NCL Norway in a Day - Norway in a Nutshell - And NCL excursions overall

[Wolf16]

Long Time lurker, wanted to give some back from a bad NCL experience hope to pass along.

 

We recently completed a 10 day NCL Prima Iceland to South hampton cruise and overall it was pretty solid. We were able to get into the haven, and its quite a nice experience and higher level of service we really were looking for.

 

Our issue on this trip were poor excursions and service provided by NCL, particularly two offered at two ports by NCL which oddly had high reviews online, but in reality they were quite bad. NCL strives to provide customer service and makes decision on giving the customer the best experience, but they partner with tour companies that make business decisions and what gets them, or keeps them, the most money when things go south.

 

The first was the "land of the trolls" in alesund Norway. Our tour was scheduled at 11am, loaded up on time and we were on our way. About 20 minutes into the ride, we were informed by tour lead that the "troll road" was closed due to safety issues and we would have a deviation. Originally we were slated to head 1 hour by bus to a tourist stop, have lunch, go up the hairpin route, stop for pics, then head to a fjord and few other tourist stops. Few stops, 1 hour max legs on bus - still a hard 6 hour or so day. With the road closed, they decided to keep the tour running, take us to lunch, then completely around a massive mountain range non stop, to reach the backside top of the troll road so we can see it and take pictures. We should have just asked to get off the bus then, but failed to realize what this detour entailed -  a 4.5 hour bus leg to reach the  backside of the road we couldnt take so we can simply shoot pictures. IT WAS MISERABLE. 4.5 hour, non stop, looking at trees and farms. The best part, we had to take the same road back, 2.5 hours to reach our boat which we were 1.5 hours late to in addition to missing all the fjord and other stops after the road. It was 8.5 hours on a bus to eat a crummy lunch for 45 mintues and completely miss a port town. They knew at 8am that day the road was closed and it would cause this massive bus hell detour, but didnt inform passengers and we missed a port and had a terrible experience. "tour provider followed itinerary and gave a 20% refund" Still working on this with NCL...

 

The next terrible excursion to avoid at all costs is the "norway in a day" "Norway in a nutshell" offered through NCL. This one is offered at Bergen and is pricey - but if it went, we road the Flam rail way which is considered one of the best and most scenic rides in the world. Spouse and I were about to cancel after our "troll road special" a few days prior, but I didnt want to miss the train adventure. We docked late, I knew this was a solid 8 hour tour, and we were off and finally all loaded about 40 minutes past time on the ticket. Once loaded they started hauling, I noticed that the bus took some turns a little fast and was over speed limit, but didnt think much of it. When we were on the bus for 3 hours straight, non stop, no bathroom, no update, I knew it was getting suspicious. 3.5 hours in, were about 15 mintues out from Flam and finally an update. "were late, were have been trying to call the train conductor to hold the train for us, but when we started, we were already going to arrive 30 mintues late". Are you EFING kidding me? You let passengers know 3.5 hours into a bus ride that you were already 30 mintues late and were hoping via calls to hold a train that has nothing to do with your company? 

 

As we pulled into the lot, it was nice to see our train riding past us on the journey I had hoped to experience. The deathly silence on the bus was deafening. We were told to stay close, hit the bathroom and await instructions on what we were going to do...do ? The purpose of this excursion is the train and we missed it. After a bathroom break, we all asked to return to the boat and be allowed to at least enjoy some time in Bergen. We were told no, that we would ride the bus back 2 hours to the hotel as planned for lunch, dine for an hour, then 1-2 hours back to the boat. We were pissed at being held hostage and were told we could get off the bus no problem and find our own ride back...3.5 hours away from our port in a town of 200 people - good luck. The bus ride back was miserable, lunch basic and bland, and we were lucky enough to enjoy a road closure/construction that delayed us another 1.5 hours on the return to the ship. Overall for the very high price, we got to enjoy 9 hours on a bus on the same road there and back, a bland lunch, and another missed port. A 40% refund was offered by the tour operator since the "itenerary was followed and only the train was missed"

 

Just wanted to put these stories out as the only research I found prior were some random stars and scores that failed miserably at showing an accurate description or how long these bus legs really are. These tours through NCL are poorly ran and just focus on keeping as much money as possible when things go south. The service focused response would have been to let us know about the delay or closures and let us know if we, the customer, wanted to continue at the risk of sitting on a bus ALL day, or salvaging a port through other adventures. 

 

Done a few cruises now through NCL, the haven concept will bring us back, but NEVER again, will I book an excursion through NCL because of their failures to ensure quality and poor follow up when you run into an issue like I did.

 

 

[Middleager]

Sorry to hear the challenges you encountered.  This is probably more suited for port of calls to Northern Europe.  It's also probably not a NCL issue but excursion operator issues that all cruise lines can face.

 

We travelled to Scandinavian countries last Fall.  We did look into cruises and/or land tours.  We decided on land tours and did the Norway-in-a-nutshell from Oslo to Bergen (can be the other way Bergen-Oslo), which included the Oslo to Myrdal express train (scenic mountains), Myrdal-Flam scenic train, Flam to Gudvangen cruise (of Nærøyfjord), Gudvangen to Voss bus, then Voss to Bergen local train.  It's a very long day and many segments of different modes of travel.  There are tour companies selling packages for higher price than us buying the various pieces of tickets ourselves.

 

In your case you're doing a small part of NIN from Bergen port, but it's bus to Flam (and probably bus from Myrdal if you had caught the scenic train up).  Too bad the late docking and bus missed the scenic train.

 

In our own case, the express train from Oslo departed late, by about 15-20minutes.  We would've be late arriving for the Myrdal-Flam scenic train.  But half way through that train ride (Oslo-Myrdal), they announced that the Myrdal train will wait for us.  Just before arrival, they announced again and asked everyone to get on the scenic train right away, don't do anything else (no stopping for pics, smoke...)    So in this case because most of the passengers for that scenic train were coming from the express train, they were able to wait (maybe 15 minutes).

 

For us, knowing what we know after taking the full NIN from Oslo to Bergen, the best parts are the Nærøyfjord cruise, Myrdal-Flam scenic train, then the scenic train ride between Oslo-Myrdal,  we wouldn't take a shore excursion of long bus rides just for the Myrdal-Flam scenic train ride.  That's a nice scenic train ride, but there are many other nice scenic train rides (Alaska White Pass, Taiwan Alisan, Australia Kuranda, New Zealander...).

 

Europe is expensive.  Northern Europe is more expensive.

[kitkat343]

The train is the highlight of Flam, but I'm a little confused as to why they didn't at least take you to the Stegastein Viewpoint since you were already in Flam, and must have had the time to do so since you were missing the train ride.  And the Flam railway is in no way considered "just a train ride" to cruisers - my family literally picked our cruise because after reviewing the Northern Europe board I decided we wanted a cruise that visited both Geiranger and Flam (to ride on the train.). I actually picked my cruise because it was the only one Cunard had that year that visited both of those cities (we had a 2 year old and only Cunard would take him in drop off daycare so we had to sail Cunard).  I pulled my oldest child out of kindergarten for 2 weeks to go on that cruise since it was only available in May.    For other people reading this, please note that Olden was also an amazing stop (the Loen skylift had opened 3 days before we sailed so that was also amazing).  I'm so sorry this happened and that they didn't at least try to show you the beauty of Flam since you had traveled so far to get there.  I know people would have been disappointed about the train, but it's a beautiful port and you all should have at least had an opportunity to see more of it than a hotel for lunch.

 

I will note that on my last NCL cruise, we docked late in San Juan and had a totally disorganized process of disembarking which lacked clear announcements, which caused us to arrive at the fort in San Juan 5 minutes before closing, and we were denied entrance.  In looking at reviews of the Star (the other NCL ship I've sailed) others have noted that late arrivals and confusing disembarking procedures also cut into their port time in Europe.   I'd recommend checking previous reviews to see if this is an issue on potential cruises prior to booking.

Edited June 27 by kitkat343

[slavetoabunny]

Generally, I've found the excursions through NCL to be good.  Only once did we have a poor experience in Cozumel.  We booked an excursion to the Mayan ruins.  My husband is an amateur photographer, but has a professional grade Canon camera.  Before we boarded the bus, the tour guide saw the camera....hubby took a picture of him and he commented on what a nice camera it was.  It wasn't until we got to the ruins and passed through the entry gate that he was told that his camera wasn't allowed in because it was "professional".  It was suggested by the tour guide that he leave $3,000 worth of camera equipment on an unattended bus.  We walked out on the tour and spend $50 on a taxi back to the ship.  In reviewing the tour description afterwards, the only restriction was for video equipment - it said nothing about a camera.

[Middleager]

On 6/27/2024 at 1:48 PM, kitkat343 said:

The train is the highlight of Flam, but I'm a little confused as to why they didn't at least take you to the Stegastein Viewpoint since you were already in Flam, and must have had the time to do so since you were missing the train ride.

There is a ticket price for that.  Who pays that extra cost?  (The tour operator may or may not get something or anything back after purchasing seats on the train that they missed)

 

If it wasn't included, the tour operator would need some coordination to make that change, including needing to round people back to the bus (after they got off to go to washroom, see museum, take pics, buy at giftshop, buy food...), not knowing if they really had enough time for doing this, and if they'd be able to get ticket/space to go to the viewpoint.  A small group of people in a car or mini-van might be able to make the change, but not a big tour bus with dozens of people.