Would love to know your itinerary, through whom you organised your trip, cost etc.
Sorry Jurek, been busy sorting through a bazillion photos...
All done through Hurtigruten on the web. There's loads of stuff on
their web site, though not always easy to find. In fact, while the boaty bit was, as you would hope, well-run and efficient, the admin side seemed a bit more hit-and-miss. I warned them, when I booked, that I'm a nut-allergic vegetarian; when I arrived on board they'd had no notification of this, nor were they expecting the other half-dozen veggies. Chef just shrugged, got on with it, and we were fed wonderfully well for the whole trip.
Itinerary depends when you go.
Here's mine, for instance. Excursions, such as sledging with huskies, are extra. I didn't bother mostly, and was happy just wandering around the various ports we stopped at (sometimes for half an hour or less, other times for 3 hours in the bigger places like Trondheim, Tromsø). This time of year though, is the quiet time - we had 53 passengers at most, and at times had fewer passengers than the 41 crew - which is great for prices but means a lot, like most, of the excursions get cancelled for lack of numbers. So, if that's what floats your boat, go when it's busier.
I did the full round trip, Bergen - Kirkenes - Bergen. Quite a few just did the Bergen - Kirkenes bit, and all the ones I spoke to regretted not choosing the full journey! For me, booking fairly late, it was a no-brainer: taking the inducements such as full board, free Nordkapp trip into account, it was actually cheaper to do the whole trip than a shorter one. This time of year, they really are desperate to get as many paying punters on board as they can...
So pricewise, now is about the cheapest time to go, it's merely expensive rather than eye-watering. Bear in mind, it /is/ Norway, full board, and a 2500km round trip though... Look out for single supplement waiver offers too, if you're going on your own, otherwise it's just ridiculous. You can book the whole thing, including flights and airport transfers, through Hurtigruten, but it just adds even more to the cost; I booked my own flights and had no trouble catching the Flybussen into Bergen, and saved a couple of hundred quid.
Pricing is very much based on demand. If you go to
www.hurtigruten.com/uk/norway-voyages/Winter/Voyages/classic-winter-voyages/ and use the Search button on the top right (took me ages to find this), it takes you to a live monthly pricing grid, listing ship and price for each day.
Choice of ship is possibly the most important decision to make; it's certainly at least second, after when to go. I loved the Lofoten, 50 years old, down to earth, cosy, characterful, you always knew you were on a boat ;-) Others are bigger, more comfortable, stable, air-conditioned; had their own hydraulically-lowered gangways rather than one delivered on a forklift truck, that kind of thing. YMMV, obv. There's a different one leaves Bergen each day, on a 12-day cycle, so you can juggle ship and day choice to suit you.
There's a
very readable blog of a trip on the Lofoten a couple of years ago with loads of information in it which might be of interest. And feel free to PM me for any more information.
