Norwegian Fjords Cruise 2023
In the Spring of 2023, we decided to dip our toes into the Scandanavian peninsula for the first time by taking a cruise through the Norwegian Fjords aboard the Royal Carribean Jewel of the Seas.
Brussels Pre-trip
We’ve started to add a pre-trip to our cruises lately, whenever possible, because of the uncertainty of air travel these days. We had our infamous missed connections, lost bags Rhine River Cruise back in 2019, but post-COVID it seems like no connection is safe. Amsterdam is a wonderful city to fly in and out of and it’s very easy to get to the cruise terminal from the airport, although recently in the news we saw that Amsterdam is going to ban large cruise ships from the downtown cruise port, so we’ll see how that gets handled. We arrived five days early for our cruise, but because we’d already done Amsterdam, we gave Brussels a try and it didn’t disappoint, in fact it was so much fun, we wrote that story up all by itself at Brussels 2023.
Jewel of the seas
The Jewel of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean Radiance Class cruise ship with 2500 passengers, smaller than many of the cruise ships these days, but the perfect size to get in and out of the fjords. The smaller size of the ship also afforded it the ability to dock right in the middle of downtown Amsterdam. This was our second time shipping out from the downtown cruise terminal, so we felt like we knew what we were doing. We even stopped at one of the local grocery stores to grab our one bottle each of wine that Royal allows you to bring aboard. Leaving the dock at Amsterdam and heading out to sea might be one of the most unique departure experiences we’ve had. The ship has to traverse the Noordzeekanaal, or North Sea Canal, which took us passed towns, an indoor ski slope, some weird statues, old fortifications and over several highway tunnels. Wind turbines were everywhere along the canal and again in the North Sea. We were told we’d be in for a little bit of a bumpy night and there were barf bags in the common areas for folks that needed them.
When we woke up, we were roughly in the area of Jutland, site of the largest naval battle in WWI. It was overcast most of the day but the seas had calmed. We settled in for the day, familiarizing ourselves with the trivia schedule, dining times, and trying to fill out a couple of days that we didn’t have anything scheduled for due to a lack of online choices and a weather related cancelation. We explored the Safari Club with its gyroscopic stabilized pool table to keep it level in rough seas, its chess and checker boards, and the small stage area where we’d hear about our stops along the way. There’s no getting around Jewel being an older ship at nearly 20 years old, but because she’s a lot smaller than the mega ships roaming the seas right now, it still felt like a more intimate experience. We regularly bumped into the same people both on and off the ship and were able to join them for trivia, dinner, or share a table at the local watering hole in port.
olden
Our first stop was the most picturesque stops of the trip. The town of Olden is located deep within the Nordfjord, and at first glance, it’s not much to look at. Imagine the worlds prettiest bus stop and you’ll have what we were initially greeted with. There’s a small building at the dock and then a restaurant, gas station, and a couple of souvenir shops. We were told that there was a walking path and a small road tram that could take us a little further in, but that just led to another restaurant and a few more shops. We boarded our bus and started the trip through the valley along the shores of Oldevatnet lake, making one stop for pictures. After about 45 minutes we arrived at Briksdalsbre Mountain Lodge and we began our two mile walk uphill to the beautiful Briksdale Glacier with its lake at the base. The hike back down was much more pleasant and on the bus ride back we saw one of the city buses tipped on its side. The roads are very narrow and the amount of bus traffic must make things even trickier. We finished the day with a little wandering, we were disappointed to find out that Olden Brewery isn’t open to the public but we did grab a couple of their beers at Mølla Gjestehus right by the pier.
FLam
We were a little underwhelmed by the excursion options in Flam so we picked one with a cool name and high hopes and we ended up having a great time. Flam is situated at the end of Aurlandsfjord and surrounded by mountains on all sides. To get into the interior for our two stops, we had to pass through the Gudvangatunnel, a 7 mile tunnel that leads into the next valley. Our first stop was Tvindefossen falls, a short 151 ft. step looking waterfall right off the road.
Our second stop was a replica Viking village at The Viking Experience. We had a guide walk us through the village in an authentic outfit. He showed us the tools, weapons, and buildings that were a mainstay of Viking life. We got time to wander around the village, exploring the buildings, throw some axes, and try our hand at archery. The village is situated at the end of another fjord with a river running inland. It would be easy to imagine a group of longships sailing in after plundering England.
Once we got back to Flam, we took a short hike up the hill to get a few scenic pictures and then came back to the port to explore. Our final stop was the hidden gem of Aegir microbrewery. This amazing looking building was centered around a fire place with barrel tables, wood chairs and benches, and a great selection of locally brewed beer.
gieranger
Our third stop was the town of Gieranger and it was the first time we were joined by another cruise ship. We had a tour booked at this stop but it was cancelled due to poor weather the previous week. There was also a shuttle that could have taken us to the Ørnesvingen Viewpoint but it wasn’t running either due to the weather. This meant we were walking, and walking up hill we did. There are a couple of paths up to the towns main tourist attraction, the Norwegian Fjord Centre. We took the walking path along the waterfall in town for a couple of good scenic shots. We got to the top and decided that going all the way to the Grinddalsfossen didn’t look like it was worth the walk. Back in town we found a fun little chocolate shop called Geiranger Sjokolade Fjordnær and then enjoyed some beers on the back deck of Geiranger Bryggeri (brewery). It wasn’t an easy place to find and it almost seemed like they were hiding it from the tourist.
alesund
Alesund was our first major Norwegian city. Sitting on the North Sea coast, Alesund is a major port and jumping off point for transporting goods and people in and out of the fjord towns. We saw smaller cargo ships and ferries coming in and out all day. Coming into port, the first thing we noticed was Aksla Viewpoint, the rock that sits atop the town with a visitors center on top. We hiked to the top for the best view in town. There was also a tourist trolley that goes to the top but we needed our 417 steps. Once we got back down we did some wandering, checking out the port lighthouse, visitors center, and making it all the way to Alesund Church before turning back towards the port and our stop at the Molo Brewery. There we ran into a couple we had talked to at Geiranger Bryggeri the day before and we decided to head back into town for a beer at a local dive bar called Smutthullet Pub.
molde
Our final stop was a little bit of an enigma for us. Royal Caribbean didn’t list any excursions until only a couple of weeks before departure, and by then they were all sold out. We decided to hijack one of their ideas and walk up to the Romsdal Museum. It was about a 1.5 mile walk, including a pretty steep hill, but we made and were greeted by free Wi-Fi at the museum while we waited for it to open, and that’s always welcome!
We started with the outdoor museum, which was a collection of authentic houses that have been restored, and sometimes moved here from other parts of the region. We were able to go into all of them, and some had guides telling us stories about the purpose of the house and some of the intricacies of the design, like how there were no beds because people at that time preferred to sleep upright on benches. The second part of the museum was indoors and it explored the seafaring and industrial history of Molde, they even had a restored Model C that acted as the cities first bus.
We got lucky when our original plan to end the day at Tapp & Kork happened, despite their posted hours saying they’d be closed. We talked to the owner who said that once he woke up and saw that cruise ship, he knew he had to open today. The beer selection was amazing, with taps from all over the region, in addition to their own excellent beers.
Luckily a lot of the pictures turned out great, because it’s hard to describe how beautiful the Norwegian Fjords are. The cruise offered us a great glimpse into life in this region, in large and small town alike. Our luck was pretty amazing too, everywhere we went, people talked about how bad the weather was the previous week. We saw the results with one of our excursions being cancelled, but if you can’t find something to enjoy at these stops, then you’re not trying hard enough. There is so much more to see of Norway, there are cruises that go further north and then there’s the capital of Oslo and the surrounding regions. We’ll definitely be back to Norway one of these days.