Norwegian Fjords with HA

[Koigirl]

Will be cruising with Holland America next month and am trying to work out how much currency to take. Does anyone know if Sterling is acceptable in Norway or do they only take N. Kroner.

 

Any hints on excursions, are they available in port or is it best to book on board.

 

Also, anyone know drinks prices on HA, are they high because the drinks packages seem to be!

 

Would appreciate your comments on the Ryndam.

 

Thanks

[Third]

Are N. Kroner acceptable in Essex? Maybe, maybe not. Are Sterling acceptable in Norway? Maybe, maybe not. The most relaxed way is to buy enough N. Kroner and to sell when you're back. We use to buy 1000 N.Kroner each for a week for drinks and souvenirs.

 

We buy excursions through HAL. That is the most relaxed way. But you can earn money to do it by yourself. I think you go to Geiranger and Eidfjord. That are very small towns. I recommend excursions in these places. Bergen and Alesund are beautifull places to walk around. You can look at http://www.citysightseeing.no/

 

The drink prices on board are for us in the Netherlands normal cafe prices. But we are non-alcoholic drinkers.

[Nanner]

Welcome to Cruise Critic, koigirl. I would strongly recommend you look at the Ports of Call portion of the message boards, go to the section for Europe and then explore the Norway subsection for ideas in each port. If you are doing that long fjord tour on Ryndam next month, I envy you! Great itinerary.

 

You can book tours in Gerainger in advance via Gerainger Fjordservice. Easy, and right at the pier. As stated before, Bergen is a great walking town. I'll leave you to explore from there, as this forum here is more for answering questions such as "how is the Ryndam?" than tour options.

 

We were on the Ryndam last in 2012. I recall at that time we had a wonderful cruise, but it was too long ago to give you a good report on her status now.

 

DO take local currency with you. Most of the fjord towns are small, and if they take anything other than coin of the realm, it would probably be euros.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Nanner

[Nanner]

That's what I get for trying to go from memory instead of checking first.

 

Ports of Call Message board...Europe...then Northern Europe and the Baltics

 

Norway doesn't have its own section.

[sppunk]

We did the fjords in September, from Totterdam, but sabe itinerary essentially.

 

We did a live thread about the trip with photos and what we did in each port. It might be helpful, here it is.

 

http://forums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2095784

[Koigirl]

Thanks for the link for the sightseeing bus, at least it gives us some idea as to what we can do in port and then make up our minds and choose HA excursions for the others.

[FLACRUISER99]

Will be cruising with Holland America next month and am trying to work out how much currency to take. Does anyone know if Sterling is acceptable in Norway or do they only take N. Kroner.

 

Any hints on excursions, are they available in port or is it best to book on board.

 

Also, anyone know drinks prices on HA, are they high because the drinks packages seem to be!

 

Would appreciate your comments on the Ryndam.

 

Thanks

Almost everyone accepts Credit Cards.

[Tina G]

You should sign up on the roll call for your sailing so you can talk with other people with whom you will be sailing. This is a great way to get specific information for our cruise.

For heaven's sake, get some N.K.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Tina G

[HokiePoq]

We will get the local currency at a bank ATM at the first port in Norway on our upcoming HAL cruise. We're doing ship's tours at the Norway ports except in Bergen. There we'll walk to the funicular and ride up to the top of the mountain. Then on return we'll walk around the port area which I've heard is very nice. When looking at the HAL excursions on your booking, be sure to read the reviews. I found these very helpful in choosing which excursion to take in each place.

Welcome to CC and as someone suggested, join your roll call to meet other cruisers and learn about other excursion possibilities. The HAL ones sounded great for Norway so we opted for those this time.

[PatsyAnne]

In Bergen we found a great walking tour through the Bryggens area that starts at the Bryggens Museum.

[user8]

I used to live in Stavanger and I think Hokie Poq has the right idea. I don't ever remember anyone using anything but kroner so I would get some at my first opportunity.

 

You will like Norway; it is a beautiful country and a very nice to visit. You should not have any trouble communicating with the locals as nearly everyone speaks English very well.