Northern Lights

[trtog7]

Few cruise lines sail the Norwegian Fjords late enough to see the Northern Lights.

Booked on Princess this Oct for a cruise but do not expect it will go.

In my research I have not been able to find a shore excursion on Geirangerfjord. It is one of the best.

 

[hallasm]

I certainly hope that travel will be possible by October - but only time will show.

Another option is Hurtigruten from Dover or a Norwegian Coastal Voyage from Bergen.
I do not fully understand:

1 hour ago, trtog7 said:

In my research I have not been able to find a shore excursion on Geirangerfjord. It is one of the best

Does Princess visit Geiranger? .. or an excursion from Ålesund?

[hallasm]

… also P&O and Cunard from Southampton

Edited May 2, 2021 by hallasm

[TheOldBear]

5 hours ago, trtog7 said:

Few cruise lines sail the Norwegian Fjords late enough to see the Northern Lights.

Booked on Princess this Oct for a cruise but do not expect it will go.

In my research I have not been able to find a shore excursion on Geirangerfjord. It is one of the best.

 

We are booked on Cunard “Norway and Northern Lights” cruise, sailing from NYC in October 2022. The sailing features two nights in Tromso, well north of the artic circle, so decent chances for aurora 

[JimChar]

We just booked the Northern Lights for Oct 2022 (15 days, Island Princess). If this fits your schedule

[hallasm]

22 minutes ago, JimChar said:

15 days, Island Princess

Interesting itinerary -  however ‘Gravdal’ is misplaced at the map - assuming Gravdal at Lofoten islands located southwest of Tromsø and not Gravdal southwest og Oslo.

Edited November 10, 2021 by hallasm

[JimChar]

On 11/10/2021 at 5:47 PM, hallasm said:

Interesting itinerary -  however ‘Gravdal’ is misplaced at the map - assuming Gravdal at Lofoten islands located southwest of Tromsø and not Gravdal southwest og Oslo.

Happy New Year and Thanks for highlighting. I missed your reply earlier.

Here is another map. Perhaps this is the correct one ? 

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, JimChar said:
 

I did copy you question from the Oslo topic:

 

“Am excited that we're heading for our Northern Lights trip in Oct 2022 (after cancellation and rebookings). 

Am wondering if the Northern lights requires travel far from the port to view ? If we can do it by ourselves or book a local tour ?

 

Places covered includes:

Stavanger, Norway (10:00am – 6:00pm)
Tromso, Norway (9:00am - 11pm)
Alta, Norway (morning ? - overnight - next day 11:pm)  
Lofoten Islands (gravdal), Norway (8:00am – 11:00pm)
Alesund, Norway (8:00am – 5:00pm)

Suggestions & recommendations appreciated. There may be a few others in the roll-call that may be interested in joining the private tour too.

 

You will primarily be able to see the northern lights within the Arctic Circle - in this case Tromsø, Alta and Lofoten (Gravdal).  The chances of seeing the northern lights depend on whether there are visible northern lights that night and whether the sky is clear without too many clouds.

 The Northern Lights are most often seen in the period from 9 pm to 3 am

 If the primary purpose is to see the northern lights I would recommend an excursion in Alta where the ship is staying overnight.  An excursion provides more flexibility if cloudy as you can drive to an area where there are better opportunities to see the northern lights - no difference whether you choose private or ship excursion but arrange well in advance.  Available excursions are limited and they are not available on the day at the  pier.

Besides Alta, it should be possible to see the Northern Lights from the ship in Tromsø and Lofoten. Since the ship sails at 11pm, it is not realistic to arrange excursions ashore to see the northern lights - most northern lights I have seen are from ships - including Lofoten when sailing along the Norwegian coast.

 

[JimChar]

@hallasm Thanks for the inputs. Here is our schedule.
 

Seems OK. Just that on the 2nd Day in Alta - a bit hard-pressed to find something that will end in time for our departure. 

We are unsure if Princess has a shuttle for us in Tromso between the port and town center? And if taxi is easy to get late at night as our tour ends at 2300hrs and the ship departs 2359hrs. The tour company refused to pick/send the 20 of us from port instead. 
 

Place	Tour
Stavanger	Fjord cruise Lysefjord & Preikestolen
Place	Tour
Tromso	Tromsø: Northern Lights and Husky Experience with Dinner
Place	Tour
Alta - overnight	Day 1 -  TOUR Aroura
	Day 2 - no plans (departing 2200hrs)
Place	Tour
Lofoten islands	Gravdal port, Gimsøy, Henningsvaer, Kabelvæg, Svolvær, Eggum, Aalan gård goat farm (or similar, if closed), Haukland beach, Skogstrand beach, Ramberg beach, Nusfjord (optional), Hamnøy, Reine, Å I Lofoten, Gravdal port
Place	Tour
Alesund	No plans

[Level six]

We were on the same cruise with NCL, no northern lights for the 11 days.  We even stayed up until 3am one night when the captain said there was activity.  It is just luck. 

 

When we drove to Alaska, we saw the northern lights several times, but also just luck. There has to be alot of activity, it has to be very dark and it has to be a clear sky. But, if you do get to see them, it is pretty amazing.