Dec 2015 Norway Northbound

[NeedsMoreSalt]

Hi all. New to the forum! I'm arriving Oslo Mon 12/21. Leaving Oslo Mon 1/4/16. The middle is wide open. Thinking I would take the train to Bergen, then catch the 7-day northbound to Kirkenes, hang out there at the snow hotel, fly back to Oslo. Anyone have some thoughts on northbound options: Wed 12/23 Trollfjord, Fri 12/25 Kong Harald, or Sat 12/26 Lofoten? Female traveling solo. When is a good time to book the cruise? Do single supplements often get waived on the winter cruises? Any advise is greatly appreciated! :)

[SarniaLo]

Two things to consider for your options : the ship, and the date.

 

All these ships are very different. MS Trollfjord is the most recent, modern, bigger also. MS Kong Harald is part of the ships built in the 1990, no-nonsense comfortable ships, slightly smaller. MS Lofoten is hugely different, built in the 1960, a very different look inside and out, with attempt to recreate a "traditional" atmosphere. Small cozy lounges, much smaller crowd, much more relaxed and friendly (with less people you tend to know passengers and staff better). She's my personal favorite but she is not stabilized so she moves around a lot, which can be an issue in winter. Both other ships offer more indoor places to hang out when you don't want to be outside. The choice of the ship will make a lot in your experience so it depends on what you are looking for.

 

Then there is the date. Hurtigruten ships celebrate Christmas and December 24th is a special moment to be on board, and the only date that will offer that is the 12/23 Trollfjord departure. The ship will stop for 24 hours on this day in a town of interest, which mean you get one extra day on board, for the same price (at least it used to be the same price). I guess for this trip it should be Alesund, which is not a bad place to spend 24 hours, you can go to the Christmas service (an interesting experience even if you are not religious) and there is a special Christmas dinner where many outside people come (for instance the crew's family). People do dress up for this dinner but it is not required of the passengers so you don't have to. There are Christmas carols and cakes and mulled wine. It's a nice atmosphere. On the minus side, the ship should be pretty full for that departure, and you should not wait to book, while I think the 12/25 departure may have very little passengers. Again, it is up to you and what kind of experience you are looking for.

 

At this time of year, it is the polar night in the North, which means the sun doesn't rise during the day. But it doesn't mean 24 hours night. You get a couple of hours of sunrise-like lights, followed by a couple of hours of sunset. If the mountains are covered in snow (it should be the case, but in some recent years the snow was really late), it gives very special lights and colors. I was on a trip with Hurtigruten for Christmas 2010 and had a great time, and I fell in love with the winter lights in the North which I found absolutely fascinating. And long nights mean more chances to see the Northern Lights.

 

You can see the pictures for this trip on my blog from here : http://voyageterremer.blogspot.fr/2010/12/bergen.html (and click "message plus récent" at the bottom of the page for the other days). The text is in French only, I'm sorry, but you can either google-translate it or just look at the pictures to give you an idea of the winter lights. I think such a trip is a wonderful way to experience Norway and its northernmost parts in winter.

[NeedsMoreSalt]

WOW SarniaLo, your photos look like postcards! Really appreciate your sharing them and the info provided. The MS Trollfjord at Christmas sounds magical. That will be my first choice based on your recommendation. I have so much more research to do for this trip and I'm sure I'll be back asking more questions. Merci Beaucoup!

[RSF Cruiser]

I'd book the cruise as soon as you know what ship you want. My daughter and I took the Midnatsol on Dec 27, 2012 for the round trip. We made our reservations pretty far in advance, so we got the early discount and there was no single supplement - we each had our own room.

 

We loved the trip - took the train from Oslo, spent the night in Bergen, then got on the Midnatsol.

[digitl]

And Midnatsol is Antarctica bound for the 2016 season.

[NeedsMoreSalt]

Hello again SarniaLo and RSF Cruiser,

I went ahead and booked northbound MS Tollfjord on 12/23. Very excited! I need to confirm if that extra day is included so I can figure out what dates we are in what ports for excursions... and what day we arrive in Kirkenes to book my land itinerary. Is the Christmas service and dinner onboard or in town? Thank You!

[NavyVeteran]

Hello again SarniaLo and RSF Cruiser,

I went ahead and booked northbound MS Tollfjord on 12/23. Very excited! I need to confirm if that extra day is included so I can figure out what dates we are in what ports for excursions... and what day we arrive in Kirkenes to book my land itinerary. Is the Christmas service and dinner onboard or in town? Thank You!

 

The Booking Invoice I received from Viking when I booked showed the exact dates on the ship as well as the dates on any transfers booked. If you booked directly with Viking, they should have sent you that invoice. If you booked with a travel agency, then the travel agent should have sent it to you.

[RSF Cruiser]

Hello again SarniaLo and RSF Cruiser,

I went ahead and booked northbound MS Tollfjord on 12/23. Very excited! I need to confirm if that extra day is included so I can figure out what dates we are in what ports for excursions... and what day we arrive in Kirkenes to book my land itinerary. Is the Christmas service and dinner onboard or in town? Thank You!

Congratulations! Hope you have a wonderful time. I went over New Years, and not Christmas, but from what I've read on the Hurtigruten web site, the Christmas dinner is held on the ship, and your extra day is on Christmas Day. I checked on their web site and you are in port for 24 hours, beginning on Christmas Eve.

[digitl]

The Booking Invoice I received from Viking when I booked showed the exact dates on the ship as well as the dates on any transfers booked. If you booked directly with Viking, they should have sent you that invoice. If you booked with a travel agency, then the travel agent should have sent it to you.

 

Viking?

[NeedsMoreSalt]

Hello NavyVeteran,

I booked directly with Hurtigruten. Yes the invoice does have the arrival in Kirkenes on the 30th. So that one was answered right under my nose. :-)

Hi RSF Cruiser,

Appreciate the info re the Christmas dinner. Looking forward to that for sure. Am getting the actual port itinerary from Hurtigruten so I can book excursions. Several of them are not available around the time I'm cruising and would hate to miss out for not having the exact info.

[NavyVeteran]

Viking?

 

Oops. I got my upcoming cruises confused. I have one on Viking in November and one on Hurtigruten in March. They same answer applies to Hurtigruten also.

[digitl]

Oops. I got my upcoming cruises confused. I have one on Viking in November and one on Hurtigruten in March.

 

Probably not a good idea to get your packing mixed up! Though it could be interesting?

[Liv4cruzin]

Two things to consider for your options : the ship, and the date.

 

.....At this time of year, it is the polar night in the North, which means the sun doesn't rise during the day. But it doesn't mean 24 hours night. You get a couple of hours of sunrise-like lights, followed by a couple of hours of sunset. If the mountains are covered in snow (it should be the case, but in some recent years the snow was really late), it gives very special lights and colors. I was on a trip with Hurtigruten for Christmas 2010 and had a great time, and I fell in love with the winter lights in the North which I found absolutely fascinating. And long nights mean more chances to see the Northern Lights......

 

Approximately what time of day would these hours of "dawn" & "dusk" occur during the winter months? Thanks

[SarniaLo]

Approximately what time of day would these hours of "dawn" & "dusk" occur during the winter months? Thanks

If you look on this website :

http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/norway/tromso?month=12&year=2015 (here for Tromso in Dec, you can find other towns/dates)

the hours where you get some daylight roughly follows the "Civil twilight" times. So for instance you can get sunrise lights beginning between 9 and 10 and sunset lights up to 2pm on Christmas day.

Of course this also depends on the weather, you need clear sky to appreciate : if the sky is overcast, you won't see much light and the day will be much darker alltogether.

 

And for NeedsMoreSalt : RSFcruiser is right, the Christmas dinner is held on the ship. You usually have the opportunity to attend the Christmas service in the town where you stop on Christmas day (do you know which one it will be?).

Edited July 17, 2015 by SarniaLo

[Liv4cruzin]

Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for.