QM2 Northern Lights Cruise - Tromso question

[ilv4cruising]

Hi folks,

 

We are booked on the QM2 Northern Lights cruise for this Oct, 2024. 

 

Has anyone done the Northern Lights with Cunard before?  If so, I have a few questions.

 

1.  Did you do a private tour or Cunard.  We had considered doing the bus tour with Cunard (or even private) but, apparently most buses are for small groups and don't have washroom facilities.  I'm curious to know what others experience might have been (not a fan of the "outdoors" for that during the cold weather 🙂 ).

 

2.  We have considered booking a small boat option which sounds great.  Has anyone done that and if so, how was it and who did you use?

 

3.  If you do a private Northern Lights tour it will be around midnight when we return to the ship.  Is there any issue getting back on board at that time of night?

 

TIA

[Tonopah]

We took the Northern Lights bus excursion in November, 2022. The bus had facilities. We were out late and yes, it was cold (Floridians, so really cold). We bundled up and it was fine and had access to the warm bus when necessary. We got hot chocolate and a biscuit at some point. That was nice. We did see the Northern Lights, but it turned out they were visible from the ship as well and the folks who stayed on board got some amazing pictures.

 

There was no issue getting back on the ship. They were expecting us and had all the security/bag checks ready for us. Also, the buffet was available for warm drinks. 

 

We agreed that if we were to do it again we would not take the bus just because we didn’t really get to a great spot. Maybe others had a better excursion but ours was just so-so. We would either get a private excursion or stay on the ship and take our chances. 

[Clewgarnet]

I think it was November 22 that I did the bus excursion, too, but we were less fortunate than you. Even driving all the way to Sweden, we didn't get to see the Lights.

 

I didn't find it particularly cold, but I'm a northerner and we're well known for scoffing at coats.

 

There were facilities on the bus. We didn't get hot chocolate but we did get a nice fruity drink, almost like a non-alcoholic mulled wine, and a chocolate biscuit.

 

Because ours was the Cunard excursion, there were no issues with getting back on board.

 

I'm another who wouldn't bother with the Cunard bus again. Then again, by this stage, I've accepted that I'm just never going to see the Northern Lights, because I keep sleeping through the blooming things! (But I did see the Southern Lights while sailing a brig from Tasmania, so that was nice.)

[garndnt1]

When a ship is in port there are no issues getting back on the ship, none, 24/7.

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, garndnt1 said:

When a ship is in port there are no issues getting back on the ship, none, 24/7.

But there is not always a shuttle bus to get you back from town.

[david63]

We did a private Northern Lights tour a few years ago with Glod (https://www.glodexplorer.no/)

 

We were collected from the ship at a pre arranged time taken to their offices where we were given hot soup and sandwiches before setting off (there are wash-room facilities at their offices). They will also provide additional warm clothing if necessary.

 

Then off in a group of about eight to "hunt" for the Northern Lights - the driver/guide will keep moving to where there are sightings. Towards the end of the hunt the guide made a welcoming cup of hot chocolate and we were then returned to the ship sometime well after midnight.

 

Be aware that the temperature can go down to -20C

 

Unfortunately on our trip we failed to find the Northern Lights as on that night it was too cloudy.

[Judyrem]

On 6/4/2024 at 1:23 PM, Clewgarnet said:

I think it was November 22 that I did the bus excursion, too, but we were less fortunate than you. Even driving all the way to Sweden, we didn't get to see the Lights.

 

I didn't find it particularly cold, but I'm a northerner and we're well known for scoffing at coats.

 

There were facilities on the bus. We didn't get hot chocolate but we did get a nice fruity drink, almost like a non-alcoholic mulled wine, and a chocolate biscuit.

 

Because ours was the Cunard excursion, there were no issues with getting back on board.

 

I'm another who wouldn't bother with the Cunard bus again. Then again, by this stage, I've accepted that I'm just never going to see the Northern Lights, because I keep sleeping through the blooming things! (But I did see the Southern Lights while sailing a brig from Tasmania, so that was nice.)

I am going NEXT November 22, thanks for the info!

[Gwendy]

We did the Cunard excursion in October 2019. It was abysmal, kept driving to various weird spots, no lights, there was washroom facilities on bus, down steep stairs.  They served a hot fruit drink with a biscuit.  No lights but did have the excitement? of hitting a car in a ferry car park.

We complained the next day to shore excursions as tour did not match the written description and received partial refund.

On return to ship went for hot drink and saw faint lights from ship.

Sightings are never guaranteed so hope you have better luck than us.

There is a website you can use which gives you the odds of seeing lights on particular dates.

[new to cuising]

We did QM2 to northern light in autumn 2022. From Tromso we took the Cunard organised tour. Courier was a northern lights fanatic and was on the phone to all sorts of people trying to find where the breaks in the clouds were.  The lights were almost a certainty due to solar activity if the weather was clear (bare in mind the lights are many hundreds of miles above our atmosphere so weather does not affect them, you just need good visibility) we estimated w travelled nearly fifty miles in land and did see them from three locations) and to make it more magical it even snowed heavily as we arrived back at Tromso at about 1.30am. No issue getting on board.

[ilv4cruising]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:27 AM, exlondoner said:

But there is not always a shuttle bus to get you back from town.

Yes I had thought of that so have been asking the tour companies about availability of taxis.  So far they don't seem to think that will be an issue.

[ilv4cruising]

2 hours ago, new to cuising said:

We did QM2 to northern light in autumn 2022. From Tromso we took the Cunard organised tour. Courier was a northern lights fanatic and was on the phone to all sorts of people trying to find where the breaks in the clouds were.  The lights were almost a certainty due to solar activity if the weather was clear (bare in mind the lights are many hundreds of miles above our atmosphere so weather does not affect them, you just need good visibility) we estimated w travelled nearly fifty miles in land and did see them from three locations) and to make it more magical it even snowed heavily as we arrived back at Tromso at about 1.30am. No issue getting on board.

Thanks for the info.  Was it a small bus that you used?  Did it have washroom facilities (Cunard hasn't been able to get an answer sadly).

[new to cuising]

It was a fifty ish seater coach and I think it had a washroom on it, certainly a door, part way back. I think coaches in Norway are usually well equipped. I suppose the coaches are dependent upon who will be providing the excursion and even which coaches the company decides to use on the day. Obviously there is not a great demand for coaches at that time of night, and personally if it was my coach company driving around the wilderness I'd want the best equipped vehicle.

Just to add a couple of nights later the lights were clearly visible from the ship but you had to be in an area where there was little or no artificial light. Certainly when we saw the lights they were far fainter to the naked eye than they appear on TV, but amazingly very clear on photos with a 5 second exposure (tripod needed and get used to operating camera in near darkness as you do need your night vision!)

[si_boy]

We did an independent trip in 2019 and got to see the Northern Lights.
Small group and although the evening started early it was a trip we will never forget. Homemade fish soup and biscuits while sat on reindeer skins by a lake waiting for dusk. We drove until we found the lights and Roy, the organiser took photos which he later shared by email. No extra cost.

Search for Artic Trip Tromso, Roy Sætre. 
A number of passengers complained about the Cunard organised tour that night who never got to see the lights.

[TheOldBear]

I did the Cunard bus excursion on the second night [7 November 2022] at Tromso. [first night was the 'arctic cathedral' concert]

 

There was a bright, almost full, moon - so I knew that I would not get dark adapted, and there was no reason to bring a tripod for long exposures. If the cruise was scheduled for a 'new moon' period I would likely have taken one of the independent 'chase' options for the night of the 6th - and used a tripod.

 

The first stop was prompted by Aurora prominent enough to be visible [through holes in the cloud cover] from the bus. I was taking hand held exposures of about 2 seconds [Olympus OM1mk2 + 12-100 f/4 stabilized lens] and the camera was seeing colors that my eyes just saw as grey. This was a coastal stop, and as fog started to roll in our guide consulted with the other bus's guide and we left for an inland location.

The second stop was the cookie stop - refreshments were available in the luggage bay. All three Cunard tour busses at the rendezvous. We stayed there for over an hour getting both aurora and moonlit cloud photos [needed the camera to see colors].

Arriving back at the pier, the lines were already singled up, with port personnel standing by. QM2 was departing by the time I got up to Kings Court for a late night snack.