My mother and I did the Northbound trip from Bergen to Kirkenes with Hurtigruten in the second week of May. We had a great time overall, and I would definitely recommend it to others. That said, if you're looking for a cruise ship with racquetball courts or bingo or organized community-building activities, then Hurtigruten is not for you. This is a cruise for people who love great scenery, like to organize their own activities for the most part, and don't want or need a lot of pampering. Since we're that type of person, we both loved it.
Our ship was the MS Richard With (pronounced Rickard Veet), and our cabin was on the stern side of deck 5, which is the promenade deck. We had asked for an outside double cabin on the side away from the car/freight loading bay (to avoid noise during night dockings, thanks to another reviewer on this site) and one deck away from the promenade. However, being on the promenade deck wasn't too bad; the windows are fairly reflective, so people can't see in unless they stop and get close to look, which didn't happen, and the noise level was acceptable—and being on deck 5 made it easier for my mother to get outside to smoke. The ship works on bow thrusters, so there's less engine noise near the stern. We asked ahead for a shower stool for my mother, which we received, and special meals because one of us has an allergy and the other is diabetic. They did all right with the food requirements, though better at dinner for the allergy than with the buffet during the day, which I didn't get much help with. The food was largely Norwegian specialties (lots of fish/seafood and potatoes), and was very good. I especially enjoyed the breakfast buffet.
We took advantage of three of the shore excursions during the five main days of our trip (they advertise it as a week, but the first day is just the evening and the last day you leave the ship in the morning and have to be out of your cabin by 8 a.m.). The Hurtigruten website was somewhat misleading about the excursions, offering a 10% discount if you booked three or more excursions in advance. When I booked three I was told that the policy was to give a 10% discount on every excursion AFTER the third, so I wouldn't get any reduction in price. That annoyed me. We eventually decided to book a fourth excursion from the set listed as available during early May, and then were told that it wasn't actually available until June, another mistake on the website. Do talk to their people at the toll free number and hash out the details before you book.