“Marry me. I’ll take you to the ends of the earth”, he said.

Being a person who's rarely bored and loves watching anything drift by, I wouldn't take any hardcopy anything along.

However, in the depths of the pandemic when my husband was watching every TV rerun he could, I did get bored. We have only one TV and very poor wi-fi availability where we live, so no Netflix or any streaming capability on any device.

Somewhere, I expect maybe on the RS forums, someone mentioned a free online jigsaw puzzle source called Jigidi. I tried it and immediately became hooked. If you have data or wi-fi on the boat you should be able to get to this link: https://www.jigidi.com/

I don’t know if many of the images are bright and shiny. My favorites were posters and scenes from before 1950 and I had a blast doing them. I'm sure there are ones that are far more difficult than those.

Sweet story ❤️ We love Norway too. We’ve cruised (on Viking) in July and February and found the scenery to be very beautiful. Your cruise looks really nice. With 600+ people on board you’re sure to find someone with whom to strike up a conversation! Plan to sit outside, take photos, take a book. Very envious! Please do a trip report when you return. Have a great trip!

Sounds like a great trip. When we floated down the Nile River I thought I might be a tad bored too. I wasn’t, enjoyed taking photos of life along the Nile. We loved Norway and you will enjoy it.

Do you plan to take any of the offered ship excursions? Doing that would help. I don't know what's available if you travel straight through. I went from Bergen to Alesund (staying on the ship for the very worthwhile detour into the Geirangerfjord), then I hopped off when the ship returned to Alesund and spent 24 hours there. The trip from Alesund to Trondheim was just overnight, so I didn't have time to get bored. Those first two segments are the only ones I did.

I do think you may get antsy if you're travelling straight through to Kirkenes over 5 or 6 day, I'm sorry to say.

Disclaimer: we have avoided going on the large( over 500 passsengers) cruise ships.
We loved the Hurtigruten experience. We were surrounded by passengers from Europe, very few from US. They are not cruise ships which we liked.
There would be a singer or musical trio in the bar area at most. We have also sailed on 60 passenger Lindblad ships several times.
The food was excellent on Hurtigruten.
We have never been bored on any of them. It will be daylight all evening up until you decide to go to bed. The scenery is the entertainment. They contracted with a company who offered excursions but we only went on one. We enjoyed exploring the towns where we stopped on our own. We went all the way up to Kirkenes near the Russian border. I would happily go on another Hurtigruten.

AMann, thank you for the positive outlook on Arctic scenery. Suki, I really appreciate the Hurtigurten experience feedback. Acraven, I think you might be right about it being a little slow paced for me. It seems that every day we will have 3-4 hours at a main port to explore, Alesund, Trondheim, Tromso, etc. I’m hoping that’s enough to keep me from going mad the week we are on the boat. We fly from Kirkenes to Berlin and on to the Czech Republic for the remaining two weeks. I’ll be in my element then.

So, how did it go? Your writing is lovely, did you work up a trip report? Curious to know about the antsy part!

I too am hoping that OP comes back with a report!

Vandrabrud and Julie, thank you so much for encouraging me to follow up on this thread. I had ever intention of doing so but was so torn between feelings about this portion of the trip. It was a lot to unpack and reflect on.
Let’s see, if I was to title this trip report, it might be, “HELP, I’M STUCK ON THIS SHIP AND I CANT GET OFF!”. But I was a pampered and acquiescent victim none the less. Kind of like Mary Queen of Scots was held in the Tower of London but it wasn’t like she was held in the dungeon or pillories, right?
First the positives, Havila Voyages three new electric/LNG ships that run the Hurtigurten line up the coast of Norway are beautiful. Not in a Las Vegas meets cruise ship kind of way. A working cargo line business in the hold/ lower levels providing a lifeline to remote Norwegian villages from Bergen to the Russian border. The upper levels are all business Scandinavian. Every touch with a nod to the surrounding natural beauty. We opted for the suite with balcony. Hubby insisted since it was our thirtieth. The room was huge with floor to ceiling windows in both rooms opening onto our balcony. We were welcomed with champagne, charcuterie board and chocolates. The service was impeccable. We were assigned one of two lunch/dinner sittings with a permanent window side table. Over the course of the week we were seated next to another two person table which was close enough to chat with or ignore after pleasantries exchanged. We met three or four delightful couples rotating through that table as they were taking just one or two nights journeys. It was an awesome opportunity to meet people from all over Europe. The ship’s menu changes every couple days according to local foods, served tapas style, in small dishes so you can taste lots of different things and it cuts down on food waste. The food is superb. My husband was really worried it was going to be all seafood based. There were delicious seafood but there was always beef, chicken, pork, reindeer or whale (I didn’t go there but it is a mammal so not really seafood) options with a strong vegetarian menu as well. Believe me, I travel for food and this was so beyond my expectations. We dined one evening in the specialty restaurant with more personalized service but the main dining room is so good it wasn’t a huge upgrade.

Now for the negative. The ships are brand new utilizing new technology. Powered by LNG and electric batteries with azipod propulsion, our ship was having some problems. After a night at sea, we were to dock briefly in Alesund for cargo, venture into the fjords for the day, and come back to Alesund for several hours on shore. We arrived to Alesund late, in the fjords they spent an hour trying to correct the azipod problems leading to violent shaking of the ship, by the time we left we were so behind schedule they skipped the three hour port visit to Alesund. Adoring Art Noveau architecture, I was miffed, not to mention starting to feel a bit trapped having explored the ship stem to stern. I was lulled into complacency with dinner that night followed by a night cap in the bar. The following day we had three hours scheduled in Trondheim. Perfect to stroll into town, find the old bridge, kiss underneath it, (see local legend) check out the church, have a hot drink and stroll back. We arrived to port late so the truncated our visit an hour. By this point I was feeling a bit captive so getting my feet off that ship was first priority regardless. Okay skip stroll, replace with fast walk, skip warm drink, check out church facade, skip interior. Trondheim truncated. Grrr. Better luck tomorrow at Bodo and the sea vortex, Saltstraumen. Wrong. The ship was still struggling to keep to schedule as they continued to fix the propulsion problems and we had intermittent shake downs as the ship cavitatied. Bodo excursions were canceled and the time in port scrapped. Another day trapped on the boat.

You get the picture. Our time in ports were shortened and shore excursions canceled as a result of trying to keep to schedule. The scenery was spectacular. It makes you take pause that people live in this vast and remote country. The seafaring history and ruggedness of the people here is incredible. Even navigating these extreme northern climes is amazing were the curvature of the earth distorts plotting a normal rhumb line impossible. I have every respect for our captain.

So how did I keep my sanity? The triple potion of 9-hour time difference, a large drinks package and food satiation worked to my advantage. I caught up on a lot of sleep between meals. I really appreciated our time talking to our restaurant mates as the ship wasn’t conducive to mingling much. Nor was there entertainment except a “crossing the Artic Circle” ceremony and daily briefing. Wi-Fi was great so we watched Norsemen and the Twelfth Man on Netflix. I think our best sanity saver was getting to know the wonderful staff. Tom, our server was from Trondheim and became a wonderful insight into the Norwegian mindset. Carl, our sommelier from Stockholm with a wife in Australia made us think more globally. Jose, our bartender from Malaga (whom confided toward the end of his three weeks on/three weeks off duty got a little grouchy) became my Unwitting andulsian tour guide. “Malaga!”, I said. I haven’t been to that part of Spain. I scurried to my room to retrieve my iPad. Over the course of the next few days and full review of the wine list, Jose helped me plot an Andulsian trip. I leave March 7th with my best friend. Jose, I celebrate you.
As the trip progressed, our annoyance to the canceled or shortened shore excursions became more focused on would we make it to Kirkenes at 9am in order to make our flight out at 11:45? It was a nail biter but we did make it.
Our last night was crowned by an Incredible, breathtaking, this makes it all worthwhile moment when the Northern lights put on a spectacular show for us. My husband checked a bucket list item off and I was spellbound. Am I glad I did it? Yes, even with the inconvenience of new ship bugs, it was great value for money traveling through Norway. Come to think of it, Havila Voyages is kind of like my husband when we met back in freshman year high school; Handsome, hard working, full of potential with a few quirks to work out to keep it exciting. Yeah, good value for money.

Enjoyed reading your report. You sound like a very nice couple. Norway is beautiful and a big bonus getting to see the Northern Lights! Glad you enjoyed the trip!

Thanks for coming back! Please right a report of the rest of your trip and all of your future trips! Informative and entertaining!

When I was young, I loved taking cruises. I enjoyed the excursions, but I was just as happy taking long naps and watching the beautiful scenery glide by. But now, I also get that caged animal feeling. No more cruises for awhile.

Thanks for taking the time to do a trip report. We've done two Viking cruises in Norway and wondered about the Hurtigurten experience. Appreciate your candid comments. I came across your thread again today (Valentines Day). A nice trip and an even nicer love story.