Our editor was on a cruise in Norway with the AidaPrima and found out that a ship trip can be expensive. Julia Poggensee
Cruises can quickly become expensive. Our editor took a boat trip from Hamburg to Norway and found out six things you can do to save money.
Internet packages cost over 100 euros per week. It often makes sense to only use the internet when going ashore. Within the EU, your domestic contracts apply there.
In addition, it is usually cheaper to book shore excursions with local travel companies than through the cruise line.
Cruises are in vogue – not least because of the rising prices for flights and package tours. However, a boat trip can quickly become expensive. Two cocktails per evening, plus shore excursions and internet and social media packages to share experiences on social media. If you want to avoid high extra costs, you should find out about offers before you travel. I recently took a cruise from Hamburg to the Norwegian fjords – and realized the following six things to save a lot of money.
1. Book an airport transfer or bus shuttle
You can either travel individually to the port of departure of your ship, or book a special offer through the shipping company. Aida Cruises or Tui Cruises, for example, offer “Rail & Cruise” tickets for train travel. With these you can reach the German ports (e.g. Hamburg, Kiel, Warnemünde, Bremerhaven) from 65 euros by train. The tickets are generally valid on the ICE, IC and EC trains of Deutsche Bahn.
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In addition, a free seat reservation and a city ticket for onward travel by underground and suburban trains or buses are usually included. As with a booking via Deutsche Bahn, you have the option of choosing a fixed train connection or a ticket at a flexible price. With a flex ticket you only decide on the day and the route, you are flexible with the time.
I traveled on my own within Hamburg using public transport (subway and bus). Since I have the Deutschlandticket, the trips were not associated with any additional costs. My recommendation: Find out in advance where exactly the ship is leaving. I had to go to the Steinwerder cruise terminal, which is a little out of the way in Hamburg. It took me about 1.5 hours for the return trip, including changing trains. The bus shuttle to the main train station would have cost 7.50 euros. This is often cheaper than traveling individually.
If you are departing from a port outside of Germany, you can either book the return flight yourself with an airline or through the shipping company. With so-called “Rail & Fly” tickets, both the flight and the way to the airport are included. This way you don’t have to worry about getting there and you can concentrate on planning your activities on board and shore excursions.
2. Book excursions with local providers
The shipping companies – be it Aida Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line or Tui Cruises – offer a variety of shore excursions. In Norway, for example, passengers could book bus tours to viewpoints such as Dalsnibba (mountain peak on the Geirangerfjord) or the Adlerkehre (viewpoint on the top serpentine on the Geirangerfjord), a day tour to the Briksdal glacier or a ride on the historic Flåm Railway. The latter runs between the towns of Flåm and Mydral and passes waterfalls, stretches of river, snow-capped peaks and small mountain farms. But guided hikes, city tours or trips are also possible.
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However, you can book the same or similar activities with smaller or local providers – at a significantly lower price. While you pay almost 100 euros for the return trip on the Flåm Railway with Aida Cruises, depending on the offer, the tickets cost through the Norwegian travel company „Norway’s Best“, depending on the season, between 500 and 680 NOK (between 43 and 59 euros). The Flåm Railway makes a 15-minute photo stop at Kjosfossen waterfall on the hour-long journey.
If you book through the shipping company, you are bound to the specified time slots. If you buy from another provider, you have the opportunity to plan a longer stay in Myrdal and the surrounding area (e.g. for hiking) and thus a later return journey. However, make sure to be back at the port in time for the cruise ship to continue its journey. If you book through the shipping company, in contrast to independent providers, you have no guarantee that you will arrive back at the ship on time.
I only opted for trips from Norwegian travel companies because they were significantly cheaper than on the ship. Note: If you book online, you often have to pay by credit card.
If you still decide to take advantage of the shipping company’s offers, I recommend that you book before you travel. You often benefit from discounts – you could save 30 percent with Aida Cruises. Last-minute travelers can still book on board as long as the trips are not fully booked.
You can book comparatively cheap excursions through local travel companies, for example to the Adlerkehre viewpoint. Julia Poggensee
3. Beverage package – yes or no?
On all-inclusive cruises, all food and drinks are already included. However, you usually have the option to book a drinks package in advance. There are various options here: The cheapest usually includes non-alcoholic drinks and coffee specialties (bei Aida: 12.90 euros per day), the most expensive (at Aida: 34.90 euros per day) also beer, wine and sparkling wine, spritzers and cocktails.
Here you should calculate before the trip whether a drinks package makes sense for you. do you drink alcohol Do you want to order a cocktail every day or do you have wine with dinner (this is usually included).
In my experience, most passengers don’t want to worry about buying a drink or not every time. However, if you drink little alcohol and get by with coffee for breakfast and a wine for dinner, you can save a lot of money on drinks.
4. Do without expensive internet packages
I worked part time during the cruise and was available professionally. So I booked an internet package for just under 100 euros for the week. So I was able to use the extended WiFi on board. However, this was the cheapest option – you have to dig deeper into your pocket for more data volume. There are even offers for around 140 euros per week. For a short e-mail check in between, you can book internet at short notice from Aida Cruises for around 40 cents per minute. Don’t overdo it, otherwise it will quickly become very expensive.
In addition, there are special social media packages for those who want to use social networks (especially Instagram, Facebook). However, video platforms such as TikTok and Youtube are not included. Playing videos on board works sometimes better, sometimes worse – depending on the connection.
5. Plan and reserve restaurant visits
There is a huge variety of food on a cruise ship. As a rule, you can choose between buffet and specialty restaurants. Buffet is always included, at a la carte restaurants you have to pay extra for the drinks.
There are also restaurants where you have to pay for the food. These are steak or sushi specialties, for example. The surcharge is worth it if you want something special and want to dine in a quiet atmosphere. Otherwise you can save yourself the surcharge and use the rich offer of the buffets.
6. Eat your fill on the ship to save on land
Depending on the destination, going ashore can be very expensive. In Norway I paid the equivalent of around six euros for a local specialty – waffles with sour cream and jam – and 4.50 euros for a cinnamon roll.
A cinnamon roll for the equivalent of 4.50 euros – that’s how expensive the additional costs are in Norway. Julia Poggensee
Basically, I recommend that you make full use of the food on board and eat your fill at breakfast before going ashore. So you won’t be tempted to spend extra money on meals or snacks on land – Scandinavia in particular is very expensive.