Shore Excursions

[Bonnie Girl]

We have booked our first cruise to the Norwegian Fjords this year. I have been looking at the shore excursions, and as first timers, is it advisable to book them via P&O, despite the cost being more than booking independently? I’m a little worried about missing the ship if we book independently. Many thanks.

[AndyMichelle]

Many first time cruisers, us included, book through the cruise line for that very reason. 

We did the Fjords last year and had a fantastic time.

Some of the ports, it is easy to do your own thing, with hop on buses and road trains outside the terminal.

More experienced cruisers will always advise you book independently, but we were glad we did our first ones through P&O, but don't tend to bother now.

Have a fantastic time, the Fjords are amazing.

Andy

[woodley]

If its your first cruise  I would book through the ship.  Once you have a cruise under your belt you will feel much more confident to book independently.  

I usually mix it up, if overnighting in a port I always book independent tours as you have the cushion if something should hold you up.  If it is a short stay in port 5 hours or less I book through the ship.  If booking independently  I always leave at least an hour  cushion for example, if the ship is leaving the port at 5pm and all aboard is 4.30pm I would make sure that any tour I book independently is due to be back at the port by at least 3.30pm.  That also gives me some last minute shopping in the port area.

 

The roll calls are a great way of meeting (online) other people that are looking to do independent small group tours these work out to be less expensive and are usually much more fun than being herded around in a big group. 

 

We were on a independent shore excursion in Brazil and were on the top of Christ the Redeemer mount when the train down broke down.  We could not get down and the crowds were huge.  Our tour guide told us she would get us down one way or another.  The ship also had a lot of passengers on their tour (we knew because they were all wearing stickers)  while they were up there we felt confident that the ship would wait but when we started to see them get in small buses we realized we may have a problem.  Our tour guide called for a taxi and we had to walk a short way down till we could meet it.  We went straight back to the ship.  It was a very worrying time as we new we did not have the ships guarantee to get us back to the ship.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Thejuggler]

Easy to do the main city ports DIY.  Once you get into the fjords the choice of private excursions may not be as extensive as you get from P&O.

 

There are limited options in Olden and Gerainger.

[dronnygirl]

2 hours ago, Bonnie Girl said:

We have booked our first cruise to the Norwegian Fjords this year. I have been looking at the shore excursions, and as first timers, is it advisable to book them via P&O, despite the cost being more than booking independently? I’m a little worried about missing the ship if we book independently. Many thanks.

Which ports are you visiting? We may be able to assist more if we know the ports

[Bonnie Girl]

Thank you everyone. The ports we are visiting are Stavanger, Flaam (Railway), Olden  (Briksdal Glacier by troll car), Bergen.

[Thejuggler]

Stavanger and Bergen easy to DIY,  lots of info online on what to do.

 

Flaam, Norway in a Nutshell full day tour is excellent.

 

Olden we did the lake cruise and glacier, but its about 8 years ago and since then the glacier has receded so much I'm not sure its the trip it was.

[aliandy]

Flam is straightforward to book on line by yourself. We did and were on the same train as the ship's tour. We are not brave 'do it yourselfers' but this was easy.  The railway is only a walk to the ship. We were on Britannia on her first Fjords cruise.

[ollienbertsmum]

It is important to know that it is perfectly fine to wander around a town and not do any tour at all.  I am not going to any of the ports you mention until next year, so I cannot comment on them.

 

My strategy is to read up on the ports, keep visiting the "ports of call' board to see the country you are visiting (Greece for me this year, Norway for you).  Look at the sort of questions others are asking and the places they are visiting.  

 

Some ports require big planning, others can be just a stroll into town.   How you approach the planning can depend on your fitness level.  

 

I do recall one day walking into Ajaccio, Corsica.  We just walked off the ship.  We walked past a cruise tour of people listening to a guide.  Literally everyone looked so bored.  They may have been hearing all about the history of Ajaccio, but all they wanted to do was find a spot of shade.   I usually read up about the history of the country (ies) I am visiting before I get there.  

 

The moral is, you might want to, but don't feel that you have to do a tour.