Need help deciding between two itineraries and cruise lines.

Only having cruise last summer on Royal Western Med cruise I am looking for some help. Looking to go to the Fjords next May. There are two cruises I am interested in Celebrity Reflection out of Dublin 8 nights The stops are Bergen, Alesund, Geiranger, Olden and Lerwick. Or Royal Serenade of the Seas out of Copenhagen 7 nights stops at Geiranger, Bergen, Stavanger, Kristinstand . We are 3 couples in our upper 40's. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks.

Actually I see there is new HAL ship going out the same week..Departing from: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ports of Call:

• Eidfjord, Norway •
  
• Cruise Hardangerfjord •
  
• Skjolden, Norway •
  
• Cruise Sognefjord •
  
• Molde, Norway •
  
• Bergen, Norway
  
• 
  
  • Any thoughts on which is better?
    

All three stop in Bergen, so we can leave that out of consideration.

The first (Celebrity Reflection) is typical Norway port calls (aside from the Shetland Islands), so if you're looking for the classic fjord cruise, this is a good option.

The second (Serenade of the Seas) has a bit more variety. Geiranger is one of the UNESCO-listed fjords, and the sail-in/sail-out will be iconic fjord scenery, but Stavanger and Kristiansand are a bit different. Stavanger is a small but cozy city and home to much of the oil industry. On the south coast, Kristiansand has more of a coastal landscape and no fjords.

The third (HAL) is pretty much entirely fjord focused, but it visits a lot of the smaller, slightly less-visited ports. Skjolden and Eidfjord are both at the very end of very long fjords, so you'll have lots of scenic cruising. Since these ports have typically had fewer ships, there may not be as many options in port. If you're focused on the scenery rather than ports themselves, this could be a good choice.

I saw your post on TripAdvisor and came back to add that Celebrity's 13:00-20:00 call in Bergen is a bit unfortunate. Of all these ports, that's the biggest city (it's still pretty small), so I'd rather be there during business hours to be able to explore some of the museums. Typical working hours in Norway are 8-16, so many museums close around 16:00 or 17:00.

My vote based on itinerary is for the HAL trip. However, if you prefer the Celebrity ship experience, I don't think that one's too far behind. And if you prefer more frequented ports, it's probably better.

Geiranger and olden were two of our favorite ports in Norway. The sail in for geiranger is amazing, as are the viewpoints. Olden has the very nice loen skylift, and also the briksdal glacier ( which has been hit hard by global warming, but the drive there and hike to it are really nice). Stavanger has pulpit rock, but you need to check the port times to make sure you have enough time for that (some people have posted on these forums that they haven’t had enough time). We had a 2 year old with us, so pulpit rock wasn’t an option. Stavanger without pulpit rock was not a highlight of our cruise.

Thanks guys.. My husband prefers more stops..(actually dislikes cruising) why we only been on one other. We are not into museums .. We are all about hiking, outdoor adventures I guess it comes down to do I want to go out of Dublin or Amsterdam and would there more people closer in age to our group on Celebrity then Holland.

My husband also dislikes cruises! However, he did enjoy our cruise to Norway. For us, Stavanger was a highlight because of the Pulpit Rock hike. We hiked it on our own. It is a pretty well maintained trail, not difficult if you are fit. We picked our cruise based on Geiranger and Stavanger. We also loved Flam, which we reached via Bergen, but this made for a long bus/train day with not much time for activity.

My husband likes to run. When we returned to the ship in the afternoons, he would sometimes go running, asking locals where to go. He would run in the hills, and he loved this, being away from the tourist areas. The ports were very picturesque, easy, and safe. The rest of us would go swimming or hot tubbing on board.

Thanks.. I keep looking .. That pulpit Rock hike looks right up are alley. I found this company not sure if they are near one of our ports but the list of rafting, Sea kayak, canyoning, and hiking is all up our alley http://www.valldal.no/en We want to stay away from ship tours and try to find private tours or rent a car to avoid the masses. So, now I am looking at each port trying to figure out which ones work best for us. Thanks again.

I would go with RCCL

LHT28 Why RCCL? I am leaning towards Celebrity so we can spend some days in Ireland prior. 8 night cruise on what seems to be a better ship then RCCL. So RCCL has Stavanger, Kristinstand over Alesund, Olden and Lerwick. Are those two ports that much better? Thanks..

Thanks guys.. My husband prefers more stops..(actually dislikes cruising) why we only been on one other. We are not into museums .. We are all about hiking, outdoor adventures I guess it comes down to do I want to go out of Dublin or Amsterdam and would there more people closer in age to our group on Celebrity then Holland.

We had booked the Celebrity cruise out of Dublin and switched to HAL on the Nieuw Statendam.

These were the key factors in our decision:

HAL ship is brand new and has more to do onboard than the X ship

Amsterdam is a great airport to travel to and a good place to spend a couple of days prior to the cruise to get over our "zombie" mode prior to boarding the ship. We will go from AMS up to CPH post cruise for a few days before heading home. You can find a connection to almost anywhere in Europe from AMS (KLM CityHopper). The airport is modern, clean, safe, and customs very automated.

We prefer the smaller ports vs the bigger more touristy stops. There seem to be a lot of good hiking/kayaking options on the HAL ports which are our preferred activities vs museums and long bus rides. I understand that the smaller ports don't have the wide range of shopping that the larger ports have, so it you are a shopper you may prefer X. We are not shoppers.

As for the ages of travelers on the ship...I think more depends on the itinerary and time of year. We have been on some very inactive Celebrity ships in the past (hot tubs and clubs closed by 10pm!). RCCL seems to have a younger crowd, but the Serenade is an older ship that is getting "tired".

We are booked 6/23/19 on HAL.

We had booked the Celebrity cruise out of Dublin and switched to HAL on the Nieuw Statendam.

 

These were the key factors in our decision:

 

HAL ship is brand new and has more to do onboard than the X ship

 

Amsterdam is a great airport to travel to and a good place to spend a couple of days prior to the cruise to get over our "zombie" mode prior to boarding the ship. We will go from AMS up to CPH post cruise for a few days before heading home. You can find a connection to almost anywhere in Europe from AMS (KLM CityHopper). The airport is modern, clean, safe, and customs very automated.

 

We prefer the smaller ports vs the bigger more touristy stops. There seem to be a lot of good hiking/kayaking options on the HAL ports which are our preferred activities vs museums and long bus rides. I understand that the smaller ports don't have the wide range of shopping that the larger ports have, so it you are a shopper you may prefer X. We are not shoppers.

 

As for the ages of travelers on the ship...I think more depends on the itinerary and time of year. We have been on some very inactive Celebrity ships in the past (hot tubs and clubs closed by 10pm!). RCCL seems to have a younger crowd, but the Serenade is an older ship that is getting "tired".

 

We are booked 6/23/19 on HAL.

HI,

We are booked on Celebrity. Decided out of NY we would fly into Shannon explore that area of Ireland and fly out of Dublin.. really easy non stops out of our area. I agree with you we prefer the outdoors instead of shopping that is why we choose Celebrity ...really smaller areas on their stops only 1 bigger town and the extra night and extra stop of the 8 night is nice.

Any reason you won't consider the May 2019 cruise out of Dublin...Ireland, Iceland & Scotland. Even though we're not big fans of Celebrity (25+ with RCI) we just came back from doing this itinerary on Celebrity Eclipse and this particular itinerary was absolutely amazing...I just wish RCI would do the same and I would do it all over again. Just something for you to possibly consider.

Any reason you won't consider the May 2019 cruise out of Dublin...Ireland, Iceland & Scotland. Even though we're not big fans of Celebrity (25+ with RCI) we just came back from doing this itinerary on Celebrity Eclipse and this particular itinerary was absolutely amazing...I just wish RCI would do the same and I would do it all over again. Just something for you to possibly consider.

Probably just because the Norwegian Fjords were higher on our list of things we want to see before Iceland. Although, Iceland is on my list to eventually see . Might just fly there and not cruise. My husband is not a cruise person so 3 sea days would drive him nuts:) But, glad you thought it was great. We will have 4 days in Ireland prior and plan on doing lots of exploring prior to the cruise.

Probably just because the Norwegian Fjords were higher on our list of things we want to see before Iceland. Although, Iceland is on my list to eventually see . Might just fly there and not cruise. My husband is not a cruise person so 3 sea days would drive him nuts:) But, glad you thought it was great. We will have 4 days in Ireland prior and plan on doing lots of exploring prior to the cruise.

Iceland is really easy to DIY. We rented a car and drove the Ring Road. Only recommendation, and it is a big one, is to set your itinery and accommodations reservations before you go. Not a lot of tourist facilities once out of Reykjavik and can't depend on just driving into a town and finding a place to stay.

This is a difficult call. I’ve sailed on sister ship to reflection and have sailed on serenade. These would be my top two choices in ship designs. Both would be great for norway with a slight edge to serenade for more outward facing spaces.

My personal choice would be the HAL ship itinerary. I’ve also sailed HAL and while it isn’t my number one choice in cruise lines they do a lovely job. Plus, norway is more about the ports than ship.

I did 10 days on the Jade last year stopping at many of the ports listed. Here is a link to my live review- you may find some of it helpful for the ports-

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53638459

The good news is that you can’t go wrong here :). Great, even better, and spectacular! Enjoy

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This is a difficult call. I’ve sailed on sister ship to reflection and have sailed on serenade. These would be my top two choices in ship designs. Both would be great for norway with a slight edge to serenade for more outward facing spaces.

 

My personal choice would be the HAL ship itinerary. I’ve also sailed HAL and while it isn’t my number one choice in cruise lines they do a lovely job. Plus, norway is more about the ports than ship.

 

I did 10 days on the Jade last year stopping at many of the ports listed. Here is a link to my live review- you may find some of it helpful for the ports-

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53638459

 

The good news is that you can’t go wrong here :). Great, even better, and spectacular! Enjoy

 

 

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Thanks, Which stops of the HAL itinerary do you think are just better then Celebrity? We ended up choosing Celebrity to spend time in Ireland and the 8 night gave us an extra stop. I read your review of your trip .. very nice.. but I missed what your did in Alesund? That is the one port I can't decide on. Everything else we are pretty set. Thanks again.

Thanks, Which stops of the HAL itinerary do you think are just better then Celebrity? We ended up choosing Celebrity to spend time in Ireland and the 8 night gave us an extra stop. I read your review of your trip .. very nice.. but I missed what your did in Alesund? That is the one port I can't decide on. Everything else we are pretty set. Thanks again.

You will love reflection! I just got off equinox a few weeks ago and felt that the solstice clAss ship was exceptional! Your ports are great and leaving from Dublin is a unique option (I’ve never been to Dublin!).

In alesund we did a trolls trip. We booked it ourselves. I can’t remember the name of the tour company but I’m sure I posted it in my live review. We had a spectacularly clear day and the scenery was jaw dropping. Pictures don’t do it justice because they don’t show scale. I’m sure i have pics posted in my live review link also, just stunning.

This was the one day where we really wanted to experience the interior of Norway and it did not disappoint! Highly recommend (and this was one of the tours I would have passed on, but Dh wanted to try it). He was right (again lol).

It was a long day, and my advice to you is to be firm about your seats. I had emailed prior asking for a”small” bus if possible. We were put on a small bus but it was crammed full- with some maneuvering another family of 5 elected to go on the big bus (it is higher so slightly better views) which gave us on the small bus more than enough room. No

Fun sitting on a wheel hump with zero leg room for 8’hours. With the small bus, there are only 12-16 of you to get on/off and wait for during lunch so it moves things along leaving more time for exploring at each stop.

Hope this helps- :)

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If you have not been to Ireland, do the Celebrity......I looked at that cruise, because I wanted to go back to Ireland....But the ship is to big....We have gone from Royal with kids, Celebrity w/out kids, to Azamara, Seabourn, and Viking to all inclusive and smaller ships.....

If you have not been to Ireland, do the Celebrity......I looked at that cruise, because I wanted to go back to Ireland....But the ship is to big....We have gone from Royal with kids, Celebrity w/out kids, to Azamara, Seabourn, and Viking to all inclusive and smaller ships.....

Yes, we have never been to Ireland. Looking forward to it. My parents sound like you .. They have been doing Azamara and Viking lately and used to do Celebrity.