We were told about the Hurtigruten service, by friends, a few years ago and put it on our bucket list. We found a travel agent offering an all in package, cruise and flights, at a good price and booked immediately. Hurtigruten offer excursions touring Bergen, our port of embarkation, but time constraints prevented us from taking the offer up. Good excuse to take another cruise in future.

Our ship,'The Finnmarken' is one of the larger ships in the fleet but only takes 600 or so passengers calling in to numerous towns and villages up the coast - it doubles as a coastal ferry and cargo ship. Our cabin was more than adequate having a fixed single bed and a settee which converts to a bed of the same size. The shower/toilet was of a reasonable size and had piping hot water available round the clock.

The food was very good and plentiful serving a buffet breakfast and lunch with a set menu at dinner. There was a wide range of excursions available but some were cancelled due to inclement weather, a late snow storm. Those that we went on were well organised with a local, well informed guide on each one. The ship stopped at many of the ports visited long enough to explore the towns and villages. Read more