I wanted to travel to the Land of the Midnight Sun. I wanted a small cruise ship, where I would not just feel like a number or that I was staying at a hotel in the water. I wanted to experience Norwegian food, sourced from local farmers and fishermen. (I wanted to try reindeer!) I wanted to get a glimpse of life by the sea in the villages and towns along the way. I wanted the comfort of a cruise ship rather than a fishing vessel. I wanted to travel to above the Arctic Circle. I wanted to be on a smaller vessel, where the crew would get to know all of us. Travelling alone as a single woman, I wanted to feel safe. The cruise on the Hurtigruten Vesteralen was all of this and more.

If you want luxury and pampering, this cruise is not for you. The lounges are comfortable but not luxurious. The outside decks are sparse with plastic lawn chairs.

But if you want to get a glimpse of the real Norway on a small vessel, to see magnificent landscape whether from the comfort of a lounge or with the sea breeze in your face, and to feel by the end of the cruise that you are among family, then this cruise is for you.