Anyone done the Northern Lights cruise?

[OnTheJourney]

I have this trip booked on the Sky this coming winter. Any suggestions or advice from those who have been there? Never sailed with Viking before. 

[Peregrina651]

Northern Lights will sail for the first time this coming January. Other cruise lines have done similar but this will be Viking's first winter cruise to this area. They have been sailing that region in summer since 2016.

Check out this thread for more info:

Anyone done Viking’s “In Search of Northern Lights” itinerary?

 

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Peregrina651

[OnTheJourney]

OK...after I posted this I wondered if it was first sailing this coming winter. Hard to get feedback on a trip that hasn't run yet!  I might do better to check out other lines, such as Hurtigruten, etc. 

[Capt_BJ]

the route hits many same ports as their Midnight Sun ... did that one this summer.

[Peregrina651]

7 hours ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

OK...after I posted this I wondered if it was first sailing this coming winter. Hard to get feedback on a trip that hasn't run yet!  I might do better to check out other lines, such as Hurtigruten, etc. 

 

I gave a link to another thread. It has reports from people who have done similar on other lines.

[Parsley Cruises]

We have done a cruise around Iceland, which included going up into the Artic Circle (but not sadly on Viking).  We enjoyed the places we visited so much that we have flown back several times.  We did not see the lights whilst on a cruise, but on a flying holiday - all thanks to the NASA website, where you can ascertain your likelihood of seeing the lights.

[jimgri]

My wife and I have done a very similar cruise on P&O, both in March 2016 and February/March of this year. It was *very* cold this year (about -27°C at times!) so layers are the order of the day. We did our own thing most of the time and didn't book the Northern Lights excursions as I took the view that if the atmospheric conditions were favourable, we would see them from the ship. Fortunately, I was right as you can see from the pics I took here on Flickr. The lights in the photos are brighter and more intense than we actually saw with the naked eye. These photos were taken with a very wide angle lens on a tripod for between 20-30 seconds and were processed using Adobe Lightroom. I would certainly recommend investing in a tripod if you want to take photos of the lights.

[Frenchberet]

5 hours ago, jimgri said:

My wife and I have done a very similar cruise on P&O, both in March 2016 and February/March of this year. It was *very* cold this year (about -27°C at times!) so layers are the order of the day. We did our own thing most of the time and didn't book the Northern Lights excursions as I took the view that if the atmospheric conditions were favourable, we would see them from the ship. Fortunately, I was right as you can see from the pics I took here on Flickr. The lights in the photos are brighter and more intense than we actually saw with the naked eye. These photos were taken with a very wide angle lens on a tripod for between 20-30 seconds and were processed using Adobe Lightroom. I would certainly recommend investing in a tripod if you want to take photos of the lights.

Great photos!

[Peregrina651]

Definitely AGREE!!! jimgri's photos are a must see.

[peasmith]

Beautiful pictures jimgri - can't wait for our cruise on the Viking Star in January 2020!

 

[The Other Tom]

Stunning photos!!

[OnTheJourney]

On November 15, 2018 at 5:28 PM, jimgri said:

My wife and I have done a very similar cruise on P&O, both in March 2016 and February/March of this year. It was *very* cold this year (about -27°C at times!) so layers are the order of the day. We did our own thing most of the time and didn't book the Northern Lights excursions as I took the view that if the atmospheric conditions were favourable, we would see them from the ship. Fortunately, I was right as you can see from the pics I took here on Flickr. The lights in the photos are brighter and more intense than we actually saw with the naked eye. These photos were taken with a very wide angle lens on a tripod for between 20-30 seconds and were processed using Adobe Lightroom. I would certainly recommend investing in a tripod if you want to take photos of the lights.

 

Can you maybe give some specific suggestions as to the types of layered clothing you took along that worked well?  -27 C is really getting down there. We had nothing even close to that in Antarctica. 

Edited November 20, 2018 by gretschwhtfalcon

[jimgri]

4 hours ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

 

Can you maybe give some specific suggestions as to the types of layered clothing you took along that worked well?  -27 C is really getting down there. We had nothing even close to that in Antarctica. 

 

On the coldest nights when viewing the Lights, I wore a thermal vest, then a polo neck jumper, then a good quality lightweight polar fleece, then a thicker polar fleece, and finally a heavy anorak-style coat. I also wore two pairs of gloves – a thin, cashmere pair and a heavier polar fleece pair on top. I took thermal long johns with me but didn't actually wear them – I wish I had! I also wore a polar fleece ski hat – essential for someone who is follically challenged! 😉  I'm no expert in dressing for the cold, but as the temperature dropped I simply added an extra layer of clothing until I could get no more on underneath my coat!

 

I must confess it was exceptionally cold on this cruise. Daytime temperatures in the far north were about -16°C but rapidly dropped after dark. The wind chill was the killer though. I should add we did the selfsame cruise two years before but the temperature in Alta was positively balmy at a little above 0°C. I think the weather was exceptionally "warm" as the ice sculptures in the town were melting. The photo below gives an idea of how people were dressed on the 2016 cruise.

[OnTheJourney]

Jimgri, 

 

Thanks for the clothing info! You didn't say anything about footwear - presuming waterproof boots / thermal socks, etc. are preferred. Sounds like you were well equipped for the cold!  Hate to drag along an extra suitcase just for clothing but for this trip it might come to it. What I need to find out is for which ship excursions certain winter clothing articles are provided. Some excursion descriptions mention this and others don't. The company that the cruise line uses - GLØD - mentioned to me that they have clothing available but only for privately booked (small group) northern lights tours - they don't offer it for the ship tours (makes sense..too many people)

 

Regards,

Keith

Edited November 21, 2018 by gretschwhtfalcon

[jimgri]

Hi Keith

 

For the most part I wore what my wife would call sensible shoes with a rugged sole. When out and about, I wore waterproof walking boots but many other people wore snow boots. As for socks, I layered up – thin pair of socks underneath thicker woollen socks. My feet did get cold, however, so perhaps I would have been better with thermal socks. I can't speak about excursions as my wife and I did our own thing most of the time. Have you tried asking Viking whether any of their excursions include winter clothing?

 

Jim

[Portolan]

We'll be watching this thread with great interest as we've booked the 10 January 2020 "In Search of the Northern Lights" cruise on the Star (our first on Viking Ocean).

 

We like cold places and have the appropriate gear.  We've been on cruises and expeditions to the far north of Norway to Svalbard and beyond to the edge of ice above 80 degrees north...but always in the mid-summer (with 24 hours of daylight!).  This will be DIFFERENT.

 

I've started a roll call and Meet and Mingle for this cruise if you'll be on the same trip.

[OnTheJourney]

Hi Portolan,

 

I'm doing the Northern Lights trip with Viking but not your sailing. You're right...this trip will indeed be a lot different than going up there for the midnight sun!  

 

Jimgri....yes..I'll be checking with Viking to find out about provided clothing. Excursions don't open till January, so I have time yet on all this. 

[Parsley Cruises]

We've done quite a bit of Iceland and round the Arctic circle.  For those living in the UK, it's a good idea to visit Mountain Warehouse, and get lots of 'thin' layers.  Top these off with a jacket guaranteed to cope with -40celsius, and you should be ok.

We generally get our 'underlayers' when they have their sale; and sometimes the same goes for the top layers too.

 

I doubt if a cruise line would provide clothing for this - but good luck with that anyway.  

 

Again, the Lights can't be guaranteed, but check out the Nasa website.  They have a really good facility, it's never let us down.

[slewis7]

Amazing photos and valuable info posted by jimgri.  Thank you!

 

i will be on the Viking NL Cruise next February and I have forwarded the photo link to my wife and two friends who are traveling with us.  

 

We are thinking about buying a real camera (as opposed to using our phones) for this trip and for photographing the lights.  If anyone has some knowledge in this area, I would appreciate suggestions.  We are looking for nice equipment, but not high end.

[Peregrina651]

The secret to Jim's pictures are the fact that he used a tripod. Because it is so dark, the shutter has to be opened what is considered a long time, seconds as opposed to the normal fraction of a second for most of the pictures we take. The camera has to be held perfectly still while the shutter is open and most of us can not hold a camera still enough for longer than 1/30 of a second. A monopod will not do.

 

Photography is about how much light enters through the lens and is recorded by the film or the digital sensors. Three factors control how much light eventually reach the film/sensors: how long the shutter is open (speed), how big the hole is (f-stop; the smaller the number, the bigger the hole) and the sensitivity of the medium (determined by the ISO number; the higher the number the less light is needed but the grainer the resulting picture). If you are going to ditch your camera phone,  you need to know what the specs are on your camera phone so that you can improve on them. Otherwise, why spend the money.

 

The other thing is that you are going to have to practice a lot with your new camera before you leave so that you know what settings will produce the best results. So if you are buying, buy it now rather than later.

 

Finally, there is a whole CC forum dedicated to photography and there are more people there who love talking photography than you will find here. Photo & Camera Discussions

[jimgri]

Excellent advice from Peregrina651! For the Northern Lights I would also recommend a wide angle lens to capture as much of the night sky as possible and a camera that allows you control over shutter speed/exposure time. The good news is that many automatic cameras offer a manual mode. For what it's worth I used to use a digital SLR but I've now switched to rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras as they are much lighter and more compact: a Fujifilm X-E2 with interchangeable lenses and a Fujifilm X100F with a fixed lens. However, you don't need to spend a lot of money to take a good photo.

[slewis7]

Thanks to Peregrina651 and jimgri for their further comments.  I have done a bit of reading and now I am considering the Sony a6300 which looks to be a good combination of features and price for me.  I have never done much more with cameras then point and shoot, but I studied optics as part of my Master’s degree and have a firm background in the principals, so it is time to put that knowledge to use.

[OnTheJourney]

As much as I'd like to get nice pictures of the lights, I'm not going to invest in a different camera. I'll get what I get with my Canon 'point and shoot'. Always been satisfied with my daytime photos. Evening, of course, is another issues. My video cam does a better job at night so might get more lucky with that then the still shots. If the tour company takes photos to give to guests (GLØD has indicated to me that this is the case for both their private and cruise tours), I'll certainly get some good ones that way. 

[jimgri]

1 hour ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

As much as I'd like to get nice pictures of the lights, I'm not going to invest in a different camera. I'll get what I get with my Canon 'point and shoot'.

 

Understood, particularly if the Lights decide not to cooperate, but it's worth checking to see if your Canon "point and shoot" offers manual override or a long shutter mode.

[jono mono]

One other thing with camera's, the cold will kill the batteries very quick, have spares and keep them warm in a pocket or similar.