After a 3 hour flight from Birmingham we touched down in Tromso at 1:30pm, a little overcast I thought, by the time we reached the Blue Radisson hotel 30 minutes later I was checking in in complete darkness. Now I did know it was a little darker in the Arctic but nothing quite prepared me for how little natural light there was. The last time the sun rose in Tromso was on the 21st November, the next time it will rise will be the 21st January. I felt like I’d landed on Mars…………
After a mooch round the town and a spot of dinner we found a great bar to have a few drinks and get to know my fellow travel agent partners who had also signed up for this epic adventure.
Now most bars we found in Norway come with their very own stuffed polar bear for stimulating conversation obviously.
And the average pint was £12 but they do have a plentiful selection……………
Following morning we left the hotel, took a walking tour around Tromso, and then boarded our Hurtigruten ship ‘Richard With’
Cabin was basic as expected but had everything we needed, we could set the phone onto intercom so that we would not miss when the ship announced where and when the Northern lights were visible. This may I add would be at any time of the day or night, as it was only light between 11:30am – 1:30pm. We were on deck 5, prom deck, and were situated right next to an exit door for easy access which was great.
We’d only been on board for a few hours when it was announced the Northern lights were visible from the back of the ship. Now you have to imagine the fluster from passengers just boarded grabbing coats, hats, scarves, camera, not forgetting the all-important tripod.
Obviously top of my priority was to ask the bar man to monitor my £13 glass of wine with great care.
Now wait for it………….. I can tell you’re excited, after several attempted shots this was my first picture of Northern lights………………
Over the next two days they did not get much better……….
I began to think it was all just a myth, you could see grey splurges in the sky, not quite the vivid green brochure pictures I had been imagining, but it was great fun watching passengers donning their pyjamas at 3am in the morning with their winter attire over the top, tripod in hand, all waiting to get their award winning picture of the Northern lights.
After 3 days on board, between 21 travel agents and thousands of pounds worth of camera equipment, this is the closest we came to anything that slightly resembled the vivid green brochure pictures of the Northern lights.
My superb tip for anybody cruising in search of the Northern lights is to invest in a spectacular camera which you also know how to use…..
Back to the ship, I was impressed with the communal areas, the lounges were cosy and warm, and there was a great observatory at the front where you could sit and relax watching the ship pull in and out of the tiny ports.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all taken in the main restaurant, if you are a sea food lover then Hurtigruten definitely needs to be on your bucket list.
There was also a small cafeteria area where alternative meals and snacks could be purchased.
We also had chance to dine in the A La Carte restaurant, Reindeer is very popular in Norway, I’m not talking about the animated Rudolf variety either, Reindeer could be found on most menus, morning, noon, and night.
There was not a great deal to see in the dark and entertainment was low-key, so would definitely recommend you taking a good book with you. We managed to locate a jigsaw and scrabble board to keep us out of trouble…….
Hope that’s given you an insight as to what to expect on board, I’ll catch up with you next time to tell you about the fantastic shore tours we experienced.
