Which Norwegian Fjord Cruise should I take

[smitty3000]

Would like to get opinions about which cruise we should take to Norway. We love  scenery and are looking forward to seeing the fjords. I have it narrowed down to three different cruises that I am interested in The first one is a Princess Cruise called 8 day Norwegian fjords. It goes to Bergen Alesund Olden Hellesylt Geiranger and Stavanger. It goes out towards the end of July. The second one is also a Princess Cruise. It is called land of the Midnight Sun 14 days. The ports are Haugesund, Flam, Olden,Trondheim, Honningsuag, Thomso, Lofoten Islands, Andalsnes, Bergen. The one drawback to this one is we will be in Port from 7 to 5 in flam and I'm afraid we won't be able to see very much of the fjords coming in or leaving because this Cruise goes out August 22nd. I'm thinking it will get sundown at 8:30 so we will miss a lot of the fjords on this. The last Cruise I'm interested in is Carnival. It is a 9 day cruise. The ports are Bergen Hellesylt Geiranger, molde, Olden, Alesund and Stavange. This Cruise goes out June 19th 2020 so there should be a lot of daylight. I like both cruise lines so the ship really doesn't matter. We are more interested in what we will be seeing. I'd like to hear from people who have already been to these places and let me know which Cruise you think we should take.  I like the idea of the longer Cruise because of the extra sea days however I want to see the most scenic places . Would like to make a decision in the next week. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[hallasm]

Difficult to say - however I will suggest the 'Land of Midnight Sun'

Most scenic sailings are Flåm, Hellesylt/Geiranger and Olden - in addition for Flåm the scenic Railway and for Olden and Geiranger nice scenic view points.

Sunrise / sunset for August 22 is 6am / 9 pm - still time for scenic fjords when leaving Flåm.

Lofoten is probably one of the most beautiful areas in Norway and in addition you will have the midnight sun at Honningsvåg with North cape and Tromsø.

Hope I provided some guidance

 

[smitty3000]

Thanks so much for this info. So hard to decide.:)

 

[gerena]

Hello Fellow Hoosier!!!  I just booked the Crown Princess 14 day for June.  Already looking at some shore excursions aside from the ships.  Looking for ideas for that.  I compared all the cruise lines and I think this is the most comprehensive of them all.  I do wish it stayed longer in Bergen, though.  

[hallasm]

Here you have some inspiration for the Princess  ‘Land of Midnight Sun’ Cruise
Haugesund - Langfoss Waterfall Fjord Cruise
Flåm - scenic Railway, Nærøyfjord and Stegastein Viewpoint
Olden - Loen Skylift and Briksdal Glacier
Trondheim - the city, Nidaros Cathedral and Archbishops Palace
Honningsvåg - North Cape and Gjesværsstappan Nature Reserve.
Thomsø - the city and cable car up to Mount Storsteinen
Lofoten Islands -  the nature, Nusfjord Fishing Village and Lofoten Stockfish Museum
Åndalsnes  - Trollstigen & Trollveggen and The Rauma Railway
Bergen -  the city, Bryggen Wharf and Fløibanen funicular

[kaisatsu]

15 hours ago, smitty3000 said:

The first one ... goes to Bergen Alesund Olden Hellesylt Geiranger and Stavanger.

 

15 hours ago, smitty3000 said:

The second one ... The ports are Haugesund, Flam, Olden,Trondheim, Honningsuag, Thomso, Lofoten Islands, Andalsnes, Bergen

 

15 hours ago, smitty3000 said:

The last...The ports are Bergen Hellesylt Geiranger, molde, Olden, Alesund and Stavange

All three visit Bergen and Olden, so that can be set aside. Hellesylt is a drop-off port en route to Geiranger for passengers traveling overland one way with a ship’s excursion, instead of cruising the scenery of Geirangerfjord both directions.

 

I would choose the second. As mentioned, Flåm and Geiranger have some of the most iconic fjord cruising, and while I do like Geiranger a bit more, the second cruise has so much more to offer, because it includes Arctic northern Norway instead of just the fjords. It’s also often possible to visit Geiranger from Olden or Åndalsnes depending on port timings.

 

With its high mountains descending straight into the sea, Lofoten is considered the most beautiful place in Norway by many Norwegians. Tromsø is a fascinating and pretty little city nestled in the Arctic mountains with quite a bit to see and do (and home to many “world’s northernmost” records). At Honningsvåg, if you get out of town into the countryside, you’ll see yet another very different landscape with typically-Arctic open treeless expanses.

 

On top of all that, you also get Trondheim with its classic European medieval cathedral and traditional Norwegian wooden waterfront old town, Haugesund with its WWII history, and Åndalsnes for its active pursuits and famous Trollstigen road.

 

As mentioned before, I wouldn’t worry about the daylight at all. You’ll have plenty of daylight for the sail-in and sail-out (and long dusk/dawn periods stretch that even more). In the evening large cruise ships move out to international waters, so (unlike the domestic coastal ferry) there isn’t any overnight scenery you’d be missing after dark.

 

As for #1 and #3, Ålesund is a nice little town to visit and has more stonework and Art Deco influences than elsewhere in Norway. I like it, but I would consider it a nice-to-have rather than a must-visit. Similarly, Stavanger is an interesting place (with a very central cruise pier), where the heart of the oil industry blends with local history. I enjoy visiting it, but it’s not one of my top picks for Norwegian ports.

[ontheweb]

We're going to go on the first one you mentioned. If you choose that one please join our roll call. For us those other 2 would not have worked out as DW is a school teacher and the dates would have conflicted with her job.

 

We looked at 2 others. One had only a few fjord ports but included other ports like Oslo. The other was one less day with less ports.

 

Whichever you choose, have a great cruise. And maybe we will sail with you.

[smitty3000]

Thank you everyone  so much for all the great info this is exactly what I was looking for I will have to talk to my husband and see which one we decide on. Really appreciate all the help

[PurpleTraveller]

I was on the June 2019 Land of the Midnight Sun cruise on Sapphire Princess. The cruise was wonderful and we saw beautiful scenery in the fjords and northern parts of Norway. The scenic cruising in and out of Flam and Geiranger were spectacular, standing at North Cape was very special and seeing the Midnight sun amazing. Some of my ports were different than the cruise you are interested in but if you are interested I wrote a review of my cruise. 

 

 

[AeroXWD]

If you are going to Olden, I recommend seeing Lovatnet (aka Loenvatnet and Lodalsvatnet), 10 minutes by car from Loen Skylift. There's not much to do, other than just enjoying the scenery, renting a row boat for an hour or taking a swim, but I think it's one of the prettiest places I've been to in Norway. The water is really turqoise/green, depending on the lighting. 

[Coral]

I did the 14 night Princess cruise last summer (different ports). My favorite ports were:

Hellesylt/Geiranger, Stavanger and Honningsvåg.

 

I want to go back to see Bergen as I took a tour outside of town and didn't see Bergen.

 

We did not go to Flam - I do want to go there.

 

[Sallyandtex]

On ‎11‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 8:06 PM, hallasm said:

Here you have some inspiration for the Princess  ‘Land of Midnight Sun’ Cruise
Haugesund - Langfoss Waterfall Fjord Cruise
Flåm - scenic Railway, Nærøyfjord and Stegastein Viewpoint
Olden - Loen Skylift and Briksdal Glacier
Trondheim - the city, Nidaros Cathedral and Archbishops Palace
Honningsvåg - North Cape and Gjesværsstappan Nature Reserve.
Thomsø - the city and cable car up to Mount Storsteinen
Lofoten Islands -  the nature, Nusfjord Fishing Village and Lofoten Stockfish Museum
Åndalsnes  - Trollstigen & Trollveggen and The Rauma Railway
Bergen -  the city, Bryggen Wharf and Fløibanen funicular

Very nice!

[smitty3000]

We decided on the second one.  Thank you so much for the info. It was really helpful.  I love these boards.  I hate to miss Geiranger but really looking forward to all the others.  After more review Im really excited about Lofoten Islands and Andalsnes.  I know its going to be a wonderful trip.

[hallasm]

2 hours ago, smitty3000 said:

I hate to miss Geiranger

I think it’s a good choice and Olden a good substitute for Geiranger with Loen Skylift whew point and Briksdal Glacier.

Enjoy your cruise.