Review of the Feb 22nd Oriana cruise to find the Northern Lights

Very interesting link, kentchris

Great review. We are thinking of this cruise next year. You didn't mention whether or not there are formal nights. Do these still happen on Northern Lights cruises if everyone is in search of the lights. I'm not sure if my suitcase will manage formal gear and thermal gear on the flight to Southampton!!

Yes we had three formal nights on sea days!

There was also hot chocolate and cake in the house where the bus drops you on the tour, also toilets.

I did feel it was a bit of a rip off for the price we paid only going a few miles down the road, but we were lucky and did see the lights!

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Thank you for posting this very interesting review, as we are doing this trip on Aurora next year.

I didn't get a very clear idea of the extent of what you actually saw re the Northern Lights themselves, either during the off ship tour or from the ship itself. Can you expand?

Also, my wife uses a wheelchair and we are fearful that she may not be able to do any of the night time tours, so were wondering if much can be seen from the ship?

Final question, is there any chance of seeing the Northern Lights when at sea or is there too much light pollution from the ship? We do have a balcony so if there are any announcements we can be outside very quickly!

Thanks

Thank you for posting this very interesting review, as we are doing this trip on Aurora next year.

 

I didn't get a very clear idea of the extent of what you actually saw re the Northern Lights themselves, either during the off ship tour or from the ship itself. Can you expand?

 

Also, my wife uses a wheelchair and we are fearful that she may not be able to do any of the night time tours, so were wondering if much can be seen from the ship?

 

Final question, is there any chance of seeing the Northern Lights when at sea or is there too much light pollution from the ship? We do have a balcony so if there are any announcements we can be outside very quickly!

 

Thanks

We are also on Aurora March 2018 for a similar cruise. We did a Northern Lights cruise on Boudicca a few years ago. Despite spending many hours on a coach and reaching the Finnish border, we did not see the lights on a ship's tour but we did see them from the ship on three nights. The first and best time we saw them, we were sailing between the Norwegian coastline and the Lofoten islands. So yes, if they are visible they can be seen from the ship provided you are prepared for a potential late night and wrap up warm.

Thanks so much for the great review and the pictures! I doubt that we'll ever get there but we felt as if we saw what you did, felt the cold and saw your wonderful images.

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Thank you for posting this very interesting review, as we are doing this trip on Aurora next year.

 

I didn't get a very clear idea of the extent of what you actually saw re the Northern Lights themselves, either during the off ship tour or from the ship itself. Can you expand?

 

Also, my wife uses a wheelchair and we are fearful that she may not be able to do any of the night time tours, so were wondering if much can be seen from the ship?

 

Final question, is there any chance of seeing the Northern Lights when at sea or is there too much light pollution from the ship? We do have a balcony so if there are any announcements we can be outside very quickly!

 

Thanks

We had a magnificent view of the lights from the ship on the second night we were in Alta, several times the captain announced them during the evening between 6pm and 1am, also seen on the next sea day several times during the evening, fantastic to see but harder to photograph as ship moving!

The first nights tour in Alta was cloudy until 12.45am so lights only seen after that from the tour so many missed them as had returned to ship, second nights tour had a good view!

They were also seen on the night from Tromso to Alta but not announced and not for long!

Personally I wouldn't bother with a ships tour again as they were seen from ship so well but it's all down to luck on the day! People did see from balcony but the best views were from open decks as more panoramic view, sorry can't help with wheelchairs on trips.

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Hi everyone and thank you for your kind comments about my review. Thank you to all the other posters who have added valuable information to supplement mine.

To 'whatshallicallmyself' in regard to wheelchair accessibility......there were many wheelchair and motorised scooter users on board and, from my own experience as a crutch user, both staff members and passengers were extremely helpful. There were several wheelchair users on our night-time NL excursion who made it through the snow to the viewing field. I am sure that the excursion staff members helped to manoeuvre the chairs along the pathways.

I also saw chairs and mobility aids being loaded onto tour busses and shuttle busses although I'm not sure if all the transport had this option.

For 'scarlet o'hara'......there were 3 formal nights on the cruise and the majority of passengers had formal wear but there were many people who used the buffet and didn't participate. I have to admit that this was the first time ever that we have taken 3 suit cases as were arrived by car. In hindsight, I didn't need as many clothes as I took. I needed more light weight items for our times on board and layers of these plus a thick fleece, thermal vest and wind/waterproof coat would have worked well for times on shore.

One last thing.......I found the collapsible camping chair invaluable on our night trip. We put a cabin luggage label on it and it was processed along with the cases.

Thank you all again and happy cruising!

Selbourne - I agree wholeheartedly with whatshallicallmyself ( have to really as having met him/her on this cruise he/she is really a force to be reckoned with) as regards our experience with the lights on the ship and on the same tour on the first night. To scarlet o'hara - re Formal Nights: there were three but none on the important nights in Tromso and Alta where the lights would have the chance to appear. Code was Evening Casual and whereas there were two sittings and Freedom Dining in the MDRs as well as the Buffet etc of course, it was open dining in so far as you could go into whichever restaurant and at whatever time you wished according to your schedule for the evening. No reservations. Re dress - I took too many bulky items. I found thinner thermal layers much more use and more versatile and the bulky items were just too much on board and under my thick coat. Keep formal gear to light items and wear same outfit or just mix around if poss. No one will notice.

Oi watch it Scriv I thought I was well behaved [emoji14][emoji23]

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Thanks again soccerref and scriv re formal clothes. We usually fly to Southampton but may need to rethink this time, or pay for an extra case. I can survive with a black skirt and three tops. Might have to wear the winter boots and several layers on the flight which wont be a pretty sight!! Thanks again everyone

People arrived at the terminal looking like eskimos last week - wearing snowboots and heavy jackets ;) .... don't worry about it. The people on the flight will be all wanting to know where you are going. PS Remember sunglasses and maybe suncream, lipsalve and extra ( thin) thermal socks. We also found our silk inner glove liners very cosy too... but my best buy was my balaclava.

Thank you for posting this very interesting review, as we are doing this trip on Aurora next year.

 

I didn't get a very clear idea of the extent of what you actually saw re the Northern Lights themselves, either during the off ship tour or from the ship itself. Can you expand?

 

Also, my wife uses a wheelchair and we are fearful that she may not be able to do any of the night time tours, so were wondering if much can be seen from the ship?

 

Final question, is there any chance of seeing the Northern Lights when at sea or is there too much light pollution from the ship? We do have a balcony so if there are any announcements we can be outside very quickly!

 

Thanks

Selbourne we did this cruise a couple of years ago, one of the best in my opinion. For your wife I would advise staying on the ship. Everyone sat at the back and there was a great atmosphere and you could pop in for tea or coffee whenever you wanted. However it is extremely cold and I would imagine sitting in a wheelchair in a field she would chill very quickly.

The ship had most of their lights turned off so light pollution did not spoil the show.

I hope all of you who are going next year have as good an experience as we did. I do intend to go again in the future, I've bought all the gear now!:)

Selbourne we did this cruise a couple of years ago, one of the best in my opinion. For your wife I would advise staying on the ship. Everyone sat at the back and there was a great atmosphere and you could pop in for tea or coffee whenever you wanted. However it is extremely cold and I would imagine sitting in a wheelchair in a field she would chill very quickly.

The ship had most of their lights turned off so light pollution did not spoil the show.

I hope all of you who are going next year have as good an experience as we did. I do intend to go again in the future, I've bought all the gear now!:)

That's fantastic information and really helpful. Thank you so much for sharing all of that - much appreciated.

That's fantastic information and really helpful. Thank you so much for sharing all of that - much appreciated.

You're very welcome.

Yourself an a lot of regulars on here have supplied me with loads of information since we started cruising with P&O.

I haven't had a chance to say Thank-you before now though as all the answers have been provided before I've even asked the question.:D

It was a great cruise with pax all very happy to have seen the lights, maybe not so pleased with the cost of some excursions. Clever people on board. The progressive quiz team winners were particularly brilliant.

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It was a great cruise with pax all very happy to have seen the lights, maybe not so pleased with the cost of some excursions. Clever people on board. The progressive quiz team winners were particularly brilliant.

 

 

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Hi simonpjd,

I had to reply to your post because I completely agree with your comments about how great the cruise was, especially being able to see the lights, and about the cost of the excursions.

My DH and I were part of the 'progressive trivia winning team and we are very flattered by your comment. I have to ask if you were secretly one of us or if you played against us as we didn't talk about CC and user names. If you were not a member of the team, I need to make you aware that the 3 couples didn't know each other before the cruise and we just happened to be sitting in close proximity on the first day and asked to join each other. We were very lucky to find that we all had different areas of expertise and all made contributions. We sometimes had inspired guesses too, but, most of all, we had great fun taking part and hope to do so on future cruises.

Happy cruising everyone.

All I can say is the Threepenny Opera.

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All I can say is the Threepenny Opera.

 

 

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Ok....good job that I'm fairly good at cryptic clues!!!!

Fabulous review thank you! :) It inspired us to pre-book for Aurora in 2019 - can't wait!

Fabulous review, thank you. We are even more excited now for our Northern Lights cruise in March 2018.

Could you please tell me the cost of the shore tours from this year, I did get some prices from 2014 and we are hoping they haven't gone up much since then as we are saving like mad at the mo!!!

Thank you

Kind regards

Rachel

Hi S,

Thanks for an informative and entertaining report.

Ira

Hi Selbourne,

You've given me so much advise before that I thought I would share some with you. :)

In late October 2016 I went on a two week Northern Light Cruise with a different Cruise Company. The Northern Lights are spectacular and we were very lucky to see them five times!

With regards to the Lights: if they are weak they will appear as a white misty cloud to the naked eye (often in an unusual direction for a cloud). However, when you take a photo of them (with a long exposure), the camera will 'interpret' them and 'colour them in'.

The best Lights we could actually see with the naked eye where brilliant green with red and purple, and danced over our heads. That was a sight I will never forget.

NOTE - unless you can see them with the naked eye you won't be able to video them.

Second point, we never went on any excursions in search of the Lights. All the displays we saw were from the ship. We felt that the excursions were expensive considering that you might see nothing at all. In fact the displays we saw from the ship were better than the ones they saw on the excursion any way!

Final question, yes you can see the Lights when at sea, especially if they are the strong ones. Our Captain turned off all the non-essential lights around the ship to enable us to get good views and pictures! :)

Hope this helps.

Thank you for posting this very interesting review, as we are doing this trip on Aurora next year.

 

I didn't get a very clear idea of the extent of what you actually saw re the Northern Lights themselves, either during the off ship tour or from the ship itself. Can you expand?

 

Also, my wife uses a wheelchair and we are fearful that she may not be able to do any of the night time tours, so were wondering if much can be seen from the ship?

 

Final question, is there any chance of seeing the Northern Lights when at sea or is there too much light pollution from the ship? We do have a balcony so if there are any announcements we can be outside very quickly!

 

Thanks

Hi Selbourne,

 

You've given me so much advise before that I thought I would share some with you. :)

 

In late October 2016 I went on a two week Northern Light Cruise with a different Cruise Company. The Northern Lights are spectacular and we were very lucky to see them five times!

 

With regards to the Lights: if they are weak they will appear as a white misty cloud to the naked eye (often in an unusual direction for a cloud). However, when you take a photo of them (with a long exposure), the camera will 'interpret' them and 'colour them in'.

 

The best Lights we could actually see with the naked eye where brilliant green with red and purple, and danced over our heads. That was a sight I will never forget.

 

NOTE - unless you can see them with the naked eye you won't be able to video them.

 

Second point, we never went on any excursions in search of the Lights. All the displays we saw were from the ship. We felt that the excursions were expensive considering that you might see nothing at all. In fact the displays we saw from the ship were better than the ones they saw on the excursion any way!

 

Final question, yes you can see the Lights when at sea, especially if they are the strong ones. Our Captain turned off all the non-essential lights around the ship to enable us to get good views and pictures! :)

 

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to answer my questions. My wife and I were only discussing this a couple of nights ago and she is now thinking that she doesn’t want to risk the excursion due to her disability and the potential difficulties that would entail. She feels that she will be more relaxed staying on the ship, even if the view of the lights isn’t as good. Your comments are very reassuring in that regard and we are both very grateful to you for sharing them as it seems to confirm her decision.

I am going to go on the evening tours as seeing the Northern Lights has been a ‘bucket list’ thing for me for years and I want to have the best chance of seeing them. We have booked another Northern Lights Cruise for 2019 so if we don’t see them in 2018 we have a 2nd chance. Conversely, if we get a great view, we shall both stay on the ship in 2019 and take our chances. Both our cruises are in March, so I’m not sure how that compares to October when you went. Thanks again for sharing your experiences - much appreciated.

Thanks for a great review. My Northern Lights cruise in March 2015 remains one of my best ever. The Lights will always be paler from the ship though due to light pollution, whereas on the tour there is none. As for things to see in Alta the Northern Lights Cathedral was magnificent and there was an ice-sculpture 'park' on the way there.