European 3-cruise review: Hurtigruten, Viking River, HAL Med/TA

[RMLincoln]

We traveled in Europe and the Mediterranean during the fall of 2014 from Oct 15 – Dec 12, a trip comprising 3 cruises: 11nights on Hurtigruten’s Coastal Steamer, 14 nights on Viking’s Grand European Tour, and 21 nights on HAL’s Maasdam for the return half of the 42-day Atlantic Adventurer.

If the Hosts will tolerate, I will post the reviews on this thread, one at a time, as each review is lengthy; this will allow for questions and comments in between. I will post a review of each cruise using the same format; the Maasdam review will be last, as that is the experience we, on this board, have most in common.

Our itinerary involved “on-our-own” transitions and I will not include these in the reviews but I am happy to answer your specific questions about any part of our itinerary. The flow of our itinerary was this: fly overnight Boston to Iceland (to break up the long flying eastbound; 3 days/nights in Reykjavik apartment; fly to Oslo, one night stay Oslo hotel; train Oslo to Bergen across the high mountains, same-day embarkation (late afternoon embarkation, very late evening departure) on Hurtigruten Midnatsol, 11 nights R/T Bergen-Kirekenes-Bergen; disembarkation and overnight in Bergen hotel; fly to Amsterdam; 2 nights in Amsterdam hotel; embark Viking Embla for 14 night Grand European Tour Amsterdam to Budapest; fly to Rome; 4 nights in Rome apartment; Maasdam embarkation in Civitavecchia for 21 nights Mediterranean and Trans-Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale.

Stay tuned my friends and we’ll “talk” some more! m—

Edited January 4, 2015 by RMLincoln

[Mary Ellen]

Sounds like a great trip. I look forward to reading the reviews.

[PhDUnderTheSea]

How interesting and unique. Anticipating more.

 

Best-

 

Steve

[Vict0riann]

Wow! You did a lot. Looking forward to your report/s.

[Mtn2Sea]

Really looking forward to your report. Sounds like a great trip!

[sammiedawg]

Cannot wait to read the comparisons.

[Harley57]

Sounds like a great read - looking forward to it!

[PathfinderEss]

Looking forward to your review.

[Coolcruise02]

Can't wait, sounds like quite a trip!

[janmcn]

Ah…you did what we should have done. After the Viking Grand European Tour (Skadi) we felt as if we needed a REAL cruise to rest up! The "ride home" would have been a great idea (I thought of it, but we didn't have the time.) I highly recommend people do that if possible.

 

Looking forward to your reviews!

[sppunk]

This sounds amazing, can't wait to read your reviews.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Looking forward to the various reports.

[erewhon]

Maureen,

Pleased that you are doing a review of your cruises.

Looking forward to your next report.

Edited January 5, 2015 by erewhon

[RuthC]

Whew! Just the summary of your itinerary exhausts me! How did you ever find the energy to explore all the ports and enjoy yourselves. ;)

I am looking forward to reading every last word of your reports. Thanks for publishing them here.

[madera1]

I cannot wait to read of your grand trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[kazu]

Very much looking forward to hearing all about it.

 

Can't wait:D

[puppycanducruise]

Wow, that sounds great.

Looking forward to reading all about it.

Thanks for sharing.

[Jellifer]

Very excited to read more!

[Lizzie68]

Wow that's quite the trip! Looking forward to all your reports.:)

[Swice]

You have our attention!! Looking forward to this. Before I read it, I'm already wishing I had been along for the trip.

[RMLincoln]

Hurtigruten 11 night “Costal Steamer” Bergen – Kirkenes – Bergen, Oct 20 – 31, 2014.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: This is a ferry cruise along the western coast of Norway. Hurtigruten has been doing this for over a hundred years, originally as a mail route. The scenery is the entertainment; the route is point-to-point transportation for a few, and for cargo. The ship stops 5 to 7 times per day (or night), often for only 15 or 30 minutes. But the longer stops of 2 to 4 hours warrant a walk into town from the pier to visit some of the cultural sights and markets, or a shore excursion for a city tour or to less accessible highlights (North Cape, fjords) and adventures such as snow-mobiling, dog-sledding, sea-eagle viewing, etc. Depending on the season, experiences may include: Saami culture, traditional music, a snow-hotel tour or a Viking village visit for a dinner feast. This is a cruise to experience Norway through scenery, foods, history, culture and exploration. There is minimal entertainment although we did have three events of local musicians/dancers come aboard to share their traditions and culture with us. In the darker seasons there may be the thrill of the Northern Lights (we saw them several times); in summertime you will experience the Midnight Sun. We spent 6 days north of the Arctic Circle and had King Neptune ceremonies on both crossings.

SHIP: We cruised on Midnatsol, built in 2003.Most of the Hurtigruten fleet is modern and very attractive. Midnatsol has a 5-story atrium with glass elevator (plus aft elevator). It carries 30 cars and berths about 400; we were about 200-240 passengers (ship felt fairly empty) most of the time but passage may be purchased for segments of the cruise; point to point passengers may purchase food a la cart in the café or may buy meals in the dining room. Midnatsol has attractive décor, a lot of marble and granite; a very large, comfortable 2 storied panoramic front lounge for viewing the scenery; there are 2 hot tubs on the top deck and M/W saunas plus a very small fitness room. There are many lounges around the ship for reading or “webbing”. FREE WiFi internet is throughout the ship (and fast). There is one bar (beer, wine, mixed drinks) with adjacent lounges (one with piano and dance floor but we had only piped music, I assume because we were off-season); an internet/computer room, a full time program director for shore excursions and other help including the daily detailed events sheet; 24 hr. reception/front desk (they provided street/point of interest maps for every port), self-serve laundry (which we couldn’t figure out, but because we didn’t ask for help I can’t fault them - we chose to just wash a few things out in our bathroom sink); gift shop; library (with books mostly in European languages, fewer in English) and board games; topside viewing deck has lounge chairs. Passengers were mostly Norwegians, Germans and Brits; North Americans and Australians were a small minority although most passengers spoke English. All announcements were in 4 languages: Norwegian, German, English and French but we got quite used to that and it was not a problem. All staff spoke very clear English. The program director would announce over PA when Northern Lights were visible; one can choose to have these announcements come through your cabin phone or not by toggling a button on the phone. I believe there were no announcements at all after midnight, except of course for an emergency, of which we had none. There is no physician aboard but urgent needs will be arranged for in ports; muster was demonstrated before boarding.

DINING: Surprising to us, Very Good to Excellent

Hurtigruten’s dining experience is hard to judge against ocean cruising but we were very pleasantly surprised. All meals were served in the very attractive and comfortable full windowed aft main dining room. The layout has the buffet oval in the room center with the tables arranged to the outside. The breakfasts and lunches are served buffet style, open seating, open hours (breakfast usually 7-10; lunch usually 12:30- 2:30 but may be earlier for excursions).

For breakfast there are no made-to-order dishes. But there is a wide variety of food, enough to satisfy most palates and tons of it. Some selections change daily, e.g, there may be platters of eggs, or pancakes, or meatballs but always hard and soft boiled eggs. Bacon and/or sausage are usually available. Always gravlax and condiments, three kinds of herring plus other fish and caviars; cold sliced meats and sliced and whole cheeses to hunk off a chunk; sliced and whole fruits; platters of sliced vegetables; hot and cold cereals, nuts and seeds, multiple kinds of yogurt; platters of breads and spreads, pastries and crisp breads. Water and juice are obtained from dispenser machines, plus coffee, tea and luscious, rich hot chocolate.

Lunch is the meal with the most variety: soup; prepared salads and salad bar; hot and cold vegetables, always potatoes (a Norwegian staple), meat, fish and vegetarian casseroles, carved meats, cold meats, platters of cheeses, hot and cold fish and an extra-rich, big spread of desserts daily including: home-made ice creams attractively served molded and turned onto platters and decorated with piped cream and swizzles of chocolate; puddings; cakes; berries and cream; cookies and sweet sauces to pour over any or all! Coffee and tea are complimentary; bottled water is available for purchase.

Dinner has assigned time and seating (we had a lovely table for 2). We had only one seating/serving time, usually 7 pm. It is a set 3-course menu; the foods are all local and all were cooked perfectly! A vegetarian or alternative dinner can be requested at lunchtime when the dinner menus are presented (a 4-page card with pictures and descriptions of the foods, sources, traditions are set out on each luncheon tables.) Dinner mains included several fish meals: salmon, char, halibut, cod; but more meat dinners of locally raised, free-range meats: lamb, pork, beef (multiple nights) and reindeer filet, which was the best steak we’ve ever eaten! There was one dinner buffet extravaganza with tons of seafood, fewer meat selections. Bottled water for the meal is available for purchase only – they do not permit you to bring your own water bottle into dinner L. Coffee and tea are complimentary after the meal in the lounge upstairs until late into the evening. Wine purchase at dinner (or lunch) comes with a bottle of water. Wine/beer is offered (at common Norwegian bar rates – expensive to us) by the glass ($10-12 and up) or bottle ($60 and up), beers priced similar to wine. You can bring your own alcohol on board to drink only in your stateroom.

Water, wine and coffee “packages” are available for the whole cruise.

CABINS: Well laid out with en suite bathroom of shower, toilet, sink, quite similar to ocean cruise ships. Our stateroom was OV on deck 4 and had 2 perpendicular twin beds (most rooms have this configuration; suites have a queen bed): one bed was under the window and folded into a couch for day use; the other bed folded down from the wall. We had a double closet, drawers, shelves and cabinets, so plenty of storage room; a mirrored vanity/desk with chair plus a small table completed the room. We felt we had plenty of room either with the beds open or folded. The room temperature was well controlled by our in-room thermostat; the bathroom had a heated floor which we could switch on or off. The shower had a clothesline; there are dispensers of all-in-one soap/bath gel/shampoo (bring your own conditioner and lotion). Rooms were well cleaned once daily. Our deck 4 room was a bit noisy at docking times – we did get used to it; the higher decks may be less noisy. We had no TV in the room.

SHORE EXCURSIONS: There were 16 excursions offered, we took 3. They are more expensive than on our usual ocean cruises, mostly $100 - $200pp, a few less, a few more. The experiences were what I would categorize as scenic, cultural, or adventurous. The meal schedule was sometimes changed to accommodate the excursions. A few excursions left the ship in one port and rejoined it in another port. We enjoyed a fjord excursion, including a stop at a historic hotel for a light lunch of traditional soup, bread and cheese ($98pp; this was after the big lunch we’d already had onboard); the excursion to North Cape took us through scenic countryside, a stop at a Saami trading post with reindeer presented to us and the excellent North Cape center with beautiful video theater presentation, museum with excellent historical diorama and an extensive gift shop ($150pp); a midnight concert of traditional music at the Arctic Church ($74pp). All were worthwhile experiences. We also purchased a transfer to our hotel upon disembarkation for $14pp – well worth it to us to not have to find our way in the drizzle with our suitcases.

PRICING: For this off-peak-season cruise in an OV room we paid approximately $250pp per night including fees and taxes. Hurtigruten does not charge, nor encourage, any tipping, gratuity or hotel service charge; internet is complimentary. There are Inside room available and suites (which have a double bed and large bay window) but there are no balcony cabins. Bottled water is $4/half liter bottle in the dining room; a water package is about $75 for the full cruise for one bottle at each lunch and dinner. The coffee/tea package is a little less than that, about $55 for the full cruise – you get a small (~8 oz) mug to keep and refill at the bar anytime; decaf coffee is instant; coffee mugs are not allowed to be taken into dinner.

GOOD, BAD, UGLY of our experience: The experience was very good, very relaxing, very well organized, very comfortable. The time of year was bad for scenery with many drizzly or rainy days, dark early – we had 2 or 3 days with sunsets at about 2:30pm, but the up-side is that we were thrilled by the Northern Lights! The ugly for me is the ridiculous water policy: to have to pay extra for water at dinner, even when one purchases a full-board fare. One can be philosophic about it, weighing the water fee against no fees for internet or gratuities.

Stay tuned - I'm putting the finishing touches on the Viking River Cruise write-up but have to go out today. "Talk" soon :) m--

Edited January 5, 2015 by RMLincoln

[SilvertoGold]

Hurtigruten 11 night “Costal Steamer” Bergen – Kirkenes – Bergen, Oct 20 – 31, 2014.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: This is a ferry cruise along the western coast of Norway. Hurtigruten has been doing this for over a hundred years, originally as a mail route. The scenery is the entertainment; the route is point-to-point transportation for a few, and for cargo. The ship stops 5 to 7 times per day (or night), often for only 15 or 30 minutes. But the longer stops of 2 to 4 hours warrant a walk into town from the pier to visit some of the cultural sights and markets, or a shore excursion for a city tour or to less accessible highlights (North Cape, fjords) and adventures such as snow-mobiling, dog-sledding, sea-eagle viewing, etc. Depending on the season, experiences may include: Saami culture, traditional music, a snow-hotel tour or a Viking village visit for a dinner feast. This is a cruise to experience Norway through scenery, foods, history, culture and exploration. There is minimal entertainment although we did have three events of local musicians/dancers come aboard to share their traditions and culture with us. In the darker seasons there may be the thrill of the Northern Lights (we saw them several times); in summertime you will experience the Midnight Sun. We spent 6 days north of the Arctic Circle and had King Neptune ceremonies on both crossings.

SHIP: We cruised on Midnatsol, built in 2003.Most of the Hurtigruten fleet is modern and very attractive. Midnatsol has a 5-story atrium with glass elevator (plus aft elevator). It carries 30 cars and berths about 400; we were about 200-240 passengers (ship felt fairly empty) most of the time but passage may be purchased for segments of the cruise; point to point passengers may purchase food a la cart in the café or may buy meals in the dining room. Midnatsol has attractive décor, a lot of marble and granite; a very large, comfortable 2 storied panoramic front lounge for viewing the scenery; there are 2 hot tubs on the top deck and M/W saunas plus a very small fitness room. There are many lounges around the ship for reading or “webbing”. FREE WiFi internet is throughout the ship (and fast). There is one bar (beer, wine, mixed drinks) with adjacent lounges (one with piano and dance floor but we had only piped music, I assume because we were off-season); an internet/computer room, a full time program director for shore excursions and other help including the daily detailed events sheet; 24 hr. reception/front desk (they provided street/point of interest maps for every port), self-serve laundry (which we couldn’t figure out, but because we didn’t ask for help I can’t fault them - we chose to just wash a few things out in our bathroom sink); gift shop; library (with books mostly in European languages, fewer in English) and board games; topside viewing deck has lounge chairs. Passengers were mostly Norwegians, Germans and Brits; North Americans and Australians were a small minority although most passengers spoke English. All announcements were in 4 languages: Norwegian, German, English and French but we got quite used to that and it was not a problem. All staff spoke very clear English. The program director would announce over PA when Northern Lights were visible; one can choose to have these announcements come through your cabin phone or not by toggling a button on the phone. I believe there were no announcements at all after midnight, except of course for an emergency, of which we had none. There is no physician aboard but urgent needs will be arranged for in ports; muster was demonstrated before boarding.

DINING: Surprising to us, Very Good to Excellent

Hurtigruten’s dining experience is hard to judge against ocean cruising but we were very pleasantly surprised. All meals were served in the very attractive and comfortable full windowed aft main dining room. The layout has the buffet oval in the room center with the tables arranged to the outside. The breakfasts and lunches are served buffet style, open seating, open hours (breakfast usually 7-10; lunch usually 12:30- 2:30 but may be earlier for excursions).

For breakfast there are no made-to-order dishes. But there is a wide variety of food, enough to satisfy most palates and tons of it. Some selections change daily, e.g, there may be platters of eggs, or pancakes, or meatballs but always hard and soft boiled eggs. Bacon and/or sausage are usually available. Always gravlax and condiments, three kinds of herring plus other fish and caviars; cold sliced meats and sliced and whole cheeses to hunk off a chunk; sliced and whole fruits; platters of sliced vegetables; hot and cold cereals, nuts and seeds, multiple kinds of yogurt; platters of breads and spreads, pastries and crisp breads. Water and juice are obtained from dispenser machines, plus coffee, tea and luscious, rich hot chocolate.

Lunch is the meal with the most variety: soup; prepared salads and salad bar; hot and cold vegetables, always potatoes (a Norwegian staple), meat, fish and vegetarian casseroles, carved meats, cold meats, platters of cheeses, hot and cold fish and an extra-rich, big spread of desserts daily including: home-made ice creams attractively served molded and turned onto platters and decorated with piped cream and swizzles of chocolate; puddings; cakes; berries and cream; cookies and sweet sauces to pour over any or all! Coffee and tea are complimentary; bottled water is available for purchase.

Dinner has assigned time and seating (we had a lovely table for 2). We had only one seating/serving time, usually 7 pm. It is a set 3-course menu; the foods are all local and all were cooked perfectly! A vegetarian or alternative dinner can be requested at lunchtime when the dinner menus are presented (a 4-page card with pictures and descriptions of the foods, sources, traditions are set out on each luncheon tables.) Dinner mains included several fish meals: salmon, char, halibut, cod; but more meat dinners of locally raised, free-range meats: lamb, pork, beef (multiple nights) and reindeer filet, which was the best steak we’ve ever eaten! There was one dinner buffet extravaganza with tons of seafood, fewer meat selections. Bottled water for the meal is available for purchase only – they do not permit you to bring your own water bottle into dinner L. Coffee and tea are complimentary after the meal in the lounge upstairs until late into the evening. Wine purchase at dinner (or lunch) comes with a bottle of water. Wine/beer is offered (at common Norwegian bar rates – expensive to us) by the glass ($10-12 and up) or bottle ($60 and up), beers priced similar to wine. You can bring your own alcohol on board to drink only in your stateroom.

Water, wine and coffee “packages” are available for the whole cruise.

CABINS: Well laid out with en suite bathroom of shower, toilet, sink, quite similar to ocean cruise ships. Our stateroom was OV on deck 4 and had 2 perpendicular twin beds (most rooms have this configuration; suites have a queen bed): one bed was under the window and folded into a couch for day use; the other bed folded down from the wall. We had a double closet, drawers, shelves and cabinets, so plenty of storage room; a mirrored vanity/desk with chair plus a small table completed the room. We felt we had plenty of room either with the beds open or folded. The room temperature was well controlled by our in-room thermostat; the bathroom had a heated floor which we could switch on or off. The shower had a clothesline; there are dispensers of all-in-one soap/bath gel/shampoo (bring your own conditioner and lotion). Rooms were well cleaned once daily. Our deck 4 room was a bit noisy at docking times – we did get used to it; the higher decks may be less noisy. We had no TV in the room.

SHORE EXCURSIONS: There were 16 excursions offered, we took 3. They are more expensive than on our usual ocean cruises, mostly $100 - $200pp, a few less, a few more. The experiences were what I would categorize as scenic, cultural, or adventurous. The meal schedule was sometimes changed to accommodate the excursions. A few excursions left the ship in one port and rejoined it in another port. We enjoyed a fjord excursion, including a stop at a historic hotel for a light lunch of traditional soup, bread and cheese ($98pp; this was after the big lunch we’d already had onboard); the excursion to North Cape took us through scenic countryside, a stop at a Saami trading post with reindeer presented to us and the excellent North Cape center with beautiful video theater presentation, museum with excellent historical diorama and an extensive gift shop ($150pp); a midnight concert of traditional music at the Arctic Church ($74pp). All were worthwhile experiences. We also purchased a transfer to our hotel upon disembarkation for $14pp – well worth it to us to not have to find our way in the drizzle with our suitcases.

PRICING: For this off-peak-season cruise in an OV room we paid approximately $250pp per night including fees and taxes. Hurtigruten does not charge, nor encourage, any tipping, gratuity or hotel service charge; internet is complimentary. There are Inside room available and suites (which have a double bed and large bay window) but there are no balcony cabins. Bottled water is $4/half liter bottle in the dining room; a water package is about $75 for the full cruise for one bottle at each lunch and dinner. The coffee/tea package is a little less than that, about $55 for the full cruise – you get a small (~8 oz) mug to keep and refill at the bar anytime; decaf coffee is instant; coffee mugs are not allowed to be taken into dinner.

GOOD, BAD, UGLY of our experience: The experience was very good, very relaxing, very well organized, very comfortable. The time of year was bad for scenery with many drizzly or rainy days, dark early – we had 2 or 3 days with sunsets at about 2:30pm, but the up-side is that we were thrilled by the Northern Lights! The ugly for me is the ridiculous water policy: to have to pay extra for water at dinner, even when one purchases a full-board fare. One can be philosophic about it, weighing the water fee against no fees for internet or gratuities.

Stay tuned - I'm putting the finishing touches on the Viking River Cruise write-up but have to go out today. "Talk" soon :) m--

 

Fascinating!

For a "ferry'" this is quite a ship. I am amazed and impressed.

Looking forward to your next installment. Thanks!

[KirkNC]

Great start, what an interesting alternative to the traditional cruising most of us are used to.

[RuthC]

This was fascinating! Thank you for a thorough, well-written account of your Hurtigruten voyage. I have been tempted by it so many times, and you have just made me more eager to try it some day---when there is a little more daylight, though. ;)

[erewhon]

Maureen,

Thank you for such an interesting review.

Were the beds comfortable?