The route is very scenic, so well worth the trip. However, much of the interest of the trip is in the places you stop and what you see. The company's "excursions" are all extras and very expensive ones at that, some well over $100 for a few hours. With ingenuity and research you can do much better.

You will get no help from the crew. Maps of upcoming destinations were kept locked away until the very day of the stop. If you asked for one ahead of time, a crew member would unlock the drawer and pull one, and only one, out, explaining that if they put them out ahead, people would get confused. That seemed unlikely to me. All of the maps they do put out are available from Norway's tourist Info offices. So I suggest you contact the Norway tourist info offices before your trip and ask for maps of the major ports where you will have time.

When we tried ask questions that would help plan how to use our time off the ship, the crew at the reception/excursion/shop, particularly, the short woman with short reddish brown hai,r was not only unhelpful, but sometimes gave misinformation. Read more