Pining for the Fjords

[RamjetFDO 10575]

Using the search feature, I saw a couple of posts here/there on road trips through Norway, but I didn't see anything about Norwegian cruises in and about the Fjords.

Mrs. Ramjet's family background has a good bit of Norwegian in the lineage, so an expedition has been in the plans for some time now.  We're getting serious about something in the summer of 2025, but there are a bunch of options to consider.  Cruise line, ship size, whether the ship can get into the scenic areas, costs of shore excursions, number of stops, etc.  I'm seeing that while some of the smaller ships do get you "more stops", those stops are often passenger/cargo stops for 15 minutes at 4:00am as the drop off transit/cargo and move on quickly.  I'm not sure if that's something that will constantly interrupt sleep at 4 in the morning or if it's so quiet you'll never know it.

Anyway - does anyone have any experience or recommendations they'd like to share about Norwegian cruises in July?

There are the obvious "big boys" of Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and Royal Caribbean, but we're not all that interested in the "big Cruise ship" experience and overhead.  There seem to be several smaller lines that keep coming up - Hurtigruten and Havila being two of the more popular/well-reviewed ones.

Our goals are as much "oh my God" scenery/photo opportunities as possible, interactions with smaller villages/sites, and things perhaps off the tourist-trap paths.  We're not that interested in big cities or overly-touristy places.

Lots of constraints, I get it ... but any help/advice/things to look for or avoid would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RamjetFDO 10575]

This is one of the options that we're seriously considering right now - Havila Voyage North.  

[Braff Zacklin 13552]

I'd rather be an ex-parrot than on any cruise ship.

Have you considered a trip to the ISS as an alternative?

[miguelito 11253]

That coastal cruise looks amazing.  Sometimes I'll open google maps and just check out the views from some of those areas, and dream.

When I was 13 or 14, I went to Scandinavia on a tour with my mom and grandparents.  It was us, and a bunch of other people my grandparents' age.  But we bussed though Denmark, Sweden, and Norway for a couple weeks, with all the hotels, meals, and excursions planned.  I ate eel at one place.

We took a fjord cruise, but I'm pretty sure it was on a ferry.  It definitely wasn't one of those big ass boats.  But our bus drove on at one end of the fjord, and we departed down the fjord a ways.  The narrow, winding roads going up and down into the fjords were pretty scary, especially in a big bus.

 

Anyway, that's all I got.  Hope that helps, lol!

[VABuckeye 2472]

17 hours ago, RamjetFDO said:

Using the search feature, I saw a couple of posts here/there on road trips through Norway, but I didn't see anything about Norwegian cruises in and about the Fjords.

Mrs. Ramjet's family background has a good bit of Norwegian in the lineage, so an expedition has been in the plans for some time now.  We're getting serious about something in the summer of 2025, but there are a bunch of options to consider.  Cruise line, ship size, whether the ship can get into the scenic areas, costs of shore excursions, number of stops, etc.  I'm seeing that while some of the smaller ships do get you "more stops", those stops are often passenger/cargo stops for 15 minutes at 4:00am as the drop off transit/cargo and move on quickly.  I'm not sure if that's something that will constantly interrupt sleep at 4 in the morning or if it's so quiet you'll never know it.

Anyway - does anyone have any experience or recommendations they'd like to share about Norwegian cruises in July?

There are the obvious "big boys" of Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and Royal Caribbean, but we're not all that interested in the "big Cruise ship" experience and overhead.  There seem to be several smaller lines that keep coming up - Hurtigruten and Havila being two of the more popular/well-reviewed ones.

Our goals are as much "oh my God" scenery/photo opportunities as possible, interactions with smaller villages/sites, and things perhaps off the tourist-trap paths.  We're not that interested in big cities or overly-touristy places.

Lots of constraints, I get it ... but any help/advice/things to look for or avoid would be greatly appreciated.

 

We did a cruise in Norway last August.  On a nice day it is spectaular.  On a not so nice day it is cold, rainy and the cloud ceiling seems to be about 10 feet above your head.  I did it once and enjoyed it but won't go back again.  There's nothing like going up to that viewpoint that is at 3000' above the fjord and you can't see 10' in front of your face.

[RamjetFDO 10575]

5 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

We did a cruise in Norway last August.  On a nice day it is spectaular.  On a not so nice day it is cold, rainy and the cloud ceiling seems to be about 10 feet above your head.  I did it once and enjoyed it but won't go back again.  There's nothing like going up to that viewpoint that is at 3000' above the fjord and you can't see 10' in front of your face.

Yeah - that's my concern, too ... Mrs. Ramjet sees the "instaphotos" of everyone who's been there on the "best days" and thinks that's "every day".  We've been incredibly fortunate over our decades of travel to amazing places that we've had spectacular weather.  She's not really ever had to deal with crappy Wx days and how that impacts everything else.  

And, since this is *NOT* a cheap venture, it's something that has to be discussed up front as a possibility.  Unfortunately, when you're on a cruise, it's not like there's a lot of options.  

I know - I'll find ways to enjoy it, even if it's rainy/cold, but yeah... just need to do some expectation management.  I'll have to look to see if there are any photos out there of people who have posted some "not great" photos.  Do you have any "good/bad" day comparison photos you'd like to share?

[VABuckeye 2472]

I'll add that a stormy day on the North Sea is not a pleasant cruising day.

Let me dig through my photos.

Good day.  This was about 11 PM which was cool.

Bad day.  The 3000' overlook.

Some days it was both.

 

Edited August 22 by VABuckeye

[HenryJames 66035]

I pined your mom's fjord last night.

[RamjetFDO 10575]

34 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

I'll add that a stormy day on the North Sea is not a pleasant cruising day.

Let me dig through my photos.

 

 

*Thank you* for the photos - great shots and exactly what I was looking for... and yes, would not enjoy a stormy North Sea day on a smaller cruise ship.

[52-80 19144]

1. There are no big cities in Norway

2. Touristed places are touristed for a reason. Like, the Eiffel tower is touristed...but it's the Eiffel tower.

3. In June/July you'll optimize for most daylight and lowest chance of rain and most glorious sunshine.

4. I don't know if cruises have hikes scheduled but summer is the only window for some popular routes that would otherwise be snow-covered or require guides (eg Trolltunga)

5. Keep in mind many of the 'oh my god' photos you see are from drones or mountain tops, like those of Senja and Lofoten.  From ground level you'll have nice views...but not the same postcard views.

Edited August 23 by 52-80

[RamjetFDO 10575]

1. There are no big cities in Norway
2. Touristed places are touristed for a reason. Like, the Eiffel tower is touristed...but it's the Eiffel tower.
3. In June/July you'll optimize for most daylight and lowest chance of rain and most glorious sunshine.
4. I don't know if cruises have hikes scheduled but summer is the only window for some popular routes that would otherwise be snow-covered or require guides (eg Trolltunga)
5. Keep in mind many of the 'oh my god' photos you see are from drones or mountain tops, like those of Senja and Lofoten.  From ground level you'll have nice views...but not the same postcard views.

I definitely appreciate the matter-of-fact response, and that's pretty much what I was thinking... I'm also looking for actual experiences (which I also got with the photos) and possibly recommendations on cruise lines or things to avoid.

So I did appreciate the confirmation!

[52-80 19144]

I've never done a cruise, ever, but it might be the better way to get a snapshot of the whole country. 

I would normally recommend driving, but Norway is longgggcat -- same as Vancouver to San Diego -- and most of the major road (E6) is single lane 80kmh limit.  You'd have to fly, drive, fly, drive, to hit the major stops.

[mycox 582]

I thought about taking the train from Oslo to Bergen or the The Flåm Railway. Beautiful train ride and scenery. You can also probably manage some overnight stays at the major stops and do any fjord experience you want like kayaking.

[4th&Five 41506]

we're thinking about scandinavia for next summer as well.  it would be my wife and i and our teenage girls.  biggest obstacle might be finding food for the kids and also putting an itenerary together where we don't spend a ton of time in airports and on trains.

[DoobieWah 1435]

+rep for thread title. 
 

I didn’t read the novel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(actually, I did.) 

[52-80 19144]

On 8/23/2024 at 7:15 PM, 4th&Five said:

we're thinking about scandinavia for next summer as well.  it would be my wife and i and our teenage girls.  biggest obstacle might be finding food for the kids and also putting an itenerary together where we don't spend a ton of time in airports and on trains.

Denmark for the city Norway for the nature Sweden for neither

[VABuckeye 2472]

Sweden for the bikini team.

[Brisketexan 105057]

We went in 2019. Based out of alesund - flew in and out of there. Rented a car, drove (including ferries) all around the area. Stayed a night in alesund, went to Runde (hike to the top to see the puffins), ferry to spend the night in sykkylven. Drove to Geiranger, hiked to the Briksdal glacier and did other hikes around Stryn and Olden. Stayed mostly in Airbnb places, but some simple hotels as well. Driving was easy. Small roads, low speeds, but easy.

Some shots, including part of our cabin setup on the fjord in Stryn.

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

Took the family on the NCL Prima cruise last summer in July.  It started in Iceland for 3 stops then over to Norway for 3 stops, Amsterdam, Bruges, and finished in South Hampton (London).  It was a lot of fun and the sees weren’t rough at all.  It did rain in Norway at a few of the stops which sucked but still a beautiful country.  It is definitely an easy way to see a bunch of places and it’s easy to not have to worry about lodging, transportation and food for a whole vacation.  

Only issue was in Bruges, a huge gust of wind blew the ship so hard, the lines snapped and it floated out to see away from the dock causing the gangway to collapse into the sea.  Video was on YouTube.  We had to wait on the dock for a few hours so they could get the boat pushed back to the dock.  Trip was still worth doing including 3 days pre cruise in Reykjavik.  

[miguelito 11253]

23 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

 the Briksdal glacier 

For reference, here's my grandmother in front of the Brisket glacier in 1991. Settle down, Armybrat. 

I'm in the background somewhere touching the glacier.

 

 

[Brisketexan 105057]

12 hours ago, miguelito said:

For reference, here's my grandmother in front of the Brisket glacier in 1991. Settle down, Armybrat. 

I'm in the background somewhere touching the glacier.

 

 

Yeah, on the trail in, they have signs showing where the glacier was at various times, going back to the early 1900s.  It used to go WAY down the trail.

[4th&Five 41506]

On 8/27/2024 at 9:50 PM, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

Took the family on the NCL Prima cruise last summer in July.  It started in Iceland for 3 stops then over to Norway for 3 stops, Amsterdam, Bruges, and finished in South Hampton (London).  It was a lot of fun and the sees weren’t rough at all.  It did rain in Norway at a few of the stops which sucked but still a beautiful country.  It is definitely an easy way to see a bunch of places and it’s easy to not have to worry about lodging, transportation and food for a whole vacation.  

Only issue was in Bruges, a huge gust of wind blew the ship so hard, the lines snapped and it floated out to see away from the dock causing the gangway to collapse into the sea.  Video was on YouTube.  We had to wait on the dock for a few hours so they could get the boat pushed back to the dock.  Trip was still worth doing including 3 days pre cruise in Reykjavik.  

Mentioned this to my family yesterday and the kids were much more receptive than I expected. Did you book your flights through NCL? Seems like a great deal but I don’t want 2 layovers. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

Mentioned this to my family yesterday and the kids were much more receptive than I expected. Did you book your flights through NCL? Seems like a great deal but I don’t want 2 layovers. 

I never do flights through the cruise as I travel a lot for work so I use points on American and upgrades.  For Iceland, American didn’t fly there direct so I flew American to JFK and then booked Icelandair to Reykjavik since they were very cheap.  NCL flights may do cheap flights but my wife wants to pick the times we are flying (no 5am flights).  If you decide to book it I can give you tips on the stops, air bnb we did in Iceland and NCL tips also. 

[4th&Five 41506]

Cool. Thats what I’m thinking. If we did it we would do the London to Iceland route, so would want to book the AUS to London direct anyway. Will definitely hit you up if we decide to pull the trigger. 

[VABuckeye 2472]

If you do the cruise follow the recommendation of the cruise company and fly in the day before.

[jljoplin81 0]

Hey beantown. I was looking up my wife's father and came across a comment you wrote about him. Oscar ansourian is my wife's dad and I would love to get you in to contact with her. Email me if possible. J L Joplin @gmail. Com

[Braff Zacklin 13552]

You know Beantown's not really Bill Belichick, right?

[52-80 19144]

Janis lyn Joplin was born in 81 ?