Norwegian Fjords

[Jennybrennan]

We went on the Celebrity Eclipse Baltic Cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. We won't make a habit of cruising as we enjoy varying our holidays. However we are thinking of doing a Norway and perhaps add on Iceland cruise and although we liked the Eclipse we have heard that a smaller ship has more choices of going into more shallow and narrow ports of call etc. Could anyone recommend a ship please. We were in Aqua class on the Eclipse and would like a 5 star cruise again.

Look forward to receiving recommendations

[Host Jazzbeau]

Azamara does a Norwegian Fjords cruise once a year, and their ships are small enough to sail all the way up the narrow fjords. Also your Celebrity status will carry over, and the points from your Azamara cruise will count in your Celebrity account.

Azamara Quest, July 18-August 1, 2015

Azamara Quest, August 11–26, 2016

Azamara Journey, June 23-July 7, 2017

Each itinerary is slightly difference but all include all the fjords highlights and go up past the Arctic Circle to the North Cape.

[ClaudiaB]

We will be on the 15 night Azamara Norway cruise in August 2016. It's going to be fabulous. Best itinerary I could find for that trip. I definitely wanted to get to northern Norway past the North Cape and not just halfway up the coast like some itineraries do.

 

Come join us! There is a roll call for that cruise over on the Azamara board but it's dead quiet. Maybe it'll pick up later or maybe that's just the way Azamara goes - not sure as it's going to be our first AZ cruise (and first non-X cruise). From what I can glean, many people only do AZ for the Europe cruises and I have a sneaking suspicion that's what we're going to find.

[sippican]

Azamara does a Norwegian Fjords cruise once a year, and their ships are small enough to sail all the way up the narrow fjords. Also your Celebrity status will carry over, and the points from your Azamara cruise will count in your Celebrity account.

Azamara Quest, July 18-August 1, 2015

Azamara Quest, August 11–26, 2016

Azamara Journey, June 23-July 7, 2017

Each itinerary is slightly difference but all include all the fjords highlights and go up past the Arctic Circle to the North Cape.

 

I had researched extensively prior to our recent trip and was just wondering which fjords does Azamara sail all the way up that others cannot? I was absolutely amazed at the narrow places we were able to navigate on our medium sized ship - Serenade. (We were not looking for a 5 star cruise experience, but the itinerary including North Cape was very important to us.)

 

We are actively looking at some future cruises on Azamara. The points from AZ will count towards additional X loyalty status on top of your current X tier?

[SeaPeaInn]

If you want to do the North Cape, I would recommend that you do a cruise that continues on north to Spitzbergen. This was on of our best cruises.

 

I know HAL does it but there are others.

[Host Jazzbeau]

If you want to do the North Cape, I would recommend that you do a cruise that continues on north to Spitzbergen. This was on of our best cruises. I know HAL does it but there are others.

 

Don't understand this because we have shore excursions from Honnigsvag to the North Cape and Azamara Quest then cruises past the North Cape at midnight before heading South.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I had researched extensively prior to our recent trip and was just wondering which fjords does Azamara sail all the way up that others cannot? I was absolutely amazed at the narrow places we were able to navigate on our medium sized ship - Serenade. (We were not looking for a 5 star cruise experience, but the itinerary including North Cape was very important to us.)

 

We are actively looking at some future cruises on Azamara. The points from AZ will count towards additional X loyalty status on top of your current X tier?

 

I can't answer your first question because I have never researched Royal cruises -- not being snobbish, just a lack of experience. Of the cruises I did research, this Azamara itinerary seemed to include the largest number of fjords and the most in-depth fjord experiences. The Celebrity and Azamara loyalty programs are shared -- all points earned on either one count toward both -- so this gives Azamara an edge over competing near-luxury lines IMO.

[Rivington90]

We went on the Celebrity Eclipse Baltic Cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. We won't make a habit of cruising as we enjoy varying our holidays. However we are thinking of doing a Norway and perhaps add on Iceland cruise and although we liked the Eclipse we have heard that a smaller ship has more choices of going into more shallow and narrow ports of call etc. Could anyone recommend a ship please. We were in Aqua class on the Eclipse and would like a 5 star cruise again.

Look forward to receiving recommendations

 

 

We cruised as a family on Eclipse to Iceland and the Fiords in 2013 and would do so again tomorrow - unfortunately timings have not worked for us for that itinerary since. However, would have no hesitation in repeating whatsoever. For a smaller ship believe that Princess operate a similar cruise from Dover. However, for us we would go on the Eclipse again.

 

Best wishes

[Host Jazzbeau]

We cruised as a family on Eclipse to Iceland and the Fiords in 2013 and would do so again tomorrow - unfortunately timings have not worked for us for that itinerary since. However, would have no hesitation in repeating whatsoever. For a smaller ship believe that Princess operate a similar cruise from Dover. However, for us we would go on the Eclipse again.

 

Best wishes

 

Princess used to do several itineraries on Ocean Princess and Pacific Princess, which are ex-Renaissance R-ships like Azamara Quest and Journey. But Ocean Princess has been sold to Oceania and its final August 2015 fjords itinerary is sold out. Pacific Princess has itineraries listed for 2016 but none go to Flam -- and I would be hesitant to book Pacific Princess at this point because of rumors that she will probably be sold also (or transferred to fathom).

[Host Jazzbeau]

I had researched extensively prior to our recent trip and was just wondering which fjords does Azamara sail all the way up that others cannot? I was absolutely amazed at the narrow places we were able to navigate on our medium sized ship - Serenade. (We were not looking for a 5 star cruise experience, but the itinerary including North Cape was very important to us.)

 

Further to this I just searched the Royal website, and the only cruises they list that go to Flam do not go very far up the Norwegian coast. I wanted a cruise that included Geiranger, Flam (with the Flam railway as an excursion), and the North Cape (via Honnigsvag). I couldn't find a Royal cruise that does this.

[4774Papa]

We went on the Celebrity Eclipse Baltic Cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. We won't make a habit of cruising as we enjoy varying our holidays. However we are thinking of doing a Norway and perhaps add on Iceland cruise and although we liked the Eclipse we have heard that a smaller ship has more choices of going into more shallow and narrow ports of call etc. Could anyone recommend a ship please. We were in Aqua class on the Eclipse and would like a 5 star cruise again.

Look forward to receiving recommendations

NCL has a cruise that goes to the North Cape of Norway. I think they only have one a year.

 

We did an NCL Star cruise to Norway, Shetland Island, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland last fall and it was good.

 

We missed our second port in Norway (Alesund) and the Faroe Islands due to a Cat 2 hurricane.

 

We plan on going back to do the North Cape.

 

Celebrity only has a cruise that goes less than half way, at least last time I checked.

[PSU]

We just did a cruise on RC that sailed past the Arctic Circle and we went on an excursion to the North Cape. We did the fjords and visited five towns in Norway.

 

Royal only does this one time a year.

NCL has a cruise that goes to the North Cape of Norway. I think they only have one a year.

 

We did an NCL Star cruise to Norway, Shetland Island, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland last fall and it was good.

 

We missed our second port in Norway (Alesund) and the Faroe Islands due to a Cat 2 hurricane.

 

We plan on going back to do the North Cape.

 

Celebrity only has a cruise that goes less than half way, at least last time I checked.

[sippican]

Further to this I just searched the Royal website, and the only cruises they list that go to Flam do not go very far up the Norwegian coast. I wanted a cruise that included Geiranger, Flam (with the Flam railway as an excursion), and the North Cape (via Honnigsvag). I couldn't find a Royal cruise that does this.

 

Yes, that is correct. We did not visit Flam nor the Lofoten Islands, which were high on my list. I do not believe it was due to the size of the ships, which is why I was curious as to the advantage of the smaller Azamara ship size.

We cruised past North Cape both up and back - very close and spectacular! Geiranger and Alesund (Trollstein) were other highlights that are "must sees" IMHO, would have easily given up Tromso in favor of another port.

[SeaPeaInn]

Don't understand this because we have shore excursions from Honnigsvag to the North Cape and Azamara Quest then cruises past the North Cape at midnight before heading South.

Was only suggesting that they continue north for another day or so to Spitzbergen. Very interesting and seldom visited.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Yes, that is correct. We did not visit Flam nor the Lofoten Islands, which were high on my list. I do not believe it was due to the size of the ships, which is why I was curious as to the advantage of the smaller Azamara ship size.

We cruised past North Cape both up and back - very close and spectacular! Geiranger and Alesund (Trollstein) were other highlights that are "must sees" IMHO, would have easily given up Tromso in favor of another port.

 

I don't know the Royal fleet, but it seems that the ship you were on is quite small for them -- maybe the "small" vs "large" is about the newer megaships. One thing that Azamara can do that others don't -- the Captain of the Journey has a friend with a farm on one of the fjords and when he has this itinerary they make an unscheduled stop to pick up fresh raspberries. That would almost be worth choosing the cruise for! Unfortunately I will be on Quest, whose Captain isn't Norwegian. :( But I understand that both ships sometimes have the crew go fishing to get really fresh supplies for dinner. I hope that some of these Azamara stories prove true on our cruise!

[sippican]

One thing that Azamara can do that others don't -- the Captain of the Journey has a friend with a farm on one of the fjords and when he has this itinerary they make an unscheduled stop to pick up fresh raspberries. That would almost be worth choosing the cruise for! Unfortunately I will be on Quest, whose Captain isn't Norwegian. :( But I understand that both ships sometimes have the crew go fishing to get really fresh supplies for dinner. I hope that some of these Azamara stories prove true on our cruise!

 

That does sound yummy!

We are trying to decide if Azamara is for us vs. X for a future cruise Med/Greek Isles cruise (considering there is a significant price difference and we focus more on the destination than the onboard experience).

[rvlandandsea]

We sailed the Norwegian fjords on Independence of the Seas and had no problems entering and docking. This is a much larger ship then the Solstice class. Johanne.

[cruisinsusin]

NCL has a cruise that goes to the North Cape of Norway. I think they only have one a year.

 

We did an NCL Star cruise to Norway, Shetland Island, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland last fall and it was good.

 

We missed our second port in Norway (Alesund) and the Faroe Islands due to a Cat 2 hurricane.

 

We plan on going back to do the North Cape.

 

Celebrity only has a cruise that goes less than half way, at least last time I checked.

Constellation sailed a wonderful Norwegian Fjords itinerary-leaving from Amsterdam and going all the way to the North Cape trip- last June- not sure if they will add one that back again next year.

[Azulann]

The new Viking Ocean ships are doing five Norwegian fjord sailings in 2017 on all three of their ships.The 2017itineraries just were posted. The two for 2016 are all sold out. These ships have 930 passengers, all veranda cabins and are stunning.

I also saw the Azamaras sailings for 2017, but really want to know what remodeling they will do come 2016 and passengers feedback.

Will also look at the Constellation 2017 sailings for this itinerary later this year.