Norwegian Coastal Solo

[Splinter]

So I have taken the plunged and booked a solo cruise on the Hurtigruten MS Trollfjord RT Bergen for May 16-27, 2015. I am so excited and looking forward to this long-anticipated trip.

 

I have never been able to find a discounted price for this trip, so am going ahead and booking an inside cabin for $4,475 (gasp!), which is the single price through the cruise line's website. So-called "free" single supplement price for this same route (different ship) through Vantage was $6834.

 

I plan to book my own airfare (probably on Norwegian Air) to Oslo and take the train there and back. I have reviewed previous threads on this, but any advice anyone can offer is appreciated.

 

There is no roll-call yet (and none for Hurtigruten specifically), so I started one. Hope I will be able to connect with some other cruises, solo or otherwise, prior to the actual trip.

 

Have not yet booked any excursions. Interested in those that previous passengers have felt were the best or not-to-be-missed; mostly just plan to visit the port areas for most of the stops, and enjoy the scenery.

[Splinter]

Well, I am just home from my trip and had a great time! I did take Norwegian Air RT from LAX to Oslo (great price booked 6 months ahead), and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the service on this airline. I booked AirBnB in Oslo, then took the train from Oslo to Bergen (Komfort class) the next day. Spent one night at a hotel in Bergen (booked on-line for a very good rate).

 

The Trollfjord is one of the newer Hurtigruten ships. I got room 439, which is an inside on the same deck as the reception and port gangway, which worked out well. Port side rooms are noisier as that side of the ship is always dock-side. The cabin was spacious, and I did not miss having a window as I spent so little time in my cabin. A plus was not having to deal with the 24/7 sunlight during the Arctic spring.

 

Most passengers on this route book only one-way (either north or south) instead of round trip. Going north I was assigned to a second seating table with a couple from the USA, and a couple from Canada traveling with the husband's sister. We all hit it off and had a great time. As with most cruise lines, breakfast and lunch are open seating and I nearly always found someone to sit with and talk to. Most Norwegians speak excellent English, and there were a good number of Americans, people from the UK, Canadians and Australians on board too. Going south my northbound tablemates all disembarked in Kirkenes, so my table had two new couples assigned there. Unfortunately they were all German, and did not speak any English at all (and I have no German). I talked immediately to the dining room manager, and was reassigned to a table with a lovely couple from Australia the next night and for the remainder of the trip. While they do have a specialty restaurant on this ship, I never did eat there. The food in the dining room was excellent. Keep in mind that dinner is a set 3 course menu (no choices) but I thought it was very good, and many times locally-sourced (shrimp, cod, salmon, reindeer, local cheeses, local sausages or ham, etc.).

 

This route and time of year most passengers are middle aged or older (I am 63), although we did have a few young families. I only ran into two other solo cruisers on this ship. I booked a few ships tours, and also just walked around the port area in some of the smaller ports.

 

Upon returning to Bergen I spent another night in an AirBnB with an excellent host...we talked for hours. I then took the train back to Oslo, with a short side-trip to Flam (no time to do the whole "Norway in a Nutshell" trip, but it worked well for me), and met other people to talk to on the train (again, Komfort class). In Oslo I stayed as the same AirBnB (near the train station) as my first night, for 3 more nights. Hotels are expensive in Norway, and I feel safer in an AirBnB with the plus of picking them based on reviews of the host's friendliness and helpfulness. Since the HOHO bus in Oslo gets such bad on-line reviews, I opted instead to purchase a 48 hour OSLO PASS, which gives you entrance to all the museums, free public transportation (bus, trolley, and ferry), and a few restaurant discounts. I thought it was a good deal. One evening I met an on-line friend and we went out to dinner and shared an evening at her apartment visiting, and was able to get there on public transportation with no problems. This website was a great resource for trip planning, and I did a lot of on-line research as well as taking some Rick Steves' books along.

 

Overall, I think my first solo cruise was a huge success. People were amazed that I was "brave" enough to travel alone like this, esp. as a solo woman, but I felt safe the entire trip, was able to check this trip (to the place of my grandfather's birth) off my bucket list, and had a great time.

[bottomfeeder]

Thanks for posting your experience--it sounds wonderful! Someday I hope to do one of these trips--though I'm awfully cheap in general, maybe I can justify it to myself to celebrate a milestone birthday.

 

I know the cruise itself was expensive but how were the cruise line excursions compared to those on your previous cruises with other lines? Did you feel they were a good value?

 

What memories you have made! :)

[Truluv]

Interesting review - and I also found it inspirational! (I have a trip to Greece on my bucket list. Almost 63, so I think I'm going to start saving for it now. I'll take the trip when I retire and will have the 10 days or so to really savor the experience.) Sounds like you did a lot of research ahead of time, which clearly paid off for your trip.

[TessM]

Thank you for sharing your cruise. It's always nice to hear the follow up. It sounds like an enchanting trip that ended up being perfect for you.

 

Those cruises are expensive but someday I'll splurge. But it was all inclusive though correct? So no huge bill at the end of the cruisem

[Splinter]

Thank you for sharing your cruise. It's always nice to hear the follow up. It sounds like an enchanting trip that ended up being perfect for you.

 

Those cruises are expensive but someday I'll splurge. But it was all inclusive though correct? So no huge bill at the end of the cruisem

 

Yes, although as with most cruises, you can run up quite a bill by the end if you order a lot of alcohol and take a lot of ship sponsored shore excursions. One thing to keep in mind on Hurtigruten is that they do not provide free water at meals. There is coffee and tea at breakfast and lunch, but not water. You can purchase bottled water. I purchased the tea/coffee package too so I could get coffee and tea any time I wanted it. No decaf though.