Any news on the Trollfjord?

[Gretchendz]

It was supposed to  be refurbished at start the new Svalbard Express sailings. Has anyone heard anything?

[grayjay]

I have just read the ship is out of drydock (don't know, though, what has been done) and ready to start on the new route (Svalbard Express).

[john the pick]

I was on the first cruise after the dry dock.  The crew told me that it actually was a wet dock.  They got al new bedding, tvs in the cabins and they refurbished the dining rooms. We had a men's and women's sauna but no hot tub.  I heard that a hot tub was removed as part of the refurbishment.  The cruise stopped at some interesting smaller portts including Longyearbyen and NY Alsund.  Our cabin had a phone but we we could not get it to work.  TV seemed not completely ready for primetime but I think they were working on it.  The crew was friendly and eager to please.   We would go again

[jonikal]

6 hours ago, john the pick said:

I was on the first cruise after the dry dock.  The crew told me that it actually was a wet dock.  They got al new bedding, tvs in the cabins and they refurbished the dining rooms. We had a men's and women's sauna but no hot tub.  I heard that a hot tub was removed as part of the refurbishment.  The cruise stopped at some interesting smaller portts including Longyearbyen and NY Alsund.  Our cabin had a phone but we we could not get it to work.  TV seemed not completely ready for primetime but I think they were working on it.  The crew was friendly and eager to please.   We would go again

 

Your description brought back some vivid memories of the inaugural voyage in June, 2016 onboard the Spitsbergen. Much of the ship's foibles sound very familiar.

Our cabin, despite our apparently being the first paying guests in this particular mini-suite, smelled very strongly of stale cigarette smoke.  We are not sure whether it was somehow connected to an area via duct work to a part of the ship where smoking is permitted, but it was very noticeable and unpleasant.  We were informed that a contractor working on the ship had been staying in that room while it was being refurbished. 

 

The TV had not been set up to work and there was no remote control.  A technician did come by after 5 or 6 days and set it up and it worked fine for the rest of our voyage.  The program selection was poor, however, i.e. Chinese, Al Jazeera and Sky was about the only choice we had.

 

There were no room tags to place outside the room if one wanted either not to be disturbed or if the room could be cleaned.  Two days before disembarking, the tags were delivered to the ship, but they are probably a bit too lightweight and seem to fall off the door handle easily.

 

A very frustrating situation was the loudspeaker from the tour desk which would bellow in our room at all hours of the day and night with no way to adjust the volume.  Since some of the tours left late in the day, we would be subjected to loud announcements in four languages as late at 10:30 at night.

After several complaints to the desk, they found there was a wiring issue which was then fixed just four days before the end of the voyage.

 

There was a recurring issue with the passenger gangway not opening correctly.  In some instances passengers had to wait as long as 30 minutes before being able to disembark.

These delays shortened visits to the port areas for the passengers and in some cases only allowed for 15 minutes to look around before having to board again.  This problem happened on several occasions including for the final disembarkation of passengers on the day of arriving at Bergen and everyone had to exit through the meat locker and cargo doors.

 

The two elevators did not function on a dependable basis.  Often both of them would be out of order at the same time.

Despite that, we have done seven Hurti voyages since then!

 

 

 

[john the pick]

And we are ready to go again ourselves!

 

[Gretchendz]

On 6/25/2023 at 9:08 AM, john the pick said:

I was on the first cruise after the dry dock.  The crew told me that it actually was a wet dock.  They got al new bedding, tvs in the cabins and they refurbished the dining rooms. We had a men's and women's sauna but no hot tub.  I heard that a hot tub was removed as part of the refurbishment.  The cruise stopped at some interesting smaller portts including Longyearbyen and NY Alsund.  Our cabin had a phone but we we could not get it to work.  TV seemed not completely ready for primetime but I think they were working on it.  The crew was friendly and eager to please.   We would go again

 

Thank you for this. We are going on the North Cape Express in November--Northern Lights! I had already read about the sad fate of the hot tub.  We rarely watch TV on a sailing I load up my Kindle. Very excited for this adventure.

 

Question on behalf of my non-fish eating husband...were the nonpescatorial choices good or should I pack a suitcase with power bars?

Edited July 11, 2023 by Gretchendz

[john the pick]

We really did not miss the TV....too many interesting things to see along the way and on board events occupied our time.

 

As for the food, I am not familiar with the term nonpescatorial so I cannot comment responsively to your question.  What I can say is breakfast and lunch in the main dining room were buffet style.  Dinner was served with a choice of 3 mains plus starters and desert.  The mains were 1 meat, usually one fish and 1 vegan option.  We found that we really enjoyed the Sami Restaurant called Aaron.  Good portion size and very good.   Only drawback was the menu was always the same but we developed our favorites.  The entire food presentation has a very Norway feel to it.  There are not as many food choices as you will find a major cruise shjip.  If you need more info on food, ask and I will try to respond

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here's a new article with pictures of the renovated Trollfjord:

Hurtigruten’s upgraded Trollfjord celebrates Northern Norway's cultural heritage

[Gretchendz]

Thanks @Host Jazzbeau Lovely!

 

Thanks @john the pick  I made  up the term 🙂 My husband hates eating fish

[john the pick]

Hope he likes reindeer!