A Pool and Hot Tub on Our Cruise, I mean, Ferry to Norway from Copenhagen.
My days in Denmark were up. It was time to get on the overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo, Norway and discover a new country. What I found on the ferry, though, was a bit of a shocker.
Ferry to Norway
First of all, the ship was massive, holding just under 3,000 passengers. (The largest – and only – cruise I had been on was a 100 passenger ship to the arctic.)
The group of us travel writers were greeted by a young lady dressed as a mermaid and a Caribbean band playing danceable beats on the back deck. The sun was shining, the temperature was hot, people were swimming in the pool and everyone happily had a drink in their hand. Where am I??
Ferry or Cruise? The Back Deck of the Ferry to Norway.
A Ferry That’s Really a Cruise Ship
After asking around, I felt confident that we were on the right ferry and settled in on the back deck. The interior screamed cruise ship but the jagged coast of western Sweden to our right was certainly not the Caribbean.
A few of my favourite things about the ferry:
My Cabin in the Ferry to Norway from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Read more articles about Denmark and Norway.
(I travelled as a guest of the Eurail Group, Visit Denmark and Visit Norway.)
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It’s amazing when it comes to service industries in Nordic countries. I know what you mean. I’ve had some great experience at the information desk in Oslo airport back in 2002.
I’ve been waiting for my friend to meet me at the airport and she was late. I took out her card from my pocket and as the phone number wasn’t right, I went to the info desk at maximum despair thinking to myself if they could help.
To my great surprise, they help me find the number, dialed it for me and I talked to her finding out she was on her way to the airport! So, I learned some new meaning for the phrase “Information Desk”!
Rahman Mehraby
Destination Iran
What a great experience, Rahman! Isn’t it great when you’re travelling and in a bind, and someone comes through to help out? That’s what I love about being in a foreign place without having the comforts of home: you are forced to rely on strangers and it’s refreshing to know that travellers are so often helped out. Norway is a fantastic place to travel.
Thanks for the article Lori. I’m looking forward to my ferry ride/cruise next month.
I am assuming you were on dfds? Do you know where one can book the “walk on fares” you mentioned?
Hey Bjorn, glad to hear you’ll be on the ferry/cruise ship next month! Yes, it was the DFDS. You can book through their website. I just actually sent them an email because I was told you could do a “walk on” without having to book a cabin, but I don’t see the option in the online booking system. Their website also states that no food is allowed to be brought on board that has not been purchased on the ship, but I saw a few families with picnic meals (there is a cafe, but these looked homemade). So let me get back to you on the “official” word from DFDS.
Thanks for your quick response Lori.
I gave the UK team a call this morning and they said it wasn’t possible to book just a “walk on” ticket because of “health and safety” reasons. Silly! Especially since I plan on dancing the night away.
Let me know if you find out anything different
I got the same news via email. Here’s what they said:
“For security reasons is it not possible to travel with DFDS seaways without booking a cabin/berth. We do not offer “Walk on” fares.
As for bringing your own food, it is allowed, however it cannot be consumed on public places. So if you bring your own food, you have to consume it in your cabin.”
I’ll edit my above post to reflect this, although I’m still wondering how the people I saw got on. Perhaps there’s a local loophole that allows those in-the-know to travel by walk on…