RMLincoln

Yes, the engines are multiple decks below deck A but the engines are felt in many places in the ship. You will see the flowers vibrating outside the front desk in the atrium. You will see things vibrate in the Main Dining Room at times.

At the location you gave, some noise will be intermittent, especially thrusters mostly occurring while docking which is usually in the morning, and leaving port usually in the afternoon or evening, but thruster noise is very short lived. The vibration will be more when the ship is moving, less when it's in port (because the engines still run to produce power) but could be low key pretty much always. Vibration will be worse when the ship is moving near its max speed.

It's a ship and it has noisy jobs to do. Up higher may be less mechanical noise but there may be noise from decks above for example Main deck outsides may have noise from walkers above them. Lower Promenade has noise from water hoses washing down the outside deck in the early morning. If you are under the galley you will have noise from carts rolling overhead. Last cruise on Maasdam we were forward on Lower Promenade deck and had noise form the show lounge but that would end by 11pm. Plus the noise of the anchor going out or being taken in.

I was in Maasdam 784 for 35 nights and had occasional but annoying noise from a hoist that was located under us, usually at about 6am for about 5-10 minutes. But I was in 792, on my first HAL cruise, just 2 doors down, and didn't have any noise.

So I always bring ear plugs and accept the benefits of wherever my room is located, because each location has pros and cons. If the aft rooms will not suite you then try for something different now, but factor in the new pros and cons of each location. m--

I've reread this terrific series of reviews and my congrats to RMLincoln for a great comparison. I posted upthread about our Viking cruise last June. Viking is bombarding us with expensive glossy mailings, almost on a daily basis. We don't have anything else booked with them and the offers, brochures, weekly "account statements" keep coming!

Thank you for taking the time to read the long reviews and for your kind words. We too have been buried in Viking mailings but it's unlikely we'll be booking anything with them this year, we are making other plans. I have great memories of each of these cruises, each being so very different, so I'm glad we got to do them.

My take-away lesson in retrospect is that different is good! And as I have often stated on these boards, "It's hard to have a bad day on a cruise ship." And I'm learning that that goes for any type of cruise or ship!

m--

Great review of the Hurtigruten cruise. I have booked for Mar 2, 2016 on this same ship. Really looking forward to it. I booked a obstructed view cabin on deck seven. Just wanted a little natural light, and to be a bit higher up. One question about water... Do they serve tap water? What is the cost for a soda? Is there a package that would cover water and soda? Im not much for wine and beer...

Bobbi.

btw, they've sent me a list of shore excursions. in both us dollars and euro. With the stronger dollar, it seems more sensible to pay in euro, and the us dollar prices are significantly higher... if you booked on board, were you able to get the tours you wanted, and did they charge you in euro?

Hello bss! Congratulations on your booking. Deck 7 sounds good, higher and further away from the cargo happenings, so may be quieter.

The water issue is a sore spot...there is a thread and some discussion on the hurtigruten forum, plus lots of other information there that I think you would benefit from.

At breakfast there is a self-serve juice machine which has a lever for water, so you can get water at breakfast - we usually got one glass of juice and one glass of water each.. plus the wonderful hot chocolate!! There is no juice machine at lunch but we went to the coffee/tea station and got cups of tea-water (hot). At dinner there is no way to get water without buying it unless you buy one bottle early on and sneak in and out of the dining room, refilling it each day. 25nok for a half liter bottle. So when we went that was about $4. They have a water plan for about $75 (for the 11 night cruise) which will provide you a half liter bottle of water at both lunch and dinner - I think the plan gets a discount equal to 3 free bottles.

I do not recall about a soda plan but I know they have a coffee/tea plan and a wine plan. You can bring sodas on board and drink them "in your cabin" but if you have an opaque cup who would know? The signs around the ship say absolutely no personal alcoholic beverages to be consumed in public rooms.

We purchased shore excursions on board, in noks, not euros. They were charged to our ship card; our credit card company converted to noks at a good rate plus our 1% foreign transaction fee, but still good, usually much better than "in house" conversion rates. The tours were easily available but our ship was no where near full, only about 200 - 250 people. It was late October, so shoulder season.

I read on the Hurtigruten forum that you could get ice at the cafeteria but I never tried; otherwise we didn't see ice, no ice buckets in the rooms, no ice machine down the hall.

Happy planning, m--

Oh Whogo, wish you could stay on the cruise and keep telling us of your insights, which are refreshingly natural. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Will miss you. Wishing you and Mrs. Whogo safe home and all well there. m--

Have done 2 T/As, one on Ruby Princess, one on Maasdam. Both were good, both westbound.

T/As are not boring... there is plenty to do onboard, too much if you're not careful to take the time to really enjoy the journey.

Not being in the suites budget, I always factor into my planning the fact that most Princess ships do not have a couch in the room until you get to suites level. So I like the HAL OV rooms for their couches, and even HAL ships have couches in some Insides. We do very few balconies but love to sit on the promenade deck in the padded lounge chairs. Ruby Princess had a very narrow promenade deck with only chairs, not wide enough for lounge chairs.

If you are looking for 1-way air and not a return cruise, do look at HAL air but also take a look at Iceland Air and Air Lingus who usually have good one-way fares although you will fly through Iceland or Ireland respectively. In addition to the usual type of plane change connection, Iceland Air allows up to a 7-day stopover for no additional air fare... but of course you will spend money seeing Iceland :) which is a fascinating place and a growing tourist market.

Have fun planning. m--

I'm sorry you have had problems with your booking and cabins. I hope you can move beyond it and enjoy your cruise. Maybe you can get it rectified before you sail but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Next time you will know to request "no upgrade".

We had the privilege to be your very beautiful part of the world last fall. Loved it. m--

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for your report. m--

There's no couch, but there are two chairs.

Thank you! m--

Considering a TA Crossing this fall on QM2. I like to have a couch in my room; regardless of whether or not there is a window, it is the couch that makes the room more comfortable for me. I see that the Inside cabins do not have a couch, at least not on QM2. Would an atrium window room have a couch? If not are there 2 chairs? Thanks for the help. m--

Thank you so much for the info. Copied, saved and filed! This sounds like what I want to have. We too accept the risk of losing what we plan to spend anyway, but not so for what could be way more in emergency costs. And I hope none of us ever need it! m--

.....

I never pay for cancellation coverage but always purchase medical and evacuation coverage when traveling out of the country. The premiums are quite reasonable when not including the cost of the trip.

I'm more interested in medical and especially evacuation coverage than for cancellation etc. Where do you find this more limited type of coverage?

For many years we have relied on our retiree medical programs which still cover 80% out of country urgent or emergency care (as out-of-network) and we've backed that up with an annual plan for medical evacuation coverage and other travel assistance through the Good Sam program. But I'd really like to have an integrated plan.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer. m--

I want to put in a bid for the local folk shows that are sometimes brought on board when there is a late sailing, or if not a late sailing maybe presented as a matinee performance. Love the cultural addition. m--

I love the singers and dancers cast shows. I often see here that folks don't like them much but I notice that these shows are always full or overfull. The Showroom at Sea format has better singers - a good move forward - and fewer dancers, oh well, I miss the dancers.

I've sat through quite a few shows of hypnotists, ventriloquists, magicians and jugglers and say that they do better than I can. But the last few years I've been leaving mid-show more often.

Comedians are a big draw if they get the demographic of their audience right and don't demean the passengers. I won't sit through a show if the paid entertainer belittles the passengers who are paying for them. I don't find it funny one bit.

I miss the string quartet and am reading that Cunard and Oceania still have them. Hmmm.

I thought there was live music in all the bars. I guess I only go to lounges that have live music.

I try to make it to as many lecturer presentations as possible and find them usually quite enlightening but not so very well attended. But maybe that's not the type of entertainment this thread is about. Same with the Digital Workshops... which prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Thanks for asking. m--

I am been thinking about a Norwegian coastal cruise for some time. Having been on numerous mainstream cruises, and not really into all the hype and dressing up anymore, I decided to go with Hurtigruten. I have several questions I'm hoping to get some advice on.

Primarily, Im debating between the midnight sun and the northern lights. Traveling as a solo, the summer cruises are very expensive for me, not that the winter is cheap...lol. But Im wondering if there is a consensus as to which is more enjoyable. I am leaning to the northern lights, as I've never seen them before. I'm looking at a early march sailing of the Finnmarken and Im trying to time it with a new moon is Tromso, which I believe is 5 days into the cruise.

So what should I expect? Will the ship be full?

 

We did the 11 day trip in late October and it was not full, only 200 - 250 passengers on Midnatsol so we had good service in the dining room and the lounges felt roomy. Also I think the prices were not a high as either summer or winter.

 

Are people friendly? Ive heard very few europeans sail the winter months. Is that true?

 

We had mostly Europeans, very friendly, and group of US and UK astronomers, many of whom were solo cruisers. Most folks spoke English. All the crew spoke English. all the announcements were in 4 languages: Norwegian, English, German and French (not on every sailing but I guess we had quite a few French on board.) It was not hard to follow and we enjoyed talking with many folks during our cruise.

 

Are the excursions worthwhile in the winter since its so cold... Do you wait to purchase them on board? Does any one have any favorites?

 

We purchased 3 excursions on board as we awaiting our rooms being ready: A fjord tour (the classic fjords were not visited on this trip but we had a very nice excursion on day 2 called Taste of Norway - I enjoyed it very much); North Cape: highly recommend this in any season; and the Midnight Concert, which was nice but not one I'd repeat.

 

Or should I just go for it and book the midnight sun. Should I wait to book for March 16... or best wait for a sale. And is there any advantage going thru a travel agent such as crusie norway....

 

We seemed to get a small discount through our on-line TA but not really sure.

 

I know thats a lot of questions, but all advise is welcome.

(i think Ive made my mind up to go for the northern lights..is march a good month, or should i go earlier....)

 

We saw very good Northern Lights 3 or 4 nights. Thrilling!! But the trade-off is that we had a lot of darkness and missed a lot of good scenery. Can't have everything.

 

One more question, I saw on their site that have a coffee mug with all the coffee you can drink for $70. Is that worth it?

We did not buy the coffee deal. We had complimentary coffee at breakfast, lunch and after dinner in the upstairs lounge. IIRC hot chocolate was not available with the coffee mug deal. We did have excellent, rich hot chocolate at breakfasts. Wonderful.

You can read some of my comments from when we were on board on the "Enjoying Midnatsol" thread, just scroll down a bit.

m--

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Guests should not be relegated because of a large group... the group should have to make adjustments. And most certainly after other guests have had their dining choices confirmed.

Is this special treatment of very large groups, to the detriment of previously booked guest, a new and recent way with HAL? It's not a good business practice for retention of past passengers. But my guess is that large groups bring in bigger revenue.... why else would HAL do it? m--

My friends, who booked months ago, were in Neptune Suite and they were not seated where they requested and had been confirmed. It did not work out fine for all. My friends rolled with it, were satisfied with their table and dining staff but it was not what they wanted or were confirmed.

[my emphasis above m--]

 

 

:confused: Perhaps you didn't see my posts right above yours?

 

Sorry Sail,

Perhaps I mistook your comments, that your friends were satisfied though the arrangements were not what had been confirmed, as that they had been accommodated. And it seems that the OP was accommodated to their satisfaction. This all seems good, better than anticipated after the forewarning email. I was wondering if there were some guests who could not be accommodated to their satisfaction.

I sincerely hope that your plans for your next cruise do not have these types of complications. m--

The Elemis lotion is still in a small bottle in your cabin bathroom. They still provide a small bar of white soap; the yellow citrus glycerin bar of soap is no longer in the rooms (may be available by request from room steward?). I think you can pick up small bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the spa shower - ask for confirmation on that if it is important to you.

Yes, hairdryers are still provided. m--

Amen Ruth C. I go on vacation to get away from technology. I spend all day at work on a computer and don't want to see one when I am on vacation.

I see your point. So, for those who don't want to use in-room access, it is still available to you to get your account updates at the front desk, sign up for shore excursions at the shore excursion desk, call room service from your room phone etc.

And the front desk lines and shore excursion lines will likely be shorter because others choose to do some of these things from their rooms. :)

I think it's a win-win. m--

Happy to report that my friend made it to Boston Logan form Bristol RI yesterday afternoon with no issues. Her plane was there (from Reykjavik) and left as scheduled back to Iceland staking them on a Northern Lights tour. I wish the passengers for the 7700 cancelled flights found a way to deal with it. Ouch.

I know there is still a mess in a lot of New England. Please be careful, especially of slips and falls, the number one reason people are hospitalized!

Tomorrow is our turn! predicting 6-12" not like your 2 feet but we'll take it! :) m--

Always make sure your watch is on "ship time" because in some places it may be different than the time in the port, yikes. Don't feel silly asking the security officer who scans your card as you leave the ship.

Have a fabulous first cruise. m--

Thanks so much for letting us know. Sounds like you made out ok with the arrangements but I wonder if there were some who were not accommodated. m--

Thanks for the news.

I will miss the HAL Cats' music in the show lounge playing with the various performers.... not so much at the Lido pool. They've been cut down to only 4 or 5 musicians recently but they were with us on Maasdam in December and I was glad of it.

We also had the Neptunes in the Ocean Bar and the Adagio Duo in Explorer's Lounge. Music is one of the big reasons we enjoyed our first cruise so very much and kept coming back. We'll see what the future brings. m--

The day before the day before departure....

We get up, have breakfast and then drain all the water lines in the house, leaving 2 5-gallon buckets of water for last toilet flushes. We hope there isn't too much snow on our 4 mile dirt road down the mountain to the pavement to give us issues.

In the afternoon we drive 90 minutes to a motel near the Albuquerque airport, check in and have supper and try to get an early sleep.

We often take an early morning flight out so may have to get to the airport at 4:30am or 5am for a 6 or 6:30 flight through (hopefully) Houston or Dallas, which are only a 2 or 2 1/2 hour flight, but could be Tampa which is more like 3 1/2 hours. Layover could be anything from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Once the Houston stop-over was delayed with a flat tire on our plane! so we weren't sure if we'd make it to Tampa in time for the connection. Thought about driving a rental car from Tampa to Ft Lauderdale, ugh.

Upon arrival in FLL we call for an airport shuttle pickup to the motel for a night to just breathe and be glad we made it! The next day will be much easier!

Albuquerque isn't a hub for any airline so we always have to connect somewhere. Flying eastbound always takes all day. Flying home is "quicker" but we stay the night in an airport motel anyway so that we can drive up to the house in the daylight because we have to heat the house up then get the water system going again. Better not to attempt it "cold, dark and hungry" after a long day of travel. Last trip (we came home in December) and good thing we came up in the daytime - we had a door lock jam, the door to the basement that we had to get into to open the valves for the water system. Had to do some creative breaking and entering. Never a dull moment living in the mountains! m--

More outlets! I need more outlets to charge my devices.... especially when there a family in the cabin.

On the Viking ship we were on (built in 2012) we had 2 outlets in each nightstand and a small pull-out shelf to rest the devices on while they charged. Nice. And we had two outlets on each side of the long vanity shelf. Plus the usual shaver outlet in the bathroom. We didn't need to have power strips, no extra cords, no worry about fire hazards. Nice. If someone needed to plug in a CPAP unit they didn't have to crawl under the bed. Nice.

m--

I certainly understand that people walking around on cell phones or talking on cell phones in the MDR is not conducive to a relaxing vacation.

But last year we crossed the Pacific on HAL, paid for an internet package, had no internet for several days... they said it was because we were near the equator. Now I read on the boards that the World Cruisers are having difficulties because the ship stack is blocking the signal.... Last year when we returned across the Pacific on Princess we never lost internet and it was fast enough to load the banking pages we needed to pay our bills.

When cruisers are gone for long periods they need decent internet to take care of essential needs away from home. The idea that a HAL ship used for a world cruise to only have one receiver, one that gets blocked by the stack, is unacceptable to me in this day and age.

We don't own a smart phone, we live in a mountainous place that doesn't have cell phone signal but we do use internet to pay bills when we are away. And it's pretty frustrating that we pay HALs prices for the service but we can't rely on HAL to provide the basics when I know other cruise lines can and do, sometimes even for free. m--