Norwegian Fjords

[Anubi]

13 hours ago, hallasm said:

Not sure if Oceania is visiting the deep Norwegian fjords - have not looked ant all itineraries.

I just found this one.   

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/northern-fjords-cruises/london-to-oslo-VIS250615/?sr=%2Fcruise-finder%23marketing_region%3Dnorthernfjords%26time_frame%3D2025-6%26sort%3Dfeatured%3Adesc%26page%3D1%26pageSize%3D10

[hallasm]

18 minutes ago, Anubi said:

I just found this one.  

Thank you. Nice itinerary.

Since frogfish12 was looking for 2024 itinerary I did not look at 2025.

[Anubi]

29 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Thank you. Nice itinerary.

Since frogfish12 was looking for 2024 itinerary I did not look at 2025.

To be honest, I have my fingers crossed for 2025.  We were to have done Norway in May of this year but life got in the way, as it often does.  So we are rebooking.  

[hallasm]

7 hours ago, Anubi said:

To be honest, I have my fingers crossed for 2025.

2025 is likely to be the last chance for visit to Flåm and Geiranger.

[Anubi]

19 minutes ago, hallasm said:

2025 is likely to be the last chance for visit to Flåm and Geiranger.

That's why we moved it up from 2026.  I have read that cruising into Geiranger is an experience not to be missed.  

[travellingnana]

For those of you who have tendered in Geiranger...

How long was your tendering process?  Assuming we don't arrive early, we are scheduled to be there from 1PM-7PM.  I want to take the bus up to Mt Dalsnibba.  Bus choices are 2PM or 2:30PM.  Do you think I can make the 2PM bus?

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, travellingnana said:

For those of you who have tendered in Geiranger...

How long was your tendering process?  Assuming we don't arrive early, we are scheduled to be there from 1PM-7PM.  I want to take the bus up to Mt Dalsnibba.  Bus choices are 2PM or 2:30PM.  Do you think I can make the 2PM bus?

I can't really answer because we did not tender. NCL listed Geiranger as a tender port for the Prima, but we docked. There seems to be a temporary dock. So, are you sure you are tendering? Depending on what ship you are on, maybe you can ask for the experiences of those who sailed on that particular ship.

[Capt_BJ]

not a temporary dock but a floating one that gets pulled to the ship after it connects to some mooring buoys. This 'earth' shot shows it in the 'stowed' position. BTW the finger piers you see just below the folding one are where tenders come in .... iow you actually have a shorter walk when tendering!

 

Here's a shot from our visit in '18. We were on VIKING OCEAN and tendered ... we were further out then the while hull seen here but I don't remember the tender ride being more than 10 minutes or so.

 

 

I don't know how they decide who gets the walkway and who anchors. Our first visit it seemed the largest ship used the pier. We were on VIKING and anchored / tendered. Our visit this year on V SATURN 'we' had the pier and it actually slowed us down as SAT' expected to anchor but was given the pier and they had never done this b4 and were prepared to tender so had to regroup. There was one other ship there that day. 2023:

 

Side note: there's been a lot of discussion about PRIMA and port changes because it appears they simply will not tender .....

Edited October 10, 2023 by Capt_BJ

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, travellingnana said:

For those of you who have tendered in Geiranger..

The answer depends on where your ship is located as explained in previous post. If you post ship and date we might be able so se where ship is located. It can easily take 20 minutes if tendering. 

[travellingnana]

1 minute ago, hallasm said:

The answer depends on where your ship is located as explained in previous post. If you post ship and date we might be able so se where ship is located. It can easily take 20 minutes if tendering. 

I will be on Sky Princess, arriving June 19, 2024. We stop in Hellesylt from 9-11, then arrive in Geiranger at 1pm. The itinerary shows that we will tender in Geiranger. Many variables including possibly leaving Hellesylt early…but I want to assume we will arrive at 1. 
Thanks for your help. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Capt_BJ said:

not a temporary dock but a floating one that gets pulled to the ship after it connects to some mooring buoys. This 'earth' shot shows it in the 'stowed' position. BTW the finger piers you see just below the folding one are where tenders come in .... iow you actually have a shorter walk when tendering!

 

Here's a shot from our visit in '18. We were on VIKING OCEAN and tendered ... we were further out then the while hull seen here but I don't remember the tender ride being more than 10 minutes or so.

 

 

I don't know how they decide who gets the walkway and who anchors. Our first visit it seemed the largest ship used the pier. We were on VIKING and anchored / tendered. Our visit this year on V SATURN 'we' had the pier and it actually slowed us down as SAT' expected to anchor but was given the pier and they had never done this b4 and were prepared to tender so had to regroup. There was one other ship there that day. 2023:

 

Side note: there's been a lot of discussion about PRIMA and port changes because it appears they simply will not tender .....

OK, a floating dock, not a temporary dock. I was just commenting on it did not look like a permanent structure.

 

As for the Prima, Isafjordur was skipped every cruise for the London (Southampton) to Reykjavik (which we did) and every cruise with that itinerary in reverse. For our sailing, the Captain when questioned said there were too many passengers to have the ship tender there. I also remember a post from someone who did the cruise before us posted that the Captain said the ship's lifeboats were not certified for tendering.

 

 

[Capt_BJ]

a couple of nautical notes:

1- I use the term 'anchor' loosely as I've never seen a ship anchor in G'. They hook to fixed mooring buoys.

2- I've not seen more than 3 ships in G at any time - not that I've visited that often but I check routinely via tracking systems and am only aware of 3 moorings available.

3- the 3 moorings can actually be found via Google Earth (if you know what you are looking for) and all would keep a ship within 1 nautical mile of the tender piers. Here's a picture of the 3 'berths' occupied in 2018

 

taken from the 'observation point' noted here 

 

 

So clearly ships are no more than 1 nautical mile from the tender berth.

4- assuming a tender speed of 10 knots (1 nautical mile per hour) and a distance of 1 nautical mile ... travel time is? <sorry I was a ship navigator and later Captain> .... but this does NOT take into account delays waiting for the tender to fill and actually get underway .... only actual travel time ....

Edited October 10, 2023 by Capt_BJ

[hallasm]

On 10/10/2023 at 10:29 PM, travellingnana said:

I will be on Sky Princess, arriving June 19, 2024

Geiranger port information not yet available.

[travellingnana]

3 hours ago, hallasm said:

Geiranger port information not yet available.

Thank you for checking on this. I’m only agonizing over the 2pm vs 2:30pm excursion because we’re only in port until 7:00, and I’m assuming the last tender will be at 6:15. The excursions up to Mt Dalsnibba are 3.5 hrs long. The trip leaving at 2:30pm cuts it close on the return, but the one at 2pm means I have to get off the ship asap. 

[hallasm]

15 hours ago, travellingnana said:

I’m only agonizing over the 2pm vs 2:30pm excursion

 Yes, time is limited. It takes an hour to sail from Hellesylt to Geiranger so arrival can be early, but it takes time to establish tendering and there is a long way to sail. The bus trips to the viewpoints are usually on time but not fun to be late for the last tender.
 

Tendering in Geiranger.

 

 

[milolii]

Does anybody have a guess on when NorwayinaNutshell will release  May 2024 foreword schedules.  No information on the website or other social media pages.  TIA 

[NightOne]

16 minutes ago, milolii said:

Does anybody have a guess on when NorwayinaNutshell will release  May 2024 foreword schedules.  No information on the website or other social media pages.  TIA 

 

Fjord Tours:

 

They original told me July 2024 and when that didn't happen I wrote them back and they said by the "end of this year"

[milolii]

1 hour ago, NightOne said:

 

Fjord Tours:

 

They original told me July 2024 and when that didn't happen I wrote them back and they said by the "end of this year"

Thanks

Edited October 12, 2023 by milolii

[styme123]

I'm booked on RC for a July 2024 Norway Fjord cruise. I'm starting to think about booking my independent tours as I prefer those over the ships ones. I'm trying to figure out what times to book to be sure I'm off the ship in time to meet with the tours. None of the ports are supposed to be tendered but I have heard for example Geiranger can be difficult at times depending on if there are other ships in port and who uses the sea walk or tender. In Molde there could be 2 docks one in industrial area vs. one downtown. I don't want to wait on the ship longer than I need to but I also don't want the tours to leave without me.

Below are the arrival and departing times.  

 

GEIRANGER, 10:00 AM-7:00 PM
MOLDE, 7:00 AM-4:00 PM
HONNINGSVAG 8:00 AM-6:00 PM

TROMSO, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM
FLAM 8:00 AM-6:00 PM
ALESUND, 1:00 PM-8:00 PM
OLDEN, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM
BERGEN, 8:00 AM-6:00 PM

 

Thank you

[Anubi]

On 4/29/2021 at 12:07 PM, hallasm said:

An Alaska cruise cannot be compared with Baltic cruise - a Baltic cruise does include cultural cities like Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Riga - Might  have meant a Norwegian Fjords Cruise - the deep Norwegian fjords are impressive.
Many Baltic and Norwegian Fjord cruises originate from Copenhagen and are ideal for B2B.

Just be aware that not all Norwegian cruises does include the long fjords - look for itineraries like Geiranger, Flåm, and Olden - a Norwegian fjord Cruise should include at least one of these ports - preferable two in order to navigate the scenic fjords in my video in post #7.

 

Morning Hallasm, Just a quick question.  Are there any private tours that you would recommend that do the hike at Pulpit Rock.  We are in port for 11 hours, I understand that the hike takes 8 hours.  

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, Anubi said:

Are there any private tours that you would recommend that do the hike at Pulpit Rock.  We are in port for 11 hours, I understand that the hike takes 8 hours.  

Unfortunately, I don't have any updated information - I would suggest you make a separate post with this topic - more likely to get a useful response

[bleacher04]

Tour Info: HAL 14-day Voyage of the Midnight Sun, N. Statendam, May 2023

 

He all -- we sailed with HAL to Norway in May of this year, and I was looking for a place to post our tour information as an info source for others.  This thread looks as good as any.

 

Stavanger:  We hiked Pulpit Rock with a HAL excursion, because what I'd read said to allow 7.5 to 8 hours, and we were only in port for 9 hours.  In hindsight we probably could have done it independently.  But aside from the usual higher cost, it worked out fine.  There were three busloads of 50 people from our ship, plus several other tour buses, but the trail was not too crowded.  And each bus had a very good & experienced guide on board who climbed with the group (if you wanted to stay with the group, which you did not have to).
It's not a difficult hike, but it is strenuous at times; there were several people in our ship's group of 150 who should not have tried it IMO.  But if you are reasonably fit and can hike 2 km uphill and back down again in under 4 hours, it is absolutely worth it (and perhaps the highlight of our trip).

 

Flåm:  We were supposed to do the HAL "Flåm Railway and Downhill Hike to Blomheller" excursion, but when we boarded the ship we were told that that excursion was cancelled because there was still too much snow.  We could have recreated it on our own -- and one of our friends did just that -- but frankly we were not as keen on a 10-km downhill hike the day after hiking Pulpit Rock.  So we just wandered around the town and hiked up to a waterfall.

 

Ålesund:  We did a "Private Tour of Troll Road and Ålesund Highlights" with Calm Giant Tours.  Unfortunately, the Troll Road was still closed due to late snow-melt, but Iggy (the calm giant) was a fantastic tour guide and improvised.  He was really an interesting and entertaining guy and even without the Troll Road I would highly recommend this.

https://www.calmgianttour.com/

 

Trondheim:  We did a 3-hour City & Waterfront Tour with Trondheim For You.  Wanda was a terrific guide and everyone enjoyed this tour very much.  Trondheim is a delightful town and I would recommend Wanda very highly.  https://www.trondheimforyou.com/

 

Hammerfest:  A group of us hiked the Gammelveien "Old Trail" and had lunch at the Turistua Lodge up on top.

 

Honningsvåg:  The main reason you're here is to go to the North Cape, and we booked the Blue Puffin North Cape Sightseeing Tour, https://www.blue-puffin.com/en/

It was a good tour, you stop at other places along the way, and our guide (the owner) was excellent.

It was an unseasonably nice day in Honningsvåg so we went for a short hike when we returned, and then sat outside at a pub and a had a beer with the locals.

 

Geiranger:  Another Calm Giant Tour, "Geiranger Fjord Highlights".  Again, Iggy is a terrific guide, so I would highly recommend this one too.

Warning:  The bus traffic coming back down the switchback roads to the port at the end of the day was horrific, and I think one bus misjudged a turn and blocked the road for a while.  Our departure was delayed by at least an hour waiting for ship excursions to return.  This was May, and it's apparently even worse in the summer months.  Just plan accordingly...

 

Bergen:  We did a 2-hour Historical City Walk with Bergen Guideservice.  It was good, but not great, but maybe we were just tired -- when you're up above the Arctic Circle in the late spring / summer and the sun never even comes close to setting, you tend to stay up later, and we had not caught up on sleep!

 

Overall this was a fantastic cruise itinerary and we really enjoyed it.

Will answer questions if I can.

[Mikamarii]

Thanks for all the info here. We are booked on Jewel for Aug 2024. Had planned for 2025 but moved it up a year because of the pending changes. 

While in Flåm we want to take the train/zipline/bike tour. We're in port from 1030am to 8pm so looks lije we should have time if we book an ~1130-1230 train time. 

Its unclear on the website but does anyone know if 'steep hairpin turns' for the bike path are before or after the end of the zipline. I watched a video and looks like you go over that section of the bike path. Is the rest fairly straightforward and smooth?

 

Do they supply bike helmets? Website didnt say.

 

Can you bring a backpack/waterbottle with you? Long bike ride back with no fluids!

 

Thanks to this page we will also take the Loen Skylift while in Olden but will wait until in port to book that. 

 

[kaisatsu]

19 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

Its unclear on the website but does anyone know if 'steep hairpin turns' for the bike path are before or after the end of the zipline. I watched a video and looks like you go over that section of the bike path. Is the rest fairly straightforward and smooth?

The zipline ends after the steep section. The last section is mostly flat with a few gentle slopes, and more than half is on paved roads.

[bongju]

I would like to get opinions on the 12 May 2024 RCCL Anthem of the Seas itinerary. Our goal is to sail through deep water fjords, hike to scenic overlooks, and experience natural scenery. I’m a little worried about the weather this time of year.
 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises?search=departurePort:STH|destination:EUROP|startDate:2024-05-01~2024-05-31&itineraryPanel=AN07STH-2401304478&country=USA
 

Day 1 - Depart Southampton

Day 2 - Sea day

Day 3 - Bergen 12p to 7p

Day 4 - Olden 7a to 5p

Day 5 - Geiranger 9a to 4p

Day 6 - Haugesund 12p to 6p

Day 7 - Sea day

Day 8 - Arrive Southampton