Norwegian fjords cruise. Which company?

[GordonBennett345]

Thinking of a fjords cruise in the summer. Fancy a cabin with picture window or balcony. Not too big a ship. We're early 60s. Which cruise lines should I be looking at?

Bump?

Hurtigruten if you want a more authentically Norwegian trip.

We did the Norwegian fjords a few years ago on Cunard. They are brilliant and the service is next to none.

Just realised you said not too big a ship, scrap that then! Sorry can’t help.

Hurtigruten are fabulous, ships are not too big, food fabulous. It's not an 'evening cabaret shows' type cruise though my idea of hell

Celebrity without a doubt. We are going again this summer, having first done the trip 10 years ago.

I'll have a look at these. Is it better to have a balcony? I don't think Hurtigruten have them?

Hurtigruten have different ships, some modern, some old, some big, some small. So the newer ones may well have balconies, but i guess their webpage will let you know that.

What do you want from the ship? Obviously to deliver you to beautiful places and to feed you nice food, but what entertainment do you want? Is a pool a must? do you want classical or pop music? Do you like lectures/serious stuff? And what do you define as big?

The huge ships are 5000 passengers, don't think they do the fjords anyway. Cunard is in between at around 2000, depending on ship. Queen Mary 2 has an indoor pool with retractable roof, useful for a trip north, they also offer a lecture programme and a range of musical genres (we had a party band, a 60's band, an Irish folk band, a jazz trio, a harpist and a pianist onboard.) The shows however weren't my kind of thing, reminded me of end of year showcases at my DD's school (she was in an arts specialist school so they were very good for teens I should add!)

There's lots of smaller vessels, under 1000 but most won't have shows or a choice of evening venues, most do offer lectures on ecology/environmental themes

We did one with TUI that was good. Small ship. Evening entertainment was good. Range of things on offer. Food was fine, but not amazing.

If it's rough seas you do feel it more on a smaller ship though.

I've been with Princess and also P&O but a ship that no longer exists - the Oriana😍. Not sure about the new huge ships like The Iona. I thought the Princess was massive at the time- but it was super.

Hurtigruten - they are the experts in the region. Small ships so they can access the inner fjords. We went from Bergen to Kirkenes.

I am Norwegian and would say none except Hurtigruta. The big cruise ships look totally out of place and pollute the fjords.

P&O - they often send their bigger ships but you can usually find Norway or Norway/Iceland cruises on Arcadia (c.2000 passengers) or Aurora (c.1800 passengers). Both are adult only. As the scenery is so lovely I think it is worth the extra to have a window or even a balcony and note the more cruise-bys in the itinerary the nicer the views will be.

@Myownpapillon In what world is an 1800 passenger ship small? It really isn’t. Hurtigruten is the obvious company.

@GordonBennett345
Noble Caledonia has cruises on Hebridean Sky which include Norway. Expensive but it’s small ship cruising. Around 130 I think. I have been on a similar expedition ship to Antarctic, South Georgia and Falklands and it’s very different to a behemoth! If it’s a special trip go for it. You have specialist staff and no extras to pay. We are a bit older than you and we are going on this ship to the Hebrides this summer. Their cruises sell out so plan early.

Thanks for all the info. It's good to have a starting point as the choice is overwhelming

A good friend has been with Hurtigraten three times .

@GordonBennett345
A compromise might be Havila Voyages. They use battery powered ships. Medium sized: 640 passengers. They do 2 coastal routes. We are booked with them in August so at the moment I cannot comment but I’m looking forward to it!

I think you have to accept, small ships cost more. I’m not sure what Hurtigruten pricing is but coastal cruising in a small ship is very different to a giant cruise ship. You have to decide what you can afford and whether smaller ship is within budget. If it is, go for it.

Ambassador Cruise Lines is fairly new and visits The Fjords. Friends have been with them and really enjoyed their cruise on The Ambience. Not too big and departs from London or Newcastle. Prices seem quite reasonable.

I've never been but parents swear by Fred Olsen. They like that the ships aren't massive (think the last one they were on was max 700 or something?).

It depends on your budget. I think the Viking ships look the loveliest of all.

Fred Olsen. The ship seemed big to me - until we anchored alongside the other cruise ships, which were VAST. Also the smaller ships can get further up the fjords

I’ve been thinking of one of these trips and just looked the Hirtigruten sight. Maybe I’m looking wrong, but a 3 day trip in
May costing £2.5k?! Seems a little excessive.

If you have the stomach and the budget I'd go azamara or Oceania or Cunard (the first two are smaller ships so more likely to feel rough seas). If budgets won't stretch that far then celebrity or fred olson I would prob recommend that age group. But it's a bit of a piece of string really. Like what do you want from a cruise. What's your budget like. For that age group I'd avoid.msc, carnival and royal Carribbean