Best NCL itinerary for Norwegian fjords

[bongju]

We are planning to book at cruise that includes Norway this summer. I see that the NCL Prima and NCL Star have different ports for Norway. Which itinerary is best if our priority is to see the Norwegian fjords?

[Ellis1138]

In my opinion, whichever one has Geiranger would be the best one. If I chose the itinerary from the NCL offerings, it would be the Prima's Sept 4 - 14, 2025 sailing Northern Europe: Iceland & Norway from Reykjavik, Iceland. 

 

If I were to book a non-NCL one, I might go with the more local ways: https://www.geirangerfjord.no/fjord-cruise-alesund-geiranger

[ontheweb]

We were on the Prima this past summer on the London (Southampton) to Reykjavik itinerary. The sail into Geiranger is spectacular.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

How about posting the two itineraries?   Then we can compare without having to search.

[bongju]

Here are the itineraries we are considering.

[UKstages]

i agree that geraiger is an absolute must!

 

be aware, however, that you may not stop in isafjordur. the prima has skipped it on most - if not all - itineraries this season allegedly due to the port not being ready. (needs to be dredged.) whether that continues into 2024 is anybody's guess.

[dumbth]

While Geir. is great, you might pick up that fjord thru an excursion from Alesund. Alesund is supercute so try to leave some time for wandering and not all excursions. Check carefully the excursions at Bergen (for excellent Sonefjord and Hardingerfjord) and the fjord near Stavanger.

 

I thought Geir. over hyped, and if you actually stop at it's port the excursions onward don't interest me. I would definitely visit Alesund and cruise an excursion boat at least part way to Geir. port. They have probably improved it now, but the mountains around Geir port used to block communications so no credit card ship transactions were possible for tix or special food.

 

I prefer the fjords around Bergen over the steep ditch of Geir. fjord. You can do Sonefjord (sp) on your own with a "norway in a nutshell" combo tix sold by the city. They used to offer combo tix to Hardingerfjord which I really like. More to look at than just an extreme ditch, it is the fruitbasket microclimate of Norway (land of all my ancestors).

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

If you really want to see Norwegian Fjords then none of these really suits use. Hurtigruten

 

https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-au?&infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~643876941310~kw~hurtigruten~mt~p~cmp~AU_COA_Tactical_Core_B2C_W21_YR_2021_NO_All~ag~Brand+Core&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4NWrBhD-ARIsAFCKwWsJp38lGP631Vr8Dz7M85UgQIO6HWR442NqMlzagF8h1goANxypVCUaAu_1EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[PhillyTravelBug]

Did Georanger over the summer. I looked at my partner and said, “this is in the top 5 best days of my life.” It’s amazing. Alaska and Norway are tough to decide which one is better, but Norway barely edges out. It’s amazing. I would do an itinerary that is just Norway. NCL has seemed to end those sailings.

[KforKitty]

Personally I would choose an itinerary that has ports in Arctic Norway - Narvik, Lofoten Islands, Trømso.  I’ve not been to the North Cape (yet), but it’s on my list.  B2B trips on the NCL Star would be good.

 

Catherine

 

Trollfjord and Narvik

 

[odie1024]

Great information as Norway is also on my list for summer of 2025. I am trying to find a Gate 1 land trip of Norway that I can combine it with. 

 

 

[bongju]

Thanks so much for all the replies. We are leaning toward the NCL Star 18-30 May 2024. It has port calls in Alesund, Ulvik, and Bergen in Norway. 

[insidecabin]

I would look at dedicated Norway cruises unless you want a broader trip.

 

Summer right upto the North Cape are great.

 

NCL don't do it anymore ours was Jade 14n.

[PhillyTravelBug]

3 hours ago, bongju said:

Thanks so much for all the replies. We are leaning toward the NCL Star 18-30 May 2024. It has port calls in Alesund, Ulvik, and Bergen in Norway. 

Alesund is picturesque and a very enjoyable port to explore on foot.

Edited December 11, 2023 by PhillyTravelBug

[ontheweb]

51 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Alesund is picturesque and a very enjoyable port to explore on foot.

Agree, we took an NCL excursion featuring the architecture of Alesund as an art deco city. We walked the city and went to a museum dedicated to that with a small group and an excellent guide. 

[Travelling2Some]

We did the fjords on the Jade a few years back.  Favorite ports were Flam, Geiranger and Bergen (in that order).  Agree that Alesund was enjoyable.

[alexgtp]

We just did Fjords this past June. We opted for the deep Fjords cruise because we wanted to skip the larger town's and truly see the beauty of Norway and it majestic Fjord's .

So it all depends on what you are looking to do. Do you want to see the larger cities or do you want to see the deep Fjords?

Deep Fjords include Flam, Gerainger, and Olden. Amazing 3-4 hours thru the Fjord's. 

We also went up to Honnisvag for an overnighter on the Summer Solstice! Whale watching galore! Amazing! 

Large/coastal cities would include Bergen, Oslo  on their itinerary.

HALLSAM did an amazing job in this thread discussing the different options for a Norwegian Fjord cruise. Info in here really let me pick the trip we wanted.!
 

 

[PATRLR]

I would stay away from the Prima, I've seen too many and too consistent reports that it just isn't a good cool weather ship.  We've ruled it out.

We are looking at Norway next summer also.  RCCL Anthem of the Seas July 12 had a great itinerary.  Celebrity Apex had a couple good ones too.

[cruiser2015]

7 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I would stay away from the Prima, I've seen too many and too consistent reports that it just isn't a good cool weather ship.  We've ruled it out.

We are looking at Norway next summer also.  RCCL Anthem of the Seas July 12 had a great itinerary.  Celebrity Apex had a couple good ones too.

We sailed on the Anthem a few years ago.

Fabulous ship!

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I would stay away from the Prima, I've seen too many and too consistent reports that it just isn't a good cool weather ship.  We've ruled it out.

We are looking at Norway next summer also.  RCCL Anthem of the Seas July 12 had a great itinerary.  Celebrity Apex had a couple good ones too.

We loved the Prima for our cruise from London (Southampton) to Reykjavik, though I would have to agree that there are features that would be much better for a warmer weather cruise.

[Betsynh]

On 12/11/2023 at 10:58 AM, bongju said:

Thanks so much for all the replies. We are leaning toward the NCL Star 18-30 May 2024. It has port calls in Alesund, Ulvik, and Bergen in Norway. 

We are on this same itinerary! Starting to get excited. There are no NCL excursions offered in Ulvik. Is it an easy place to poke around or should we arrange something locally?

[RenoDuck]

3 hours ago, Betsynh said:

We are on this same itinerary! Starting to get excited. There are no NCL excursions offered in Ulvik. Is it an easy place to poke around or should we arrange something locally?

I'm on that cruise, too.  I've tried to find something to do in Ulvik, but given the early season and funky time in port, I'm thinking I'll just be walking about, getting my steps in and working off some calories.  I found information on visiting the local church and the Ulvik Fruit and Cider Route, but I'm not holding my breath that anything will actually be open.  If you find something, please post on our roll call.

[jcscv]

I have gone on 2 cruises with stops in Norway (Prima was one), and as most have mentioned, Geiranger is breathtaking.  That is the only fjord I've seen where the large cruise ships go through.  I have done separate fjord excursions in other cities, after the ship docked, and each one was just as beautiful as the next. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, jcscv said:

I have gone on 2 cruises with stops in Norway (Prima was one), and as most have mentioned, Geiranger is breathtaking.  That is the only fjord I've seen where the large cruise ships go through.  I have done separate fjord excursions in other cities, after the ship docked, and each one was just as beautiful as the next. 

Yes, the sail into Geiranger on the Prima is spectacular. I remember reading a while back about a Prima cruise that gave the entire observation deck to the people selling art. If that was a cruise that went to Geiranger, I could see the passengers just throwing all the art overboard. 🤣

 

I'm glad NCL realized how wrong that was and freed up the observation deck for passengers to use.

[robinium]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, the sail into Geiranger on the Prima is spectacular. I remember reading a while back about a Prima cruise that gave the entire observation deck to the people selling art. If that was a cruise that went to Geiranger, I could see the passengers just throwing all the art overboard. 🤣

 

I'm glad NCL realized how wrong that was and freed up the observation deck for passengers to use.

I was on that cruise - and yes, it was a cruise that went to Geiranger. People were furious...