cruisingbarb

Beachdreaming: Was Russia a port on a cruise or did you go there independently? St. Petersburg is on our bucket list but we want to spend at least 3 days there so except for one RCCL cruise, most only spend 2 days.

Also, we took our IPads and got internet anywhere on the ship.

I would follow up on the King Crab exercusion to see if you can find a lower price. It did sound like a lot of fun, but you're right, the price is way too high lus the day we were there it was cold and rainy so wouldn't have been that much fun.

In Bergen, definitely do the finucular and once up there, take the short hike to the pond, especially if the weather is good. Other than that, because the first day it was raining, we didn't do much other than the Hanseatic museum which was interesting. We had lunch at Madam Elle just down the street from the museum and it was good. Just enjoyed walking around. Would have liked to see some of the other sights but couldn't get my traveling companions onboard.

We paid 400 krona (approx. $50 US) for a 12 day package which we felt was very reasonable compared to big cruise ships, plus the internet was reliable and fast, so well worth it. Not sure what the price was for the 6 day cruise.

Southbound:

Day 1: Kirkenes wasn't our favorite day. It was rainy and in September, a couple of the museums we might have gone to were closed. Didn't want to pay to go to the Russian border as I've read it wasn't all that exciting.

Vardo: 1 hour stop, enough time to go to the fortress

Day 2: Hammerfest: Did the Northern Most Town tour (1 hour). It was okay. Came back and went to the Polar Museum by the pier which was interesting.

Tromso: Did the Midnight Concert which was nice.

Day 3: Spent most of the morning up top watching the scenery. Got of briefly in Sortland for a quick walk. Got off in Stokmarkness to walk through the town. Didn't visit the Hurtigruten Museum which I hear was interesting.

Svolvaer: Went to Magic Ice which was fun. Cost was $36 US for 2. They dress you in heavy parkas and gloves and give you a drink. Kind of hard to explain but you might goggle it.

Day 4: Again, spent most of the morning up top watching the scenery. Got off in the afternoon ports and walked around.

Day 5: Got off in Trondheim and walked around. Trondheim was one of our favorite ports. We walked across the Flower Bridge and by the old warehouse district and then back through the heart of town.

Day 6: Again, spent most of our morning up top. Then disembarked.

As you can see, we didn't spent much on excursions, personal choice, but chose just to get off the ships and walk around. Our favorite part going south was that the weather had improved and we spent hours up top watching the scenery. It was gorgeous.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

We were in inside Cabin 429 which had a double bed. We loved the location--same deck as you get off and on the ship, plus just one deck up to the dining room. The ship is small so you're never very far from anything.

As far as the height (next poster), I hadn't heard that. But I don't recall the ceilings in the corridors being overly high so maybe it could be a problem. As we are all 6' and under, it wasn't a problem.

We just got off the MS Spitsbergen round trip Bergen to Bergen. This was our first Hurtigruten. We have done many big ship cruises but love the smaller ship. We sailed with 160 passengers.

We found all the dinners excellent, better than those we have had lately on the big ships.

Our weather was good once we left Bergen where it rained all day.

We mostly went into the ports and walked around but did do some excursions.

I think our favorite days were sitting on the top deck in the front of the ship, watching the scenery. I think that unlike a big ship, it's not so much the ports but the scenery that's the reason to sail the fjords. And what is nice about the Spitsbergen is that the whole top deck is pretty open.

Would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

We will be on the Spitsbergen in a basic inside cabin. Are there hairdryers in the bathrooms?

Also, we won't know if we have early or late seating until we board the ship. We definitely want early dining so if we need to change, do we do that when we check in or after we board? At the front desk or in the dining room?

we are flying out of Reykjavik on Icelandic Air on Sept. 22 on a 5:30 pm flight. We need to drop off our rental car. What time should we plan on dropping off the car? What time should we plan on being at the airport?

THanks for looking. The search continues.

March 16-18, 2018

Last time we stayed at the Hyatt Place Hotel for a decent price. Right now, it's way more than we want to spend. Our budget is in the $125-150 range (including taxes). We will have one full day in Ft. Lauderdale and the main thing we want to do is take the riverfront cruise. It was easy from the Hyatt Place Hotel but if we need to stay a little further way, any suggestions for hotels in our price range and how would we get to where we catch the riverfront cruise?

This is one of the excursions out of Kirkenes. Has anyone done this and is it worth the money ($265 pp)? We are also considering the riverboat to the Russian border or the ATV safari to the border. Any comments from those who have done these activities.

We are on the 12 day roundtrip Bergen to Bergen cruise leaving September 5. We are in the process of trying to decide what to do in each port. Any help would be appreciated.

Hjorundfjord fjord. Hurtigruten only shows one shore excursion "A Taste of Norway". Is there anything else to do? Do you actually dock somewhere or are you tendered off?

Bodo: Is the Viking feast worth doing?

Honningsvag: Any suggestion for our stop here. Has anyone done the Sami Autumn or the Fishing Village Visit? Was it worthwhile?

Kirkenes: Has anyone done the ATV to the Russian border? Worth the money? If you don't take an excursion to the border, what else is there to do in Kirkenes?

Day 9 - Harstad, Sortland, Svolvaer - Any suggestions for these port?

Thanks for any suggestions.

We will be in Oslo on the first Sunday in September. Are all museums, stores, etc open?

We will be taking a cruise out of Bergen next September. We will be flying into Oslo? How many full days should we allow in Oslo--2 or 3?

Good to know, thanks.

We will be on the Oosterdam in a couple of week and Kusadasi is on the itinerary? Are ships still going there or are they substituting another port?

Thanks for your reply but we are leaving in two weeks for the cruise. I'll do some online research and should be fine.

CruiseMom, I would love to have a copy of your notes. You can send them to me at travelbug1948@hotmail.com. Many thanks.

Do you know why the trams weren't operating?

Our first cruise was on the Nordic Prince in January 1985 on the 8 day itinerary. Since we were new to cruising and had nothing to compare it to, we thought it was wonderful--the dinners in the dining room, formal nights. Don't remember our Captain's name but he was Norweigen with a dry sense of humor. But our best memory was our cruise director, Ray Rouse. We've never had a better one in all our years of cruising. Years later we saw him in a video for the Cunard line.

We will be in Palma from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm. We would like to go take the bus to Valldemossa, spend a couple of hours, and then take the bus back to Palma and spend the rest of the day seeing the Cathedral, Bellver Castle, etc. Several questions. How do you get from the cruise port to the bus station? On the return trip, can you get off the bus anywhere near the Cathedral? Also, once at the Cathedral, what is the best way to get to Bellver Castle? Thanks.

Campolady: One more question. How far is the walk from the cruise port to catch the busses? Is it walkable or do you need to take the shuttle?

Thank you for your reply. Another question. How do we get to the motor car museum from downtown? Also, is the Russian museum worth visiting?

Cruise mom, not sure if you sent the notes but if you did, I didn't get them.

Campolady:

We will be in Malaga on 9/8 arriving 8:00 a.m. What times does the Castillo de Gibralfaro open? What time can we catch the bus from the port to go to the Castle? How often does the bus run? Also, I've seen reference to both Bus 34 and Bus 35? Is there a difference where you catch the buses? Thanks for you help.