measter1984 Posted August 24, 2022 #1 Share Posted August 24, 2022 We have just booked a fjord cruise on the Iona for June 2023 and noted that the ship will be docking at Hellesylt instead of Geiranger. From previous posts I believe this may be down to Iona being too big to dock at Geiranger. We are keen to get Geiranger but P&O don't appear to offer any excursions from Hellesylt apart from a kayak experience. Is anyone aware of any local companies or ferries which will get us to and from Geiranger? A Google search doesn't bring up much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillieJeanKaraokeKing Posted August 24, 2022 #2 Share Posted August 24, 2022 (edited) https://www.norwaysbest.com/things-to-do/fjords/fjord-cruise-geirangerfjord/ There's a link to the timetable on there - you'd probably have to catch the 9.30am outbound. Edited August 24, 2022 by BillieJeanKaraokeKing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just 47 Posted August 25, 2022 #3 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Be careful with the ferries as we watched a lot of passengers very late back from geiranger and were lucky the ship didn't leave them behind.My sister was going to catch the ferry but locals warned them the timings of the ferries were very hit and miss.In my opinion hellesylt is far prettier and the ship cruises down past geiranger anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare SarahHben Posted August 25, 2022 #4 Share Posted August 25, 2022 13 hours ago, measter1984 said: We have just booked a fjord cruise on the Iona for June 2023 and noted that the ship will be docking at Hellesylt instead of Geiranger. From previous posts I believe this may be down to Iona being too big to dock at Geiranger. We are keen to get Geiranger but P&O don't appear to offer any excursions from Hellesylt apart from a kayak experience. Is anyone aware of any local companies or ferries which will get us to and from Geiranger? A Google search doesn't bring up much! I think you might find that more P&O excursions are added nearer the time. When we went in May there was a good choice. We opted to get the ferry excursion to Geiranger and it was our favourite day of the cruise. There was also a trip to Mount Dalsnibba & I think one to the top or side of the seven sisters waterfall, plus others that I can’t remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkypete Posted August 25, 2022 #5 Share Posted August 25, 2022 3 hours ago, Just 47 said: Be careful with the ferries as we watched a lot of passengers very late back from geiranger and were lucky the ship didn't leave them behind.My sister was going to catch the ferry but locals warned them the timings of the ferries were very hit and miss.In my opinion hellesylt is far prettier and the ship cruises down past geiranger anyway. Apparently it does not go past Gerainger but only to the Seven Sisters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare SarahHben Posted August 25, 2022 #6 Share Posted August 25, 2022 4 minutes ago, Yorkypete said: Apparently it does not go past Gerainger but only to the Seven Sisters. Yes, that's right. When we were onboard in May, Iona cruised just past the Seven Sisters then turned round. You can't see Geiranger from that point as it's round a corner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpypaul Posted August 29, 2022 #7 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Hi there. Just got back from our fjord cruise. To confrim, once IONA leaves Hellysylt it cruises part of the the way down Geraingerfjord, passes the Seven sisters waterfall, does a 180 degree turn in the fjord, and then sails back up - it does not go all the way down Geraingerfjord. I would check out the excursions offered nearer the time, but the road links between Hellysylt and Gerainger are not great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkypete Posted August 29, 2022 #8 Share Posted August 29, 2022 2 hours ago, grumpypaul said: Hi there. Just got back from our fjord cruise. To confrim, once IONA leaves Hellysylt it cruises part of the the way down Geraingerfjord, passes the Seven sisters waterfall, does a 180 degree turn in the fjord, and then sails back up - it does not go all the way down Geraingerfjord. I would check out the excursions offered nearer the time, but the road links between Hellysylt and Gerainger are not great. To go from Hellysylt to Gerainger you need to use the ferry which apparently costs around £60. The only problem being that the ferry appears not to be punctual at times and you may miss the ship. It is the recommended way to go by the local port authorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gettingwarmer Posted August 29, 2022 #9 Share Posted August 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Yorkypete said: To go from Hellysylt to Gerainger you need to use the ferry which apparently costs around £60. The only problem being that the ferry appears not to be punctual at times and you may miss the ship. It is the recommended way to go by the local port authorities. As @SarahHbensays there is a P&O excursion on the ferry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonuk Posted August 29, 2022 #10 Share Posted August 29, 2022 On 8/25/2022 at 7:04 AM, Just 47 said: Be careful with the ferries as we watched a lot of passengers very late back from geiranger and were lucky the ship didn't leave them behind.My sister was going to catch the ferry but locals warned them the timings of the ferries were very hit and miss.In my opinion hellesylt is far prettier and the ship cruises down past geiranger anyway. You can’t sail past Geiranger as it’s at the head of the fjord and it can’t be seen unless you sail to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted August 30, 2022 #11 Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, devonuk said: You can’t sail past Geiranger as it’s at the head of the fjord and it can’t be seen unless you sail to it. And since there may be ships at anchor as well as berthed on the seawalk, it could be difficult to make a 180 turn. Plus the view from ship level is nowhere near as inspiring as views from the hilltop lookout. Edited August 30, 2022 by terrierjohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
measter1984 Posted August 30, 2022 Author #12 Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) On 8/25/2022 at 7:43 AM, SarahHben said: I think you might find that more P&O excursions are added nearer the time. When we went in May there was a good choice. We opted to get the ferry excursion to Geiranger and it was our favourite day of the cruise. There was also a trip to Mount Dalsnibba & I think one to the top or side of the seven sisters waterfall, plus others that I can’t remember Can you remember how much the excursion cost? I would rather take an excursion with a ferry allocated to P&O instead of what could be a late arrival with other potentially unreliable local ferry! Edited August 30, 2022 by measter1984 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkypete Posted August 30, 2022 #13 Share Posted August 30, 2022 15 minutes ago, measter1984 said: Can you remember how much the excursion cost? I would rather take an excursion with a ferry allocated to P&O instead of what could be a late arrival with other potentially unreliable local ferry! The ferry was approx £56. It is recommended by the port authority (which happens to be the same for both Hellysylt and Gerainger). I don't know about the P&O one as I was not aware of one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare SarahHben Posted August 30, 2022 #14 Share Posted August 30, 2022 19 minutes ago, measter1984 said: Can you remember how much the excursion cost? I would rather take an excursion with a ferry allocated to P&O instead of what could be a late arrival with other potentially unreliable local ferry! I’ve just looked it up and the P&O arranged ferry was £59 per person in May this year. I would expect that it will cost more in 2023 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonuk Posted August 30, 2022 #15 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Mount Dalsnibba is a must do if in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steer Posted August 31, 2022 #16 Share Posted August 31, 2022 (edited) We just got back from there. The local ferry takes about an hour. It costs almost the same on the local ferry as with the official P&O excursion to Geiranger. P&O had three or four different excursions to Geiranger and beyond, the cheapest of which was more or less just a ferry to the town and you are left to explore. By the time we decided to do this, the official P&O trips were fully booked (we left it far too late). I did not like the thought of the return ferry being late and us missing departure if we went on an unofficial outing, so instead we just got on one of those open top red bus tours, which went through some mountain valleys to a different fjord, and despite my fairly low expectations it was absolutely excellent. Anyway, this just gives us an excuse to go back at some point and actually visit Geiranger. Edited August 31, 2022 by Steer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Sharon Posted August 31, 2022 #17 Share Posted August 31, 2022 On 8/25/2022 at 10:35 AM, Yorkypete said: Apparently it does not go past Gerainger but only to the Seven Sisters. Ships cannot go past Geiranger. It is at at dead end at the end of a fjord. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkypete Posted September 1, 2022 #18 Share Posted September 1, 2022 9 hours ago, Host Sharon said: Ships cannot go past Geiranger. It is at at dead end at the end of a fjord. Thank you. Having visited a couple of times I Knew that but I meant to Gerainger. Where the Iona turns you cannot even see Gerainger as it is round a corner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristopherTracy Posted September 1, 2022 #19 Share Posted September 1, 2022 (edited) At the end of July we witnessed a very disgruntled senior officer flapping about at the end of the jetty as the ferry was 30 minutes late back (so well past the 4pm cut off). We were wondering if Iona would wait but then we saw at least 100 people sauntering back towards the ship and realised that they were on a P&O excursion. I would only ever book on the official excursion there! We booked a RIB Fjord outing independently - it was fabulous. Edited September 1, 2022 by ChristopherTracy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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