Norwegian Fjords

[gnome12]

6 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

Thank you for your comments and I appreciate them.

 

I saw a lot of discussion regarding the upcoming sail lin limit. But I think smaller tour boats still can ferry passengers from Hellesylt? The same as Naroyfjord from Flam?

The Næroyfjord cruise is already all-electric and zero-emissions. But after 2025 you won’t be able to get to Flåm on a regular cruise in order to take it. 

 

And I believe it is still unclear whether regular cruise boats will be able to access Hellesylt either. 

[GottaKnowWhen]

I was able to visit this region of Norway in mid-July this year aboard Windstar Star Pride. A link to my photos from the trip will show up, eventually, in my Signature below. Once I finish my editing and post-processing. Meanwhile, this morning I was looking at this shot taken early afternoon as we began the departure from Geiranger. Just a reminder that the timing and the weather does not have to be perfect: the views passing through the fjords are just awe inspiring.

Stan 

[GottaKnowWhen]

36 minutes ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

I was able to visit this region of Norway in mid-July this year aboard Windstar Star Pride. A link to my photos from the trip will show up, eventually, in my Signature below. Once I finish my editing and post-processing. Meanwhile, this morning I was looking at this shot taken early afternoon as we began the departure from Geiranger. Just a reminder that the timing and the weather does not have to be perfect: the views passing through the fjords are just awe inspiring.

Stan 

Minor edit: Star Legend, not the Star Pride! Identical ships, easily confused, and most of our past and scheduled Windstar Cruises have been/will be aboard the Pride.

[SusieMN]

Nordfjordeid Excursion Advice:

 

My May, 2025 Celebrity cruise offers a tour to Westcape and Selja from the Nordfjordeid port. Does anyone have any experience with a similar excursion?

Loen skylift is also offered and is the same duration (5 hours). If the weather is cloudy, I think this one wouldn't be very interesting. 

 

 

[GottaKnowWhen]

3 minutes ago, SusieMN said:

Nordfjordeid Excursion Advice:

 

My May, 2025 Celebrity cruise offers a tour to Westcape and Selja from the Nordfjordeid port. Does anyone have any experience with a similar excursion?

Loen skylift is also offered and is the same duration (5 hours). If the weather is cloudy, I think this one wouldn't be very interesting. 

 

 

One more photo, and I'll go back to my editing... When we went up the skylift, some clouds in the sky. While we were atop, a mist came in. And then thickened, and then thinned, then went away. A constantly changing view, no guarantees...

 

[JohnAlleb77]

On 8/20/2024 at 4:20 PM, SusieMN said:

Nordfjordeid Excursion Advice:

 

My May, 2025 Celebrity cruise offers a tour to Westcape and Selja from the Nordfjordeid port. Does anyone have any experience with a similar excursion?

Loen skylift is also offered and is the same duration (5 hours). If the weather is cloudy, I think this one wouldn't be very interesting. 

 

 

 

I live "in the area"... I highly recommend the excursion to Selja monestary.. West Cape is also nice, but the view from there are a bit weather dependant. 

 

Loen Skylift are also a very nice trip, but not much to see if clouds and foggy... 

[tc-cruise]

On 8/19/2024 at 7:49 AM, gnome12 said:

when we went to Flydalsjuvet there was very little visibility. At the top of Mount Dalsnibba there was absolutely none. F

Did you take the panorama bus tour? Give the small size (45 pax) I guess it needs to be booked way ahead. However if it's non refundable, It would be a gamble on the weather conditions. Did I get it right? Or does that mean 45 pax per bus and there could be multiple buses?

[gnome12]

5 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

Did you take the panorama bus tour? Give the small size (45 pax) I guess it needs to be booked way ahead. However if it's non refundable, It would be a gamble on the weather conditions. Did I get it right? Or does that mean 45 pax per bus and there could be multiple buses?

I was on a Silversea included excursion so it wasn't an issue for me. I don't know what the panorama bus tour does, or how many buses they might have available.

[tc-cruise]

On 8/18/2024 at 12:03 AM, hallasm said:

May is fine for a Norwegian fjord Cruise

 

I am debating May 11th vs May 18th departure due to lower airfare compared to June departure. Does one week make any difference? I saw someone in the topic mentioned he missed the opening date by 3 days and it was May 20th. Also southern Norway roads open up at May 10 and Northern open up at May 20th? I know every year is different but want to have a rough idea.

[hallasm]

7 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

I am debating May 11th vs May 18th departure

The two times in May make no or very little difference.
The only problem in May may be that the roads to viewpoints in Geiranger are still closed by snow. Bicycle rental in Myrdal in connection with the Flåm train will open in June 1st.
May is low season so museums may be closed. Weather-wise, May is fine.
Without knowing the route, the question cannot be adequately answered.

[tc-cruise]

6 minutes ago, hallasm said:

The two times in May make no or very little difference.
The only problem in May may be that the roads to viewpoints in Geiranger are still closed by snow. Bicycle rental in Myrdal in connection with the Flåm train will open in June 1st.
May is low season so museums may be closed. Weather-wise, May is fine.
Without knowing the route, the question cannot be adequately answered.

That's exactly my concern. If the viewpoints are not accessible, I won't call the weather is fine.  

 

The itineraries are all the same except some call for Alesund instead of Molde. 

 

Day 1	Sunday, 11 May 2025	Port:Copenhagen, Denmark	Arrival: -	Departure: 18:00
Day 2	Monday, 12 May 2025	Port:At sea	Arrival: -	Departure: -
Day 3	Tuesday, 13 May 2025	Port:Hellesylt, Norway	Arrival: 09:00	Departure: 09:45
Day 3	Tuesday, 13 May 2025	Port:Geiranger, Norway	Arrival: 12:00	Departure: 21:00
Day 4	Wednesday, 14 May 2025	Port:Molde, Norway	Arrival: 07:00	Departure: 15:00
Day 5	Thursday, 15 May 2025	Port:Flaam, Norway	Arrival: 08:00	Departure: 18:00
Day 6	Friday, 16 May 2025	Port:At sea	Arrival: -	Departure: -
Day 7	Saturday, 17 May 2025	Port:Kiel, Germany	Arrival: 09:00	Departure: 19:00
Day 8	Sunday, 18 May 2025	Port:Copenhagen, Denmark	Arrival: 08:00	Departure:

 

[tc-cruise]

I found Geiranger Skywalk - Dalsnibba from facebook that they only opened from June 14th but closed again on July 4th and 5th. 

 

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, tc-cruise said:

That's exactly my concern. If the viewpoints are not accessible, I won't call the weather is fine. 

Mountain roads in Norway are closed by snow all winter - it has nothing to do with the current weather in May. It can be really nice weather in May.

[hallasm]

Regarding the zero emissions zones in the Norwegian Heritage areas from 2026 (Geiranger and Flåm) it has long been discussed whether a transition period should be introduced to cater for the tourism industry in Flåm and Geiranger - I do not know the final proposal for the transition period until 2032 for the large cruis  ships, but there will certainly be restrictions with regard to emissions, including quality and type of fuel, how old ships must be and access to Lindstrøm when the ship is in port.

[hallasm]

15 hours ago, hallasm said:

how old ships must be and access to Lindstrøm when the ship is in port.

Spell checker problem 

“how old ships must be and access to shore power when the ship is in port.

[milolii]

On 8/22/2024 at 11:40 PM, tc-cruise said:

I found Geiranger Skywalk - Dalsnibba from facebook that they only opened from June 14th but closed again on July 4th and 5th. 

 

We visited on May 28, 2024.  It was open.  Roads and views were clear. This was  mid afternoon.  Some fog on drive up and back down.   Snow on ground.  Also visited the museum. We didn’t get off at Hellesylt(ships excursions only that meet the ship at Geiranger) as we did think there was a possibility the road might not be closed, and wanted to watch the sail in from an upper deck. 

 

Pre cruise we took the Norway in a Nutshell (Oslo to Bergen) May 19.  Snow on the ground and wind blowing snow (from the ground) on the way up to Myrdal. Boarded the Flam railroad there.  View cleared as we headed down. Add this to your trip if you can.
 

Oslo was hot!  Arrived on the 17th of May, their national holiday. Now that was something to see. LOL.

 

Doesn’t mean it will be clear and beautiful weather when you go, though. 
 

[tc-cruise]

4 hours ago, milolii said:

We visited on May 28, 2024.  It was open.  Roads and views were clear. This was  mid afternoon.  Some fog on drive up and back down.   Snow on ground.  Also visited the museum. We didn’t get off at Hellesylt(ships excursions only that meet the ship at Geiranger) as we did think there was a possibility the road might not be closed, and wanted to watch the sail in from an upper deck. 

 

Pre cruise we took the Norway in a Nutshell (Oslo to Bergen) May 19.  Snow on the ground and wind blowing snow (from the ground) on the way up to Myrdal. Boarded the Flam railroad there.  View cleared as we headed down. Add this to your trip if you can.
 

Oslo was hot!  Arrived on the 17th of May, their national holiday. Now that was something to see. LOL.

 

Doesn’t mean it will be clear and beautiful weather when you go, though. 
 

 

Thank you for sharing.

[bebe08]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2024/08/28/norway-allows-cruise-ships-in-world-heritage-fjords-until-2032/

 

Looks like the ban has been pushed out. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, bebe08 said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2024/08/28/norway-allows-cruise-ships-in-world-heritage-fjords-until-2032/

 

Looks like the ban has been pushed out. 

I have already started a thread with this information, and in fact the same link.

[hallasm]

2 hours ago, bebe08 said:

Looks like the ban has been pushed out. 

See my post #664

[Blue Eyes]

We are a group of 6 who are researching a private tour to the Briksdal Glacier from the port of Nordfjord on Monday, May 12, 2025.  We are in port from 1:30–7:30 pm. We think a smaller group would give us more flexibility to maximize our time. Have any of you done this that can share any advice, tour groups etc.  We realize the travel time to and from is about 3 hours.  We plan to rent the troll cars for the final ascent to the glacier.  Thanks …

[hallasm]

11 hours ago, Blue Eyes said:

We are a group of 6 who are researching a private tour to the Briksdal Glacier from the port of Nordfjord

I assume you mean the port of Nordfjordeid. An excursion to Briksdal takes 5 to 6 hours - time is a bit tight - I actually think it is just as safe to take an excursion with a provider - times for excursions are adjusted to cruise arrivals.

A good alternative to Briksdal is the Loen Skylift.

[gonecroozin]

Thank you to all who have contributed to this thread. The information you have provided is so valuable and very insightful.

 

I am going to book a cruise to Norwegian Fjords and Arctic Circle on Celebrity Apex next year.

I have 2 dates in mind.

 

July 5th to 17th 2024

Haugesund -  Flam - Olden - Tromso - Honningsvag - Molde - Stavanger

 

August 7th to 21st August 2024

Stavanger - Olden - Molde - Trondheim - Honningsvag - Tromso - Geiranger - Flam

 

Both are quite similar. The bonus of the August cruise is it includes Geiranger.

However , from what I have read online , it will be too late to experience the Midnight Sun and it is in school holiday period so may have a lot of children on board.

 

Could you please share your opinions as to which cruise you would pick. 
 

Thank you.

 

[hallasm]

7 hours ago, gonecroozin said:

Could you please share your opinions as to which cruise you would pick. 

One of the highlights of an Arctic Circle cruise is, in my opinion, the Midnight Sun - therefore August is too late. 

[gnome12]

3 hours ago, hallasm said:

One of the highlights of an Arctic Circle cruise is, in my opinion, the Midnight Sun - therefore August is too late. 

On the other hand, if you aren't going to be up at midnight anyway (and I admit that I have a lovely picture of the midnight sun taken at exactly midnight on my recent cruise) the second option includes all 3 of the best fjords.