Cruising through Norway on the M/S Lofoten

I first heard about Hurtigruten in an article called Day For Night in Norway in the New York Times on September 19, 2014.  It impressed me.  I thought, what a way to take a slow trip through beautiful Norway.  I first visited Norway in 2011, as part of the Europe by Rail trip.  Back then, I only visited Oslo and Trondheim.  You can read about those posts by clicking on the links.  I've read about Bergen and the Bergen Railway.  It was described as one of the most beautiful train journeys in Europe.  Regardless, I wanted to visit Bergen and see the fjords.  The article stoked my interest again.

I logged into Hurtigruten's website and checked their prices.  The trip that I am interested in is called the Classic Roundtrip Voyage, from Bergen to Kirkenes to Bergen in 12 days.  The prices vary quite a bit by date and ship.  It drops sharply after August and gets cheaper as it gets closer to the winter months.  The cheapest price is on the M/S Lofoten, the oldest and smallest ship.  That doesn't bother me.  I picked the September 6, 2016 sailing date with a price of about US$2,400.  Since I am saving money on the cruise itself, I signed up for several excursions.  I figured since I am going to be there, I might as well go to some of these places on shore to get the full experience.  I never know when I'll have a chance, if ever, to go back to these places again.  Eventually, I paid about US$3,600 for the cruise and about 10 excursions.  Yes, the excursion are expensive but I thought well, I saved a lot of money by booking a smaller ship so I can afford it.

After checking out of my Bergen hotel, I walked 10 minutes downhill towards the Hurtigruten terminal.  The check-in was quick, about 5 minutes.  I listened to a safety talk for about 15 minutes, and then I am on the ship.  I found Cabin 250 on the B deck.  It was a very small cabin, with 1 single bed, a sink, and a porthole window.  The toilet and shower is down the hallway, shared by a few cabins.  The restaurant and cafeteria are 2 decks above.

M/S Lofoten

Cabin 250

Dining Room

Lonely Planet called this "The World's Most Beautiful Voyage."  As I am writing this part of the post. I am on my 10th day, heading south towards Trondheim in the morning.  From Day 1, it's been beautiful scenery all the way.  Altogether, the ship would've stopped in 34 ports, 22 of them north of the Arctic Circle.  At some ports we stopped for only 15 minutes, enough to load/unload some cargo or take on a new passenger.  At many ports, there is enough time to do a shore excursion.  Some of the excursions are one-hour long, some may be 4 hours, enough time for the ship to do its business.

Hurtigruten makes a big deal about crossing the Arctic Circle.  When we were going north, we had a ceremony in which someone dressed as Neptune, the Sea God, appeared.  Volunteers who have ice water poured down their backs get a shot of Norwegian spirit (I don't know what it was).  Going south, those who ate a spoonful of cod-liver oil gets to keep a souvenir spoon.  Corny, but it gets everyone's attention.

The excursions range from a City Walk to Mountain Hiking to Horseback Riding to a King Crab Feast.  I signed up for several - including an Art Nouveau walk in Alesund, a trip to the North Cape, and a visit to the Russian border.  They are not cheap, ranging from 359 (US$44) to 1799 (US$220) Norwegian Kroners.  But, they are informative.  I signed up because I wanted to experience as much as I could.  Some of the excursion were cancelled for lack of participants.

Hike to farmers' huts up in the hills in Hjorundfjord

Art Nouveau Walk in Alesund

Munkholmen (Monk's Island) near Trondheim

A Sami farmer and his reindeer, near the North Cape

Looking at the border with Russia, near Kirkenes

An underground cave in Kirkenes, where some Norwegians hid during WWII

18th Century Fort in Vardo

Vardohus Festning, UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Hammerfest

Arctic Cathedral in Tromoso

North Cape in foggy weather

Sami Woman near Kjollefjord

Arctic Sunset in Solvaer

 What is not mentioned in any of Hurtigruten's website or marketing information is their meals.  All of us on the trip have Full Board, meaning we get three meals a day.  Every meal was outstanding.  There is such a variety of food that it's difficult even to choose what to eat. They were all cooked fresh every day.  Fresh seafood is delivered to the ship every 2 or 3 days and every meal has some kind of seafood, whether it's the entree or appetizers like smoked salmon, pickled herring, sardines, cod, or fish soup.  Being a major fish exporting country, there is no lack of seafood and the variety.  One night we even had a seafood buffet - king crab, mussels, shrimp, crab claws, fish, etc.  All you can eat.  There is usually at least 3 kinds of desserts.  My dinner seating is at 6 pm and sometimes I wish they give me another hour before I eat dinner because I had eaten so much at lunch.  I can't help it.  The food was that good.

Salad bar, with smoked meat in foreground

Fish, potatoes, and stew

Seafood Buffet

Smoked Salmon

Smoked Halibut and Salmon

 Today is the last full day on the ship.  It's September 16, 2016.  The ship will arrive in Bergen tomorrow afternoon at about 2 pm and everyone will get off the ship.  I will take the airport bus to Bergen Airport and fly to Oslo, where I will stay for 2 nights.  From Oslo, I will fly to Krakow (4 days), then take the train to Warsaw and stay for 4 days.  After Warsaw, I fly to Munich for the last part of the trip.  There I will meet some friends and have fun at Oktoberfest.  I return to Phoenix on October 3rd.

I've talked about the trip and the food.  What about the passengers on the ship?  The majority of the passengers are Germans.  I think it's because Norway is only about 1 1/2 hours flight from most parts of Germany and Huitigruten advertises heavily in Germany.  It's also very affordable for them.  There were also a group of French tourists who came on board during the middle of the cruise and disembark after a few stops.  Surprisingly, there are very few Americans, less than 10 of us.  It's nice to be able to converse easily with fellow Americans, or other English-speaking passengers for that matter, because not all the German passengers are comfortable speaking English.  The Americans try not to stick too close together.  We usually go our separate ways when we go to shore.  Other countries represented are Australia, England, New Zealand and Canada.  There are very few Norwegians on board.  Most of them take short trips, like you would on a ferry.

My dinner table-mates from Australia, Sissy and Eddy

This has been a wonderful experience.  Who knows, I may come back for another trip or go on another Hurtigruten cruise, perhaps to Antartica.