Oslo to Kiel on the Color Fantasy: Travelling Overnight by Cruise Ferry
Taking the MS Color Fantasy overnight cruise ferry from Oslo, Norway to Kiel, Germany is neither the fastest nor cheapest way to travel — but is definitely the most unique.
After spending a few weeks in Helsinki and Oslo, our next stop was a few weeks in Berlin. Flying would have been fastest, but we’d been travelling for well over a month and needed a break from planes.
Then we found it. The MS Color Line. Running daily between Oslo and Kiel and back again, it’s a way of getting from Norway to Germany while you sleep.
Whether you’re driving, walking off, or heading towards a connecting train (as we were), it’s an exercise in slow travel that happens to contain a shopping mall, a rock opera and one creepy clown.
A pub, a clown on a climbing wall and shops are some of the many first impressions of this ship.
Getting there & checking in
We were staying right near Oslo Central Station, so getting to the MS Color Line terminal in Filipstadveien was either via taxi (about an 8 minute drive) or the significantly cheaper bus (just over 20 minutes including a short walk). We caught the 81 to Filipstad and got off at the last stop.
On arrival, there’s a steep walk up a long driveway. At the terminal, you have the option of a self check-in or via the customer service desk. This is where you receive a cardboard ticket that also functions as your room key.
The waiting area seems to fill up fast, and it was standing room only by the time we got upstairs. There’s a bar/kiosk too. We found it initially confusing as to when boarding time began, but regular announcements in in Norwegian, English and German helped.
First impressions
The Color Fantasy is not a cruise. There’s no pool or trivia. It’s not quite a ferry either. But it does a pretty good impression of both, and it’s much bigger than something we were riding to get from A to B. When you walk onto the main promenade deck, it feels for all the world like a light version of one of Royal Caribbean’s shopping districts.
In lieu of a sailing away party like a cruise, we found all the passengers on the top deck with a beer in hand. An incongruous silver food truck sold brews and snacks. It was a great way to see the Oslo fjords as we sailed out of Norway, although the cold soon got the better of us and we headed below decks.
Our cabin
The cabins on the ship are split into three classes Standard, the larger Color Class and suites. We elected for a Standard cabin with queen-sized bed and an ocean view, although views of the promenade were also available. Rooms are dated, and come with basic amenities: telephone, TV, toilet, shower and hairdryer.
The room is quite small though. As we were travelling for almost three months, we were saddled with medium sized suitcases, and struggled to find a place for them. The porthole window at least gave us a sense of the outside.
Another issue was the lack of blackout curtains. For an overnight cruise in an area that doesn’t really get dark until well after 9:30 to 10:30pm in late autumn and high summer, it’s a potential problem.
Dining & Drinks
There’s a surprising number of places to eat and drink for a short voyage, but it’s all an upcharge unless you’re in Color Class or Suite cabin. Oceanic à la Carte is the main restaurant and we elected to pay in advance for this instead of battling the Grand Buffet on embarkation day. This was the first big surprise: a solid three-course meal with full table service and decent vegetarian selection.
People really got dressed up for this meal, although it wasn’t necessary. Our travel clothes were more than acceptable. The Cosmopolitan Gourmet overlooked this area, a visible class divide for those paying even more.
The hangout seemed to be the Donkey Pub, which is a very English pub setting with some live music and basic pub grub. It was usually quite full at all hours. Nearby, the Pizza Ristorante and Sushi Bar provided some quicker service. Up on Deck 13, there was also a Sports & Burger Bar we didn’t need to go into.
For breakfast the next day, we paid for the Grand Buffet and it was a surprisingly decent spread of continental, hot foods and European favourites. Hot tea was bountiful and it never felt too crowded.
Entertainment and shopping
This is where things get…interesting.
Unlike a cruise ship, the goal is not necessarily to keep you entertained for days. So, there’s not many ‘included’ activities in the ticket price. Instead, you’ll find a lot of shopping and a Egypt-themed casino.
But the ‘highlights’, for want of a better term, are the bookable performances in the Show Lounge. From Oslo to Kiel, the show is called Elements of Rock, a mashup of rock songs based on Earth, fire, air and water that’s somewhere between Rock of Ages and an Eisteddfod graduating class. You can probably guess the playlist, from Phil Collins to Disney. There’s a rap sequence to Ice Ice Baby with the performers in penguin costumes. It’s truly bizarre and we both loved and cringed at every second. (Coming back from Kiel, it’s called Walking On Sunshine. Have you seen it?).
Ice Ice Baby. The Elements of Rock show takes some turns.
If you can’t resist the urge to spend, there’s the large Taxfree Market and Deli filled with booze, chocolates and souvenir eats. The Color Shop was geared more to limited amounts of ship-specific merch and sundries, while Perfume & Cosmetics does what it says on the tin.
For younger sailors, Teens Plaza is a games room with a handful of arcade machines. The Adventure Planet section is recommended for ages 5-12. The Kids Corner is just that: an unsupervised corner of the ship filled with some basic playsets.
The Vibe: Who This Ship Is For
We got the impression that many of the people on the ship were not there on their first voyage. One family sang along with Elements of Rock like it was the only musical on Earth. People put on their best clothes for dinner and made an event of an overnight ferry. We imagine it’s a relatively inexpensive weekend away between the two countries.
On a more practical level, the lower two decks are for shipping trucks and cars, so many travellers continue on by road through Germany. For us, it was another couple of trains to Berlin via Hamburg.
We’re still not sure who this is for.
Is It Worth Booking?
This all comes down to your purpose of travel. If you just want to get to Germany or Norway as quickly as possible, then no. But for us, it was a way of dipping further into the culture while slowing down a bit. Which is where I really think this comes into its own, as an experience rather than simply a mode of transport.
