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I'm leaving in 3 days for In the Wake of the Vikings trip in the Spitsbergen. Very excited! What made the ship fabulous for you? Thanks!

 

 

 

Lucky you! The ship is, in my opinion, very well designed; the cabins & bathrooms likewise; I liked the decor very much; the food was brilliant and the dining room very pleasant. It was very recently re-built as I said above so I found it very impressive.

 

The Wake of the Vikings voyage is one I've wanted to take. I look forward to hearing your assessment of it and whether they plan to run it beyond next year. I see that next year's voyage is not on Spitsbergen.

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  • 1 month later...

I just booked an Astronomy Voyage on Hurtigruten for February, and spent a very frustrating hour on the website, trying to get somewhere. In the end, I did it by phone, and it was SO much easier. The website was a nightmare, and even the very nice agent I spoke to on the phone was having trouble with it.

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I just booked an Astronomy Voyage on Hurtigruten for February, and spent a very frustrating hour on the website, trying to get somewhere. In the end, I did it by phone, and it was SO much easier. The website was a nightmare, and even the very nice agent I spoke to on the phone was having trouble with it.

 

Please report back, especially about the Astronomy part.

We'll be doing that on the next cruise where they offer that.

 

Which ship will you be on?

Our cruise will be on the Trollfjord.

 

Thanks.

 

And enjoy!!

:)

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Please report back, especially about the Astronomy part.

We'll be doing that on the next cruise where they offer that.

 

Which ship will you be on?

Our cruise will be on the Trollfjord.

 

Thanks.

 

And enjoy!!

:)

 

I'll come back and report. We'll be on the Trollfjord too. This will be our first Hurtigruten cruise, so we won't really know how it compares to their regular offerings. DH and I are both interested in astronomy, and the descriptions of the lectures sound good.

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I'll come back and report. We'll be on the Trollfjord too. This will be our first Hurtigruten cruise, so we won't really know how it compares to their regular offerings. DH and I are both interested in astronomy, and the descriptions of the lectures sound good.

 

Thanks!

 

IIRC, there are two astronomers who alternate doing the programs.

So although are program probably won't be as much a "repeat" of yours, as if we had the same person, it might be generally similar.

 

This is our first Hurtigruten cruise, too.

We know it will be quite different from the mainline cruises, but that's part of the fun... just having new experiences.

This will also be my first time to Scandinavia. DH had one trip there some decades ago, but never left Stockholm or Oslo, so the beauty of the landscape/fjords will be new and special for both of us.

And... we hope we'll be fortunate in seeing some Northern Lights.

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Silly question regarding booking Hurtigruten: if I book a trip on the European site, will I be able to upgrade to a higher category cabin if prices come down later, eg, during last minute sales?

 

No, that will most likely not be possible.

 

1) Prices often don't drop.

2) You can change your booking for a fee (until a certain number of days before departure) but they might not allow you to switch to a special offer (the German t&c specifically state that you cannot, the UK t&c don't - so who knows what they will allow and what not).

3) Price drops IF they happen are usually special sales and new bookings only. In that case you might be able to cancel your booking and re-book at the lower price. In that case you would lose (part of) your deposit so you'd have to see if you are actually saving more than what you lose. How much you lose depends on the conditions you booked under - booking in Germany you lose 10% until 45 days before departure, booking in the UK you lose the deposit until 60 days before departure (20%). Check the terms and conditions you are planning to book under, they are not the same throught the EU.

 

I think in all special offers I have seen so far they will pick your cabin for you in the categorie you booked. So you might end up in a cabin all the way at the front or next to the hatch. Or you might lose perks (wifi and/or coffee included).

Many of the special sales are some type of "save the single supplement" which might not do you any good. Or include flights/transfers which you might not want. Or they might only be valid for specific dates or ships and not include the voyage you are booked on.

There are no regular "last minute sales" as the big cruise lines often have to fill up the ship. At least not that I am aware off. Even the winter voyages aren't as empty as they used to be 10 years ago. (We were <10 round trip passengers on a Christmas voyage (!) in 2008, talk about empty.)

 

The German website currently has a "company anniversary offer." If you book a voyage for April - December 2018 you get the early booking discount and a 4.600 NOK onboard credit (11/12 day coastal voyage, select/platinum rate, double occupancy). I don't know where you are and where you are planning to book so no idea if that's available to you. [We considered booking a April voyage instead of February to book under this sale... February is still less expensive, even with the on-board credit]

 

Anyhow, you shouldn't count on any sale coming up at a later date. Hurtigruten is not [enter cruise line of your choice here] and it's more likely that there won't be a sale. Book the cabin you want on the ship you want at a price you are comfortable paying and don't expect to save anything later. If you do, even better.

 

Also how do I know if there is an early booking discount?

 

You can check their brochure for the regular price and compare to the price the website is giving you (http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/ec64f8b9#/ec64f8b9/64 - I hope that woks).

 

See if the English version of the catalogue lists the dates by which you have to book for their early bird discount. If their deadlines are the same everywhere you would have to book by 31 October 17 for a discount from January to May 2018 or by 31 March 17 for voyages from June through December 2018. But as their t&cs vary by country, I couldn't say.

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No, that will most likely not be possible.

 

1) Prices often don't drop.

2) You can change your booking for a fee (until a certain number of days before departure) but they might not allow you to switch to a special offer (the German t&c specifically state that you cannot, the UK t&c don't - so who knows what they will allow and what not).

3) Price drops IF they happen are usually special sales and new bookings only. In that case you might be able to cancel your booking and re-book at the lower price. In that case you would lose (part of) your deposit so you'd have to see if you are actually saving more than what you lose. How much you lose depends on the conditions you booked under - booking in Germany you lose 10% until 45 days before departure, booking in the UK you lose the deposit until 60 days before departure (20%). Check the terms and conditions you are planning to book under, they are not the same throught the EU.

 

I think in all special offers I have seen so far they will pick your cabin for you in the categorie you booked. So you might end up in a cabin all the way at the front or next to the hatch. Or you might lose perks (wifi and/or coffee included).

Many of the special sales are some type of "save the single supplement" which might not do you any good. Or include flights/transfers which you might not want. Or they might only be valid for specific dates or ships and not include the voyage you are booked on.

There are no regular "last minute sales" as the big cruise lines often have to fill up the ship. At least not that I am aware off. Even the winter voyages aren't as empty as they used to be 10 years ago. (We were <10 round trip passengers on a Christmas voyage (!) in 2008, talk about empty.)

 

The German website currently has a "company anniversary offer." If you book a voyage for April - December 2018 you get the early booking discount and a 4.600 NOK onboard credit (11/12 day coastal voyage, select/platinum rate, double occupancy). I don't know where you are and where you are planning to book so no idea if that's available to you. [We considered booking a April voyage instead of February to book under this sale... February is still less expensive, even with the on-board credit]

 

Anyhow, you shouldn't count on any sale coming up at a later date. Hurtigruten is not [enter cruise line of your choice here] and it's more likely that there won't be a sale. Book the cabin you want on the ship you want at a price you are comfortable paying and don't expect to save anything later. If you do, even better.

 

You can check their brochure for the regular price and compare to the price the website is giving you (http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/ec64f8b9#/ec64f8b9/64 - I hope that woks).

 

See if the English version of the catalogue lists the dates by which you have to book for their early bird discount. If their deadlines are the same everywhere you would have to book by 31 October 17 for a discount from January to May 2018 or by 31 March 17 for voyages from June through December 2018. But as their t&cs vary by country, I couldn't say.

 

We booked on Hurtigruten before receiving their physical catalogue (we didn't at the time know there was one).

We had read about various reviews and other online discussions, and then did attempted some searching via their website. That did not go well, but still not sure why.

 

Anyway, we contacted our new TA (first time in ages we've had a TA who is genuinely helpful), who forwarded all sorts of info to us, including pricing and cabin/excursion/etc., details.

So we reserved the only remaining in the category we wanted.

 

And then, some time later, a physical catalogue showed up.

 

The pricing was very strange. It showed a "low" and a "high" fare for each sailing (within a short range of dates), for each cabin category.

 

Apparently (according to the catalogue notations), the fare starts at the low, and as time goes on (without any timeline shown), the fare increases.

I'd assume how many cabins in the category remain could also have an effect (?).

But I've never seen a "low" and "high" price posted far in advance before.

 

And there's no way to know if there are "sales" that are outside this range, or just "this range in action".

 

Anyone have more info about this.

They are definitely a category of their own :)

 

We are very much looking forward to the adventure!

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No, that will most likely not be possible.

 

1) Prices often don't drop.

2) You can change your booking for a fee (until a certain number of days before departure) but they might not allow you to switch to a special offer (the German t&c specifically state that you cannot, the UK t&c don't - so who knows what they will allow and what not).

3) Price drops IF they happen are usually special sales and new bookings only. In that case you might be able to cancel your booking and re-book at the lower price. In that case you would lose (part of) your deposit so you'd have to see if you are actually saving more than what you lose. How much you lose depends on the conditions you booked under - booking in Germany you lose 10% until 45 days before departure, booking in the UK you lose the deposit until 60 days before departure (20%). Check the terms and conditions you are planning to book under, they are not the same throught the EU.

 

I think in all special offers I have seen so far they will pick your cabin for you in the categorie you booked. So you might end up in a cabin all the way at the front or next to the hatch. Or you might lose perks (wifi and/or coffee included).

Many of the special sales are some type of "save the single supplement" which might not do you any good. Or include flights/transfers which you might not want. Or they might only be valid for specific dates or ships and not include the voyage you are booked on.

There are no regular "last minute sales" as the big cruise lines often have to fill up the ship. At least not that I am aware off. Even the winter voyages aren't as empty as they used to be 10 years ago. (We were <10 round trip passengers on a Christmas voyage (!) in 2008, talk about empty.)

 

The German website currently has a "company anniversary offer." If you book a voyage for April - December 2018 you get the early booking discount and a 4.600 NOK onboard credit (11/12 day coastal voyage, select/platinum rate, double occupancy). I don't know where you are and where you are planning to book so no idea if that's available to you. [We considered booking a April voyage instead of February to book under this sale... February is still less expensive, even with the on-board credit]

 

Anyhow, you shouldn't count on any sale coming up at a later date. Hurtigruten is not [enter cruise line of your choice here] and it's more likely that there won't be a sale. Book the cabin you want on the ship you want at a price you are comfortable paying and don't expect to save anything later. If you do, even better.

 

 

 

You can check their brochure for the regular price and compare to the price the website is giving you (http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/ec64f8b9#/ec64f8b9/64 - I hope that woks).

 

See if the English version of the catalogue lists the dates by which you have to book for their early bird discount. If their deadlines are the same everywhere you would have to book by 31 October 17 for a discount from January to May 2018 or by 31 March 17 for voyages from June through December 2018. But as their t&cs vary by country, I couldn't say.

 

 

 

Thank you for the info! I have also noticed a lot of things vary by country on their site, from pricing to t&c to inclusions.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Anyone have more info about this.

 

I think you have all the information you need if you have boiled it down to "They are definitely a category of their own" :')

Booking with Hurtigruten is a bit like booking a flight - all you can do is compare prices between today and your departure date and decide if you think the price is right or not. Then you book and, with a non-refundable rate, you don't look back because you really don't want to know that you could have saved a few hundred by booking two days later.

Waiting seems to make sense if you are hoping for them to drop the single supplement. That seems to happen regularly.

 

 

I have picked my hotels for Bergen, one is twice the price for February than for last minute July bookings. So I will wait and see what happens. One is the same price in February, November and July so I will book that as soon as I have booked my flights. My airport hotel in Amsterday is fully refundable which means I am checking for special sales every once in a while (but if there are none or I miss one I am fine because I think the price is okay-ish).

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  • 3 weeks later...
Hi I am in Australia and found booking direct with Hurtigruten UK saved us about $1000, (so paying for our excursions) rather than booking with a travel company here who sell Hurtigruten. We saved their add on margin and I had no problems paying or booking. Go onto Hurtigruten website see what ship is sailing the day you want to go, select your cabin and ring, it was very, very easy. Remember to tell them which dining session you want for dinner as there are two, and believe me you will absolutely love it!

Would have loved to know that. I found the site easy to navigate too. But our friends were a little anxious and insisted that we use their travel agent for both of our bookings. :(

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  • 7 months later...
I'll come back and report. We'll be on the Trollfjord too. This will be our first Hurtigruten cruise, so we won't really know how it compares to their regular offerings. DH and I are both interested in astronomy, and the descriptions of the lectures sound good.

 

Hi again,

 

Your Hurtigruten "Astronomy" cruise was (or is) this month?

 

Can you share any details, especially about the Astonomy events, or do you have any suggestions?

 

We'll be leaving next week to head to Oslo first for a few days, and then on to Bergen... and the cruise.

 

Thanks!

 

GC

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Hi again,

 

Your Hurtigruten "Astronomy" cruise was (or is) this month?

 

Can you share any details, especially about the Astonomy events, or do you have any suggestions?

 

We'll be leaving next week to head to Oslo first for a few days, and then on to Bergen... and the cruise.

 

Thanks!

 

GC

 

We are on our last full day of the Astronomy cruise, and I’m so glad we did this! It’s been such a good trip. We have Ian Ridpath, our astronomer, and Eva Stiegler, who coordinates enrichment events. Ian has presented a series of interesting lectures on various topics, including the Northern Lights, space exploration, and the race to land on the moon. Every clear night, he’s been out on the deck to point out constellations and features of the night sky.

 

We’ve been very lucky with the weather, and seen staggeringly beautiful Northern Lights on several nights. Ian set up a Facebook group specifically for the cruise, which makes it easier to share photos and stories. People who brought their tripods were getting the best photos, so if you have one, bring it,

 

Eva booked us all in for the same dinner seating, so that we could all sit in the same area of the dining room, and get to know each other. She has also led a free walking excursion in every port where we had enough time to do that.

 

I thought I was prepared for the weather with long underwear, heavy mittens, sturdy hat, etc. I really could have done with ski gear, I think. So if you have a balaclava to cover your face, and some fleece-lined trousers, bring them! It’s seriously cold up on deck with the ship moving, and the lights are too beautiful to want to go inside. They sell spikes on board to go on your boots, or if you already have some, bring them. There is a lot of ice on the ground in the northerly ports, and it will still be there when you get there. Some of it looks at though it might still be there in July!

 

The food on board has been impressive. Lots of fish, but also a good selection of meat. We bought the middle-range wine package, and all the ones we’ve tried have been very drinkable. We had good reports about the house wines on the basic package too. I’ve heard that the restaurant is very good about catering for dietary restrictions if you have any. That’s something else that Eva coordinated.

 

We didn’t book any excursions through the ship, (we’re tightwads) but there are a lot on offer, even in the winter. We’ve heard good reports from people who’ve taken them, that the guides were knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

 

Trollfjord is in excellent shape, and doesn’t look at all like a 16-year-old ship. Everything is well maintained, and it looks like carpets and furnishings are updated regularly. The cabins are small but very functional, and there are lots of pretty public spaces.

 

If I’ve left out anything that you want to know, or if you have questions, please let me know.

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We are on our last full day of the Astronomy cruise, and I’m so glad we did this! It’s been such a good trip. We have Ian Ridpath, our astronomer, and Eva Stiegler, who coordinates enrichment events. Ian has presented a series of interesting lectures on various topics, including the Northern Lights, space exploration, and the race to land on the moon. Every clear night, he’s been out on the deck to point out constellations and features of the night sky.

 

We’ve been very lucky with the weather, and seen staggeringly beautiful Northern Lights on several nights. Ian set up a Facebook group specifically for the cruise, which makes it easier to share photos and stories. People who brought their tripods were getting the best photos, so if you have one, bring it,

 

Eva booked us all in for the same dinner seating, so that we could all sit in the same area of the dining room, and get to know each other. She has also led a free walking excursion in every port where we had enough time to do that.

 

I thought I was prepared for the weather with long underwear, heavy mittens, sturdy hat, etc. I really could have done with ski gear, I think. So if you have a balaclava to cover your face, and some fleece-lined trousers, bring them! It’s seriously cold up on deck with the ship moving, and the lights are too beautiful to want to go inside. They sell spikes on board to go on your boots, or if you already have some, bring them. There is a lot of ice on the ground in the northerly ports, and it will still be there when you get there. Some of it looks at though it might still be there in July!

 

The food on board has been impressive. Lots of fish, but also a good selection of meat. We bought the middle-range wine package, and all the ones we’ve tried have been very drinkable. We had good reports about the house wines on the basic package too. I’ve heard that the restaurant is very good about catering for dietary restrictions if you have any. That’s something else that Eva coordinated.

 

We didn’t book any excursions through the ship, (we’re tightwads) but there are a lot on offer, even in the winter. We’ve heard good reports from people who’ve taken them, that the guides were knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

 

Trollfjord is in excellent shape, and doesn’t look at all like a 16-year-old ship. Everything is well maintained, and it looks like carpets and furnishings are updated regularly. The cabins are small but very functional, and there are lots of pretty public spaces.

 

If I’ve left out anything that you want to know, or if you have questions, please let me know.

 

That all sounds wonderful, and good to know she is kept in such good condition.

 

We hadn't heard that there would be (might be?) a second "leader type" with the Astronomy Package, but that would be nice, too.

 

Were the telescopes that could be shared?

 

Was there one excursion to the North Cape that was "included" for the Astronomy Package people"? We just got a list of lecture topics and some other information, and it stated that on the North Cape day, there was no lecture due to the excursion. (And would that be the same excursion as regularly offered? But it's included with the Astronomy Package fee?)

We also weren't planning to do too many excursions. We had just two picked out, one being that midnight concert.

 

One silly question: Do they have bottled sparkling water?

And Diet Coke?

Or should we try to pick some up in Bergen?

 

Most of the reports about food have been very good. And we'll probably want to try the Specialty Restaurant once or twice, given what we've seen of that menu.

 

Many thanks for your report.

 

GC

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That all sounds wonderful, and good to know she is kept in such good condition.

 

We hadn't heard that there would be (might be?) a second "leader type" with the Astronomy Package, but that would be nice, too.

 

Were the telescopes that could be shared?

 

Was there one excursion to the North Cape that was "included" for the Astronomy Package people"? We just got a list of lecture topics and some other information, and it stated that on the North Cape day, there was no lecture due to the excursion. (And would that be the same excursion as regularly offered? But it's included with the Astronomy Package fee?)

We also weren't planning to do too many excursions. We had just two picked out, one being that midnight concert.

 

One silly question: Do they have bottled sparkling water?

And Diet Coke?

Or should we try to pick some up in Bergen?

 

Most of the reports about food have been very good. And we'll probably want to try the Specialty Restaurant once or twice, given what we've seen of that menu.

 

Many thanks for your report.

 

GC

 

Fellow Diet Coke fiend here. They sell bottles on board. It’s 40 NKR for one and 60 NKR for two, so if you see some on shore cheaper than that, buy it. With our wine package we have two small bottles of sparkling or plain water included every day. They also sell it in the little shop on board, but we haven’t needed to buy any, so I’m not sure of the price. The tap water is also very good, cold with no horrible chlorine taste.

 

I haven’t seen any telescopes, but I’ve mostly been bumbling around in the dark on the open deck while looking up, so I could have missed them!

 

Our only included excursion was the Planetarium, but we ate dinner with people who did the North Cape excursion and they spoke highly of it. If that’s your included excursion, I think you’ll enjoy it. If it’s not, but you want to do it anyway, there should be plenty of time to book it on board. We passed on the Midnight Concert too, but I also heard good feedback about that. They were selling places for it until a few minutes before they left, so no pressure to book that early.

 

We haven’t been tempted to try the a la carte restaurant for two reasons: because we enjoy eating with the other people in the Astronomy group, and the included food is already so good that I just can’t see how it could be improved enough to justify the extra charge. I agree that the menu looks nice, though.

 

We didn’t realise that Eva was part of the package either, but she is a joy, adding local Norwegian knowledge and doing practical things like organising a dentist for someone who broke a tooth. She takes fabulous photos to add to the Facebook page, too.

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Yes, I’m also booking at the .no. I have the advantage of reading Norwegian but you can have both the .us and the .no open at the same time. The confirmation mail might be in Norwegian language. Google translate might do the job. Let me know if I can be of any help..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Yes, I’m also booking at the .no. I have the advantage of reading Norwegian but you can have both the .us and the .no open at the same time. The confirmation mail might be in Norwegian language. Google translate might do the job. Let me know if I can be of any help..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

If we cruise with Hurtigruten again, we'll definitely look into using the Norwegian site. By the time we realized there might be a huge price differential, there wasn't a chance of getting the type of accommodations we wanted. (We were "lucky" even way back when we first started.)

 

We also have a very good TA, who would probably almost enjoy the challenge of using the other website. (He isn't based in the USA.)

"Next time".

 

GC

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One silly question: Do they have bottled sparkling water?

And Diet Coke?

Or should we try to pick some up in Bergen?

 

GC

 

Yes, there is sparkling water for sale on the ship, as well as diet Coke, but I purchased some in one of the small grocery stores that are near the pier in just about every port (and which you can get to with the 15 minutes in port nearly always) and kept it in my room. You can't take these into the dining room and you have no frig in your room, but I found that the bartenders were always happy to provide you with a glass of ice.

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