Norwegian Fjords which ship? Can't decide!

[WanderingDust]

Hi All,

 

I'm looking at next year (July) for a 7 day Fjords cruise as a surprise for my husbands 50th birthday.

 

So far all I can find in July is the Britannia, Azura, Crown Princess all huge ships or the Aurora and Arcadia, Aurora doesn't have great reviews.

 

 

1st time cruise (as a passenger, I worked on the Aurora 15 years ago!) have I missed anything does anyone have any preference of which ship?

 

 

 

 

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[erinmarie424]

Hi All,

 

I'm looking at next year (July) for a 7 day Fjords cruise as a surprise for my husbands 50th birthday.

 

So far all I can find in July is the Britannia, Azura, Crown Princess all huge ships or the Aurora and Arcadia, Aurora doesn't have great reviews.

 

 

1st time cruise (as a passenger, I worked on the Aurora 15 years ago!) have I missed anything does anyone have any preference of which ship?

 

 

 

 

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If you really want to immerse yourself in Norway and the culture you could look at Hurtigruten. It's very different from traditional cruiselines in that the ships are smaller without a lot of the bells and whistles but you really get up close to a lot of the cities and smaller towns along the coast that the larger ships are not able to get to. The food is amazing as well.

[LHT28]

I would choose a small ship over the larger ones

 

do you only have 7 days ??

[dsrdsrdsr]

Arcadia's my favourite of the P&O ones. Have you looked at the smaller lines, Fred Olsen, Cruises & Maritime?

[WanderingDust]

Thanks for the replies, would prefer a smaller ship but also want a bit of luxe as its husbands 50th and it will be a surprise. Will have a look a Fred Olsen, the Hurtigruten has good itineraries but the cabins seem small and other half is 6ft 4!

 

Happy to look at longer cruises too up to 14 days.

Edited September 2, 2016 by WanderingDust

[jocap]

We made the mistake of going on Indy, where most events should have taken place round the pool or sea screen... and it rained and even snowed a little, so none of the facilities were in use. People crammed into inside spaces which didn't have views of the sea- the whole point of the fjords..

We'll only go to Norway on a ship with an inside pool, such as Aurora or other smaller P&O, or Ventura; Celebrity, QM2 ... not many more. Ships built with the Caribbean in mind aren't always the best ones for a cool climate!

Or, yes, we'd go with Fred or C&M out of a northern port.

[erinmarie424]

Thanks for the replies, would prefer a smaller ship but also want a bit of luxe as its husbands 50th and it will be a surprise. Will have a look a Fred Olsen, the Hurtigruten has good itineraries but the cabins seem small and other half is 6ft 4!

 

Happy to look at longer cruises too up to 14 days.

 

 

 

Yes the standard cabins are small but their upper end category looked very spacious and had a queen sized bed. My dad is also 6'4" and was 77 when we went last year and he said he was pretty comfortable in the single... But I realize that is not for everyone.

 

 

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[Pudgesmom]

If you can do a bit longer, check out Windstsr. We just returned from a 12 day trip on the Star Legend to Iceland/Norway and Ireland. The ship only holds 200 passengers and is more upscale with very large cabins, all with at least a picture window. The on deck gourmet barbecue in Geiranger was amazing.

[davecttr]

As a scenery fan I would look for the best itinerary as in Norway prices ashore are expensive so you won't be doing any retail therapy ;)

 

Of the ships you mention all the P&O ones are pretty much the same. Crown Princess might have a more international mix of cruisers.

[WanderingDust]

Thank you all so much for the great advice, if you had to choose what's the best itinerary? Scenery and off shore day trips when able are important to us.

 

 

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[louieebee]

We have just returned from 8 nights Norwegian Fyords on Celebrity Eclipse, it was for my 40th and booked a royal Suite it was superb

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

Hello,

 

Besides some of the Lines mentioned above, there are several other Lines/Ships to look at for July of 2017.

 

Holland America...the new Koningsdam has a couple itineraries, the July 9, 2017 looks nice (14 nights)

Viking Cruises has a couple.

MSC has a couple.

Crystal...but it is 18 nights.

Oceania Marina on July 21, 2017.

 

Those are just some of the options I pulled up quickly...you need to figure out where you want to depart from; budget; some may have different start and end ports (more flying); some have overnights; some have more sea days...etc...and when you throw Hurtigruten into the mix, you have lots of options.

 

Hope you have fun planning this. Norway has always been on my "sand-pail" list !

 

BBL

Edited September 3, 2016 by BourbonNBluesLuvr