June 18, 2016 14 Day Norwegian Solstice Quick Look Report

[ccrain]

This particular cruise is a whirlwind tour of a lot of Norwegian ports. Only 4 sea days on this cruise, with ports from Southern Norway to North Cape. And with the midnight sun, the views off the ship as it goes into and out of the fjords are not to be missed either. This is the Princess Summer Solstice Norway cruise. We have Stavanger, Flaam, Olden, Trondheim, Honningsvag (Northcape), Tromso, Gravdal (Lofoten), Alesund and Bergen.

 

Weather has a major impact on the cruise. Expect rain. Everywhere we went on good weather days, we were told by the locals how lucky we were and that they got clouds and rain 300+ days out of the year. At North Cape we only had a 20 minute window to get outdoor photos under a cloudy sky before the fog and wind closed in and made it hard to see past 100 feet. And the wind typically accompanies the rain. So umbrellas are next to useless, if not dangerous. Rain suits, ponchos, at the very least a good rain jacket and hood are an absolute must. Consider waterproof backpacks as mine got soaked through more than once, and keeping a SLR camera dry is almost impossible while keeping it accessible.

 

But it was not that cold, except North Cape with the wind. I brought a flannel jacket with hood and never used it. Most of the time, my long sleeve Cabela’s safari shirts were enough under a rain jacket, and in some cases it was too hot. Judy did use her heavy flannel jacket under her rain jacket quite a bit. Likewise we never used the swim suit we brought either. We did use both pairs of hiking shoes we brought, as well as the deck shoes and the dance sneaks. Expect to get muddy as well. Especially if you go see the dogs!

 

A pair of good binoculars (10x) are a must as well. If for nothing else to just keep them in your cabin to look out the window, or up on deck during the fjord sail bys. On the super grand class, Skywalkers, port wing with bar chairs is a great place to sit for hours in a dry environment. For fantastic tripod shots, try the sports deck and jogging track. 270 degree views and the ability to move quickly from one water fall to the other.

 

A portable hard drive for us photo and video nuts to back up to is also a must. For these two cruises (Baltic and Norway) I have over 150Gb of photos and videos that are stuffing my 256gB Surface hard drive. So I am offloading to a Western Digital 1TB passport drive. HD video eats memory space. I am dreading the memory and processing requirements for 4k video.

 

Norwegian ports are fantastic for DIYers. Most people speak English. Most maps and tourist information is on the internet and in English. Most of the information on TripAdvisor is current, relevant and very helpful. Cell connections were spotty at times in the far reaches around ports, but most ports had good digital and cellular connections. I’ve probably spent about $250 for digital access with Verizon over the past 4 weeks, including England. Judy has probably spent around $50 with her plan.

 

Southampton

 

There are several potential docks in Southampton for in-transit passengers to consider. We docked at the northernmost docks – way up at entrance #20. It’s quite a ways to walk to the port gate, but there are taxi’s available. The quickest and easiest way into town is once outside the port gate, turn right on the main road (West Quay I believe) till you get to Ikea. Then cut through the Ikea parking garage and into the West Quay mall which puts you in the town center above Bar Gate. All the things you need are right there. The Odeon movie theater is very close to the right of the gate as well. There is also a McDonalds with free wifi to the right about 2 blocks and several Starbucks in town. Most restaurants and shops in the downtown area have various forms of free wifi as well.

 

The Mayflower terminal is even closer to the town center. Just walk across the main road outside the port, cut to the left and enter the town via the old wall entrance, go north to Bar Gate.

June 20, 2016 – Stavanger

 

As an alternative to the corresponding Princess cruise along the Lysefjord (@180 each), we did the Rodne Fjord cruise for $60 each. We booked on line a couple of weeks ago. The Emerald even docked right in front of the ferry we were to take. Very simple to find. They, and the other tour company had plenty of room for the last minute people buying tickets. I don’t think anyone was left behind. But it was a full house inside since it was raining. Pictures were just not the same from inside, but it was something we just had to do once while in Norway.

 

If you’ve ever been in Tracy Arm in Alaska, the Lysefjord is similar with fewer waterfalls and lots of granite cliffs. What Tracy Arm doesn’t have are the salmon farms, the summer houses and the quaint villages along the shoreline. On a clear day it would have been spectacular. On a rainy day, I think a day in Stavanger itself might be a bit more rewarding. So my recommendation is to wait until you dock and see the weather. If the weather is good, get in line early to cruise the Lysefjord. If the weather is bad, hit the Maritime, Oil and/or fishing museums. The old town center is quite compact, with a lot of shops and restaurants. From Burger King to McDonald’s to 7/11 to Starbucks, all the major American Brands are here. Free wi-fi is everywhere, just follow the crew.

 

There are many options and tours off the Stavanger dock, including taxi tours. There are many restaurants in the area as well. After we got back, we did lunch at one of the TripAdvisor favorites along the waterfront – Sj0huset Skagen. Highly recommended for the food and the interior décor.

 

There are many stores in the area, including 7/11 and a COOP for any required stuff you might have forgotten.

June 21, 2016 – Flam

 

Everything is very close to the ship, lots of different things to do, fantastic scenery, pubs, restaurants, and all just a stone’s throw from the ship. With only us and an AIDA ship tendering in, the port was not too crowded with cruisers in the morning, but rapidly filled up with regular tourists during the day as the early morning excursion people came back to port.

 

Our weather was almost perfect. Blue sky would have been better, but we’d settle for no rain in a heartbeat. Started out a little misty, but about 0900 it started to clear with patches of blue sky and some spots of sunshine. By the time we got on the train it was overcast going up the mountain, but it was high clouds, and only rained at the top with minimal loss of visibility. Still pretty spectacular.

 

Things to do in Flam:

Self-guided hikes – from just a few klicks to several klicks and coordinating with the train to get further afield. The self guided hikes are laid out on a placard on the side of the old yellow train station just to the left of the tracks. There are about 9 local walks/hikes ranging from 2 to 7km. A map is shown on the wall with the waypoints from the guide placard shown. A paper map is available in the ticket office. Another placard had extended hikes in the area that use train or buses or cruises as jumping off or return points.

 

The ticket counters inside the office are more than just train ticket counters. They will ticket a host of activities from cruises to bus trips. It’s more a tourist office ticket than just a train ticket booth. Kayaking just over the river from the ship dock. Fjord cruises of all types, varieties and durations.

 

Lots of souvenir shopping, a free train museum, really-really good free wifi, and of course the Flambana train to Myrdal. Had I known of all the walking/hiking stuff we would have hiked to the big waterfall close by – 1-2 kms away – in the morning. Old Flam is about 1.5km up the river complete with a church, cemetery, old style buildings and a great view of a couple of waterfalls. The walk to old Flam is almost on level ground, paved and gravel roads and paths. (Mobility impaired should plan on staying in the cruise area on solid pavement. Outside the area is cobblestone and gravel.)

 

There is a COOP market in the port area with a lot of ‘stuff’ you might need. Grocery items, hygiene products, water, soft drinks, meats and cheeses, crackers and biscuits. And very close to the ship, so you don’t have to carry stuff very far. There are several souvenir shops, but the big one by the ticket office has a massive selection of just about everything. From trinkets to jewelry, ball caps to mink fur hats, t-shirts to fox fur jackets and tanned caribou hides, letter openers to some really wicked looked hand crafted knives.

 

We chose the train for the primary excursion. I purchased the tickets a few months ago on the Norwegian railway site after the local train website showed all sold out. We picked up the tickets in the ticket office by showing our e-mail receipt to the clerk and got two roundtrip tickets.

 

We did have to go up and then come back on the same train – 1105 to Myrdal, 12:13 return. No time to explore the area or hike around. The train trip was very nice. About an hour. Get in line for the train early (30 minutes prior to departure) and grab a right hand seat on the way up. Far more to see off the right hand side – with an openable window if possible to allow for much better photos. On the way back, stay on that side, just switch seats to face forward – the train goes ‘backwards’ down the mountain. The bigger waterfalls are incredible. The train only stops for one – the one you see in all the You Tube videos with the female mountain ‘spirits’ trying to lure men to their doom in the mountains.

 

We did speak to several people on the Princess equivalent tours. They were not happy with the crowded train cars reserved for the tour groups – the public cars were not that crowded when we went up – nor were they that crowded on the other trains we observed. However, by the time we picked up our actual tickets, about 0830 in the morning, all applicable trains were sold out. A couple of friends of ours got on the 0730 train by getting off the ship right away and hotfooting it to the railway station to purchase tickets.

 

Now in all honesty, there is not a lot to do in Myrdal. The stop before is a hotel and pub that serves the Princess tour groups, but does have other things to see in the area. Since we had roundtrip tickets, we didn’t get a chance to check it out.

 

June 22, 2016 Olden

 

The fjords are much like those in Alaska and in South America, but the main difference is the signs of human habitation. Ranging from perfectly normal looking houses perched on the side of huge cliffs with severely sloped meadows – to small cabins and cottages, some without electricity even – to simple rock retaining walls and fences in the middle of nowhere with nothing around them. The signs are everywhere. And then right in the middle of a seemingly impassable area, a road pops out of one tunnel and disappears into another, or a power line cuts across a tributary river complete with aircraft warning balls attached. Then you turn a corner and a perfectly quaint picturesque village with farmhouses, a steeple, several piers comes into view.

 

Olden is a very small port. Need I say ‘tiny’. But as in Flam, a lot of things to do. Private busses take people to the glacier, as well as open top Hop On Hop Off type busses, cruises on some nearby lakes. There are a few things via walking distance. A couple of churches, a COOP market, a few monuments, but not much else. The star attractions are the lakes and the glaciers. The local pubs and restaurants were way too crowded and busy for even a pint on shore. And the souvenir shops were packed wall to wall.

 

Definitely a port to pre-arrange something on. Either as a group or by individual the sites are too far from where the ship docks to walk to. There was a number of taxis at the port, but when we returned, they were all gone. Public transportation was available and pretty reliable from what I heard, but must be researched – which we did not do as we planned to do the Glacier Hike via Princess.

 

Anyone can walk to the glacier once you get to the visitor’s center about 20 miles from the port. The glacier is a long walk from the parking lot – about 2.5 miles according to my fitbit and the equivalent of 50+ stair cases. This is a very popular destination. Loads of busses and people on the trail and in the shops.

 

But Norwegian glaciers look about the same as Alaska glaciers. This was a hanging glacier over a small moraine lake/pond. The hike up included several gorgeous waterfalls close enough to touch and a magnificent view of the glacier from below. Highly recommended from both a fitness and a site seeing point of view. However, it is not for the mobility impaired. Even hiring one of the ‘troll cars’ leaves you with a very strenuous ½ mile hike over gravel paths up and down steep slopes – and the lake shore is coarse sand and gravel. Something canes, crutches or walkers will not be able to handle.

 

23 June 2016 – Trondheim

 

Trondheim is a great DIY port for walking. A little bit more of a walk from the ship compared to Flam, but lots to see and do (for free!) within a reasonable walking distance. The first thing was when we got off the ship we were handed an extremely useful walking tour map of the downtown area from the local tourist information office. One of the best we’ve ever had – and the streets are prominently named both on the map and on the walls of the buildings – so it was very easy to follow, easy to pocket, easy to unfold. Didn’t even have to resort to Google Maps once. And the path had a really nice pedestrian bridge that spanned over the highway and train tracks to take you into the downtown area without having to dodge traffic or trains.

 

Very easy to find the chapel and then the market in the center of town with the statue of one of the kings in the Torget and its use as a sundial as well. From there the Nidarosdomen (the cathedral) is right up the road, but apparently because the king and queen of Norway were to be in the cathedral, the ques were horrendous, so we opted for a stroll along the walking paths of the Nidelva river above the Gamle bridge. (The gardens and walking paths around the cathedral were closed off.)

 

Across the river is the Kristiansten fortress. A classic gunpowder era thick walled star shaped fortress from the age of cannon and sail. Really good views from the top. Its also surrounded by a really nice park with walking paths, flower gardens, trees and great views of the city.

 

June 25, 2016 – Honnisvag

 

Weather put a damper on this port. Wind and fog at North Cape. Cold wind below the fog. We were in port until 2030 at night, so this is an excellent port to do multiple private excursions at, or rent a car, or use public transportation. We chose a Princess excursion to the North Cape, but only got 20 minutes of weather in which to take photos of the grounds, cliffs and monuments. Then the fog closed in and we could see only about 100 feet.

 

This was also the coldest excursion because of the wind. Allocate no more than 2 hours for the North Cape. There are lots of villages and interesting side paths on the way up to North Cape and back down. Some people did a private king crab excursion on an RIB and actually ended up below North Cape looking up at people on the top. They really enjoyed it. There were a few taxis. Very few.

 

There are very few restaurants in Honnisvag itself. The King Crab House we tried and highly recommend for some really fresh king crab. There were only a few others in town. There is a small COOP in town as well.

 

For those of you coming up later this year or next, I would highly recommend you get into a private tour or possibly a car hire with other people, or a shared taxi tour. Two hours at North Cape is all you really need. But there are a lot of other sites around the island that are worth seeing as well. The little fishing villages, the Sami villages, the herds of reindeer. The Princess bus trip was just not appropriate to see these types of sites and there were several times I wish we could have stopped to look at a lake, or a particular rock formation or a village or tidal pool.

 

June 26, 2016 – Tromso

 

There is a LOT to see and do in Tromso. The Emerald docked at the cruise port about 2 miles from the docks near the bridge. One of those Holland America ‘dam’ ships were in the downtown cruise terminal. A shuttle ride was essential, although taxi’s were available at both the port and the downtown area. The shuttle drop off was at the Radisson Blu hotel. From there everything was in every direction. The local tourist information offices provided very nice maps of the area, and the outlying areas like the arctic cathedral and the cable cars.

 

 

There are several museums in the downtown area. The Polaria, which we went to, is highly recommended. The Arctic Chapel is a bit of a walk over the bridge but very nice as well. Just past the arctic chapel is the cable car to the top of the mountain. At least one group hiked up the hill and came down on the cable car. Just walking along the port area was very interesting with several ships being overhauled in dry-dock and all types of ships in the harbor.

 

There were a limited number of local tour vendors at the dock and at the downtown drop off area. Taxis were abundant. There was a little tourist train around the downtown area as well. Public transportation (busses) were everywhere and easily accessible.

 

Restaurants were also everywhere in the downtown area, as well as COOP stores, 7/11’s and their Norwegian equivalent. Most of the American brand fast food chains were there, as well as many, many local restaurants.

 

June 27, 2016 – Gravdal (Lofoten)

 

Beautiful day. 28C outside. Blue sky. Light breeze. Beautiful green hills – almost the color of Irish hills – the kind and amount of green against blue sky and dark blue water that makes for a tourist brochure photo day. The peaks are jagged here. Apparently the glaciers did not bulldoze them all down, so you have hundreds of feet sheer cliffs and large boulders that were broken off the sharp peaks.

 

This port is a DIY with a rental car for sure. Avis even allowed pick up and drop off at the tender dock. Several other groups had rented cars and were thrilled with their day. There really is nothing close or walkable from the port except for rocks, some beach, sand and grass. The ‘town’ is over 2 miles away and there just isn’t anything to see. They did offer a free shuttle to the town from the tender dock.

 

We did a Princess excursion that was a half a day (Nysfjord – a fishing village and the Lofoten Viking museum), and were disappointed. A rental car is the way to go at this port for sure. If you are not comfortable with printed maps, bring a GPS system as our cell phones were not digitally connected at all stops or times. The roads are very simple, but cell coverage is spotty.

 

The main reason for a rental car is that you will probably want to stop every half mile and take pictures. This is one of the more picturesque spots for nature photos of the whole trip.

 

June 29, 2016 – Alesund

 

Weather was near perfect. It did cloud up in the late afternoon, but was actually quite warm by midday. Judy’s sweatshirt came off for the later bus rides. I should have worn a short sleeve shirt actually.

 

There is a major public bus station right on the dock. (BTW, we docked on the south side of the city, not the north side as indicated in the port guide they gave us in the patter. I don’t think a cruise ship can dock on the north side.) One of the larger AIDA ships were in port with us. Our choices were public bus, Hop On Hop Off, Tourist Train and Taxis.

 

All the public bus signs were in Norwegian and I’d not studied the system beforehand. However, I saw several cruise passengers using the public busses and they did go everywhere we wanted to go, and more frequently. And they were nice looking busses as well, with large windows. The Tourist Train did not go to the aquarium, taxis were too expensive, so we opted for the Hop On Hop Off red bus. The aquarium was also the last stop on the HOHO bus tour, so the HOHO was a perfect choice. Absolutely fantastic views from the top of Aksla. (Amazing the tight spots they can get those busses into.) Had we an extra hour I would have hiked to the top via the stairs. The HOHO was running 3 busses, 30 minutes between busses at each stop, and the round trip was 1 hour and 20 minutes.

 

The Tripadvisor reviews on the aquarium are spot on. Small, but a great visit. Plan at least 2 hours unless you want to catch the feeding times, then plan at least 3 hours. Follow the suggested walking path along the smaller tanks which then end up at the huge tank – which will take your breath away. Then outside to the seals and penguins in the outdoor tanks. This was a WOW place to visit. Very well done and a must do. BTW – there is no taxi stand or que at the aquarium, or at least there wasn’t when we left around noon. So while you might get to the aquarium via taxi, arrange for pickup later.

 

The Viking museum (Stiftelsen Sunmore) was more like a living museum on the east side of town. Only the HOHO, public busses and taxis get you there. (No taxi stand or que either.) The museum was interesting in that it had a collection of recreated buildings from various historical periods. The various Viking boats in the water and in the various warehouses were pretty fascinating as well. Unless you are really into this and want to go into all the houses and see all of them, plan on about 2 hours here. There was an additional ‘excursion’ on a Viking sailing reproduction ship that we opted out of.

 

June 30, 2016 – Bergen

 

Rainy, cloudy, chilly to start. It was a shame that we were only able to stay about half a day. We docked in the southernmost container port area as the Aurora was up in the dock area near the fortress. Getting out required a short shuttle bus trip out of the container area to the southernmost cruise drop off area on the Bergen tourist guide map. A really good map. And all you had to do was follow the white arrows and white dots on the sidewalk to the main pedestrian shopping area.

 

From there the old piers and fish market are just a few blocks north, the Hanseatic wharf area (The Bryggan) a few blocks around the inlet from there and the fortress just a few hundred yards past that. Very, very walkable. Not a lot of tourists to start the day as it was raining when we docked and exited the ship. The rain and low clouds killed any plans we had of trying to do the funicular.

 

The Bryggan was very interesting with the warped and leaning buildings. Interesting to walk through the narrow alleys and wonder whether or not the wood on the wall was original or reproduced or repurposed from an older building somewhere else. Some of it was obviously modern, like pressure treated timbers hand axed to look older, but some of the support beams were definitely hand worked and much older. So they were either repurposed or original in some way.

 

The Bryggan has a main public bus junction right in front of it. Lots of local busses and they looked in really good condition, with large windows. I played around with one of the ticket machines. It appeared that a daily travel pass was 36 Kroner for an adult. If we would have had more time, and had done my homework a bit more, we would have hopped on a public bus for a while. Like Alesund, the busses were pretty frequent.

 

The fortress gardens and outer areas are open and free to walk through early in the morning. Roses bushes in bloom, trees freshly washed in the rain. A free and accessible WC is also there. Great views of the upper cruise pier area from the ramparts, old foundations.

 

Bergen is very doable DIY, and very walkable. There is more than enough in the downtown walkable area to see and do on your own. We did not get a chance to try the funicular though.

 

The detailed travelog from this cruise, along with Shogun’s thoughts are at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2368598

[caribill]

Thanks for the report.

[Ron the Rev]

Thanks ccrain. Liked your title " QUICK REPORT" I'd say it's more of a guide book.Very informative. We are booked on the same cruise for 2017 on the Crown so thanks again for all the tips.:)

[Shogun]

Hi ccrain

 

It was very nice to have cruised with you, will return to this part of the world again, may be on a smaller ship, would not do this cruise on a Royal class ship

Grand class has so many great places for viewing,

 

In Honnisvag, we went King crab fishing I would do this trip again but try and book direct, they taste great never going to get fresher, we also heard from others on the ship who went to local restaurants to be told sold out of crab, appears they do not bring in extra crabs when ships in port,weather for us was fine,

 

In Tromso we went to Huskie camp a must for dog lovers, 300 dogs, and puppies, the Polar museum has much info but is all about killing, whales, seals polar bears, etc might up set some,

 

yours Shogun