Suggestions for best Norway cruise and maybe North of

Tip: You will find a lot of ratings on Cruisecritic.

Info: You excluded Hurtigruten ships but these are smaller and get into passages that are not entered by large cruise ships, e.g. Raftsund and amazing Trollfjord. You also have also the option to hop-on and hop-off - if you want to stay longer at a place.

You may want to look into Oceania Cruises. They have some cruises that go beyond the Artic Circle!

Hi JS,
We did two Viking ocean cruises to Norway. Into the Midnight Sun (July 2018) was very nice. We also did In Search of the Northern Lights (Feb 2019). We enjoyed both cruises; beautiful ships with 900 passengers (no kids), good food, great service. You might want to arrange some private excursions, especially if you are interested in ‘chasing the lights’. Both itineraries go beyond the Arctic Circle. PM me if you want any other info.

Viking is a superior cruise line if you can afford it. I would not cruise north in winter weather. Viking had to abandon ship off the coast of Norway last March due to dangerous weather.

Holland America also has cruises to fjords and northern Norway and are worth considering.

Garrison

Just a follow up comment. As noted above, we sailed in February (6-18) on the Viking Sky. We had no problems with the weather or the cold. We were prepared with boots, snow pants, parkas, long underwear, hats & gloves. We were never really cold, even at the Arctic Circle. The cruise after ours is the one that ran into the storm and lost power. However, we would not hesitate to travel to Norway again, even in the winter. If you want any chance of seeing the northern lights, that's when you need to travel. Have fun!