Cruise the Fjords

Look at Hurtigruten.

Hurtigruten and Havila have ships sailing both along the Norwegian coast between Bergen and Kirkenes.

The spectacular fjords are more in the inner country than at the shore. For more details read this article.

We took Hurtigruten from Kirkenes to Bergen in May 2023.

Hurtigruten and Havila are coastal ferry ships that transport people, cars and goods. They are unlike a typical Princess, Celebrity or NCL cruise. No casinos, no Broadway shows...

The focus is on the beautiful scenery. Some of the Hurtigruten/Havila ships will take you into Geirangerfjord and Trollfjord, depending on route and weather conditions.

If fjords are a priority, the spectacular Naeyorfjord should be on your list. Do some searches on this forum for Norway in a Nutshell.

Is there a best time from for a cruise of the Fjords?

Do you mean best time or best date? And what is your definition of best?

Also look at Princess Cruises. You will find that they will cost a bit less. I've done two in Norway. The first was two weeks round trip from Southampton and went up the coast of Norway to the North Cape and back. The second was a week that focused on the Fjords in southern Norway. I enjoyed them both, but I must admit the coastal cruise to the far north was my favorite.

I am in no way discounting Princess or any other mainstream cruise line, but be aware, as mentioned previously, they are not at all the same experience that Hurtigruten or Havila provides. Both types of experiences have their pros and cons.

jules, the location of the Naeyorfjord allow year round ferry trips, only occasionally not running due to ice.

The Geirangerfjord is usually only included in multi day cruises in the summer months. There are day cruises to Geirangerfjord from Ålesund nearly year round.

There are also a handful of other fjords you can drive along or cruise on, like Hardangerfjord or Lysefjord.

Is there a best time? It would depend on the experience your looking for. Frozen waterfalls and minimal crowds or summer season with longer daylight, green mountainsides with gushing waterfalls but more crowds or shoulder season where you could have a mix all weather.

If you are wanting to include the Trollstigen, then go in the summertime. It had just opened when we were there in early June 2023. This year it is expected to open July 14.

What I was wondering, is there a best time of year to cruise the fjords taking into account weather, price, possible crowds, etc. Thanks for your thoughts, Jean.

We did a wonderful cruise from Copenhagen up the coast of Norway stopping at six great ports into wonderful fjords.
The cruise line was Royal Caribbean and the cruise went all the way to the North Cape.

I researched taking Hurtigen(sp), but declined, since they only offer lengthy excursions from 3 ports. Yes, they stopped at many more ports, but most of the time only for a very short time, like 30 minutes. Also, cabins were not balcony cabins and the cost of dining and drinks was more than I expected.

I suggest any cruise that goes to the North Cape. I know that NCL also does.

For a smaller cruise line you are probably looking at UK based cruise lines such as Fred Olsen (a Norwegian company, whose main business is freight and Canary Island ferries) and Ambassador. Mid sized ships not full of casinos and the other fripperies of the American based lines.
'Fred' in particular often has itineraries beyond where either the bigger ships or indeed Hurtigruten/Havila can get to- using their Norwegian heritage. A good compromise of cruising styles.

@jules m: if you go to the Fred.Oslen website or indeed watch any number of videos on YouTube, you may get a sense of times to at least join a cruise of the fjords. Videos by folks travelling via Havila have interested me as well. This kind of cruise was never on my radar, but I am now exploring and enjoying doing so!

P.S. Hurtigruten's website has info broken down by the seasons. Nice.

Thank you Debbie