British isles/Scotland cruises

[Astromaid]

My husband and I like scenic cruises and I was looking for something a bit different from the mainline companies. I started reading about Hurtigruten and think it sounds interesting. Love the idea of remote ports, casual, lectures, and small ship. We did an Uncruise in Alaska and loved it. I first looked at Maud, but then saw Spitsbergen and got excited about the itineraries in Scotland. . Then I read the reviews and was appalled. I noticed the reviews were from last spring and the itinerary was new. Wondered if it ever got better with time. As several mentioned, I would hate to pay the price and not be able to land at half the ports. Maybe summer would be better weather? I also did not see a way to preview the shore excursions, to confirm they would be of interest to us and also pricing.  Thanking in advance for any suggestions.

[irvington]

I'm curious about this too.

[marco2111]

We actually booked the remote islands cruise for May 22. Never been on hurtigruten trip but it looked very interesting. We booked on the Norwegian website and got a 2 for one deal. (Something else we have never done, we usually use travel agent for cruises).   We were already spending time in England so we thought we would try it!  I can report back when we return.

Karen

[grayjay]

We'll board this cruise in about two weeks - can tell you more in May! We have wanted to do this special cruise to view the small Scottish islands for quite a while, but CoVid kept us from doing it once and another time it was sold out for the cabin category we wanted.

So have a bit more patience for a while - I'll be back.

If there are any questions about the ship ("Spitsbergen") - I'll try to find out and/or answer them.

[oakridger]

Thanks for any information either of you have time to share with us!  Have a wonderful time!

 

~Nancy

[marco2111]

We will be on Maud.

[thebutlerdidit]

On 4/5/2023 at 5:43 PM, grayjay said:

We'll board this cruise in about two weeks - can tell you more in May! We have wanted to do this special cruise to view the small Scottish islands for quite a while, but CoVid kept us from doing it once and another time it was sold out for the cabin category we wanted.

So have a bit more patience for a while - I'll be back.

If there are any questions about the ship ("Spitsbergen") - I'll try to find out and/or answer them.

Hello, I was just looking at Hurtigruten cruises and was wondering how your cruise went. I’d love some general feedback. 

[marco2111]

We did the expedition cruise with hurtigruten to the Scottish islands in may and we loved it! The weather in may was wonderful and the crew couldn’t have been better. We did all the included excursions., although there were other interesting trips offered each day, so we wish we had two days in each port to do everything. The Expedition staff were very knowledgeable and loved to engage with the passengers. Additional presentations on  board kept us very busy. 

The cabins, unless you book a suite, are very small and beds could be better but it was an educational trip not a traditional cruise and we loved it and were very glad we went. I  would book another one without any hesitation. We were on Maud.

Let me know if you gave any questions.

Karen 

[grayjay]

I can fully agree to marco2111's post. We were on "Spitsbergen" on a similar expedition in April 2023 but fortunately in a roomy suite, because the cabins mostly are cramped and small and the public areas a bit outdated.

Food was buffets every day, of exceptional quality, as was the quality of the expedition team who had to work so hard every day and was both extremely helpful and knowledgeable. The included trips were good but sometimes a bit short or could not happen because of weather conditions. The ones you had to pay for were ok but rather expensive - as usual with Hurtigruten, I must say.

I wouldn't recommend the trip - even if everybody tried his/her very best to be helpful - for someone with mobility issues, as each and every landing had to be done by the zodiacs and climbing in and out especially if the sea was a bit rough was not at all easy. Quite a lot of the landings included quite a bit of walking to the sights, sometimes even some miles and transport for people with disabilities was not always available - some of the islands are so small that on one of them the only taxi was owned by the shop's owner who had to keep his shop open...

And on some of the days,  for example at St. Kilda , no landing was possible because of inclement weather conditions.

But still - for people loving nature and hiking - it's a wonderful trip to take. I'd only recommend one of the later trips in May, because most of the birds, for example had not arrived at our date in April.