Norway: winter clothing, shore excursions

Hi all,

We have just booked a Northern Lights cruise on the Aurora for March 18! I realise our cruise is ages away, but we are very excited! It all looks so amazing and beautiful.

We are from Western Australia so a bit of a different climate! We didn’t want to go too over board with buying warm clothing that we possibly won’t need again, so would like to keep costs down. I have been reading a few of the past questions and posts in regards to clothing etc. And have a few questions.

Are the Heatgen thermals the right ones from M & S?

Boots or shoes – are hiking type ones ok? I guessing waterproof. And there seems to be a few different opinions on snow spikes? Again snow spikes aren’t something we would need in WA!!

So we are going for the layers, thermals, jeans jumpers, windproof warm jackets and pants. Pair of gloves covered with mittens. Pair of thermal socks, covered with wool socks. Bean and a beanie with ear flaps. Scarves. Does that about cover it?

Couple of other questions about the ship and excursions, I was looking at the train and buses in Andalsnes to go to the Trollveggen (Troll Wall), but on the tourist sites it says they close for the winter. Does the ship run special excursions or is there too much snow around that time of year?

Tromso and Alta we are thinking of the dog and reindeer sled rides, and of course the Northern lights booked through the ship.

Stavanger I rather it is easy enough to book your own thing there? Do things shut there for the winter?

Also any idea of costs of the tours through the ship, I realise it is still awhile away and that the price will more than likely go up a bit, but it will give us some idea of what to budget for.

Last question for now, we saw that one of the pools on the ship has a covered roof, is the water heated?

Thank you so much for your help.

Rachel and Vicky

Hi all,

We have just booked a Northern Lights cruise on the Aurora for March 18! I realise our cruise is ages away, but we are very excited! It all looks so amazing and beautiful.

We are from Western Australia so a bit of a different climate! We didn’t want to go too over board with buying warm clothing that we possibly won’t need again, so would like to keep costs down. I have been reading a few of the past questions and posts in regards to clothing etc. And have a few questions.

Are the Heatgen thermals the right ones from M & S?

Boots or shoes – are hiking type ones ok? I guessing waterproof. And there seems to be a few different opinions on snow spikes? Again snow spikes aren’t something we would need in WA!!

So we are going for the layers, thermals, jeans jumpers, windproof warm jackets and pants. Pair of gloves covered with mittens. Pair of thermal socks, covered with wool socks. Bean and a beanie with ear flaps. Scarves. Does that about cover it?

Couple of other questions about the ship and excursions, I was looking at the train and buses in Andalsnes to go to the Trollveggen (Troll Wall), but on the tourist sites it says they close for the winter. Does the ship run special excursions or is there too much snow around that time of year?

Tromso and Alta we are thinking of the dog and reindeer sled rides, and of course the Northern lights booked through the ship.

Stavanger I rather it is easy enough to book your own thing there? Do things shut there for the winter?

Also any idea of costs of the tours through the ship, I realise it is still awhile away and that the price will more than likely go up a bit, but it will give us some idea of what to budget for.

Last question for now, we saw that one of the pools on the ship has a covered roof, is the water heated?

Thank you so much for your help.

Rachel and Vicky

Hope you enjoy the cruise...we love that part of the world.

I would go a lot less with your clothing. Think thin layers. Doesn't have to be thermal. Say a shirt, with a thin jumper,with a thin cardigan/fleece on the top. Its the air between the layers that keep you warm.

def. a waterproof for when its wet, but not a big thick waterproof.

Its not really that cold there, strange as that may seem. We have been there and they have had better weather than the UK.

If the cruise ships are going there some places will be open. If there is too much snow for the ship organised excursions to take place, there will be too much snow for a privately organised one to.

Prices usually approx. £40+ for a half day and £70+ for a half day.

For health reasons we tend to stick with half day tours .

Stavanger you dock right next to the town so that is a walk off the ship and around the town sort of place. If you wish to go further afield there I would look on the ports of call board on the CC site to see what other options are around..we have only done the wander around.

Look on you tube videos of the areas you are visiting and see what people are wearing, to give you ideas.

Avoid jeans. They do not keep you warm and when wet do not dry out, thus increasing the cooling effect. You need fleece lined outdoor trousers. Craghoppers do a wide range at reasonable cost.

just found this thread from someone else who did a cruise in march

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2243233&highlight=northern+lights

Others have posted some good advice, thin layers and waterproofs, I would just like to add that the average temp in Norway in March is 0 degrees C so it's likely to be warmer than that during the day although the wind chill will affect that.

When we did it in October our going ashore gear consisted of thin (cheap) thermals, T shirt, fleece and wind proof/waterproof jacket.

We did it in April this year and took layers and cheap waterproofs. It's all we needed. We went ashore dressed as we would for England in February and it was all good. On an excursion from Flam up into the mountains we were in shirtsleeves. Ok it's not always like that but remember if you are just wandering around the ports then the ship is only a few minutes walk away. We are going again next April and this time will be taking the same type of clothing as we now know the score. If it gets chilly it's back to the ship for a nice hot chocolate!

The Northern Lights cruises in Feb and March are siginificantly colder than the Fjords cruises in spring and as you are used to much warmer climates, I would suggest layers are definitely the best bet for you that you can add or take off as necessary.

A cold weather expert has told us that the most important layers are the base layers, so your thermal layers sound very suitable.

When we went in search of the northern lights it was minus 26 degrees C at 2-30 in the morning but as we were all layered up we didn't feel it, A wonderful experience and the scenery was out of this world,

Spikes are not necessary, in fact are dangerous going up and down the gangway. A cheap stick may be more help.

A nice web site to watch is:

http://www.portalta.borealiswebcam360.com

Pool is heated

Somewhere and I cant find it now someone posted about their northern lights cruise. You will be out on deck in the dark, trying to find the lights so you will def need something windproof up there.

Sorry try

portalta.borealiswebcam360.com

for some reason the links from cruise critic don't seem to be working. try typing it into your search engine.

Alta is the only port where the ships captain needs permission to dock from air traffic control, its so near the airport.

Shuttle bus were provided at Alta but you could walk into town is Stavanger or Bergen

The excursions booked with P&O i.e. In Search of The Northern Lights, Dog sledding and ice hotel visits or stay overnight are very very expensive and not your normal cruise excursion prices. We did this trip in March 2014 on Oriana and had a great experience plenty of snow about but snow spikes are not needed because shops would not be happy if you went in wearing them and to keep putting on and taking off isnt worth the hassle.

majortom, did you do any of the excursions yourselves? We are considering the In search of the Northern Lights.

Hi

The comments about layers are spot on but if you are going to the North Cape you need to know that it can be very cold with the wind coming straight off the pole. When we went it was bitterly cold and a bit foggy but even so it ws definitely worth the trip, it is really exhilarating. Make sure you have good headgear to protect your ears! The best clothing is what the Norwegians wear but they tend to be natural fur/skins and some don't like to buy them. However it is a bit of a moot point as the prices in Norway are extremely high so buy what you need locally if possible. You are going to love the views, I suggest that you make sure you are out in the open for the arrivals/departures your eyes won't be big enough! Make sure you have plenty of memory for your camera.

Bill

It does get extremely cold when you are up on deck for a few hours watching for the lights.

I had walking boots, which were fine and also a pair of very cheap (asda) snow boots these were great out on deck on the evening. It was covered with a foot of snow.

I can recommend the Ice Hotel, I'm sure the excursions were around the £80 mark some well over £100.

One other tip, the lights are in the sky......if they appear you can see them perfectly well from the ship.

I would say this is one of the best itineraries you can choose, enjoy it.

Wow, thank you everyone, just what we needed.

We will be arriving in the UK about 2wks to 10 days before the cruise so plenty of time to do shopping there.

Any more advice is welcome. The more the better!

Thank you,

Rachel and Vicky

I have been on fjords cruises twice, the first going right up to Stavanger. I would say the rain and wind are the elements to watch out for so a decent waterproof and fleece should do it. I like hiking so do take walking boots but it's not necessary. I will never forget my glacier trip, it was back in the days when I was super fit. I decided to go jogging in that area and was in a sleeveless top, being passed by Japanese tourists in horse drawn vehicles covered in blankets, huge hats and masks, so I guess appropriate clothing also depends on how active you are and what you are accustomed to!

Hi all,

We have just booked a Northern Lights cruise on the Aurora for March 18! I realise our cruise is ages away, but we are very excited! It all looks so amazing and beautiful.

We are from Western Australia so a bit of a different climate! We didn’t want to go too over board with buying warm clothing that we possibly won’t need again, so would like to keep costs down. I have been reading a few of the past questions and posts in regards to clothing etc. And have a few questions.

 

 

 

We have also booked this cruise. I have to say, it is long overdue for P&O to use a ship other than Oriana for this cruise because balcony cabins are much more plentiful and therefore much cheaper than on Aurora than they are on Oriana.

 

We did a similar cruise a few years ago on Boudicca, before P&O offered Northern Lights cruises and it was magical. We saw the lights on three consecutive nights, the only time we did not see them was on the 7 hour coach trip that took us from Tromso right to the border of Finland and back. It does get cold on deck past midnight and there is likely to be snow on the ground, especially in Alta and Tromso but it wasn't really any colder than we are used to in a British winter. We did a trip to the Ice Hotel from Alta which was fascinating and I don't recall it being too expensive although of course Norway is an expensive country which accounts for the higher excursion costs than in many other parts of the world.

majortom, did you do any of the excursions yourselves? We are considering the In search of the Northern Lights.

Yes we did and very lucky to have a fantastic experience of the Northern Lights but those that went on the second night were not so lucky because of clouds that is the chance you take I am afraid.

When we went on our excursion In search of the Northern Lights it went as low as -26C and was very cold too exposed sking and were told to put spare batteries for your camera in socks in your pockets. My remote control for my camera wouldnt work because of the cold and one of the professional photographers off the ship lens cracked on his camera. You may be lucky to see Northern Lights from the ship but the darker the area no light interference from houses, street lights etc increases the chance. The company that organise the trip are experts and monitor the weather so they can take you to the best area for best chance of seeing Northern Lights.

Thank you majortom - you have helped us to decide in favour of the tour to get the best chance of seeing the Lights. And it will be a great experience even if we are not so lucky :)

I did the second of these cruises in March 2014.

This is what I wore!

M&S grade 4 thermals were fine. You definitely need silk liner gloves if you want to work a camera! At the coldest - -28C - I wore two pairs M&S thermal leggings, cotton trackie trousers, waterproof overtrousers, thermal socks and snow boots (for grip). On top I had a long-sleeve thermal vest, short sleeve thermal vest, thin knitted cotton polo neck top, polartec fleece and waterproof coat. My best buy was a thermal hood from Aldi! And you need waterproof mittens to go over the silk liner gloves. Also - get some ice grips. Mine were YakTrax which are spring type so I didn't always have to remove them indoors, whereas the spiky kind had to be removed.

You might find other tips in this thread - it was one of my best cruises ever!

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2015561&highlight=northern+lights

Hi Sharon, thank you. Are the grade 4 thermals from M & S the same as their Heatgen ones? I think that might be a trademark. They are on sale on the M & S website and I can get them sent to parents' place in Cornwall.

And I take it ice grips are different to the spikes? They sound less dangerous! I will look into that, thank you.

We were even thinking a pair of flannelette pjs would help add a layer!! No one will see them under the coat and pants.

Cheers

Rachel and Vicky

We bought some Craghoppers lined walking trousers on line for over our thermal leggings which we bought in M&S :)

We are doing the same cruise in February 17 :) We went to Copenhagen in January of this year and, in temps of -15C, I was miserable. I don't want to spoil any Northern Lights experience because I'm too cold to function.

However, as we are now both retired there is no wage coming in and we have to be sensible with the pennies, so I don't want to spend a lot on things that won't get used again. We live on the south coast of England and, although nothing like Australia, we don't get a lot of very cold weather here.

I have put loads of things on my Amazon 'wish list', I have a birthday and Christmas between now and the cruise. I have added the long-lasting hand and foot warmers too! I will keep an eye on sales etc and hope not to break the bank :)