Fjords - worth a trip?
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Posted 26 August 2009 22:38
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We love Norway, Iceland is fantastic.  So next year are trying the Greenland cruise on Aurora (covered pool area so one of best ships for this area) in June 2010.  Plus you get to call in at a couple of ports in Ireland on the way!!!  What more could you ask?
Post #188795
Posted 27 August 2009 17:13
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We absolutely loved Norway and had super weather in May.

We went on MSC cruises for a change from P&O and thought the company was excellent and fantasic value on a superb ship.

Able.S.

 

Post #189095
Posted 27 August 2009 18:05
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We went at the beginning of this month and thought it was beautiful. The weather was very good on the whole too. Similarly to Johnthedog we had a very special evening though on Arcadia, sailing down Geirangerfjord with a meal in The Orchid restaurant. It was a beautiful sunny evening. Probably our best.

I would definately recommend the fjords and would go again myself possibly taking in Iceland too.

Julie B  å
Post #189133
Posted 27 August 2009 18:32
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we went on ventura in june in my opinion the best cruise we have done the views are amazing i have never took as many photos in my life we had excellent weather while there but i would still enjoy being there if it was not as good i would certainly recommend it.
Post #189146
Posted 27 August 2009 18:43
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Fjords=magnificent!

I can't recommend highly enough.

We were on Oceana in June, (the same cruise as Derek N), I would suggest you look at his excellent photos on his www site - they will give you a good idea of what you might expect.

Romig

Cruised: Sovereign of the Seas (Bahamas) 1997, Superstar Gemini (Straits of Melacca) 1999, Oceana (Norwegian Fjords) 2009.

To Cruise: Arcadia (Baltic) 2010.

Post #189153
Posted 27 August 2009 18:47
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Norway is wonderful.  I have been three times now.  Twice fantastic weather, and once not so good - but still enjoyable.  Getting up in the morning and seeing the scenery is jaw dropping stuff.

Went June this year on Ventura - fantastic.  One of the best cruises ever.  Great ship, wonderful people, great scenery. Thinking about it today makes me want to go again, and again.........

Post #189155
Posted 27 August 2009 20:14
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We were on the Ventura cruise late June as well - just 7 days.  Very lucky to have wonderful weather (warnmer than the Med some days!) and seas were very calm.  Ports were Bergen/Andalsnes/Olden and Stavanger.

Scenery was beautiful and it was a great cruise - I think a week is about enough for the Fjords.  I think a longer cruise would probably be combined with Iceland or some of the Scottish islands. 

Post #189212
Posted 27 August 2009 22:28
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We have also been three times, last time was seven days in May on Oceana.  The weather was quite good. Previously we went on Sea Princess, this was a 14 day cruise which included Iceland, Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands.  This was in July and the weather was quite mixed but better in Norway and Iceland than the Islands.  Prior to that we went on a 14 day cruise to the North Cape in July.  It was lovely to see the midnight sun, we were in the disco at 1.00 am and it was still light.  It was quite chilly in the Arctic Circle and we had some rainy days, I remember Tromso and Trondheim as being particularly wet.  The North Cape was very windy.  You just need to take layers.

We love Norway so much that we're thinking of going again in 2011.

Post #189321
Posted 27 August 2009 23:28
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We too were in the Fjords about 3 weeks ago on Arcadia (7 nights).

I have to say that overall I wasn't hugely impressed.

The scenery is without a doubt striking when you first see it as you sail down your first fjord.  Huge mountains of rock with waterfalls tumbling and cascading down the sides.

But it gets repetitive real quick I promise you !  You can only take so many pictures of waterfalls after which you just get bored.

The ports for us were:

Stavanger - which was a small town with about 12 of every restaurant type you can think of including Chuinese, Indian, Italian, Thai, American and so on.  As it happened we arrived on a Sunday and so everywhere was shut.  On a 7 day cruise with only 4 ports in total that's pretty much an abysmal show for P&O.  The cruise should have started on a Thursday so that Friday was at sea and first port on Saturday.  I guess port fees are cheaper on a Sunday !!!

Geiranger - again a lovely sail down the Fjord itself but really just more and more of the same huge rock mountains and waterfalls.  At the end of the fjord there were just a handful of small souvenir shops.  So your only real choice here is to take an excursion to make the most of it.   We took the coach trip up to the top of the nearby mountain.   Very scary,  very steep windy roads with over 100 u bends and breathtaking drops.  Just a short way into the trip you actually get your best views looking back down at the fjord with your cruise ship sitting there.

Flamm -  More of the same I'm afraid.  Again not much when you get there.  Souvenir shops and cafes.   The Flambard railway ends here however and you can take a P&O excursion or find your own way onto the train.  The classic "Norway in a Nutshell" trip was highly recommended to us.  It's very der at about £80 per person but it involves a coach trip, 2 train trips and a large fish and meat buffet lunch.

As has been highlighted by other posters, the weather we had was exceptional for the time and the place.  Hot sun mostly.   The coach part of the trip was actually the best although it went down a steep road with very tight U bends that obviously isnt really suitable.  Coachs paused frequently so people could take shots of . . .well. . waterfalls !  We were dropped off in the town of Voss where a local hotel puts on a good buffet.  Cold fish of all kinds, inc Salmon, gravadlax, langoustines, prawns, smoked eel, and much more and some hot dishes too.  However the room holds literally 100s of people and the banquet tables are crammed so that you are elbow to elbow with your neighbour.  Hardly comfortable or refined in any sense.

The first train trip takes you from Voss to the top end of the Flambard railway.  It's a standard public train (electric) and it's fairly uncomfortable, hot, and very boring.  P&O reserve a number of coaches.  Initially people grab what they think will be good seats but it soon becomes obvious that it's going to be full and sure enough it's a bun fight in the end.  Every single seat is packed and you are knee to knee and shoe to shoe with the person opposite.  You may not stand up and there are no windows that open in the coach doors just some small windows in the coach itself.  It's hot, sweaty, uncomfortable and about a 50min journey.  Everyone longed for the tunnels to come because that was when cooler air came in.

After this fairly dire trip you transfer to the Flambard railway for your journey back to the ship.  Again its a bun fight scramble as everyone dives out of the first train and runs across the platform to the Flambard train.  This 2nd train is much older.  SOme of the windows are jammed so no air will come in.  Again it's relatively cramped and uncomfortable and again every seat is full.  The scenery as you travel is same old same old, and by now you are bored with it and getting irritable.  Tunnels a plenty and when you pop out of the tunnel you find yourself in a wooden slatted structure like a car port so photos are impossble there.  1/2 way the train stops and you guides announce that you can get off to see this amazing . . . you guess it . .  waterfall.  A few did get off but most stayed and when the guide looking hugely puzzled asked why people just said we've seem 100 waterfalls already.  They just wanted to get back to the ship to be honest. This trip is another hour or so.

When you arrive back at the ship you see a very long line of people waiting to join the train and you can't help feeling sorry for them knowing what the conditions are like.

Bergen  -  Final port for us and a proper city at last.  Bergen is actually lovely and of course has the famous heritage wooden hut area seen on every postcard and the fish market.  Also lots of modern shops.  Plenty of hussle and bustle but I am told that you MUST watch your belongings here particulary in the market otherwise someone will relieve you of them !

Summary

Overall you have to weigh up what you are getting with a 7 night Fjord trip.  If your cruise starts on a Friday then although there are 4 ports on your itinerary you are realistically only getting 3 and that's nothing less than a con in mybook.

Prices all across Norway are horrendous so it's very different to a Mediterranean cruise where bagging a few bargains is all part of the holiday.  A beer will set you back about £6.  A restaurant meal ashore will set you back about £50 per person.  The lovely woolen jumpers that Norway specialises in start around £80-£90 and most are 3 figures.  Pretty much we bought nothing at all except some Xmas decorations.

The shops in all Fjord destinations were identical.  Same souvenirs everywhere, same jumpers etc.  Repetitive just like the waterfalls.   Bergen is the only exception and has good shops.  If Bergen is not on your itinerary you better have something ust as good !

We ate in Arcadian Rhodes a few nights, one of which was whilst sailing out of the fjord which provides a lovely atmosphere.

In the final analysis however I would say Fjords is one of those "one time experience" ventures where you just need to have been there, seen the waterfalls and got the mug.   I couldn't possible contemplate going back I'm afraid and indeed we were booked to do this same cruise next year and have now cancelled it and booked with Cunard's QV instead.

I hungered for massive ice sculptures and icicle formations but realised that you would have to go much further North for this.  Fjords is just imposing rock mountains and waterfalls.  So any future trip Northward for me will have to include Iceland and the Baltic capitals.

I'd rate the trip 5/10 due to the poor value for money (one of the mostexpensive P&O cruises), desolate ports forcing you to take excursions, Sunday ports (shameless) and overall dire Norway prices.

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Post #189375
Posted 27 August 2009 23:46
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We cruised the fjords at the tail end of our Greenland/Iceland/ Norway cruise last year.

Would not have missed any of it. The weather and temperatures in Greenland were brilliant but quite the opposite in Norway. Bergen is know as the wettest place in Europe, and it lived up to its name. However, the UNESCO world heritage site,(wooden huts + !), was excellent.

The cruise up the fjord to Olden was spectacular and, despite the torrential rain, Pulpit Rock tour was a must do.

An added bonus was that this cruise was a classical music cruise. Of course, Grieg played in the place where it was composed for, was spine chilling.

Would love to return to the fjords and experience the good weather that some people had. They must be even more magnificent in the sunshine.

wolfhound

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