Northern Lights cruise...February or March..?

[Mysticalmother]

Wonder if any of you have a view on the advantages /disadvantages in choosing between February or March for a northern lights cruise. We are contemplating 2017 and 2018, and have 3 choices of date for 2018 - 25 Feb, 9 March or 21 March. I realise that whether we see the lights or not is down to mother nature, but are wondering about any other aspects to think about. Eg ....how much snow is about, hours of light and darkness ....or anything else I havent thought of! Even the weather in the North sea....?

 

Many thanks in advance.....winter cruising is something we havent contemplated before!

[Sussexboy]

We were on Oriana last year in March and saw the lights a couple of times. Not been in February so I don't know how that compares.

[R**T]

Consult a lunar calendar and avoid a Full Moon. Several years ago we were in Iceland during a November New Moon. Not only did we see the Northern Lights, but also the most amazing Milky Way.

[pete14]

Consult a lunar calendar and avoid a Full Moon. Several years ago we were in Iceland during a November New Moon. Not only did we see the Northern Lights, but also the most amazing Milky Way.

 

In that respect, the cruise on Aurora leaves on March 9 2018 which means that there will be virtually no moonlight when in Tromso and Alta. The Oriana cruise which leaves on March 21 will have an almost full moon. In addition, if you want a balcony cabin, those on Aurora are cheaper than those on Oriana because there are more of them. Doesn't guarantee you will see the Northern Lights but there is a better chance that they will be visible.

[silver surfer 2010]

We are on the 9th March Aurora as we feel that the 21st is maybe a little late.

Did this cruise a couple of years ago on the Oriana and had a fantastic time, hence the repeat trip in 2018. It is a totally different kind of snow - very dry and not slushy and although cold (minus 26 at 2-30am when out searching for the lights) it did feel too bad, Quite an experience, there is a webcam that you can watch

portalta.borealiswebcam360.com

[silver surfer 2010]

sorry should have read 'did NOT feel too bad'

Don't know why it is not linking to the webcam which I enjoy watching now and again.

Alta is the only port where the Captain needs permission from air traffic control to dock as he is so close to the end of the runway

[weylady]

Sounds like a experience but I would have to take thermals instead of the usual suncream

[Mysticalmother]

Thanks for your replies...still undecided! Although we currently have pre - registered for the March Oriana one, I did wonder if this might be a bit late. Havent been on Aurora yet...is she as nice as Oriana?? We still have time to cancel the ore registration without losing any money on the March one.....

[majortom10]

Having done Northern Lights on Oriana if I was to do it again I would choose Aurora.

[Mysticalmother]

Having done Northern Lights on Oriana if I was to do it again I would choose Aurora.

 

...dare I ask why? Or was it you that had a bad experience on Oriana? I have a vague feeling you did.......

 

We had a fabulous time on her earlier this year, and that was without the refit. By March 2018, would Aurora be starting to look a bit tired too?

[silver surfer 2010]

More balcony's on the Aurora I think. Both ships are about the same size, my favourite is the Oriana but as I said before it could be a little late.

If you look at the Bolsover cruise forum and then in their picture gallery you will find a number of photos that I posted there.

 

Sharon posted 'things she wished she'd known before she went' which is attached

 

"The last couple of weeks on Oriana were possibly the most amazing experience I have ever had but I do wish we had been briefed beforehand on certain things - such as how to photograph the lights if they appear, so I thought I would list the major points that we were told (or learned the hard way!). It didn't help either that the on-board photographers told us one thing and the local specialist another!

 

First it will be COLD with a capital C! OK, we knew this and were dressed appropriately! Some were not!! Hazel has already posted somewhere on how to dress - in layers - so I won't repeat that bit except to say the silk liner gloves were essential kit!

 

What none said before hand is that point and shoot cameras are very unlikely to work. I use an DSLR so that did not affect me but a huge majority of passengers only had a simple camera that could not be set to manual. You really need to be able to do this, or have another way of doing long exposures of not less that 15 seconds and often up to 10 minutes. For this reason video cameras will NOT work either!

 

The settings we were told we needed were

Use a tripod

Use as wide an angle lens as possible.

Switch to manual setting

Take off all filters including UV and Skylight - they reduce the light hitting the lens

Switch off vibration/shake reduction if available

Use an ISO of 400 (according to the onboard photographers) or 500 + (according to the local experts)

Set camera to as large an aperture as available

Set to bulb and experiment but you need exposures of at least 15 secs up to around to 10 mins

Set to daylight setting NOT fluorescent or artificial light or the colours won't be true

Use lens hood to keep frost/snow/ice off lens

Pre-focus to infinity or on a tree etc

Take spare batteries and keep in thermal sock close to body

 

And lastly - DON'T PANIC if/when the digital screen stops working! This happened to me and I thought the camera was broken but kept taking anyway. The screen came back on when it warmed up.

Also - acclimatise the equipment. One of the onboard photographers cracked a £600 lens

 

And finally - enjoy the Lights - don't watch all of them through a camera."

[majortom10]

...dare I ask why? Or was it you that had a bad experience on Oriana? I have a vague feeling you did.......

 

We had a fabulous time on her earlier this year, and that was without the refit. By March 2018, would Aurora be starting to look a bit tired too?

 

Yes we had a bad experience on our Northern Lights cruise onboard Oriana and will never cruise on her again but having said that comparing the 2 ships I think Aurora is a much nicer ship.

[Slugsta]

We are on Oriana this coming February (doesn't sound so far away when I say it like that :) ). Of course, I won't be able to compare with the later trip but I will be very happy to come back and tell you what we think.