Dining Questions - Nordlys

My sister and I are planning a voyage on the Nordlys in October. Neither of us eat red meat. The buffet breakfast and lunch should be fine but the dinners may (or may not), be challenging. Can anyone please describe how the "set three course dinner", and the a-la-carte option works? Is the "set" dinner one starter, one entre' and one desert or is there some minimal choice of entrées?

Additionally, if we choose to not have a full dinner can we get food at the "Café"? Is there an additional charge for "Café" items if you are a full board passenger?

Neither my agent, nor the reservation person I talked to at Hurtigruten, seem to have any experience actually sailing this line. Getting information has been challenging.

Thank you for any information you can share.

I was in the Trollfjord in May 2015. We had a vegetarian at my table on the round trip Coastal Voyage, and the first night they were at the table, the woman told our waitress she was a vegetarian. She received a vegetarian option dish for her diners after that. There is not a choice of any of the courses otherwise.

The first course was often cheese, occasionally fish (such as shrimp), and the main course mostly fish, some fowl (duck or chicken) and one night we had reindeer. Desserts are often ice cream, fruit, and sometimes a pastry. The menu is posted outside the dining room daily, so you can check and plan ahead for your dinner.

I was in the Trollfjord in May 2015. We had a vegetarian at my table on the round trip Coastal Voyage, and the first night they were at the table, the woman told our waitress she was a vegetarian. She received a vegetarian option dish for her diners after that. There is not a choice of any of the courses otherwise.

 

 

 

The first course was often cheese, occasionally fish (such as shrimp), and the main course mostly fish, some fowl (duck or chicken) and one night we had reindeer. Desserts are often ice cream, fruit, and sometimes a pastry. The menu is posted outside the dining room daily, so you can check and plan ahead for your dinner.

How did you like the Reindeer? Not sure I would be able to get it down... Lol.

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My sister and I are planning a voyage on the Nordlys in October. Neither of us eat red meat. The buffet breakfast and lunch should be fine but the dinners may (or may not), be challenging. Can anyone please describe how the "set three course dinner", and the a-la-carte option works? Is the "set" dinner one starter, one entre' and one desert or is there some minimal choice of entrées?

 

Additionally, if we choose to not have a full dinner can we get food at the "Café"? Is there an additional charge for "Café" items if you are a full board passenger?

Hi,

This is restaurant dinner menu for Autumn 2015 so likely to be same/similar:

"The Autumn Gold: Autumn Menu On Board

Bergen

Bergen Buffet

In Bergen we offer a tasty dinner buffet based on the best ingredients. Available in an informal atmosphere, we invite you to enjoy a relaxed meal.

Ålesund - Molde

Baked Brie - with cured ham, fig compote and salad

Chicken Breast - with vegetable risotto, lentil ragout, baked betroot and port wine sauce.

Apple Crumble - with Norwegian apples and cinnamon ice cream

Trondheim - Rørvik

Cream of Mussel Soup - with red curry and saffron

Trout Fillet Grilled In Herbs and Parmesan - with fennal, spinach, sandefjord sauce and Roswald potatoes

Compote of Autumn Berries - with sour cream

Bødo - Svolvær

Fillet of Home-Smoked Reindeer - on a bed of salad with glazed walnuts and mustard vinaigrette

Baked Cod - with red onion compote, tarragon butter sauce, vegetables of the day and new potatoes

Chilli Brownie - with nut syrup, served with raspberry and cranberry sorbet

Tromsø - Skjervøy

Almond Potato Soup - with spinach and herb cream

Leg of Lamb - with grilled Autumn root vegetables, creamed potatoes and red wine sauce

Semolina Pudding - with seasoned and preserved plums

NordKapp

Seafood Banquet

Based on the season's best ingredients from Northern Norway, our chef invites you to a real banquet. Seafood dominates and we often serve tasty, juicy king crabs.

Kirkenes - Berlevåg

Baked King Crab - with pumpkin purée and vegetable salad

Rump Steak of Reindeer - with autmn mushrooms and carrots glazed in rosemary, fresh almond potatoes and wild game sauce

White Chocolate Mousse - with cloudberry coulis and oatmeal cookies

Hammerfest - Skjervøy

Cream of Autumn Mushroom Soup - seasoned with truffle oil

Arctic Char - with parsnip purée, asparagus, apple sauce and almond potatoes

Cranberry Marbled Cheesecake

Lofoten

Onion Soup - with gratinated croutons

Halibut Steak Roasted in Thyme and Garlic - with braised vegetables and nut butter

Vanilla Pannacotta - with cubed pears marinated in liquorice

Helgeland

Scallops - with Fricassée of chantarrelles

Veal Entrecote - with celery purée, autumn vegetables, mountain almond potatoes and sherry sauce

Dark Chocolate Mousse on a Financier Base - with blackcurrant coulis and yoghurt ice cream

Trondheim - Molde

Salmon Tartare on Toast - with fresh salad

Roast Neck of Pork - with sauerkraut, baked betroot, port wine sauce and small potatoes baked with garlic

Tiramisu - with coffee syrup and crushed nougat"

If you dislike/can't eat something from fixed menu dinner an alternative is always available. In the restaurant I have once or twice asked for (& got) a dish from cafeteria menu instead of fixed menu (steak & chips I recall :-)) but this is not a "standard" offer and probably at discretion of restaurant manager. If you go to eat in cafeteria at dinner time (even on full board) I'd expect you'd be charged.

Fair Winds & Weather,

Richard

How did you like the Reindeer?

It's really good. Tender and tasty.

We've had it on the coastal cruises we've done and on Fram.

Thank you all for your kind responses. It appears that the set dinner menu is going to be a bit of a challenge. Has anyone any experience with the a-la-carte option? Yes, the Hurtigruden reservation agent did tell me that we could request a vegetarian entré. Depending on the chef, those have been "interesting" when we have opted for that on other cruise lines.

Richard: The fall menu is very helpful. I have shared it with my sister. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

Splinter: Thank you for the information about the vegetarian at your table. We may have to try the vegetarian option. Normally we can find something on a menu that will work but on such a rigid menu this does not look like it will be possible.

We cruised Trollfjord the beginning of the month. We found the restaurant servers and staff very accommodating. I think if you tell them in advance that you do not eat red meat they will serve you an alternative dish. If you do not like your meat rare they will bring you another piece. The dinner menu was on the table at lunch and if you wanted a change you just asked. We enjoyed the food.

Fellow cruiser was allergic to onions and I noticed a staff person walk the buffet line with him to explain which dishes to avoid.

We did not try the ala carte dinningroom as there is a significant up charge and we found the regular dining room menus interesting and varied. Likewise I did not go into the cafe but it looked like you could buy a variety of foods. I saw pre-prepared salads and sandwiches.

I agree that it is difficult to get correct info from the shore reservation people and it seems that they have never been on a ship nor have they even read the brochure. But keep calling and asking your questions. I finally found one agent who emailed me correct info and offered to answer questions via email.

How did you like the Reindeer? Not sure I would be able to get it down... Lol.

No problems at all. It was like venison.

Sorry, I can't get the QUOTE function to work...

LazyK: Each day the dinner menu is available at the lunch table. It's a 4 page card with explanation of the foods and preparation, nicely done. That is a good time to consider if you may want to request an alternative dinner. I know some people requested only fish meals but you might want to go on a day-to-day basis in case you would enjoy the poultry dishes. The set menu is an appetizer, entrée and dessert and some of the appetizers may have red-meat and may not have an alternative but you could ask and they might have an alternative for those also.

The menus posted above by richws are different than the menus we had on our 11-day round trip, but our trip was in 2014. But I think you'll have to expect that menus will vary because they are based on locally available foods.

We did not have a need to eat in the café; we had tons of food in the dining room, especially at lunch; and the price for the café a la carte foods was usually high by our standard. But no one would stop you from eating there if you preferred and were ok with paying for it in addition to your full board fare.

Bobbisailsolo: The reindeer we had was a tenderloin cut, like a filet mignon, cooked perfectly! It was the best piece of meat I've ever had. Tasty and most tender. I hope you get to enjoy it, it was exceptionally special.

m--

I asked this on another thread, but I probably should have come here first.

My problem is that I cannot eat any fish or seafood (it nauseates me (and I grew up on the coast of New England, so, no, it's not a question of freshness)). Would I be out of luck? Do cruisers automatically get full board, but a la carte would be extra? Is it just one food selection for each course each dinner/lunch?

Thanks for any insight.

If you cannot eat fish they will provide something else, although be prepared that it's possible that it may not be a meat dish every day, it may be a vegetarian dish which is always available on request. They are helpful and will work with you.

The lunch is a large buffet. There were always multiple meat dishes on the buffet though in my opinion some of them didn't look too appetizing to me - the mutton and cabbage looked like you needed to have grown up on it to appreciate it. But you will find tons of options including cheeses, cold meats, hot meat dishes, vegetable dishes, sides etc, and tons of desserts.

Dinner is a set 3-course meal with appetizer, entrée and dessert, about half were meat entrée and half were fish dishes. You will have to make a request, probably at lunch which is when they put out the menus for dinner.

Lunch was my main meal and often I wasn't even hungry at dinnertime. But the dinners were all perfectly cooked and very enjoyable. I was glad they weren't overwhelming, just right. But I still gained weight, must have been those lunch desserts! yummm. m--

thank you!

thank you!

Thanks for all the information. Specially to Richard for the full menu. I'm sure it changes from time to time and ship to ship, but it sounds great. To all those who are squimish about reindeer meat, don't be. It's really good!

How did you like the Reindeer? Not sure I would be able to get it down... Lol.

 

 

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I couldn't do more than a couple bites. It was the only thing I ate on the entire trip I did not care for. It was rare and I think if it had been cooked a bit longer I would have liked it better.

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I couldn't do more than a couple bites. It was the only thing I ate on the entire trip I did not care for. It was rare and I think if it had been cooked a bit longer I would have liked it better.

 

 

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We found it to be quite good, very tender.

I've enjoyed reading the different comments about Hurtengruten. Still looking for someone who is going on the Nordkapp Dec. 1, 2016. I'm beginning to wonder if the late season will make it too dark to enjoy the scenery. Any experience along Norway's coastline this time of year? Of course, at this point in the game plan, it's a bit too late to do anything about it. Hoping for a great, different, experience no matter what.

I have been once on this voyage for the Christmas holidays (so even less light than your trip) and absolutely loved it. The lights in the morning before the sun rises and in the evening after it sets are incredible.

In the North the sun doesn't rise but you still get a sense of daylight and these awesome colors during the hours indicated here by "civil twilight" : http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/norway/tromso?month=12&year=2016

In the South you still have some decent daylight : http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/norway/bergen?month=12&year=2016 (again, look at the time for the civil twilight. The time between sunrise/set and begin/end of civil twilight is referred to sometimes as the "blue hour" and the mood then is so special).

On the plus side, when you are above the Arctic circle you can see Northern Light as soon as the sky is dark!

Of course all this works a lot better if the sky is clear. In case of clouds, it is darker and gloomier, so fingers crossed for nice weather.

I have the report for this trip on my blog, starting here : http://voyageterremer.blogspot.fr/2010/12/bergen.html The text is in French only (sorry) but you can Google-translate it or just look at the pictures which will give you an idea of what it's like at this season.

I have been once on this voyage for the Christmas holidays (so even less light than your trip) and absolutely loved it. The lights in the morning before the sun rises and in the evening after it sets are incredible.

In the North the sun doesn't rise but you still get a sense of daylight and these awesome colors during the hours indicated here by "civil twilight" : http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/norway/tromso?month=12&year=2016

In the South you still have some decent daylight : http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/norway/bergen?month=12&year=2016 (again, look at the time for the civil twilight. The time between sunrise/set and begin/end of civil twilight is referred to sometimes as the "blue hour" and the mood then is so special).

 

On the plus side, when you are above the Arctic circle you can see Northern Light as soon as the sky is dark!

 

Of course all this works a lot better if the sky is clear. In case of clouds, it is darker and gloomier, so fingers crossed for nice weather.

 

I have the report for this trip on my blog, starting here : http://voyageterremer.blogspot.fr/2010/12/bergen.html The text is in French only (sorry) but you can Google-translate it or just look at the pictures which will give you an idea of what it's like at this season.

Thanks for the information. I will certainly be hoping for clear weather. The main reason for us taking the cruise at this time is to see the Northern Lights.

I've enjoyed reading the different comments about Hurtengruten. Still looking for someone who is going on the Nordkapp Dec. 1, 2016. I'm beginning to wonder if the late season will make it too dark to enjoy the scenery. Any experience along Norway's coastline this time of year? Of course, at this point in the game plan, it's a bit too late to do anything about it. Hoping for a great, different, experience no matter what.

I sailed 2 years ago on virtually the same date. It was dark from about 3 pm until 10 am...I really enjoyed the trip but would not do it again at that time of year...our reason was the same as yours...to see the northern lights! Got to see them twice. Hurtigruten is so different. My friend and I are doing In the Wake of the Vikings with Hurtigruten in May. We're looking forward to those much longer days. Oh yes...it wasn't as cold as I expected although I did buy a long down coat just for the trip. I used the yak trax I bought in a lot of the ports...I really recommend them. Following our Hurtigruten cruise we flew to Amsterdam and did a Rhine Christmas markets cruise and it seemed colder in Germany! Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for the input. Don't have yak trax, but do have some really good apre-ski boots w/heavy tread. We enjoyed the Rhine Christmas markets several years ago. Fun time.