Norwegian cruise... any advice / experience welcome

[letsplanaholiday]

DH and I are thinking of booking a Norwegian fjords cruise next summer.

Neither of us have done any cruises before. Please can anyone offer advice on what we should consider when booking.

For example, it's more money for a room with a window, is it worth paying the extra for that? I'm assuming don't spend that much time in the room.

Which company to use (not P&O on principle). I've been looking at Cunard, are they good?

Basically I'm a cruising novice who want to see the fjords! Please tell me everything 😁

Why not P&O? They're reasonably priced and good food.

@LetitiaLeghorn because of the disgusting way they treated their employees.

P & O Cruises are a completely different company from P & O Ferries, so please don't disregard them. A cabin with a balcony is nice but the weather can be iffy! Just do lots of research into the itinerary and the ships. Cruisecritic is good for info and Emma cruises on YouTube is great for info and tips!

I'm not using them after the way they treated their staff.

I've been twice, once on P & O Orianna - don't even know if it's still around but was a beautiful ship, and once on a Princess Ship, also wonderful but much larger!

Are they?!! Well I may have to eat my words in that case! I'll do some research first! 😁

P & O Ferries is owned by a Dubai company and P & O Cruises is owned by Carnival, an American co.

P&O cruises are part of the UK Carnival Line, I think for about 20 years. P&O ferries is owned by an Midfle Eastern company.

As for the fjords, personally I think its quite a boring cruise but I know loads of people love them. And it's conveniently near the uk so not so many sea days.

Yes I can see that you are quite right, they've been separate companies for over 20 years.

Fab, that put P&O cruises back in the mix. Feel bad now as I bet loads of people have made the same assumption that I did!

Anyway, back to the matter in hand... Norwegian fjords cruise.... what do I need to know?!

Depends on the ship. You can pay extra money for windows but the more important thing is where the room is on the boat, so avoid being over the theatre, under a dance floor or near the kitchens. Fjord cruises tend to be 5 to 7 days so you can easily manage without a window. Check the deck plan to look at the size if cabins.

P&O is actually a UK company. Its a UK arm of Carnival. They are good value.

Yes, there are a lot of people who will boycott the cruise line when in fact they're nothing to with the ferry company. Have a look at www.cruise.co.U.K. for a list of cruises to the fjords and give the staff there a ring - they'll be happy to guide you without any pressure. That U.K. should be lower case without full stops but won't let me for some reason?

I've been on Norway cruise with MSC.
I happen to like MSC, but not everyone does.
I've been on a few cruises with a mixture of inside room, ocean view (with window) and balcony.
For viewing the fiords I'd recommend a balcony, as there were many hours just cruising in and out of fiords to reach the stop offs where I just watched the scenery go by.

My family enjoy cruising with Royal Caribbean, NCL, Disney, Marella and Celebrity. Just my DH and I recently cruise with P&O and enjoyed the cruise but found the food not quite as good as the other cruise line.
My DC and I enjoyed our Norwegian fjord holiday with Royal Caribbean and would definitely like to book another cruise in that region.
I think it’s definitely worth paying the extra for a balcony, particularly for the Norwegian cruise as you’ll probably have a few days at sea.

Family members recently did one with Hertigruten and had an incredible time. Might be worth a look - afaik they're smaller boats than the princess type cruises so can go further into the smaller fjords etc

Friends went on the small ex-postal ship cruise and said it was amazing.

Other friends have done the fjords on a large liner and loved that too but they are different trips.

Can I ask what you think the fjords will be like? And what you're expecting / hoping to experience?

We did the Hurtigruten about 15 years ago. Paid extra for window and really needn't have bothered - if we were awake we were on deck or in the viewing lounge.

Hurtigruten boats are generally much smaller than cruise ships, I think about 600 passengers - they also act as cargo, post and passenger ferries for the communities up and down the Norwegian coast so you stop at tiny settlements as well as bigger towns and cities. The boats also don't have masses in the way of on board entertainment.

We went mid June - midnight sun and all, but the weather was incredibly mixed. We sadly had quite a few days where you could barely see your hand in front of your face.

We still enjoyed the experience - we're both introverts and had ummed and ahhed about whether a cruise was really our thing - this way of doing it suited us. Plenty of opportunity for on shore stuff, opportunities for wildlife spotting, up to the Russian Border which was very 'wild west', a very rough trip through the Barents Sea.

The Lofoten Islands are absolutely stunning - we will go back there one day, and the grandeur of the fjords, just the sheer scale is amazing.

Yes, P&O cruises are a completely different company. Though I'm not sure tbh how many of the cruise companies actually treat their employees ethically. How can we be sure? 🤷‍♀️

We did a P&O cruise round the Norwegian fjords a few years ago and we absolutely bloody loved it! Paid extra for a balcony cabin and I felt that it was really worth it, but there are plenty of places around the ship where you can sit and look out to see if you can't afford that.

Loved everything about the whole trip, it was amazing!!

Hurtigruten are good. We liked them because they are NOT a cruise company. So if you want evening entertainment, a huge ship, 24/7 activities etc - don't bother. They are, I think, much more authentically Norwegian and important for the isolated communities along the coast. We flew to Tromso (via Oslo) to join the ship.

I've got a cruise to the fjords booked for next June on P&O's Iona. It will be my first cruise.

We've done the fjords on Cunard and loved it. We were happy to pay the premium for Cunard and a balcony cabin as we felt that the type of cruise suited the more expensive fare - slightly more time on the boat than you'd expect on a Med cruise, and plenty of occasions where we just sat out on our balcony and watched the stunning scenery glide past. Cunard is definitely a more formal experience than some of the other companies though and certainly (or at least up until covid) enforced their dress codes, which is worth considering.

For a fjords cruise get a balcony. It is lovely to sail by and see the gorgeous scenery on your balcony.

We have sailed p&o to the fjords and it was great. Changeable weather in July and one day we had snow! So layers are required.

I have a friend on the P&O Iona right now. He’s loving it but some of the stops were cancelled which was a shame. The picture look amazing though.

My PILs did a Norwegian fjord cruise (not generally cruise people) with Hurtigruten, and loved it. As others have said, much smaller boats.

I hate hot weather/sun bathing hence not wanting a summer beach type holiday. I love spectacular scenery, I like home comforts and/or luxury of good food and being pampered. I'm not looking for adventure, I want to see beautiful scenery, potentially get off at some pretty towns and potter round the shop, have nice food cooked for me! I've always wanted to see the fjords.

Some great tips thank you! So far the main thing I'm hearing is get a balcony room!