Hurtigruten Iceland Expedition Report 6/22

[WisRiver]

We just returned home from an 8 day Hurtigruten Expedition circumnavigation of Iceland on the Fridtjof Nansen.  We started and finished in Reykjavik and made 6 stops.  We were on the first cruise on the Nansen since late 2019.  The ship had been in dry dock since its last cruise.  As a result the ship was sparkling clean, and interiors  appeared to be freshly refurbished.  The crew, especially the dining room staff were still working out the kinks.  We were in an Expedition Suite on the 8th deck.  There are three restaurants Aune (the buffet), Lindstøm (upscale dining for suite guests and Fredheim (a sit-down restaurant with varied menu).  We ate most of our meals in the Lindstøm since we had an 8th deck cabin/suite.  

 

The food was fairly good.  The buffet had good variety, but I liked the service of the Lindstøm.  Dinner hours were from 6 PM to 9 PM and The menus were changed every two days, with a choice of meat, fish and plant based.  If you had the halibut on Tuesday, you could have lamb on Wednesday.  If you liked the lamb you could have it two nights in a row.   

 

Our cabin was excellent, one of the best cabins we have been in.  We are 4* Holland American Mariners, and the cabin was comparable to a HAL signature suite.  We had a large balcony, nice bathroom with a heated floor, and lots of storage space.  Our cabin attendant was excellent.  She provided  twice daily room service.

 

The crew is divided into four groups.  The officers are Norwegian, the hotel and food service management was European, the expedition staff was multinational, but primarily Northern European and the support staff (waiters, room attendants, deck crew and cooks were Filipino.   The cruise was multilingual, all announcements were in English, German and French.  I would estimate of the 400 passenger on board,  1/3 of the guests were Anglophones (US and UK), ¼ German and ¼ French and the remainder Northern Europeans.

 

The excursions are the reasons to sail with Hurtigruten.  We made six stops in our eight days, and there were no "sea days".  All of stops had a "free"  excursion, usually  a walk into the port town although one excursion was a zodiac (small boat) tour in a fjord.  There were also paid excursions in each port.  You could also take hikes with expedition staff that were usually described as strenuous or demanding, or difficult.  The Germans were most of the hikers.

 

We have sailed with Hurtigruten before, and given the right itinerary (e.g. Galapagos) we would sail with them again.  

[hallasm]

1 minute ago, WisRiver said:

We started and finished in Reykjavik and made 6 stops.

Thank you for sharing your experience. From which port in Reyjkavik?

 

4 minutes ago, WisRiver said:

and made 6 stops

Do you mind listing port stops?

Thank you in advance.

[WisRiver]

We made the following stops:

1)  Stykkishólmur

2)  Patreksfjördor

3)  Akureyri

4)  We were supposed to stop on Grimsey Island, but bad weather prevented a stop.  We stopped in        Husavik instead.

5)  Bakkagerdi

6)  Heimaey

 

We used the Old Harbor in the center of the city near the Harpa.

 

 

 

[funfunvacation]

Hi WisRiver,

 

We are planning to take the same itinerary next year.  How is the sea condition?  I am deciding for stateroom location.  

 

Best Regards,

Annie

[WisRiver]

Sea conditions were not bad.  On the day we missed Grimsey Island, the strong winds were from the south and east, so the waves were not high.  Our veranda cabin was on the starboard side.  At night (?) the sun did not shine in.

[traveljunki]

Thank you for your report. We are new to Hurtigruten and are taking the Iceland/Greenland June 2023.

 

Were the hiking excursions complimentary or charged? And were all the zodiac outings offered part of the cruise cost?

 

Could you please tell me the cost of the excursions or a price range?

 

Thank you!

[Heartfelttraveler]

On 6/10/2022 at 6:47 PM, WisRiver said:

We made the following stops:

1)  Stykkishólmur

2)  Patreksfjördor

3)  Akureyri

4)  We were supposed to stop on Grimsey Island, but bad weather prevented a stop.  We stopped in        Husavik instead.

5)  Bakkagerdi

6)  Heimaey

 

We used the Old Harbor in the center of the city near the Harpa.

 

 

 

Did you see Whales and Puffins in Husavik?  We were supposed to drive to Husavik (stayed at Lake Mytavn) and take a boat tour and then go to GeoSea.  Bad weather kept us at the lake.

[WisRiver]

When we were in Husavik we did not go whale watching.  We did not see puffins in Husavik, although we did not go looking for them.  We saw puffins on our excursions from Patreksfjördor, Bakkagerdi, and Heimaey.