Yes or No to Hurtgurten Cruises

My wife and I (or at least I am) are planning a trip for 2016. She is interested in possibly using the Hurtgurten Norway Cruise in March. My questions are: (1) Does everyone feel that it is a good cruise line? (2) What are the meals like? Are they varied? My wife is not partial to fish, so I was just wondering? (3) How hard is it to get about the ship? i.e. Is there a lot of stairs and ramps?

I have read that they charge for coffee, tea and water (?) so I am wondering about this water bottle at meals. Can you not just get regular tap water?

Finally, someone mentioned buying a coffee cup at the beginning of the cruise and it is refillable at no additional cost during the cruise. What is that cost if anyone can tell me?

Is March a good time for cruising or is October better?

Thanks for the help. Oh, and I must mention that this is my first time on this page.

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Some research on the part of Cruise Critic devoted to Hurtgurten, located here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=821

would be very helpful.

It is not really a cruise line in the broad sense but more of a ferry getting from place to place

Some stops will be short only to drop off supplies especially in the shoulder seasons

I would read up on them before you decide

check the review section as well

Norway is beautiful however you get there

I would also recommend checking out Hurtigruten reviews to get a feel for the experience:

CruiseCritic: Hurtigruten Home page (info on the fleet, onboard, fellow passengers): http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=73.

Hurtigruten CC reviews: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/hurtigruten-cruises/cl/

Tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190475-d4681026-Reviews-Hurtigruten-Tromso_Troms_Northern_Norway.html

Also, google Hurtigruten or Hurtigruten reviews, etc. and look around. I recently found an interesting review on there, but couldn't locate it tonight.

I agree with LHT28 to do research before you decide. You may or may not prefer a mainstream line such as Celebrity, P&O, Fred Olsen, Royal Caribbean, Disney. Disney offers 7, 9, and 11 nt. Norwegian Fjord itineraries, and the 11 nt. includes Iceland! The Fjords are on my wish list, and I have a lot of research in front of me if we decide to ever book it. ;)

The OP has said they wish to go in March, so Hurtigruten may be their only option. EM

(1) Does everyone feel that it is a good cruise line? (2) What are the meals like? Are they varied? My wife is not partial to fish, so I was just wondering? (3) How hard is it to get about the ship? i.e. Is there a lot of stairs and ramps?

1. It's a stretch to call it a "cruise line" because it doesn't do entertainment like cruise lines do - no dancing girls, no deck games, no entertainment staff. The ship is like a cruise ship, with open decks (which may be of limited value in March), lounges, cabins, etc.

2. The meals 10 years ago, when I went on it, are pretty varied, though there is quite a lot of fish. Breakfast and lunch were buffets with a wide choice, evening meal was a sit-down waiter-served meal but with a single set menu. If you didn't like the set menu, you could tell them in advance (eg. in the morning) and they'd find you something else. (This may have changed since I was on it.)

3. Certainly on the newer ships, there are lifts to every deck and no more ramps than anywhere else.

I'd recommend it, and I'd suggest March rather than October because there's still lots of snow about. Though if one of you has mobility limitations, this may not be a good thing.