HAL Norway coast versus Hurtrigruten

[Sallyandtex]

Hi there, 

Has anyone done both and can give a summary of pros and cons?

Price wise the HAL is much better and am fond of cruise amenitites and activities. 

Thanks

[hallasm]

Difficult to compare - A cruise line with few longer ports stops versus a coastal service with 35 ports , most very short and few a bit longer stops from Bergen to Kirkenes.

While the Hurtigruten itinerary is the same everyday around the year with small and not that luxurious ships ( total of 11 very different ships) the answer will also depend on the actual HAL Itinerary. 

HAL does offer much more cruise ship luxury as well as entertainment.

I have never sailed HAL but an 8 days RCCL Norwegian Fjords as well as Hurtigruten.

I did chose Hurtigruten primarily for the Midnight Sun and the scenery along the route during Summer and Northern Lights during winter while I did choose the RCCL cruise because of the Itinerary and the ‘cruise line luxury’.

The food at Hurtigruten is good - buffet for breakfast and lunch while a set menu for  dinner - food is traditional Norwegian food - each day from the area the ship is passing - primarily fish and lamb - fresh fish and meat loaded in the port the same day as served in the restaurant. 

 

 

[kaisatsu]

These are such different trips, it's really not possible to compare them.

 

The first year we planned to do the Hurtigruten trip, I found that we could do a 2-week cruise on the QE2 that went all the way up to Svalbard and back for less than 6 days on the Hurtigruten. Since we were interested in exploring the towns, having a full day in each was a big selling point for us. Visiting Svalbard and getting to sail on the last season of the QE2 were major bonuses.

 

This spring we're finally doing the Hurtigruten trip with some family, but we're anticipating a very different experience. We're not really looking for much city sightseeing or onboard entertainment and expect to spend the week sitting back and watching the scenery.

 

Pros of a traditional cruise:

- Full days in port allow more sightseeing and longer independent excursions

- Formal dining (if you're not into the buffet)

- Fancier ships

- On-board entertainment

- Usually cheaper

 

Pros of the Hurtigruten:

- Scenic cruising all day every day

- Daily departures and flexible scheduling

- Fewer passengers in port

- It's generally the only 1-week cruise that makes it all the way to the Arctic and North Cape

[Sallyandtex]

Thankyou for the info.

I was looking at either this one to North Cape,  or the next picture .

So, is there nothing to see from the more traditional cruise ships between ports

Cruises I have been on the New Zealand, Alaska and Pacific, they generally travel at night and during the day there are lots of scenery when "scenic cruising " . Or if travelling in daylight, other interestng wildlife and birds to spot.

Will also check out RC.

I am hoping to have a longer time on land before or after cruising too that would be possible in saving money by going with a bigger ship.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Sallyandtex
Cut

[Sallyandtex]

Couldnt seem to attach second one but it goes across to Iceland too

[kaisatsu]

One of the big disadvantages of that HAL cruise specifically is the time wasted sailing back to Amsterdam in the middle. It's also a lot of sea days to get up to Honnigsvåg and back, skipping all the other northern Norwegian ports (especially Tromsø and Lofoten). And since it's essentially two back-to-back cruises, you end up visiting Sognefjord twice (at Flåm and Skjolden), which could be nice if the weather is better on one visit than the other, but seems kind of silly compared to visiting a different fjord altogether.

 

In terms of scenic cruising, traditional ships will have nice scenery while sailing into and out of several of the ports. Sailing two and from the fjord ports is especially pretty. If you look up the port locations on Google Maps, etc you can see how far inland each one is, which will give you an idea of how long the scenic cruising lasts. However, at night and on sea days, you'll be in international waters with no land in sight. The Hurtigruten pretty much never leaves the coast, so it's pretty much 24-hour scenic cruising (limited only by daylight, which can be 24 hours in the northern summer).

 

It sounds like you may be better served by a traditional cruise, especially if you have plenty of time. However, I'd encourage you to look at some other itineraries instead of that one, and consider other cruiselines for more options.

[hallasm]

3 hours ago, Sallyandtex said:

they generally travel at night and during the day there are lots of scenery when "scenic cruising "

Remember you'll have long days - actually Midnight Sun - so not dark at all during night.

I have attached two videos - on is the sceneries as you will see them from a cruise ship  - both early mornings and late evenings - the other is Hurtigruten midnight sun.

 

Norwegian Fjord sceneries from a cruise ship

 

Hurtigruten - Midnight Sun - most of the video is at midnight.

 

[Sallyandtex]

Thanks again, i will look at other cruises that include more ports on the way to the Noth Cape. If i can't find any perhaps back to my original Hurtigruten ideas.

Cheers

[bluesea777]

We have been on two Hurtigruten cruises: once full round trip from Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen in July 2003, and again full round trip from Kirkenes-Bergen-Kirkenes in Dec 2004/Jan 2005 (Xmas and New Year). Both were on Finnmarken. 11 nights.

 

Both were great and the two cruises were different experiences.

 

Each way, during day we stopped in ports that we stopped at night on the other way. So we were able to see all the ports during our waking hours. The food/meals were absolutely up our alley and we loved it. During summer you have two dinner seating times so you need to decide which at time of booking. In winter there were fewer people travelling so there was one dinner seating for all.

 

Dinner consisted of 3 courses: alternate soup/appetizer, alternate meat/fish, and dessert. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style - really good. The fresh baked breads were so addictive.

 

We experienced 24 hour sun in the summer and no sun in the winter. It did not get really dark - we had a few hours of noon-time twilight each day when we were above the Arctic Circle, and it was so beautiful. And guess what? We had 24 hour moon!!

 

Mother Nature was the entertainment during the summer time, but they do bring some musicians on board for the winter cruises. In summer the port stops were between 15 mins and 4 hours. It was so pretty to see the short stops from the ship and watch the off-loading and on-loading of the passengers and goods. Hurtigruten is working cargo ships that take passengers.

 

As for excursions, Hurtigruten do offer a few hours long trips - you take off from one port and re-join the ship at another port a few hours later!

 

One memorable time was the ship stopped in Skjervoy for several hours on 31 Dec so we could witness from the ship the midnight New Year fireworks lit off by the local residents throughout the town. Beautiful, many of us were up on the deck cheering!

 

Now that we have been on 2 Hurtigruten cruises, I don't thing we'll go Norway on a cruise ship with 2-3000 other pax with less ports.

 

A 3rd Hurtigruten cruise is still on our bucket list!