Just returned from an Antarctica Circle Expedition on Hurtigruten's MS Roald Amundsen. I can't say enough positive things about the cruise, the ship, the crew and the cruise line. Some comments:
1. Our cruise was cancelled twice due to Covid. The second time it wasn't cancelled until after we had arrived in South America. We booked with and so dealt with the Norwegian office, and their customer service was stellar throughout. Though we booked our own flights and flew to Chili several days early, we were refunded all sunk costs for our trip to South America for the cancelled cruise - airfare, trip insurance, hotel in Santiago - and rebooked the following season at the price we originally paid back in early 2020.
2. The Roald Amundsen will book up to 500 passengers on cruises to Antarctica. Because only 100 people are allowed on landings at a time, that means you'd expect only one landing per day. Our itinerary included 10 days in Antarctica, so we were good with choosing a trip/ship with one landing per day. However, there were just over 300 passengers on our cruise. Hurtigruten could have chosen to stick with one landing per day, and we wouldn't have complained - it's what we signed up for. They didn't do that. The crew worked hard to give us two experiences every day that weather and seas permitted. Several days we did two landings, other days we did a landing and a Zodiac cruise. Twice we sailed and landed where no Hurtigruten ship had ever been, and the crew's excitement about that enhanced our experience of it even more.
3. The entire crew was fantastic - expedition team, restaurant/kitchen staff, hospitality/cabin staff, officers. They worked hard, but were unfailingly friendly and positive. There was clearly camaraderie among the staff, and the friendly interactions with passengers came across as very genuine. Scientists and naturalists on board were obviously excited about their fields and seemed genuinely thrilled to share their knowledge with us. I kept thinking about how many times they must have given their lectures and answered the same questions, but if they were tired of any of it, they sure didn't let us see it. At every opportunity the crew of the Amundsen went above and beyond.
4. The ship was beautiful and was kept spotlessly clean, our cabin was spacious and well designed, and the food was very good. We were not their top paying customers - we were in a "polar outside" cabin on Deck 5 paying 2019 fares - and we had a stellar experience.
Antarctica is otherworldy, stunning, indescribable. We expected to enjoy an expedition to the 7th continent, but were blown away at every turn. If you're thinking about an expedition cruise, we couldn't recommend Hurtigruten and the MS Roald Amundsen more highly.
