Oslo hotel recomendations

[kruzkid]

We are sailing on the Vision OFTs next june, (june 11) and we need a hotel for the 2 nights prior. Any hotels close to the cruise terminal, at a decent price? (I know Oslo is very expensive)Thanks in advance!

[kaisatsu]

The closest hotel to the Vision's departure port at Filipstad is Clarion Gabelshus. It's not the cheapest option, but it typically appears near the top of the TripAdvisor rankings for Oslo. It's probably the only hotel that's within walking distance from the cruise pier. (The taxi ride would be about the same as from downtown, thanks to the position of the highway. There's a pedestrian bridge, but a taxi would have to go out of its way to the next intersection.)

 

The cheapest options will be the bed & breakfasts. For example, Frogner Bed & Breakfast and Villa Frogner are both on the west side of town, close to Vigelands Park, and a 10-minute taxi ride from the pier. Cochs Pensjonat near the royal palace is a 2-star perennial Lonely Planet favorite.

 

In the past, CC posters have found some decent (for Oslo) hotel deals at some of the Thon, Rica, and Scandic hotel locations scattered around downtown. Luckily Oslo is a very small city, so unless you're staying near the airport, up by Holmenkollen, or out in someplace like Fornebu, you won't be too far from the port.

[kruzkid]

Thank you so much! where exactly is the Visions terminal at? i keep finding different answers.

[kaisatsu]

Sorry... I thought I answer this, but I guess it was in the brief period when CruiseCritic was swallowing posts.

 

The Oslo Port Authority doesn't usually publish the list of cruise berth assignments until the spring, but for the past few years Royal Caribbean has been docking the Vision at Filipstad when she's using Oslo as a homeport:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=211508364214126586066.000448b3e58484b276430&ll=59.914762,10.728664&spn=0.027321,0.070896&t=h&z=14&iwloc=000448cab88de6ce3dac9

 

During single-day port calls, most cruise ships dock downtown at Akershuskaia or Vippetangen next to Akershus fortress. This might cause some of the confusion. The Oslo cruise terminal is at Akershuskaia, but there isn't a lot of parking, and I don't think the terminal has the facilities to handle check-in and luggage. Instead, Royal sets up a tent along the pier at Filipstad, near the Color Ferry terminal. They complete check-in and baggage collection in the tent and share the ferry terminal's large parking lot.

 

At some point it looks like I put together a map of the different transit options at and around the Filipstad pier facilities, so maybe that will come in handy:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=211508364214126586066.000487061794efbc883f8&ll=59.916096,10.727892&spn=0.02732,0.070896&t=h&z=14&iwloc=000487061ddcfd5fe513e

 

PS - We've cruised the Vision from Oslo twice now, so if you have any questions, I'm happy to try to help!

[Pearl64]

We were in Oslo last September and stayed at the Hotel Bondeheimen. It is part of the Best Western chain. I went through the US site as the prices were better. We felt this was a good deal for Oslo. We arrived at the airport and took the train(Flytoget?) into town. We had luggage: 2 large suitcases and two carryons. Pay for the train at the kiosks as it is quite a bit cheaper than purchasing on board. Now dragging suitcases was not totally easy but it was quite doable. Just keep reminding yourself you are saving money! We got off at the National Theatre and walked the three blocks to the hotel. We should have gotten more specific directions because we needed to ask along the way. Looking back it wasn't that difficult--we just must have been tired.

 

The hotel was clean. Our room was on the corner and no, we did not specify that particular room. The room was fairly large. I was expecting something quite smaller. The bathroom was adequate. We did have some problems figuring out the elevator and the lights and locking the room. Everything is run via your room key card. It works rather well once we figured it out. The cost saving items were the huge breakfast buffet and you were allowed to take extra food for lunch. Also, the hotel offers soup from 7 pm. so, if you are not particularly hungry you can get by and save more money. We did eat at TGIFridays and just had two hamburgers. No drinks. The total was $56 USD. It really didn't matter where you ate--the prices were all pretty comparable. Another item for the hotel is free computers to use in the lobby. You may have to wait to use it, but I found folks willing to let others use the computers and did not "hog" onto one. The only negative thing was the partying that goes on in Oslo. I don't think it would matter which hotel--you would hear it. We were there during some sport championship so it was comparable to crowds for our football games. It was Thursday and Fridays nights so that could be part of the problem as well. Plus we had the windows open.

 

We used public transportation while we were there. We bought the 24 hour transportation only pass. We did not seem rushed at all. We saw the Nobel Peace Museum--a must see, the Fram--interesting, the Resistance Museum--another must see--did not realize how Norway was pounded by the Germans during WWII, Frogner park to see the Vigeland sculptures--fre and a must see, and the Munch section at the National Art Museum--another freebie. This was in one day. The city is very easy to get around.

 

We did a trial run of geting back to the National Theatre. We kept missing the entrance. We wanted to do this without luggage so we knew exactly where we needed to go. since we needed to get to the airport early to pick up our car (could not do in Central Oslo because it was a Saturday) for our week in the fjords.

 

Another bit of advice is to get your wine at the airport upon arriving. It is sooooo much cheaper. Meg from Oslo has the particulars about how to do this. When I did it, the line from the plane just seemed to naturally go right to the duty free liquor store. When in Norway do as the Norwegians do.

 

I am sure you will enjoy Oslo. We did.

 

Pearl

[gaelsail]

Hotel Bondeheimen

I'd also recommend this hotel- price good and comfortable. Good food too.

[kruzkid]

Thank you all so much!

[chica]

We just booked the Clarion Gableshus and I think it is a very good deal---$150/room which includes full breakfast and a light night time buffet.

[kruzkid]

We were in Oslo last September and stayed at the Hotel Bondeheimen. It is part of the Best Western chain. I went through the US site as the prices were better. We felt this was a good deal for Oslo. We arrived at the airport and took the train(Flytoget?) into town. We had luggage: 2 large suitcases and two carryons. Pay for the train at the kiosks as it is quite a bit cheaper than purchasing on board. Now dragging suitcases was not totally easy but it was quite doable. Just keep reminding yourself you are saving money! We got off at the National Theatre and walked the three blocks to the hotel. We should have gotten more specific directions because we needed to ask along the way. Looking back it wasn't that difficult--we just must have been tired.

 

The hotel was clean. Our room was on the corner and no, we did not specify that particular room. The room was fairly large. I was expecting something quite smaller. The bathroom was adequate. We did have some problems figuring out the elevator and the lights and locking the room. Everything is run via your room key card. It works rather well once we figured it out. The cost saving items were the huge breakfast buffet and you were allowed to take extra food for lunch. Also, the hotel offers soup from 7 pm. so, if you are not particularly hungry you can get by and save more money. We did eat at TGIFridays and just had two hamburgers. No drinks. The total was $56 USD. It really didn't matter where you ate--the prices were all pretty comparable. Another item for the hotel is free computers to use in the lobby. You may have to wait to use it, but I found folks willing to let others use the computers and did not "hog" onto one. The only negative thing was the partying that goes on in Oslo. I don't think it would matter which hotel--you would hear it. We were there during some sport championship so it was comparable to crowds for our football games. It was Thursday and Fridays nights so that could be part of the problem as well. Plus we had the windows open.

 

We used public transportation while we were there. We bought the 24 hour transportation only pass. We did not seem rushed at all. We saw the Nobel Peace Museum--a must see, the Fram--interesting, the Resistance Museum--another must see--did not realize how Norway was pounded by the Germans during WWII, Frogner park to see the Vigeland sculptures--fre and a must see, and the Munch section at the National Art Museum--another freebie. This was in one day. The city is very easy to get around.

 

We did a trial run of geting back to the National Theatre. We kept missing the entrance. We wanted to do this without luggage so we knew exactly where we needed to go. since we needed to get to the airport early to pick up our car (could not do in Central Oslo because it was a Saturday) for our week in the fjords.

 

Another bit of advice is to get your wine at the airport upon arriving. It is sooooo much cheaper. Meg from Oslo has the particulars about how to do this. When I did it, the line from the plane just seemed to naturally go right to the duty free liquor store. When in Norway do as the Norwegians do.

 

I am sure you will enjoy Oslo. We did.

 

Pearl

I think we are going to book at your hotel, and get the Oslo pass. Thank you so much! This helped us a ton.

[Pearl64]

Kruzkid,

 

I hope you enjoy your days in Oslo. The city is very easy to get around. We enjoyed ourselves. We saw all that we did in one day and did not feel rushed at all. I am sure there might have been more for us to do and see but we were at the end of our Baltic cruise of 14 days so fatigue may have been a factor. We saw what we wanted before we headed into central Norway. If you plan ahead, you can keep your costs down. Fortunately for us we onlyhad rain on our way back to catch our plane at the Oslo airport. We were told we were indeed fortunate. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask away. Kaisatsu has a wealth of info so read her posts. She knows what she is talking about and gives very precise directions.

 

Pearl