Hurtigruten / Vantage Travel Questions

[mediaman]

Howdy;

For April, 2011; I will be on the Nordkapp for a round trip sailing: Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen.
I have found much information that I can combine with my long travel history BUT there are few questions that seem vague or unanswered.

Perhaps you can help?

1. Tips are expected for the Vantage tour guide. He or she is with us for the entire cruise. I'm not sure if the Vantage guide will be our prime guide on the included shore excursions? Should the payment be made in USD$, NOK (Norwegian kroner) or Euros? I get the idea that we will need NOK for local guides and drivers?

2. Tips are optional for crew members, as I understand. They may not be expected except for unusual or special service. One person thought that they are expected. What do you say?

3. Are the cabins equipped with shampoo, soap and wash cloths? The latter is more of an American thing and I can take my own. What about the other items?

4. With Norway being a costly place to visit, I am told, is it better to look for small souvenirs in any one port over another? It is hard to say what I might like.

Thanks for any help. If you have any other comments, please add them.

[uppitycats]

Howdy;

For April, 2011; I will be on the Nordkapp for a round trip sailing: Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen.
I have found much information that I can combine with my long travel history BUT there are few questions that seem vague or unanswered.

We love Hurtigruten! We were on the Fram this spring, and will be on the Nordnorge next April. Our spring vacation was a wonderful experience, even with my becoming ill on board (excellent medical care provided!). I hope your trip is wonderful as well.

Perhaps you can help?

1. Tips are expected for the Vantage tour guide. He or she is with us for the entire cruise. I'm not sure if the Vantage guide will be our prime guide on the included shore excursions? Should the payment be made in USD$, NOK (Norwegian kroner) or Euros? I get the idea that we will need NOK for local guides and drivers? I can't specak specifically about your tour guide as we didn't have any such service. But in general in Norway, guides, drivers, other services accepted American dollars as well as NOK, and "minibanks" -- ATM machines -- were everywhere. We usually took out NOK each day for what we were going to do, or put everything on our credit card.

2. Tips are optional for crew members, as I understand. They may not be expected except for unusual or special service. One person thought that they are expected. What do you say?
We did tip -- but then we Americans are used to tipping, and we felt uncomfortable NOT doing so. They even scripted their announcement to "play into" American guilt, saying something like.. "Our American passengers always want to know about tipping. While it isn't at all necessary or expected, if you want to, here's how to do it.." and basically it was "come to the service desk, tell us how much you want to put on your credit card for tipping". :) But there weren't many Americans on board, so I don't think many passengers made their way to the service desk!
3. Are the cabins equipped with shampoo, soap and wash cloths? The latter is more of an American thing and I can take my own. What about the other items? Take wash cloths. They're not on board, and not in any of the hotels we stayed in, in Norway. And we expect to take our own again, this year. We just bought a few cheap ones, and left them behind (rather than trying to take home wet cloths, or pack them to move to a hotel, as we did in Oslo..)

4. With Norway being a costly place to visit, I am told, is it better to look for small souvenirs in any one port over another? It is hard to say what I might like. Norway IS expensive. But wonderful! Do take advantage of the VAT system..you have to buy a certain amount ..I think it's over $50..in once place, and ask for a special receipt (which they'll gladly provide), and then there are forms to fill out in the airport before you come home to get back the taxes you paid on your purchases. We didn't this first time..didn't quite understand how it worked..but will for sure do it next year.

Thanks for any help. If you have any other comments, please add them.

We love Norway. On our spring visit we got "stuck" in Oslo when the volcano erupted and all the European airports were closed... While it was expensive, we really really had a grand time there, and will be staying an extra week next year too. Be prepared for damp weather in Bergen..I'm told it "always rains" there.. but other than that one day, we had almost no bad weather at all. We were in Norway for 21 days.