Hurtigruten Archives – Page 2 of 3

Hurtigruten explores Inuit culture and Greenlandic landscape on its 2013 Greenland sailings

September 26, 2012 by Editor

Greenland has been home to the Inuit people for more than 5,000 years and Hurtigruten makes its a point to educate its guests on the realities of living in on an ice-encrusted island where only two towns are connected by road, a summer day may find an iceberg floating by your beach setting, populations range from 2 to 15,469 hardy souls, and the dog sled has always been the principal mode of winter transport. Hurtigruten‘s expedition ship …

Hurtigruten launches smartphone app and new website design – featuring a wealth of information, booking info, maps, schedules, and more

August 28, 2012 by Editor

Hurtigruten has unveiled a new free mobile app for iPhones and Android smartphones – aptly named “Hurtigruten Web App” – providing access to sailing schedules, bookings, departure times, ship positions and more. Easy to use, the app is available at app.hurtigruten.com and information is stored on the phone so access is available offline as well. Future upgrades are expected to further add to its usefulness. The company has also done a major revamp of its www.Hurtigruten.us website, …

Our cruise is over, but here’s a bit more info about Hurtigruten’s MS Nordlys

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

AUGUST 19, 2012 I was so fixated on the sights outside my cabin window on the MS Nordlys— such as the most beautiful fjords in the world, set into mountains which are, as Norwegian Nobel Prize writer Knut Hamsun described, ” breathing from the granite vaults of their lungs” – that I failed to look around me at the ship which was my home for the past six days. Forgive me. The MS Nordlys, one of the …

Our final day on board the MS Nordlys and a stopover in Oslo

August 21, 2012August 17, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 16, 2012 DISEMBARKING THE MS NORDLYS — Hurtigruten calls their Norwegian cruise “the world’s most beautiful voyage.” They’ll get no argument from me. Whether or not true, it’s sad to leave our cozy little cabin on the fifth level of the ship and the lounge with its expansive views of mountains and fjords. Not to mention the restaurant – which last night produced a farewell buffet with a dizzying array of seafood and other offerings. These …

It was a memorable day…I had gone to the end of the earth

August 21, 2012August 16, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 15, 2012 ABOARD THE MS NORDLYS – I woke up this morning at 7:10, the grey light of dawn filling my cabin. At least that’s what time I thought it was as I looked at my watch. But when I looked again, I discovered I’d made a little mistake. Actually, it was 3 a.m. Weird business, this land of the midnight sun. As of the summer solstice on June 21 up here in northern Norway, the …

How often do you get to paddle in Arctic waters and live to tell about it?

August 21, 2012August 16, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 14, 2012 ABOARD THE MS NORDLYS — King Neptune baptized me this morning. Dressed in a flowing black gown and carrying a gold trident, his long grey beard blowing in the wind, he appeared on the stern of the seventh deck after being summoned by the tour director three times. He was there to welcome us to the Arctic, assure us of his protection, and dispense cloudberry liqueur in little shot glasses –- but only after …

We cross the Arctic Circle, but the temps are still quite pleasant

August 16, 2012August 14, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 13, 2012 ABOARD THE MS NORDLYS – I am no longer an Arctic Circle virgin. Just as ships in South America used to make you walk the plank when you first crossed the Equator, there is a ceremony up here given by Njord, the ruler of the Seven Seas, to mark our very first crossing of the Arctic circle. Ours will take place tomorrow because we are all dividing up and leaving the ship to go …

One of the oldest towns in the world, Trondheim has one of the youngest attitudes

August 21, 2012August 13, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 12, 2012 ABOARD THE MS NORDLYS – Breakfast in Boston, for me, means a glass of orange juice and a slice of toast. That’s it. The day begins. On this Hurtigruten cruise ship in Norway, however, breakfast is a Vikings’ banquet. Norwegians take their breakfasts very seriously, and the buffet choices that greet us in the dining room every morning require considerable concentration, There are huge platters of delicious native salmon, bowls of herring, pickled in …

Words cannot describe the incredible beauty of sailing into a pristine and massive fjord…

August 27, 2012August 13, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 11, 2012 ABOARD THE MS NORDLYS — It was like having my mother onboard. She was standing at the door as we came up the gangplank of the Hurtigruten ship last night at the start of our Norwegian cruise. We expected the usual safety lecture on how to put our life jackets on, but we didn’t realize we’d have to wash our hands before stepping aboard the MS Nordlys. Two hours later when we arrived at …

The many “F” words that describe Bergen, Norway

August 27, 2012August 11, 2012 by Julie Hatfield

August 10, 2012 BERGEN, NORWAY — “There are three ‘F’ words that describe Bergen,* our guide, Jim Paton , told us this morning at the start of our tour. It turns out he was referring to “fish, fire and fijords.” Before the day was out he told us a lot about the first two. Tomorrow we’ll get to the third. Over the years, Bergen’s wooden buildings have been ravaged by numerous fires. As you walk around town …