Comments GREATLY appreciated on HAL Arctic Circle cruise

[chisoxfan]

I'm a bit embarrassed by asking such a general question but would truly appreciate any comments by the educated CC community. We recently booked the June HAL cruise below. Sounded great at the time... we wanted to try Rotterdam and got OK air and nice cabin (aft Balcony). That said as we looked at excursions there were almost none available from HAL  ie.  HAL had a few for each port and many/most were sold out. Going to Viator also was a bust particularly in Norway. Even the Scotland excursions were limited. We expected to see some beautiful scenery from the ship but are in the dark (yes I know we will  be in land of midnight sun) as to what we might do/arrange in port in lieu of having excursions scheduled at each port. Would it  be worthwhile possible to walk around in these ports and enjoy some sights/ dining etc, or are we 'missing' the boat without tours. I kind of envision an Alaska style experience where we will see much from the ship but have only been as far north as Bergen. Thank you in advance for comments.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

All of these ports are discussed here extensively.  Have you looked around the board?

[hallasm]

This is an arctic cruise - the itinerary does not include any of the deep fjords. 

[kaisatsu]

The forum does contain plenty of port info on the Arctic and other non-fjord ports. You just have to search a little more.

Trondheim and Ålesund are both small cities that are pleasant to walk around. Trondheim has a famous cathedral and a historic Bryggen row colorful wooden waterfront warehouses. Ålesund is known for its art deco architecture downtown. A search in the forum for either should return several results. You can also check out Trondheim’s official tourism websites:

https://visittrondheim.no/en/
 

The popular draw in Honningsvåg is Nordkapp, a symbolic point representing the northernmost point in continental Europe. This is a fair way from the city, but there are independent tour companies operating the trip alongside the cruise excursion. Searching for Nordkapp or “North Cape” may net more info, since Honningsvåg is often misspelled.

 

Bodø is less visited, and I don’t feel like there’s much to see wandering around town. That could be my bias, since northerners who move south tend to paint a dreary picture of most of the smaller northern Norwegian cities. It is apparently the 2024 European Capital of Culture, so maybe I shouldn’t sell it short! They too have a tourism site to give you some ideas: https://visitbodo.com/en/ The Saltstraumen maelstrom might be the most famous site in the area, but our visit on the coastal ferry wasn’t timed right to make the trip.

 

Harstad is far less visited, but it does show up in some trip reports from other Arctic cruises. They also have a tourism website: https://en.visitharstad.com/

 

I’ll leave the Scottish ports for someone with more expertise!

[chisoxfan]

KAISATSU Thank you so much for taking time to respond. I have done some research online and while I know my question was perhaps too general I was seeking a more cruise centered, broad overview of what to expect and your comments are most helpful. As stated I was particularly concerned as to non excursion related activities in Norway ports as these (excursions) appear more limited than I had hoped.  I understand this cruise is not fjord based based which seemed to  be a wonderful option/ choice also.

 

[swin26]

@chisoxfan Please come join our roll call for this cruise...  There is a group spreadsheet where people are sharing what they are doing in each port.

[chisoxfan]

Thanks for the invite. We are leaning towards cancelling this cruise but will certainly sign up if we do go.

[chisoxfan]

On 1/26/2024 at 12:45 PM, swin26 said:

@chisoxfan Please come join our roll call for this cruise...  There is a group spreadsheet where people are sharing what they are doing in each port.

Hope everyone has a wonderful cruise! We elected not to do this itinerary and cancelled today. We had an aft VS balcony on 8 if anyone has an interest.