Norwegian Fjords Cruise: What to see during the stops?

hi there, a group of friends and I are going on a cruise at the end of June with CFC in Norway. I’d love to get some info on the different stops we’ll be making. Most of them are one-day stops (from around 10 AM to 8 PM on average). Here are the stops: Andalsnes, Trondheim, Honningsvåg, Alta, Hellesylt, Sandane, Austefjorden.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can share what there is to see or do in these places.

When I get back, I’ll post what we did—it might help others who come after us.

Also, does anyone know if the boat sticks to the arrival time in Dunkirk for catching tickets to head back south? We’ll plan a buffer just in case.

Thanks everyone!

Hi Patrick,

Last June I took a cruise that had a few stops in common with yours. You can check out my trip report for ideas: https://voyageforum.com/forum/retour-croisiere-en-norvege-emerald-princess-en-juin-2025-1-d10760626/

hi 4yne, thanks so much for taking the time to reply and for posting such a detailed account of your Norway cruise. It’ll help me see what we can do during our shared stops. I can’t wait to be in the fjords and discover this country. I’ll try to post some comments when I get back. On our side, we’re going with a French cruise line. A friend of mine has already been on cruises with these ships (French cruise company). I’ve already tried MSC, Royal Caribbean, and Costa on other destinations, so this’ll let me compare. Thanks again, and I wish you great future trips. Best, patrick

I’ll try to post some comments when I get back.

Hi Patrick, It’d be really great—always love reading about everyone’s experiences. Have a fantastic cruise! 😊

Hi there, we’re also doing this cruise from June 20 to July 4, hoping none of the stops get canceled—it happens a lot with this company…

hi, maybe we’ll have the pleasure of crossing paths on board if we’re on the same cruise. if you’ve got any info on the stops, I’d love to hear it. Catherine already gave us some great tips on what we can do at the common stops. looking forward to it. best,

Hi there, you won’t miss me—I’m 6’6" and traveling with my wife. We’ve done quite a few Mediterranean cruises but don’t know Northern Europe at all. For excursions, everything I’ve read says it’s better to organize them yourself—the ones offered by the cruise line are expensive and often disorganized... See you around!

Hi Alain, I just saw your message and I think we’ll manage to cross paths on the boat. We’re a group of 8 people (6 women, 2 men... long live parity!). On our side, we’re also planning our stops by looking at what there is to do. We’ll check what the boat offers, but it’s often more expensive, and we prefer to be independent. Personally, I’ve never been on a cruise with this company. For now, I’ve gathered info from Catherine on the forum and other tips from *Le Routard*. We’ve pre-booked transport to go from Honningsvåg to the North Cape by bus. Looking forward to it! Cachou

hello We’ll also be on the *Renaissance* from June 20 to July 4. This is our first cruise—until now, we’ve traveled all over the world solo. We wanted to try this style of travel because we thought it was a hassle-free way to organize visits. But I just found out that all the excursions are fully booked!!! So we’ll have to arrange them ourselves, but is that even doable given how long the stops are? Especially for the North Cape? Thanks in advance for your feedback!

hello, maybe we’ll have the pleasure of crossing paths on the ship if we’re on the same cruise. If you have any info on the stops, I’d love to hear it. Catherine already gave us some great tips on what we can do at the shared stops. Looking forward to it. Best regards

hi cacemma You’ve probably seen that there’ll be 8 of us on our side. I’ve traveled solo before and also with my wife—Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, and other destinations. We’ll likely have the pleasure of meeting on the ship. We haven’t booked any ship excursions since they’re already a bit pricey, and we’re used to figuring things out on our own. We’ve only reserved transport to get from Honningsvåg to the North Cape… We wanted to book tickets for the Golden Train directly on their site, but there weren’t enough spots left for 8 people. It was still possible for 2. We’ll see how it goes. We should head up to the Rampestreken promontory, hoping for good weather. For the rest, we’ll visit a few sites we’ve targeted. Even the kayaking trips in Hellesylt are expensive, and I think they’re fully booked on the ship.

We’re leaving from Hyères and Toulon on Friday the 19th, with a stop in Lille, then taking the train to Dunkirk the next day. Looking forward to reading from you before our departure and then exchanging stories on the boat. See you later. cachou

Bonjour ,

Par curiosité , votre itinéraire et les escales prévus lors de la réservation sont-ils restés identiques ? Pour les "Joyaux du Vestlandet" et le Renaissance sur lequel nous embarquerons du 4 au 11 juillet de Dunkerque AR , le parcours a été restreint , sans aucune information , justification ou explication , ni de CFC ni de Planète Croisière par qui j'étais passé et qui n'a même pas daigné me répondre (!) , d'au moins 300 km (donc 600 AR). Et plus question en particulier d'aller à Austelfjorden comme prévu dans le programme au départ . A la place ce sera pas + loin que Bergen , déjà vu 2 fois avec l' "Express côtier" en 2022 ...

Bonjour, pouvez-vous m’indiquer comment vous avez eu cette information ? Cordialement

Bonjour , Je ne comprends pas bien votre question ... Tout simplement en comparant l'itinéraire prévu en signant le contrat de réservation en septembre 2025 avec celui effectivement disponible 6 mois + tard sur mon compte client (effets retardés prise de contrôle par "Ambassador" ; augmentation prix du pétrole ? ... ). Bonne soirée .

Je me demandais s’il s’agissait d’une information de dernière minute que vous auriez récemment reçue , auquel cas , pour notre réservation de la croisière précédente, rien ne serait déprogrammé pour nous…

bonjour jean michel .concernant notre croisere , pour le moment aucun changement de prevu . nous partons demain . nous verrons bien si ca reste comme ça . bonne journée .

bonjour cacemma..le depart approche . nous nous verrons peut etre sur le bateau . nous sommes un groupe de huit et au cas ou , j ai des cheveux blancs avec une barbe blanche egalement. à bientot peut etre . cachou

Bonjour Cachou, effectivement, le départ approche, pour nous c’est demain 10 h à Marseille. Les usagers de la sncf parlent d’un retard de 2 h à cause de la chaleur pour la journée d’hier, cela ne présage rien de bon …mais l’important est qu’ils maintiennent notre train jusqu’à Lille. Je pense que votre groupe sera facilement repérable, nous ne manquerons pas de vous saluer durant notre séjour Très bonne journée et à bientôt peut être