Northern Lights cruise

[Huskydo]

 Norway in February. It’s difficult to capture the aurora from the ship as like you say the ships lights are way to bright. 

We cruised CMV, which on the whole found to be ok,  not up there with the big boys but was ok. We did a ship excursion one night with a view to seeing the Aurora. It did show but not as dramatic as you may think. We still enjoyed it and will most definitely visit Norway again. 

 

[islandwoman]

19 hours ago, Huskydo said:

 Norway in February. It’s difficult to capture the aurora from the ship as like you say the ships lights are way to bright. 

We cruised CMV,

 

That's disappointing, but not unexpected.  It's very important information for me.  Thank you Huskydo. 

 

Those of you who sailed other lines, were your ship's lights also way too bright to get a good view of the sky?

[hallasm]

I did sail Hurtigruten in January- my pictures in post #11 and #20 are from the ship - #11 is standing in the bow while #20 is from upper deck where smoke from the chimney did disturb - but no lights

- picture below from the bow when sailing along Lofoten.

Edited June 15, 2019 by hallasm

[clo]

On 6/9/2019 at 1:35 PM, klfrodo said:

Want to see the Northern Lights?

 

1st. It has to be night time. Does it get dark at night where you are sailing to?

2nd. Has to be a clear night, cloudless, and preferably no moon. What is the history of the weather and moon phase when you are cruising?

3rd. Has there been sun flare activity strong enough to produce northern lights where you will be cruising.

4th. Willing to stay up till 3AM to experience this phenomena.

 

I've been going up to Alaska for work for 20 years around the Anchorage and Fairbanks area. I've only seen the lights 1 time.

Granted. If you get to see them in person, you'll never forget it, but the stars have to align to experience them.

 

Hurtigruten has cruises where, if you don't see them, you get a free cruise the following years.

[hallasm]

28 minutes ago, clo said:

Hurtigruten has cruises where, if you don't see them, you get a free cruise the following years

Yes, the promise does apply to a 12 day voyage - you’ll get a 6 or 7 night free voyage excluding flights and onboard spendings if Northern Lights are not observed/announced at your 12 nights voyage.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Yes, the promise does apply to a 12 day voyage - you’ll get a 6 or 7 night free voyage excluding flights and onboard spendings if Northern Lights are not observed/announced at your 12 nights voyage.

And we did see them.  And that was in March. And they'll announce when they're visible.  You do have to keep the intercom on in your cabin.

Edited June 15, 2019 by clo
add info

[hallasm]

3 minutes ago, clo said:

And that was in March.

March and October are best months for Northern Lights.

[islandwoman]

13 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Yes, the promise does apply to a 12 day voyage - you’ll get a 6 or 7 night free voyage excluding flights and onboard spendings if Northern Lights are not observed/announced at your 12 nights voyage.

 

I can't find the promise on their website, but I did see a review where it was stated that they only saw " a very dim static grey glow"  that was deemed to be the Northern Lights and they did not receive a free cruise per the guarantee.  So I'm not sure that it matters much that Hurtigruten might have discontinued that guarantee.

[islandwoman]

hallasm said: " I did sail Hurtigruten in January- my pictures in post #11 and #20 are from the ship - #11 is standing in the bow while #20 is from upper deck where smoke from the chimney did disturb - but no lights"

 

Good news.  Thanks for the information.

[hallasm]

9 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I can't find the promise on their website,

Here is the link to the promise.

- you are right - during a 12 nights voyage they will observe the Lights from the bridge for at least few minutes. 

[islandwoman]

7 hours ago, hallasm said:

Here is the link to the promise.

 

Found it.  By following your link, I also found the "Astronomy Voyage"  that didn't come up in my initial search.  It seems to be on a different site than I initially accessed.  My site only offered "Norway The Roundtrip Cruise Bergen-Kirkenes- Bergen", and the fares are in dollars.  The site I was able to access through your link gave prices in Euros.  Funny, the dollar site offers a cruise on the same ship on the same date as the Astronomy cruise, ( MS Midnatsol October 12, 2020)  but the cruise on the dollar site was not named "Astronomy" and it did not mention a northern lights promise, "lectures on board from renowned astronomers", or a visit to the Northern Lights Planetarium in Tromsø.  I wonder why.  Two different cruises on the same ship at the same time? Incomplete information on the US site?   

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, islandwoman said:

the dollar site offers a cruise on the same ship on the same date as the Astronomy cruise,

Hurtigruten information is very different from site to site - so are their prices - I have found up to 30% price differences - the .no page have the lowest prices. 

Offers does also differ which make sense - some does include flights.

1 hour ago, islandwoman said:

was not named "Astronomy" and it did not mention a northern lights promise, "lectures on board from renowned astronomers", or a visit to the Northern Lights Planetarium in Tromsø

Hurtigruten does offer free lectures at some ships - very interesting lectures about the areas the ship is passing. However I do not know if the astronomy lectures are free or you need to book a Astronomy Cruise in order to have access to those lectures. Anyway, the Ship and the Northern Lights are the same.

 

Hope @GeezerCouple or one of the other Astronomy Cruises does see your post and answer your question.

 

You can always post your questions in the Hurtigrutes Q&A forum

 

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by hallasm
spelling

[GeezerCouple]

5 hours ago, hallasm said:

Hurtigruten information is very different from site to site - so are their prices - I have found up to 30% price differences - the .no page have the lowest prices. 

Offers does also differ which make sense - some does include flights.

Hurtigruten does offer free lectures at some ships - very interesting lectures about the areas the ship is passing. However I do not know if the astronomy lectures are free or you need to book a Astronomy Cruise in order to have access to those lectures. Anyway, the Ship and the Northern Lights are the same.

 

Hope @GeezerCouple or one of the other Astronomy Cruises does see your post and answer your question.

 

You can always post your questions in the Hurtigrutes Q&A forum

 

 

 

GC here with some answers 

 

The "Astronomy Package" is on the same ship with other passengers who do not have that package.  There are several lectures (and Dr. Mason - I hope I have that name right - was one of the most enthusiastic lecturers we have EVER encountered!) and a special outing to a planetarium (also only for those with the Package).  It was a bit pricey, but we are glad we added that.  That trip was probably a "once in a lifetime" adventure.

But if the extra cost might cause you to rethink taking the cruise, then TAKE the cruise, and don't add the Package  

The ship does announce the Lights when they appear, and anyone can hear that (if you have the phone set right, and not silenced/etc.) and everyone would be on deck and see the same night sky.

 

Just don't expect "day glow" colors with the naked eye.  They may appear that way on occasion (we don't know), but they sure didn't for us.  But what we did see was absolutely fascinating, and the movement that we were fortunate to see was truly special.

 

And note that it is COLD on deck on the moving ship at night!  VERY cold!  The wind from the moving ship made it brutal for any prolonged period of time, IF one wasn't dressed right.

Take a wind-resistant (top) layer, both jacket and pants for "on deck at night".  (Ours had also worked as rain-resistant from other trips.)

 

Let us know if we can answer any other questions.  We have received *so* much help from others on CC (about Hurtigruten and much more!), so we are happy to help when we can.

GC

 

[clo]

On 6/15/2019 at 2:21 PM, islandwoman said:

 

I can't find the promise on their website, but I did see a review where it was stated that they only saw " a very dim static grey glow"  that was deemed to be the Northern Lights and they did not receive a free cruise per the guarantee.  So I'm not sure that it matters much that Hurtigruten might have discontinued that guarantee.

It was still true/valid in March '19.  Still is but it has to be the 12 day, RT.  Fantastic.

https://www.hurtigruten.com/norway-offers/northern-lights-promise/

 

[Bizmark'sMom]

When the Lights appeared on my Lindblad cruise in the Canadian Arctic, a general call went out, and they did turn the lights off on the aft deck so we could see them better.

 

This was an expedition ship with 130 passengers. I don't know how a larger cruise ship would handle that.

 

What we saw with the naked eye was light green dancing around. The photographers were able to catch magenta in the lights as well - but that was only on the photographs. Nobody saw that color while just watching.

[islandwoman]

We had just about settled on the Hurtigruten Astronomy Cruise when we discovered that they now charge a 20% non-refundable deposit.  How far in advance do we need to book in order to find availability for a cabin on the Astronomy Cruise in October 2020?  We like to plan ahead, but not at such a cost.  We're in our 70's and have grandchildren, so anything could come up in the next year and a half. But I'd hate to miss out.  The Northern Lights are at the top of my bucket list.

[clo]

58 minutes ago, Bizmark'sMom said:

When the Lights appeared on my Lindblad cruise in the Canadian Arctic, a general call went out, and they did turn the lights off on the aft deck so we could see them better.

 

This was an expedition ship with 130 passengers. I don't know how a larger cruise ship would handle that.

 

What we saw with the naked eye was light green dancing around. The photographers were able to catch magenta in the lights as well - but that was only on the photographs. Nobody saw that color while just watching.

The camera shots looked better than the naked eye.  A couple who had tried unsuccessfully to see them on a previous cruise said that people didn't turn the flash off the camera 😞

[cruisemom42]

41 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

We had just about settled on the Hurtigruten Astronomy Cruise when we discovered that they now charge a 20% non-refundable deposit.  How far in advance do we need to book in order to find availability for a cabin on the Astronomy Cruise in October 2020?  We like to plan ahead, but not at such a cost.  We're in our 70's and have grandchildren, so anything could come up in the next year and a half. But I'd hate to miss out.  The Northern Lights are at the top of my bucket list.

 

Even several years ago when I considered a Northern Lights cruise with Hurtigruten, they had a non-refundable deposit. 

 

You get around it by purchasing travel insurance.