Celebrity - Norwegian fjords 7 day or 12 day ?

[Karen Lynn]

Anyone have thoughts on best itinerary for seeing the best fjords ? 
Quite like the one that cruises the Arctic circle that’s 12 nights but wonder if the 7 night one offers more / better fjord viewing ?

 

Maybe someone has done one or both?

 

thanks !

[hallasm]

You need to post the ports of call for the two cruises - I’m not familiar with the Celebrity itineraries.

[kaisatsu]

I tried to look it up, but Celebrity has several different 7-night cruises to Norway that all call at different ports. There is no way we can compare without knowing which ones you're considering.

[Karen Lynn]

Oh yes ok sorry!

Mostly these 2

[CCJack]

49 minutes ago, Karen Lynn said:

Oh yes ok sorry!

Mostly these 2

I like the 12, just because it is 12!   Both have flam.    With the 12 you give up geiranger, but gain those northern ports.   I have not been to those northern ports but they really look appealing to me.

[Karen Lynn]

I know - I feel the same but hate losing geiranger 🤷🏼‍♀️

[gnome12]

I’m not sure about Geiranger in mid-May. It may be too early for some roads to be open, although likely waterfalls will be spectacular. 

[hallasm]

They have both two deep fjord cruising - actually Olden is a quite good substitute for Geiranger.

May versus July might make a difference as mentioned by gnome12. More snow in the mountains and water in rivers in May.

In addition you’ll get North Cape and the midnight sun in the 12 night cruise. Stavanger and Tromsø are also two good ports.

Personally I’ll chose the 12 nights.

[kaisatsu]

I have visited both Geiranger and Flåm in mid-May and had no qualms about either. The road up to Mt.Dalsnibba was still closed, but the day was overcast, so it would have been above the cloud cover anyway (ie no view). We did a short hike up to the Vesteråsfjellet overlook, and the trail was almost completely dry (we didn’t go higher up because I’ve experienced some pretty muddy conditions on the Løsta trail in early June).

 

The thing I’d consider re: the mid-May timing is that you land in Nordfjordeid on 17 May. If it was one of the cities I would consider that a bonus, since you would get to see everyone out in their bunad, celebrating the day. However, in a smaller village I would expect it to just mean everything being closed. Probably the cruiseline would still organize excursions to see the scenery, but there may not be much else happening. Also, the Ålesund call is on Whit Monday, which is another red day but without the lively celebrations. I would guess tourist spots would still be open but regular shops and other businesses will be closed.

 

If you’re interested in the Arctic, I wouldn’t worry too much about choosing the 12-day. It doesn’t have as much fjord scenery, but you still have two fjord ports (Olden and Flåm) compared with the three on the 7-day. With the bigger city (Stavanger), I think the 12-day is more varied, while the 7-day is very fjord scenery focused, so it really becomes a matter of personal preference and interest. Also, I love Tromsø and think it’s beautiful in its own way.

[Karen Lynn]

So many thanks everyone ! I greatly appreciate all the experienced views 😊