MS Nordnorge

Excellent experience. room with no window didn't feel claustrophobic. ship had good facilities especially the lectures given by entertainment team. very interesting and informative. Food very nice . all drinks expensive although we realised this was the culture of the country. Crossing the Artic circle was a memorable experience. All staff very pleasant and helpful. Would recommend this trip as a special different type of holiday experience.

My Husband & I embarked on a Cruise from Bergen to The Russian Border aboard The Nordnorge, in 1989. My Parents in Law had done this very same cruise aboard the same Nordnorge some 30 years before us. The Cruise itself is Awesome! As The ship is a working vessel. She & her sister ships are a Lifeline to All the various communities, villages, & towns along their route. Carrying Everything from Food, Medical , Building Supplies..., Schoolchildren, People, (businessmen & Others )., even Hearses & coffins. It is one of the most interesting cruises which we have done. The Service onboard is second to none. The Cuisine is also Brilliant. Yes, I would go on such a trip again.

A well presented ship in period décor. They have ships focussing on each European language, Nordnorge has an English and German theme; we were informed that other ships have a French and Spanish theme so make sure you book the right one! The crew were fantastic, professional and friendly. The food was good local cuisine and three meals a day was more than enough. Like all of Norway drinks on board are expensive and you are encouraged to buy water, coffee and wine add-ons; however at a bottle of wine a day life could be interesting if you take one each, and tea and coffee can be found at meal times and occasionally during the day and evening; the water is a must, but one package was more than enough for two of us. The wine package also comes with water, although not mentioned before we found it at the table with the bottle of wine, so you only need to buy one ad-on. We shared a wine package between three of us, and we started off as strangers but quickly made lasting friendships. Calling into over 30 ports took us closer to the fiords than other cruise lines would and in the main away from the Atlantic rollers. but remember this is a postal service and many stops are less than a 15 minute turn around, although the main towns have longer and meaningful stops. Shore excursions are expensive and limited in entertainment, although some were fantastic like North Cape in the snow and the snow hotel with the sledge dogs and reindeer outside. They did not say that some of the dog sledge rides linked into the snow hotel tour so you need to ask questions as there was only time for one of them!!!!! Some town walks are less than informative!!!! although there was a lot of potential interest that could have been drawn out of the walk. Overall a good trip and we would go on it again in February when it is still snowy, not sure about Northern Lights or Summer time though, as we only had 1 clear night out of 11 and the February snow made the mountains and scenery spectacular. The Northern lights looked like clouds, but turn the traditional green on camera if you have a long exposure option, practice before you go, I missed the one good night trying to get my camera to work properly in pure darkness. You are also on a moving ship so blurred images are common unless you are on land with a tripod and can see it in a viewfinder as a camera video screen does not expose the clouds and guess work is not an exact science when pointing the camera at the "black" sky!!!! As the cruise is through isolated wilderness areas mobile phone, mobile data roaming, internet and Wi-Fi are near impossible to find and log onto. Even in some towns the mobile signal would not log onto data although phone calls and some text messaging could be made. The Wi-Fi on the ship was frustrating as it was near impossible to log onto it let alone get access to any meaningful internet service!

On booking this cruise both my husband and myself regarded it as an adventure, the experience did not let us down. I have nothing but praise for the staff, food which was superb to the excellent ship. The scenery was breathtaking and the tour director always on hand to point out anything we may have missed. To top it all the Northern Lights made more than one appearance, faultless.