Advice November Aurora Northern Lights Cruise

We had been hoping for this tour too. Its annoying as I had contacted the tour operators before booking the cruise because it is one of the main reasons we were booking and they assured us that they always work with p&o and if there was not any snow they use carts instead and did husky carting but that we had to book via p&o.

I have emailed p&o to ask and will email the husky people we spoke to before and let you know -if they are doing carting/sledding independently we will be booking via them.

We were also interested in the reindeer sledging but this is also missing.

Yes, we are also disappointed. :loudcry:

Appreciate the offer to update us on the situation. :)

You may well see the lights from the ship from Tromso north BUT, they will be greatly diluted in appearance by the light pollution from the town, even if they turn the exterior lights off on the ship. These two photos illustrate the difference between on board Oriana at Tromso and at Kautokeino on the Northern Lights tour where it was pitch black.

 

 

Wow!!

Appreciate your advice and the photos.

Hope we are lucky enough to see a similar display on our cruise. :)

Could someone please explain what to expect and what format it takes if booked on the ‘In Search of The Northern Lights’ excursion.

I believe someone comes on-board to explain things and what’s going to happen but I would appreciate any practical advice and your experiences of doing this excursion.

The guide comes onboard & tells you where he plans to take you to get the best possible chance of seeing the lights & gives a bit of info about photographing them, what to wear etc. A bus then picks you up & takes you to the destination. We went to place not far out of Alta but enough to be away from light pollution. There were camp fires & benches to sit on & also a lavvu where u could keep warm & get hot drinks. Then its just a case of sitting it out & enjoying the show! It lasted 4 hours so warm clothing is required. We had a brilliant display but it all depends on the conditions on the night.

The guide comes onboard & tells you where he plans to take you to get the best possible chance of seeing the lights & gives a bit of info about photographing them, what to wear etc. A bus then picks you up & takes you to the destination. We went to place not far out of Alta but enough to be away from light pollution. There were camp fires & benches to sit on & also a lavvu where u could keep warm & get hot drinks. Then its just a case of sitting it out & enjoying the show! It lasted 4 hours so warm clothing is required. We had a brilliant display but it all depends on the conditions on the night.

Thanks for the very useful information.

Good to know you get some little luxuries whilst out. :D

Just to add I've been doing some more research on the excursions on tripadvisor.

Looking at the top three excursions and matching the reviews up with dates it seems that there are lots of people reporting snow in late November and early December (and the huskies tour can run even without snow apparently - although not as cool, I know).

Also re the northern lights excursion, the location they take you depends on weather forecast and cloud coverage and where the guides think best. So you might book with a company on Tuesday and end up in a field 15 mins from the ship but on Wednesday you end up 60km away up a mountain. Apparently it can change between tours on the same evening (e.g. 6pm you get taken to a field, 9pm you get taken to a golf course or wherever). They just go where they think there is the best chance to view.

If you look on tripadvisor it's easy to see who p&o use and they get overwhelmingly excellent reviews.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Just to add I've been doing some more research on the excursions on tripadvisor.

 

Looking at the top three excursions and matching the reviews up with dates it seems that there are lots of people reporting snow in late November and early December (and the huskies tour can run even without snow apparently - although not as cool, I know).

 

Also re the northern lights excursion, the location they take you depends on weather forecast and cloud coverage and where the guides think best. So you might book with a company on Tuesday and end up in a field 15 mins from the ship but on Wednesday you end up 60km away up a mountain. Apparently it can change between tours on the same evening (e.g. 6pm you get taken to a field, 9pm you get taken to a golf course or wherever). They just go where they think there is the best chance to view.

 

If you look on tripadvisor it's easy to see who p&o use and they get overwhelmingly excellent reviews.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

OK, thanks for the information.

I will head over to tripadvisor and take alook. (y)

I wrote up my cruise on my blog. The Lights tour is here.

http://sharonp-shipsinmylife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/oriana-in-search-of-northern-lights-5.html

The company P&O use is Glodexplorer. They took a timelapse video of the night we were there.

This thread has spurred us on to get a Northern Lights cruise booked... X802 here come.

Yes, we are looking forward to our Northern Lights Cruise in November.

Thanks, Sharon for your interesting blog, photos are great !! :D

There are two things you should know about the lights to avoid disappointment if/when you get to see them. Both relate to photos you might have seen.

Firstly, the lights do not look anything like as green to the naked eye as they do in photos. This is because of the long exposure used in photos which 'layers' the colour. We also found that many photos seem to have had the colour enhanced considerably.

Secondly, many of the 'videos' on youtube etc are actually 'time lapse' photography, the aurora does not usually 'dance' in the way you might have been led to expect.

If I had not known these facts in advance I think I might have been very disappointed by the reality. As it happens, we were lucky enough to have some really good sightings :)

There are two possible dates and various times being offered for the 'In Search of the Northern Lights' on our cruise.

Thursday 16th November 14.00, 19.00, 21.30 and 22.30

Friday 17th November 19.00, 20.00, 21.30 and 22.30

Now, If only I had a Crystal Ball to find out the best day and time for sightings. :D

BTW. Is the 14.00hr tour on the 16th a little early? :confused:

There are two possible dates and various times being offered for the 'In Search of the Northern Lights' on our cruise.

 

Thursday 16th November 14.00, 19.00, 21.30 and 22.30

Friday 17th November 19.00, 20.00, 21.30 and 22.30

 

Now If only I had a Crystal Ball to find out the best day and time for sightings. :D

BTW. Is the 14.00hr tour on the 16th a little early? :confused:

Probably not when you think about the few hours of daylight we will have, all the better for Aurora spotting!:D

Probably not when you think about the few hours of daylight we will have, all the better for Aurora spotting!:D

Good point, forgot about that. (y)

Yes, we are also disappointed. :loudcry:

 

Appreciate the offer to update us on the situation. :)

We have spoken to the company direct and they have booked us on their own tour for this November. Carting if no snow, sledging if there is. I suspect much cheaper than p&o would have been, very happy.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that it decides to snow heavily the week before we get there! Last time we went, bearing in mind it was March, we were caught in a blizzard leaving Alta, was definately an experience trying to sail through the Norwegian Sea in those conditions! Did feel a bit queezy though!:fever:

We went in February this year and did the husky sledging and our driver told us quite often not enough snow until January in Alta so maybe p&o wait to see the conditions before offering trip? Did the northern lights trip and thought it was a lot of money for what we did, just went to a football field 10 mins from ship, we went on the 9.30pm trip and were lucky as saw the lights just after midnight as the sky cleared, people on earlier coaches had already left. The second night we had a fantastic view nearly all evening from the ship! Also in Alta people caught the bus to the museum from the tourist info place and walked down to a little beach and got beautiful photos of the lights!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have spoken to the company direct and they have booked us on their own tour for this November. Carting if no snow, sledging if there is. I suspect much cheaper than p&o would have been, very happy.

That's good.

Pleased to hear you have been able to book directly with the tour company. (y)

I will discuss with the other members of our family traveling with us regarding our options. :)

I was on the same cruise as Slugsta and Whatshallicallmyself - ( HI Both - Hope all well with you and yours ? :) ) and the very same experience re the northern lights excursion except that we had gone back to the ship before the lights came out. However, we were very lucky to see the lights actually dance with our naked eye from the ship on the second night. It was the most fantastic experience imaginable - but those lights are so elusive and so unpredictable that you have to be prepared for disappointment no matter how much you pay! We took a taxi to the cable car in Tromso and went up there DIY for the most amazing views of pure undriven snow. A great cruise :)

Has anyone done the overnight at the Igloo Hotel..

Would really like to do it but not cheap at £389 each...

Has anyone done the overnight at the Igloo Hotel..

 

Would really like to do it but not cheap at £389 each...

Plus the amount you have already paid for the night on the ship it will make it a very expensive night in any hotel never mind whether it is made of ice or not.

Has anyone done the overnight at the Igloo Hotel..

 

Would really like to do it but not cheap at £389 each...

We didn't stay over but visited the Ice Hotel and saw the skins which you lie on and in, and they were a bit 'wiffy' and I certainly wouldn't fancy sleeping on them.

The visit was fantastic and I would recommend that.

Just to warn you that we have now been to Finnish

Lapland in February 8 times and still haven't seen the Northern Lights!!!!!!!!! Then again we gave up standing on a frozen Lake at midnight at minus 32 for a log fire in a cabin so a ship may be a better option. ...... good luck.

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

We didn't stay over but visited the Ice Hotel and saw the skins which you lie on and in, and they were a bit 'wiffy' and I certainly wouldn't fancy sleeping on them.

The visit was fantastic and I would recommend that.

The ‘Overnight at the Igloo Hotel’ excursion in Alta is not available during our November Northern Lights Cruise.

The reason as I understand it is that it does not open until Mid-December.

Perhaps just as well as apparently it cost £389.00pp. :eek: :)

I'm doing this cruise in March (only just booked). Do you have to provide your own cold weather gear and boots etc.? Thanks