Just booked a cruise.

I’m going on Balmoral in January for my 60th birthday. Can’t wait. We’ve cruised with Fred Olsen before and found them very good. Don’t fancy the big cruise ships but each to their own.

We did one a few years ago on Fred Olsen Balmoral. Old fashioned ship but superb service and excellent food.
Layered clothing is the way to go. We wore sturdy walking shoes too.
We did two trips inland and saw the lights on one of them. I found it a very emotional experience. We also saw them one night onboard ship.
Would love to do it again it was amazing.
Have a wonderful cruise 🚢

Have you personally used this solo cruiser Shez1955?

If you’re a solo cruiser take a look at Passion for Cruises.

I've always wanted to do a Norwegian cruise, but it's expensive for a single cabin. I've investigated and been shocked by the hiked price if you are travelling alone.
I hope these ships make every effort to be eco friendly. It's a sad world if we start banning things, although I do understand the necessity to cut right down on fossil fuels.

I suspect reports of anti-cruise protests are overstated by the media and reflect a very small number of activists who make sure their protest is well-attended by the press. I've never seen a protest of this kind.

:40Sago Yesterday 13.40

OldFrill

^Sago
That link to the company website doesn't give any information re the status of the build, funding, completion time - zilch. Just a computer generated video and some miscellaneous blurb.^

Nor can l find any information elsewhere.

*How rude!
Not even a thank you for the link but…….
If you take the time to look properly at the website it gives all the necessary information.
Here is a screenshot of the timeline.*

Thank you so much for the screenshot of the timeline, which l had already found. It is a projected timeline there is no confirmation anywhere that funds have been raised and the timeline is in effect/delayed/cancelled
Any business raising the £millions this one needs would ecstatically state that funds had been raised. It would be all over the media. All that is ALL over the media is what has happened to this project as it appears to have at best been postponed and at worst cancelled.
Thanks again.

Grantanow

Banning cruise ships? What happens to the thousands of crew members who would be unemployed, many of whom send remittances back to their families in the second and third worlds?

That's a fair point but the world is changing, as it always does. Many trades, crafts and avenues of employment have been lost over the centuries due to new technology, different ways of thinking and supply and demand. We are constantly evolving. Remember the miners in the 80's. What became of them? Likewise women who worked the looms in the mills to put food on the table. Future generations will look back in horror at the enormous cruise ships of today. They already are.

How true Sago.

I'd love to go on a Norwegian cruise and I'm not much of a traveller. It all just looks out of this world

Suzieque66

Cruise ships will soon be banned as they do a lot of damage to the environment.. Norway have protestors with placards telling visitors to GO HOME and may use the Orange powder to throw at you... We used to cruise often and did not realise the damage the Black Carbon does to our lungs and the planet... we no longer cruise...

Go while you can, I say.
Before the ban it all brigade get in control.

Chocolatelovinggran

The water is the normal method of transport on the west coast of Norway.
Ferries take people and goods up and down the length of the country. I'm not sure that the modest sized hurtigruten tours cause
" awful pollution ". Norwegians are very protective of their environmental.

You are quite right, it’s wonderful to see such a clean country, however remember it’s such a prosperous country because of oil and gas!

NotSpaghetti

Thanks Sago.
Looks interesting. 👍

Thanks Sago. The world is never going to come to a halt, but the more effort that is put into finding ecologically friendly way to continue living, the better.

Thanks Sago.
Looks interesting. 👍

OldFrill

Sago
That link to the company website doesn't give any information re the status of the build, funding, completion time - zilch. Just a computer generated video and some miscellaneous blurb.

Nor can l find any information elsewhere.

How rude!
Not even a thank you for the link but…….
If you take the time to look properly at the website it gives all the necessary information.
Here is a screenshot of the timeline.

The water is the normal method of transport on the west coast of Norway.
Ferries take people and goods up and down the length of the country. I'm not sure that the modest sized hurtigruten tours cause
" awful pollution ". Norwegians are very protective of their environmental.

Aveline

We did a Northern Lights cruise last year with Viking. It was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Very interesting WW2 history. We went in March and took a huge amount of cold weather clothes but didn't seem to need much of it. We're obviously hardy Scots.
If you get the chance I recommend a dog sled trip. Wonderful dogs so happy to see us and wanting cuddles. A dog lovers paradise.

you look so cosy...

Hildegarde, we did a transatlantic crossing on Queen Mary 2 in 2022.
She's a wonderful ship. Our cabin was on deck 8 with a balcony and a restricted view, we looked out on a lifeboat. We didn't mind as all we could see was the ocean anyway.
We went on a Norwegian fjords cruise some years ago, with a cruise line that is no longer in existence. It was our first cruising experience and we loved every minute. We went in September and the weather was much the same as at home.

Banning cruise ships? What happens to the thousands of crew members who would be unemployed, many of whom send remittances back to their families in the second and third worlds?

Sago
That link to the company website doesn't give any information re the status of the build, funding, completion time - zilch. Just a computer generated video and some miscellaneous blurb.

Nor can l find any information elsewhere.

OldFrill

Sago

Suzieque66 Many cruise ships use liquid natural gas which is considered eco friendly.

From 2026 there will be an electric ferry running from Newcastle to Stavanger and Bergen, so you can pop your electric car on board and have a guilt free road trip around Norway.

Our son lives in Oslo so we are very much looking forward to taking a car over, I’m sure he is already working on the shopping list!

Is the ferry under construction? I can't even find anything to suggest they raised the funding.
Many operators are converting from LNG to dual fuel as the environmental impact of LNG is no longer considered acceptable.

Here’s the link;

bergencruiseline.no/

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202407/medium-570389-img-20230315-155749614-hdr.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202407/medium-356169-img-20230314-210720605.jpg

We did a Northern Lights cruise last year with Viking. It was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Very interesting WW2 history. We went in March and took a huge amount of cold weather clothes but didn't seem to need much of it. We're obviously hardy Scots.
If you get the chance I recommend a dog sled trip. Wonderful dogs so happy to see us and wanting cuddles. A dog lovers paradise.

Sago

Suzieque66 Many cruise ships use liquid natural gas which is considered eco friendly.

From 2026 there will be an electric ferry running from Newcastle to Stavanger and Bergen, so you can pop your electric car on board and have a guilt free road trip around Norway.

Our son lives in Oslo so we are very much looking forward to taking a car over, I’m sure he is already working on the shopping list!

Is the ferry under construction? I can't even find anything to suggest they raised the funding.
Many operators are converting from LNG to dual fuel as the environmental impact of LNG is no longer considered acceptable.

I can recommend Fred Olsen for any trips up round Norway . They are smaller ships that are very eco friendly and do go into the smaller ffiords. The staff were excellent, the food very good and all the staff very helpful. I have sailed my own yacht and was not interested in going in very large ships. You could have plenty of things to do if you wanted to but they also had a good library, a very well organised card room etc etc and a small swimming pool , which I used every day. They also had excellent speakers covering many interesting subjects and the places we would be visiting. I actually saw the aurora borealis at home as we had quite a good view for a few nights in Yorkshire recently . Anyway hope you have a good time

Suzieque66

Cruise ships will soon be banned as they do a lot of damage to the environment.. Norway have protestors with placards telling visitors to GO HOME and may use the Orange powder to throw at you... We used to cruise often and did not realise the damage the Black Carbon does to our lungs and the planet... we no longer cruise...

thank goodness people are finally taking notice of the awful pollution caused by cruise ships..