I’m still trying to figure out what I think about Hurtigruten. We just finished 10 days from Bergen to Kirkenes and back to Trondheim...an almost round trip...hunting the northern lights on SS Finnmarken. I’ll provide what info I can in hopes of aiding future travellers.

We arrived at the Hurtigruten terminal in Bergen about 4:15pm to no line and checked in immediately and painlessly. Don't take a transfer, it's a short cab ride from anywhere in town and you can probably walk it if the weather is nice. We waited in a fairly crowded lobby area (no wifi) about 1 hour and then watched a safety video and were allowed to board. If I had it to do over again I would arrive at 5pm and cut the wait, but no big deal. Rooms were not supposed to be accessible until 6pm, but they were ready when we boarded. Curiously, you have to arrange charging priveleges on your room key card on board, you cannot do it in the terminal.

Since this trip was all about the scenery we wanted a balcony and there aren’t many of those in the Hurtigruten fleet. So we had to book a suite to get one and we were in cabin M614 on the starboard side. We have cruised a lot and had verandah rooms on traditional ships, but this cabin was probably ½ again bigger than the best of those. The cabin was exceptional with a sliding glass door to access the balcony, and a large picture window beside the bed, so we enjoyed continuous viewing. I’ve never needed or wanted a suite, but getting this cabin was a great decision as we could pop out for pictures or a better look at a moments notice. Our travelling companion had a similar cabin on the port side so we could go to each other’s room to check out anything noteworthy on the opposite side. Read more