Questions on cruising the Norway fjords with family

[anita71]

Hello,

 

We have booked the MSC Preziosa cruise leaving Hambourg on July 12, 2019.  There are 8 of us travelling, ages ranging from 10 to 74yrs old! 

 

I am wondering what excursions we should book in advance... would really appreciate any feedback on it!

 

Here are our ports of call:

 

Hambourg

Molde

Honningsvag

Tromso

Trondheim

Alesund

Flam

 

A few questions:

• Should I book the train tickets for Flam in advance?  Or will it be easy to get them when we disembark?
• In Honningsvag, is it easy to get to Cape North if I did not book any tour ahead of time?  Are there any local buses?
• Any suggestions on all ports are welcomed!

 

We like discovering!  And we like doing things off the beaten paths...

 

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

[fabnfortysomething]

17 minutes ago, anita71 said:

Hello,

 

We have booked the MSC Preziosa cruise leaving Hambourg on July 12, 2019.  There are 8 of us travelling, ages ranging from 10 to 74yrs old! 

 

I am wondering what excursions we should book in advance... would really appreciate any feedback on it!

 

Here are our ports of call:

 

Hambourg

Molde

Honningsvag

Tromso

Trondheim

Alesund

Flam

 

A few questions:

• Should I book the train tickets for Flam in advance?  Or will it be easy to get them when we disembark?
• In Honningsvag, is it easy to get to Cape North if I did not book any tour ahead of time?  Are there any local buses?
• Any suggestions on all ports are welcomed!

 

We like discovering!  And we like doing things off the beaten paths...

 

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

what are the total hours in port?

MSC has a reputation for short port days which can affect what you can achieve

Flam train tickets are very likely to sell out in advance as ships tours bulk buy seats

 

I have only visited Hamburg and Alesund in addition to Flam

Hamburg is worth a couple  of days pre or post cruise to explore

we stayed Hotel Hafen very near cruiseport and a really quirky building

 

Alesund has a funicular railway up to a viewing point which is recommended

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, fabnfortysomething said:

Alesund has a funicular railway up to a viewing point which is recommended

The Funicular is In Bergen - Ålesund has the Aksla viewpoint- either walk from town park or take the ‘city train’ to restaurant Fjellstua.

Yes, you need to book train tickets in advance at the web for Flåm.  For Honningsvåg you must book the North Cape In advance - tours not available at the pier - maybe a taxi but highly recommend  to book In advance.

[Syrreal]

There is a great aquarium in Alesund.  You can catch a bus right at the port and your fare includes round trip bus transportation (it loops around about every 20 minutes). 

[kitkat343]

 

If you want to ride the amazing Flam railway, you should book this first, since the railway tickets tend to book up quickly during the height of the tour season.  I believe (but am not certain) that the tickets are released three months in advance, so if your cruise is far away and the website is showing no availability please don't panic - previous posters on this site have experienced this, and it turns out they were just trying to book too early.

 

The Flam railway is a five minute walk from where you dock or tender, so this can easily be undertaken as an independent excursion. We booked our tickets online at the Norwegian Railways site at https://www.nsb.no/en/?gclid=CMuvnubiitMCFYoy0wodZb8BnQ .  
If that site is showing that everything is booked, other cruise critic posters have mentioned trying http://booking.visitflam.com/en/to-do/a1488268/the-flåm-railway/showdetails , and other posters have stated that this site has access to different tickets and sometimes has availability even when the Norwegian railway site lists no availability. Also, people have reported on the forums that when the train was initially sold out, they kept checking and eventually tickets opened up due to cancellations. Another option is to check with your cruise line – it will be more expensive to purchase this excursion through the cruise line but worth it if you cannot purchase the tickets independently.

A quick online search seemed to recommend that you should sit on the right side of the train on the Flam to Myrdal journey. The view on that side was quite lovely, but might also be on the other side.

In Flam, we had a lovely afternoon visiting a goat farm, exploring the beautiful town of Undredal, and then eating local cheeses (including brown caramel goat cheese) and a delicious lunch that was organized by Flam Guide Service (http://www.fjordsafari.com) . Fjord Safari's booth is located about a minute away from the Flam railway platform, so you will have no problem finding your tour.  You can combine this tour with a hike and boat ride along the fjords if your group is all physically fit. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable excursion, which I would highly recommend. We traveled in May, before the goats move to their summer farms so this excursion had to be individually arranged. Flam Guide service stayed in contact with us and gave us updates as they worked to book this reservation, and they also helpfully provided car seats for our children. Our tour guide was highly knowlegdable and helpful and this tour was one of the highlights of our cruise.