Opinions On "Search for the Northern Lights" Cruise

[Rick&Jeannie]

Currently looking at this one for Sept. this year.  Would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has previously taken this cruise and especially how "successful" was your viewing of the Northern Lights.  It appears that they have really cranked up the price for this itinerary!

[Ken the cruiser]

Would also like to hear some feedback on this annual cruise. We had it booked once, but it got canceled due to the pandemic. Right now we’re looking to book it in 2026. 

[Thrak]

Our viewing wasn't very successful at all. Some others on the cruise said they had a better experience but I don't think anybody had a "phabulous" viewing experience. There is simply no way to know in advance. (We didn't have a viewing excursion booked and it was soooooo freaking cold on the night we were supposed to see the lights that we didn't stay on the balcony for long stretches of time. We tried going up top but were freezing so went back to our cabin and kept looking from the balcony. I heard later that folks on the other side of the ship apparently had a "slightly" better viewing but we only saw a few wispy white smears.) On the other hand we had a great cruise. We loved Sapphire Princess (even had a kettle in the room), Norway was beautiful, and we knew in advance that we were at the mercy of conditions. Heck, it could have been totally cloudy that night. As the old saying goes, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

 

There was one port though (can't remember which one) where Princess wanted something like $30 for a bus into town! We missed getting the tickets but they said we could pay at the bus. We took the tender ashore and joined the very long  line of people waiting to board the bus. (They had maybe 3 busses there but were only boarding them one at a time.) We stood in line in the snow waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally someone came down the line asking about tickets and we said we didn't have them yet. He ignored us and kept on down the line. We finally managed to get on the bus and again told the guy coming down the aisle that we didn't have ticket yet. He acted very distracted and pretty much just looked at me and kept on down the line taking tickets. We never did pay. Weird. However, when we arrived in town, they dropped us all off at a shopping mall which was pretty much the only thing open. We wandered around a while and bought something from the grocery area of a shop and then went back to the bus. Pretty much everybody went back quickly like we did. As it turned out, I was very happy they never took our money for the "excursion". Of course the weather and conditions may well be very different on your cruise.

 

There is no way to know if you will have a successful viewing. I would say you may well increase your chances by booking one of the viewing excursions that takes you to a more remote location. There were a couple of them on our cruise. Sadly, a few I spoke with who did take those (not inexpensive) excursions only had a slightly better viewing experience than we did. They did, however, enjoy the excursion. My thought is that, if you want to do this cruise and can afford to do so, it's a great opportunity to see more of the world and you just may have the experience of a lifetime.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It appears that they have really cranked up the price for this itinerary!

 

Just looked back and noticed this comment. We did this as a 12 day cruise in October of 2019. We had a standard balcony. I "think" we booked with the complimentary drink package. (Can't remember the name of that promo they used to run.) We paid $2,894 each. I looked just now and a standard balcony with Standard Fare looks to be $4,198 each. Quite a jump from 2019 pricing!

 

When the cruise returned to Southampton we took a post cruise tour to Stonehenge and some other sites as our way to return to Heathrow. Then we flew to Barcelona where we spent a few days before boarding Emerald Princess for a 14 day cruise back to Florida. This was our last trip before the shutdown.

[beg3yrs]

I believe @Thrak took his cruise in 2019. We were on the Northern Lights Cruise in 2022 on the Island Princess. It was stormy on the way north along the coast of Norway. The captain sacrificed a stop in Stavanger so he could sail "between" storms. We made the rest of our ports OK. Our experience with the lights, our first time, was amazing although after the fact, it could have been better I've heard. Nevertheless we heard the announcement in the hallways late one evening that the lights were visible. Out onto the balcony we lept (with warm robes and heavy duty slippers of course) and they were barely visible to the naked eye. We finally found them in the distance and once located we were enthralled by the changing shapes.

 

Once we reached Alta (I believe this is Thrak's goofy bus port) for the overnight the lights put on a better show. Much more visible to the naked eye. We took the late night excursion to the rock quarry and the lights were reasonably bright even with a full moon. I have an older camera but was able to catch some beautiful shots with a tripod, a wide field of view and a long exposure setting. Others however, with iPhones 8 or higher were able to get some amazing hand-held shots with no problem at all. I understand many of the newer Android phones can do the same thing. Unfortunately we had iPhone 6 and that didn't do much at all (we've since upgraded).

 

The next night sailing out of Alta, the Lights made another showing, this time even better. Set against a backdrop of islands they were very visible to the naked eye. We could see the curtains and even flares.

 

We enjoyed this trip so much, we're booked again in 2025 on the Emerald Princess.

 

Looking at the sunspot cycle, it's supposed to peak this year so as long as the weather is good for you I think it's a good bet you'll get a spectacular display.

Edited January 7 by beg3yrs

[kiwimum]

We did this cruise in late August 2023.   No Northern Lights were visible although the Captain announced the possibility did not happen. 
We will not repeat this trip until later in the year, October/November.   The August trip was full capacity due to school holidays.

[suzyed]

13 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Just looked back and noticed this comment. We did this as a 12 day cruise in October of 2019. We had a standard balcony. I "think" we booked with the complimentary drink package. (Can't remember the name of that promo they used to run.) We paid $2,894 each. I looked just now and a standard balcony with Standard Fare looks to be $4,198 each. Quite a jump from 2019 pricing!

 

When the cruise returned to Southampton we took a post cruise tour to Stonehenge and some other sites as our way to return to Heathrow. Then we flew to Barcelona where we spent a few days before boarding Emerald Princess for a 14 day cruise back to Florida. This was our last trip before the shutdown.

We did exactly the same thing...first the Northern Lights sailing and then the Emerald.  I don't remember (I could look but too lazy to do it right now), I felt like the Northern Lights cruise was pricey back then as well. If I remember correctly both you and Chris and Chuck and I got our Elite status after the Northern lights cruise and by the time we got on the Emerald we were Elite and we had to wait on a long line to get our "pins"!  

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, suzyed said:

We did exactly the same thing...first the Northern Lights sailing and then the Emerald.  I don't remember (I could look but too lazy to do it right now), I felt like the Northern Lights cruise was pricey back then as well. If I remember correctly both you and Chris and Chuck and I got our Elite status after the Northern lights cruise and by the time we got on the Emerald we were Elite and we had to wait on a long line to get our "pins"!  

 

Yep. We were Platinum when we booked and despite the days between cruises the system doesn't automagically upgrade status. We waited at the Captain's Circle desk for the rep to finally arrive and were then told to go to Customer Service instead. We absolutely loved Barcelona! The only downside of those cruises was Scottish Ken - the horrid assistant CD. He's the only CD staff member I've ever seen be rude to a roomful of passengers. Even the Brits (who don't really have Country Music) were telling him that Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison wasn't Country Music. He really didn't take it well at all. I don't really think he liked his job much. His "disappearance" is one of the positive side effects of Covid. He must have gotten another job during the shutdown. That was also the cruise (on Emerald) where my wife sent out a pair of brown corduroy pants and got back some "skinny" blue jeans that might possibly fit a slender 10 year old. It took 3 days to get her clothing back. I doubt that steward stayed with Princess either. He would still be in the hall hours after the other stewards were finished and he did things like take the glasses and not replace them, take the towels and leave only one in their place, etc. He was another one who really didn't seem to like his job at all.

 

It would be nice to go back to Norway but Chris is more interested in visiting Iceland and we both would like to do the Northern Europe route with Scotland and Ireland. So many places and so little time!

[TRLD]

We did the search for Northern Lights on the Island just recently in October 23.  We did miss the port call in Stavenger due to very rough weather on the way north.  We were successful in seeing the northern lights on three nights.  Minor viewing on 2 nights at Tromso and Alta, very good viewing at Lofoten Islands.  If you do not take tours the shuttle bus was $15 each way.  This was pretty much the shuttle bus price at each port. Not outrageous considering prices in Norway.

 

Based on our experiences I would not spend the money for the Northern lights viewing excursions at night.  We basically saw just as much from the ship as they did on the excursions plus did not have a long cold tender ride back to the ship late at night.

 

Considering that it was a search for northern lights cruise the ship really not do anything to let the passengers know when they were visible.  Several of us had apps on our phone that would show the probability of seeing them where we were at.  So a number of people would that to decide to go up on deck.  Many passengers did not have any idea and missed the first couple of days views.

 

It was only at the last stop in Lofoten Islands (probably after receiving many complaints from passengers about the ship not making any announcements) that the Captain actually made announcements and turned off the lights on the upper deck at the front of the ship.

 

 

Edited January 7 by TRLD

[TRLD]

One other comment.  Keep in mind that to the naked eye the northern lights just show up as a gray smudge.  The colored lights show up in pictures.  The one I attached was taken with a Samsung 21 using night setting with a 2 second exposure.  So even when we had the good viewing night many passengers would come up and ask where they were because they expected to see the colors.  It would have been nice if the ship had conducted a lecture or too about the best way to "see" the northern lights and to get pictures of them.

 

The two Apps I used to identify when it was worthwhile to go up and look was Aurora and Aurora Reach.

 

We decided on the cruise that if we had not seen them on board we would just file to Fairbanks during a high probability time.

Edited January 7 by TRLD

[beg3yrs]

Two additional memories of our Northern Lights cruise. Standing in the rock quarry at night looking at the lights, first I spotted the Big Dipper constellation and used it to find the North Star. It was directly overhead!

Then I pulled out a trusty compass and it was pointing to where the sun had set!

Things are different above the Arctic Circle ...

Edited January 7 by beg3yrs

[tothemall&beyond]

We spent ALL of December 2022 in Scandinavia, with more than a third of our trip way up in northern Norway, far above the Arctic Circle (much, much farther than Princess goes), on a small (500 pax) Hurtigruten ship. It was during Polar Night, and we saw the Northern Lights several times. BUT, as others have commented, what you need to know is that they rarely appear to the naked eye as amazing as they appear through the lens of a camera. Even looking through my cell phone, I could see more color and movement than I could without viewing through some sort of lens. And, of course, whether or not you get to see them (or how dramatic they are) depends on many factors solely in the control of "Mother Nature". 

 

We are glad we did it on a small ship that didn't have to go out to sea between ports, keeping us closer to land and amazing sights. Our sailing spanned Christmas, and yet, we never had more than 200 passengers on board. It was awesome! Also, in stark contrast to Princess's hot or miss method for announcing NL, Hurtigruten has an in-cabin PA system on cabin telephones for announcing the NL - which passengers could choose to leave on or turn off. Often, indeed most of the time, the NL appeared very late at night, but judging from the number of people who quickly scrambled up on deck with each announcement, I don't think anyone turned it off in their cabins. 

[gottagocit]

16 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Currently looking at this one for Sept. this year.  Would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has previously taken this cruise and especially how "successful" was your viewing of the Northern Lights.  It appears that they have really cranked up the price for this itinerary!

If experiencing the Aurora AND capturing them in photos is important to you I have a bit of advice on the subject. 
 

We did take a cruise a few years ago that traveled north of Iceland in hopes of seeing them but were disappointed to only catch a small glimmer of white light one night. 

We’ve wanted to see the Aurora for many years and decided last year to plan a trip that would give us the best opportunity to see them. After lots of research and seeking advice we decoded to spend a few nights in Tromso, Norway and we were not disappointed. We went in mid October after full darkness returns to the polar region and before full winter season. 

While actually experiencing them on each of the 3 night tours we learned so much about the phenomenon and the best ways to see and capture them with a camera. The guides/photographers running tours are experts at locating them and capturing them in photos. They also share so much info on the NL. It was an amazing experience. 

Consider this:  

 

During the land tours guests are sometimes driven 1-2 hours inland to find clear skies using data from dozens of other guides feedback on where the clouds are clearing. In total the tours last 5-7 hours with some companies providing hotel pickup drop off after. 

 

Once we found clear skies we sometimes waited 1-2 hours for the Aurora to appear and it often dissipated within 30-45 minutes. The guides provide warm soup, hot chocolate, warm clothes and a small fire with chairs to keep warm while waiting. 

 

The Aurora forecast websites and apps are not a reliable forecast of Aurora visibility or intensity. 

 

The naked human eye rarely sees color in them but high quality cameras with expensive low light lenses capture many times more light and fantastic colors depending on intensity. The goood ones also capture every star and constellation in the sky. 

iPhones are not equipped to capture them. Yes sometimes you can get lucky and capture a little but nothing like a quality camera/lens designed for night sky photography. The difference is incredible. Don’t believe me, go outside tonight and try to capture a photo of the night sky including stars or moving satellites. It doesn’t work. If it won’t capture starlight it won’t capture the Aurora effectively. 

 

The most used exposure time for the photos is 8-10 seconds which can not be successfully done from a moving ship and without a tripod without blurring. 
 

If viewing the Aurora is on your bucket list don’t rely only on the cruise to see them. Consider traveling to Europe several days before or after your cruise and travel to Tromsø (or to an lesser degree Iceland) for a few nights but book your tours well before your trip as they will likely sell out. They typically begin just after sunset and usually drop you at your hotel. Some tours are small groups with only 8-10 people and others having 30-40. Most will provide war, clothes to wear if needed for no additional cost. Tromsø is around 215 miles above the Arctic circle and in the viewing area for Aurora almost every night in the winter assuming the clouds don’t prevent it. 
 

Notice the stars in these photos. Also many of them show steaks of moving satellites and shooting stars. 

Write if you have any questions. 

 

Edited January 7 by gottagocit

[PescadoAmarillo]

4 minutes ago, tothemall&beyond said:

We spent ALL of December 2022 in Scandinavia, with more than a third of our trip way up in northern Norway, far above the Arctic Circle (much, much farther than Princess goes), on a small (500 pax) Hurtigruten ship. It was during Polar Night, and we saw the Northern Lights several times. BUT, as others have commented, what you need to know is that they rarely appear to the naked eye as amazing as they appear through the lens of a camera. Even looking through my cell phone, I could see more color and movement than I could without viewing through some sort of lens. And, of course, whether or not you get to see them (or how dramatic they are) depends on many factors solely in the control of "Mother Nature". 

 

We are glad we did it on a small ship that didn't have to go out to sea between ports, keeping us closer to land and amazing sights. Our sailing spanned Christmas, and yet, we never had more than 200 passengers on board. It was awesome! Also, in stark contrast to Princess's hot or miss method for announcing NL, Hurtigruten has an in-cabin PA system on cabin telephones for announcing the NL - which passengers could choose to leave on or turn off. Often, indeed most of the time, the NL appeared very late at night, but judging from the number of people who quickly scrambled up on deck with each announcement, I don't think anyone turned it off in their cabins. 

Thank you for this report. I just booked a first class, refundable flight to Fairbanks and a refundable hotel around the Spring solstice for the sole purpose of seeing the lights. I thought I could look at weather and NL reports in the days ahead of time, to see if sightings looked possible, and go ahead or cancel as a result.
 

I have been weighing this against a Hurtigruten cruise for several months. Based on your experience, would you go the Hurtigruten route again?  Given that it was polar night, what else did you do/see during your month on board? Hurtigruten used to guarantee you’d see the NL or you’d get another cruise at no charge (obviously requiring many out of pocket exoenses, such as transportation) but I’m not sure if they still do that. 

[TRLD]

8 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

If experiencing the Aurora AND capturing them in photos is important to you I have a bit of advice on the subject. 

We’ve wanted to see the Aurora for many years and decided last year to plan a trip that would give us the best opportunity to see them. After lots of research and seeking advice we decoded to spend a few nights in Tromso, Norway and we were not disappointed. We went in mid October after full darkness returns to the polar region and before full winter season. 

While actually experiencing them on each of the 3 night tours we learned so much about the phenomenon and the best ways to see and capture them with a camera. The guides/photographers running tours are experts at locating them and capturing them in photos. They also share so much info on the NL. It was an amazing experience. 

Consider this:  

 

During the land tours guests are sometimes driven 1-2 hours inland to find clear skies using data from dozens of other guides feedback on where the clouds are clearing. In total the tours last 5-7 hours with some companies providing hotel pickup drop off after. 

 

Once we found clear skies we sometimes waited 1-2 hours for the Aurora to appear and it often dissipated within 30-45 minutes. The guides provide warm soup, hot chocolate, warm clothes and a small fire with chairs to keep warm while waiting. 

 

The Aurora forecast websites and apps are not a reliable forecast of Aurora visibility or intensity. 

 

The naked human eye rarely sees color in them but high quality cameras with expensive low light lenses capture many times more light and fantastic colors depending on intensity. The goood ones also capture every star and constellation in the sky. 

iPhones are not equipped to capture them. Yes sometimes you can get lucky and capture a little but nothing like a quality camera/lens designed for night sky photography. The difference is incredible. Don’t believe me, go outside tonight and try to capture a photo of the night sky including stars or moving satellites. It doesn’t work. If it won’t capture starlight it won’t capture the Aurora effectively. 

 

The most used exposure time for the photos is 8-10 seconds which can not be successfully done from a moving ship and without a tripod without blurring. 
 

If viewing the Aurora is on your bucket list don’t rely only on the cruise to see them. Consider traveling to Europe several days before or after your cruise and travel to Tromsø (or to an lesser degree Iceland) for a few nights but book your tours well before your trip as they will likely sell out. They typically begin just after sunset and usually drop you at your hotel. Some tours are small groups with only 8-10 people and others having 30-40. Most will provide war, clothes to wear if needed for no additional cost. Tromsø is around 215 miles above the Arctic circle and in the viewing area for Aurora almost every night in the winter assuming the clouds don’t prevent it. 
 

Notice the stars in these photos. Also many of them show steaks of moving satellites and shooting stars. 

Write if you have any questions. 

 

I will agree that it is far better to book in advance with one of the local guides.

 

During the overnight port in Alta there are also.local guides.  Far far better than the cruise excursion offerings.

[Rick&Jeannie]

I very much appreciate all of the replies given so far. This topic certainly seems to be an interesting/favorite subject for many! Looking forward to more posts!

[gottagocit]

12 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Thank you for this report. I just booked a first class, refundable flight to Fairbanks and a refundable hotel around the Spring solstice for the sole purpose of seeing the lights. I thought I could look at weather and NL reports in the days ahead of time, to see if sightings looked possible, and go ahead or cancel as a result.
 

I have been weighing this against a Hurtigruten cruise for several months. Based on your experience, would you go the Hurtigruten route again?  Given that it was polar night, what else did you do/see during your month on board? Hurtigruten used to guarantee you’d see the NL or you’d get another cruise at no charge (obviously requiring many out of pocket exoenses, such as transportation) but I’m not sure if they still do that. 

We did a Princess voyage once from Southampton to NYC that included 3 stops in Iceland so we did travel just north of the Arctic circle. I think it was 18-19 days long but we’re very disappointed to not see the lights other than a single light glow early one am. 

If it was important to us to witness the phenomenon and if I had to choose between a land based tour and a cruise for Aurora viewing for the first time I would certain sky choose the land based trip. If you’re able to do both and enjoy cruising then do both but for Aurora viewing specifically there’s little doubt in my mind the land based viewing will more often than not give you a far better opportunity to see them. Of course clouds and other bad weather can always ruin the viewing experience so it’s not 100% certain of course. 
 

Fairbanks is certainly another place where the lights are usually seen but having been to Alaska a few times we opted for Tromsø. But we do live Alaska! 

Edited January 7 by gottagocit

[Ken the cruiser]

I agree, having a nice camera with all of the extras when taking photos of the NLs makes a huge difference. This shot was taken with my iPhone SE, with no delay exposure capabilities, in Aug 2022 just before midnight as we were cruising between Iceland and Greenland and lasted for only about 10-15 minutes before it was gone. But, if that's all you have, you can still take some memorable shots. 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

I guess I should clarify just a bit as to what we're interested in doing.  I fully understand that if our sole purpose was to see the NL then a land-based tour would be the most successful. We are not likely to go that route, however. We're interested primarily in a cruise that would allow us the chance to see them. I realize that there's going to be no guarantee that we'll see them, and even if we do it will be a "less than optimal" sighting. However...I'm certainly enjoying hearing about these land tours...so don't stop sharing!

[Rick&Jeannie]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I agree, having a nice camera with all of the extras when taking photos of the NLs makes a huge difference. This shot was taken with my iPhone SE, with no delay exposure capabilities, in Aug 2022 just before midnight as we were cruising between Iceland and Greenland and lasted for only about 10-15 minutes before it was gone. But, if that's all you have, you can still take some memorable shots. 

 

Good to know that you don't necessarily have to fork over $3K worth of camera equipment for 30 minutes of subject matter!  I have a Samsung S22 which *seems* to do fairly well in low light situations. 

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I guess I should clarify just a bit as to what we're interested in doing.  I fully understand that if our sole purpose was to see the NL then a land-based tour would be the most successful. We are not likely to go that route, however. We're interested primarily in a cruise that would allow us the chance to see them. I realize that there's going to be no guarantee that we'll see them, and even if we do it will be a "less than optimal" sighting. However...I'm certainly enjoying hearing about these land tours...so don't stop sharing!

If the ship you are considering booking this cruise on still has aft-facing balcony cabins available, my suggestion would be to book one of those. Not only do they help minimize windy conditions when the ship is moving but also great views, which might come in handy depending on where the NLs decide to pop up. This way you can also pop in and out of the cabin to keep warm while waiting for them to appear. My above picture was taken from our aft-facing cabin.

[TRLD]

7 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Good to know that you don't necessarily have to fork over $3K worth of camera equipment for 30 minutes of subject matter!  I have a Samsung S22 which *seems* to do fairly well in low light situations. 

People seemed to have better luck with Samsung than iPhone on the cruise I was on.

 

During our October cruise the weather was not the best. So one advantage was  being in different locations. Tromso was pretty cloud covered with the only view that night was near the horizon and very limited. Alta was broken clouds for both night so again very limited. The first mostly clear night was at further south Lofoten Islands with pretty good views. 

 

So.land or cruise even in the best location and best planning it comes down to weather, solar activity, etc. You can improve your changes but no guarantee.

[tothemall&beyond]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Thank you for this report. I just booked a first class, refundable flight to Fairbanks and a refundable hotel around the Spring solstice for the sole purpose of seeing the lights. I thought I could look at weather and NL reports in the days ahead of time, to see if sightings looked possible, and go ahead or cancel as a result.
 

I have been weighing this against a Hurtigruten cruise for several months. Based on your experience, would you go the Hurtigruten route again?  Given that it was polar night, what else did you do/see during your month on board? Hurtigruten used to guarantee you’d see the NL or you’d get another cruise at no charge (obviously requiring many out of pocket exoenses, such as transportation) but I’m not sure if they still do that. 

My husband and I agree that we would definitely do another Hurtigruten cruise again -- especially in winter when the ships are not full. 

We had a tiny (and I mean, tiny) inside cabin and yet we were still happy as clams. The cabin was well-designed with more than ample storage for all we had with us for our month-long trip through wintry Scandinavia. The heated bathroom floor was a very nice plus - especially for drying our snowy gloves, scarves, hats, wool socks. So was the reasonably priced self-service laundry. 

The food was plentiful and excellent, even if sometimes a bit unusual. But isn't that part of what travel is about - experiencing new and different things?

The Coastal Experience Team (excursions, port lectures, etc.) was comprised of 3 young men who were very knowledgable, multi-lingual, friendly, entertaining. The dining room staff (who also clean the cabins in slower winter season) was amazing -- all of them. The crew is well paid and well treated (they work 22 days on/22 days off with commutation transportation paid by Hurtigruten) -- and it shows in how they interact with each other and with passengers.

FYI -- Hurtigruten gave us FREE unlimited wifi for one device pp, FREE unlimited brewed coffee/tea (and even happily put a tea kettle in our cabin upon our request). The steward even provided us with coffee/tea/hot cocoa/sugar and mugs. And there are NO automatic gratuities added nor even expected; nor are there any port charges/taxes. All is included. And, yes, they still have the NL Promise:

Northern Lights Promise on Select Norwegian Coastal Voyages

• Sail the Norwegian coast with us during the auroral season between October 1 and March 31 on a voyage of 11 days or more.

• If the Northern Lights do not occur within sight of your ship during your voyage, we will give you a 6-day southbound or 7-day northbound Original Coastal Express Classic Voyage FREE OF CHARGE*.

As to what we did...  We tried to take in the local atmosphere of every place we went and walked around every city/town/village (through deep snow in most) that had a stop of at least an hour). A few of the specific things we did: in Bergen pre-cruise (with a rare big snow) we went to the Xmas Market two nights in a row, walked the alleyways of Byrggen and enjoyed afternoon fika chatting with locals in coffee houses. Post cruise in Bergen, we took the Floibanen funicular to the top of Mt. Floyen and even spent part of Boxing Day in a Red Cross Center whose volunteer invited us to come in for coffee and lunch. In Trondheim, I delighted at all the wonderful thrift and antique stores we found just by deviating one block from the "normal" tourist walking route. In Tromso, we enjoyed the spirit of the holiday with locals out and about shopping for gifts and children skating in the small outdoor ice rink that was installed. The two crossings of the Arctic Circle were incredible and very special --  passing the globe (lit up in the darkness) that marks the location. Our northbound crossing took place during a veritable blizzard with hail pelting our faces. Still wouldn't change anything about it. Kirkenes (where the ships turn around from north to south, and vice-versa) was a delightful surprise. Picturesque little town, friendly people, beautiful shops. We did not go to the Ice Hotel nor dog sled, but many people did. We were happy walking just through the streets knee-deep in snow, taking in the holiday lights, sounds and aromas of the homes and shops.

We took one Hurtigruten excursion to Nordkapp (North Cape) and it was truly fabulous. We had enough light both on the drive there and upon arrival to see all the breathtaking scenery and then drove back in a snowstorm. An unforgettable experience.

 

I hope that answers your question. LOL.

[PescadoAmarillo]

11 minutes ago, tothemall&beyond said:

My husband and I agree that we would definitely do another Hurtigruten cruise again -- especially in winter when the ships are not full. 

We had a tiny (and I mean, tiny) inside cabin and yet we were still happy as clams. The cabin was well-designed with more than ample storage for all we had with us for our month-long trip through wintry Scandinavia. The heated bathroom floor was a very nice plus - especially for drying our snowy gloves, scarves, hats, wool socks. So was the reasonably priced self-service laundry. 

The food was plentiful and excellent, even if sometimes a bit unusual. But isn't that part of what travel is about - experiencing new and different things?

The Coastal Experience Team (excursions, port lectures, etc.) was comprised of 3 young men who were very knowledgable, multi-lingual, friendly, entertaining. The dining room staff (who also clean the cabins in slower winter season) was amazing -- all of them. The crew is well paid and well treated (they work 22 days on/22 days off with commutation transportation paid by Hurtigruten) -- and it shows in how they interact with each other and with passengers.

FYI -- Hurtigruten gave us FREE unlimited wifi for one device pp, FREE unlimited brewed coffee/tea (and even happily put a tea kettle in our cabin upon our request). The steward even provided us with coffee/tea/hot cocoa/sugar and mugs. And there are NO automatic gratuities added nor even expected; nor are there any port charges/taxes. All is included. And, yes, they still have the NL Promise:

Northern Lights Promise on Select Norwegian Coastal Voyages

• Sail the Norwegian coast with us during the auroral season between October 1 and March 31 on a voyage of 11 days or more.

• If the Northern Lights do not occur within sight of your ship during your voyage, we will give you a 6-day southbound or 7-day northbound Original Coastal Express Classic Voyage FREE OF CHARGE*.

As to what we did...  We tried to take in the local atmosphere of every place we went and walked around every city/town/village (through deep snow in most) that had a stop of at least an hour). A few of the specific things we did: in Bergen pre-cruise (with a rare big snow) we went to the Xmas Market two nights in a row, walked the alleyways of Byrggen and enjoyed afternoon fika chatting with locals in coffee houses. Post cruise in Bergen, we took the Floibanen funicular to the top of Mt. Floyen and even spent part of Boxing Day in a Red Cross Center whose volunteer invited us to come in for coffee and lunch. In Trondheim, I delighted at all the wonderful thrift and antique stores we found just by deviating one block from the "normal" tourist walking route. In Tromso, we enjoyed the spirit of the holiday with locals out and about shopping for gifts and children skating in the small outdoor ice rink that was installed. The two crossings of the Arctic Circle were incredible and very special --  passing the globe (lit up in the darkness) that marks the location. Our northbound crossing took place during a veritable blizzard with hail pelting our faces. Still wouldn't change anything about it. Kirkenes (where the ships turn around from north to south, and vice-versa) was a delightful surprise. Picturesque little town, friendly people, beautiful shops. We did not go to the Ice Hotel nor dog sled, but many people did. We were happy walking just through the streets knee-deep in snow, taking in the holiday lights, sounds and aromas of the homes and shops.

We took one Hurtigruten excursion to Nordkapp (North Cape) and it was truly fabulous. We had enough light both on the drive there and upon arrival to see all the breathtaking scenery and then drove back in a snowstorm. An unforgettable experience.

 

I hope that answers your question. LOL.

You answered it very well, and with the exact kind of information I was curious about. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time!

[suzyed]

15 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Yep. We were Platinum when we booked and despite the days between cruises the system doesn't automagically upgrade status. We waited at the Captain's Circle desk for the rep to finally arrive and were then told to go to Customer Service instead. We absolutely loved Barcelona! The only downside of those cruises was Scottish Ken - the horrid assistant CD. He's the only CD staff member I've ever seen be rude to a roomful of passengers. Even the Brits (who don't really have Country Music) were telling him that Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison wasn't Country Music. He really didn't take it well at all. I don't really think he liked his job much. His "disappearance" is one of the positive side effects of Covid. He must have gotten another job during the shutdown. That was also the cruise (on Emerald) where my wife sent out a pair of brown corduroy pants and got back some "skinny" blue jeans that might possibly fit a slender 10 year old. It took 3 days to get her clothing back. I doubt that steward stayed with Princess either. He would still be in the hall hours after the other stewards were finished and he did things like take the glasses and not replace them, take the towels and leave only one in their place, etc. He was another one who really didn't seem to like his job at all.

 

It would be nice to go back to Norway but Chris is more interested in visiting Iceland and we both would like to do the Northern Europe route with Scotland and Ireland. So many places and so little time!

Yeah, we were right there with you being sent from queue!
So much yet to see and do!  We just did the Great Britain cruise:England Ireland Scotland Wales and then France, Spain and Portugal>TA  Great cruise.

 

Edited January 7 by suzyed