Norway shore excursions

[hanalei_princess]

Holland has not been helpful or knowledgeable with Norway shore excursions. Looking for not to be missed for Ulvik, Bergen, Alesund and Geiranger.

Does anyone also know how to get a North American agent at Seattle Shore Excursion desk  rather than an off shore agent that is not knowledgeabe about shore excursions?

[RuthC]

There's plenty to do on your own in Bergen and Alesund; Geiranger is small, and you can walk around the town, take a HO-HO bus, or a tour. 
I don't remember Ulvic. 

In Bergen and Alesund both I have always been docked very close to the downtown area, and it was a fairly easy walk to the Bryggen area, formerly a setting for the Hanseatic League. It's full of shops now. Very nearby is the entrance to a lift that will take you up the mountain for a delightful view. 

There have been tours to Grieg's home outside of town, which is a lovely spot, especially for people who appreciate his music. 

Alesund was a stop on The Amazing Race, if you have ever watched the show. There is a trolly that will take you to the top of a high hill for views of the area. There is (or at least was the first time I was there) a really good aquarium on the outskirts of town. 

I hope shore excursions for your cruise appear soon. In the meantime, why not check out the ports of call forums on Cruise Critic? There should be plenty of information there. 

Norway is one of my favorite countries to cruise to; I have been been there more times than I can count, and would be ready to go back any time. 

[Hlitner]

6 hours ago, hanalei_princess said:

Holland has not been helpful or knowledgeable with Norway shore excursions. Looking for not to be missed for Ulvik, Bergen, Alesund and Geiranger.

Does anyone also know how to get a North American agent at Seattle Shore Excursion desk  rather than an off shore agent that is not knowledgeabe about shore excursions?

I suspect that anyone you talk to from Seattle will be customer service folks who simply read info off their screen scripts.  Excursions are simply contracted, by a third party company that handles the shore excursion operation, from shore-based tour companies.  It would be rare to find anyone at Seattle that has a lot of detailed knowledge of excursions other than the usual scripts.  

 

You will likely get better information right here on CC by posting on the appropriate Ports of Call board or perhaps here on the HAL board.  

[Catlover54]

 

When is your cruise?  If it is soon, you can see a list of offered excursions under "already booked".

If it is not until 2024, they aren't out yet.

 

Here you can search for prior reviews of each ports when excursions were offered in them, including the four you list (though all might not be offered)

 

I haven't been to Ulvik, but agree with Ruth about the other ports (though I visited them with either other cruise line or on a land trip).

 

 

If there is an opportunity on a clear or semi-clear day to take an excursion up the steep hill outside Geiranger you will have a spectacular view of the fjord, not to be missed if this will be your only trip. Access to Geiranger will start to get limited for cruise ships (at least the bigger ones) in the next couple years, so it may be now or never. 

 

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/shore-excursions.html#{!tag=excursionDestinationTag}excursionDestinationIDs=E&{!tag=portTag}portId=ULV&sort=&group.sort=&start=0&{!tag=regionTag}regions=

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, Catlover54 said:

 

When is your cruise?  If it is soon, you can see a list of offered excursions under "already booked".

If it is not until 2024, they aren't out yet.

 

Here you can search for prior reviews of each ports when excursions were offered in them, including the four you list (though all might not be offered)

 

I haven't been to Ulvik, but agree with Ruth about the other ports (though I visited them with either other cruise line or on a land trip).

 

 

If there is an opportunity on a clear or semi-clear day to take an excursion up the steep hill outside Geiranger you will have a spectacular view of the fjord, not to be missed if this will be your only trip. Access to Geiranger will start to get limited for cruise ships (at least the bigger ones) in the next couple years, so it may be now or never. 

 

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/shore-excursions.html#{!tag=excursionDestinationTag}excursionDestinationIDs=E&{!tag=portTag}portId=ULV&sort=&group.sort=&start=0&{!tag=regionTag}regions=

 

 

You're right about Geiranger. It's incredible. And the trip up the mountain gives you a chance to get a picture of your ship in a gorgeous setting. One of my favorite vacation pics is DH and me with the fjord and QE2 in the background. One warning--if you're not good about twisty roads or heights, you might not want to do the excursion up the mountain. We did an excursion up to see a glacier at the top of the mountain. LOTS of switchbacks on the road. On the way up, after just a few turns, we had a photo op stop at a hotel. One woman on our tour said she was done and would get a taxi back down to the ship! 

 

IIRC, there's now a museum in Geiranger. On our second time there, we were with friends, and she was NOT a good bus rider, so we didn't do the steep excursion. Instead, we walked around a bit and I think we went to a museum. 

[oakridger]

I get motion sickness way more easily in a car or bus than on ships.  Consider taking Meclizine (Bonine) before a bus tour (or small plane/helicopter).  I always carry it on ships but rarely have needed to take them.

 

~Nancy

[Traveling Library]

Walk around downtown Alesund. They had a fire in the late 1800’s and rebuilt the city in Art Nouveau style. There also is a small Art Nouveau museum which is worth a visit. 

[Dancing Shoes]

Our port was changed to Ulvik from Edifjord.  From what I can find, there are no tours being offered there.  

[aussiedisneyfan]

This is our shorex brochure for April this year.shorex.pdf

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

Our port was changed to Ulvik from Edifjord.  From what I can find, there are no tours being offered there.  

 

If it's a recent port change, they may still be sorting out the tours. I've never been to either of those ports, so I have no idea what could be offered there.

[Catlover54]

 

From one of our Norway trips:

 

The first two are from the trip up the road above Geiranger, and the third is Alesund from the top of the hill that Ruth mentioned in post #2.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Catlover54
Spacing

[Traveling Library]

In Geiranger the dock unfolds like a folding yardstick. If you are the first ship in you may be able to watch it unfold. Very interesting to see.

[CurlerRob]

In Bergen, I'd recommend the Floibanen funicular up to the top of Mt. Floyen for hiking and views. As @RuthC says, there town is easy and interesting to explore on foot, as well

 

 

For Alesund - the HoHo bus was an unexpected treat - and took us to an outlook that was worth the entire price ... 🍺🥌

 

x

[roblc1]

I am taking this cruise too.  We are planning to walk to the Apple orchards for cider in Ulvik. It’s about 45 minutes each way.  If the weather is good, we may rent a kayak for an hour.  There is a place in town.  
In Bergen we plan to take the funicular up to Mr. Floren and then walk around Bryggen and go to Grieg’s house.

In Alesund, we will walk around town, go up to Mt. Askla and walk some at the top.  We may try to go to the Sunemore Museum.  The HOHO abuse would be good too. 
in Gerainger, we plan to do a RIB boat ride, and then take the waterfall walk up to the Fjord center.  
Also plan to have a drink or coffee in each stop.  Very excited for the trip. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by roblc1

[Dancing Shoes]

They added a few tours at Ulvik.  Unfortunately, the one I wanted is sold out. I am waitlisted.  It would take us over to Eidfjord.  Still excited, but this tour is like the one I had @Eidfjord. Going on the other tour that was offered.  

Edited March 12, 2023 by Dancing Shoes

[fsufancc]

We are doing a RIB boat ride in Geiranger. Booked thru a local operator.  Listed at $175/pp on the HAL website.  It was about $53/pp thru the local operator (Kroner to dollar converter). Big difference. Looks like the same or very similar tour that HAL is offering in their planning guide.

 

We are going on the Eidfjord Cruise & Voringsfossen Waterfall excursion offered by HAL at $129/pp but we have the $100/pp excursion credit to use so net cost $29/pp.

 

We will do HOHO buses at other stops or just walk around on our own.

 

You can Google or TripAdvisor any of the ports and find local operators. I would book sooner rather than later. We sail in August on the Rotterdam. 

[ChinaShrek]

I was in Geiranger in August 2022 on the Rotterdam, All Geiranger excursions were sold out before the cruise even started, so I would book a tour in advance. This is a small town and the cruise ships seem to book all of the tours. 

[Dancing Shoes]

On 3/12/2023 at 7:06 AM, fsufancc said:

We are doing a RIB boat ride in Geiranger. Booked thru a local operator.  Listed at $175/pp on the HAL website.  It was about $53/pp thru the local operator (Kroner to dollar converter). Big difference. Looks like the same or very similar tour that HAL is offering in their planning guide.

 

 

That is quite the price difference. I hope it works out for you.  With Geiranger being a tender port, they will likely let folks who booked through HAL off first.

[dfish]

I've done the RIB and the trip up Mt. Dalsnibba in Geiranger.  Both are amazing!  Here is a link to one of the companies doing excursions in Geiranger.  https://www.geirangerfjord.no/english  When we did the bus trip we also went out to the other viewpoint in addition to Mt. Dalsnibba, the Panorama Exclusive Bus.  https://www.geirangerfjord.no/bus-turer-i-geiranger-2

 

In Bergen we went up Mt. Floyen.  For hikers, there are several hikes you can do on the top, depending on how much time you want to spend.  We hiked into the lake and enjoyed a short time relaxing there.  

 

In Alesund we did the HoHo bus as it took us to the sights we wanted.  

 

We were changed from Ulvik to Eidfjord and were very happy with that change.  I never did find out what was available in Ulvik.  

[fsufancc]

13 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

That is quite the price difference. I hope it works out for you.  With Geiranger being a tender port, they will likely let folks who booked through HAL off first.

We "dock" at 7:00 am.  The tour is scheduled for 10:00 am.  Plenty of time. I didn't know that Geiranger was a tender port. For the $120/pp savings, I will gladly wait an hour or so on the ship while the HAL folks head to shore. 

[dfish]

18 minutes ago, fsufancc said:

We "dock" at 7:00 am.  The tour is scheduled for 10:00 am.  Plenty of time. I didn't know that Geiranger was a tender port. For the $120/pp savings, I will gladly wait an hour or so on the ship while the HAL folks head to shore. 

Or get off before them and walk around town before  your activity.  That was the advice given to us by the CD in Geiranger.  

[vicverse]

We went on a great excursion while in Geiranger, Mount Dalsnibba and Eagle Road. https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/tour/geiranger-mount-dalsnibba-and-eagle-road/. No problem getting on and off the boat in time with still enough time to walk around the village.

 

 

[syesmar]

I did the Mt. Floyen funicular on our first visit to Bergen and the cable car to Mt. Ulriken on the second. Both were fun experiences and I highly recommend both (we did them independently and had time for other activities later in the day, too). There was just something about the sky, the view and surroundings on Mt. Ulriken (higher elevation than Mt. Floyen) that left me spellbound. 

 

https://en.visitbergen.com/things-to-do/ulriken643-ulriken-cable-car-p824813

 

https://ulriken643.no/en/