Hurtigruten — Local services in Tromsø

We started our Nordkapp cruise from Bergen. 11 of the 12 nights on board were crystal clear, so we saw the Northern Lights on at least 4 nights, sometimes all night!

It was extremely cold for us Australians, but we rugged up as suggested! If only we had been told to take clear goggles (bicycle riding goggles) for standing on the freezing deck in the middle of the night in the blasting wind!

The Admiral Clarion Hotel check in experience in Bergen was absolute chaos.

Boarding the ship at the harbour in Bergen was a confusing experience; there was no signage to direct us to the Trollfjord.

The Trollfjord has just been refurbished so the cabin was super comfortable and well designed.

The cabins are fairly soundproof with the exception of two issues which remained unresolved during out time on the ship, despite us raising them with crew many times:

The vibration of the metal air conditioning vent in the roof above the bed. The noise was coming from INSIDE the vent, so we couldn't even shove some tissues in the gap to stop it vibrating.

The percussive drilling seemingly from below our cabin at 7am for 4 mornings during our stay. Often for 20 minutes.

Disappointing as this was the only cruise we'd ever been on, and after staying up many nights to observe Northern Lights, it was an abrupt way to wake up.

The restaurants on board provided all we needed.

You can purchase a meal upgrade if you want to go the up-market restaurant. The staff are pleasant, albeit a bit snobby for our Australian sensibilities.

Arran Bistro is only open for Lunch and Dinner, and their set menu has a good variety of quality meals. The best main meal was Arran’s wicked hamburger and our go-to dessert (also at Arran was Poached Pear), after a full meal at the Buffet! The fondant dessert at the buffet restaurant was also to die for.

Unfortunately the hot chocolate machine in the bar ran out by day 5 so that was disappointing. We found some secret supplies in Arran Bistro, which kept us going until the bar re-stocked by day 10.

The only other thing that ran out during our trip was the dried cranberries and granola on the breakfast buffet after day 5.

We are glad to report that there were other lovely berries and fruits available for breakfast and lunch that we supplemented our diets with.

Our journey took us up to Honningsvag, and we climbed all the steps up to the top of Nordkapptrappa, absolutely worth the climb, as long as you are fit, strong and stable. There was the driest snow we've ever experienced, just brushed it off like desiccated coconut from our clothes and boots at the end. The Sherpa (yes, those himalayan guys) steps in Svolvaer and Tromse were also awesome and totally worth the exhaustion for the view!

So we have to admit, we never paid for one off-shore excursion! We did our own adventures in every port.

To top of a pretty amazing trip, as we came into the fjord to Alta, the ship stopped as there were baby humpback whales having quite a frolic, as seen from the dining room.

Overall, it was quite a spartan cruise (no entertainment, no casino, no cabaret and a smallish buffet) which was exactly what we wanted. Amazingly, neither of us put on significant weight in 12 days, but saw the most magnificent scenery with mostly incredibly friendly staff.

Probably the only drawbacks were the significant cost (but it’s an expensive country) and the fact that it’s cheaper to buy the same cruise via different Hurtigruten websites (helps if you speak English, French, German and Norwegian!).

We encourage you to shop around.

One last small thing - we found nearly all the entry-level staff really friendly and helpful, but if you had cause to escalate any problems (and we did have one or two) the management were not always what I would call friendly or customer-oriented, without significant...

Tromso-Bergen (Southbound)- Vesteralen

TLDR: Norway = fantastic. Hurtigruten = egregious. The fleet is aging, the customer service is neglectful, the website information is unreliable, and the trip simply not worth the likely scathing review you will leave it afterwards.

I would like to start off by saying that 1. Norway and its people are a beautiful, friendly, and welcoming nation that I cannot wait to visit again; unfortunately Hurtigruten is not a good example of this hospitality. 2. having been to a fair few European countries, I am certainly aware of the difference in customer service to be expected when compared to back home in Australia, and 3. I hate leaving a bad review, but this is a public service announcement.

The issues began even prior to the cruise: Like others have already mentioned, if you want to feel secure in the money you invest in your trip, please do not sign up for this cruise. We received zero emails on where and when to arrive, and we had to consult various pages on their website, which had a lot of contradicting information, resulting in us arriving to the ship terminal 4 hours prior to our departure in the middle of the night.

The trip in itself is extremely boring- the route is actually for transport purposes as opposed to recreational use, which means that the stops are only 15-60 mins long, and a significant number of them are overnight which means you can barely get off the boat/out of the terminal, everything is closed, and therefore no real sightseeing opportunities.

The rooms- small, poorly ventilated, but relatively clean. This wouldn’t be an issue generally, as you’d be able to spend most of your time out of room, unless like us, you were sailing through a storm (not Hurtigruten’s fault, ofc) and were getting severely sea-sick, which isolated you in your room for large periods of time.

The kicker- despite their website continuing to advertise (and it still says so whilst writing this review 3 weeks later, I just checked) that their Basic Fare includes all three daily meals, when we got onto our boat we were told that no food is included in our fare. We showed them the website saying it was included, but they passed us on from the reception staff to the restaurant manager back to the reception staff who then mentioned speaking to the cruise manager who unsurprisingly was always in meetings. They gave us an email address to email, to which we are yet to get a reply. They also told us to call the main on/land Hurtigruten branch, but would not allow us access to a phone. We would have appreciated some accountability in the fact that we were now stuck on a boat for 4 days with no food and limited docking due to the storm, when their website clearly says that we would have food included in our fare. We even asked if we would be able to purchase a sort off “add on” package for food, but again, the buck was passed from one person to the other and no clear resolution was achieved.

There are many beautiful experiences you can spend this much money on in Norway; Hurtigruten cruises is not...

Brilliant. We flew into Oslo just a short hop from Heathrow and took the train to Trondheim the following day. The next morning, we boarded the ship The MS Polarlys I believe and made our way up the coast stopping at various ports on-route. We were only traveling as far as Tromsø but it was a very relaxing way to get there. Much to our surprise the captain elected to take the ship through the narrow gap into the Troll Fiord with only a few inches to spare on each side. This was done in the dark and with a slight swell running. The fiord is spectacular and I am sure that in places it would be possible to lean over the rail and touch the side although I would not encourage it. The ship was comfortable and on our trip there was plenty of space although I believe there are times when it is a lot busier, that might make things a little less appealing. The bars were fine if expensive (Alcohol is very expensive in Norway) and the shop had a wide range of items for all budgets as souvenirs of your trip. The restaurants are good and the service very good but do not expect Bangers and Mash or an English breakfast. There is a lot of fish on the menu but the staff were happy to help when I asked for something different. Crossing the Arctic Circle was great fun and we passed close by the indicator on a small rock, The actual ceremony took place a while later when King Neptune was welcomed on board and the passengers were encouraged to receive a blessing! Great fun and frivolity and if you are only ever going to do it once or it is your first time then you should accept it with good grace. Arriving at Tromsø after 3 days was a little bit sad but the bright and buoyant atmosphere soon made up for it. Make sure you visit at least 1 of the Christmas shops (I think there are at least 3) and take a trip to try and see the aurora borealis (no guarantees but well...