Oceana Fjords Cruise

[egit]

I am thinking of cruising on Oceana to Fjords August 2008. Any information on this trip would be great. We have a 13 year old with us. How would he find it? What is the crossing like and general weather at that time of year. We like to do our own trips so help with this would be appreciated.

[annieuk]

We are doing a fjords cruise on Oriana next July. From what I have been able to gather from people who have been the weather can be fine, sunny and even hot - but it can be wet and windy. Look at the weather in the UK at the moment! I think the answer is to take a variety of clothes so you are able to cope with all weathers. Also from what I have read people say this cruise is awesome with fantastic scenery. If you go to the main P&O website and look at the excursions offered on a fjords cruise you will see there are all sorts of things - some very active.

 

Hope this helps.

Annie:)

[KarenR_UK]

Went to Iceland & Fjords in June (QE2) & the weather was better than here:)

We only had one afternoon of rain (in Norway - with another showery afternoon in Iceland), and that was in Bergen, where they say it always rains!

 

For us the temperatures in Norway were good - short sleeves when above the snow line in Gerainger - I did get a suntan. But it can get cold on board at sailaway - I missed some of the scenery because I just couldnt stand the cold - having gone to my cabin to get something warmer it was usually time to get ready for dinner anyway (We left late at most tender ports, and we had a lot of tender ports)

 

 

 

Karen

 

(PS forgive the lack of apostrophes, my keyboard has decided that the single one of these " means "find on this page" (normal navigation keys dont work either - it happens a lot when replying to CC messages:rolleyes: )

[bracket]

Hello, we did the same cruise the last week of August 2006, travelled with 14 yr old son and 18 yr old daughter. We all really enjoyed it, the crossing was fine in both directions , the weather was very mixed. We had some rain, a couple of dry but cool days and one very hot day. You will definately need to take layers with you and a rain mac, also good idea for a warm coat or fleece in case you want to take in the scenery as you sail off at the end of the day down the fjords as it can get very chilly. The scenery is fantastic but some evenings it was too chilly for us to stand out and admire it from the deck. We booked some trips with the ship and others we just arranged ourselves.

In Flam we went on the railway, the station is right next to where the ship docks so we just got off and purchased our own tickets for this, the railway was much quieter late morning with hardly anyone at the station ticket office, the journey was about 40 minutes to the top and 40 minutes back down again, you can go for a walk at the top but as it was raining we just stayed on the train.There is a web site for this showing the prices and timetable for the train, unfortunately I cannot remember it but you should find it with a search on google. I seem to remember also reading on one of the tourist web sites that you could go kayaking as well, I think this might have been in Flam.

We booked the glacier trip through the ship, we all enjoyed this, our son thought it very cool, in more ways than one. It is quite a walk from the drop off point to the glacier and you will need a good pair of trainers as it is uneven ground. Some people got off and took a taxi to the glacier but I am not sure how much they paid for this.

In Bergen we went on the funicular railway , again on our own we used the ships shuttle bus to get to the centre of Bergen and looked around on our own if you wait until late morning/ early afternoon there are hardly any queues for the funicular , The oldest part of the town which is just to the left of the funicular and stretches down to the quayside by the market is very interesting to walk around, you could do this first and then go to the funicular.

Many of the organised trips seemed a little boring for teenagers which is why we did our own thing most of the time. The cruise was fully booked when we went and our son made several new friends, having said that there were not as many children on board as when we have been in the Med or the Caribbean. We all had a great time and are really glad we tried it, the scenery really is amazing. Hope this is of some help to you.

I will check again in case you have any more questions.:)

[egit]

Many thanks for your replies.

[tom_uk]

If you want some inspiration about cruising the fjords, have a look at this thread (on another board):

 

http://www.*****/travelpage/ubb-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=009582&p=

 

which features photos taken by someone who is fortunate enough to live in that area, and who also enjoys taking pictures of visiting cruise ships. Page 3 of the thread includes a recent picture of Aurora.

[feebee_71]

Hi,

 

We too are on this cruise next year and will be travelling with children aged 14, 12 & 10.

 

Have been told it is a great cruise and really looking forward to it.

 

Fiona:)

[soletread]

Hi My wife and I are joining the Arcadia next year 2008 on the Top of the World cruise including the Fjords.

 

I believe the best way to pack is the same as any UK holiday lots of layers coat on your back and shorts in your pocket just in case.

 

In July 2006 we sailed with Arcadia to the Baltics, I had no expections for good weather and was delighted with 14 wonderfully sunny days with top tempretures in St Peterburgh of 28 degrees, in fact I came back with a Med style sun tan.

[Pontius Navigator]

Very useful. We are dithering about the Aug 08 cruise as we are also doing the Canaries. At least the coolth might offset a surfeit of warmth (we hope).

 

We just returned from the Baltic and that was scorching. I have been in Oslo for a week in June and that was comfortably warm especially before sunset. As the sunset at about midnight and rose at about 2am that was most of the time :)

 

Come August it will be darker earlier but should still be light fairly late.

[egit]

What is your experience of sea conditions during the crossing? We have crossed the bay of biscay can we expect similar?

[soletread]

When we sailed up the north sea to Oslo in 2006 the condition were fantastic in fact it was like the med I have never seen anything as lovely as the dead calm crystal still North sea with sun rising over the horizon at 7am in the morning our first day at sea.

 

However it was the start of the two hottest weeks in northern Europe since records begain so carnt say thats the norm?

 

I have heard people having problems getting into Stockholme before.

 

I believe the Bay of Biscay or BOB as my parents call it can be rough they had a rocky night this June on there first night at see on the way to Caneries on board Oceana

[Pontius Navigator]

Begining of August we had a calm sea all the way to the Skagerrak. On return last week there was a stae 3-4 and a gentle roll on the ship but this cause no discomfort. Later in the day the wind died and the seas abated.

 

In June I have drossed the Bay of Biscay and the waves were breaking over the bridge. The ship was 15 hours late into Portsmouth and the Captain said it was just like November.

 

I have flown over the Norwegian Sea many times and rarely seen bad weather in summer.

 

Today (30 Aug) Bergen is only 13 degrees and calm. Stavanger is similar. On 23 Aug Stavanger was up to 24 deg and Bergen was 19 deg with a weekly mean of 16 deg.

[BillieB]

Only just come across your question, sailed on the Oceana this August (2007) with a 12 year old, he thought it was fantastic and plenty for him to do. The crossing was quite rough (force 8) outward but calm on the return. Flaam is spectacular but if you decide to go on the railway it is best to book on the 'net' well before you sail, even though we disembarked at 11 am the trip was full until 5.30 when we were due back on the ship. If you want to go on the fenicular railway in Bergen it is best to buy your tickets from the information office and not at the station as there were long queues. The scenery in the Fjords are breathtaking and the trip up the Briksdale Glasier in Olden is worth the 3k walk.

Enjoy.

[egit]

Thanks for your reply. How was the weather while you were there? Were there many children on board. Was the ship in good shape?

[daiB]

Thanks for your reply. How was the weather while you were there? Were there many children on board. Was the ship in good shape?

 

 

I was there too and the answers are,

 

1 Mixed 3 port days fine if a little cool, 1 day rain but the sun came out in the afternoon (remember we were on a cruise at the end of August. the weather had been much better, but like Scotland you cannot predict one year to the next or even one day to the next. Best advice is layers. You need to take cool weather clothes. eg jumpers.

 

2 301 children.

 

3 Great.

 

 

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Pontius Navigator]

I am sure there are other weather websites but the one I use is Weather Underground or http://www.wunderground.com/

 

You can enter a city, airport code (3-letters) or ICAO code (4-letters) and get the latest weather. You can then find historic weather data for a day, week, month etc for some time back.

 

If has the hurricane data too and in some areas weather radar pictures.

 

The greatest amount of detail is in the US but ROW cover is generally good.

[Chesters]

We are also booked on this cruise with our son James - who will be 14 by the time we go. You have put my mind at rest that there will definately be other kids on board. Thanks!

[matherwood]

We are also booked on this cruise with our son James - who will be 14 by the time we go. You have put my mind at rest that there will definately be other kids on board. Thanks!

 

Hi Chesters!

 

I have been watching out for fellow passengers on our cruise...are you on the June 28th sailing? I posted in the "roll-call" section, and whilst other cruises seem to have several contributors, no-one has "owned up" to being on this one (E815).

I can't offer any youngsters for the passenger list, but at the other end of the age range, we shall be taking my 92 year-old mother-in-law, for her first cruise. We are all very excited!!