Is this a good Norway itinery

[Kashagi]

Hi All,

I am looking to book my first cruise this week for next June. 

It is on Anthem of the Seas 'RCC'.

For years I wanted to go to the Norway Fjords.  I really wanted to see Geirianger and Alesand etc. 

 

However due to dates and availability for my schedule I can only go on certain times. 

It will be me and my best friend. I am 42 and he is 31. So RCC could be a good line for us?

 

Could someone please tell me what they honestly think of this itinerary. 

 Southampton / Bergen / Olden / Maloy / Kristiansand, Norway / Southampton

Will I see beautiful Fjords and lovely parts of Norway? Or is this itinerary not very good to see the Norway Fjords?

It does seem to miss out a lot of the big named places.

 

Thanks so much for any help. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Kashagi
typo

[hallasm]

Honestly not the best itinerary.
Olden is the only port in a deep fjord. Other ports are coastal cities. 
Bergen is a nice city. Måløy is a new destination, and a very tiny city - only option here is probably ship excursions. 
I have only been in Kristiansand for business - in my opinion not that attractive.

 

There is a topic in Northern Europe forum

 

[Kashagi]

Thank you very much for your honest opinion. I will re think this now. 

Thanks again!

[Ine]

Try to find a cruise with stops in Flam and/or Geiranger. Both ports are situated at the end of a fjord, so sailing in and out is great. 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, Kashagi said:

Thank you very much for your honest opinion. I will re think this now. 

 

There is an entire forum here on CC devoted to ports in Northern Europe, including those in Norway, where you will find a ton of information about cruising in Norway and the Norwegian fjords, including discussions of "is this a good fjords itinerary?" That would be the best place to do your CC research and ask any additional questions you may come up with.  Good luck with your planning!

 

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

Edited December 30, 2022 by Turtles06

[Kashagi]

Thanks very much! I will check out that part of the forum now!

[janetcbl]

4 hours ago, Ine said:

Try to find a cruise with stops in Flam and/or Geiranger. Both ports are situated at the end of a fjord, so sailing in and out is great. 

If you are really interested in seeing the best of Norway, check out Hurtigruten. My suggestion, the 13 day roundtrip (Bergen-Bergen) and then “Norway in a Nutshell” (Bergen -Oslo with an overnight in Flam). A good TA can help you plan.

[kitkat343]

9 hours ago, Kashagi said:

 

 

However due to dates and availability for my schedule I can only go on certain times. 

It will be me and my best friend. I am 42 and he is 31. So RCC could be a good line for us?

 

 

Personally,  I would choose itinerary over line in Norway.  I'm in my mid 40s and started cruising in my early 30s.  We sailed (with kids) to Norway on Cunard because Cunard was one of the few lines that had daycare for my 2 year old.  We didn't fit in at all on Cunard (just like we didn't fit in at all the two times we sailed HAL) but because we sail for itineraries and to keep our kids happy it didn't matter and we had a wonderful time.  Hurtigruten is not a traditional cruise line, but the best way to maximize your itinerary.  If you don't want to give up al the amenities of a traditional cruise ship, I would at least consider lines traditionally for older cruisers because they will have a lot of the sailings to Norway and give you more of a chance to get a better itinerary.  As a general rule, RC is a good line for younger people.  But so is NCL, and if you go on their forum, they are advertising cruises to a port they know they can't reach (they ran a ship aground last March in the Dominican Republic and haven't been able to dock in their port since.  They are still marketing and selling cruises they know will not reach there.  I'm on a cruise leaving 1/8 that we were notified last week will not make the DR, but they are advertising our 1/8 cruise as a cruise to Barbados and the Dominican Republic and listing the DR as a port stop on their website  and people are still purchasing this cruise even though NCL knows won't reach a destination.  You're better off with a  line traditionally for older cruises that won't lie about itinerary because you really want a line that will try to keep the itinerary on European cruises unless there is an emergency)

 

The itinerary you posted has Olden, which is lovely with the Loen Skylift and Bridkdal Glacier (not the nicest glacier in the world but a lovely drive there and a really nice hike to the glacier).  But remember the weather in Norway can be very unstable.  On the day we were in Bergen it was so rainy you couldn't see anything on the tram, and couldn't really enjoy it.  So you really don't want to go all the way to Norway and take the risk that there is only one port you'd really love because the gorgeous views will be hard to see on a miserable weather day.  I chose my cruise to Norway for Flam and Geiranger, which were both amazing, along with Olden, which we also loved.  I haven't been to Alesand, but from the forums that's also much loved.

Edited December 30, 2022 by kitkat343

[kaisatsu]

8 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

There is an entire forum here on CC devoted to ports in Northern Europe, including those in Norway, where you will find a ton of information about cruising in Norway and the Norwegian fjords, including discussions of "is this a good fjords itinerary?" That would be the best place to do your CC research and ask any additional questions you may come up with.  Good luck with your planning!

 

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

Was this post moved from somewhere else? Because that is this forum.

 

That said, Bergen and Olden are good ports, and Olden will provide some fjord sailing. Kristiansand is a bit “meh” IMO, and among four of us from Norway cruising Celebrity right now, we looked at the Norway itineraries yesterday and all said “Maløy? Where is that?” 😂 

 

If you’re flexible on dates/cruiseline, you can likely find better.

[hallasm]

28 minutes ago, kaisatsu said:

Was this post moved from somewhere else?

Yes

[Capt_BJ]

our next cruise . . 

 

only one 'deep fjord' in two weeks .... darn

Edited December 30, 2022 by Capt_BJ

[Turtles06]

53 minutes ago, kaisatsu said:

Was this post moved from somewhere else? Because that is this forum.

 

Yes of course, do you think I don't know my way around CC?   😂

[Dancing Shoes]

HAL has a R/T from Amsterdam that visits Bergan and Geiranger!  It is their Norse Legends 7 day.  We are going on this in May.

[kaisatsu]

On 12/30/2022 at 5:30 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

Yes of course, do you think I don't know my way around CC?   😂

Just wondering about my own sanity! I went back and double-checked about three times!