Norwegian fjords cruise

elsien

We booked the flights as a package, and I'm quite glad we did because when our flight was delayed due to bad weather and the boat left without us, hrutigruten were responsible for organising the taxis to chase it down the coast to the next stop. Although I suppose if you're organising your own flights you'd build extra time in for those eventualities.

gettingtheresometime

elsien wrote: »

That'd be me then. I don't get changed for dinner at home, so if I've not done anything to get me grubby, I don't really see the point of getting changed for dinner just because I happen to be on a boat instead.

But after a day's sight seeing or sunbathing then wouldn't you shower before eating.

zagfles wrote: »

But we don't want posh dinners, neither of us likes eating late, hate going to bed on a full stomach, would prefer a good lunch and light early dinner, no later than 7pm, pref 5-6pm.

Evening entertainment would be good, but not essential, for instance cabaret, piano bar, magic show, karaoke, comedy show, murder mystery night etc. But we do a lot of that at home so it's not vital - just chatting with people we've just met in the bar is fine, or even playing cards/board games.

I don't know if it's the cruises you've heard about or whether it's your perception (a little of both I suspect) of cruises but I've found them to be flexible in that you can tailor each day to what you want to do.


There's no rule that says you have to eat yourself silly, or eat late. There's no rule that says you have to be suffer forced entertainment - one of my favourite pastimes is to 'people watch'.


Many of the cruise lines will allow you to bring your own alcohol on board, within reason, but again in my experience the bar prices are comparable with pub prices.


There's no rule that says that you have to dress up a dog's dinner but do you know what - I find it's nice, just occasionally, to do that.


At the end of the day each cruise line will appeal to different sorts of passengers. It's just a case of finding the one that suits you.

elsien

I hate sunbathing. Sitting in the shade with a book is more my thing. And of course if I got hot and sweaty I'd shower and change.
But as it was -24 outside when I visited, getting hot and bothered wasn't an issue and my large array of outdoor wear took the brunt of any dirt that came my way. Then the jeans and a fleece for a relaxed evening.
I guess I'm just a mucky beggar at heart.

zagfles

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

But after a day's sight seeing or sunbathing then wouldn't you shower before eating.

I don't think we'd be sunbathing on a Norwegian cruise in winter or spring .

I'd treat it like home - if I'd been doing stuff that gets me sweaty or dirty I'd have a shower and change, if not I wouldn't.

I don't know if it's the cruises you've heard about or whether it's your perception (a little of both I suspect) of cruises but I've found them to be flexible in that you can tailor each day to what you want to do.


There's no rule that says you have to eat yourself silly, or eat late. There's no rule that says you have to be suffer forced entertainment - one of my favourite pastimes is to 'people watch'.

I think you've misread my post, I'd quite like entertainment as I said. Just that it's not essential as it's stuff I do a lot at home anyway.

Re eating - in my travels I've been to townswhere it's quite difficult to find restaurants open before 7 or 8pm in the entire town, so I thought this might be a problem on some cruises.

Many of the cruise lines will allow you to bring your own alcohol on board, within reason, but again in my experience the bar prices are comparable with pub prices.

Thanks - which cruise lines are good value/allow own drinks?

There's no rule that says that you have to dress up a dog's dinner but do you know what - I find it's nice, just occasionally, to do that.

That's good, I don't have any problem with others dressing up as they want, as long as they have no problem with me dressing as I want, within reason.

At the end of the day each cruise line will appeal to different sorts of passengers. It's just a case of finding the one that suits you.

Indeed - that's what I'm trying to do.

michele-p

My mum and dad have been on many Thomson cruises, they didn't want to get dressed up for dinner, and found it just right. I don't know about the Norway route, but they did many throughout Europe for good prices.

Norway is EXPENSIVE, so a cruise could be a great option. We just had a 7 day road trip from Oslo to Bergen and back. The one thing we found, outside of those 2 cities, people just don't eat out. Thank goodness we decided to take most of our food with us. Driving round a largish town on a sat night at 7pm, looking for somewhere to eat, we discovered a community centre with a chinese/Norwegian place. It was literally the only place we could eat!

I'd imagine cruise ports will be nicely bustling with cafes ect, and you'd eat your evening meal on board anyway. It's a beautiful country, and the people are so helpful and friendly. We just didn't drink for a week, but you could have wine/drinks on board!

zagfles

michele-p wrote: »

My mum and dad have been on many Thomson cruises, they didn't want to get dressed up for dinner, and found it just right. I don't know about the Norway route, but they did many throughout Europe for good prices.

Yes, the Thomson one looks quite good, but they only seem to have one date available, in July, not sure if that's their only cruise there or the others are fully booked.

Norway is EXPENSIVE, so a cruise could be a great option. We just had a 7 day road trip from Oslo to Bergen and back. The one thing we found, outside of those 2 cities, people just don't eat out. Thank goodness we decided to take most of our food with us. Driving round a largish town on a sat night at 7pm, looking for somewhere to eat, we discovered a community centre with a chinese/Norwegian place. It was literally the only place we could eat!

Yes, Sweden is similar. Same with pubs.

getmore4less

this dropped into my inbox an example of current pricing/packaging, shop around.

https://www.imaginecruising.co.uk/more-dates/334945

getmore4less

Ships start evening nosh(buffet and restaurant) around 5pm-6pm many have 24hr options anyway to fill the gaps.

Most lines have policies on taking your own but depending on port of departure this may not be an issue if you want some cabin stock like a wine box or a bottle of spirit.

fredandwilma

Try Fred Olsen?

Less informal, smaller ships which can sail down the fjords the larger ships can't access.

I've done something similar to this below, visiting North Cape / Arctic Circle

http://www.fredolsencruises.com/places-we-visit/cruise-holiday/exploring-remote-spitsbergen-W1813?port=honningsvag-north-cape&referrer=1&isback=1


Cruising isn't for me however we visited Spitsbergen, Lofoten Islands, Leknes, Henningsvaer, Tromsø , Honningsvåg, to name a few i can remember and also visited a Sami settlement.

hth

f&w