Hurtigruten Cruises

I have done 3 Hurtigruten cruises to Norway and Svalbard and would happily do more. Don’t expect cabaret and dinner in posh frocks (which suits me fine). Food is good to excellent. There are plenty of optional tours if you like. The ships are modern but they are serving as transport for people and goods (at least they serve that function in Norway). We plan to do South America next year. Although very relaxed and can be very good value.

I took two overnight (non-consecutive night) trips on Hurtigruten in 2022--from Bergen to Alesund, with the day-time detour into the Geirangerfjord, and then on night later from Alesund to Trondheim. A day in Alesund was a must for me, because I love Art Nouveau architecture. I spent several nights in Trondheim for local sightseeing and a long day-trip to Roros.

I opted to pack snacks to avoid the cost of on-board meals, but I have read positive comments from others about the food, which I believe is included when you take one of the full cruises. I was on point-to-point tickets. I had tiny, windowless interior cabins, but I didn't mind that. They were clean, with full shower-equipped bathrooms. Quarters would have been very tight for two people. I really appreciated was the large public area with nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. There was a great view of the scenery from there. I don't think anyone would spend a lot of non-sleeping hours in one his or her cabin.

I haven't taken any cruises, so I can't make comparisons. There have been a few reports on this forum that included info on shore excursions, I think. You may find them fairly readily by putting Hurtigruten in the Search box, then selecting Forum and last 2 years from the options.

Hurtigruten now has a competitor offering similar trips, Havila. I don't know whether it has similar arrangements for those wanting to sail point-to-point segments rather than the full length trip from Bergen to Kirkenes. Between the two of the, I hope there's at least one sailing a day. The last time I checked, Hurtigruten had departures just 5 days a week.

My report from March, if it helps.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/hurtigruten-bergen-to-kirkenes-in-march

Edit: This is my only “cruise” experience so I have no comparisons.

Hurtigruten now has a competitor offering similar trips, Havila. I don't know whether it has similar arrangements for those wanting to sail point-to-point segments rather than the full length trip from Bergen to Kirkenes. Between the two of the, I hope there's at least one sailing a day.

That is not accurate. The basic reason for the service is the freight and local passenger use, which is a contract from the Norwegian Government. That contract was split between Hurtigruten and Havila- with 7 and 4 ships respectively.

Thus either company runs the daily service in each direction, never both. Except at Christmas/New Year there should never be gaps in the daily service. At the festive period the ships do make some extended port stops and omit some of the smaller ports to recover time, due to lack of freight traffic.

Also Havila does offer point to point sailings, exactly like Hurtigruten, Again that is part of the contract, to provide local passenger traffic opportunities. Cruising is only a part of the business.

It is a very interesting combination of a freight ship, a cruise ship and a local ferry. One of the effects of that is that port calls happen at all sorts of times of the day and night and the vast majority of port calls are relatively brief.
If you are familiar with the Aranaui 5 out of Tahiti it is a pretty similar experience.

You are NOT going to get all the constant 'entertainment' and all sorts of activities you do on American style cruise ships. Much of the 'entertainment' is the scenery. The excursions are expensive, but bluntly compared to most normal cruise lines are far more sensibly priced and more focussed on relevant local experiences.

Thank you for the comments about your experiences. I wondered if the ships were not cruise line ships in the sense of river cruises or ocean cruises are many cruise lines offer. I appreciate your insight.