Land of the Midnight Sun cruise from Southampton

[sandancer]

If anyone has taken this cruise I would be grateful if you could share your thoughts on doing it with some mobility issues. Looking at the itinerary it seems that there may be quite a lot of ports where just getting off and strolling around might not work too well. Thanks in advance for any info. 

[Izzywiz]

Hi Sandancer, it would be helpful if you named the ports visited on the cruise and also give some indication of the type of mobility issues in question.

I have done a ‘midnight sun’ cruise with a different cruise line and I have mobility issues. I used an elbow crutch when moving about the ship (very slowly!) but needed a wheelchair on shore for going any distance. I’ve now moved on to a mobility scooter which has made me more independent.

[karatemom2]

We just did the Land of Midnight Sun cruise out of Southampton on the Sky. One thing that is helpful for those with mobility issues is that most of the ports are docked not tender. We did end up tendering in Geiranger as the Sea Walk wasn’t available that day due to weather concerns, but other than that all of our other ports were walk off. 
 

I notice, however, the itineraries seem fairly different next year, so that is something to look at in making your choice. All of the ports seemed to offer some ship tours that were less strenuous and could be handled by people with mobility issues. I think it would just be a matter of reviewing options to determine what would be comfortable for you. 
 

It’s a beautiful trip, so if you can make it work despite some physical limitations, I would encourage you to do it. 

[Dunchues]

Looks a great cruise, but when I looked for 2026 a couple of weeks ago all accessible cabins were taken! I know it's a pretty unique itinerary but with almost 2.5 years before sailing date I was a bit surprised by that. I didn't look at levels higher than mini suite though, so a more affluent person may find something there.

[Coral]

10 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

We just did the Land of Midnight Sun cruise out of Southampton on the Sky. One thing that is helpful for those with mobility issues is that most of the ports are docked not tender. We did end up tendering in Geiranger as the Sea Walk wasn’t available that day due to weather concerns, but other than that all of our other ports were walk off. 
 

I notice, however, the itineraries seem fairly different next year, so that is something to look at in making your choice. All of the ports seemed to offer some ship tours that were less strenuous and could be handled by people with mobility issues. I think it would just be a matter of reviewing options to determine what would be comfortable for you. 
 

It’s a beautiful trip, so if you can make it work despite some physical limitations, I would encourage you to do it. 

We also tendered in 2018 in Gerianger (one of my favorite ports). We tendered as we were there with other ships who had the dock.

[CTGirl]

We did a b2b last year on the Sky to Iceland and Norway (North Cape). We probably went to some of the ports you are going to. I had severe mobility issues at the time as I was badly needing a new hip. I didn’t think I would be able to do, but I met a Wyoming a previous cruise who had a collapsible scooter. I went out and purchased a battery powered collapsible wheelchair. It was the best move I ever made. I had no trouble getting around at any of the ports. I found Norway to be very handicapped friendly. And if you are wondering, I have since had a new hip and I am now walking completely unassisted for the first time in over a year.  I still plan to take my chair with me though when I go on the Sun in September as I am still recovering from the surgery and I get tired easily. Good luck if you decide to go. Norway is a truly beautiful place. 

[sandancer]

6 hours ago, Dunchues said:

Looks a great cruise, but when I looked for 2026 a couple of weeks ago all accessible cabins were taken! I know it's a pretty unique itinerary but with almost 2.5 years before sailing date I was a bit surprised by that. I didn't look at levels higher than mini suite though, so a more affluent person may find something there.

I wonder if the Princess reduced deposit offer (£50pp) is encouraging people to book a long way out. We have 2 Princess cruises for next year (one of them being Land of the Midnight Sun) and yesterday booked one for Sept 2026. We have found if you need an accessible cabin you need to book early. 

[LondonTowner]

We did the Sky Princess cruise last June to the North Cape from Southampton. It was our 4th cruise to Norway, but by far the best itinerary. We also had fantastic weather, which helps.

I use a small mobility scooter and we had no tender ports. In fact, none of our Norwegian cruises has had any tender ports. It will tell you on the itinerary if there are any tender ports.

We don’t book ship excursions, but booked a couple of private tours.

I also booked the train from Andalsnes to Donbas which was fully accessible. We had done the Flam Railway before, but this was a lot better. It can be booked 90 days in advance directly with the operator ENTUR.

Norway is generally accessible.

you need to name the ports for info on ports, but in the meantime can look at VisitNorway.no the tourist boards very good website.