Beverages on Antarctica Cruise

[tashaaa]

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I would are looking in Hurtigruten Antarctica cruise in december 2024. I read a lot of post and comments, but there are still some thing that aren't so clear to me, so maybe you can help:

 

1. water is provided in the water stations at any time. I read that you don't get water with lunch and dinner, you have to purchase it. is this true?

2. wine and beer is provided with lunch and dinner. how many glasses do you get?

3. I read you can purchase premium beverage packinge on bord the ship, for 32$? Does this cover if you drink let say Whiskey?

4. Does Hurtigruten have an Online Planner, where you can purchase additional packiges, are they available?

5. What are the prices of drinks on the ship?

 

I know this is an expedition cruise and different from other cruises.

 

Thank you sooo much for additional information.

 

 

 

 

[CDNPolar]

30 minutes ago, tashaaa said:

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I would are looking in Hurtigruten Antarctica cruise in december 2024. I read a lot of post and comments, but there are still some thing that aren't so clear to me, so maybe you can help:

 

1. water is provided in the water stations at any time. I read that you don't get water with lunch and dinner, you have to purchase it. is this true?

2. wine and beer is provided with lunch and dinner. how many glasses do you get?

3. I read you can purchase premium beverage packinge on bord the ship, for 32$? Does this cover if you drink let say Whiskey?

4. Does Hurtigruten have an Online Planner, where you can purchase additional packiges, are they available?

5. What are the prices of drinks on the ship?

 

I know this is an expedition cruise and different from other cruises.

 

Thank you sooo much for additional information.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello - We did the Hurtigruten Antarctica trip about 18 months ago now and this was the situation then.  I cannot comment if anything has changed since, but think not...

 

You are given a metal water bottle when you board.  This is in the cabin for you as a brand new item.  On each deck near the elevator lobby is a water purifier station that you can fill your personal water bottle with purified water.  Hurtigruten does NOT have individual plastic water bottles on the ship.  You could bring your own water bottle if you wanted.  They have sessions where you can go (free) and decorate/paint your water bottle to customize it.

 

You DO get water at all meals.  Every table in the dining room has a glass water carafe on the table and glasses when you sit down.  This will be refilled if you drink it all.  I am not sure why anyone would say that you have to purchase water at the meal - not true.   The only time that you may find that water is not on the table is if the Drake Passage waves are very high and the ship is listing then they will temporarily remove the glass carafes from the tables as they can fall over and crash to the floor.

 

Wine and beer is free flowing at both lunch and dinner.  There is no limit that we found.  We often has multiple glasses and they freely refill without question.  In fact they are quite generous.  Some get the glass refilled before leaving the dining room and carry it out with them.

 

The premium beverage package we did not look into because you typically have to purchase that as every person in a cabin and for the entire length of the cruise.  Because of the Drake Passage - and the recommendation that you don't drink if you are even remotely seasick - we did not ask or investigate this package.  Ideally, there could be 4-5 days that you may not access the package if you are seasick and then you are paying for that time.  In fact, we did try to investigate this before travelling until we learned about the Drake Passage no drinking recommendation and could not get any real solid information about a drinks package.  You are on your own with this one...

 

Does Hurtigruten have an online planner where you can purchase additional packages?  Can you please give me more information?  Do you mean prior to the cruise to purchase the optional excursions like snowshoeing and kayaking?  If this is what you mean, then NO.  No one can purchase these before they trip.  You board and there is a sign up process then a lottery draw.  There is no need to rush to sign up as long as you are on the list.  It is a true lottery and you either win or you don't.  These are the excursions that if you DO WIN, then you pay extra.  I think that there are 4 or 5 options that you can sign up for.  We got snowshoeing and kayaking and some people we talked to got nothing.  This all depends on weather and numbers of people that they can actually accommodate of these optional excursions and the fact is that they cannot accommodate everyone on the ship.

 

What are the drink prices?  We never really found out...  I did order a few vodka drinks but never really looked at the price.  We had OBC and were just trying to use that up.  The fact is that after dinner we were so physically exhausted from our landings each day that we really never spent time in the lounge after dinner - we often just went to bed.  Also there were times that our excursions started at 8:30pm in the evening so we ate and then went on excursion... no drinking before the excursion if you want to endure the physicality of the excursion and be safe.

 

This is different from other cruises - very different.  Hope this helps.  

I will provide some links here for you:

 

Here is our review of our trip during and after:

 

 

Here is our video - the link in the review is dead:

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

6 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Hello - We did the Hurtigruten Antarctica trip about 18 months ago now and this was the situation then.  I cannot comment if anything has changed since, but think not...

 

You are given a metal water bottle when you board.  This is in the cabin for you as a brand new item.  On each deck near the elevator lobby is a water purifier station that you can fill your personal water bottle with purified water.  Hurtigruten does NOT have individual plastic water bottles on the ship.  You could bring your own water bottle if you wanted.  They have sessions where you can go (free) and decorate/paint your water bottle to customize it.

 

You DO get water at all meals.  Every table in the dining room has a glass water carafe on the table and glasses when you sit down.  This will be refilled if you drink it all.  I am not sure why anyone would say that you have to purchase water at the meal - not true.   The only time that you may find that water is not on the table is if the Drake Passage waves are very high and the ship is listing then they will temporarily remove the glass carafes from the tables as they can fall over and crash to the floor.

 

Wine and beer is free flowing at both lunch and dinner.  There is no limit that we found.  We often has multiple glasses and they freely refill without question.  In fact they are quite generous.  Some get the glass refilled before leaving the dining room and carry it out with them.

 

The premium beverage package we did not look into because you typically have to purchase that as every person in a cabin and for the entire length of the cruise.  Because of the Drake Passage - and the recommendation that you don't drink if you are even remotely seasick - we did not ask or investigate this package.  Ideally, there could be 4-5 days that you may not access the package if you are seasick and then you are paying for that time.  In fact, we did try to investigate this before travelling until we learned about the Drake Passage no drinking recommendation and could not get any real solid information about a drinks package.  You are on your own with this one...

 

Does Hurtigruten have an online planner where you can purchase additional packages?  Can you please give me more information?  Do you mean prior to the cruise to purchase the optional excursions like snowshoeing and kayaking?  If this is what you mean, then NO.  No one can purchase these before they trip.  You board and there is a sign up process then a lottery draw.  There is no need to rush to sign up as long as you are on the list.  It is a true lottery and you either win or you don't.  These are the excursions that if you DO WIN, then you pay extra.  I think that there are 4 or 5 options that you can sign up for.  We got snowshoeing and kayaking and some people we talked to got nothing.  This all depends on weather and numbers of people that they can actually accommodate of these optional excursions and the fact is that they cannot accommodate everyone on the ship.

 

What are the drink prices?  We never really found out...  I did order a few vodka drinks but never really looked at the price.  We had OBC and were just trying to use that up.  The fact is that after dinner we were so physically exhausted from our landings each day that we really never spent time in the lounge after dinner - we often just went to bed.  Also there were times that our excursions started at 8:30pm in the evening so we ate and then went on excursion... no drinking before the excursion if you want to endure the physicality of the excursion and be safe.

 

This is different from other cruises - very different.  Hope this helps.  

I will provide some links here for you:

 

Here is our review of our trip during and after:

 

 

Here is our video - the link in the review is dead:

 

 

 

 

Simply stunning video.

 Brilliant editing, timing, haunting and mesmerising music.  Thank you so much for sharing this.

[CDNPolar]

6 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Simply stunning video.

 Brilliant editing, timing, haunting and mesmerising music.  Thank you so much for sharing this.

 

Thank you!  My Husband does all this and if you can imagine, all of this is shot with an iPhone only.

 

He can spend a couple of months after the trip sifting through all the materials to end up with the final product.

 

Thank you again - this was truly a trip of a lifetime that cannot be compared to anything else.

[Catlover54]

15 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Thank you!  My Husband does all this and if you can imagine, all of this is shot with an iPhone only.

 

He can spend a couple of months after the trip sifting through all the materials to end up with the final product.

 

Thank you again - this was truly a trip of a lifetime that cannot be compared to anything else.

 

Also just saw your Douro cruise video.    Once again, totally enchanting, professional quality cinematography.   I noticed there were what looked like some drone shots in Portugal (unfortunately not allowed in Antarctica)

My DH is the one who does the photography (he is not a professional, but he primarily travels to take pictures). 

I will have to start stalking, err, I mean "following", your trips 🙂

[CDNPolar]

7 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Also just saw your Douro cruise video.    Once again, totally enchanting, professional quality cinematography.   I noticed there were what looked like some drone shots in Portugal (unfortunately not allowed in Antarctica)

My DH is the one who does the photography (he is not a professional, but he primarily travels to take pictures). 

I will have to start stalking, err, I mean "following", your trips 🙂

Thank you again...

 

Here is a link to our YouTube channel that has some other trips...

 

Yes, in Portugal we had a drone.  One and only time - sold it after coming home.

 

First took a couple of months to get permission from the Portugal government, then abiding by the many laws even though you had permission... had to get permission from the Viking ship Captain.

Many people complained about the noise that they make, and many UNESCO sites don't allow drones.

 

All in all not worth the effort and hassle for us.

 

In the Portugal one however we got Viking's permission to use The Traveller and the London Orchestra that performed it for Viking.  That was cool.

[tashaaa]

18 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Hello - We did the Hurtigruten Antarctica trip about 18 months ago now and this was the situation then.  I cannot comment if anything has changed since, but think not...

 

You are given a metal water bottle when you board.  This is in the cabin for you as a brand new item.  On each deck near the elevator lobby is a water purifier station that you can fill your personal water bottle with purified water.  Hurtigruten does NOT have individual plastic water bottles on the ship.  You could bring your own water bottle if you wanted.  They have sessions where you can go (free) and decorate/paint your water bottle to customize it.

 

You DO get water at all meals.  Every table in the dining room has a glass water carafe on the table and glasses when you sit down.  This will be refilled if you drink it all.  I am not sure why anyone would say that you have to purchase water at the meal - not true.   The only time that you may find that water is not on the table is if the Drake Passage waves are very high and the ship is listing then they will temporarily remove the glass carafes from the tables as they can fall over and crash to the floor.

 

Wine and beer is free flowing at both lunch and dinner.  There is no limit that we found.  We often has multiple glasses and they freely refill without question.  In fact they are quite generous.  Some get the glass refilled before leaving the dining room and carry it out with them.

 

The premium beverage package we did not look into because you typically have to purchase that as every person in a cabin and for the entire length of the cruise.  Because of the Drake Passage - and the recommendation that you don't drink if you are even remotely seasick - we did not ask or investigate this package.  Ideally, there could be 4-5 days that you may not access the package if you are seasick and then you are paying for that time.  In fact, we did try to investigate this before travelling until we learned about the Drake Passage no drinking recommendation and could not get any real solid information about a drinks package.  You are on your own with this one...

 

Does Hurtigruten have an online planner where you can purchase additional packages?  Can you please give me more information?  Do you mean prior to the cruise to purchase the optional excursions like snowshoeing and kayaking?  If this is what you mean, then NO.  No one can purchase these before they trip.  You board and there is a sign up process then a lottery draw.  There is no need to rush to sign up as long as you are on the list.  It is a true lottery and you either win or you don't.  These are the excursions that if you DO WIN, then you pay extra.  I think that there are 4 or 5 options that you can sign up for.  We got snowshoeing and kayaking and some people we talked to got nothing.  This all depends on weather and numbers of people that they can actually accommodate of these optional excursions and the fact is that they cannot accommodate everyone on the ship.

 

What are the drink prices?  We never really found out...  I did order a few vodka drinks but never really looked at the price.  We had OBC and were just trying to use that up.  The fact is that after dinner we were so physically exhausted from our landings each day that we really never spent time in the lounge after dinner - we often just went to bed.  Also there were times that our excursions started at 8:30pm in the evening so we ate and then went on excursion... no drinking before the excursion if you want to endure the physicality of the excursion and be safe.

 

This is different from other cruises - very different.  Hope this helps.  

I will provide some links here for you:

 

Here is our review of our trip during and after:

 

 

Here is our video - the link in the review is dead:

 

 

 

 

Thank you sooooo much for all the additional information. After seeing your video and reading your posts, I actually can't wait to travel to Antarctica and it's a lot easier to book with all provided infromation.

Thank you again :)

[CDNPolar]

4 hours ago, tashaaa said:

 

Thank you sooooo much for all the additional information. After seeing your video and reading your posts, I actually can't wait to travel to Antarctica and it's a lot easier to book with all provided infromation.

Thank you again 🙂

 

You are welcome!  Be sure to post a review here once you have travelled.

[tashaaa]

Will do, we plan our trip in December 2024, but I think now is the right time to book. We are from Europe, and Hurtigruten has some offer, so we will to book it now.

 

[miklinga]

On 8/8/2023 at 5:32 AM, tashaaa said:

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I would are looking in Hurtigruten Antarctica cruise in december 2024. I read a lot of post and comments, but there are still some thing that aren't so clear to me, so maybe you can help:

 

1. water is provided in the water stations at any time. I read that you don't get water with lunch and dinner, you have to purchase it. is this true?

2. wine and beer is provided with lunch and dinner. how many glasses do you get?

3. I read you can purchase premium beverage packinge on bord the ship, for 32$? Does this cover if you drink let say Whiskey?

4. Does Hurtigruten have an Online Planner, where you can purchase additional packiges, are they available?

5. What are the prices of drinks on the ship?

 

I know this is an expedition cruise and different from other cruises.

 

Thank you sooo much for additional information.

 

 

 

 

Hello Tashaaa, 

 

I agree with everything CDNPolar stated.  We were on the Fram December 2022 (In Depth Antarctica...) and on the Nansen (Disco Bay, Greenland).  Both were expedition and had the same amenities.  We did not do a drink package and thought drinks were reasonable.  Optional (extra cost) excursions were by lottery in Antarctica on the Fram.  The demand in Greenland was less and I don't remember a lottery for excursions.  

 

Whatever you decide, it should be a fantastic trip! 

 

Linda

 

[CDNPolar]

To be honest, I don't think that we ever found out what the drinks package consisted of or what the price was...  we asked several times of our TA in advance of the trip and never got an actual answer.

 

Our decision - as I think I previously stated - was regardless, not to get a package as there would be close to half of the voyage on the Drake Passage and we probably would not drink during that period especially if the seas were rough, which they were.

[RoddyGateau]

On 8/8/2023 at 4:06 AM, CDNPolar said:

We had OBC and were just trying to use that up.

Before I get to my question let me thank you for posting your superb video. My wife and I are booked on Fridtjof Nansen on the 11 January sailing and can’t wait to experience the beautiful scenery and wildlife that you have captured so skillfully. 
In one of your many comprehensive answers to various questions you mention OBC. We are in the fortunate position of having almost $2,000 of OBC provided by our TA. If we’re successful in excursion lotteries I guess that we’ll use most of it but, if we’re unsuccessful, there’s no chance that we’ll  be able to spend it. All other cruise lines that we’ve sailed on refund any unused TA provided OBC, either in cash or to a credit card, at the end of the cruise. Do you happen to know what Hurtigruten’s policy is in this regard?

[CDNPolar]

3 minutes ago, RoddyGateau said:

Before I get to my question let me thank you for posting your superb video. My wife and I are booked on Fridtjof Nansen on the 11 January sailing and can’t wait to experience the beautiful scenery and wildlife that you have captured so skillfully. 
In one of your many comprehensive answers to various questions you mention OBC. We are in the fortunate position of having almost $2,000 of OBC provided by our TA. If we’re successful in excursion lotteries I guess that we’ll use most of it but, if we’re unsuccessful, there’s no chance that we’ll  be able to spend it. All other cruise lines that we’ve sailed on refund any unused TA provided OBC, either in cash or to a credit card, at the end of the cruise. Do you happen to know what Hurtigruten’s policy is in this regard?

 

Wow... that is a lot of OBC.

 

We had OBC of 440 Euros.  We paid Euros on board and for snowshoeing it was 62pp and for kayaking it was 145pp, so 410 Euros approximately?

There is nothing else to spend on unless you want to buy some clothing from the store on board.

We at the time also had to pay for a Covid test at 65pp as well, but otherwise we paid for some alcohol that was outside of meal time and soft drinks outside of meal time.

 

I think that you will have a hard time spending all that OBC, and unfortunately, I do not know Hurtigruten's policy on this if they refund or not.

 

I think that you should contact your TA and ask them to look into this.

 

In the end we had a balance, but again, hard to spend all that.

[RoddyGateau]

51 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Wow... that is a lot of OBC.

 

We had OBC of 440 Euros.  We paid Euros on board and for snowshoeing it was 62pp and for kayaking it was 145pp, so 410 Euros approximately?

There is nothing else to spend on unless you want to buy some clothing from the store on board.

We at the time also had to pay for a Covid test at 65pp as well, but otherwise we paid for some alcohol that was outside of meal time and soft drinks outside of meal time.

 

I think that you will have a hard time spending all that OBC, and unfortunately, I do not know Hurtigruten's policy on this if they refund or not.

 

I think that you should contact your TA and ask them to look into this.

 

In the end we had a balance, but again, hard to spend all that.

Thanks for the speedy reply. I’ll see what my TA has to say. I certainly don’t want to leave unspent money behind.

[Host Jazzbeau]

51 minutes ago, RoddyGateau said:

Thanks for the speedy reply. I’ll see what my TA has to say. I certainly don’t want to leave unspent money behind.

My TA gives 8-10% back.  They tried to give it to me as OBC, but I requested a rebate and now I get a check when I get home from the trip.

[RoddyGateau]

10 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

My TA gives 8-10% back.  They tried to give it to me as OBC, but I requested a rebate and now I get a check when I get home from the trip.

Thanks. I believe that I may have that option. I’ll see what she has to say.

[CDNPolar]

I was also looking at my final invoice... What I cannot remember is if gratuities were included in the Hurtigruten fare, because there was no gratuity on the final invoice.

 

Generally if we have OBC we will use it towards our gratuities.

 

 

[oakridger]

11 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

I was also looking at my final invoice... What I cannot remember is if gratuities were included in the Hurtigruten fare, because there was no gratuity on the final invoice.

 

Generally if we have OBC we will use it towards our gratuities.

 

 

 

When I went on the Hurtigruten coastal voyage there was no additional charges for gratuities.  I do know that tipping is not a common practice in Norway in general, so I believe that it isn't on the ships either.  

 

From the Hurtigruten website today:

Expedition Ships:

"On board Hurtigruten Expedition Ships, it's not common practice or expected to tip. However, we have learned that many of our guests wish to give special thanks to our service crew on board. It is at the individual's discretion to honour the service provided by the crew in the bars, restaurants, cabins, and behind the scene. If you wish to leave a tip, you can do so by one of the following options:

• By seeing the reception and debit the amount to your cruise account.

• Or leave a tip in the tipping box located at the Reception, during the last days of the voyage.

The money collected from these boxes will then be divided equally among all crew members after the voyage, we ask not to tip individual crew members during the voyage to ensure the people behind the scenes also are included. Please Note: Officers and Expedition Team are not included in this breakdown."

 

Coastal route ships:

"Tipping is not customary on Hurtigruten ships on the coastal route, but if you think the crew should be rewarded for exceptional service, there are tip boxes and envelopes in the restaurant."

 

If anyone knows otherwise, please correct me!

 

~Nancy

Edited September 13, 2023 by oakridger

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

When I went on the Hurtigruten coastal voyage there was no additional charges for gratuities.  I do know that tipping is not a common practice in Norway in general, so I believe that it isn't on the ships either.  

 

From the Hurtigruten website today:

Expedition Ships:

"On board Hurtigruten Expedition Ships, it's not common practice or expected to tip. However, we have learned that many of our guests wish to give special thanks to our service crew on board. It is at the individual's discretion to honour the service provided by the crew in the bars, restaurants, cabins, and behind the scene. If you wish to leave a tip, you can do so by one of the following options:

• By seeing the reception and debit the amount to your cruise account.

• Or leave a tip in the tipping box located at the Reception, during the last days of the voyage.

The money collected from these boxes will then be divided equally among all crew members after the voyage, we ask not to tip individual crew members during the voyage to ensure the people behind the scenes also are included. Please Note: Officers and Expedition Team are not included in this breakdown."

 

Coastal route ships:

"Tipping is not customary on Hurtigruten ships on the coastal route, but if you think the crew should be rewarded for exceptional service, there are tip boxes and envelopes in the restaurant."

 

If anyone knows otherwise, please correct me!

 

~Nancy

 

You have twigged my memory... when we went to settle our account there was a stack of envelopes and a plexiglass box where you could drop these for gratuities.

 

On all our cruises, we will tip where we feel there has been excellent service and we did tip our waiters on this ship that we saw daily and that went over the top in service.

[GeezerCouple]

On 8/30/2023 at 10:26 AM, miklinga said:

Hello Tashaaa, 

 

I agree with everything CDNPolar stated.  We were on the Fram December 2022 (In Depth Antarctica...) and on the Nansen (Disco Bay, Greenland).  Both were expedition and had the same amenities.  We did not do a drink package and thought drinks were reasonable.  Optional (extra cost) excursions were by lottery in Antarctica on the Fram.  The demand in Greenland was less and I don't remember a lottery for excursions.  

 

Whatever you decide, it should be a fantastic trip! 

 

Linda

 

DISCO BAY!!  

How was it?  How much time did you spend there on this cruise?
Did you have a chance to *really* see "icebergs"?

We'd love to hear about your experiences.

 

GC

 

[atheglobetrotter]

On 9/12/2023 at 5:45 PM, RoddyGateau said:

Before I get to my question let me thank you for posting your superb video. My wife and I are booked on Fridtjof Nansen on the 11 January sailing and can’t wait to experience the beautiful scenery and wildlife that you have captured so skillfully. 
In one of your many comprehensive answers to various questions you mention OBC. We are in the fortunate position of having almost $2,000 of OBC provided by our TA. If we’re successful in excursion lotteries I guess that we’ll use most of it but, if we’re unsuccessful, there’s no chance that we’ll  be able to spend it. All other cruise lines that we’ve sailed on refund any unused TA provided OBC, either in cash or to a credit card, at the end of the cruise. Do you happen to know what Hurtigruten’s policy is in this regard?

  I'm on the same cruise! We will see you on the ship!! Safe travels down to BA