Norwegian Fjord newbie, please help choosing the itinerary and ships

[MTV43]

Hi,

We would like to take a Norwegian fjord cruise around mid June of 2020.  We have 4 choices: Carnival Legend (9 day from Dover, UK) and Rotterdam (7 day from Netherlands) are old and small ships; P&O Iona will be new ship and bigger ship will be sailing in 2020 (could be a plus or minus). - 7 day from Southampton.  We are keen in photography, thus any route that more scenic than other will get our attention.  Greatly appreciated your inputs to narrow down our choice.  Below are the 4 ships with itinerary:

 

Nieuw Statendam
Day 1 · Amsterdam, Netherlands	5:00pm
Day 2 · At Sea
Day 3 · Eidfjord, Norway	8:00am - 5:00pm
Day 4 · Bergen, Norway	7:00am -  4:00pm
Day 5 · Geiranger, Norway	7:00am - 5:00pm
Day 6 · Alesund, Norway	7:00am - 3:30pm
Day 7 · At Sea
Day 8 · Amsterdam, Netherlands	Arrive 7:00am
Rotterdam
Day 1 · Rotterdam, Netherlands	Depart 5:00pm
Day 2 · At Sea
Day 3 · Eidfjord, Norway	7:00am - 3:00pm	Day 3 · Scenic Cruising Hardangerfjord
Day 4 · Vik, Norway	8:00am - 5:00pm	Day 4 · Cruise Sognefjord
Day 5 · At Sea
Day 6 · Haugesund, Norway	12:00pm - 11:00pm
Day 7 · At Sea
Day 8 · Rotterdam, Netherlands	Arrive 7:00am
Carnival Legend
Day 1 · London/Dover, United Kingdom	Depart 5:00pm
Day 2 · Fun Day At Sea
Day 3 · Bergen, Norway	8:00am - 5:00pm
Day 4 · Hellesylt, Norway	10:00am - 1:00pm
Day 4 · Geiranger, Norway	3:00pm - 10:00pm	Day 4 · Cruise Geirangerfjord
Day 5 · Molde, Norway	8:00am - 5:00pm
Day 6 · Olden, Norway	10:00am - 7:00pm	Day 6 · Nordfjord
Day 7 · Alesund, Norway	7:00am -  4:00pm
Day 8 · Stavanger, Norway	10:30am -7:30pm
Day 9 · Fun Day At Sea
Day 10 · London/Dover, United Kingdom
P&O Iona	6:00pm
Day 1 · Southhampton
Day 2 · At Sea
Day 3 · Stavanger, Norway	9:00am -5:00pm
Day 4 · Olden, Norway	9:00am-6:00pm	Innvikfjorden, Norway (Cruising)
		Nordfjord, Norway (Cruising)
Day 5 · Hellesylt, Norway	6:30am -7:am	Sunnylvsfjorden, Norway (Cruising)
Geiranger, Norway	9:00 am - 5:00p	Storfjorden, Norway (Cruising)
Day 6 · Bergen, Norway	7:30am -2:30pm
Day 7 · At Sea
Day 8 · Southhampton	7:00am

Thanks!

[Coral]

Not a Carnival person but I like the Legend's itinerary.

 

I have only done (1) 14 night cruise on Princess to North Cape. The longer the better IMO.

[gnome12]

I wonder whether Carnival Legend is compliant with the new environmental rules coming in 2020? If not, Geiranger won't be on the itinerary. (The two ports impacted in 2020 are Flam and Geiranger.)

[kaisatsu]

I would skip the Rotterdam, because the itinerary is very underwhelming. The others are all fine, itinerary-wise. Compared to P&O, Carnival adds Molde and Ålesund, which are nice but not top stars (i.e. Bergen and Geiranger). The Nieuw Statendam trades Stavanger and Olden for Eidfjord and Ålesund. I would say Olden is slightly better fjord cruising than Eidfjord, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of those three itineraries.

 

Bergen is a top pick for its Hanseático trading history, charming town center, and many cultural attractions. Geiranger is some of the most spectacular fjord cruising.

 

Olden and Eidfjord are small towns that also require a fjord sail-in/sail-out. Olden used to be more of a highlight for the nearby glacier, but it has receded significantly in the last decade.

 

Ålesund and Molde are both small and picturesque Norwegian coastal towns, which means they’re nestled in amongst coastal islands and waterways. Ålesund is also known for its stone buildings and Art Deco influences.

 

Stavanger is best known for its proximity to Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, and boat trips on the Lysefjord are a popular independent excursion. Stavanger is also the center of the Norwegian oil industry, and along with a few historic buildings, the town center is also home to a surprisingly interesting petroleum museum.

 

As for the ship, I would normally recommend a smaller ship since the Norwegian ports tend to be smaller towns that are easily overrun by cruise crowds. However, as mentioned above, there are new environmental rules in place for the heritage fjords, including Geiranger. We’ve already seen changes to itineraries from companies that won’t meet the new standards in time (or ever?), so I would be inclined to choose a very new ship or one that has been in for extensive modernization very recently.

Edited July 2, 2019 by kaisatsu

[kitkat343]

We choose our cruise for Flåm and geiranger.  Both were amazing, but so was olden.   The loen skylift is spectacular but some have refused to go due to expense. So you might want to price it out prior to choosing an itinerary.  We did the loen skylift in the morning, and Briskdal glacier in the afternoon.  The glacier has been hit hard by global warming, but it is a beautiful ride and hike to get there and is worth it as a second excursion.     

Edited July 2, 2019 by kitkat343

[ski ww]

We're doing the 14 day Nieuw Statendam itinerary 5 Jul 2020 because we want to do the North Cape above the Arctic Circle.

[4774Papa]

We had a wonderful cruise that went to the North Cape (I highly recommend that) on Serenade of the Seas.

 

All the ports were great, but our favorite ports were Alesund, Flam, Geiranger and the one for the North Cape.

We had previously been to Bergen, which was great.

Here is my review that left out our excursion in Flam

 

Stockholm and Norway Aritic Circle

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=659526&et_cid=3214772&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards