NightOne

I have definitely looked at them but they are not open for booking on my cruise yet. (Too early) The train is 50% cheaper via Norway's Best vs Royal excursion. Stegastein exursion is 63% cheaper. That was the tour company that it technically possible to do all 3 excursions with but the schedule involves 20-25 minutes between each leg.

Ok, I'm convinced. #1 and #3 it is. I actually have those 2 booked already through Royal Caribbean. 🙂 We are in Alesund for 10 hours (8-6) so there is time but all onboard is probably 5:30 which doesn't bode well for a 9 hour excursion with a 3rd party. I haven't really even dug into activities in Bergen yet although I have seen stuff about a Funicular, a Fjords cruise, and city sightseeing tours.

A big issue I am having with the Nærøyfjord Cruise is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) I have seen videos/photos of both the Nærøyfjord Cruise and the Stegastein Viewpoint and although photos probably don't do either justice the Stegastein Viewpoint looks like it would be breath taking. (seeing Fjords from the top would be different as well). Not sure how the Nærøyfjord Cruise would be but doesn't look breath taking in the videos. (again hard to tell video vs real life) Researching other ports I am going to it looks like Lysefjord cruise is an easy option from Stavanger. Hardangerfjord from Bergen is an option too. So there will be other options to cruise on a small boat in a fjord. But are those even a fair comparison to Nærøyfjord? Sadly, Geirangerfjord from Alesund is looking grim on the timing. Maybe the Troll Road excursion thingy might be a better option. Also, I don't know if I get "fjorded out" after doing multiple fjord excursions. Pretty sure I am overthinking this but that is what I do. LOL

Curious what you like about the railway that you put it #1?

Looking at 3 excursions in Flam, Norway 1. Flåm Railway Roundtrip 2. Two hour Nærøyfjord Cruise to Gudvangen and Bus Back to Flam 3. Stegastein Viewpoint I've built an itinerary via private tour company that could possible do all 3 but the times are very tight and one late segment ruins the whole thing. So I am coming to the realization that I'm only going to be able to choose 2 of the 3 listed above. However, I'm torn on which of the 2 are the must do and which one to drop. Which 2 would you pick and why? Thanks

Understood but some would argue that Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord are the 2 best fjords in Norway so I would need to decide if missing that would be unwise or not.

Arrive in Flam on July 15, 2024. We are in port from 8am-5pm. Ultimately I think I would want to do a tour that includes cruising Nærøyfjord AND the Flam Railway from Flam to Myrdal and back. However, the Royal excursions offered do not have one that does both. The have separate excursions for those but the hours conflict and you cannot do them back to back, So currently I have the Leisurely Flam Railway excursion and Panoramic Stegastein excursion booked through Royal. My biggest dilemma is whether "missing" cruising Nærøyfjord would be a huge mistake being that fjords is the whole reason for the cruise. The Fjord Tours tour is not available to book for 2024 yet but looking at this 2023 one: https://www.fjordtours.com/tour-booking/?date=2023-07-17&startIn=218e787a-cbeb-4ff5-9b77-712a0083cbc5&endIn=218e787a-cbeb-4ff5-9b77-712a0083cbc5&travellers=a2&umbracoNodeId=3387 it seems like exactly what I would like to do. I am guessing it departs at 9:30am local time and arrives back at 3:26pm local time but I am concerned about the timing because I don't know if ship time and local time will be the same. Also, arriving back at 3:26 for an all onboard of 4:30 ship time is a little close than I like to cut it. (in case of delays) Otherwise I think the Fjords Tours one is my favorite. Thoughts?

Would like hear about experiences with Royal Caribbean's Norway in a Nutshell excursion from Flam. As I understand the "true" Norway in a Nutshell (hereafter NIAN) tour from a cruise ship would include 4 parts: 1. A boat trip from Flam to Gudvangen via Nærøyfjord 2. A bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss 3. A train ride from Voss to Myrdal 4. A train ride on the Flamsbana from Myrdal to Flam Reading the Royal Caribbean NIAN description the route is less clear. They said it consists of a train ride from Flam to Myrdal followed by a bus ride from Myrdal to Voss. However, they mention you will get to see the Tvinde and Stalheim falls but is that from a viewpoint in Voss? It doesn't sound like you get to traverse Nærøyfjord at all. Finally, the excursions mentions using the tunnels if the zig zag road is not open. I am guessing that is the router from Voss straight back to Flam? Anyone have info on this? Thanks

Yes, I would like the Boxcar Willie Pancakes 🙂

Thanks for the confirmation that we ALL agree. LOL Seriously, I just want them to release itineraries. I mean is it not like 1 year away from sailing?

Update: Spoke with someone from Club Royale today and they addressed all my issues and made me totally satisfied when they were done. I took a tiny hit compared to what could have happened. Totally happy now.

Thanks for the follow up. I think Geiranger is pretty high on the must see list but would you recommend the first or second itinerary overall? :)

Your opinion on the original itinerary I posted: Day 1: Southampton (London) Day 2: Sea Day Day 3: Stavanger (7-5) Day 4: Flåm (8-5) Day 5: Alesund (8-6) Day 6: Bergen (7-2) Day 7: Sea Day versus this one: Day 1: Southampton (London) Day 2: Sea Day Day 3: Bergen (12-8) Day 4: Skjolden/Sognefjord (8-4) Day 5: Olden (8-5) Day 6: Stavanger (10-5) Day 7: Sea Day Thoughts? No option for Geirangerfjord on latter. 😞

Anyone to e-mail at Club Royale about their moronic policies and offers? First, let me say that this is 100% my fault. I knew what I was getting into when I booked the cruises. That doesn't mean it sucks any less. I have 4 cruises booked through the casino. 3 of them were booked via NextCruise. I had deposit money from a couple of fully refundable cruises I was using as placeholders move to 2 of these bookings. I've gotten some phenomenal casino offers from another line and took advantage of a couple. So I wanted to shuffle cruises around and move the sail date and ship of one one of the cruises and then cancel 2 of the other 3 cruises and move that money to it. Cannot be done. Plus all the casino discounts including one we earned onboard vanish. They penalize $500 per sailing so I lose $2000 and get back a total of $200 total for the combined sailing. No FCC like if I booked without going through the casino. They are rigid about this and have absolutely no flexibility. Wife went from 0 points to Prime last cruise and that is worth jack diddly. Best deal they would offer me is 10% off the new cruise I wanted to migrate to. At this point I'm livid with Club Royale and don't want to sail with them anymore. Sad. Like I said, totally my fault but the lack of any flexibility or consideration for play is astonishing to me. Anyone higher up in Club Royale that I can e-mail or call before I just jump ship and say screw them? Again, I don't need to need to hear the same old lines that they work form home reps are giving me about policy. I am well aware of them.

If you want to eat a lot of different options on Wonder then you probably need the unlimited dining package. Otherwise stick to MDR and buffet. My opinion on venues: Blue Iguana > El Loco Fresh Johnny Rockets > Guy's Burgers Chops > Carnival Steak House Royal MDR > Carnival MDR NCL food better than both 🙂

Need that money to bid from GS to OS I take it? 😞

Always. I don't tip with ones or fives. Not virtue signaling like some cheapo is going to accuse me of on this post but rather just telling the truth. As always, you are free to do as you wish.

You probably should not look at Cococay cabana prices 🙂

Yup, no shorts except on first and last night. 🙂

Look, no one really know what Royal is going to do with Utopia but at least we ALL agree that it will NOT be doing 3/4 nighters when it launches. LOLOLOL

Just saw this on Facebook and this appears to be a fan produced graphic vs a Royal Caribbean official one Nothing wrong with that - Just FYI

There are LNG cruise ships currently operating in Europe. They can also use bunkering vessels to provide LNG anywhere.

They do have a shiny new cruise terminal down there in Galveston 🙂

We were on the March 6th, 2022 sailing so technically Spring Break. I could be off on the ages as frankly it doesn't matter but I can say that the ship had very few kids and was not a party crowd.

We ate at that LePetit Chef and Family one night and the presentation was phenomenal. Food was good too. Highly recommend you do it. Otherwise, we just ate in the MDR and in the buffet. (and we normally never eat in the buffet)