Which of the 3 Norway cruises is good for us in terms of relaxing itineraries?

I see 2 other options and want to mention them.

Cruises from Bergen or Trondheim with smaller Havila or Hurtigruten transport ships along the coast allow not wasting time with sea days. You can also fly to Oslo and use beautiful train ride to Bergen. With these ships you optimize "cruise scenery type" because they can drive closest along the coast. Itinerary is unbeatable by cruise ships. Prices are higher than regular cruises.

Cruises from Germany (Bremerhaven with Phoenix or from Hamburg or Kiel with Aida and Mein Schiff) are closer than from Southampton and do not cross the partly rough North Sea; they drive closer to coast. Staff on all ships speak English of course. Prices are comparable to the cruises from UK. Another advantage is that you are on European mainland and in Schengen zone already.

Good luck!

These itineraries seem very close to me. Which one takes you to more of the UNESCO designated fjords? 2024 is the last year that ships that are not zero emissions can enter those fjords. You may want to consider that aspect.

The other aspect that might help differentiate is the size of the ship. For this routing I would say smaller is better.

These itineraries seem very close to me. Which one takes you to more of the UNESCO designated fjords? 2024 is the last year that ships that are not zero emissions can enter those fjords. You may want to consider that aspect. The other aspect that might help differentiate is the size of the ship. For this routing I would say smaller is better.

Thank you Carol

I was not aware of that!

In that case, may I ask this itinerary covers all the UNESCO aspects that you mentioned as I realised this one is a bit different from the 3 above I mentioned i.e.

https://www.cleancruising.com.au/cruise/PAOION007_20240525

If so, I will take this one!

There are no Zero Emission cruise ships currently. Iona is a Low Emission ship, but not Zero Emission.

It is not clear how rigidly this rule is going to be applied. If all cruise ships are really to be stopped from visiting certain fjords the effect on the economy is going to be serious. There may be a more pragmatic approach ultimately.

But currently Havila and Hurtigruten are the only lines to meet the rules. They are the two lines who run the Coastal voyage- but the clue is in the name- they sail along the coast.

If the new rule really is taken seriously it may be that cruise lines will become the same as Havila/Hurtigruten and be confined to sailing the coast, and you may have to take local ferries to enter the fjords. Ports like Haugesund, Stavanger and Bergen (on these itineraries) will remain cruise ports as they are on the coast, but the others we have to wait and see.

Iona does not remotely meet the "smaller is better" thought. She (and others of her class with various lines) is huge, which is why there are only certain of the fjords she can enter. Iona takes over 5,000 passengers.
Britannia is around 1,000 passengers less, but is still a large ship.
Ideally for a fjord itinerary you want a 1,500 to 2,000 pax ship (or less).
Places like Olden are tiny, and ships like Iona- their passengers multiply the population of places like Olden by several hundred per cent.

For the interested ones the German NABU (environmental association) does an annual cruise line ranking how many environmental friendly measures were realised. The results 2022 you can find here.

Hurtigruten and Havila both go into the Geirangerfjord on northbound trips after making tye first if their two stops in Alesund.

Hurtigruten and Havila both go into the Geirangerfjord on northbound trips after making tye first if their two stops in Alesund.

Only from the start of June to the end of August for Hurtigruten. And for some reason the Nordlys has not been serving Geirangerfjord at all this year. No idea about Havila.

Yes, it's a summer-only feature. I meant to mention ithat in my post. That's strange about the Nordlys.