Hurtigruten Svalbard Circumnavigation Questions

[BORDER REIVER]

Hi, we are planning to travel with Hurtigruten to Svalbard next year or the following year and there's a few bits of information that have been hard to find. I'm sure a few of you know the answers.

1. It would be helpful if we knew the times of the inclusive flights leaving Oslo and arriving back in Oslo.

2. I cannot seem to find any information on any excursions that are an extra cost. I know these are weather and maybe ice dependent, but any possibilities would be useful.

3. We're hoping to travel in late June or July, any comments about going at that time of the year would be useful too.

 

Many Thanks .

 

B.R.

[jakkojakko]

29 minutes ago, BORDER REIVER said:

Hi, we are planning to travel with Hurtigruten to Svalbard next year or the following year and there's a few bits of information that have been hard to find. I'm sure a few of you know the answers.

1. It would be helpful if we knew the times of the inclusive flights leaving Oslo and arriving back in Oslo.

2. I cannot seem to find any information on any excursions that are an extra cost. I know these are weather and maybe ice dependent, but any possibilities would be useful.

3. We're hoping to travel in late June or July, any comments about going at that time of the year would be useful too.

 

Many Thanks .

 

B.R.

 

 

We did this in early june 2018. Flight from oslo left late in the evening, 22h30 ies. Landing Svalbard well after midnight. Shuttle to hotel provided. Hotelroom, incl breakfast, until 1100. Afternoon excursion in Longyearbyen area by big bus, with transfer to ship at 1800. All included.

After cruise ship arrives early evening, you stay on board until transfer to airport after midnight. Departure around 0230, arrival oslo around 0630.

 

All landings are included and depending on weather or bear sightings. If a bear is near the landing area an alternate site will be sought.

Only Pyramiden is for an extra fee and limited to 90 persons. If more subscribe, people will be chosen via lottery.

In early June it is possible to circumnavigate, but not guaranteed.

 

For some pictures an review of our june 2018 circumnavigation see 

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by jakkojakko

[BORDER REIVER]

Thanks JakkoJakko. that's a huge help, especially scheduling flights from the UK. I've looked at your phots a number of times and it looked fabulous.

[bobs1016]

On 11/20/2018 at 5:25 PM, BORDER REIVER said:

Hi, we are planning to travel with Hurtigruten to Svalbard next year or the following year and there's a few bits of information that have been hard to find. I'm sure a few of you know the answers.

1. It would be helpful if we knew the times of the inclusive flights leaving Oslo and arriving back in Oslo.

2. I cannot seem to find any information on any excursions that are an extra cost. I know these are weather and maybe ice dependent, but any possibilities would be useful.

3. We're hoping to travel in late June or July, any comments about going at that time of the year would be useful too.

 

Many Thanks .

 

B.R.

 

We just booked on the M.S. Spitsbergen for Aug 17, 2020.

 

Per 1...Spoke with Hurtigruten and they said flight from OSLO leaves late evening. Return flight leaves around 3 am arrives OSLO very early morning. We plan to arrive a day early and book a hotel in OSLO then explore the day we arrive from the USA and check out some museums the day we travel to Longyearbyen 

Per 2...I don't know about this trip for excursions except the one mentioned above to visit Pyramiden. On the boat they offer Kayaking, and also tours on their Polar Explorer boats (we found this worthwhile). Whenever you have a landing, weather permitting, you can take walks into areas marked out by the Explorer team which is usually about a mile long. One time on our Antarctica trip they actually did a hike which we did not do. They had snow shoeing, but am not certain they do this on this trip. One option that was available in Antarctica was a night camping on land. Warning...it was very expensive! They provide all you need, but you set up the tent. However, they were very helpful for us (not experienced with this)

Per 3...Come August you get midnight sun, but it is low on the horizon and sets August 23 for the first time in Longyearbyen.

If you check the link below and go to the part on Svalbard, there should be good information for you. 

 

https://www.hurtigruten.com/globalassets/global/practical-information/explorer-us/ms-spitsbergen/ms-spitsbergen-handbook-2018-2019-edoc-us.compressed.pdf

 

Lastly, we are doing this trip because we had such a great time on our Antarctica trip and had it recommended to us buy another couple on our trip. The crew and the Explorer team are terrific. The food was good to excellent with fresh baked bread each day. They also had an outside barbeque with steaks one night. 

 

Just for fun, I included on of the pictures (not taken by me) from our trip.

 

Bob

[peppajay]

Bob, thank you for the link. I had not seen that guide previously