No. 6 - 2009

NORWAY - THE ULTIMATE NATURAL CRUISE EXPERIENCE AND

THE SAFEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

In Cruise Norway News number 6 2009, you can read more about:

• News from Cruise Norway
• News from Stavanger
• News from Hardanger & Eidfjord
• News from Bergen
• News from Flåm
• News from Lofoten
• News from Hammerfest
• News from Farsund

NEWS FROM CRUISE NORWAY

Cruise Norway`s new winter brochure has been mailed to the cruise lines. View our new Winter Wonderland brochure as an e-book

Norway had the first international winter cruise in 2009. In 2010 we will have two winter cruises, to be followed by four winter cruises in 2011. There is growing demand for winter cruises in the UK market.

An following link you can create your own Northern Lights and take a look at the exciting attractions you can experience on your winter cruise to Norway: http://www.visitnorway.com/uk/mynorthernlights#

In addition to the winter cruise, Norway has a few Christmas cruises. Stavanger had its first Christmas cruise on December 13, with Queen Victoria visiting  Stavanger for the first time at Christmas.

Overnight stays in Norway are becoming increasingly popular.  Why not stay overnight in Arctic Norway and play midnight sun golf 24 H at the following cruise destinations:

Holland America Line`s President & CEO Mr Stein Kruse, visited Oslo and Norway on December 7.  In Oslo Cruise Networks`s conference Stein Kruse and Joseph Slattery presented their expectations to the Norwegian market. They could inform us about HAL`s increasing itineraries on the Norwegian market in 2010 and 2011. "Our guests are finding a cruise to be the best value for their money in Europe, and interest in Mediterranean and Northern European itineraries continues to grow."

Cruise Norway and partners are very much looking forward having more calls from HAL and establishing closer cooperation in the years to come.

Photo Stein Kruse - CEO HAL, Birger Flem - Chairman, Cruise Norway, Per Arne Tuftin - Director, Innovation Norway/Visit Norway, and Wenche Nygård Eeg - Director, Cruise Norway

Cruise Norway wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year! We are very much looking forward to cooperating with you in 2010.

Stavanger has just seen the end of both the longest cruise season ever, - and the best one. 99 cruise calls and a total of 147,000 cruise guests, up from 93 calls and 126,000 guests in 2008.

Anders Bang-Andersen, Director of Cruise Development is very happy with Stavanger setting new records in 2009, especially after the fantastically successful season in 2008. In 2007 we had 56 calls and 64,000 guests.

- We didn't reach 100 calls this year, but 99 is as close as we could possibly get.

He also expects new records in 2010, but it is still too early to put numbers to it. Costa made a total of 18 calls to Stavanger, making it the biggest cruise line there,  accounting for close on 20% of the calls.

Stavanger was also the first port of call ever for "Celebrity Equinox", on her maiden cruise.

Most of the cruise guests going ashore in Stavanger are welcomed by voluntary Cruise Hosts, handing out special maps and advising on how to get most out of their stay.

Both the Cruise Hosts and several special offers for crew members will be a permanent feature from 2010.

- It takes so little to do a little extra for both guests and crew members, says Anders Bang-Andersen.

HARDANGER - THE FJORD AND MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE

Film footage from Hardangerfjord shore excursions

Cruise Destination Hardangerfjord will help cruise liners to sell more shore excursions. 

This summer, all current offers in the region from the ports of Bergen, Rosendal, Jondal, Ulvik and Eidfjord were recorded on film. Using this footage, a DVD has been made for each of the five ports mentioned showing the excursions available. We hope that this will help the cruise companies to decide which excursions to offer.

The footage could be included in ship's presentation on the internal TV channels in the staterooms. In this way they can speed up sales, as it will certainly stimulate the passengers' interest in exploring Hardangerfjord on organized tours.

The cruise companies are free to edit and implement whatever part of the film they use, and Cruise Destination Hardangerfjord will be pleased to provide any assistance needed.

In January 2010 every cruise line with ships calling at the Hardangerfjord and Bergen ports will get a copy of the DVD focusing on their port(s) of call.

EIDFJORD - HARDANGER

From 2010 Destination Eidfjord will be offering year-round guided tours to Eidfjord Old Church for groups, on request. 

Visit the wood craftsmen at "Trebua" (next to the Old Church). You can look at the collection of fiddles from the well-known fiddle-maker Anders J. Aasen, as well as the production of wooden objects, handmade items and woodcarvings.

Take a small guided tour, see the works and listen to the fiddle! The premises are open during cruise calls to Eidfjord.

BERGEN  - THE GATEWAY TO THE FJORDS OF NORWAY

"Walk like a Norwegian" and Treasure Hunt on Mount Fløyen
From mid-June to mid-August, you can take part in guided walks on Mount Fløyen and learn about local history, the trolls, the Norwegian fairytales and Norwegians' love of walking.

Treasure hunts for children and adults are also available during the same period.

Shark tunnel at Bergen Aquarium

Bergen Aquarium is building its own shark tunnel. The tunnel will be six metres long and will give visitors an opportunity to experience sharks and other fish close up.

Construction work is well under way and it is scheduled for completion in February 2010.

Ulriken643

Ulriken643 Cable Car and the Bergen Aquarium will be offering a brand new package to visitors from May 2010.

A double decker bus will provide a non-stop shuttle service to the attractions, making this a simple choice for visitors who wants to enjoy Bergen in a nutshell in not more than a couple hours.

FLÅM - THE ULTIMATE CRUISE DESTINATION

Kjosfossen winter experience

The Flåm Railway, the incredible train journey between Flåm at the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord and the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway can now present a new winter experience.

From December travellers will be able to enjoy a  sensory experience at the Kjosfossen waterfall. Playing on the senses, the waterfall is gradually illuminated in white, blue and green. The colours symbolise different associations; white represents pure and clean nature, blue stands for freshness,  while green symbolises hope and has a calming effect.

A beautiful symphony of expressions which appeals to the traveller when the snow and the frozen waterfall come to life. The winter experience can be seen on the two last departures on the Flåm Railway from December to February.

LOFOTEN - THE MAGICAL ISLANDS

In the middle of the Lofoten Islands, between steep mountains, and facing the harsh wind-swept coast, lies a village called Vikten. Where the North Sea carves its shores into beautiful sculptures and the midnight sun colours the landscapes in warm hues.

Take a walk along the beach, or  take a village tour - notice how green the grass is, pick flowers, inhale the tang of the sea, and see how the sheep bring life to the mountains.

In the Glass Hut you can watch the glass blowers in action or take your time to enjoy the beautiful pieces of art. In a harmonious coexistence with the Glass Hut, you will find the Pottery Tower - all wrapped in architectonic statements that coexist with nature in a unique way.

Play golf and dine in the Midnight Sun

Lofoten has a beautiful 9-hole golf course, located north of the Arctic Circle. Breathtaking scenery and an adventure out of the ordinary where the Midnight Sun puts the course at your disposal 24 hours a day. Lofoten Golf Links offer different packages of transportation, green fees and meals, and the food can be served in the club house or on the  beach.

And for those who do not play golf, there are plenty of other things to be experienced, including a family farm, nature trails and a lovely ride on Hoven Mountain which takes about an hour. Lofoten Golf Links has also designed its own Viking Trail which takes you to the old prehistoric Viking sites.

Arctic Energy - Hammerfest

Starting in 2010, Hammerfest will be offering an excursion called Arctic Energy which includes a visit to the Energy House. Here, you will find an old water power plant from 1890. It is still in use, although it has been modernised, and it produces around 2% of the electricity used in Hammerfest.

The Energy House also contains a model of the first tidal turbine in the world which was installed in Kvalsund (close to Hammerfest) in 2003 by Hammerfest Strøm. The model is in miniature and it shows how the turbine converts the tide's kinetic energy into electricity. This revolutionary technology is definitely worth seeing.

The Energy House also shows a model of and a film about Europe's first LNG-plant in Hammerfest. Raw gas and gas condensate (light oil) are transported along a 143 km multiphase pipeline from the fields out at sea to the LNG installation on the island of Melkøya close to Hammerfest. This pipeline is one of the world's longest multiphase pipelines.

FARSUND - PRIVATEER CITY BY THE OCEAN

A taste of Norway in Southern Norway

Farsund, once the world's largest shipping city in terms of tonnage per citizen, is finally able to present cruise call statistics. From zero to two calls this year - the first ones ever - have in turn generated six calls in 2010. This is a matter of considerable pride to the region's cruise organization Small City Cruises and to the entire municipality.

What are Farsund and Lista doing to attract repurchasing of impressions and experiences? One of the answers is summarised by what an escort on a thematic Lista-experience said when he grabbed the microphone in the bus just as they were returning to the "Cruise Quay" in Lundevågen - The best tour of them all! That the trade itself in addition to guests praise this town and its tours is evident by the positive feedback pouring in, this in the form of thank-you letters, postcards and e-mails. Of the many impressions guests got in the city with the big heart, the reception, in particular - as the ship arrived at the quay - was beyond all expectations.  The population appreciate visitors - and showed it!

Among Farsund's old architectural masterpieces, several of which were funded by privateer resources during the English blockade from 1807 to 1814, you'll find the city's small, white wooden houses in perfect union. Farsund's sea front opens towards the ocean and allows for peace and tranquillity in harmony with nature and the archipelago. The inhabitants know to appreciate visitors from UK and the continent. The same historical experience was discovered by the director of two German feature films, using Farsund and Lista as a location for filming.

The first Norwegian settlement arose in Lista, revealed by the thousands of archaeological finds, rune stones, burial mounds and house ruins scattered throughout the pleasant, open and charming landscape. Lista has ten kilometres of white beaches, and authentic museums in characteristic environments show visitors everything from agriculture, sea rescues, boat building, war history in hangars and in the field, to creek mills and Viking graves.

Millions of migratory birds land at Lista's biotopes every spring, making it a bird watcher's paradise. The Lista Lighthouse - once the world's tallest - including a gallery, is one of the most frequently visited lighthouses in Southern Norway. Nordberg and the only authentic German-built WW2 fort in Norway, also offer amazing views of the ocean and the Lista landscape. Here, guests are able to sample traditional fare in the soldiers' mess hall. Lista's idyllic little fishing ports are perfect for strolls along the quayside.

All of the above is just a taste of what an entirely new cruise experience has to offer your guests in the privateer city of Farsund. Feel free to contact us for further information about what we can do for your ship and your guests.

More information about all the cruise ports at www.cruise-norway.no