Alesund cruise port, Norway
The whole town burned down in one night in January 1904 and was rebuilt at speed in Art Nouveau, with materials Kaiser Wilhelm II sent by ship. That is why a small Norwegian fishing port has turrets, spires and stone flowers over its doorways. The Aksla viewpoint is 418 steps above it, and worth every one.
Worth knowing. The Kaiser holidayed here so often that when the news reached him he had four shiploads of aid on the way within days. A town of wood came back as a town of stone because of it.
What to do in Alesund for free
The Art Nouveau centre starts five minutes from the ship and costs nothing to walk round. Aksla is 418 numbered steps up from the town park, with benches and smaller views on the way, and standing at the top costs nothing.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
Atlantic Sea Park. One of the biggest saltwater aquariums in northern Europe, three and a half kilometres west of town on the open coast, with the tanks fed straight from the sea outside. The penguins are Humboldts, which come from the coast of Chile and Peru and are the last thing you expect to meet in Norway.
A RIB out into the fjord. Fast open boats from the harbour, with a suit and goggles handed to you before you go. It is cold and loud and much closer to the water than the ship gets.
Which ship calls at Alesund, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iona | 5 September 2026, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 12 September 2026, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 19 September 2026, 7 nights | Day 4 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 28 March 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 3 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 4 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 10 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 11 April 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 11 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 17 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 24 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 25 April 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 1 May 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 8 May 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 15 May 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 4 September 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 5 September 2027, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 11 September 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 25 September 2027, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 26 March 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 1 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 2 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 2 April 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 8 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 9 April 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 15 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 16 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 16 April 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 22 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 23 April 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 29 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 30 April 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 30 April 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 6 May 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 13 May 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 16 July 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 23 July 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 23 July 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 27 August 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 2 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 3 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 3 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 9 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 10 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 16 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 17 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 17 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 23 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in Alesund
The published times give you between about 8.5 and 10 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Alesund.
- CherbourgTitanic's last call on mainland Europe, on the evening of 10 April 1912, and she never came alongside: tenders carried the passengers out to her.
- Cobh (tours to Cork)Titanic's last port of call, on 11 April 1912, when the town was called Queenstown.
- Getxo (tours to Bilbao)Basque country, at the mouth of the river up to Bilbao.
- HaugesundNorway calls this its birthplace: Harald Fairhair, who pulled the country into one kingdom in the 870s, had his seat at Avaldsnes, just down the coast.
- La CorunaThe Spanish Armada sailed from this harbour in 1588, and it is still guarded by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse from about the year 100 which has never stopped working: the oldest one on earth still doing its job.
- La RochelleThree medieval towers stand at the mouth of the old harbour, and a chain was slung between two of them to shut the port at night.
- Le HavreFour fifths of the town was destroyed in September 1944 and Auguste Perret rebuilt the centre in reinforced concrete on a grid, which is now a World Heritage site, listed for the planning rather than for anything old.
- Le Verdon (for Bordeaux)The mouth of the Gironde, where the estuary meets the Atlantic, and a deep water quay built for cargo rather than for a town.
- OldenA village of a few hundred people at the head of Nordfjord, 100 km in from the open sea.
- SkjoldenThe innermost point of the Sognefjord, about 200 kilometres from open water.
- StavangerA herring and sardine-canning town that struck North Sea oil in 1969 and became Norway's richest city.
- VigoEurope's biggest fishing port by weight landed, and it smells honestly of it near the market.
Money and language in Norway
Norwegian krone (NOK, kr). Norway is close to cashless. A card works everywhere, including small kiosks and buses, and you can sail without touching a krone. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
Almost everyone speaks excellent English, so these are a courtesy rather than a need.
| English | Norwegian | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Hei | hey |
| Goodbye | Ha det | hah deh |
| How much? | Hvor mye koster det? | voor MEE-uh KOSS-ter deh |
| Thank you | Takk | tahk |
| Please | Vær så snill | vair soh snil |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.