Talk to me about cruises to Norway.

[Citrusandginger]

I'm looking for your top tips. We're hoping to go next summer after DD finishes GCSE's. So starting some research and want to make the trip as fabulous as we can.

What are the must see destinations / activities / excursions to look for in an itinerary?

What else should I be thinking about?

Any cruise lines to recommend/avoid? We would consider smaller ships to get to more interesting ports.

Thanks so much.

With a 16 year old pick a ship like Royal Carribean or NCL that have a lot of stuff for teens to do on board. With a teem do not pick Cunard. I have done Cunard and enjoyed it, kids wouldn't.

That's a good thought. We've done bigger ships which have plenty going on and we're thinking we'd see more of Norway on a smaller ship, but hadn't considered the activities for teens. Thank you.

P&O go from Southampton They have ‘kids’ club up to age 17. They usually have 4 stops in fjords with 2 sea days. Hurtigruten have smaller ships that go further north and call at lots of ports. These are often more like working ferries going from port to port but take passengers as well. Different experiences to more usual cruise ships

Thank you - I'll check out Hurtigruten. DD wouldn't use a kids/teens club and would be happy to come with DH & I on excursions during the day. But the option for evening entertainment- even films with popcorn like on Princess would be good to have for her.

I went on Iona last year. I absolutely loved it but this year my kids would be in different clubs and I wanted to see some of Denmark too so I've booked Sky Princess best of Scandinavia itinerary.

I didn't do any entertainment or speciality dining but we did a couple of excursions and went out and about on our own but there's other adventurous stuff too. I want to see cities this time too and we're going to Oslo and Copenhagen but I did love the Fjords.

Cabin was great, facilities were great, decor exceptional staff, crowds, hectic buffet were my only minor gripes.

Yes we've done Oslo/Copenhagen/Skaagen and loved it. Would like to go further north though, to see the Northern Lights and get deeper into the fiords.

We went with Cunard on QM2. It was quite nice. Enjoyed the ship more than Norway. Bergen and the Floyen was the best day. Wouldn't rush back on a cruise, but might like a city break without the kids.

Loads of vlogs about these trips on you tube. If you search by the ship and cruise line tons will come up. We watched a couple by Travelblogjamie about his Fjords trip on P and O Iona and it helped us decide we’d like to book that trip.

Wow! Hadn't even thought of Cunard. NY on the Queen Mary is on my bucket list, (though lots of saving needed ). But I hadn't thought about looking at Cunard Europe.

Re the QM2, you could cross a few things off your list at the same time.
For example, we have July 2025 booked, leaving from Southampton, sailing to Norway, Iceland, Nova Scotia and New York, then back to Southampton.
Our daughter will be 13, almost 14, by then. We've been on the ship before and all love it.

Stop it! That sounds amazing and fits our timetable perfectly...

We went one summer on a last minute family deal on Fred Olsens Balmoral. A boat not geared to children as such but very friendly if you have children that will spend time with you rather than want their own clubs and activities. As we went in the summer holidays they had some light activities on sea days. They named my son Harry Potter (because he has a scar) and every day at dinner they'd say "here comes Harry" when we arrived. He was about 9 and loved it.

It's was 13 nights from Dover. About 9 stops and a few sea days which still had the scenery of the coast.

The boat was small enough to be able to sail.close to land most of the time. The fjords were amazing. We didn't go on tours, apart from one to the North Cape, and would walk around the fjord village and looked in wonder. We visited the ice bar at Honningsvag. Used the funicular in Bergen. Walked Tromso and Tronheim.

We loved it. My daughter who was about 11 said she wanted to live in Honningsvag when she was older. She's moved to Liverpool...so she is slowly getting there!

Norway is a fab place to do by cruise because of teh coastline, Arctic circle and fjords. Additionally your food is paid for....and that is eye wateringly expensive if you go to Norway in normal holiday fashion and have to pay to cater.

Cunard ships are soo much nicer than P&O. Would never go on a P&O cruise again, felt like Butlins on the sea. But Norway is enchanting. We visited Alesund, Alnes, Stavanger, Gieranger and Bergen which were all beautiful.

Fred Olsen are definitely worth considering as they offer trips like sea kayaking, or certainly used to which a teen would love.

There is nothing to do on a Fred Olsen cruise for a teen! The ports may be OK, but my god the ship would be so boring for them.

When I went on my cruise last year there were 4 ships leaving Southampton at the same time and 3 were going to Norway. It does sound like each to thier own. Our taxi driver was convinced the MSC Virtuosa was the best for older kids but someone else told me the service is terrible and it's tacky. Sky Princess looks like it has something for everyone. (I'm going with elderly parents too.) If facilities for older children are a priority look at Sky Princess.

I've also booked QM2 for the following year!

Must admit, I like the look of Fred Olson, & the better itineraries. And I think DD would be OK. Although she'd like RC water slides etc, that's not so great in the North Sea. She would enjoy canoeing and similar activities so I might look more into that.

And I'm inclined to agree P&O can be Butlins on sea. We did a week with the pools closed more than they were open due to pooing toddlers.

I just booked 7 nights to the Norwegian fjords for September. I'm going with Cunard, but that's because it will be me and my 80 year old mother going, I don't think Cunard ships are particularly child friendly. I'm guessing the majority of passengers will be older.

P&O are a bit hit and miss I think, but you could check out Celebrity cruises, or Princess I think they have a good range of stuff for kids and families.

Also, I've read that from 2025 there will be restrictions on what type of ships can actually venture into the Fjords because of a worry about emissions. So this would be a good year to go I think, as there may be less ships going there in future.

As mentioned above avoid P&O, Cunard is far too snobby.
Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America all great.
The best trip was we hired a car and Drove to Trollstigen, its valley with spectacular views but they journey there is great, the hire company planned us an excellent route to avoid tolls it was spectacular. https://www.fjordnorway.com/en/attractions/trollstigen

You need to be careful about child friendly boats. We loved Cunard as it had all the deck games for us to play as a family. But on the hideous P&O ship, it was almost impossible to use any of the sports facilities if you didn't want to sign your children up for the kids clubs as they were bulk,- booked out to them. The swimming pools were also rammed.