Disney Cruise: The Magic Visits Norway (Part 2)

(Part 2 of a two-part blog) When we left Alesund, we headed to Geiranger located further inland and way up the Geirgangerfjord. We set the alarm and woke up early to sit on the verandah and watch as we passed mountain after mountain and waterfall after waterfall until we finally reached the Seven Sisters—a collection of seven waterfalls that is well worth the early wake up time! 

The fjord was in deep fog that morning and made the most beautifully quiet and eerie journey with unique mountain views!

Geiranger was my favorite port! A very small quaint town, Geirganger and its 250 permanent residents were very friendly and welcoming. We did a Disney Cruise Line Port Adventure that day and joined other families on a bus that took us up a winding curvy road over a mountain. We stopped for some photos and then continued on to the local home we were visiting.

We arrived at the home of a Geirganger family who welcomed up in. Youth counselors from the Magic joined us, and the children went with them and the wife to make stamped pillowcases that they were able to take home as souvenirs. Meanwhile, the adults joined Martin, the husband, in the basement of his home where he gave us a wonderful homebrewed beer and delicious raspberry juice along with some tasty smoked meats and crackers. 

It was a very laid back day but an opportunity to meet someone local and see how they lived! After a while, the children came back and we all gathered outside to admire the views and watch the goats they keep! The kids got to feed the kids and we all left feeling like we had a very unique Norway experience. We even learned that if the grass gets too tall on their sod roofs, they put one of the goats up there to prune the roof!

Martin's home brewed beer!

Raspberry juice, beer and yummy smoked meats! (I have no idea what we ate!)

On the way to the ship, we stopped several times at scenic points to take pictures.

We were amazed to learn that the whole fjord freezes over in the winter and the people of Geiranger are isolated with no supplies, no mail and little outside contact for months! I can hardly imagine...

From Geiranger, we sailed on to Bergen and our last Norway port. Bergen is a large city second only to the capital city of Oslo. While we enjoyed the day here, it is certainly a bustling busy city! We opted to do a tour with the local historical and cultural museum, the Bryggen Museum and were treated to a historical lesson and walking tour of the town! We grabbed lunch at a neat place and had fabulous burgers! (Not very Norwegian, but very tasty!)

We then walked to Mount Floyen and took the funicular up to the top of the mountain where we were treated to amazing views of the whole city! We finished by walking through the fish market... very different than ours here in the US!

Obligatory troll photo at the top of Mount Floyen

Panoramic view from the top of Mount Floyen

Great view of the Disney Wonder from Mount Floyen.

Yes, reindeer and lamb hotdogs. If you wander around
the market, you can also buy salmon, crab and even whale!

After four ports in four days, we were exhausted and looking forward to our next day at sea. Luckily, we had a beautiful day just warm enough to lounge in the sun and a quick dip in the pool. Norway was an amazing experience, and we are so glad that we took a chance and tried a new country to visit! Doing Europe on a Disney cruise makes it all so easy, too. Days spent exploring and evenings enjoying great food and conversations with our British and US table mates followed by the award-winning shows, characters, and customer service that Disney Cruise Line is so well-known for. 

Amazing sunset from the ship...10:51 pm!

Time stamp to prove it was that late!

This cruise was my seventh on Disney—my third on the Disney Magic—and I was not disappointed. I did miss some of the down time we’ve had on some of the other cruises, and we didn’t have as much time for character meets, trivia games and lounging by the pool, but I wouldn’t have traded Norway for the Bahamas or Caribbean!

Susan Burks is a Disney travel planner at WishdrawalsTravel, a military wife, and a homeschooling mom to a 

robot-programming, history-studying, space-loving 11 year old!  

She and her family love visiting Disney World and taking Disney cruises. Having completed seven Disney cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Panama Canal and now Norway, she is now preparing to embark on a eighth Disney Cruise--this time the Trans-Atlantic--and planning her next Disney World visit, too!