I am presently on the Hurtigruten Nordlys heading south. Advice and info: (1) The ship is registered in Norway and its crew is Norwegian - so that helps explain costs - but I think this is the way all cruises should be. Great people. (2) You can book port to port to give yourself time in some ports if you wish (I use apt. rentals). My trip up and down is 4 different bookings. You can also choose not to have "full board" when you book port to port, maybe breakfast only, etc. The a la carte food on board is expensive (this is Norway), but it also is cheaper than the full board meals. You can eat the regular 3 meals when you want, paid separately also. If you like indoor activities or much "action", or sun & warm weather, this may not be for you. I have never cruised before, but I have done many overnight ferries around the world, and this is like that, but so much better. I have spent hours watching the scenery go by out on deck all bundled up and also from the jacuzzi. I think this experience is amazing and I have spent almost a decade out of the US wandering everywhere (60+ countries and 300+ cities and towns). Few things in life are as beautiful as this. Norway is super civilized and I always love that when I am here. Top 3 great countries: Switzerland, Japan and Norway. Easy call ;))
This looks amazing. Thank you for sharing. Now I get why it is hard for Paul to crack a smile...he is part Norwegian! This looks like a great way to see a beautiful country. Thank you for taking us on the journey. Looking forward to part 2!
Um, word of warning, the weather of the Norwegian coast can be rough in the autumn. That's when most of the autumn storms arrive. And the weather might be bad enough for the ship to be forced to cancel certain destinations because it's simply too dangerous to sail on. And even if it's not expect to use those seasickness bags then. Definitely invest in medication against seasickness etc, just in case, and perhaps other measures too. Visibility might be low as well. The tourist seasons are there for a reason and it's cheaper during this period because of the greater risk of a bad experience. Don't get me wrong, you might be lucky. Just, you know, make a informed decision. That said, this ship will make good use of the islands and skerries to avoid the worst weather, something that's possible for most of the route. So it's not as bad as sailing on the open Atlantic.
Hurtigruten actually have a ship leaving Bergen every day. It used to be 11 vesssels doing the round-trip. With the Havila company also sailing the route it is a lot more vessels now.
Always enjoy your videos. I'm sure it may have been suggested to you a few times, heck maybe you've been on one or more, but I highly recommend a European river cruise. We have done 3 of these, all with Viking. Excellent way to tour "slowly", great docking places, great tours and exceptional food.
Thanks for the comment Ralph. We’ve never gone on a river cruise, although we did a Nile cruise for 4 days. I know they’re very popular and relaxing. We just haven’t gone on one yet. I hear Viking is superb.
Thx! Nice info, I’m torn between going Bergen to Svalbard or starting out with the coastal express going Bergen-Kirkenes then back down to Trondheim then train down to Oslo- exploring along the way.
Thanks for your comment. We'll be in Svalbard later this month for 3 weeks but we're flying up to Longyearbyen to meet our ship there rather than sailing all the way from Bergen. Our ship goes back down to Tromsø along the route so then I would be able to give you a better answer. In any case, you can't go wrong with the coastal express.
Oh boy, good questions. For gratuities, I honestly don't remember but I don't think they were expected. Housekeeping is pretty minimal, if at all, and you don't develop the kind of service relationship you usually do on a regular cruise. We only went on one excursion, to the Russian border in Kirkenes, and it was reasonable. You really don't need to go on excursions at most of these little towns. Drinks are comparable to off-shore Norwegian prices, that is, expensive by US standards. We didn't go to the specialty restaurant so I can't tell you the cost. Sorry, this wasn't more helpful. Have fun!
11:27 I appreciate that you pronounced the "e" at the end, it's a common mistake English speakers make to ignore those sounds, and it's *really* driving me nuts when they do as treating the "e" at the end of words as silent is not really done in other Germanic languages other then English. If you want to improve your pronounciation the "e" sound you made is represented by "i" in Norwegian however and the "u" in Norwegian is a far sharper sound where the tongue essentially forms the letter, while the sound you made for it is represented by the letter "o" in Norwegian. Mind you, this is nitpicking, and I think most Norwegians would be able to guess what you meant. "Multe" is the Norwegian word for cloudberries. They're really hard to store or transport without damaging them and can't be grown commercially. So you pretty much can only taste them in the Nordic region and elsewhere where they grow (like in Canada)
Norwegians dont use honorifics like sir or ma’am. Not even a desrved one like «doctor». The T/V-distinction was done away with in the 70s. All people, even the prime minister is refered to by first or last name. The only people excempt from this are members of the Royal Family who are adressed as Majesty or Royal Highness. When speaking to them directly one speaks to them in the third person. «What dose The King think about that?», «What dose The Crown Princess believe?»
