Norway port excursions -- Alborg, Stavanger, Geiranger, Alesund

DH and I will be on the Quest this summer 2016 Copenhagen-Dover, with ports including those above. Any thoughts on these options below, or are these places best done with private excursions if you want time for serious pictures?

There are a number of port excursions listed by SB and it is hard to figure out which are worthwhile and in such limited supply that it would be best to buy in advance with pre-payment, other than the Flam railway (already booked and pre-paid the latter). Main focus is on interesting photography for DH (not just scenery, but anything photographically interesting); limitation is I can't do anything requiring a lot of steep uphill walks, like some of the mountain hikes offered. We also like to avoid extended times trapped in buses. Obviously, weather can make or break an excursion here, unpredictable.

ALBORG -- is the Skagen excursion worthwhile?

STAVANGER -- Lysefjord cruise to Pulpet Rock?

GEIRANGER -- any routing preferences?

ALESUND -- Gishe and Goday?

We have done two cruises to Norway and have visited two of the ports you mention, Stavanger and Alesund, although it was not on Seabourn. In Stavanger we booked a shore excursion which was a boat trip up the Lysefjord to Pulpit Rock. It was marvelous! We did have beautiful weather which enhanced our enjoyment. The company that operated our excursion was Rodne (or Roedne in English). I don’t know what company Seabourn uses. On our cruise, we were able to sit outside to best enjoy the views and the commentary was excellent. This was one of the highlights of our trip. In Alesund, we were not as lucky with the weather but we did enjoy the city. We booked a tour that included a visit to the outdoor museum at Sunnmore which we found very interesting and picturesque. We went to the top of the Askla for the view as well, but as it was raining and overcast, this was not the best. It did give us a good overview of the city and the many islands in the area. We spent some time walking around the downtown area of Alesund which is lovely. The tour of the Sunnmore Museum involved some walking but it was not difficult. We were able to get some beautiful pictures on both of these tours, but of course weather makes a big difference. By the way, we took the excursion on the Flam Railway and found it to be most disappointing. There were huge crowds at the stop at the waterfall making photography difficult (everyone on the train tries to see the waterfall from a small area on the platform). At the stop at the turn-around at the top at Myrdal, you are told to stay on the platform and the train blocks most of the views. Although this seems to be the thing to do in Flam, we would not recommend it. We do love Norway and visiting on a cruise ship is definitely the way to see it.