Advice on ship for Norwegian Fjords and maybe Iceland for young adults?

[iwannabeamouseketeer]

My family, including my young adult children (18 & 21), are looking to take a Norwegian Fjords cruise possibly with Iceland included. We have cruised a lot but are unfamiliar with the offerings in Europe. We are looking for a ship that will appeal to everyone in the family. I am also confused how to tell if an itinerary includes going through the fjords during the daytime (someone mentioned to us that some of the ships will pass through fjords on their way to port but it might be early morning or late at night). We were looking at the NCL Prima 10-11 night cruises from Reykjavik to Southhampton. I have read mixed reviews about the Prima although its such a port heavy cruise I'm not sure how much the ship matters. Also wondering if we might be better off with a 7 night Norwegian Fjord only cruise and just do a stopover in Iceland for a few days. 

[PhillyTravelBug]

We are on that sailing you are looking at on the Prima.  The ship looks awesome, the ports check a ton of boxes, so I'm not concerned about the mixed reviews. Listen to your gut and have a wonderful time and just be happy with the choice you make. These two destinations are a rare opportunity to visit.

[Sea42]

1 hour ago, iwannabeamouseketeer said:

My family, including my young adult children (18 & 21), are looking to take a Norwegian Fjords cruise possibly with Iceland included. We have cruised a lot but are unfamiliar with the offerings in Europe. We are looking for a ship that will appeal to everyone in the family. I am also confused how to tell if an itinerary includes going through the fjords during the daytime (someone mentioned to us that some of the ships will pass through fjords on their way to port but it might be early morning or late at night). We were looking at the NCL Prima 10-11 night cruises from Reykjavik to Southhampton. I have read mixed reviews about the Prima although its such a port heavy cruise I'm not sure how much the ship matters. Also wondering if we might be better off with a 7 night Norwegian Fjord only cruise and just do a stopover in Iceland for a few days. 

Depending on when you go you, you will go through the fjords in daylight. When we're there in late May the sun won't set until 23:00 and rises at 04:00. June will have even longer daylight hours.

[kaisatsu]

During the summer season, you'll almost always be cruising the fjords during daylight hours. Typically, you'll have 1-2 hours of scenic cruising during the sail-in and sail-out for the innermost fjord ports (Olden, Flåm, Geiranger, etc).

 

Look at the port locations on a map of Norway (e.g. Google Maps) to determine how far inland they are from open water. The longer the distance and the narrower the waterways that lead to the port, the more scenic cruising you'll have. Then look at the port times for those port calls, and expect to be sailing about an hour before arrival and after departure.

 

Daylight in the fjord region varies from roughly 5:30-21:30 at either end of the season (mid-May and mid-August) to 3:30-22:30 in late June. So unless you have an abnormally early or late port call, it won't be a problem.

[kaisatsu]

1 hour ago, iwannabeamouseketeer said:

Also wondering if we might be better off with a 7 night Norwegian Fjord only cruise and just do a stopover in Iceland for a few days. 

I personally wouldn't try to mix the two in one cruise, because they're not particularly close to each other, and it takes a bit of sailing time just to reach the fjords from the typical embarkation ports. Doing a stopover en route sounds like the better option to me.

[kitkat343]

Please be careful choosing NCL in Europe or anywhere else that itinerary matters.  They've been cancelling stops for environmental reasons after final payment, and refusing to give refunds or let customers make changes.  For this summer, they've cut the Inside Passage from Alaskan voyages on the Spirit after final payment.  They've continued to advertise sailings as including cancelled ports for months on their website, and they refuse to refund people who purchased directly with NCL cruises with ports that had been cancelled months earlier (the NCL operators aren't warning people the itinerary had been changed months earlier when they call to make new bookings).

 

Norway is amazing, and I'd recommend going for itinerary, not ship, but please be careful with NCL because it would be pretty devastating to lose the ports that are the highlight of this trip. 

 

 

 

 

[Hezu]

15 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

Daylight in the fjord region varies from roughly 5:30-21:30 at either end of the season (mid-May and mid-August) to 3:30-22:30 in late June. So unless you have an abnormally early or late port call, it won't be a problem.

I presume the quoted times are sunrise and sunset times. It is worth remembering that around dusk and dawn there will be twilight illuminating sky even if the sun is below the horizon.

[janetcbl]

Have you considered Viking, which seems to be the “expert” in this area. They have some interesting itineraries that include both Norway and Iceland. 18 year olds are considered adults, so that would not be a problem with this all-adult line.

[kaisatsu]

6 hours ago, Hezu said:

I presume the quoted times are sunrise and sunset times. It is worth remembering that around dusk and dawn there will be twilight illuminating sky even if the sun is below the horizon.

Depends a bit on where you're at. If you're deep within a narrow fjord, sun would still be behind the hills for quite a while, and there may not be usable light levels at twilight. It's incredibly uncommon for a ship to have an arrival or departure that late, so it's largely irrelevant to the original question. However, since the ship will typically be in open waters at that point during the day, it is definitely worth noting that one should expect even longer light hours.

[Doh15]

On 3/14/2023 at 8:26 AM, janetcbl said:

Have you considered Viking, which seems to be the “expert” in this area. They have some interesting itineraries that include both Norway and Iceland. 18 year olds are considered adults, so that would not be a problem with this all-adult line.

I agree Viking has some very interesting itineraries but my impression is it skews older— I think someone mentioned there were only a handful of people under retirement age on a recent Norway cruise? May or may not matter to OP. 

 

Pre-pandemic Azamara had a Norwegian captain which I think some people felt was a small bonus but he might have moved on?

[elaine5]

We have kids similar ages. I'd go for the bigger ship (Prima) with lots of "fun" things to do. RCCL Anthem might also be a good option. We did fjords last Aug on Anthem and kept thinking how much our kids would have loved that ship. It was an excellent cruise experience--and we're fairly picky.

Look at the arrival time for the port and then subtract a few hours--that's when the cruise thru fjords is. But, if you're sleeping, you can catch the exact same thing for 2-3 hours when you depart. It's absolutely gorgeous! 

Edited March 15, 2023 by elaine5

[ljandgb]

Iceland is one of my favorite countries.  I've got trip #3 planned for May.  I really think it is best done as a land trip.  I disagree that it would be hard to combine a Norway cruise with this.  There are plenty of flights from Iceland to Europe, and IcelandAir offers up to 7 day stopover either coming or going. You do lose a day to travel, but the benefits are you get to see much more of Iceland.  For younger travelers, that means more access to all the active adventures Iceland has to offer - snorkeling between the tectonic plates, glacier hiking, hiking to isolated geothermal heated pools and streams, rafting glacier rivers.

 

Even if you do the combined cruise, consider coming in to Iceland 2-3 days earlier, renting a car and exploring outside of Reykjavik.  Most of the "ports" in Iceland are small, with limited choices on activities shared with everyone else on the ship.  Striking out on your own, you can see and do more.

 

The caveat to this is if you're looking at this summer, lodging is already tight outside of Reykjavik.  Since you don't have a specific plan, you could see where you could find lodging for 4 and build an itinerary around that.  The Westfjords, Snaefellnes, around Myvatn, or anywhere along the south coast would make a great 3-4 day trip. Bungalo.com is the Icelandic version of AirBnB.  My upcoming trip is a combo of Bungalo and booking.com bookings.

[amcc127]

We are doing the NCL Prima from Southampton to Reykjavik with 5 boys 11-21 in August.  We are all so excited for the ship (our first cruise!) so the 2 days at sea will be as much a part of the adventure as the ports of call.  The itinerary seems to go to excellent ports with a variety of activities plus we are spending an additional 3 nights in Iceland at an Airbnb before heading home.  At the Iceland ports, I've booked private excursions so that they can be tailored to our more active group as I don't want (and they don't want) to be on a bus tour every day.  In Iceland, we plan to pack our 2.5 days including the snorkeling between tectonic plates.  Can't wait!

[Kari C in SC]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:11 PM, elaine5 said:

We have kids similar ages. I'd go for the bigger ship (Prima) with lots of "fun" things to do. RCCL Anthem might also be a good option. We did fjords last Aug on Anthem and kept thinking how much our kids would have loved that ship. It was an excellent cruise experience--and we're fairly picky.

Look at the arrival time for the port and then subtract a few hours--that's when the cruise thru fjords is. But, if you're sleeping, you can catch the exact same thing for 2-3 hours when you depart. It's absolutely gorgeous! 

Considering the Norwegian Fjords for our son’s graduation trip, but wondering if it’s interesting and fun for teens. 

[kaisatsu]

On 4/13/2023 at 3:05 AM, Kari C in SC said:

Considering the Norwegian Fjords for our son’s graduation trip, but wondering if it’s interesting and fun for teens. 

Doesn't that depend hugely on the teen? I would have loved the scenery and culture, but several of my friends would have been bored.

[Despegue]

I recommend to sail with Aida Cruises, and then specifically AidaPrima or AidaPerla, both do the Norwegian Fjords cruises this year. Aida is perfect for younger guests, also families by the way. The language is German but every crewmember speaks English.