because sea state etc, we recently done a cruise including Guernsey and was told we could not stop at st peters port due to the sea conditions, spent 24hrs anchored up at sea although it seemed very calm I respected the captains decision, I've read a number of complaints about p&o recently swapping ports and wondering what excuse they could give for swapping ports in the fjords.

 

 

My July cruise was changed in April "due to the volume of ships in the area" of Olden & Flaam.

I was on the Iberia cruise the week before and they did the same ports, but in a different order - I believe that was for a similar reason, but by changing it meant we were the only ship in on most days.