Norway Fjord Cruise Q&A - Keys to Successful Planning

[tyrole]

Fantastic thread, thank you 🙂 

I have been lucky enough to sail with P&O several times but this will be my first to the Fjords - Azura  13th - 20th July
Ports, Ålesund, Bergen, Olden, Stavanger
Normally my husband and I do my our own thing unless a ship trip is necessary. 
This year our circumstances are different as I am in the middle of trying to recover from a lower disc herniation.  Unfortunately rushing to beat the crowds, walking for hours and hiking will be out of the question 😞 We are going to have to take things quite slowly, walking around a port at a leisurely pace will be manageable but we would also like to see some scenery from high up.  

I would love some DIY recommendations please and will even consider ship excursions if necessary  🙂 


Thank you 

 

[naturelovergirl]

3 hours ago, tyrole said:

Fantastic thread, thank you 🙂 

I have been lucky enough to sail with P&O several times but this will be my first to the Fjords - Azura  13th - 20th July
Ports, Ålesund, Bergen, Olden, Stavanger

I would love some DIY recommendations please and will even consider ship excursions if necessary  🙂 

 

You could get a magnificent upper view from the Loen Skylift....

You can certainly get a ship excursion there- but you could also just book the transfer and Skylift ticket direct from Olden Adventure

https://www.oldenadventure.com/en/mobile/activity/94020/loen-skylift-including-transfer

 

Stavanger has a lovely tourist boat ride into the Lysefjord... you will sail under the famous Pulpit Rock

We booked through this company

https://rodne.no/en/fjordcruise/lysefjord-preikestolen/

 

For Ålesund... I would suggest looking to see if your ship has planned excursions to either Trollstigen or Geirangerfjord...

[tyrole]

8 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

 

You could get a magnificent upper view from the Loen Skylift....

You can certainly get a ship excursion there- but you could also just book the transfer and Skylift ticket direct from Olden Adventure

https://www.oldenadventure.com/en/mobile/activity/94020/loen-skylift-including-transfer

 

Stavanger has a lovely tourist boat ride into the Lysefjord... you will sail under the famous Pulpit Rock

We booked through this company

https://rodne.no/en/fjordcruise/lysefjord-preikestolen/

 

For Ålesund... I would suggest looking to see if your ship has planned excursions to either Trollstigen or Geirangerfjord...

Thank you I will look into your suggestions :) 

[lmtrn2001]

We are doing MSC Preziosa August 4, 2019....We will port in Hellesylt/Geiranger. My question is will we dock in Hellesylt & have to tender to Geiranger or will we just stop long enough to let excursions off & cruise on to Geiranger? Our itinerary says 7AM-5PM. Is a 9AM excursion out of Geiranger going to be too early?

 

TIA!!

 

[hallasm]

29 minutes ago, lmtrn2001 said:

We are doing MSC Preziosa August 4, 2019....We will port in Hellesylt/Geiranger

You will be In Hellesylt/Geiranger August 15

Arrival in Geiranger 07:00 - Departure from Geiranger 14:00 and arrival in Hellesylt 15:30, Departure from Hellesylt is 17:00.

- you either need to be back in Geiranger for the 14:00 departure or in Hellesylt for the 17:00 departure.

[lmtrn2001]

2 hours ago, hallasm said:

You will be In Hellesylt/Geiranger August 15

Arrival in Geiranger 07:00 - Departure from Geiranger 14:00 and arrival in Hellesylt 15:30, Departure from Hellesylt is 17:00.

- you either need to be back in Geiranger for the 14:00 departure or in Hellesylt for the 17:00 departure.

Thank You!! I didn't realize my answer was in the table you had already posted!! 

This thread has been SO helpful!!

[TenneSea]

Sounds like things are pretty crowded in June-July.  Would it be wise to book a cruise in May or August (weather wise)?

[tyrole]

Where will I be able to find out what time we dock in each port pleas?   My planner just says early morning or morning.  I would like to book a boat ride in Stavanger. 

Thank you 

[tyrole]

36 minutes ago, tyrole said:

Where will I be able to find out what time we dock in each port pleas?   My planner just says early morning or morning.  I would like to book a boat ride in Stavanger. 

Thank you 

Forgot to say P&O Azura 13th July 
 

[hallasm]

For Stavanger you can find Cruise arrivals here - Azura is docked from 9 am to 5 pm. 

- information available at respective  ports webs. 

[tyrole]

17 minutes ago, hallasm said:

For Stavanger you can find Cruise arrivals here - Azura is docked from 9 am to 5 pm. 

- information available at respective  ports webs. 

Thank you 

[mickeysgal]

On 6/4/2019 at 2:41 PM, naturelovergirl said:

The dock for your boat cruise and the train are very close... I should think you would be fine for the boat

How close is close? 

 

I keep tweaking this Flam itinerary.  Can you all take a look at this?

 

1. Nærøyfjord fjord - boat/bus combination  - boat portion: 9am to 11. 

2. Bus back to Flam from 11:30 to 11:50.

3. *** 30 min to get to train assuming bus gets back in time *** (Has it ever been late???)

4. Train 12:20 arriving back in Flam at 15:40 (the pancakes and tea/coffee option) 

5. We are in port until 5pm .  All aboard should be 30 min prior?  So it appears we have plenty of time to meet that.

Edited July 8, 2019 by mickeysgal

[naturelovergirl]

Here is a map of the Flåm cruise port...

So you can see that everything is pretty close... so that totally helps

As long as the bus does not have a traffic problem then you should be fine... that said, the roads in Norway are very narrow... and if there is a problem, then things can take longer on the bus... but hopefully not.

We found our bus drivers to be very efficient. They got us places quite well.

 

 

45 minutes ago, mickeysgal said:

How close is close? 

 

I keep tweaking this Flam itinerary.  Can you all take a look at this?

 

1. Nærøyfjord fjord - boat/bus combination  - boat portion: 9am to 11. 

2. Bus back to Flam from 11:30 to 11:50.

3. *** 30 min to get to train assuming bus gets back in time *** (Has it ever been late???)

4. Train 12:20 arriving back in Flam at 15:40 (the pancakes and tea/coffee option) 

5. We are in port until 5pm .  All aboard should be 30 min prior?  So it appears we have plenty of time to meet that.

 

[mickeysgal]

3 minutes ago, naturelovergirl said:

Here is a map of the Flåm cruise port...

So you can see that everything is pretty close... so that totally helps

As long as the bus does not have a traffic problem then you should be fine... that said, the roads in Norway are very narrow... and if there is a problem, then things can take longer on the bus... but hopefully not.

We found our bus drivers to be very efficient. They got us places quite well.

 

 

 

Thank you!  I booked these two tours.  I have a 30 min buffer between the train and bus...should be ok.  If not, we will adjust. 

[hallasm]

3 hours ago, mickeysgal said:

How close is close? 

Might make a difference if your ship does tender and not at the dock.

 

2 hours ago, mickeysgal said:

I have a 30 min buffer between the train and bus...should be ok

Should be fine.

[mickeysgal]

1 minute ago, hallasm said:

Might make a difference if your ship does tender and not at the dock.

 

I checked; we are docked.

[hallasm]

1 minute ago, mickeysgal said:

I checked; we are docked.

Then you are safe

[tommui987]

On 12/20/2018 at 5:56 AM, hallasm said:

1. Hardangerfjord (scenic sail-in) to Eidfjord or Ulvik (Ports - both Small towns) - Vøringsfossen Waterfall.

 

 Hallasm:

 

Thank you for taking the time and effort is answering questions about the Norwegian fjords.

 

One of our stops will be in Eidfjord/Hardangerfjord.

My (adult) son would probably be interested in hiking to see the Voringsfossen Waterfall. As I have physical problems in walking, I would probably be better off at the Nature Center!

 

How would one get to either site?

 

Thank you!

Tom

 

[mickeysgal]

On 5/1/2019 at 10:27 PM, naturelovergirl said:

I did the trip with the Rødne company for the Lysefjord trip... loved it!!! Booked and paid in advance.

We are considering this trip using this company as well.  Was the boat easy to get to/is it far from the port where the cruise ships dock?  

[naturelovergirl]

13 minutes ago, mickeysgal said:

We are considering this trip using this company as well.  Was the boat easy to get to/is it far from the port where the cruise ships dock?  

I guess that the first thing to do is find out where you will be docking... but the Rødne boat departure area is right in the middle of everything... here is a map

 

http://www.stavanger-guide.no/rodnefjordcruise/map.pdf

 

[mickeysgal]

2 minutes ago, naturelovergirl said:

I guess that the first thing to do is find out where you will be docking... but the Rødne boat departure area is right in the middle of everything... here is a map

 

http://www.stavanger-guide.no/rodnefjordcruise/map.pdf

 

Thank you

[tyrole]

Has anyone booked the Lysefjord trip with the Rodne company the day they arrive please? 

[Kidminder]

6 hours ago, tyrole said:

Has anyone booked the Lysefjord trip with the Rodne company the day they arrive please? 

We were hiding from the weather in Stavanger and being given 12 hour slots for possible continuation of our itinerary so we booked online for the mornings trip - e-ticket on phone - great time in spite of rain.....

[PurpleTraveller]

23 hours ago, tyrole said:

Has anyone booked the Lysefjord trip with the Rodne company the day they arrive please? 

 

Last month we walked up to the Rodne booth on the dock that was just two minutes away from our cruise ship and got tickets for a 9.00am cruise. The photo below shows how close the booth (where the people are standing) and the Rodne cruise boat was to my ship. We really enjoyed the cruise. 

 

 

[tyrole]

That’s fantastic, thank you 

looks like the weather is going to be kind next week 👍