Panicking P & O cruise 11 July 14

[purplekim]

Hi

 

We have booked our first cruise and now coming up to the date (11 July) to Norway I am panicking. We are going to Olden, Andalsnes, Trondheim, Loften Islands, Allseund, Flam, Bergan. Most of the cruise excursions are not really our cup of tea or really expensive.

 

Has anyone done this cruise? We have some ideas of what to do from research and the posts on Cruise Critic. Our concern is that we don't know the port timings, P & O won't confirm any times, so planning is hard!! We really don't want to be wondering around town with nothing planned. It would be such a waste of time and money for us.

 

We usually plan our trips well, and fit in everything we want to do. On this cruise we have no timings and we don't want to miss the boat!!

 

At present this is what we have planned:

 

Olden - Briksdal Glacier, we going to do this one on our own

Andalsnes - Land of the Trolls (cruise excursion)

Trondheim - A trail walk (or another walk that worth doing)

Loften Islands - not sure here

Allesund - Arriving on Sunday no buses so kinda stuck on this day

Flam - Norway in a Nutshell (cruise excursion)

Bergan - go for a hike

 

Anyone recommend anything else to do? I know at some places you can organise tours once you arrive, but would still need to know what we want to do!!

 

Thanks

[rubydoobydoo]

You could go on the Fenicular in Bergen, it costs about £8.50, and there is a park at the top with some lovely walks, a cafe and shops.

 

 

http://www.floibanen.com

 

There will be a shuttle into Bergen from the Ship which is free, Bergen is a love pretty place to walk around,

And the Fenicular is a short walk, and very easy to do on your own

Edited June 15, 2014 by rubydoobydoo

[clivep]

It's so annoying that P&O don't publish the port times any more. A certain website had accurate timings for our recent Adonia cruise so hopefully the following information I've copied may be helpful to you.

 

11-Jul-14 07:00 11-Jul-14 16:30 Southampton, England 4410Aurora, Adonia

11-Jul-14 16:30 14-Jul-14 09:00 At Sea

 

14-Jul-14 09:00 14-Jul-14 17:00 Olden, Norway 1822

14-Jul-14 17:00 15-Jul-14 08:00 At Sea

 

15-Jul-14 08:00 15-Jul-14 17:00 Andalsnes, Norway 4340MSC Magnifica

15-Jul-14 17:00 16-Jul-14 09:00 At Sea

 

16-Jul-14 09:00 16-Jul-14 17:00 Trondheim, Norway 1822

16-Jul-14 17:00 18-Jul-14 08:00 At Sea

 

18-Jul-14 08:00 18-Jul-14 17:00 Lofoten Island, Norway 1822

18-Jul-14 17:00 20-Jul-14 09:00 At Sea

 

20-Jul-14 09:00 20-Jul-14 17:00 Aalesund, Norway 1822

20-Jul-14 17:00 21-Jul-14 08:00 At Sea

 

21-Jul-14 08:00 21-Jul-14 17:00 Flaam, Norway 1822

21-Jul-14 17:00 22-Jul-14 08:00 At Sea

 

22-Jul-14 08:00 22-Jul-14 17:00 Bergen, Norway 6849Queen Victoria, MSC Poesia

22-Jul-14 17:00 25-Jul-14 07:00 At Sea

 

25-Jul-14 07:00 25-Jul-14 16:30 Southampton, England 5652Arcadia, Aurora

 

Options for Alesund:

 

A visit to the Atlantic Sea Park is good. Although the public bus does not run on Sundays there supposedly is a shuttle bus laid on by the sea park... see http://www.atlanterhavsparken.no/english/menu/shuttlebus

 

There's also usually a small road train operating in Alesund that goes up mount Aksla. It's often busy so you need to get tickets for a departure a bit later in the day.

 

Just explore the town. It's very picturesque particularly the harbour area to the North.

[rubydoobydoo]

Not a great deal to do in Alesund, we walked into the town and up a very high

View point, Mount Aksla, the view was amazing, again easy to do on your own.

 

There was over 400 steps to climb, I am unfit but I did manage it, there is a cafe at the top.

 

 

 

http://www.gonorway.no/norway/articles/173

Edited June 15, 2014 by rubydoobydoo

[Ataraxia]

At Alesund there is a bus that takes you to the aquarium - it was 200NOK (£20) which included entrance to the Aquarium £17.50.

 

At the Lofoten Islands we booked the Heritage Tour which included a church, a museum and a little fishing village, which was a living museum. We felt this was the best value ships tour we had been on.

 

There was no free shuttle at Bergen.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Ataraxia

[Host Sharon]

Doing the Briksdal Glacier on your own could be difficult. The bus times are pretty far apart from memory and it is a long walk from the stop to the glacier.

 

Alesund have a great HoHo bus which covers the viewpoint, aquarium and open air museum.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Host Sharon

[Thejuggler]

Adnalses is very small one street town, so a trip is a good idea. If Land of the Trolls is the Troll Road and Troll Wall trip it is excellent. Unfotunately it absolutely threw it down when we did it, so we couldn't see down the road or the top of the wall, but the waterfalls were magnificent. Some of the best the guide had seen during summer.

 

We did the trip from Alesund, the downside was we couldn't see the town as we were on the trip all day, arriving back about 20 minutes before we were due to sail.

 

We also thought Norway in a Nutshell was excellent value.

[joe grumble]

we have just returned from norway and had a fantastic time,you will enjoy it,

I was annoyed with p&o for not announcing port times for arrival and departure prior to our cruise,we have not had this with celebrity.princess or NCL. i think they do it so you book there trips knowing they get you back to the ship on time.

anyway we did a few trips ourselves in bergen and flaam.

we caught the free transfer bus from the ship into bergen then caught the local no.3 bus to the hospital,10 min ride costing about 82kr for 2 each way then went up in the cable car for smashing views of the city and surrounding landscape.

in flaam we booked the train/biking trip which was a little expensive but worth it as you see some fantastic scenery on the way back.we are both 50 and found this no trouble at all even being a bit overweight and unfit.

ship generally arrive around 7/8 am and leave around 4.30/5.00.if this is any use.

[Morgans]

We have visited several of the ports and enjoyed them all very much. Some of the things we did were:-

 

In Olden we took the little land train from in front of the ship and did a tour of the area - very interesting and pleasant. There is a beautiful church, some small shops, river, farms etc. easy to do and explore on foot too.

 

In Alesund we took the guided walking tour from the Tourist Office - pay on the spot. I forget the exact time it leaves but believe it was approx 1.00 pm We googled the Tourist Office Alesund and found all details. It was excellent and all the sights were explained to us as we walked around the town.

 

On Trondheim we completed a circuit of the town which was extremely interesting. We visited the cathedral, shopping centre, crossed over the bridge to the old houses, passed the bicycle lift, walked parallel to the water and ended up by the maritime museum which is worth a visit and then cut through to the fish market. It was one huge loop of a walk which took most of the day.

 

Bergen is a lovely place. We have been several times - there is a hoho bus and the price includes a ride up to the top of Mount Ulriken and return. Spectacular views. Or there is also the funicular which leaves from near the fish market up to Mount Floyen. At the top here there is a childrens playground, restaurant/cafe and beautiful hikes and rambles to the lake up there.

 

All suggestions here are easy to do and much cheaper than the ship's excursions. You will have a great holiday whatever you decide as Norway is such a beautiful country. Have a lovely time!

[the english lady]

You can google for each of the ports you are stopping at. Most port these days seem to have a webpage ,with the expected arrival and departure time of each ship. This would give you a basic starter of what to expect.

[2irisheyes]

I second what English Lady said. When researching Iceland the private tour companies catering for cruise tours quite often give expected port timings. I phoned P&O (Carnival) Southampton last week (we booked direct with them) and they gave the port times (02380 655000). If you booked with an agent ask the agent to phone them. We have booked a tour privately for Reykjavik which we didn't have to pay for up front. Remember when planning that port times can change and if weather is rough it might be difficult/impossible for a ship to dock or unsafe for tenders. Have a good time.

[groovechick]

A certain website had accurate timings for our recent Adonia cruise so hopefully the following information I've copied may be helpful to you.

 

Any chance you can give the URL for that website clivep?

 

We are not cruising until next year, but I want to start researching excursions. We tend to do a mix of ship's excursions and DIY. Last year's DIYs were very successful, so I have a reputation with my family to keep up! :D

[clivep]

Any chance you can give the URL for that website clivep?

 

We are not cruising until next year, but I want to start researching excursions. We tend to do a mix of ship's excursions and DIY. Last year's DIYs were very successful, so I have a reputation with my family to keep up! :D

 

Info is at http://ports.cruisett.com/

 

I don't think they're associated with any travel agency so hopefully it's OK to post the link. My apologies to the moderator if posting the link is not allowed.

[Sea Green]

Bergen - we got our tickets for the funicular at the tourist information office at the wharf so we could skip the ENORMOUS queue at the funicular itself.

 

Olden - the Briksdal glacier is stunning. If you e-mail the Olden Tourist Info they will be able to give you the times of the public bus. If you dont fancy public transport, there are companys at the dock running minivan trips to the glacier, I advise you to get off the ship early and be at the head of the queue as the departure slots get booked up quick.

 

Its a long steep but scenic climb to the glacier itself you can get a troll car up if you dont fancy the walk.

[groovechick]

Many thanks Clive.

 

Duly noted.

[purplekim]

Thank you all you wonderful people, I feel so much calmer now, there's lots of really good suggestions so I am going through them all and working it out.

 

We we booked directly with P and O and contacted them like you suggested, and got the times. I am really looking forward to it.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Clodia]

My daughter and I are on this cruise too. We've been to Norway before and did Flam and the Briksdal Glacier P&O excursions so we'll just do our own thing there. Bergen is also easy to do your own thing.

Not sure about the Lofoten Islands though; anyone any information?