Norwegian fjords with disability?

[Maamekin]

Thinking of taking a cruise to Norwegian fjords.
2 adults, one with disability impacting balance and mobility, and also hearing.

Is it a poor choice of destination? Has anyone been and enjoyed it with a disability/mobility issues.

Have cruised before a few times, enjoy getting off the ship and quietly pottering round port towns, museums, cafes, shortish walks on level terrain.

Would not be able to manage anything too active like water sports, hiking on difficult (or in fact moderate) terrain, standing for extended periods, that sort of thing.

I know most cruises go to one or two larger towns, but the other destinations look like they might be a bit “outdoorsy”, and it might be hard to find things to do.

But in other ways Fjords cruises are ideal as not too expensive, only a week, can sail direct from Uk.

I went on a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords a few months ago.
There were quite a lot of people with varying disabilities on board and the staff were really very inclusive and accommodating.
There is plenty to do on board so you don’t need to get off the ship if you don’t want to.
Like wise you can find quiet areas on the ship to relax and enjoy the scenery both indoors and outdoors.

The port days were quite diverse, a couple of larger towns with plenty to do and a couple of smaller ports where you could potter about near the ship, go for a short level walk, sit and watch the world go by or take an excursion if that’s what you prefer. I think there is something for everyone and you really don’t need to be doing all the outdoors sporty things at all.

I would say that this destination would be perfect, not too hot, nice and peaceful, beautiful scenery.

I did a Norwegian fjords cruise at a time in my life when my mobility was significantly impaired. Had a balcony cabin, so I could watch sail ins/outs without trekking around the ship. Picked excursions with care to be low activity levels (most cruise lines specify activity levels for bookable excursions). The cruise staff were absolutely lovely about looking after me.

On our cruise we did a few bigger stops like Trondheim and Bergen where you could leave the ship in a wheelchair and explore as one would on foot.

In the fjords themselves we used little tender boats to get to shore where we bimbled about on foot (we don't do ££££ trips). It was nice but we would have seen almost as much sat on deck just taking in the amazing location.

The main issue is that they only have limited cabins that are accessible, the port stops are mostly ok unless tender transfer is required

There were a couple of wheelchair users on board when I went on the norwegian coastal express. They did have able bodied friends/ relatives/ carers, though with them. Go for it.

We are ok with moving around the ship, and don’t need a wheelchair-accessible cabin.

It’s not really so much about transfers and accessibility, more about finding some enjoyable things to do when off the ship -everything we look at seems to talk about things like kayaking on the fjords and hiking up glaciers, both of which are just out of the question, unfortunately.

We don’t want to just stay on the ship - I like the idea of picking some low-activity-level planned excursions for the more outdoorsy-sounding locations, maybe that is the best way forward.
In bigger towns/cities it’s fine, we can just get a taxi or bus to a museum or art gallery.

If you happen to go to Olden, we went on a lovely coach trip to the glacier museum and then to a glacier viewpoint. Not too much walking at all (we had my late 80s DGM with us) and still felt like we’d experienced the glacier in some way. Beautiful views too!

Are you okay with tenders? I would also just check that it’s not an itinerary with lots of tender ports if you might not pass the mobility assessment to go on the tender

Bergen and Alesund I just walked around, think I got a bus up to a view point at one point at the latter.

Olden I did a bike trip, but there were coach excursions taking people closer to the glacier, although there was a walk to actually reach it I think.

Stavanger I did the hike up pulpit rock, but there were boat trips available to see it from beneath.

Just cruising in and out of the ports was amazing. Well worth the extra for a balcony cabin.

We’ve been on 2 cruises to the Fjords. Olden, Stavanger, Flam are easy to do, yes there are excursions which do involve water, but we’ve found lots to do without too much effort.

Thank you so much, that is really reassuring! It was actually Olden I was particularly concerned about, so hearing about a bus trip is great.

We have passed the tender test in the past. I will admit I had sleepless nights about failing it, but they let us do it quietly at a different time and it was all ok, so hopefully would be ok again.

My parents did bus trips, a tender ride around a fjord, certainly no hiking!

Bergen is nice if you're going there. There’s an accessible funicular up the mountain in town with great views and walks.

I’m glad we’ve reassured you!

If it’s P&O you’re going with, the trip we went on was called ‘Fjords and Glaciers’ I think. We were on Iona and Olden wasn’t a tender port either.

The glacier near Olden has wee car things (they call them troll cars) you can hire to take you closer to the glacier if you want to avoid the walk https://www.briksdal.com/glacier-shuttle

Thank you so much. Everything is sounding much more manageable, excited about booking it now!

We have sailed with P&O in the past, but were wondering about Cunard as a bit smaller, P&O Iona seems so massive. I’m guessing smaller ships likely to be beyond our budget though.