Advice on cruises to Norway.

Looking for advice from cruisers that have taken the 7 day (Norwegian Fjords) and/or the 14 day (Land of the Midnight Sun) cruises in Norway.

The Norwegian Fjords goes to Stavanger, Olden, Hellesylt, Geiranger, and Bergen

The Land of the Midnight Sun goes to Stavanger, Flaam, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromoso, Gravdal, Aalesund, and Bergen.

My question is it really worth it to take the 14 day instead of the 7 day. What would I miss taking the 7 day? I am talking about the sites and scenery.

Cost is a factor and I really need to justify the added expense.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

We have been on a Fjords cruise similar to what you have mentioned (7 day), although it included Aalesund. It also went to Iceland for 2 stops which we really enjoyed. We saw a glacier up close and some amazing scenery. I think it would depend on the ports that you would miss - is there anything specific at those ports you wanted to see.

We have been on a Fjords cruise similar to what you have mentioned (7 day), although it included Aalesund. It also went to Iceland for 2 stops which we really enjoyed. We saw a glacier up close and some amazing scenery. I think it would depend on the ports that you would miss - is there anything specific at those ports you wanted to see.

I would miss Flaam, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromoso, Gravdal, and Aalesund.

Are any of these ports a must see? And why.

I've done the shorter itinerary on another line and will be doing the longer itinerary in 2018. Gerainger is a MUST in my opinion. I also loved Aelusand, which was also features on the Amazing Race this year.

The longer itinerary will get you into the Article Circle.

Book your excursions as soon as possible BEFORE the cruise. There are only so many places available and when they sell out you are on a waitlist for someone to drop out. I enjoyed all the ports for different reasons, we took a number of trips, but stayed in port a couple of times as well. I would need to check our photos to see which was which! The trip to the Glacier is a must, we also went on a trip from Geiranger, it was amazing scenery. In Iceland we went to Reykjavik and Akureyri, both had amazing trips.

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Gerainger is a MUST in my opinion.

I'm about to sail the Fjords for the third time next week and you took the words right out of my mouth!

Gerainger is spectacular, the rest were much of a muchness for me. The benefit of the longer itinerary is that you cross the Arctic Circle, which is a bucket list item for some people... it was for me. Personally, I'd take the longer itinerary because I don't think 7 days is long enough for any cruise, but that's easy for me to say because I live in Denmark and I'm self-employed so cost and PTO aren't an issue.

We did the lower Norway ports with NCL and would recommend both Geiranger and Alesund but also Flaam, we had very interesting shorex at each one. We are doing the Northern Norway ports this year on Princess. Personally I would choose the long cruise.

My advice on cruising Norway is: YES!!! :D

We would love to cruise there and it is "on the list".

Hi

We have done the 7 night Norway cruise and also the 7 night Scandanavian cruise. We love this part of the world and would always want to be on a longer cruise. For us we have only just started to relax and the cruise is over on a seven nighter.

However having said that I would not over stretch yourself and feel you have to do the longer cruise. The 7 night trip will be a great experience and give you a really good feel for the ffords.

Happy cruising whatever you decide to dox

If you do the 7 night cruise now and then want to do the 14 night later you will have to revisit the same ports.

Looking for advice from cruisers that have taken the 7 day (Norwegian Fjords) and/or the 14 day (Land of the Midnight Sun) cruises in Norway.

The Norwegian Fjords goes to Stavanger, Olden, Hellesylt, Geiranger, and Bergen

The Land of the Midnight Sun goes to Stavanger, Flaam, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromoso, Gravdal, Aalesund, and Bergen.

My question is it really worth it to take the 14 day instead of the 7 day. What would I miss taking the 7 day? I am talking about the sites and scenery.

Cost is a factor and I really need to justify the added expense.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

We tend to take the longer cruises to maximize the airfare costs and to better wind down from the trip getting to the departure point. We have been eying the Norwegian Fjord cruises with the intention of taking the longer cruises. I see you are from Georgia, so you will have to factor the costs of two round trips into Europe and perhaps hotel, restaurant and local transit costs doing it twice if you love it and decide to return.

If you do the 7 night cruise now and then want to do the 14 night later you will have to revisit the same ports.

That's an excellent point casofilia.

We were on the 14-night Land of the Midnight Sun cruise last August on the Emerald Princess. It was awesome but we missed Flaam because of bad weather in Stavanger. We also missed making it to Pulpit Rock in Stavanger because of the same weather. The rest of the trip was amazing though. We found that each port was different enough to make them all worthwhile with things really changing as you head further north. We loved this so much we're going back in 2018, repeating some ports and seeing some new ones as well. Hopefully we'll make it to Pulpit Rock and Flaam this time.

Point is, if you can swing it financially, go on the 14-day trip. IMHO it's worth it. You might end up like us and go back anyway!

I suggest you book these cruises early....especially the 14 day ones. We are on the August trip this year, booked mid last year and found it almost impossible to even get a balcony cabin without watching every day to see if any balcony was available. If you want a mini-suite or suite....good luck...they have been sold out for about six months now on our cruise although a mini-suite guarantee did show up one day...gone the next (guess who grabbed it).

I would not try to combine Iceland with Norway...iceland has it's own beauty and you should find a cruise that makes as many stops as possible because each one is very different.

I would miss Flaam, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromoso, Gravdal, and Aalesund.

Are any of these ports a must see? And why.

We did the 14 day cruise in June 2016. Spectacular.

Flaam - the longest and best scenery of the cruise. The sail out is 3 hours long at dinner time. Don't get caught in a DR during that period, it's the best scenery of the entire cruise.

Trondheim and Aalesund were very beautiful towns and very walkable, as was Trondheim.

If you miss Honningsvag you miss the North Cape, we enjoyed it, but the weather was very windy. This was the only port where it was cold.

Gravdal, some passengers rented a car, we took a short princess bus trip to a really nice beach, but not a swimming beach. Not too much else there.

If it means anything to you the shorter trip will miss crossing the Arctic and the 24 hours of daylight, the true midnight sun.

Through the roll calls we joined some private tours. Private tours are very limited, so book them early.

Don't miss the Flaam railway.

I suggest you book these cruises early....especially the 14 day ones. We are on the August trip this year, booked mid last year and found it almost impossible to even get a balcony cabin without watching every day to see if any balcony was available. If you want a mini-suite or suite....good luck...they have been sold out for about six months now on our cruise although a mini-suite guarantee did show up one day...gone the next (guess who grabbed it).

 

I would not try to combine Iceland with Norway...iceland has it's own beauty and you should find a cruise that makes as many stops as possible because each one is very different.

Actually I already booked for next Summer during the $1 deposit sale. So many excellent points I am leaning towards the 14 day one. Booked one of the Emerald deck Mini's. Now just need to start looking at the excursions.

If you can manage it, I would recommend the 14-day itinerary. Flam is a definite highlight: take the Flam Railway excursion that goes to Voss and Stalheim [assuming Princess offers this]. Honningsvag allows you to visit Nordkapp and shout the famous Jimmy Cagney quote: "Made it Ma! Top of the World!"]. In Tromso there is a very expensive but unique excursion to "Walk With the Huskies" which allows you to be dragged by an amazingly powerful dog across an amazingly wet bog -- it was actually much more fun than this sounds! [More detail about these experiences in the link in my signature: Azamara Quest Norwegian Fjords 8-2016]

For me, the North Cape was the goal. We spent five days above the Arctic circle and therefore had 5 days where the sun never set.

Yes, the North Cape is cold and windy but I wouldn't have missed it. We took the ship excursion and the weather was cloudy, windy with snow flurries. Loved it!! Just be sure to pack a pair of long underwear so you can enjoy the time outside the visitors' center. (My husband and I both have a set that takes up very little room in the suitcase.)

It was a great cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Beautiful area.

When cruising Norway, instead of taking half the clothes and twice as much money as you think you will need, take half the clothes and four times as much money. ;)