Hurtigruten boat - Alesund to Bergen

One more question… the boat departs after 1am… how early can you board the boat?

We were on the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes. The included meals were excellent. We had every kind of meat and seafood you can imagine. I recall lamb chops for the first meal we had.
We would see others on the meals for purchase; they were not in our dining rooms, so I did not get good looks at their plates. I never saw their dinners up close. Most appeared to be locals.

The ship has to arrive in Alesund, passengers if any disembark, supplies off loaded, lots going on.
Arrival time should be posted somewhere.

Thank you… I found the arrival time. Info on meals for pre-purchase is generic at best. Looking for more info on that.

Can you bring food aboard with you?

Call their US booking number for help.They speak English and hopefully help answer your questions. Do you have the option of full board, a bedroom and meals?

1. Halfboard means dinner. Clear yes, worth it. Passengers are sorted in time slots. Lunch is always buffet with a lot of choices - I would only buy it when you normally get hungry around lunch time. Small snacks or cake you can also buy in board bistro.
2. If they do not have a buffet evening normally you have 3 courses with 2 or 3 options to choose from (not a la carte). Often one main course is meat, another is fish (example) and the third a veggie one. Meal options in the evening are also presented during the day on board TV.
3. Yes.
4. As soon the side bridge is safely posititoned on land passengers can (dis-)embark. A different question is when you can get the cabins. Reception will help.

When we boarded in Alesund (to North) the ship was docked with the right side for cleaning purposes. Since we wanted to board with car they had to turn the whole ship to load my car.

One more question… the boat departs after 1am… how early can you board
the boat?

Southbound the ship arrives in Ålesund 00:30. I assume you can board as soon as the alighting passengers have left the ship.

The boat departs 1:20am and arrives in Bergen 2:45pm... when is dinner served/available?

Adding to my above question... is there a place to wait in port for the boat with such a late departure? Any suggestions on where to spend the late evening before boarding?

is there a place to wait in port for the boat with such a late departure?

Look at restaurants and bars incl. opening times.

At the pier there is a "waiting" room (see Passagierterminal on photo) - nothing special but warm and dry.

Well, in your case dinner seems to be no option.

The boat departs 1:20am and arrives in Bergen 2:45pm... when is dinner
served/available?

Dinner onboard is served from 18:00. It doesn't mention when the dinner service closes, but I'd be very surprised if any restaurant is still open when you board the ship.

I am on a Hurtigruten ship now. I understand your concerns about food - I will take a few photos and message you with a link to them.

With your schedule, no dinner in the dining room available, since you won’t be on the boat for dinner. And the other cafes, etc. will be closed at that time. So eat dinner in Alesund before boarding.

Your choice is whether you want breakfast and lunch buffet meals the following day or just want to buy food in the bakery and bistro a la cart. You will not want for food either way, so it’s really just a choice of cost.

No one checks food brought on board.

I just observed the process of room cleaning in a small stop. The crew was in the room cleaning even before a new person boarding would have time to check in and be there. I imagine getting on at Alesund would either give them plenty of time to have your room ready if it wasn’t full all the way to Alesund - or it would be cleaned and ready very quickly as the former occupant disembarks and you board and check in. And you will be able to board as soon as the ship has docked and any departing passengers leave.

Thanks all for your wonderful feedback!