Then the time came to board, neither of
us had done a cruise before but we knew
that this was not going to be your typical
large cruise liner.
Hurtigruten was established in 1893 and
now runs daily services carrying guests
and goods from Bergen to Kirkenes and
back in 12 days at an average speed of
15 knots. We have opted for the one way
journey from Bergen to Kirkenes which
will mean that we call in at 32 ports over
the 6 days.
Our ship was called MS Polarlys and
could carry 619 passengers. It sits in
the middle of their fleet of ships. The
difference between it and a cruise liner
is that there is no cinema, no swimming
pool (although in minus temperatures
that’s probably a good thing!), no gym
and the evening entertainment is a
chap on a piano for a couple of hours in
the bar. However, what it does have is
large outside spaces to enjoy the most
beautiful scenery and for those that do
not fancy the bracing temperatures a
glass lounge area at the front of the ship
so you can enjoy the surroundings in
warmth and comfort.
Our cabin was small, but we had
expected that, as we could not stretch
to a suite with a balcony but it had
everything we needed with a large
window which I could not have done
without.
“
There were
waves of green
and white lights
dancing across
the sky.
“
The food on board was amazing,
especially as I say this is not your
traditional cruise liner. All breakfasts
and lunches were buffet style and there
was so much choice of hot and cold
food available, evening meals (apart
from the first and last nights) were a set
menu, served at your designated table.
I could not fault the food at all - my only
complaint was that because it all looked
so nice, I had to try a bit of everything
each day!!
Drinking in Norway is not cheap, and
we had been warned about this. On
land you can only buy wine, spirits and
68
strong beer at a Vinmonopolet, which
are state owned shops, lighter beer can
be bought in supermarkets but there are
time restrictions on this. As a very basic
comparison a bottle of wine that you
would buy at the supermarket in the UK
for £5 was about £12 in a Vinmonopolet
but on board a bottle of the cheapest
wine worked out to be about £45!
And so we set sail, as the ship also
delivers/collects goods to each port the
schedule shows that we stop at ports
during the day and throughout the night,
most stops are for only about 15 minutes
although you can still get off the ship if
you wish but if you wander too far the
ship wont wait for you!
There was something rather special
about getting up early when the sun was
coming up and going on deck with a cup
of coffee to see where you have docked.
Every day there was a stop for a few
hours which did give you the opportunity
to get off the ship and do some
exploring. The first of these longer stops
was at Ålesund the next day. It was a
beautifully clear day and we decided
a walk up the 418 steps to the summit
of Aksla mountain. The view was
spectacular, the town looked like a little
model village below us and our ship a
little bath toy!
Over the next couple of days we were
travelling through some amazing
scenery, day and night, there is
something strange about lying in bed
and watching the dark outlines of the
mountains passing your window. The
ship glides its way through the fjords,