Independent Coastal Voyage Excusions

[Homerody]

I am not looking to run afoul of posting rules by asking for names of companies to be posted in responses.

 

I would like to know, for Hurtigruten - and also Havila - Coastal voyages, does anyone out there have experience booking excursions of a third party provider?

 

I know that some ports, it is possible to do an independent walk, but for other expriences such as a fishing excursion or an Atlantic Road excursion - is it worthwhile to look into non-cruise company alternatives?

 

Any insight is appreciated.

[Host Jazzbeau]

There is no problem giving names of excursion providers.  That does not come under the Travel Agent ban.

[hallasm]

On Hurtigruten sailings I have not been on many excursions - mainly wandering around the bows at the longer stops - it is my impression that the offer of local excursions that fit with Hurtigruten's relatively short stay is limited and that Hurtigruten seizes many local resources for their  excursions.  
The same applies to Havila - I suspect they use the same resources as Hurtigruten.

In the second context, I have used the tour operators below. 

The price level in Norway is quite high, so the local excursions are not cheap either.

 

Barents Safari in Kirkenes 

Blue Puffin in Honningsvåg

A bigger  operator is 50 Degrees North

[Homerody]

@Hallasm - good point about on shore local resources.  Never really thought about that.

 

And thanks for the list.  I've been looking at a couple of other companis I found on Norway visitor site and the interwebs.  I see some daytrip options but they do not seem to line up with ferry /coastal voyage times.  Your explanation clarifies it...  the excursions on voayge dates as reseved or held back for potential use by coastal voyage companies.

 

And you are correct about costs.  I saw a private excursion for the Atlantic Road listed at "from 1390 Euros" (the group tour is more reasonable).  But if we want a group tour I think we'll stick to Havila offerings.  Less hassle and no chance I'll not return in time to ship.  🙂

 

While cruising, we like to get away from the ship crowd and do our own exploring and private tours for things not within walking distance or require resources tha we don't have on the trip (e.g. fishing) when feasible.  

 

So we'll be explring most ports with longer port stops on foot and taking some "experience" excursions with Havila.

 

We'll report back after trip with observations.

[hallasm]

Thank you for the update. When is your voyage and is it one way or return?

Edited February 25, 2023 by hallasm

[grayjay]

Time is often short on the coastal route because sometimes the ships are late or even don't dock in some of the ports because of weather issues.

So we tend to take each day as it comes, use information about the ports I have read about ( or already have visited and know about). Taxis are often a good choice - for example we took a taxi to the aviation museum in Bodo , easy-peasy to do and lots to see.

In Honningsvag there's also a local bus to use to the North Cape, it runs at the same time and is a bit cheaper. In winter, though, the road to the North Cape are often closed due to snow and storms. So we tend to not booking anything beforehand with an outside operator.

[Homerody]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:32 AM, hallasm said:

Thank you for the update. When is your voyage and is it one way or return?

In a few weeks. almost 3 years to the day after the original cancelled trip.

 

return trip

[Homerody]

21 hours ago, grayjay said:

Time is often short on the coastal route because sometimes the ships are late or even don't dock in some of the ports because of weather issues.

So we tend to take each day as it comes, use information about the ports I have read about ( or already have visited and know about). Taxis are often a good choice - for example we took a taxi to the aviation museum in Bodo , easy-peasy to do and lots to see.

In Honningsvag there's also a local bus to use to the North Cape, it runs at the same time and is a bit cheaper. In winter, though, the road to the North Cape are often closed due to snow and storms. So we tend to not booking anything beforehand with an outside operator.

Thanks for your helpful input.

 

Great point about delays.  We did a Greenland coastal ferry trip last summer.  And on day two we encountered gale force winds and rough seas that slowed the ship to a crawl.  And the resulting delay  was over 6 hours.  The crew was playing catch up for a while to make up time.

 

Of course on our upcoming trip it will be smooth saling every day and northern lights every night.  (and daily unicorn sightings...)

 

 

 

 

[hallasm]

34 minutes ago, Homerody said:

Of course on our upcoming trip it will be smooth saling every day and northern lights every night.  (and daily unicorn sightings...)

 

Sure, and right now the northern lights are spectacular and can also be seen here in Denmark, so maybe it will be possible to see the northern lights every evening.  
March is a good month to see the northern lights.

[Flyinby]

On 2/24/2023 at 3:49 AM, Homerody said:

I would like to know, for Hurtigruten - and also Havila - Coastal voyages, does anyone out there have experience booking excursions of a third party provider?

 

I know that some ports, it is possible to do an independent walk, but for other expriences such as a fishing excursion or an Atlantic Road excursion - is it worthwhile to look into non-cruise company alternatives?

 

It sounds like you've already gotten some good advice on this.  We just returned from the Havila round trip (with a few days before and after in Oslo and Bergen) and did seven of the Havila-sponsored excursions.  All were good to excellent considering the time limitations, and the peace of mind in knowing that you won't miss the ship or your times not matching up due to delays is well worth any extra cost.  Plus, the ship announces the upcoming tour in time for you to prepare, handles the refund it it's cancelled, and will not leave you behind if the tour is late.

 

We had only one of the tours cancelled, and Havila immediately offered us an alternative, which turned out to be really excellent, so we didn't have to stress out looking for a replacement or figure out our walking alternatives.  Another example is, on the 'Best of Vesteralen' tour, the ship coordinates with the buses to be returning on the bridge as the ship goes under, with the passengers etc. out on deck cheering and waving...not a huge deal but everyone liked it, and it wouldn't happen on a private tour.  Yet another is that they arrange languages in the way that works out best...some tours with multiple buses will have one bus German, one English, instead of having to use both translations on the tour.  These are not usually big crowds on the tours, so don't picture it as were a tour later in the year with many tours and crowds everywhere.

 

Another thing to consider is the feasibility of walking yourself depends a lot on the stop and the time, so do your homework carefully if you plan that.  It's fun to get off and walk to look around, even in the snow and for a shorter stop, but many of the ports are too far away from anything but industrial buildings and offices...so get maps and know where and at which ports you want to walk rather than take the tour, at least if you want to see more than random things you run across.  If walks are a good idea, the tours director will often give advice on which ways to walk and what you can see, so be sure to go to the daily briefings.

 

I think you get a lot for the little you'd save booking private tours, especially if you're not already familiar with the ports.

[Homerody]

2 hours ago, Flyinby said:

It sounds like you've already gotten some good advice on this.  We just returned from the Havila round trip (with a few days before and after in Oslo and Bergen) and did seven of the Havila-sponsored excursions.  All were good to excellent considering the time limitations, and the peace of mind in knowing that you won't miss the ship or your times not matching up due to delays is well worth any extra cost.  Plus, the ship announces the upcoming tour in time for you to prepare, handles the refund it it's cancelled, and will not leave you behind if the tour is late.

 

We had only one of the tours cancelled, and Havila immediately offered us an alternative, which turned out to be really excellent, so we didn't have to stress out looking for a replacement or figure out our walking alternatives.  Another example is, on the 'Best of Vesteralen' tour, the ship coordinates with the buses to be returning on the bridge as the ship goes under, with the passengers etc. out on deck cheering and waving...not a huge deal but everyone liked it, and it wouldn't happen on a private tour.  Yet another is that they arrange languages in the way that works out best...some tours with multiple buses will have one bus German, one English, instead of having to use both translations on the tour.  These are not usually big crowds on the tours, so don't picture it as were a tour later in the year with many tours and crowds everywhere.

 

Another thing to consider is the feasibility of walking yourself depends a lot on the stop and the time, so do your homework carefully if you plan that.  It's fun to get off and walk to look around, even in the snow and for a shorter stop, but many of the ports are too far away from anything but industrial buildings and offices...so get maps and know where and at which ports you want to walk rather than take the tour, at least if you want to see more than random things you run across.  If walks are a good idea, the tours director will often give advice on which ways to walk and what you can see, so be sure to go to the daily briefings.

 

I think you get a lot for the little you'd save booking private tours, especially if you're not already familiar with the ports.

Good points.

 

We are land tourists who cruise occaisonally.  so we've done a mix of cruise company excursions and our own exploration using walking, taxi,  ride share and guidebooks, google maps, and pre reserached walking tours and some private guides.

 

Well plan on same approach for our coastal voyage cities on our own with selected excursions.

 

Did you by any chance take train from Oslo to Bergen?  and/or Atlantic Road excursion during the coastal voyage?

[Flyinby]

19 hours ago, Homerody said:

 

Did you by any chance take train from Oslo to Bergen?  and/or Atlantic Road excursion during the coastal voyage?

Yes, we went Oslo-Myrdal-Flam, then the next day Flam-Myrdal-Bergen.  After the coastal voyage, we went the full Bergen-Oslo trip.  Very scenic and comfortable ride.  The standard section looked to be a bit busy and noisier at times (our trips were on weekends), but the plus section was quiet and had less traffic, if that matters to you.

 

We didn't take the Atlantic road excursion.  On the way up we had other plans, and on the way back it was late in the day, the last night, and didn't sound appealing.  Two friends who took it said it was scenic, and the marble mines were interesting, though the food included (soup) wasn't all that wonderful.  The exciting breaking waves over the highway only happen at certain times, and this wasn't one of them, but the scenery was nice during the daylight part of the trip.

[Homerody]

@Flyinby - a bit unrelated to cruising - care to opine on left vs right side on Oslo to Bergen train?

 

Still on the fence on the Atlantic Road excursion.  A few pro's but many con's.

[Flyinby]

We sat on the left side both directions, and regardless of which side you're on, there will be things you'll want to see on the other side.  When we left Oslo, there were empty seats on the other side and I went back and forth a few times, until someone moved in, but I think the general consensus is the left from Oslo.  When we re-boarded from Flamsbana at Myrdal, someone with seats on the right was using our reserved seats on the left...no big deal but I guess they saw better photos on our side, and it looked like they'd been there a while.