HURTIGRUTEN THOUGHTS AND INFO AND RECAP:
ARCTIC CIRCLE MARKER
In No Particular Order.
We have very much enjoyed this sailing experience with Hurtigruten. As such we are looking forward to sailing with them again in 2025 and 2026. We are also wanting to do the Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen trip again so to experience another season. We are thinking of either Spring or Fall. This way we would avoid the busy summer season.
Hurtigruten is now two separate entities, one is the coastal ferry and the other is an expedition fleet. The expedition fleet (now called HX) goes far and wide all over the globe with their expedition offerings. We have done three of these and find them very much to our liking. Our next two sailings will be expedition cruises.
The Captains and staff are well experienced in sailing these coastal waters. On our journey they did an amazing job of keeping us in the calmest waters. This is not surprising as Hurtigruten has been in business for over 130 years.
The coastal ferry operates on the coast of Norway. Yes, this is a ferry hauling mail, cargo, vehicles and people along the coast. The route stops at 34 ports on the way North and South from Bergen to Kirkenes and back to Bergen. This route is referred to as BKB. It is offered as a one way voyage either North or South, or a roundtrip. We did the round trip BKB.
On these sailings especially in winter one needs to be very flexible as the weather can often dictate the schedule. Hence you may miss a port or two. We did have one planned excursion canceled.
On this BKB sailing we had full board and a coffee/tea package. Alcoholic beverages are a separate charge as well as the upscale dining. There is a beverage package available and is rather expensive and one would have to consume about 5-6 drinks a day to break even. It should be noted the high cost is due to Norwegian taxes levied on alcohol. (Most expedition cruises include alcoholic beverages)
With full board you get your three meals a day. Breakfast and lunch are buffets and the evening meal is a served a la cart. We found the food to be very enjoyable and varied. Hurtigruten takes great efforts to locally source a vast majority of their ingredients.
The dining service is excellent.
On board is the Coastal Experience team. This crew is responsible for the excursions, lectures, and daily briefings. I found their lectures to be well presented offering a lot of information. We did our own research and did not do any excursions with the ship and explored a good bit on our own in the ports where we had time. Many on the ship thought the excursions were expensive.
I feel the demographics of the passengers makes a pleasant experience. We had Norwegians, Koreans, Germans, UK, French, Danes, Canadians and just a few of us from the US.
There are no big floor shows, or other things one finds on the MEGA Cruise ships. The entertainment is the world around you, the fjords and fishing villages and maybe the Northern Lights.
The Hurtigruten ship have a passenger capacity from about 350-500. I like this as these smaller ships can get into these smaller ports.
The cabins are efficient and manageable. The best feature of the cabins is the bathroom floors are heated.
On these trips you will find yourself sitting in a lounge area enjoying the scenery.
Dress Code, there is none or as I call it Expedition Casual, i.e. relaxed hiking attire. No coat and tie or formal dress needed. Pack your warm waterproof gear. Hurtigruten is not for everyone, but for us the expedition small boat experiential sailings are PERFECT!
The Hurtigruten website has a lot of information for one to explore and the Expedition side website is also well done. There is a US call center that can be most helpful should on have any questions. Many find the Facebook groups helpful with information.
https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-us
https://www.travelhx.com/en-us/
Also Hurtigruten has some great sales and the best sales are during their Black Friday Sale.
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