Kristiansand cruise port, Norway
Laid out as a grid in 1641 by Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, who wanted a fortress town guarding the entrance to the Skagerrak and had one built on the sand at the river mouth. That is where the name comes from: Christian's sand. The grid is still called the Kvadraturen, and Posebyen beside it kept its low wooden houses.
Worth knowing. The founding plan fixed every street at 24 ells, which is about fifteen metres. Nearly four hundred years later the traffic still goes where a seventeenth-century Dane decided it should.
What to do in Kristiansand for free
Odderoya is right beside where the ship ties up: an old military island, now paths and views back over the harbour, with small beaches to swim from. Posebyen, the quarter of low white wooden houses, is about twenty minutes on foot through the grid. The cathedral is open to walk into.
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.
The archipelago by boat. Out through the islands and skerries, usually as far as Lillesand along the coast. This is the calm sheltered water Norwegians spend their own summers on.
Dyreparken. The zoo a few minutes out of town, with a park, a water park and a pirate village built into it. This is the one to know about if there are grandchildren with you.
Which ship calls at Kristiansand, 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 | 26 September 2026, 7 nights | Day 6 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 18 September 2027, 7 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 7 May 2028, 14 nights | Day 10 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 14 May 2028, 7 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 14 May 2028, 14 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 21 May 2028, 14 nights | Day 10 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 28 May 2028, 7 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 28 May 2028, 14 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 4 June 2028, 14 nights | Day 10 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 11 June 2028, 7 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 11 June 2028, 14 nights | Day 3 | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 2 July 2028, 14 nights | Day 10 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 9 July 2028, 7 nights | Day 3 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 9 July 2028, 14 nights | Day 3 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
How long you get ashore in Kristiansand
The published times give you between about 8 and 9 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 Kristiansand.
- 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.
- 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.