Cruise to Norway o. August - boring for kids, or no?

[Maggieminor]

I've found a great deal for August and we might go for it - but my boys are sun lovers
We decided to look for a cruise to try it out as it ticks the boxes for all of us - we may hate it but for now this is what we think we want. I know I can google temperatures but there's no substitute for the lived experience of mumsnetters.
Would anyone recommend a Norway cruise. Not a fjords one - which I really fancy , just straight up Norway.
Thoughts please ! 🙏

We did one. My kids - late primary and early secondary then - really enjoyed. Warm but not hot. If you want hot then look at the med.

I went first week in September and it was a bit chilly and rained a lot. Would need a jumper to sit out on the deck. Still a fabulous trip. Our trip was Fred Olsen and child free. We had a few really interesting lectures on wildlife. Depends how old your boys are really. I also did a Baltic cruise in August one year and that was ok in some of the cities but not a lying on deck experience

What age are the DC and which cruise line?
My DC adored cruising, to any country at all tbh!

Sorry. 17 and 13

Gut feel is they'd like the med/ sun

Is it the P&O one from Southampton? There are kids clubs for all ages on board

We just did the the Fjords on the Iona with 14 and 11 year old. The ports were fine (similar to Scotland!). The ship was too crowded with it being school holidays though. They wouldn't go to kids club though, so they may have been missing out. However, the P&O cruise was very affordable in school holidays, so imagine you get what you pay for.

Which cruise line is also key

Norway is great but it’s Autumn in August there. Chillier and foggy. It was a fjords one - I don’t know of any to Norway that isn’t! I would recommend Celebrity. P&O was terrible- ship was dirty, food poor except evening.
Staff are always exemplary though. There isn’t much to do on the actual ship, we booked long excursions every day possible. My kids were young teens and loved Norway.

My kids wanted sum and an AI but a cruise works out more or less the same price but getting gluten free is a key need for us too

Which line? It makes a big difference.

At those ages it depends which cruise line you are sailing with. Also no guarantee on sun in the fjords in the summer we went in July and got snow!

Fiords offer now sent to me to : Royal Caribbean
Norway is MSC

We had lovely weather last summer in Norway (not cruise) but the summer before when we were originally meant to go there were floods so torrential people were kayaking through the streets.

Your boys like sun= take them to the Med! Why on earth would you pick Norway if sun was their top priority?

We loved our Norwegian cruise with MSC last year. The kids clubs were great, and there seemed to be loads to do for Teens if they stayed on the ship whilst adults went off exploring.

Forgot to add… we went in August and had a variety of weather. Rain, gale force winds and baking hot sun!

Sun worshiper here 🙋‍♀️
I absolutely love the heat
Last December we went to Iceland, any one who knows me was shocked and all said I’d hate it because I don’t do cold!!
when we arrived it had just started to snow and it was relentless the whole time we were there!
I absolutely loved it, so much so we’re going back again this winter!

Im sure your children will be the same
saying that though I really don’t fancy going there unless it’s winter as a cold country in the summer just doesn’t feel right 🤣

Just because the cruise offer is the same price does not mean it will work out to be a more enjoyable experience, especially as it doesn't meet the desire for guaranteed sunshine. Which teen who longs for sun is going to be thrilled to be told pack a warm jumper and kagool?

Both RC and MSC have soooo much for kids that age to do, I would be really surprised if they didn't love it. A lot of activity is indoors anyway so they don't really even notice the weather IME.

Theres a whole section on the top deck that’s a just kids area. They have their own activity court as well as smaller hang outs and gaming/ Tv type rooms.

MSC have organised activities for the kids everything from sport to treasure hunts. I watched a brilliant one with teens playing football inside big inflatables. It was hysterical watching them bouncing around.

The older teens would make friends there and then go off and use the other facilities like the pools and hot tubs together. The younger kids got braver as the days went on and you’d see a group just hanging out on sofas by the lifts, with colouring in books or toys. Then they’d saunter off and order a mocktail from the bar!