Norwegian Fjords - changes afoot?

[Norwaylady]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We were just on a cruise to Norway last month on the Sky Princess and can't wait to visit @Norwaylady's beautiful country again in 2025. First on the June 7-day Eclipse cruise mentioned above,

 

 

and then again in August on the Viking Neptune! We've never cruised with Viking before. But their itinerary, which includes 2 days in Longyearbyen, looked too awesome to pass up! 

 

 

your not visiting Oslo😜 

but that Viking cruise is 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, Norwaylady said:

your not visiting Oslo😜 

but that Viking cruise is 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

On the next leg they will be. However, we have to get back home after our 14-day cruise to get ready for our Tahiti cruise in October! Talk about a change in scenery! 😂

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

Then you already know exactly why you don't see much in the way of fjords on a Celebrity cruise.  Itinerary.

I don’t know why you insist on what I do or do not know.  Looking at a website isn’t the same as traveling there.  It seems logical to ask someone familiar with the country what I might or might not see.

[Norwaylady]

This Apex sailing covers a touch of everything🇳🇴

 

it’s the 14/n 7.August 2025.

 

Royal usually do a similar sailing during the summer months. 
 

[mac_tlc]

On 8/2/2024 at 7:34 PM, NMTraveller said:

I have been on quite a few smaller ships going through the Panamal Canal locks,  New Zealand South Island etc. with views of the front and back. While someone may take a quick glance to the back,  everyone is always looking forwards.  Why settle for something sub optimal?  The rear views just do not do it.  If the rear was the best place on the ship,  then the bridge would be back there and they would be navigating from the rear 😉

We have had this “discussion” before and I still disagree with you. The job on the bridge is safe navigation, not viewing the surrounding area. Bad analogy. We have done afts in Norway and Alaska twice — as recently as last week. We love them and do not at all consider them suboptimal. 
 

To each his own. If I had a choice of a forward or aft cabin, I’d take the aft. Too much wind forward. For some, the aft views do do it.

 

For the Panama Canal, I can see the forward view being different.

 

 

mac_tlc

Edited August 28 by mac_tlc

[Norwaylady]

If you want to know my personal opinion for a really good Hurttigruten itinerary…

Go for the ones called signature sailings. 
 

https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-gb/voyages?categories=The+North+Cape+Express%2CThe+Svalbard+Express

 

 

[canderson]

18 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

But there are some things that are different on Hurtigruten and a classic cruise line. 
 

On Hurtigruten you have more stops, it covers 34 stops. 
For me, it’s the local ferry and mail boat. 
For tourists it’s a cruise. 
 

The ships are smaller than a X or Royal cruise, think AZ in size. 
 

Food is really good and local food on Hurtigruten. 
Entertainment is very different from a cruise line. No show, or big events. 
 

The prospect seems to us similar in some ways to river cruising.  Much smaller ship, very port intensive, more local food, no big entertainment.  We can work with that just fine.

 

The only thing we are still trying to understand is time in port.  34 ports in 7 days - some of these are 'toss the mail bag' stops, while others are longer.  So while 34 ports sounds like a lot,  here is one version of a typical day:

 

Time in port:

• Florø: 2:45 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.

• Måløy: 5:15 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.

• Torvik: 8:20 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

• (11.01-03.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (4.1 – 5.31* & 9.1-10.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (4.1 – 5.31* & 9.1-10.31) Urke: 12:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

  • (6.1-8.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (6.1-8.31) Geiranger: 2:25 - 2:45 p.m.

• Molde: 10:35 p.m. - 11:05 p.m.

 

It appears, and please correct my mistake if I'm confused here, that the boat leaves the pax off in Alesund at 9:45 (if they wish to depart), and picks them up again at a bit before 8pm after making its run to various other venues in the interim.

 

 

But here is another day, and it appears that due to the itinerary, there is no time to stop to actually visit any of these locations apart perhaps from a flash run in Bodø.  Sort of an 'inland passage' (just cruising to look at the scenery) at-sea day?

 

Time in port:

• Brønnøysund: 1:35 a.m. - 1:45 a.m.

• Sandnessjøen: 4:35 a.m. - 4:50 a.m.

• Nesna: 6:00 a.m. - 6:10 a.m.

• Ørnes: 10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.

• Bodø: 1:05 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

• Stamsund: 7:15 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.

• Svolvær:: 9:20 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.

 

[canderson]

- duplicate - (kopi)

Edited August 28 by canderson

[the penguins]

24 minutes ago, canderson said:

The prospect seems to us similar in some ways to river cruising.  Much smaller ship, very port intensive, more local food, no big entertainment.  We can work with that just fine.

 

The only thing we are still trying to understand is time in port.  34 ports in 7 days - some of these are 'toss the mail bag' stops, while others are longer.  So while 34 ports sounds like a lot,  here is one version of a typical day:

 

Time in port:

• Florø: 2:45 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.

• Måløy: 5:15 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.

• Torvik: 8:20 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

• (11.01-03.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (4.1 – 5.31* & 9.1-10.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (4.1 – 5.31* & 9.1-10.31) Urke: 12:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

  • (6.1-8.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (6.1-8.31) Geiranger: 2:25 - 2:45 p.m.

• Molde: 10:35 p.m. - 11:05 p.m.

 

It appears, and please correct my mistake if I'm confused here, that the boat leaves the pax off in Alesund at 9:45 (if they wish to depart), and picks them up again at a bit before 8pm after making its run to various other venues in the interim.

 

 

But here is another day, and it appears that due to the itinerary, there is no time to stop to actually visit any of these locations apart perhaps from a flash run in Bodø.  Sort of an 'inland passage' (just cruising to look at the scenery) at-sea day?

 

Time in port:

• Brønnøysund: 1:35 a.m. - 1:45 a.m.

• Sandnessjøen: 4:35 a.m. - 4:50 a.m.

• Nesna: 6:00 a.m. - 6:10 a.m.

• Ørnes: 10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.

• Bodø: 1:05 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

• Stamsund: 7:15 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.

• Svolvær:: 9:20 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.

 

It's a bit confusing the main points of how the ship works are:

1) Every port the the ship stops at during the day going north it stops at during the night going south and v.v.

2) some of the excursions work by you leaving from one port in the morning and re-joining at a different port later in the day. One in particular is timed so the tour bus crosses a bridge at the same time as the ship goes underneath.

3) you do get a lot of day time scenic cruising to many different fjords most of which are not accessible to the big cruise ships which after all is one the main points of the cruise.

4) whilst we don't usually do ship's excursions it really is simpler to do so on these cruises - excursions sell out fast especially the more adventures ones for example dog sledding.

5) it is a totally different experience to a normal cruise.

 

 

[the penguins]

52 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

If you want to know my personal opinion for a really good Hurttigruten itinerary…

Go for the ones called signature sailings. 
 

https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-gb/voyages?categories=The+North+Cape+Express%2CThe+Svalbard+Express

 

 

The classic 12 night roundtrip  from Bergen worked just great for us - choose the right cruise and if the Northern Lights don't appear you get a free 7 night cruise to try again. Please note if the Lights put in appearance in the middle of the night this fact will be broadcast in every cabin.

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

What is the reason you cannot see the fjords on Celebrity?  They don't go there?  They don't let you outside to see the view?

they don't do much actual "scenic cruising". The main sailing is early morning as you arrive at the port/town then again as you leave which is when most passengers are getting ready for or having dinner. Celebrity ships are restricted to the bigger fjords.

We have done the fjords with Celebrity, Royal and Hurtigruten as there is really no comparison between the first two and the last. I would suggest you go to the Hurtigruten site and compare the route map of the Classic 12 night roundtrip from Bergen with anything that X has to offer and the difference will be abundantly clear.

[MMMCruiser]

I disagree about not being able to see the fjords on a regular cruise ship.  The timing was fine.  I have photos of our sail in and our sail out with timestamps to prove it.  If you get up early you can watch the sail in (it's light pretty much the entire time up there).  On our sail out of Geiranger there were lots of people up on the deck watching because it was really beautiful (and sunnier than it was during the sail in).  There's no chance I'd miss it because I felt the need to get ready for dinner.  I understand that people feel strongly about sailing on Hurtigruten, but it's not for everyone and I don't think we were shortchanged on our visits to Geiranger and Flam one bit.  Also, it wasn't crowded in those little towns.  Not in the least.  Some people chose to take excursions farther out and we spent time in both towns and it was wonderfully uncrowded.  

To the OP - look at everything online and then choose whatever looks right for you.  The ship docks at the end of the fjord, so you won't miss anything in that regard.  Of course the ships that visit more locations will let you see more.

[MNSails]

Looks like the 2026 deadline was pushed to 2032.

 

Hopefully this translates into some suites opening up for our August 2025 cruise. We have friends wanting to join but all suites have been totally sold out for awhile.

 

[NMTraveller]

38 minutes ago, MNSails said:

Looks like the 2026 deadline was pushed to 2032.

 

Hopefully this translates into some suites opening up for our August 2025 cruise. We have friends wanting to join but all suites have been totally sold out for awhile.

 

Wow that is great news!

 

I would think that the 2026 itineraries would be changed to reflect this.

 

That will give the cruise lines time to have compliant ships...

Edited August 29 by NMTraveller

[BigAl94]

6 hours ago, MMMCruiser said:

I disagree about not being able to see the fjords on a regular cruise ship.  The timing was fine.  I have photos of our sail in and our sail out with timestamps to prove it.  If you get up early you can watch the sail in (it's light pretty much the entire time up there).  On our sail out of Geiranger there were lots of people up on the deck watching because it was really beautiful (and sunnier than it was during the sail in).  There's no chance I'd miss it because I felt the need to get ready for dinner.  I understand that people feel strongly about sailing on Hurtigruten, but it's not for everyone and I don't think we were shortchanged on our visits to Geiranger and Flam one bit.  Also, it wasn't crowded in those little towns.  Not in the least.  Some people chose to take excursions farther out and we spent time in both towns and it was wonderfully uncrowded.  

To the OP - look at everything online and then choose whatever looks right for you.  The ship docks at the end of the fjord, so you won't miss anything in that regard.  Of course the ships that visit more locations will let you see more.

Agree 💯 

[Norwaylady]

10 hours ago, canderson said:

The prospect seems to us similar in some ways to river cruising.  Much smaller ship, very port intensive, more local food, no big entertainment.  We can work with that just fine.

 

The only thing we are still trying to understand is time in port.  34 ports in 7 days - some of these are 'toss the mail bag' stops, while others are longer.  So while 34 ports sounds like a lot,  here is one version of a typical day:

 

Time in port:

• Florø: 2:45 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.

• Måløy: 5:15 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.

• Torvik: 8:20 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

• (11.01-03.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (4.1 – 5.31* & 9.1-10.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (4.1 – 5.31* & 9.1-10.31) Urke: 12:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

  • (6.1-8.31) Ålesund: 9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • (6.1-8.31) Geiranger: 2:25 - 2:45 p.m.

• Molde: 10:35 p.m. - 11:05 p.m.

 

It appears, and please correct my mistake if I'm confused here, that the boat leaves the pax off in Alesund at 9:45 (if they wish to depart), and picks them up again at a bit before 8pm after making its run to various other venues in the interim.

 

 

But here is another day, and it appears that due to the itinerary, there is no time to stop to actually visit any of these locations apart perhaps from a flash run in Bodø.  Sort of an 'inland passage' (just cruising to look at the scenery) at-sea day?

 

Time in port:

• Brønnøysund: 1:35 a.m. - 1:45 a.m.

• Sandnessjøen: 4:35 a.m. - 4:50 a.m.

• Nesna: 6:00 a.m. - 6:10 a.m.

• Ørnes: 10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.

• Bodø: 1:05 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

• Stamsund: 7:15 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.

• Svolvær:: 9:20 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.

 

 

So to make it clear. 

 

The Hurtigruten coastal service is a ferry, local transportation, mail boat and a cruise.

So the itinerary you see and have posted parts from are correct. 

They need to be on time.....

 

When the ship has the short calls of ports, it's not possible to do big sightseeing. You are allowed to walk down the gangway and walk back onboard. Unless they are delayed. 

They stop to drop off passengers, take on new ones and to deliver mail and goods on transport.

It can be during daytime or night.

Some excursions are fitted to this sailing plan, so they drop you off in one port and pick you up in next port of call a few hours later. It's very safe and the ships excursions from Hurtigruten will be timed to departure.  

 

If you pick a signature sailing, the ship is just sailing as a cruise. All guests are boarding at the same port and no new guests are boarding during the cruise. 

You will have longer stops adjusted to tourist and sightings time AND they call at some ports they dont call on the coastal route sailing. That's why I personally would recommend a signature sailing. 

 

The classic 34 port of call on the Hurtigruten coastal service

 

A signature sailing on Nordkapplinjen 

 

On the signature sailings, the timing of the ports of call are during daytime and it's some really good stops to explore history and great outdoor experiences. 

 

For Ålesund 

During summer season the coastal service arrive in Ålesund in the morning and leave passengers off if they are checking out of the ship or if they want to visit Ålesunf during the daytime. 

Then Hurtigruten continues onward on a scenic sailing into Geiranger. Its a scenic cruising day.

They will not dock in Geiranger, so they have a tender service for those passengers leaving Hurtigruten in Geiranger or passengers checking in on the ship. 

Then it sails back to Ålesund to pick up passengers that stayed in town for the day and new passengers checking in to the ship. 

 

Hope this clarify how things are working her......

It's a different form of travel compared to a regular cruise. 

Absolutely lovely, but it's different.

 

As for myself, for a full roundtrip, I would picked the signature sailings. They have perfect timing on ports of calls and you get amazing stops that the coastal service dont call. 

The options for excursions and fun is even better and have a wide selection of nature, culture and history. 

[Norwaylady]

My ultimate pick for those wondering...... This is an absolutely stunning itinerary and you will have plenty of pictures to WOW your friends and family....

 

Svalbardlinjen....

 

 

 

 

[wcook]

14 hours ago, the penguins said:

2) some of the excursions work by you leaving from one port in the morning and re-joining at a different port later in the day. One in particular is timed so the tour bus crosses a bridge at the same time as the ship goes underneath.

And passengers jump off the bridge back onto the ship. A highlight of the cruise! 

[canderson]

@Norwaylady

Thanks for a great deal of clarification, especially the two primary different itinerary types. 

We note that cabins aboard these cruises are typically only about 11m² unless you're paying the big bucks for one of the top two cabins on the ship.  Surprised, as that's even smaller than the smallest cabin on a typical river cruise boat. 

 

[Norwaylady]

Just now, canderson said:

@Norwaylady

Thanks for a great deal of clarification, especially the two primary different itinerary types. 

We note that cabins aboard these cruises are typically only about 11m² unless you're paying the big bucks for one of the top two cabins on the ship.  Surprised, as that's even smaller than the smallest cabin on a typical river cruise boat. 

 

 

Its the local ferry😆 So the rooms are not big, but they are functional and designed to make them work well.  

But you spend most of your time in the viewing lounge front facing forward, out on the deck, in the Jacuzzi outdoor or you are eating some delicious Norwegian food enjoying the view from your table 🤣❤️

So it works out okey👍 

[canderson]

2 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

 

Its the local ferry😆 So the rooms are not big, but they are functional and designed to make them work well.  

But you spend most of your time in the viewing lounge front facing forward, out on the deck, in the Jacuzzi outdoor or you are eating some delicious Norwegian food enjoying the view from your table 🤣❤️

So it works out okey👍 

 

It seems they are using the 'local ferry' boats for the Signature cruises (like the North Cape Line) as well, not just for the 'mail run' itineraries.

 

I was also a bit surprised at the prices given the cabin size. 

 

MS Trollfjord, 14nts in an O2 cabin for $5,300pp, cabin is 108 - 129 ft²

Celeb Apex, 14nts in a Veranda cabin which is at least 2.5X the size, $4,500pp

 

[Norwaylady]

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

 

It seems they are using the 'local ferry' boats for the Signature cruises (like the North Cape Line) as well, not just for the 'mail run' itineraries.

 

I was also a bit surprised at the prices given the cabin size. 

 

MS Trollfjord, 14nts in an O2 cabin for $5,300pp, cabin is 108 - 129 ft²

Celeb Apex, 14nts in a Veranda cabin which is at least 2.5X the size, $4,500pp

 

 

All ships in the Hurtigruten fleet, exception for the ships made for expeditions tours ( Greenland, Galapagos etc), are built to specifics for the coastal service. And since they sail in the coastal service year round, they need to certified to specific regulations for very heavy weather and waves in the winter season. 

The ships they are using for the signature sailings is a ship that can be used to coastal service traffic. (I sailed my roundtrip Bergen on that vessel, she is one of the bigger ships in the fleet) 

Since Havilla is sailing some of the departures, Hurtigruten gets "ships" available to do those special signature sailings.

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

 

All ships in the Hurtigruten fleet, exception for the ships made for expeditions tours ( Greenland, Galapagos etc), are built to specifics for the coastal service. And since they sail in the coastal service year round, they need to certified to specific regulations for very heavy weather and waves in the winter season. 

The ships they are using for the signature sailings is a ship that can be used to coastal service traffic. (I sailed my roundtrip Bergen on that vessel, she is one of the bigger ships in the fleet) 

Since Havilla is sailing some of the departures, Hurtigruten gets "ships" available to do those special signature sailings.

 

I'm guessing folks who are prone to seasickness need to take some precautions on these trips?  As ocean conditions may be a bit rough?

[MMMCruiser]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

I'm guessing folks who are prone to seasickness need to take some precautions on these trips?  As ocean conditions may be a bit rough?

In my opinion, yes.  I am quite prone to any kind of motion sickness and in the past I had trouble one night sailing into Alesund on a smaller middle sized ship.  This was while I was wearing a patch!  19 servers that night didn't work the later dinner service that night because it was bad enough that even some of the crew needed to lie down.  (It looked like large rolling waves out there when I checked).  That's the reason we chose to sail on the APEX instead of on a smaller Viking or Hurtigruten or Havila ship this time.  For many people it wouldn't be an issue, but for me I won't sail a smaller ship in the North Sea.

[MMMCruiser]

I wonder if this change in the law will result in lowered prices for some of the 2025 cruises.  People who felt that it was now or never are now able to push their trips out to 2026 and beyond.