Norwegian Fjords

[jblbcl]

Hello,

 

We are considering a cruise that visits Bergen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Honningsvag, Tromso, Gravdal, Flam, and Stavanger. What ship sponsored or private excursions have you taken and that met your expectations. I use a manual wheelchair and cannot climb steps. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Betty

[CRUISEWITHH]

Hello,

 

We are considering a cruise that visits Bergen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Honningsvag, Tromso, Gravdal, Flam, and Stavanger. What ship sponsored or private excursions have you taken and that met your expectations. I use a manual wheelchair and cannot climb steps. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Betty

 

If you haven't already booked your cruise, I may be able to help. We are doing the Ocean Princess on June 17, 2012 and those are the ports that we are stopping at.

 

My husband has a Pride GoGo Elite scooter.

[Chunky2219]

We are currently on Queen Victoria, doing 14 nights of something very similar. We did 7 days last year. I write this as we are berthed in Honningsvag. I am a walker with crutches but use a wheelchair for anything over 200 yards or so and for anything off ship.

 

In order of your ports:

 

Bergen - is a mandatory shuttle bus from port to town. Last year, Cunard also provided 2 wheelchair accessible minibuses which dropped us in town but despite making arrangements for a pick up didn’t come back until 2 hours late when there was a queue of 15-20 chairs and scooters and folks getting very angry. “Don’t blame us, blame the locals” Cunard said. Despite that, it’s a very nice spot to go around and we won’t be bothering with a tour when we get there on Sunday. I’ve already contacted the people at the funicular railway and it is wheelchair friendly. The fish market is also super – don’t bother with breakfast on the ship.

 

Hellesylt – can’t comment, never been there.

 

Gerainger – is beautiful but a tender only port so with most lines they won’t let you get off in a chair unless you can independently step into the boat. Check with the line first, but don’t be surprised if you get duff information.

 

Honningsvag - No wheelchair friendly tours available for us. The town is a short walk away but we got off in the middle of a blizzard this morning so wheeled half way there and turned around. There isn’t much in town when you get there. There are only really 2 tours available if you can step up on to a bus – these are the trip to the North Cape visitor centre and the tour around the island. Speaking to people who have done them, it sounds like they are both okay as “been there done that” experiences but if the weather is poor it is a waste of time and money. For us it might have been a tender port, but both QV and the Costa Delizioza moored at the quay this morning.

 

Tromso. We did a leisurely tour which was okay for 2 hours in dreadful weather. Wheelchair buses are not available for tours. The port is a free shuttle bus from the town, so if you are full time user who cannot step up you have a problem. Taxis may be possible, but when we visited this week it was a bank holiday and the place was closed and utterly desolate.

 

Gravdal - never been there, can’t comment.

 

Flam – is a truly beautiful spot comparable to Gerainger but you moor at the quay at a new terminal. It is maybe 100 yards by wheelchair into the village and you can see all of it in 1-2 hours. We did a 2 hour bus tour up the mountains complete with a stop for waffles which was very good but as with the others, if you cannot handle the bus then you have a problem. The cruise line offered a trip on the Flamsbana railway up the mountain but they couldn’t confirm I could take my non-folding chair. Once on land, I checked with the railway and it would have been okay, plus would have cost less than ½ the price of an official tour. We’ll do that next time.

 

Stavanger - is a great little spot for a wheel around with easy access from the quay. Both times we have visited it has been scorching hot. It is a bit hilly and cobbled in places but we coped okay. There is an oil museum which is very good and a canning museum (!) if you like that sort of stuff. The local food is tremendous. We didn’t do any tours, but it is a reasonably good sized place so taxis should not be a problem. Again, no wheelchair friendly tours were offered.

 

I hope this helps. If you need more info post an e-mail address and we can correspond when we return. Apologies for any typos, I’m burning up satellite time so can’t afford the time to proof read.

[LondonTowner]

We visited bergen, Flam and Stavanger on a cruise last June.

 

We had atrocious weather in Bergen, torrential rain and very windy. My partner pushed me along the seafront, which is flat, b ut due to the weather we decided to take the HOHO bus.

 

However, Bergen is a fairly easy place to get around with a wheelchair if you are not battling against the elements.

 

In Flam we did the railway on our own. Much cheaper than the trip from the ship and very easy to organise. We docked about 200m short walk from the station and bought our ticket. The guard put out a ramp and pushed me on to the train and found us window seats. As already mentioned, Flam is very small and easy to get around.

 

In Stavanger we docked in the town and it was all on the flat around the port area. However, we did decide to do the HOHO bus and the driver dropped us back at the ship.

 

I am able to walk and do steps, so I understand the HOHO buses may not be suitable for you, although I think the one in Bergen had a ramp.

 

We never use the ship's excursions as they are very overpriced. With a bit of researh it is easy to do most places with a cheaper local company or on your own.