Norway - Help Choosing Between 2 Cruises

[aroundtheworld96]

I posted some time ago about an RCL itinerary I was interested in. I did book it at the time (refundable deposit) but came across a Celebrity itinerary that also seemed appealing and was looking for opinions. Price is very similar with Celebrity being $200 more than the RCL cruise but also one night longer. Here are the 2 itineraries, with dates - 

 

RCL Cruise - Anthem of the Seas (7 night)

 

Sun, May 12:	Southampton - England
	(Depart 5:00 PM)
Mon, May 13:	At Sea
Tue, May 14:	Bergen - Norway
	(11:59 AM - 7:00 PM)
Wed, May 15:	Olden - Norway
	(7:00 AM - 5:00 PM)
Thu, May 16:	Geiranger - Norway
	(9:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
Fri, May 17:	Haugesund - Norway
	(11:59 AM - 6:00 PM)
Sat, May 18:	At Sea
Sun, May 19:	Southampton - England
	(Arrive 5:30 AM)

 

 

Celebrity Cruise - Silhouette (8 night)

 

Sun, May 5:	Amsterdam Netherlands
	(Depart 5:00 PM)
Mon, May 6:	At Sea
Tue, May 7:	Haugesund - Norway
	(7:00 AM - 6:00 PM)
Wed, May 8:	Olden - Norway
	(9:00 AM - 7:00 PM)
Thu, May 9:	Alesund - Norway
	(7:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
Fri, May 10:	Stavanger - Norway
	(8:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
Sat, May 11:	Oslo - Norway (11:00am-9:00pm)
Sun, May 12:	At Sea

Mon, May 13:

Rotterdam - Netherlands (Arrive 6am)

 

Main pros to the Celebrity cruise that I can see is one extra port day, and longer port times. Pros to RCL cruise is that the 7-night itinerary is easier in terms of taking time off work, and has Geiranger as a stop which I hear is an amazing port. Would love to get some insight on what people would choose between these 2 options! 

 

[hallasm]

RCL has two deep fjords to Olden and Geiranger- Celebrity has only Olden

RCL has Bergen while Celebrity has Oslo.

Ålesund and Stavanger are also two nice cities in the Celebrity itinerary.

Both have Haugesund which is ‘not that interesting’ 

I would choose RCL for the two fjords and Bergen.

Chose Celebrity if you want to see Oslo.

[aroundtheworld96]

28 minutes ago, hallasm said:

RCL has two deep fjords to Olden and Geiranger- Celebrity has only Olden

RCL has Bergen while Celebrity has Oslo.

Ålesund and Stavanger are also two nice cities in the Celebrity itinerary.

Both have Haugesund which is ‘not that interesting’ 

I would choose RCL for the two fjords and Bergen.

Chose Celebrity if you want to see Oslo.

 

Thanks - What I am finding online suggests that it is possible to get views of fjords on tours from Alesund and Stavanger, but I am trying to determine how accurate this is. Time of year is also a factor with the Celebrity cruise being earlier in May I would want to make sure all of the activities I want to do are operating. 

[janetcbl]

48 minutes ago, aroundtheworld96 said:

 

Thanks - What I am finding online suggests that it is possible to get views of fjords on tours from Alesund and Stavanger, but I am trying to determine how accurate this is. Time of year is also a factor with the Celebrity cruise being earlier in May I would want to make sure all of the activities I want to do are operating. 

I have had snow in both these cities, as well as Bergen, well into May. With long hours of daylight, it didn’t last for days.

[hallasm]

56 minutes ago, aroundtheworld96 said:

Thanks - What I am finding online suggests that it is possible to get views of fjords on tours from Alesund and Stavanger, but I am trying to determine how accurate this is. Time of year is also a factor with the Celebrity cruise being earlier in May I would want to make sure all of the activities I want to do are operating. 

Excursion from Ålesund to Geiranger possible - it’s an 9 hours excursion.

From Stavanger possible with excursion to Lysefjord.

May is a bit early - but primarily for Geiranger where some view points might not be accessible and if you want to bike from Myrdal to Flåm aften the railway trip.

[kaisatsu]

I would stick with the RCCL. Bergen is a gem for port calls, and the Geirangerfjord is often considered the most beautiful of the fjord cruising.

 

Personally, I think Oslo fits better into a Baltic cruise. You lose a lot of time sailing around the southern tip of the country from the west coast.

 

Ålesund and Stavanger are both pleasant enough, but I'd trade them for Bergen and Geiranger in a heartbeat. And if you have to visit Haugesund (which doesn't have a lot to recommend it), at least you'd be there on 17.mai (the national holiday) with the chance of getting to see the locals out in traditional dress.

[aroundtheworld96]

1 hour ago, kaisatsu said:

I would stick with the RCCL. Bergen is a gem for port calls, and the Geirangerfjord is often considered the most beautiful of the fjord cruising.

 

Personally, I think Oslo fits better into a Baltic cruise. You lose a lot of time sailing around the southern tip of the country from the west coast.

 

Ålesund and Stavanger are both pleasant enough, but I'd trade them for Bergen and Geiranger in a heartbeat. And if you have to visit Haugesund (which doesn't have a lot to recommend it), at least you'd be there on 17.mai (the national holiday) with the chance of getting to see the locals out in traditional dress.

Thank you for the insight, I think I will stick with the RC cruise - we typically cruise RC so I have a slight preference to this line (the ship has much more activities than the Celebrity which is a huge bonus for the sea days) and the dates just work better for us. An extra port day would have been nice but this really seems to be a case of quality over quantity in terms of ports! 

[elaine5]

agree with Kaisatsu.  In Olden we did the Troll cars booked directly with them. So fun! Gerainger is great for kayaking or the tourist bus to the top of the mountain. We booked through a local tour company. They emailed us and picked up for free at the dock. Geiranger Fjordservice 

In Bergen, we have walked around and toured the Hanseatic Museum (series of buildings-read up on history 1st) and also taken the funicular up and walked down Mt Floyen. You could squeeze both in--Mt F 1st, then Hanseatic. We loved Bergen. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by elaine5