Azura on 1st May - Norwegian Fjords

[Cliveg29]

Hi all,

 

My wife and I are on the Azura for 7 nights from the 1st May, taking in the Norwegian Fjords.

 

Couple of questions if I may...

 

What will the weather be like at that time of year?

 

...and what clothes should I take for any of the trips...and can anyone recommend what trips to take?

 

Thanks and regards,

Clive

[Flying Doc]

Dear Clive

 

It appears you may be starting your cruise a day before Azura! The brochure date is 2nd May! The Flaam railway trip is well worth doing, although you could just as easily do it on your own since the station is right next to the dock. However the P & O tour did include some rather delicious waffles, cream and jam (a sort of Norwegian Cornish cream tea) in a hotel at the top, just in case you're short of a calorie or two (thousand). In Geiranger there was a really nice hike with superb views of the ship, but you do need to be reasonably fit. Stavanger is so nice we usually just wander around. The oil industry museum is surprisingly good - well worth a visit.

 

Hope this helps....

[Cliveg29]

Hiya Flying Doc...thanks for the input...appreciated.

 

It is actually the 1st May...not sure which one you were looking at. The cruise number is A509N.

 

Your Ship: AZURA

Your Cruise Number: A509N

Your Departure Date: 01-May-2015

 

 

Thanks again for your reply.

Clive

[Flying Doc]

They must have changed the schedule - I have a First edition brochure which has it as cruise number A509....

 

Regarding your other questions, Norway's weather is pretty similar to ours (although Bergen reputedly has the highest annual rainfall in Europe) so May is likely to be fairly unpredictable. Just go for the layering principle and make sure you take a waterproof. Walking shoes/boots a must if you do any of the hill walking tours.

[Cliveg29]

Thanks again...hope it's not gonna be too wet!

 

Cheers for now,

Clive

[P&O SUE]

I went on Ventura to Norway in 2013 and the Thursday was the 1st May and it was very very cold. In fact when we went on the Flam railway and on another exursion that went up into the mountains we had snow! Not snow at the boat level but fresh snow had fallen in the hills! There is a fantastic waterfall half way up the Flam railway - but it was frozen for us! The local people did say Spring was late that year.

We had a fantastic time though but I was glad to get back to some warmth! We were never cold onboard the ship though. On the other hand we only had rain at Stavangar.

Are you stopping at Bergen? We were told by a friend to go very very early to the funicular as it gets busy but at that time of year we got there about 10-10.30 and it was fine. We did book the P&O trip on the railway as we didn't want to miss it but at that time of year you might be able to get tickets on the day - depends how many ships are in port.

We want to go back and see the area again with ice free waterfalls! It's a beautiful country though and the Norweigans friendly and so proud of their country - enjoy!

[Cliveg29]

Thanks P&P Sue...appreciate your comments.

 

Regards,

Clive

[Cliveg29]

Sorry...typo with your name!

[P&O SUE]

Sorry...typo with your name!

 

I don't think there's a cruise line called P&P! :D

[dsrdsrdsr]

The weather is no more predictable than ours. Probably between zero and 20 degrees daytime, but no guarantees. It probably won't snow.

 

As for excursions, it depends which ports you're visiting, but if you go onto the Northern Europe part of this forum, you'll find loads of threads about just about every port in Norway.

[Sea Green]

I went on Ventura to Norway in 2013 and the Thursday was the 1st May and it was very very cold. In fact when we went on the Flam railway and on another exursion that went up into the mountains we had snow! Not snow at the boat level but fresh snow had fallen in the hills! There is a fantastic waterfall half way up the Flam railway - but it was frozen for us! The local people did say Spring was late that year.

We had a fantastic time though but I was glad to get back to some warmth! We were never cold onboard the ship though. On the other hand we only had rain at Stavangar.

Are you stopping at Bergen? We were told by a friend to go very very early to the funicular as it gets busy but at that time of year we got there about 10-10.30 and it was fine. We did book the P&O trip on the railway as we didn't want to miss it but at that time of year you might be able to get tickets on the day - depends how many ships are in port.

We want to go back and see the area again with ice free waterfalls! It's a beautiful country though and the Norweigans friendly and so proud of their country - enjoy!

 

If your doing the Funicular at Bergen you can buy your tickets at the Tourist Information office, which as I recall was fairly close by the station, that way you can cut the line at the station itself and walk right in. We got there closer to midday and the queue was massive...

 

Scandanavia seems to have British weather squared, so think layers, umbrellas and sunglasses. We went the same time of year as you and it was pleasantly mild, but pack for all weathers :cool:

[Thejuggler]

A few years ago my parents went the second week of May and trips in the inner Fjord area to higher ground, especially Gerainger had to be curtailed as the roads had not been cleared of snow. It was very cold and snowing.

 

The second half of the week as they came further south to Stavanger they were in shorts and T shirts!

[tonyl1956]

Azura 2012 in April saw some exceptionally sunny weather. I hadn't taken a sun hat and had to buy one. Temperatures were definitely in the upper teens for a good part of the week. Mind you, the captain did say it was the best weather he'd ever seen in the Fjords.

 

Tony

[Cliveg29]

Thanks to everyone that replied...much appreciated.

 

Regards,

Clive