Norwegian Fjords cruise

[chrismakris]

Hello all. 
 

I feel kinda weird asking this question with everything that’s going on. 
 

With Celebrity announcing their European schedule I was browsing a couple of Norwegian fjords cruises. The ones that caught my eye were in late May and mid July. 
 

My question is what month would be better to visit. 
 

Thanks for your time and keep safe. 

[Gist Ducky]

I’m interested too.  I am already booked on the July cruise.

[Torfamm]

I would prefer July, the weather should be better

[JeanieC,Aston]

I don’t think people do the Norway fiords for the weather,,it’s the scenery.

In late May the Spring flowers are still out and the waterfalls are still in near full flow with water from the melting ice caps.

 

 

[dani negreanu]

July. We've done mid-July and it was still rainy and cold.. And it's a cruise where you'd want to be outside, and on the balcony too while cruising through the fjords.

 

Geiranger is a must.

Edited December 17, 2020 by dani negreanu

[mrpie90]

We went end of May.

Surprised still light at 01.00 AM

Weather was great.

Flamm is a must.

especially the railway.

[RickT]

We’ve done the Fjords and it ranks in our top 5, the scenery is spectacular and the city’s you visit are memorable.  If you’re looking for sun and warm weather you stand a better chance in July.  As Jeanie mentioned there would also be benefits to a May cruise including spring flowers and more impressive waterfalls.  
 

I plan to do the Fjords again and wouldn’t hesitate to go in whichever month worked best within my schedule.

[naturelovergirl]

Some thing to consider with Norway- if you are at a port where you plan to do the Trollstigen or some of the other famous National Tourist Routes... those roads will need to be open from the snow. 
So just do some research of when each of the routes tend to open. It just depends on the year and weather.

(I had a friend who went on a fjords cruise in May and had this issue- many national scenic route roads were not open yet which affected excursions)

[TeeRick]

We have one booked August 2021 (Norway, 9 nights on Silhouette).  Hoping that one goes!  But they do not offer the same cruise in 2022 except earlier in the year.  And fewer nights.  I guess if we have to change I would do mid-summer to get the warmest weather and most daylight.

[phoenix_dream]

We went in September last year.  Was a bit cold, and we had rain one day but overall we had a wonderful time.   I would not hesitate to go whatever date.

[WonderMan3]

I was actually wondering about weather for the fjords in mid to late June and also for British Isles/Iceland. Do you think outdoor pool, sundeck and balcony time are going to be limited at the time of year?

[Roxydog15]

First of all, with Norway, there's no guarantee of great weather for a week. LOL. But we went on the 5/31/19 sailing. London was actually pretty warm, an only rained at Stonehenge, naturally.  We did get rain in Bergen and on the mtn hike shorex, and on the Brigsdal (sp?) glacier hike, but that was it really and so just chalked it up to everyone looks like a drowned rat, just forget the makeup and bring a waterproof poncho set up, possibly waterproof hiking shoes.  All other days were wonderful, even kind of hot as I overdressed expecting freezing temps.  It has snowed there the week before so we had outstanding views and pictures.  Real classics and some time allowed those roads to clear.  The waterfalls were pretty strong.  Just gorgeous.  I check weatherdotcom and look up cities by month to get a general feel of potential weather. If 50s and potential rain is an issue for you, then maybe choose the 60s and rain. :)  Either way is an awsome trip.  Stavanger's petroleum museum is terrific and can easily be done on your own, way cheaper and more flexible than as a shorex.  Have great time.

[Roxydog15]

Oh, and only the hardiest used the hot tubs.  It could get pretty cold on the balcony as you might go out there before a shorex which could be very early in the day, or in the evening.  But still was nice to get out there in your pj's to enjoy the sailing into the fjords, which very early was a mix of rocky beaches to increasingly more dramatic hills, etc.  We sailed with RCCLin their junior suite which was a great deal.  Not so lucky on C.  Oh well.  Still prefer C though. Enjoy!

[4774Papa]

13 hours ago, chrismakris said:

Hello all. 
 

I feel kinda weird asking this question with everything that’s going on. 
 

With Celebrity announcing their European schedule I was browsing a couple of Norwegian fjords cruises. The ones that caught my eye were in late May and mid July. 
 

My question is what month would be better to visit. 
 

Thanks for your time and keep safe. 

We did a wonderful Royal Caribbean Norway cruise in June 2019.  Celebrity didn't have one that went all the way to the North Cape, but Royal and NCL did.  We went with Royal and it was fantastic.

 

Here is my detailed review of our cruise:

Stockholm and Norway Aritic Circle

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=659526&et_cid=3214772&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

[4774Papa]

4 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

Some thing to consider with Norway- if you are at a port where you plan to do the Trollstigen or some of the other famous National Tourist Routes... those roads will need to be open from the snow. 
So just do some research of when each of the routes tend to open. It just depends on the year and weather.

(I had a friend who went on a fjords cruise in May and had this issue- many national scenic route roads were not open yet which affected excursions)

Great comments, I did my research and discovered that some of the tours that we wanted to do like Path of the Trolls could be blocked by snow as late as early June.   I recommend mid to late June.

[Fouremco]

58 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

I was actually wondering about weather for the fjords in mid to late June and also for British Isles/Iceland. Do you think outdoor pool, sundeck and balcony time are going to be limited at the time of year?

Mid to late June would be ideal. Last year, we took HAL's Voyage of the Midnight Sun from June 9 to June 23. The return cruise out of Amsterdam took us from the south of Norway to the northernmost point at North Cape, inside the Arctic Circle. On most days, we needed a light sweater or jacket to start but could often revert to shirt sleeves as the day warmed. Of course, where you were made a difference. On an excursion from Skjolden, we were in the snow in Jotunheimen National Park. During a stop in the park at the well known 1434 MOH marker, we watched x-country skiers enjoying themselves. A bit later in the day, we were down to short sleeve shirts while visiting the stave church in Urnes.

 

As most of HAL's ships have sliding covers that can enclose the pool area, swimming isn't a problem. I don't imagine that it would be the same on a Celebrity cruise.

[TeaBag]

4 hours ago, TeeRick said:

We have one booked August 2021 (Norway, 9 nights on Silhouette).  Hoping that one goes!  But they do not offer the same cruise in 2022 except earlier in the year.  And fewer nights.  I guess if we have to change I would do mid-summer to get the warmest weather and most daylight.

As you know from the roll call, we are also on this cruise.  Please let it sail!  Have you noticed on the new itineraries that Flam is not included?

[JeanieC,Aston]

Bergen is the rainiest city in Europe,,the driest months in Norway are April and May.

 

A local joke...

A tourist steps off the train in Bergen where it’s raining heavily.
He sees a young boy standing under a shelter to protect himself from the rain.
The tourist walks over to the young boy and asks him:
“Tell me something, has it been raining like this for a long time?”
The young boy replies:
“Don’t ask me, I’m only 12 years old!”

[chemmo]

We cruised Eclipse in May and had fantastic weather! It really is the luck of the draw to some degree...We had sunshine every day, it was cool when you stood in the shade but so bright. We saw snow when we did the Flam railway which was also really nice.

 

Like Alaska, you need to pack layers for four seasons and then just enjoy....

 

 

[WonderMan3]

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Mid to late June would be ideal. Last year, we took HAL's Voyage of the Midnight Sun from June 9 to June 23. The return cruise out of Amsterdam took us from the south of Norway to the northernmost point at North Cape, inside the Arctic Circle. On most days, we needed a light sweater or jacket to start but could often revert to shirt sleeves as the day warmed. Of course, where you were made a difference. On an excursion from Skjolden, we were in the snow in Jotunheimen National Park. During a stop in the park at the well known 1434 MOH marker, we watched x-country skiers enjoying themselves. A bit later in the day, we were down to short sleeve shirts while visiting the stave church in Urnes.

 

As most of HAL's ships have sliding covers that can enclose the pool area, swimming isn't a problem. I don't imagine that it would be the same on a Celebrity cruise.

Celebrity ships have the solarium so swimming will be possible in any weather. But of course in poor weather then everybody will be going to the solarium and it will fill up. Did you have any opportunities for outdoor swimming during that cruise or enjoying time on your balcony or on a Sundeck or was it too cool?

[bluwes]

We are with Tee Rick  and Teabag on next August's Silhouette sailing. We moved across from last summers sailing so hopefully this one will go ahead. I was checking daily  the weather for the days we should have been there and they were pretty good. Being from the UK we would have been satisfied with those summer temperatures. Fingers crossed that if we do sail then the weather will be just as good.

[markeb]

18 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Celebrity ships have the solarium so swimming will be possible in any weather. But of course in poor weather then everybody will be going to the solarium and it will fill up. Did you have any opportunities for outdoor swimming during that cruise or enjoying time on your balcony or on a Sundeck or was it too cool?

 

We did the Baltics and Norway/Iceland on RC in mid to late summer both times. I don't remember spending much time in the pool on the Norway cruise, and we had some pretty choppy seas in the North Atlantic. The Baltic cruise was bizarre to magical; the cruise back across the North Sea looked like a small pond or lake, and the air temperature was in the 60s to 70s with sun, so we did spend time that day in the pool. I wouldn't count on pool time, though.

 

The veranda was generally comfortable during the day, so we did spend time out there. Not as much as a warm weather cruise, but we used it, and were glad we had it.

[Fouremco]

23 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Celebrity ships have the solarium so swimming will be possible in any weather. But of course in poor weather then everybody will be going to the solarium and it will fill up. Did you have any opportunities for outdoor swimming during that cruise or enjoying time on your balcony or on a Sundeck or was it too cool?

You're right, there is the solarium, but as it's so small I didn't think of it when talking about pools. Yes, we did swim a couple of times, as we've done on Alaskan cruises.

 

As for our balcony, we spent more time there than we normally would do on a Caribbean cruise. There is just so much to see, and having the first cabin on the angle of the hump gives such a terrific view that the only time we went on deck to view the scenery was when we knew that something of particular interest was coming up on the opposite side of the ship.

 

While we sometimes wore a sweater or light jacket, it was surprisingly comfortable on the balcony. We would often stay up to midnight or later in pj's and ship's robe. Due to our latitude during the more northern stretch of the cruise, we got to enjoy watching the sun that never quite set. This photo was shot at exactly midnight.

 

 

[cruzzzinma]

Norway is a wonderful place to cruise. We went in mid-May and had unusual fantastic weather. The only negative is that the waterfalls are still frozen and things at higher elevations are closed due to snow. I would go as late in the summer as possible.

[TeaBag]

24 minutes ago, cruzzzinma said:

Norway is a wonderful place to cruise. We went in mid-May and had unusual fantastic weather. The only negative is that the waterfalls are still frozen and things at higher elevations are closed due to snow. I would go as late in the summer as possible.

Thank you.  It looks like that is what some of us are doing.  As for the rain, we will be so happy to be on a cruise again, what's a little rain?  Remind me that I said this, someone when you hear me complaining about the rain!