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Author Message   Cherry C. Senior Member Username: Cherry Post Number: 6079 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 12:41 am:    According to my daughter's in-laws, if you do take one of the Norwegian national 'cruise' ships you had better like to eat fish.   Lester Green Advanced Member Username: Rtgreen5 Post Number: 267 Registered: 03-2007 Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 03:36 pm:    Tom: If your objective is to cruise the fjords and the coast of Norway, the MSC cruise that you are considering only does this for 2 days. The rest of the time will be spent in Kiel, Oslo and Stavanger. The 2 day Flam/fjord portion of the trip is all near Bergen, that is why I suggested that you journey to Bergen to start your trip and then book your cruise from there depending on what you want to see along the coast of Norway. Of course, if you have a reason to travel to Copenhagen, that is something else, but you can get there with your ScanRail pass and then proceed to Bergen to catch the ship....Just a suggestion based on what you have posted previously...   T Pender New member Username: Tysonstom Post Number: 4 Registered: 06-2009 Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 - 01:43 pm:    Lester: thanks for that tip. I had not gotten that far yet and will take your advice. tomp   Lester Green Advanced Member Username: Rtgreen5 Post Number: 266 Registered: 03-2007 Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 - 07:34 am:    T.Pender: If you have booked with MSC already, I have a further suggestion to make for your trip from Ramstein to Copenhagen so that you can tour Northern Germany and Jutland on the way in order to catch a Hurtigruten vessel to the North Cape from Bergen or MSC from Copenhagen; that is to rent a small car without drop-off charges in Ramstein, drop it off at a border town in Northern Germany and then use a ScanRail pass to tour the cities and places of interest in Scandanavia that you want to see and end up in either Bergen or Copenhagen, if that is your choice of the port of departure. This gives you discount prices on the ferries and trains in Scandanavia and possibly the senior discount applies for you too. This is what I did for 5 days of travel within a two week or so window, and it worked out fine as I used the train pass in Denmark and Norway. It even worked for discounts in hotels as well. I bought the pass in Germany, not in Scandanavia as I was told the price was less doing it that way. I even used the pass to obtain a sleeper and breakfast--at extra charge--which made the trip more comfortable, especially on the long trek to Boda through Oslo.   T Pender New member Username: Tysonstom Post Number: 3 Registered: 06-2009 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 07:36 pm:    John, Lester, et al: thanks for the excellent input. The website for the trip into the fjord is http://www.hurtigruten.us/norway/excursions/Pre-Post-Cruise/Sognefjord/. I checked it all out and decided to go with the MSC Cruise leaving Copenhagen 5/22. My plan (man plans, God laughs) is to go space-A from the Washington DC area to Europe, preferably Germany, a week or so beforehand and bum around Europe for a few days before heading for Copenhagen. The trip terminate on 29 May in Copenhagen and I will again try space-A home. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. tpender1@cox.net   Lester Green Advanced Member Username: Rtgreen5 Post Number: 265 Registered: 03-2007 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 05:29 pm:    Thanks John. I've accessed the web site and indeed the ships are still doing the coastal run and more. They must be competitive in price with the large ship lines now that they have invaded their turf.   Lester Green Advanced Member Username: Rtgreen5 Post Number: 264 Registered: 03-2007 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 05:20 pm:    John: You've refreshed my memory on the name and if they are still in the shipping business, that is the way that I would go to the North Cape. I believe a ship leaves every day from Bergen during the season and I would think that they must have a web site for further information. Incidentally, after I docked at Bergen after this coastal run, I caught a large ship at Bergen that sailed to the Faroe Islands, the Shetlands and Iceland, where I got off. From there, I made my way to Keflavik. I flew to Europe on Space A and returned part of the way back to the States by ship and then caught Space A out of Iceland when the NAS was open....   John Olsen Member Username: Johnny Post Number: 13 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 03:56 pm:    The Cruse line is Hurtigruten. http://www.hurtigruten.us/   Lester Green Advanced Member Username: Rtgreen5 Post Number: 263 Registered: 03-2007 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 02:38 pm:    T.Pender: I have taken a Norwegian ship down the coast of Norway a few years back and don't see why you have to travel on a major cruise line such as MSC or NCL. The Norwegians have their own national cruise service up and down the coast--I think that it begins with H and they have all classes of ships to chose from. You can take a travel plan with all meals or use the cafeteria on a cash as you go plan and I believe that this option will be less costly than the international cruise lines. I travelled to Boda and Trondheim and down the coast to Bergen on this H?? line. I think that Googling this area will get you the name.I was booked on a less luxurious ship which serviced the ports with cargo and PAX and was given a single interior cabin. The ship docked at numerous towns along the way on its was way to Bergen. Once in Bergen, one can arrange for trips into the Fjords and nearby areas which are quite scenic. If you are interested in a trip along the coast to Lapland, I would only go there one way as the return trip will most likely be a repeat of the trip up. There are options to get up to Boda and North by air, train, bus and local ferry in the summer. I took the overnight train to Boda through Oslo but the weather prevented me from journeying over to the Lafoten(?) Islands and North, so I took the ship south to Bergen. The weather in the North Cape can be quite unpredictable in the summer even though it may be beautiful in Bergen and Oslo. I found this out by personal experience.   Lester Green Advanced Member Username: Rtgreen5 Post Number: 262 Registered: 03-2007 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 02:34 pm:    T.Pender: I have taken a Norwegian ship down the coast of Norway a few years back and don't see why you have to travel on a major cruise line such as MSC or NCL. The Norwegians have their own national cruise service up and down the coast--I think that it begins with H and they have all classes of ships to chose from. You can take a travel plan with all meals or use the cafeteria on a cash as you go plan and I believe that this option will less costly than the international cruise lines. I travelled to Boad and Trondheim and down the coast to Bergen on this H?? line. I think that Googling this area will get you the name.I was booked on a less luxurious shipo which serviced the ports with cargo and PAX and was given a single interior cabin. The ship docked at numerous towns along the way on its was way to Begen. Once in Bergen, one can arrange for trips into the Fjiords and nearby areas which are quite scenic. If you are interested in a trip along the coast to Lapland, I would only go there one way as the return trip will most likely be a repeat of the trip up. There are options to get up to Boda and North by train, bus and local ferry in the summer. I tookj the overnight train to Boda through Oslo but the weather prevented me from journeying over to the Lafoten(?) Islands and North, so I took the ship south to Bergen. The weather in the Nortrh Cape can be quite unpredictable in the summer even though it may be beautiful in Bergen and Oslo. I found this out by personal experience.   T Pender New member Username: Tysonstom Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2009 Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 01:35 pm:    I followed John's recommendation and went to cruise complete, they have an online chat which put me in touch with an agent. I told her I was a single intersted in cruising the Norwegian Fjords in May and she came us with a package on the MSC Orchestra at an attractive price. I researched some reviews for MSC lines and found quite a bit of negative response mostly regarding the food and the crew attitude. Has anyone done MSC recently in any area but particularly in the Norway region? If so, Can you give me your impressions   Jon Goodbar Member Username: Jongoodbar Post Number: 19 Registered: 03-2008 Posted on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 04:21 pm:    The following link is great for booking your next cruse. My wife and I are taking an Australian/New Zealand cruise in November and this is how I booked our cruise:http://www.cruisecompete.com/ First find the cruise you want and then several travel agents will give you their best price. I first went to a local travel agent here in San Diego and they couldn't come close to the deal I received here. Once you accept an offer, the agents stop sending offers. Jon