Clothing for Winter Round Trip

[BORDER REIVER]

Hi, back again with more questions.

I've read somewhere that the Fram is a very warm ship and lightweight t-shirts & travel trousers are sufficient for relaxing around the ship. Is this also the case for the Norwegian coastal ships, particularly Nordnorge, or is the inside temperature a bit cooler because of frequent stops allowing colder air on board? We have clothing to suit every climate from tropics to Arctic, desert to monsoon, but we'd rather not bring everything we think we might need, if we can make an informed choice.

Outdoor clothing.....we have a good selection of waterproofs from lightweight to heavy gore-tex jackets and trousers. Same with fleeces - I have 4 fleeces, ranging from very light and thin to thick and heavy.

I have thermal base layers but find them too hot, even in the mountains in winter - but my wife does feel the cold & owns these things too.

We both have lightweight boots and trail shoes (both goretex lined). Which would be best? or take both?

My wife owns Yaktrax and I own Grivel Spyder mini spikes for grip in icy conditions - would we need these?

Indoor clothing... We were thinking maybe take walking/travel trousers and cargo pants (light, crease-proof and easy washed/dried). We have plenty of travel shirts (long and short sleeved). Would we need sweaters inside, or lightweight fleeces or neither?

 

Another question....is taking less and using the ships laundry a good idea? Everything we are likely to take, dries very quickly and is non-iron.

Thanks again to anyone who can take the time to help us with answers to our many questions, but I've found that experienced travellers know far more than travel agents.

[SarniaLo]

I have travelled on board the MS Polarlys (same generation as Nordkapp) around Christmas and on board the MS Lofoten. The inside of the ships are not cold (sometimes too warm, but never too cold, I would say around 20°C maybe?).

I usually spend most of my days going in and out all the time so I don't have specific indoor or outdoor clothes. I work with layers and add them/remove them as I go in and out.

 

It is not *that* cold in winter in Norway. During my 3 winter trips, I had temperatures around or slightly above 0°C for most of the trip, with the exception of the far North (-10°C in Kirkenes) and surprisingly Trondheim (-15°C on Christmas day! :eek: ). Your worst enemy should be the wind, so make sure you are windproof (and waterproof, but if it rains bad you will probably want to stay inside, while it can be a beautiful windy day and you still want to enjey the view). The speed of the ship itself will give a feeling of cold wind, but you can usually find some sheltered outdoor spaces.

 

I am a bit sensitive to the cold. I usually use a windproof/waterproof sailing jacket (very good at both, but not lined so not warm in itself), underneath I usually have a light fleece shirt and a warmer fleece sweater or jacket, sometimes I add a thin thermal layer (for Northern Lights hunting at night for instance). You could also use one of your heavy coats and lighter fleece underneath. At the bottom, tights or long johns underneath a trouser (blue jean usually), sometimes both (at night, again). When I go in I take off the jacket and sometimes the top fleece layer (if I know I want to stay inside a bit longer). I go to the restaurant in the same clothing (a lot of people do that). You never know when you will want to go outside in a hurry! ;)

 

Take really good care of your extremities : hands (I have ski gloves and underneath silk "undergloves" which are very handy when you want to take pictures. I am also looking at this type of gloves for a next trip : http://www.aquatech.net/sensory-gloves.php ), head, and feet of course. I wear most of the time a pair of waterproof hiking shoes, and I also use a pair of light snow boots ( a bit like these ) . They are actually somewhat interchangeable, but I'd rather take two pairs, just in case something happens with one. For our last trip we took a pair of spikes similar to what you mention and they were helpful in a couple of towns.

 

Using the ship laundry can be a good idea, I've never done it but I have talked with passengers on board the MS Polarlys who used it and they were happy with it.

[BORDER REIVER]

Many thanks SarniaLo, that's very useful information. I think we'll wear walking shoes to travel in and pack our lightweight boots. My wife now has a good idea of what she needs to take - she does feel the cold badly. I like the gloves you linked to, but I'll settle for my usual goretex gloves and buy silk undergloves. I usually wear mitts when winter mountaineering but they're not helpful if I need to take photos. One of my cameras has "tap" controls where I can supposedly change settings by tapping the top, bottom or sides to change things, without removing gloves. I'll have to try it out sometime. It's also waterproof, drop-proof and freeze-proof (I know two of those things work).

Thanks for the reminder about headgear - our woollen hats and fleece-lined goretex ones should be enough.

[RSF Cruiser]

My experience with clothing was the same as SarniaLo. I wore a double layer of socks with my boots, a liner with my gloves, and the bottoms of long underwear. Whenever I went outside without the long underwear, I was sorry since my legs were a little cool. It wasn't unbearable, just more comfortable with the long underwear.

 

I also had two different types of hats - a lambs wool, windproof one for on deck, and a simple knit beanie for walking around on land. The lambs wool hat was too warm on land, and the beanie was not warm enough on deck.

 

If your ship has a whirlpool, don't forget your swim suit. We spent time in it every evening. It was a bit chilly walking to the whirlpool, but once we were in, it was heavenly, and it was not cold when we got out.

 

We used the ship's laundry facilities. If I remember correctly, we had to pay for the detergent (~$6 a load), but the use of the machines was "free". There were at least two washers and dryers in the laundry room.

Edited July 29, 2013 by RSF Cruiser
forgot something

[BORDER REIVER]

My experience with clothing was the same as SarniaLo. I wore a double layer of socks with my boots, a liner with my gloves, and the bottoms of long underwear. Whenever I went outside without the long underwear, I was sorry since my legs were a little cool. It wasn't unbearable, just more comfortable with the long underwear.

 

I also had two different types of hats - a lambs wool, windproof one for on deck, and a simple knit beanie for walking around on land. The lambs wool hat was too warm on land, and the beanie was not warm enough on deck.

 

If your ship has a whirlpool, don't forget your swim suit. We spent time in it every evening. It was a bit chilly walking to the whirlpool, but once we were in, it was heavenly, and it was not cold when we got out.

 

We used the ship's laundry facilities. If I remember correctly, we had to pay for the detergent (~$6 a load), but the use of the machines was "free". There were at least two washers and dryers in the laundry room.

Thanks for that, especially the info on the laundry. Being able to wash and dry our clothes will make a big difference on how much we pack - no need to have multiple amounts of anything. Presumably, there'll be no "laundry rage" as you sometimes find on big cruise liners, where lots of people want to use the laundry at once.

[RSF Cruiser]

We washed on day 5 or so (we generally bring enough clothes to last 5 days), and there was no "laundry rage". Our ship was pretty crowded, too.

[EmmaN]

silk "undergloves" which are very handy when you want to take pictures. I am also looking at this type of gloves for a next trip : http://www.aquatech.net/sensory-gloves.php )

 

Thanks for the glove tips, I am a complete camera addict and was wondering how I was going to mange to take my mitts off in Tromso in Feb where we are going for a few days after the end of our trip.

 

Will have to see if I can find some in the UK now :)

[BORDER REIVER]

Thanks for the glove tips, I am a complete camera addict and was wondering how I was going to mange to take my mitts off in Tromso in Feb where we are going for a few days after the end of our trip.

 

Will have to see if I can find some in the UK now :)

I've just bought some silk lining gloves at one of our local outdoor shops, reduced from £19.99 to £9.99. I've tried them with both my cameras and they work a treat. All dials and buttons are easily worked. I've also tried using the tap-setting on my newest camera and it works well too - I can change settings just by tapping it on the top/bottom/sides, without taking the ski gloves off.

I cannot stress too much how important good gloves or mitts are. I've had my fingers start to go numb after only 5 mins on a mountain top - and it was only around -5c (but very windy). I was trying to eat my food & had to stop.

Another thing I consider important, is to be able to clip or tie my gloves to my jacket sleeves. I once lost a very expensive mitt in a blizzard - it was blown out of my hand when I took it off to take a photo.

Both my gloves and jacket have little clips on them for this purpose.

[ILoveScotland]

Haven't been on CC much lately and just saw this thread.

 

I was on the Polarlys in March, and the only thing I would add to the conversation is do take the yak trax, etc. and wear them. We had a woman fall on the ice in Vadso. She had to be taken by ambulance to Kirkenes where she learned she'd broken her arm. Then she was flown to one of the ports where we'd be the next day and was able to reboard the ship.

[BORDER REIVER]

Haven't been on CC much lately and just saw this thread.

 

I was on the Polarlys in March, and the only thing I would add to the conversation is do take the yak trax, etc. and wear them. We had a woman fall on the ice in Vadso. She had to be taken by ambulance to Kirkenes where she learned she'd broken her arm. Then she was flown to one of the ports where we'd be the next day and was able to reboard the ship.

Appreciate the heads-up on Yaktrax. I bought some 2 weeks ago because the Grivel Spyders only give grip in the instep and my crampons I use in the Scottish mountains are unsuitable.

[Rosebery]

This is a jolly useful thread, thanks everyone. Sue

[cruzforever]

I hope to do a Hurtigruten cruise approx Jan 2015, I am 64 my Husband 70 and grandchild 10. I am following the threads with much interest. How dark is it at that time or is visibility?

[SarniaLo]

I hope to do a Hurtigruten cruise approx Jan 2015, I am 64 my Husband 70 and grandchild 10. I am following the threads with much interest. How dark is it at that time or is visibility?

It depends on when in January.

If it is at the beginning of the Month, it is the Polar Night above the Arctic Circle, which means the sun doesn't get higher than the horizon. However, it doesn't mean it is dark all the time. The sun is very close to the horizon so it still gives light, and if the weather is clear you get amazing lights and colors, a sunrise slowly fading into sunset, from around 9am to 2pm. The snow on the mountains reflects a lot of light. At noon it feels almost as normal daylight. Below the polar circle you get slightly longer days but still expect night to fall around 3/4 pm. The upside is that you can see Northern Lights very early in the day (I saw then as soon as 4pm during a Christmas holidays trip).

At the end of January you will get longer days. Sunrises and sunsets are still pretty long (which really give incredible colors), and you get light from maybe 8am to 5/6 pm.

[RSF Cruiser]

You can get a timetable for civil twilight (times there is light in the sky, but the sun is below the horizon - constant dawn/dusk) from this website: wwwdotciviltwilightdotme. You can also get the sunrise/sunset times at: wwwdottimeanddatedotcom/worldclock/sunrisedothtml. There probably are other websites with the same information - I just did a google search to get the websites.

 

When we went on this trip we did a matrix of location, sunrise, sunset, civil twilight, and location of the sun at noon for the various ports where we could get the information. Then, for fun, my daughter took a picture every day at noon, with the same camera settings, of her watch and the sky so we could compare the light as we went north and south. Yes, a bit OCD, but it was fun! There was a lot more civil twilight than we expected. Oh, our trip was roundtrip beginning Dec 27.

[SarniaLo]

You can get a timetable for civil twilight (times there is light in the sky, but the sun is below the horizon - constant dawn/dusk) from this website: wwwdotciviltwilightdotme.

This is a great web resource! Thank you very much.

[goldengatecruisers]

What a very helpful thread. Thank you for the tips and advise regarding clothing.

[Rosebery]

Hi, Just wondering if all you experienced Hurtigruten passengers could tell me about the wifi facility - we are going on Nordkapp on Friday and I am wondering about staying in contact with both our business and two little boys who like reports from travellers. Is it likely to be efficient and is it really free?

 

Sue

[digitl]

Hi, Just wondering if all you experienced Hurtigruten passengers could tell me about the wifi facility - we are going on Nordkapp on Friday and I am wondering about staying in contact with both our business and two little boys who like reports from travellers. Is it likely to be efficient and is it really free?

 

Sue

 

I can only speak for recent experience on Midnatsol where the wi-fi was free and access was good in lots of locations around the ship.

[Rosebery]

Sounds good, thank you.

[ILoveScotland]

Hi, Just wondering if all you experienced Hurtigruten passengers could tell me about the wifi facility - we are going on Nordkapp on Friday and I am wondering about staying in contact with both our business and two little boys who like reports from travellers. Is it likely to be efficient and is it really free?

 

Sue

 

Well, you're on the cruise by now, but for anyone else: I was on the Polarlys last March, and wifi worked well. It wasn't available everywhere, but that was well advertised, so I simply went to the areas where I could get it. Plus, it's free!