Husband wants to see the Northern Lights

Any cruise line. Any advise.??? He needs his scooter on ships.

Check Hurtigruten

https://www.hurtigruten.us/destinations/norway/in-search-of-the-northern-lights/

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The major cruise lines sail the northern reaches of the world during the summer months, when there is too much daylight, for too many hours of the day, for the sky to get dark enough to see any Northern Lights that may be out.

I agree that Hurtigruten is a line to take a look at. They may have runs later in the year, when you can get enough darkness. Some of their mail runs may even have stops late at night---just when you need to be up.

not 100% on point but I think kinda funny...my wife really wanted to see the northern lights...so we took a trip to Iceland. it included a northern lights cruise that just went out in the harbour away from city lights. clouds blocked the lights so we did not see any. however, we do live up north so took her out in the back yard and viola. we do live on the edge of a city so not as good as Iceland would have been but she saw them.

To see the Northern Lights, you will need to sail Marella (formerly Thomson cruises) or Cruise & Maritime, or the previously referenced Hurtigruten. None of these lines market in the US. Fred Olsen is another choice. They all sail older ships retired from other lines. HC cabins will be limited and would need to be booked a year or more in advance. Consulting the boards for these lines here at CC, and the Ports of Call board for Northern Europe might get you some further advice. EM

Hutigruten is the best option, you would need to look into which ship is used, the very oldest ships are not accessible. The captain will not notify in the middle of the night that the lights are viewable, you will need to be able to get onto the upper or outside deck for this. Fred Olsen sell these cruises in the U.K. (last I heard) we really enjoyed ours and did see the lights mid September but there are no guarantees.

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The captain will notify in he middle of the night ! Sorry, cursed autocorrect! Very enjoyable cruise.

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The major cruise lines sail the northern reaches of the world during the summer months, when there is too much daylight, for too many hours of the day, for the sky to get dark enough to see any Northern Lights that may be out.

I agree that Hurtigruten is a line to take a look at. They may have runs later in the year, when you can get enough darkness. Some of their mail runs may even have stops late at night---just when you need to be up.

Hurtigruten is, in addition to a "cruise" line, also a working ferry.

Their cruises run year 'round, so it's not a matter of they "may have runs later in the year"... they *do* have them.

In addition, during the winter, they have a few specially themed "Astronomy" cruises, with a specialist such as a physicist or astronomer on board.

We selected a March cruise, because of suggestions here on CC (thanks once again!) and also after checking on historical weather conditions. March has enough "dark", especially north of the Arctic Circle, and also seems to have the least cloud cover - on average. Of course, that "average"... is never guaranteed for any specific time/cruise, but we figure it's our best guess :)

Regarding scooters, you might want to explore some links from here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=hurtigruten+handicap+cabins&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US717&oq=hurtigruten+handicap+cabins&aqs=chrome..69i57.9927j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

It looks like most ships can handle wheelchairs (apparently 1 or 2 cannot). For scooters, you should contact Hurtigruten, so they can help make sure you have the type of cabin or suite that will work for you, and on an appropriate ship.

But the good news is that they do seem accustomed to working with a variety of special needs.

It should be easy to schedule, because they tend to have a ship departing from Bergen every day.

We'll be taking the full Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen round trip. As long as we are traveling so far, we might as well relax and enjoy.

And of course, we want to maximize the time farther north.

Another possibility would be to disembark in Kirkenes, the northern-most port (actually the "last" port; it's not actually the very furthest north), and spend a few days there before flying home directly from Kirkenes.

ETA: You also might want to post about scooters on the Hurtigruten sub-forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=821

GC

Hurtigruten is probably the best for this if you want to do it on a cruise. Don't know of any cruise lines that do Iceland in the winter (although there are a number that do it in the winter). Hurtigruten ships are not ships bought from other cruise lines...they build their own, and they are designed for their specific needs, which is for ships that can serve as freighters, passenger and car ferries, AND cruising. They don't have casinos, show rooms, pools, or things like bingo and "art" auctions. Most of the port stops are brief (15-30 minutes); just long enough to take on/off passengers, cars, and freight. A few of the stops are longer (as long as 3-4 hours). Excursions from the ship are expensive, and I didn't see any that provided accessible transportation but many of these ports are walkable. The newer ships have 1-2 accessible cabins, and also have a platform lift at the gangway for wheelchair users. I was on the MS Trollfjord and there were two wheelchair or scooter users on the cruise. Even the hot tub area was ramped.

The reason to take this cruise is the beautiful scenery...I spent nearly every minute in the observation lounge when not out on the deck to take photos. I went in the spring so no Northern Lights for us, but many people go on these cruises in the winter just for that. On a few of their cruises they even guarantee you will see the Northern Lights, or you get a free cruise! A Hurtigruten ship leaves Bergen 365 days a year, so you most likely want to pick a date based on the ship, and focus on December-March as the best dates to see the Northern Lights. If you only want to do 5-6 days instead of the 11-12 day round trip, I think the northbound trip is better than the southbound most times of the year.