Has anyone done a Northern Lights cruise? Need some advice...

[OnTheJourney]

I have a trip booked up there this coming winter. One of the available shore excursions is a 4-5 hour night trip to look for the northern lights either in Alta or Tromso. The one person I talked to on trip advisor seemed to indicate that it's not really necessary to book a separate excursion - that the lights (if present at all) should be visible from the ship (?)  Also, he suggested that if I do want to do an evening excursion - that it's probably better out of Tromso than Alta (having to do with weather-related issues along the coast). Any advice on this?

 

Then, I have additional questions about choosing some of the available excursions. The cruise line includes one at each port, but unfortunately these conflict with some optional excursions that look interesting. For instance, there is tour of Bergen (basically by bus) but also there is one that goes to Grieg's house (piano recital included) and also visits Fantoft Stave Church. Other excursions are Sami-culture oriented including either sledding by husky or reindeer. Are there any "must see" sites while I'm in northern Norway?  Thanks for any suggestions...

[hallasm]

The chances for Northern Light in Tromsø or Alta is the same - very much depend on the weather conditions and auroral activity of the day. 

I’ll however recommend an excursion - there might be too much light in the harbor. The excursion will bring you to a location with the best chances for seeing the Northern Lights. 

[OnTheJourney]

Thanks hallasm. I was thinking also that an excursion sounds like it'd be a good idea - not sure why it was suggested otherwise to me on trip advisor. Any thoughts on visiting Polar Park?   There is an excursion going up there out of Narvik. Most of the included excursions are "panoramic" city tours by bus and probably some walking. The more adventurous excursions are the optional ones. One of the recommended tours (in Tromsø) goes by cable car to the summit of Mt. Storsteinen. 

[hallasm]

Do not know you Itinerary and date but assuming you also are sailing during night - sailing, when north of Bergen, you might have the opportunity to see the light when sailing. You can find s number of apps for Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) forecast and notifications.

Bergen is a typical DIY destination - very walkable -  for Fantoft Stave Church you’ll need an excursion.

I’ll suggest planning for Northern Lights excursion in Alta and then see Tromsø - do the cable car tour  - i do not know Polar Park. If possible maybe snowmobile safari or dog sledging (Husky).

[hallasm]

Here you have the forecast for the next 21 days - the Kp should be >3.5 In order for a good chance for Northern Lights - also the light from the  moon will have an impact on visibility of the light - however difficult to make a good long term forecasts.

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by hallasm
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[Nitemare]

Boat tours are cold, windy, damp, and rocky.  You can't get good photos from a moving surface.

 

I don't know the alternatives in Norway, but in Iceland your chances of seeing NL from land are much greater than from sea due to the Nimbleness of the buses, vs. the boats that are much slower and restricted from where they can go by virtue of that water thing.

[Coral]

I used Tromso Individuell for a summer tour. I know Edel does a ton of Northern Lights tours out of Tromso.

 

https://www.tromsoindividuell.com

 

Not sure if it works with your times in port but you may want to contact her.

[OnTheJourney]

Nitemare....being that you mention the use of boats in the Northern Lights excursion, do you have any idea if the ones being offered on this cruise will involve going out on a boat? I get the impression it'll all be land-based.

 

Coral...I checked out the link....much appreciated. Great that they include the opportunity to get good pictures. I'm already doubtful that my Canon "point and shoot" camera will be real effective. I might do fairly well with my Sony video cam though. That does much better at nighttime photos. 

 

I'll probably just book one of the NL excursions that the ship offers to keep things simple. 

Edited November 11, 2018 by gretschwhtfalcon

[kaisatsu]

I assume you’ll be in port overnight in the places that offer aurora tours? If so, I would definitely recommend a lights-chasing tour in Tromsø. I think TripAdvisor mentioned the microclimates, which can be a huge advantage if it’s cloudy.

 

It’s true that if the sky is clear and the lights are out, you can see them from anywhere. However, a clear sky is the biggest question mark. Thanks to the hills, there are a few pockets that tend to be clear even when the region is overcast. The tour operators tend to know where these are and will drive quite a way to get there.

 

Especially since you can’t control the dates you’ll be there, I’d advise against paying too much attention to the aurora forecast. Last time we were in Tromsø, we had a great display on a night with a lower-intensity forecast, but the next night was predicting a significant increase. We had a tour that night and they managed to find a small gap in the cloud cover, but we had zero activity!

 

Aside from getting away from clouds, there are a few other arguments for a tour. One that’s been mentioned is to get away from the light pollution. You can typically see the lights from within town, but ships tend to be very well-lit, and being that close to a strong light source can make it harder to view the aurora. Hopefully the ship will dim a few of their outside lights if the aurora appears, but if you do stick around in the evening, look for areas with lower light.

 

The other is photographing the lights. If the ship’s engines are still on, the rumble can translate through a tripod and slightly impact a long exposure shot. Most Norwegian ports require shore-based electric power, so hopefully the engines will be quiet and the ship shouldn’t move too much while it’s docked, so this won’t be as big an issue. According to the pros, even strong moonlight has very little impact on the visibility in that area, and many extol the way it lights up the landscape in their photos.

 

Also on the topic of photography, the biggest factor is to know how to use your camera to get a long exposure shot, regardless of what kind it is. Second is to have a tripod so that you can take a long exposure without moving the camera. If you join a smaller independent tour, they can often help you with settings and tips. Don’t expect to get stunningly amazing shots (shooting the aurora is difficult), but you’ll probably be able to get a few memories on “film.” And take some time to just watch them.

[OnTheJourney]

So you also are suggesting doing a lights search in Tromsø rather than Alta....much like the person on trip advisor who responded to me. Any particular reason why?  

[OnTheJourney]

Doing an evening trip in Alta works out much better for the overall excursion schedule I'm looking at doing, and so I'll probably wind up doing one there. Hopefully it'll be worthwhile. 

[hallasm]

The world's first Northern Lights observatory was built on Mount Haldde in Alta, 900 m above sea level.

https://www.altamuseum.no/en/altas-nyere-tids-historie/altas-historie/nordlys-1/nordlys

[kaisatsu]

I lean toward an excursion in Tromsø over Alta, because (from what I understand) Alta tends to have statistically more clear skies, so you have better chances to see them from town. Additionally, I’ve read that the area around Alta tends to have fairly similar cloud cover. In Tromsø, it’s not uncommon for it to be cloudy but for there to be isolated clear spots in the surrounding region.

 

However, I am by no means an expert, and most of this has actually been gleaned from reading Gunnar’s and others’ advice on TripAdvisor over the years.

 

If your primary goal is the Northern Lights, I would honestly try to do a chase in both places. There are plenty of independent tours in these places, both for chasing the lights and for daytime activities (dogsledding, Sami culture, cross-country skiing, etc). If you’re more interested in the daytime explorations, then choose whatever fits better in your schedule and cross your fingers for clear skies in port.

Edited November 12, 2018 by kaisatsu

[OnTheJourney]

6 hours ago, hallasm said:

The world's first Northern Lights observatory was built on Mount Haldde in Alta, 900 m above sea level.

https://www.altamuseum.no/en/altas-nyere-tids-historie/altas-historie/nordlys-1/nordlys

I know...I read Lucy Jago's book, "The Northern Lights" that explained in depth about Professor Birkeland -  who built that observatory. Quite an amazing man..and fascinating reading too. Thanks for sharing that link....quite interesting!!  

Edited November 13, 2018 by gretschwhtfalcon

[hallasm]

Enjoy your cruise and please update us on you Northern Lights experience- I sailing along the Norwegian west coast in January.

[OnTheJourney]

Hallasm....thanks so much for responding to my inquiry. Best of luck for your cruise as well! :)

[hallasm]

24 minutes ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Hallasm....thanks so much for responding to my inquiry. Best of luck for your cruise as well! 🙂

Thank you.

I think you should ask the question you posted at the Hurtigruten Board about GLØD Explorer in Alta in this thread - looks like a good option. Sure that GLØD will Pick-up at the Cruise pier as they do oick-up at hotels. Contact the company and ask.

[OnTheJourney]

Just heard back from GLØD...they only pick up at the Scandic hotel (they said it's about 10 minutes by shuttle bus)... not allowed to pick up at the pier BUT they return to the ship. What sense does this make? Anyway, not sure I want to inconvenience myself by having to find this hotel, though probably not a real big deal. With cruise excursions, I like things to be as easy and convenient as possible. Ever since I got left behind in a Baltic country by a cruise line shore excursion leader (she decided to take our group back to the ship and never bothered counting heads), I'm a bit more cautious. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by gretschwhtfalcon

[hallasm]

Scandic hotel is 2.5 miles from the pier - There is a regular bus service from pier to the hotel.

[OnTheJourney]

Turns out that GLØD does the Alta northern lights tours for Viking, so that explains why they wouldn't be able to pick up privately-booked tours at the ship. Guess I'll just go with Viking's excursion - more convenient leaving right from the pier. 

[Hlitner]

We met a very well traveled couple who really were desperate to see the Northern Lights.  They booked a 14 day Hurtigruten cruise during the winter for primarily that reason.  They told us that is was overcast for the entire two weeks and it was just not meant to be :(.  A couple of years ago we took HAL's Voyage of the Vikings cruise which was mostly in August, a time when one does not expect to see the Northern Lights.  One of the nights when we were near Greenland, they were visible for a couple of hours in the wee hours of the morning.  But the Captain made a decision not to wake-up the ship :(.   I would love to see the Northern Lights but there is no way I can convince DW to go North for the winter.

 

Hank

[hallasm]

Just back from a Hurtigruten voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes - saw the Norther Lights three time during the voyage. Here are five of my pictures.

First four pictures are from Lofoten - last picture from Berlevåg (just east of Honningsvåg).

The first two pictures are captured while the ship was docked in Svolvær - and the three last pictures when the ship was moving.