digitl

Pre sunrise on a cruise ship itinerary that doesn't include an overnight stay?

Interesting that some independent providers also offer a police escort. Bearing in mind the additional cost to the client, I doubt they would if it wasn't 'desirable'.

Bus or not, anyone, including those in vans, would have been back late in the torrential rain we experienced for most of the journey back to the port. The roads were awash for miles outside of the port and the entrance to the port was axle deep in water.

Anyone wanting to take the risk of getting back (too) late should bear this kind of event in mind. The ship will not wait.

Contrary to what we normally do, we took the ship's tour. And it was a good decision.

The traffic on the way back to the ship was heavy and rain was torrential in places. Despite a three car police escort with blues and twos, we were late back to the ship. Being on a ship's tour meant that the ship waited for us. Had we been on a private tour it would not have.

The vouchers for transfers through Hurtigruten are $32.00 per person. We had a problem with our vouchers and had to take a taxi instead. There was four of us plus luggage so we ordered a van. The total cost was 395 NOK or $48.34. It was cheaper and faster in the long run.

Hurtigruten's transfers, air or land, are rarely competitive on price. Their only advantage is that if things go wrong then it's Hurtigruten who have to find a solution.

Ice maps had slipped my mind, and they shouldn't have done. We had problems finding our way through ice off Greenland when the Captain couldn't get the maps. He had access to the satellite but the Norwegian Met Office didn't work weekends!

Thinking about access in the North v the South, it may be easier in the North as there are quite a few centres of population there which would require access compared with the vast uninhabited equivalent latitudes down south. Just a thought.

They only have what is available by satellite, and satellites in the polar regions are low down on the horizon so not ideally placed for access.

With bandwidth at a premium I would not be surprised to discover that ship's traffic, which would be mainly data as opposed to images and similarly large files, is prioritised over passenger traffic.

One is essential, the other is desirable!

The shuttle bus option sounds a little tight on time.

You will have to wait for your luggage and you will be leaving Bergen in late afternoon when traffic is less than easy. In addition, you will need to check in a couple of hours before you flight leaves and our experience of Bergen Airport is that it's not the fastest to get through security.

Docking at 3pm (hope it's not late!), for a flight that leaves at 7pm, leaves just four hours for all of the above. A taxi from the terminal will be more expensive but how much do you value your nerves and making the flight with them intact?

We have used it on Fram but, as others have observed, it was slooow. We found it best to use it when the rest of the ship was occupied with either eating or sleeping. That said, our emails were prepared off line and downloading was restricted to only those we deemed important.

Anyone thinking of doing anything which requires decent bandwidth is going to be disappointed, as well as being very unpopular with others when they discover who is taking all of the resources!

From memory, I believe one of those who recreated the Shackleton trip was one of the expedition team on our first Antarctic trip on Fram. He was seriously interesting!

As so often with Hurtigruten, the on board experience is from a planet very different from the one inhabited by the call centres!

Each of our crossings has been smooth but we realise that our next may be very different. If it is, it will be worth it!

As the others have said, there's very little on board by way of 'entertainment' for anyone of any age. It's all about the landscape, the ports, the journey.

You know your seven year old best and how easily they are interested or bored.

The young children we have seen have almost all been travelling relatively short distances and out of necessity as opposed to leisure.

About reaching the Falklands: a small expedition ship will be able to dock in Stanley rather than have to tender in. This makes it much more likely you will step ashore.

I don't know about Seabourne, but the expedition ships will also visit some of the smaller Falkland islands, but these do need tendering. On Fram we landed on three additional islands to see some amazing wildlife and lovely landscapes.

Antarctica is definitely on my list of much visit places. I checked out some itineraries for Poseidon and other lines and it seems like Antarctica and the Falklands requires a trip of at least 3 weeks. For those of us with limited vacation time, do you think a shorter itinerary that just goes to Antarctica from Ushuaia is worth it? I'm also curious about whether there were any kids (teens and tweens really, since I would imagine young kids would be bored) on-board.

Hurtigruten's Fram does an Ushuaia - Falklands - South Georgia - Antarctica -Ushuaia trip that is absolutely excellent. All three destinations are very different from each other and well worth the time and expense of getting there. If you expect to make it to Antarctica just the once, then this is the itinerary to aim for. But a lot of us thought it would be just the one trip, and got it wrong!

We have never come across many youngsters on any of our trips, but those we have seen seemed to be involved. You are probably best placed to know how your child(ren) would react.

I am planning on it being rough and then if it isn't I can be pleasantly surprised. Besides, with enough champagne I might not even notice if it is rocking and rolling [emoji57].

That's the way we have treated it each time we have crossed, and have always been pleasantly surprised.

Except for the champagne! The camera would be unsteady enough without alcohol increasing the sway. Nice idea though!

I certainly didn't describe your photo as 'aberrational', but wanted to offer some reassurance for the concerned/worried that the Drake is not always rough. Just adding some balance...

When ship is in port for only 30 mins, what do passengers do? Hang out on the decks and watch loading/unloading of cargo.

Just that! Or take a 14 minute walk away from the ship and then the 14 minute walk back, allowing two minutes for contingencies...

I would have been very disappointed if we'd had the Drake Lake. :p (My wife, patch and all, agrees. :))

You may have been disappointed, but for a significant number of potential travellers to Antarctica, a rough Drake is quite off-putting. The reassurance that it is not always rough is important.

For those of a nervous disposition, and who are concerned about the image above, every time we have crossed the Drake it has been flat calm...

450 on board is far too many!

We have travelled on Hurtigruten's Fram four times to date (a fifth to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica later this year) and, though her capacity may be 250, there has always been far fewer on board than that.

We find her to be an excellent compromise on cost, comfort and size and, most importantly, she offers some itineraries that suit our needs.

If you have the time and cash available, go for Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falklands.

A guide to Norway like Lonely Planet or Rough Guide will provide you with a good overview of what might be of interest in each of the ports (and beyond). Once you have a list, then just wander around the port and see just how far down the list you can get. Take the guide with you to remind yourself of salient points.

For smaller ports, where we might only be docked fort 30 or 40 minutes, we simply wandered around and saw what we saw.

It's all very casual!

My concerns revolve around the observations I quoted from SarniaLo: size and space outside on deck.

In my opinion: expedition ships need to be relatively small and manoeuvrable, and to have plenty of all-round unobstructed views from the deck(s) outside. Even 'plexiglass/glass' is unwelcome.

Ice hardening would be a given in an expedition ship.

They look rather big and with little outside space.

...and not 'proper' expedition ships!

Thanks digitl. That is kind of what I expected. I think the novelty of going to the "Russian" border is what interested me. I probably will never get the chance to see it again.

Take a trip to Alaska? As Mrs Palin said, 'We can see Russia from here'!

Did you happen to take the excursion to the Russian border?

We took this excursion when we were on Midnatsol and we enjoyed it.

You get to see some of the landscape/countryside and towns on the way and you get to understand something of what life is like in that part of the world. However, the border its self isn't particularly exciting: it's a border! Perhaps the few basic refreshment and souvenir outlets might be the highlight there...

A repeat of a near seven year old review and not even Fram...?