Live from Silver Dawn June 15 to 29

[Port Power]

On 6/28/2024 at 8:57 AM, gnome12 said:

Two days ago was Flåm. I chose the Næroyfjord cruise which was originally included. However, the boat is now a beautiful zero-emissions beauty, with ramps doing up both sides so there is lots of room at railings for picture taking. The weather on the sail-in wasn’t great, but by the time we anchored it was lovely. 
 

Tendering was a bit of a mess. By the time we boarded our tender, it was almost time for the cruise to depart. Since this is a public cruise, they weren’t too happy to have to wait for us, and we were rushed from the tender to the cruise which immediately took off. The cruise was incredibly smooth, with beautiful views and I thought it was worth the cost.

 

 

After that, we went to the Viking Village at the Gudvagen pier. Our guide really barreled along, and a number of slow walkers would have been left behind if not for some people who waited behind. The guide in the village wasn’t bad, but it was a lot of standing around listening to her with nowhere to sit or even lean within hearing distance. The rest of the time we were able to walk around, but it was all trying to sell you viking style clothing and ornamentation. Not for me. 
 

I had booked the Flåm railway on my own for the afternoon. In fact, I had booked 2 separate return trips through Norway’s Best; one at 1:30 or so and the other at 2:55. Even before the cruise was rescheduled from about 8:30 or so to 9:30, I was worried about making the earlier trip, but also about getting back on board after the second. But when I saw that the ship had added an excursion that obviously used the 2:55 train I checked with the cruise excursion desk and they assured me that I would be able to get a tender back. So I cancelled the earlier trip (cancellations up to 24 hours in advance) and saw the confirmation of my refund the same day. The return trips cost me about CAD$95, about 60% of the US$119 that the ship charges for being walked over to the train and a dedicated carriage.

 

After we got back to Flåm, I wasn’t prepared to tender back to the ship for lunch. I started with a drink and a cinnamon bun, but as I wandered around I found that at the back of the building was a food truck court, with a huge number of choices available. 
 

I enjoyed the trip, but it was really warm in the car. Only a few of the windows open, and it can be hard to get to them. In my public car we had some empty seats; some friends on the same train on the ship’s excursion said that they were fully packed in.

I also did the Flåm train independently some years ago.  So much better, besides being much cheaper.  Our carriage was only one-third full (the first departure) but the cruise excursion carriages were packed.  Good choice by us all. 😀.  A pity the excursion guides didn’t use whispers.
 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise overall.

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, Port Power said:

I also did the Flåm train independently some years ago.  So much better, besides being much cheaper.  Our carriage was only one-third full (the first departure) but the cruise excursion carriages were packed.  Good choice by us all. 😀.  A pity the excursion guides didn’t use whispers.
 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise overall.

Nobody on our ship would have made the first departure of the train independently. They were having enough trouble getting the people for the first excursion departures ( which included the Flåm train) onto tenders. I don’t think they were letting any independent travellers of until after our excursion left. 

[highplanesdrifters]

I also suffered on the Flam train tour years ago.  Between packed carriages and a bad lunch I'd give it a no go.  Independent sounds like the ticket!

[Dolcevita Diva]

Your trip report and tour descriptions are super-helpful. Thanks and safe travels home!