Cabin Hints and Tips: Nordlys (and sister ships) Polar Outside?

[QShip]

Planning an up and back on the Nordlys.  We are looking at an outside Polar cabin.  Does anyone have any guidance on particular cabins to try for (or avoid)?  I expect information on her sister ships would also apply.  Port or starboard probably does not matter, since we will not be able to change at the turnover.

[SarniaLo]

Port or starboard will matter, as the ship will dock on the port side, and people find the cabins near the cargo door to be noisy (but others enjoy the chance to see the activity in port through their window when they wake up during the night).

Many people usually don't spend a lot of time in your cabin, they spend most of their time outside on deck or in one of the public lounge (mainly the panorama lounge) to fully enjoy the view on all sides.

[hallasm]

Sure - stay away from port side mid ship  -ship does also dock during night. Starboard is best choice. Best views from panorama lounge and outer decks.

Also deck 5 is the promenade deck - possible to look from outside Into cabins.

Same for Kong Harald and Richard With.

Edited January 25, 2020 by hallasm

[QShip]

Perfect, that is just the kind of information I was hoping to get.  Looking forward to more.

 

On another, but related topic, most conventional cruises have a roll call that allows passengers to get to know one another before the cruise, arrange for joint excursions, and exchange ideas and tips.  I do not see any of that in the Hurtigruden cruises.  Any idea why?  Thought I might try it once we are booked, but when I look at the roll call section Hurtigruten is not even listed.  Maybe that is why.  Think there would be any interest if I can figure out a way to do it?

Edited January 26, 2020 by QShip
new information

[hallasm]

Hurtigruten Roll Call is included in  'All Other Ocean Cruise Lines Roll Calls'. Compared to other cruise lines, Hurtigruten is very small - and only few Hurtigruten cruisers are on Cruise Critic - few have started a Roll Call - but very few or no other participants.
The ships are small and once on board it is easy to get in touch with fellow cruisers.

[QShip]

Thanks, it is good to know it can be done.  It may be that others have trouble finding it also, so it is little used.  Don't know if I will try it or not.  Still working on basic arrangements.

[hallasm]

39 minutes ago, QShip said:

Don't know if I will try it or not.

Why not give it a try?

[SarniaLo]

You can definitely start a roll call where Hallasm indicates and see. The thing is, there is a departure every day of a Hurtigruten ship, with a limited number of passenger on each ship, and few people know about CruiseCritic, so the likelihood of finding two persons that are both CruiseCritic members and on the same Hurtigruten departure is low. But it can happen! So definitely try.

 

[QShip]

I think one thing that contributes to the lack of participation is that there does not seem to be any way to run a Search function within the 'other cruise lines' category.  If one could find individual cruise lines, or, possibly ships, CC members would have an easier time finding their roll call and participation would increase.  I have tried to use the general search function, but it just goes to general overall responses, which does not help.

 

I am going to try to work with Cruise Critic to improve the search function so one can find individual cruise lines, or maybe even ships within the 'other cruise lines' catagory.  It is not particularly easy to find their technical help, but, so far so good. Will let everyone know how it goes.

 

Would not hurt to have other CC members also ask for a specific search function, or complain.  It would help all of the smaller cruise lines, not just Hurtigruten (and up CC revenues due to more participation!).

[grayjay]

I definitely agree to having a section "Hurtigruten roll calls" because it seems that interest is growing. Especially the expedition voyages might draw enough people to make a roll call worth while compared to the coastal cruises.

Unrelated, but still worth mentioning as a snippet of information, I think: The Fridjof Nansen which is the sister ship to the Roald Amundsen has been completed and certified and will start short cruises ( I think 3-5 days) out of Southampton, London and (I think) Oslo in March.

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, grayjay said:

... and will start short cruises ( I think 3-5 days) out of Southampton, London and (I think) Oslo in March.

Thank you for the update - from Hurtigruten Press Release

Departing from London (March 7), Liverpool (March 12) and Portsmouth (March 17), the exclusive 5-night pre-inaugural voyages will take guests exploring hand-picked destinations in and around the British Isles. The hybrid powered ship will visit destinations such as Isles of Scilly, Fowey, Isle of Man and Dartmouth.

A 4-night voyage (March 23) to the Norwegian capital of Oslo will take guests through the Kiel Canal and Aalborg in Denmark, from a spectacular departure point; London’s iconic Tower Bridge.

And March 28,  three nights from Oslo to Hamburg.