Hurtigruten Cruise
Our cruise begins in Bergen, boarding begins around 3.30pm so we gave time to fill in beforehand. It is raining again on and off so after walking around the city we went back to the hotel to stay dry before heading to the port. We have to attend a safety briefing after we checkin and before we can go on board. We have time to explore the ship and locate where our room is on deck 8. We are more than happy where our room is located, next to the stairs and the lounge and bar area. Deck 6 is a promenade deck and that is close as well. Dinner is an buffet with open seating. There was a great variety of food especially fish.
Our cruise heads up the coast of Norway and calls into the many small villages that use Hurtigruten to bring in supplies. At each port people and goods are loaded off and there is always someone waiting to get on even during the middle of the night. We are able to get off and walk around the towns anytime the stop is half an hour or longer. It just allows enough time to walk along the Main Street and enjoy the fresh air as the ship mostly stops right in the middle of towns. We usually need to put on a coat when we go out as well as on the deck. I like walking around deck 6 while the ship is moving as you can enjoy the scenery while getting some exercise, but definitely need a beanie and coat as it can be very windy especially up the front of the ship. The ship also diverges into fjords occasionally for photo opportunities. There are so many picturesque places it is hard not to be continually snapping. I am not sure if the photos do justice to the beauty of the mountains, islands and fjords.