Heartfelttraveler Posted August 11, 2016 #1 Share Posted August 11, 2016 I am new to Hurtigruten and just booked my first voyage for March 2017 on the MS Spitsbergen for the Classic Voyage South (5 nights). I am in the USA. The internet pricing for March shows two types of choices in each category - Unspecified and Select. I looked at pricing in April 2017 z9the next month) and there are now three categories - Basic, Select and Platinum. What I do not understand is that the difference in pricing between Select and Platinum is a moving target. For a Polar Outside it adds about $1500 PP. For the Suites it adds about $3,993 PP. This is for the same upgrades. The only difference is the type of cabin. Does anyone understand why adding the following would add $1500 for one type of cabin and almost $4,000 PP in another type of cabin on a five night voyage? This seems insane to me. Guaranteed speciality dining in the A la Carte restaurant every night Inclusive drinks package with dinner Visit to the ship's bridge Access to PLATINUM exclusive shore excursions (payable) Private airport transfers in Bergen and Trondheim Airport transfer in Kirkenes Complimentary water daily in cabin Norway's Coastal Kitchen Welcome basket with Champagne Complimentary use of binoculars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarniaLo Posted August 11, 2016 #2 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Because everything is more expensive for a Suite! :) Obviously Hurtigruten's new management is trying hard to get a good return on their investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinmarie424 Posted August 12, 2016 #3 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Also if you have one of the few suites available for five nights they are unable to sell it to someone else for a seven or twelve night voyage. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartfelttraveler Posted August 13, 2016 Author #4 Share Posted August 13, 2016 The five night (sold as six day south) has the seven day north coastal to make up the 12 day round trip. So they sell either a 6 South, 7 North or 12 round trip. They are the same ship and voyages and can be booked either way. It does not cause anything to be unsellable. The 12 night also have the new pricing matrix after April 1, 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted March 26, 2017 #5 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I am new to Hurtigruten and just booked my first voyage for March 2017 on the MS Spitsbergen for the Classic Voyage South (5 nights). I am in the USA. The internet pricing for March shows two types of choices in each category - Unspecified and Select. I looked at pricing in April 2017 z9the next month) and there are now three categories - Basic, Select and Platinum. What I do not understand is that the difference in pricing between Select and Platinum is a moving target. For a Polar Outside it adds about $1500 PP. For the Suites it adds about $3,993 PP. This is for the same upgrades. The only difference is the type of cabin. Does anyone understand why adding the following would add $1500 for one type of cabin and almost $4,000 PP in another type of cabin on a five night voyage? This seems insane to me. Guaranteed speciality dining in the A la Carte restaurant every night Inclusive drinks package with dinner Visit to the ship's bridge Access to PLATINUM exclusive shore excursions (payable) Private airport transfers in Bergen and Trondheim Airport transfer in Kirkenes Complimentary water daily in cabin Norway's Coastal Kitchen Welcome basket with Champagne Complimentary use of binoculars We've been speaking a bit with our TA about this "platinum" package, which seems exceedingly overpriced for what appears to be offered. ... or that is one mighty *FINE* bottle of Champagne! :rolleyes: What also got us was that this $4k per person (that's $8k extra) doesn't even include those special tours. It simply "allows" one to pay extra for them. (And it doesn't seem that there are many of them?) What is the "a la carte restaurant"? Can anyone purchase meals there on a one-by-one basis? (What type of food or complete meals are available there?) Is this separate from the place to buy snacks? Note: We are seeing online that high fee ($4k pp) for the full 12 day journey. Perhaps it was a typo to have that for a shorter stay? We'll be on the Trollfjord (March, 2018) in case that is relevant to any of the above questions. Maybe the "a la carte" restaurant varies by ship? Heartfelttraveler, is your cruise over? How often did you see the Northern Lights? And thanks for your other responses. And as always, we thank everyone for help. CruiseCritic is an amazing resource, but it's been especially helpful with respect to Hurtigruten, as it's not as well known as the larger, general cruise lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartfelttraveler Posted March 26, 2017 Author #6 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Our cruise ended Friday March 24. Excellent sailing except our Marbile Mine excursion was cancelled. We had very good Northern Lights on night one and two going south. At least two hours each night. We flew to Iceland and even saw them from above over Iceland and amazingly were able to photograph them from the plane window. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitl Posted March 27, 2017 #7 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Suites expensive? It's like flying Business Class.They pay for the rest of us to sail/fly Economy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinter Posted March 27, 2017 #8 Share Posted March 27, 2017 The "a la carte" dining is a separate dining room with a different menu than the dining room. It is supposed to be the gourmet option, and offers (as I remember) 3, 5, or 7 course meals for dinner. Any passenger can book a dinner at this optional dining venue, but it is not inexpensive. Definitely NOT the snack bar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted March 27, 2017 #9 Share Posted March 27, 2017 The "a la carte" dining is a separate dining room with a different menu than the dining room. It is supposed to be the gourmet option, and offers (as I remember) 3, 5, or 7 course meals for dinner. Any passenger can book a dinner at this optional dining venue, but it is not inexpensive. Definitely NOT the snack bar! Thanks. Our TA just sent some additional information, and some "photos" (that look far more elegant that it really is?). He, too, has difficulty getting info from Hurtigruten, but at least he's tenacious. Apparently, according to his latest info, if one has full board, there is a much (?) smaller upcharge than if one doesn't have full board and pays the full charge for this restaurant. He's still trying to get info about just what either of those charges are, however. He was also told that there are several choices for each course. (I'm guessing that one would need to place orders in advance, or wait a long time for everything to be cooked from scratch on demand, but additional details are slow to emerge.) Does anyone happen to have any information at all about just what choices are available in this special restaurant? Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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