The best cruise I took last summer was my European adventure that brought me around Norway. But not everything went as I had hoped.
I cruised to Norway on three different sailings, including one on Silversea. It's an incredibly beautiful country, and seeing as much of it by ship proved to be a great idea.
The issue I ran into was despite my planning, not every aspect worked out to my liking.
Still, I had a great vacation in Europe and it was the kind of trip I know my family will be talking about for many years.
Any good trip requires planning, packing, and a good strategy for tackling every day. You don't need military precision, just a smart approach that leverages experience and advice.
Here are five things I would've done differently on a recent cruise to Norway.
Planning out our hikes would have made it much more enjoyable
We thought it would be a good idea to mix in a hike, but for novices, it's not as simple as it sounds.
Hiking is a great way to appreciate the natural beauty of Norway, but there's a fine line between "leisurely" and "strenuous", especially since a lot of hikes are graded by people that do it all time.
While in Molde, we wanted to try out a hike that promised stunning views of the city and surrounding area.
Our first mistake was implicitly trusting ChatGPT to pick a trail for us, even when specifying we needed something easy for kids. It suggested the Varden Molde Panorama.
However, if we had cross referenced that with a site like AllTrails, we would have seen it's listed as "moderately challenging route" and "takes an average of 3 h 7 min to complete."
The grade of the hike was too difficult for us, and made it barely half way up. We shared in a good laugh after how difficult it was, but I was dejected that we didn't get to conquer it.
Next time, I'll need to rely on human advice for picking out a fun, yet not-so-challenging trail to try.
I wish I had spent money on Uber a few times
In the cities we visited, walking seemed like the right idea to get around because the cities are mostly flat and not very large.
However, I regret how much walking we did just to save a few bucks on transportation.
The issue is we'd be full of energy and vigor and ready to walk all around a city. Inevitably, we'd reach our destinations on foot and then realize it's a lengthy walk back.
In Oslo, we wrestled with the notion if we should walk all the way back or pay for an expensive Uber ride. Our group ultimately decided on walking. I saved money, but I also had sore feet.
The problem with sore feet is you're using those same feet the next day in port, and it all adds up.
I'm not advocating to explore Norway next time by private car everywhere, but I think it if there's a walkable, yet long distance, paying for transportation might be a smarter decision to ensure you can enjoy the trip.
I regret booking a multi-hour bus tour
If there's one shore excursion I instantly regretted, it was a bus tour of the fjords in Olden.
I booked a panoramic bus tour of Nordfjord, and while we did stop at some lovely places, the pacing and length of time on the bus diminished the value.
I think experiencing natural beauty is best with more time spent walking and exploring an area, rather than a 15 minute bus tour.
Bus tours might work for some people, but I despise how slow they move and how little time you seem to have in places you care about.
Worse, our bus tour was late getting back to the ship for the all aboard time. It was a Royal Caribbean excursion, so I wasn't worried about getting left behind. But on principle it bothered me, and also meant we had no time to grab a souvenir afterwards.
If I could do Olden over again, I would have either booked a small group tour or simply stayed within Olden and enjoyed the stunning lakes there.
Relying on weather forecasts was a waste of time
Every evening my family and I would talk about plans the next day and inevitably we'd check weather forecasts and none of them ever agreed on what we could expect.
After a couple of days, I stopped even checking the weather forecast because they were inconsistent and usually incorrect.
Weather in Norway can best be summed up as, "it might be sunny, cloudy, rain a little, and then back to sunny again."
My advice is plan for a little of everything. Have a lightweight jacket that you can put on if it rains or if its cold, but something you can easily stuff into a backpack.
Dress with a t-shirt and sweater, so you can easily take the sweater off or put it back on.
I certainly would not make or cancel plans based purely on weather forecasts and "go with the flow".
I spent too much money on soda
An Americans, my family is used to having a Coca-Cola with lunch. But in Europe, that's an expensive habit.
A single can of Coke would cost at least 3 or 4 Euros, and that adds up quickly among everyone in the family and across multiple days.
There are two ideas I could have relied on to avoid this unnecessary expense.
First, is to rely on either water provided or bring a water bottle along. Given how much we walked, having water is probably a better choice anyway.
Second, we could have taken cans of soda off the ship with us for a meal.
We had a beverage package onboard, and it would have been easy enough to stash it in a backpack if the kids really wanted a soft drink with their meals.
