Sky Princess July 13-20, Norwegian Fjords trip report

[PATRLR]

This is my report from our July 13-20, 2024 Sky Princess cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. 

 

Date	Port of Call	Arrival	Departure
Saturday, July 13, 2024	Southampton, England		4:00 PM
Sunday, July 14, 2024	At Sea
Monday, July 15, 2024	Bergen, Norway	12:00 PM	8:00 PM
Tuesday, July 16, 2024	Skjolden, Norway	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
Wednesday, July 17, 2024	Olden, Norway	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Thursday, July 18, 2024	Stavanger, Norway	10:00 AM	5:00 PM
Friday, July 19, 2024	At Sea
Saturday, July 20, 2024	Southampton, England	7:00 AM	---

 

July 10-11: Boston to Southampton

 

We flew into LHR on July 11.  Our original flights on UA, BOS-EWR-LHR were impacted by weather in the Newark area.  United ground staff in BOS proactively moved us to a non-stop BOS-LHR flight on BA.  Good news was we would make it to LHR as planned, bad news I lost our spacious exit row seats in favor of middle seats in different rows at the very back of a BA A380.  Ugh.  And to make maters worse, we were 1 & 2 on the upgrade list for the UA flight and I have no doubt we would have been upgraded PremEcon.  BA flight was uneventful and thankfully one of the shorter overseas flights at just 5.5 hours. We survived.

Transport from LHR to Southampton with Jewels Airport Transport. Cost was £123.  I had to buy internet on the plane to try to notify them that we were now arriving about 5 hours earlier than planned.  Some additional text and phone contact when we landed and they managed to get our driver to us with only about an hour of waiting in the arrivals hall. I definitely would do business with Jewels again.

 

July 11-12 Southampton

 

Moxy Hotel Southampton:  We got there around 11AM, rooms ready at 1:00 (our room and bunch of others).  Plenty of comfortable space to hang out and wait, they stored our bags if we wanted to explore Southampton.  The room itself was very basic but good sized for England.  Comfortable bed, chair, some storage area, full bath.  £12 for their breakfast buffet which was basic but adequate (powdered eggs, bacon, sausage, fruits, cereals, pastries, yogurts, and I'm sure other stuff).  Located right across from the West Quay shopping center which also has a large variety of restaurants and food options.  Walk through the mall and you are in a downtown section with more shopping and dining options.  Just a bit further, easy walk to other attractions.  We would stay here again.

 

Southampton: We ate at Duke of Wellington which is a 15minute walk from Moxy. Neat place, good food except for the fish and chips which I thought was not good (maybe it’s just the difference between how we do it here on the New England coastline and how they do it).  Also ate at the Standing Order Pub.  I’d seen this restaurant suggested in a few places.  It’s inexpensive but the food quality matches the price – not bad, but not great.  Definitely not a place to get a fancy meal, kinda reminded us of a local diner back home except much larger and this place is part of a chain. 

We visited the SeaCity Museum on Friday.  An easy 15 minute walk from the Moxy.  It had a big section all about Titanic from its inception to its demise with a focus on its relationship to Southampton.  It also had a couple other sections about Southampton’s relationship with the sea which I’m sure is interesting to locals but I had a hard time getting engaged with.  This is a good stop if just looking to kill time for a few hours which we were.

Couple pictures from Southampton

 

July 13 Embarkation

We had the Moxy prebook our taxi for 11:00AM to go the pier.  It cost £20.  I didn’t keep close watch on the timing, but, everything was very fast and easy from drop off (plenty of signs telling which area to drop your bags) through to getting on the ship. We had our medallions so no wait for those. We were onboard well before noon.

 

 

Duke of Wellington Pub:

 

Just an interesting shot in a residential neighborhood near the Moxy

[PATRLR]

Cruise impressions from an NCL veteran

 

Ship:  Overall we liked this ship.  The layout is generally good and typical of large mas market ships:  Public areas concentrated on decks 5/6/7 with a  three story atrium (The Piazza) as the center piece.  Decks 16/17/18 are also mostly public with the buffet area, pools, deck space, etc.  There were a couple spots that didn’t  seem to flow.  For example, the aft elevators don’t go all the way down to deck 5 which is where things like Guest Services are.  And deck 6 off the aft elevators one can only get to the Cielo MDR.  In fact, the only way to get to the Cielo DR is to walk to the aft stairs/lift from deck 7 or above and go down to deck 6. 

Sky doesn’t seem to have as much outdoor space as the NCL “-away”, “-away+”, or Prima class ships.  Those ships all have their “waterfront” areas that we enjoy and we noticed the lack thereof on Sky.  On Sky, there are a couple small areas on deck 7 you can it outside (one of which is a smoking area) but generally speaking if you want to be outside you are going to be on Deck 16, 17 or a small part of 18.  I was also surprised that other than the Sanctuary (which costs extra to get into) there is no public outdoor space where one can look forward.  Especially when coming into port (or in this case cruising long fjords) I really like being able to see where we are going.  Can’t really do that on Sky, other than the bump outs on deck 17.

 

Room:  We had booked a DF room which was a Deluxe Balcony guarantee.  We were assigned room M720 which was on deck 15 all the way aft, last room on the side of the ship (the room aft of us was an aft facing balcony.  Our room was under the public deck space aft of the buffet.  Normally we wouldn’t choose such a room for fear of noise from above but in this case we heard nothing.  I would book this room again.  When had 10+ swells and wind cruising the North Sea and I don’t recall feeling any motion in that room (we did feel motion in other parts of the ship).

The room itself seemed a bit bigger than NCLs, but, the bathroom might be a tad smaller.  In addition to the queen bed we also had a couch which I believe is what distinguishes the standard balcony from the “deluxe” balconies.  I think moving forward, I will always be sure to book at least a deluxe balcony because sitting on that couch was sometimes very necessary (like when it was raining and we couldn’t use the balcony).  Many Princess cabins have an open closet area just outside the bathroom.  We liked this setup (I know others do not), it works for us.  Sure, I’d rather not have my closet on display for all to see when they enter the room, but, we don’t ever have anyone enter our room so no problem.  The bed was extremely comfortable, it came with a mattress topper so no need to request one like you do with NCL.  Overall, I’d say the rooms are about the same between NCL and PCL but I give the edge to PCL due to the more comfortable bed and the layout with the closet area. 

 

Food:  food is subjective, so, I’ll keep it simple.  Buffet, Princess seems to have more variety but I give the edge to NCL in quality and taste.  MDRs, Princess is much better quality and variety than NCL. Princess still offers a lobster one evening and their Beef Wellington was one of the best meals I’ve had in an MDR in a long, long time.  Specialty Dining, we ate at Crown Grill and Sabatinis.  Crown Grill was OK (Cagney is better), Sabatinis was awful – food uninspiring but more importantly the service was incredibly slow. 1:50 from sit down until we got our meals which we ate quickly and left immediately to get to a show.  For our upcoming med cruise, we will not bother with specialty dining.  We did not try any of the casual dining venues. 

The hours of available food is much better than NCLs.  The buffet, in some form is available from 5:30AM to 10:30PM. And they are good at overlapping meal service, for example as they start rolling out lunch foods, they keep a breakfast station open (as late as 11:30AM we were still able to get breakfast one day).  In addition to the buffet, casual or free venues like Slice, Salty Dog, and Alfredo's are open 11AM to 11PM.

A word about dress in the MDRs:  I wore shorts and a collared shirt most nights and didn’t feel out of place.  On the formal nights, I saw a few tuxes, a few more guys in suits, quite a few in sport coats with or without ties.  But, I’d guess nearly half the men were just wearing collared shirt and slacks which is what I wore and felt comfortable.   What I didn’t see on PCL that I do see from time to time on NCL, are the really sloppy dressers (e.g. tank tops, athletic gear) – that might be because this cruise originated in the UK not the US. 

 

Entertainment: Princess reminds me of old school cruising.  The production shows have a live band, the performers perform in multiple shows and the shows are good, not great.  Princess doesn’t have the Broadway productions that NCL has/had, but, NCL is getting rid of them anyways.  They brought on semi-big names for entertainment in the theatre a couple different nights.   Around the rest of the ship each evening it seemed like there were  more options and they ran later.  They had a pianist, a duo, a cover band, a jazz trio, a female jazz group, a string duo, and “Acoustic Guitar with Joe” (note to PCL, Joe was really good but he never once played an acoustic guitar 😉 ).  At any point in the evening there was something happening in the Piazza (usually music), Princess Live (game show, trivia, karaoke), Crown Grill Bar (pianist or Joe), Take Five (jazz), Vista Lounge (comedy, larger game shows, DJ late evening) and of course production shows in the theatre.  I definitely think Princess does a much better job with entertainment than NCL and we never felt like there was nothing good to do at night as we did a couple times on our most recent Viva cruise. 

 

General Impression: One of the concerns coming from NCL is loss of that “freestyle” vibe.  I didn’t feel like I lost that in any way.  I could still eat when/where I wanted by just showing up.  The clientele seems similar, maybe a bit older but not by much.  NCL and PCL are very similar, I just think PCL has managed to avoid the cuts to quality that NCL is suffering from. I’ll return to NCL at some point (I have ac oupel CNs) but for now my next cruise is already booked on the Sun Princess.

 

 

[PATRLR]

Bergen:  We didn’t do any organized excursion here.  We walked off the ship and into the old town area.  It was about a 15 minute walk.  Lots of shopping and eating options in this neat little area.  We then rode the Mount Fløyen funicular and spent some time up there having a cocktail and snacks.  We bought our tickets at the Visitor Information Center adjacent to the Fish Market and saved the time of waiting in line (you can also buy online but we opted to make the funicular a game-time decision based on weather and other factors).

 

Old Town:

 

 

 

Views from the top of Mount Fløyen (funicular):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PATRLR]

Skjolden:  We did the Fjord RIB adventure pre-booked through Adventure Tours Norway (https://www.adventuretours.no/rib-boat-adventures/fjord-rib-adventure/).  Pre-booking is a must, all excursions our day were sold out.  It was an 1:15 ride through the Lustrafjord, which is part of Sognefjord that the ship sailed through to get to Skjolden.  We met them a very short walk from the pier where we docked.  The RIB was very comfortable and the Captain knowledgeable.  We made 5 or 6 stops where the Captain provided interesting commentary.   While it may seem duplicative to take a RIB on the same fjord you sail into and out of, it made the sail out of the fjord more interesting having seen up close and learned about different parts of the fjord.  The ride itself was very comfortable.  I had thought the suits they make you wear were to keep you dry and I am sure they do, but I think they are more to protect you from wind.  I don’t think we ever got splashed.  I imagine on a cool day it can be chilly on those boats.  I’d highly recommend this tour and booking direct with this company.

After the RIB we walked into the tiny village of Skjolden explored a bit and settled on the deck of a local tavern to enjoy a beer. 

 

Some pictures of the sail in:

 

 

 

 

 

Not the RIB I was on, but typical:

 

Couple shots from the RIB excursion:

 

 

Obligatory picture of the Sky Princess from the RIB:

 

After the excursion we wandered the town a bit and settled here for a beer and snacks.  Cant see it, but those are steps down to a dock on the fjord.  

 

Cool picture of Sky as we walked back to the ship:

Couple more shots as we sailed out of the fjord

 

 

Sunset.  Time stamp says 11:20PM!

 

 

Edited July 24 by PATRLR

[PATRLR]

Olden:  We did the Loen Lake and Kjenndal Glacier boat excursion pre-booked through Olden Adventures (https://www.oldencruise.com/loen-lake-and-kjenndal-glacier/). They have a kiosk immediately as you leave the ship, so, easy to find and check in. I don’t think this was sold out despite there being the QM2 and another small ship in port with us.   The excursion starts with a short (~15-20 minute) bus rid to Loen Lake where we boarded the boat to cruise Loen Lake which was spectacular. At the far end they drop you off at a café where we boarded another bus and drove about 10 minutes where we then walked about 5-10 minutes to a viewing area for the Kjenndal glacier.  It too was spectacular. Upon return to the café we were fed Norwegian waffles and coffee/tea and then had time to hang out on the shore of the lake (while the other half of the cruise went to the glacier). We then boarded the boat to return to the origin, and then bus rid back to the port.  We had a knowledgeable local guide with us the whole trip (he was born and raised in Olden) which made it even more interesting.

 

On the return, the bus will stop at the Loen SkyLift for those that want to do that for extra cost.  They had some tickets for the lift on the bus (so skip the ticket line at the lift).  I had heard many reports of people doing the lift and not seeing anything because of the weather.  We decided to make it a last-minute decision to do the lift and as it had started raining on the bus ride back, we opted to skip the lift and go back to the ship. 

We had great weather with sunny skies and the upper 60s, maybe low 70s for temps.  For those contemplating this lake cruise, bring layers as it can be chilly on the lake itself especially when the sun goes in as it did for us on the return.   

 

I highly recommend this excursion.

 

Some shots from sailing into the fjord:

 

 

 

 

I didn't get a picture of the boat we were on for the excursion, but, these next shots are from Loen Lake.  

You can see the Kjenndal Glacier in the upper left here:

 

More pictures from the boat on the lake:

 

 

 

This is where the boat stopped and we transferred to another bus and eventually came back for waffles and coffee

 

Pictures from the end of the very short hike.  The glacier is visible in the first two:

 

 

 

Inside the cafe:

 

Another shot from the lake:

\

 

 

 

Edited July 24 by PATRLR

[PATRLR]

Stavanger:  We did the Rødne Lysefjord Cruise booked direct with Rødne (https://rodne.no/en/fjord-experiences/stavanger/fjordcruise-lysefjord-preikestolen/).   They had a kiosk on the pier a short walk from the cruise ship.  Nice modern ships with clean bathrooms and canteen selling refreshments.  This excursion gives you exactly what they say in the description – cruise to Lysefjord, feed some goats, up close to a waterfall and cruise under Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock).  The cruise is narrated along the way which was helpful.

 

Having been in the deep fjords for Skjolden and Olden, this specific fjord cruise was just OK. Over 1/2 the cruise is just getting to/from the Lysefjord and Preikestolen is simply not as impressive from the water as it is in pictures taken from above (no surprise there). It's a very nice leisurely day on the water with some nice scenery - nothing more.

If you do this excursion, plan to get in line 1 hour early to get on the ship and assure yourself a good seat, especially if you don’t want to be standing the full cruise.  We got there about 1/2 hour early and the line already hundreds deep.  While I am sure there probably was a seat for everyone onboard, we all know how some people can be hogging space and that is no different on this boat.  We got on to the boat late and managed to find one seat outside so one of us sat and the other stood/walked around. 

 

Another tip:  When I first tried to book this, it was full and I was disappointed.  With no other plans for Stavanger, I kept checking back hoping for a cancellation and space opening up.  One day, there it was, I was able to book it and I did.  And a few days later it was still bookable.  I believe what happened is they added a second boat because there were indeed two boats leaving at the same time doing the same cruise.  So, if you find it’s booked and you really want it, keep checking back.   

 

This cruise was OK, I can’t say anything negative.  However, my recommendation for this port would be to do a RIB tour in this port instead. 

 

Entering into the Lysefjord:

 

Fantahålå (Vagabond’s Cave) - we actually pulled all the way in there:

 

That's Preikestolen(Pulpit Rock) way up there:

 

Hengjanefossen waterfall

 

We pulled up right to the waterfall such that folks on the very front of the boat could get wet:

 

heading back to Stavanger:

 

Stavanger:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PATRLR]

Wrapping it up, we flew home via Iceland Air - uneventful.  

[karatemom2]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Olden:  We did the Loen Lake and Kjenndal Glacier boat excursion pre-booked through Olden Adventures (https://www.oldencruise.com/loen-lake-and-kjenndal-glacier/). They have a kiosk immediately as you leave the ship, so, easy to find and check in. I don’t think this was sold out despite there being the QM2 and another small ship in port with us.   The excursion starts with a short (~15-20 minute) bus rid to Loen Lake where we boarded the boat to cruise Loen Lake which was spectacular. At the far end they drop you off at a café where we boarded another bus and drove about 10 minutes where we then walked about 5-10 minutes to a viewing area for the Kjenndal glacier.  It too was spectacular. Upon return to the café we were fed Norwegian waffles and coffee/tea and then had time to hang out on the shore of the lake (while the other half of the cruise went to the glacier). We then boarded the boat to return to the origin, and then bus rid back to the port.  We had a knowledgeable local guide with us the whole trip (he was born and raised in Olden) which made it even more interesting.

 

On the return, the bus will stop at the Loen SkyLift for those that want to do that for extra cost.  They had some tickets for the lift on the bus (so skip the ticket line at the lift).  I had heard many reports of people doing the lift and not seeing anything because of the weather.  We decided to make it a last-minute decision to do the lift and as it had started raining on the bus ride back, we opted to skip the lift and go back to the ship. 

We had great weather with sunny skies and the upper 60s, maybe low 70s for temps.  For those contemplating this lake cruise, bring layers as it can be chilly on the lake itself especially when the sun goes in as it did for us on the return.   

 

I highly recommend this excursion.

 

Some shots from sailing into the fjord:

 

 

 

 

I didn't get a picture of the boat we were on for the excursion, but, these next shots are from Loen Lake.  

You can see the Kjenndal Glacier in the upper left here:

 

More pictures from the boat on the lake:

 

 

 

This is where the boat stopped and we transferred to another bus and eventually came back for waffles and coffee

 

Pictures from the end of the very short hike.  The glacier is visible in the first two:

 

 

 

Inside the cafe:

 

Another shot from the lake:

\

 

 

 

 

Great photos! This was our favorite excursion on our recent cruise! Just well run and beautiful!

[Leo37]

Thank you for writing such a detailed review and providing the great photos. We had a good time on the Sky Princess at the start of the year in the Caribbean so interesting to see your experiences. Photos have certainly moved a Norwegian cruise up our to do list!

[njkate]

12 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Wrapping it up, we flew home via Iceland Air - uneventful.  

Thanks for great review! Between your review and Yvonne’s review I’m ready to take the plunge on Princess! I’ve avoided as I thought it would be to stuffy for me!

NCL has been sliding a lot lately and I think it’s time to expand my horizons 

[mking8288]

Another good summary review of Princess experience cruising and great photography, thank you for setting aside time to write and post, sincerely appreciated.  Concur with the sentiments of others including @njkate above, NCL has been sliding lately (a little, some and/or a lot is a matter of personal opinion, I shall mine/ours for now ... since others will challenge, debate & question) and not a matter of thinking anymore, as our thinking part started in 2023 began we took several more NCL cruises, including 3 TA and concluded that we are overdue to expand our horizions, and taking our extended families and friends along to see the broader universe.  Our next 3 upcoming cruises aren't going to be with NCL, not that we've abandoned entirely ... we have 2 sailings booked for 2025, something we never used to do but seeing the trend ahead, and with available FCC that "never" expire - what's there to lose.  Game time is when we approach cancellation & payment in full deadlines, grateful to use our digital calendars to remind us.  

 

Thanks again, PATRLR for this report.  

[KKB]

@PATRLR

Thanks for your thoughts!

You will rarely see sloppy attire at dinner on any Princess ship in any destination.

Carnival & NCL are the only lines were we occasionally see that.

No big deal by me--what someone else wears doesn't make or break my meal or cruise.

[Firstin87]

Thank you for this outstanding review, @PATRLR!!  We will be taking this cruise in the summer of 2025 and all this information is very helpful.  Really appreciate the time and effort you put into this review!

[jaycruising]

Thanks for your review as well, it’s fun to see different perspectives from the same cruise!

 

You will rarley see sloppy dressers at dinner on Princess. 

 

I definitely agree that the Skjolden RIB cruise made the sail out of the Fjord that much better! And since we had the stupid overhang blocking my view for photos I knew exactly when to go upstairs for photos of the waterfall. 

 

Thanks for the review of your tour in Olden, we did the Briksdal Glacier with them and it was great, but since we rebooked the full 21 day cruise for next year I need another excursion for Olden!

[joejoe 59]

Great review thank you. Loved all the photos.  I screenshot the relevant information for our future cruise. 

[CJ Dearborn]

Thank you for that wonderful review - we are doing Norway/Iceland next June/July and this was very helpful.   I do have one question I'm hoping someone can help me with.  On our debarkation day at Southhampton, which will be a Saturday, we plan to walk off ship as early as possible and will have a private driver to take us to Heathrow.   Can we safely book a 12:10pm flight?  It's the only nonstop flight available for us and I would dearly love to be on it.

[PATRLR]

We had a 13:05 departure and arranged the private car to pick us up at 8:30AM and made it to LHR with a couple hours to spare.   So for you, departing an hour earlier you will probably be OK but, not a lot of margin for error.

As I said, we did an 8:30 pickup.  If I were you, I'd shoot for an 8:00AM or even earlier pickup and for sure do the self assist getting off the ship.
 

[rcprncss]

Thank you @PATRLR for your detailed review about the excursions. I have a cruise planned next year with three of these stops. I definitely want to do the RIB in Skjolden and possibly the Loen Lake and Kjenndal Glacier in Olden.  THANK YOU so much for sharing.

[CJ Dearborn]

On 8/21/2024 at 1:22 PM, PATRLR said:

We had a 13:05 departure and arranged the private car to pick us up at 8:30AM and made it to LHR with a couple hours to spare.   So for you, departing an hour earlier you will probably be OK but, not a lot of margin for error.

As I said, we did an 8:30 pickup.  If I were you, I'd shoot for an 8:00AM or even earlier pickup and for sure do the self assist getting off the ship.
 

 

Thank you, what time did your ship actually dock?  I was told by Princess rep that it docks at either 6am or 7am, and walk off times are half hour later.  So if it docks at 7:00am and we walk off at 7:30 and go straight to driver.   What was it like at LHR Customs?  Long lines?