Travelled on the MS Nordkapp from Bergen to Kirkenes, 30/12/2025 - 05/01/2026. I’m a young 74! Reason for trip - to spend New Year somewhere different - Don’t do this trip for same reason as they don’t celebrate New Year as we do. Drinks very expensive onboard , £12.75 for glass of wine! I’m not going to go into very deep detail, just give my general impression of the trip. Crew: Firstly, the crew were just fantastic, respectful, patient, informative and helpful. The cabin cleaning staff were amazingly thorough , smiling and efficient. Accommodation: Our cabin, 512, on deck 5, was comfortable, albeit a little small to get around the sumptuous double bed, but the shower was powerful and easy to control. It was a little tiny, but anyone who has ever owned a motorhome or large camper van will appreciate how well designed the bathrooms are, given the space available. Plenty of cupboard and shelf storage , especially as the bed is set high, and large suitcases fit easily underneath. Seasoned hotel dwellers, however, may find the cabins cramped. Despite upgrading to the Atlantic cabin package, it was still a little cramped, with not much sitting room, although a chair is provided, except for lounging on the bed. There is a large picture sized window giving amazing sea views, BUT, bear in mind that deck 5 is the promenade deck, so people walking around the deck can see into your bedroom. Why there is no tint on the window, I don’t know, and I’m not sure that nets would help either. In reality , we didn’t spend much time in our cabin, except to go to sleep and wake up. We mostly spent a very relaxing time on deck 7 viewing lounge and bar, on the very comfy reclining leather seats , affording a wonderful view of the trip. Children: ! It may not be apparent from the literature, but children of seemingly any age are permitted onboard, ‘under parental control’. On our trip there was a young couple with a recently born baby, and a toddler. I don’t mind children, but there should be specific nursery areas provided with childcare and play facilities. I don’t know how much actual appreciation of the trip the parents got, but they were full on childminding most of the time. Being a father, myself, and giving a knowing smile to the parents just met a blank stare back, so I’m trying hard to be realistic, here. Babies scream, older children want to run and play, noisily. It’s what they do, but if you’ve just had lunch, and relaxing with a book, crossword, or whatever, it gets irritating after a while. Food: My partner booked the trip, she’s amazing, and is also a Vegetarian. Sadly, it appears that in a land of fish and reindeer, vegetarian needs were somewhat lacking. The buffet cooked breakfast catered mostly for standard tastes. All the fried eggs were adorned with a piece of bacon a piece, no alternative tray of just fried eggs. Excellent scrambled egg was also on offer, although I think there were tiny pieces of bacon on that, too, occasionally ! No vegetarian sausages or lookalike breakfast meat alternatives, like veggie burgers or veggie bacon. There were, of course, the usual fruit, cereal , toast , cheese and cold meats continental dishes also available, together with mini croissants and mini pain chocolate , too. If you like toast, you’ll be amazed at how many times you need to re insert your toast onto the moving conveyor in order to get the bread even slightly toasted. I got to four times and gave up! The buffet hot lunch similarly catered little for the vegetarian. The nearest you got was a tray of cooked mixed vegetables with a tray of potatoes, everything else hot was not suitable for vegetarians. The problem appeared to be that there was no appreciation for the fact that vegetarians need protein, too, just not in animal form, and there are loads of alternatives, which simply were not available. The Head Chef, Paul, was very interested in what we had to say, and appreciated that this was something he needed to raise with the chef who looked after the vegetarian menu. He was a great guy, very friendly and a good man to chat too. If you’re vegetarian, just beware. Accommodation concerns: Check out the layout of the ship you’re travelling on! Each ship on this coastal express route North and South , is not only a post and supplies ship for all the places it has to pull into. It additionally embarks or disembarks passengers ( and their cars) as there’s a car deck too, ITS A FERRY! Not a cruise ship. Think a slightly posher ferry boat with many additional facilities. It sometimes docks several times during the night, with the resultant engine noise when it uses its directional engine thrusters. Then there’s the opening and closing of the passenger gangway and vehicle access doors, etc. CHECK where your cabin is located, you don’t really want to be above these noisy areas!
Claim your business profile now and gain access to all features and respond to customer reviews.
Hurtigruten - World Leader in Exploration Travel
