Seeking comments on N. Fjords cruise

[editman]

We are considering a cruise visiting the Norwegian Fjords. Would love to hear your comments if you went on this past June's Regent cruise to this area, or any other visits to this area.

 

Many thanks.

[Island Cruiser]

We did this cruise on Voyager, 11 days in 2004. It was a superb trip. The ship managed to navigate to isolated and incredibly beautiful spots I wouldn't have expected a ship of that size to get to. The shore excursions were wonderful. They captured every nuance of the fjord experience. It is a scenery intensive experience I recommend to everyone. And the fact that this itinerary sells out at full price every year it is offered says everything. Of course doing it in the luxury of Voyager adds a real touch of class and elegance. I think we did far better on our trip than the folks on the most recent fjords cruise because we had great weather throughout. Of course there are never any guarantees in the weather department. If Captain Dag is doing the trip, he adds value. The ship typically stops at his tiny home town in Southern Norway and all guests are invited to visit his home. It is a grand production. Dozens of local boats escort this ship into and out of the harbor. The local high school band is decked out in full uniform as passengers arrive on shore. His tiny home village is delightful to visit. I had expected this stop, the last on the trip. to be a yawner. I couldn't have been more wrong. It was a totally delightful experience, one I will never forget. But the whole trip is, in my judgment, a must do and worth the top dollar you pay.

 

Patrick

[editman]

Patrick,

 

Thank you for writing. We are looking for a scenic cruise and this sounds great. Any shore excursions to recommend?

 

Bobby

[NJBelle]

My family and I were on the recent Norway cruise, and I guess the weather was not that great sometimes, but you know - I didn't really notice that much. It was such a great cruise and there was so much to see and plenty to do. Just a lot of fun.

 

We had actually done a similar cruise 4 years ago on Crystal and we did have better weather, but I still would not say that one was a better cruise than the other. Frankly, the people on our Voyager cruise were so friendly that the whole experience was enjoyable from the very beginning. Indeed, the Captain Dag Homecoming was a blast - and yes, it did rain, but who cared???

 

The Voyager is a fabulous ship - my husband says it is now his new favorite ship (previously was Crystal Symphony, then the Serenity, then the Regent Mariner and now the Voyager). You cannot go wrong - sign up now!

 

NJBelle

[editman]

Thanks, NJBelle and Patrick.

 

Your highly complimentary comments about the Fjords cruise(s) helped us decide to go ahead and sign up for Regent's June '08 cruise to this area, Dover to Copenhagen.

 

Do you, or anyone else reading this, have recommendations on "must do" excursions or a pre-cruise hotel/activity? Also, how about packing for the weather? -- sounds like it may get a little chilly & rainy at times.

 

Again, thank you your advice.

 

Bobby

[Pookie2]

Hi Bobby,

We were also on the June 2007 Fjords cruise and absolutely loved it. As NJBelle said, our weather wasn't always the best but it didn't matter. The scenery is spectacular whether it rains or shines. Make sure you pack raingear and hats and gloves. You will be above the arctic circle for almost half of the cruise and temps can be in the 30's. A polartec layer under our gortex raincoats kept us very warm.

 

I would definitely encourage you to take one of the excursions that goes inland. We did one out of Geiranger Fjord (ship's tour) that was really beautiful. Also, the Svalbard Museum in Longyearbyen is excellent. It's an easy walk from where the shuttle bus lets you off. I think it's about 5 US dollars and they take credit cards. Make sure you see the little side room they have which discusses the Svalbard area and World War II.

 

The enrichment activities on the cruise were excellent. One of our lecturers was Bard Kolltveit (former director of the Maritime Museum in Oslo). Not only was he an interesting speaker but also was an excellent artist. He did sketches throughout the cruise that were then copied and placed in our rooms every evening - a really nice touch.

[newlondon]

We did the Norwegian fjords on Silver Wind this July. It is an absolutely fabulous trip both for the sea views and the shore excusions. I do recommend the timing of the SS cruise because it is definitely warmer than June. We were lucky in that our day at the North Cape was 70 and sunny so we saw the midnight sun. If you get a chance be sure to take a shore excursion that includes the Trollstiegen an amazing drive in the mountains. Have a great time!

[cruiseluv]

We did the Norway cruise on Regent's Navigator in 2005. It was from Iceland to Copenhagen. It is the best cruise that we have done to date. We were blessed with great weather so obviously that enhanced the experience.

 

I would encouarge you to book it as I know that itinerary usually gets sold out.

[adrenn]

We also were on last June's Voyager cruise. If I recall correctly, we had about 5 or 6 days without a sunset. It was weird .. almost like having jetlag, despite the full curtains in the suites. Be sure to pull the ones between the living area and the beds shut when you sleep. We did not stop in Stavanger.

 

Our cruise was offered at the same discount (30%) as the June 2008 is advertising. The list prices look approximately 10-15% higher than our trip. Our trip was sold out. We are among those who love the mid-ship "G" section on deck 6 for our suite location. If mid-ship is not available, I'd take a forward suite over a suite located in the far aft area of Voyager. Some folks find the "c" suites to have too much vibration for their taste. Others are not bothered and are thrilled by the much larger balconies with those suites. To each their own. We did have a few days of bouncy seas as we were up in the Arctic Circle area and beyond.

 

A great feature of this cruise is so much of the scenery is available if you simply go up on deck and enjoy it. We also enjoyed the scenery from our balcony, but it was far better from the top deck. It is scenery intensive and nature intensive. It was great going as far north as we did; the downside was a lot of sea days for our taste.

 

Excursions: We aren't big on ship shore excursions generally. Regent does a good job on their tours. We prefer something active, with minimal shopping and more local flavor. That involves more legwork upfront so we can arrange shore planning before we travel.

 

We got in to an organized private taxi van tour in Gerainger. We stopped at the museum and drove up to the top part of the fjord. Weather was not so great, so views were not so great. It was a perfect introduction to the fjords and to Gerainger. The sail-out was spectacular.

 

Longyearbeyan is a coal town with a tourist business on the side during the summer. It's hard to believe people live there year round. We made a half day out of it, as we felt cooped up after two straight sea days. We walked up to the church in Longyearbeyan, a coffeehouse with waffles also available during the day. Where else will you see so many stuffed polar bears (I'm talking taxidermy, not Stieff) and a municipal snowmobile parking lot? We found the local folks friendly enough. We bought a small painting from the local artist that captures the wild, stark and luminous quality of the glaciers in winter.

 

We were scheduled for the Magdalena Fjord, but the medevac emergency took rightful priority. The folks in Longyearbeyan were telling us how beautiful the Magdalena Fjord is during the summer endless night. If you go, please post a link to a picture or two.

 

There are a lot of good hiking opportunities on the trip, geared for those who are fit. The one in Gerainger got good reviews; the one in Longyearbeyan OK reviews.

 

North Cape: We took the bird watching tour excursion and enjoyed it. Our guide was the daughter of a local minister. She added a lot to the tour. We spotted a few reindeer grazing from the side of the road. We learned a little about the Laplanders (known these days by their tribal name Sami) and see a lot of the scenery to and from the ship. The ship is pretty basic; plan on standing at the rail whilst the ship is underway. The puffins were plentiful and the sea eagles active. All of the bird watching is done from the ship, as the island where the birds nest is a protected reserve. If I had it to do over again, I'd bring binoculars.

 

Tromsoe - I think we had 4 or 5 hours in port, so some time was a constraint on independent adventures. If you don't want to walk around downtown, a shore excursion would be a good choice. Several passengers took taxis from the ship to the cable car entrance. If you do so, arrange with your driver to come back for you at a set time. The cable cars run either every 20 or 30 minutes. If there's a big enough crowd, you may not get on the first cable car departure. The healthiest among us found the trail head and hiked up the overlook. We passed in favor of the cable car, as we wanted enough time to walk back to the shuttle bus. A few folks had come by taxi but did not arrange with their driver for a return pick-up. That caused stress until the agent at the cable car was able to arrange taxis for their return to the ship. (We stopped on Sunday; the town was largely closed).

 

In Tromsoe, the ship arranged a complimentary shuttle bus into downtown. We walked from there over to the cable car (about 1 hour; we got a little lost and were doing a minor amount of sightseeing) and back (around 40 minutes). We saw the Arctic Cathedral along that route but did not go inside.

 

We skipped on the full-day Flam tour. Others who went were not happy with it. It turns out there were two ships in Flam that day - Voyager and a Costa ship. The Costa ship departed first, so their passengers must have had all the tickets on the earlier return trains. As such, the Regent full-day excursion was adjusted to accommodate the later train return to Flam.

 

The full day tour left from Gudvanhagen. There was a kayak trip in Gudvanhagen that would have been fun to do. Be sure to get up and go all the way up to Deck 12 to experience the fjord in Gudvanhagen. That was the single most "take my breath away" experience on the trip.

 

We opted for the 1/2 day afternoon hike from Flam. Train up, a quick waffle to fortify ourselves, and a five to six mile hike down to the mid-way stop on the railway. I wish I would have brought my hiking boots. Catch the train & arrive a short distance from the ship. The first mile down is quite steep; you will probably need to make way later during the trek for trucks, etc. for the folks who live up in the fjord. That excursion earned a "thumbs up". I enjoyed the guides. They are hardy folks. Their response to the weather? "It's not so bad." You know .. they were right.

 

Bergen - we walked into town and toured the historic area and the outdoor market. It was rainy (usual state of affairs) and headed back to the ship for lunch. There were some do-it-yourself hikes to see a church; we passed. Total time was probably 2 hours.

 

Oslo - we did our own touring. The Resistance Museum (across from where the ship docks in the fortress complex) was worth a visit. We set out to find the Sculpture Garden, passing by the palace and other landmarks in Oslo. That was probably a 1 to 1-1/2 hour walk from the Resistance Museum. There is a tram system in Oslo. It would have been easy enough to find the right tram to get you back from the Sculpture Garden back to the area near where the ship docks. We opted for the longer walk back. By the time we got back to the ship, we were walked out. Oslo was a most pleasant surprise and a great end to our trip.

 

Copenhagen - we had a later flight out that day so disembarked among the last groups. We planned on a taxi for transport to the airport. Well .. we must have waited 45 minutes, standing in the luggage tent, for the cabs to return from dropping off the earlier disembarking passengers. Knowing that, I'd either request an early disembarkation time or I'd book the Regent transfer on the bus to avoid all that standing around and waiting time.

 

Cheers, Anne

[LOGHL]

Thanks, NJBelle and Patrick.

 

Your highly complimentary comments about the Fjords cruise(s) helped us decide to go ahead and sign up for Regent's June '08 cruise to this area, Dover to Copenhagen.

 

Do you, or anyone else reading this, have recommendations on "must do" excursions or a pre-cruise hotel/activity? Also, how about packing for the weather? -- sounds like it may get a little chilly & rainy at times.

 

Again, thank you your advice.

 

Bobby

We did this same cruise twice on Silver Sea, and it was GRAND..We will be on the Voyager in June '08 for a third trip, that's how much we like it.Look forward to seeing you on the ship Judy

[Down Under]

Anne: What a brilliant review - it let me live through it all again (minus the hiking and pooch, neither of which I managed to master).

[editman]

Thanks to everyone for your comments and great advice.

 

Reading about your experiences makes us look forward to the cruise even more.

 

Judy, look forward to seeing you on the ship.

 

Best wishes, Bobby