Mini cruise review
Say the length out loud before anything else: fifty minutes. That is a taster, not a fjord trip, and the honest way to book it is knowing that. My verdict: 4.5 from about 597 reviews, on the same operator’s wooden ship that runs the two-hour sailing, from the same quay, Rådhusbrygge 3, on a short loop with recorded commentary in thirteen languages. If fifty minutes is what your day has, this does the job. If you have two hours, spend them.
Fifty minutes buys the harbour
This is the shortest thing on the water here by a wide margin: the next shortest is ninety minutes and everything else is two hours or six. A short loop out of Rådhusbrygge 3 is a look at the city from its own waterline — Akershus on its headland, the Opera House across in Bjørvika, the Aker brygge and Tjuvholmen front. It is genuinely worth doing and it is not the same trip as the two-hour boats, which get properly out among Hovedøya, Lindøya and the rest.
Victoria, from Sweden, described it as fun to see part of Oslo from the water, with a pre-recorded commentary. Part of Oslo is the right phrase and it is more accurate than most marketing manages. What a short cruise actually covers.
About 597 reviews, which is a different animal
The two big files on this site hold about 6,690 and about 6,150 opinions. This one holds about 597. It reads the same 4.5 as both of them and it is not the same claim.
Five hundred and ninety-seven is enough to be meaningful and not enough to be settled. A bad season, a change of boat or a run of cold Saturdays could move this number in a way it cannot move the file on the two-hour sailing. Read it as a solid indication rather than a measurement.
What the reviewers keep saying
- Esther, United Kingdom — the sea was calm, and for fifty minutes it packs a lot of sights in
- Sofia, Portugal — great sightseeing, with breathtaking surroundings
- Victoria, Sweden — fun to see part of Oslo from the water, with a pre-recorded commentary
Esther has written the fairest sentence anybody could write about this listing. It packs a lot in for fifty minutes. That is praise with the length built into it, which is how this trip should be judged. Nobody who booked fifty minutes and got fifty minutes is going to complain about the fjord not appearing.
The reason somebody gives this four stars
It ends. Fifty minutes on a wooden ship going round the inner harbour is over roughly at the point where you have settled in, got the layer situation right and started looking properly. People who wanted the fjord and bought the harbour write four stars, and they are not wrong to.
There is also the seating question that this operator’s longer sailing makes explicit: on the two-hour trip no seat is guaranteed and boarding is open. A fifty-minute loop on the same kind of ship is not a trip to assume you will be sitting comfortably on either. The longer sailing, and the seat problem.
And there is no live guide. Thirteen recorded languages is a lot of coverage and none of it answers a question. Which boats carry which languages.
What works
- Fifty minutes, which is the right length for a half-day that is already full
- A wooden ship rather than a glass saloon, on the shortest trip available
- Recorded commentary in thirteen languages
- 4.5 from about 597 reviews
- Rådhusbrygge 3, in front of the City Hall with the other main quays
- The cheapest way in terms of time to see Oslo from its own waterline
Worth knowing
- Fifty minutes is a taster, not a fjord trip. Book it knowing that
- A short loop, so it does not work the near islands the way the two-hour boats do
- No live guide — the thirteen languages are a recording
- 597 reviews is a much lighter file than the two big boats here
- The same operator and quay as the two-hour sailing, so no seat should be assumed
- No landings
What the listing commits to
- A fifty-minute loop of the inner harbour on a wooden ship
- Recorded commentary in thirteen languages
- A return to Rådhusbrygge 3
What it does not
- A live guide
- The near islands the way a two-hour sailing reaches them
- Any landing
- A promised seat, on a ship whose longer sailing promises none
Fifty minutes is roughly the amount of time a visitor loses working out which of the City Hall quays they want. If your afternoon is that tight, read the pier page before you walk down to the water rather than when you get there — the scenic cruise, the one most people find first online, leaves from Langkaia at the other end of the harbour.
Who should book it, and who should not
Book it if your Oslo day already has a museum and a meal in it and the water is the third thing. Book it if you have children whose patience is measured in tens of minutes. Book it if you want a wooden deck rather than a heated saloon and cannot give the afternoon to the longer sailing.
Do not book it if what you want is the fjord. Fifty minutes cannot deliver that and does not claim to. Do not book it if you want a person talking, which is the silent boat, in English only. Do not book it if you want a lift on board, which only the electric cruise has. And if you have the whole day, the trip that actually gets off the boat is the six-hour island tour — not wheelchair accessible, with walking and climbing, and under-15s must be accompanied.
The alternatives
The two-hour sailing below is the same operator from the same quay, and promises no seat. The scenic cruise leaves from Langkaia.
Wooden ship, no seat promisedOslo: Fjord Sightseeing Cruise on a Traditional Wooden Sailing Ship
Leaves from LangkaiaOslo: Scenic Fjord Cruise with Audio Guide Commentary
The only live guideOslo: Guided Sightseeing Fjord Cruise on Premium Silent Boat
Frequently asked questions
Is fifty minutes long enough for an Oslofjord cruise?
It is long enough for the inner harbour and not long enough for the fjord. You get Akershus, the Opera House across the water and the Aker brygge front; you do not get the time among the near islands that a two-hour sailing gives you. How long each cruise takes.
Is the mini cruise the same boat as the two-hour sailing?
Same operator, same quay at Rådhusbrygge 3, same kind of wooden sailing ship, shorter loop. The longer sailing also includes a Bygdøy ferry ticket, which this one does not. The two-hour trip reviewed.
Is there commentary on the mini cruise?
Yes, recorded, in thirteen languages. There is no live guide. The only city cruise here with a person talking is the silent boat, in English only. The language lists.
Is a fifty-minute cruise good with young children?
It is the shortest trip on this water by a wide margin, which is the main argument for it. Bear in mind it is a wooden ship rather than a heated saloon, and the wind across the deck past Akershus is real. Fjord cruises with children.