Northern Lights cruise

[Whynd1]

Am looking to book a cruise with P and O to the Northern Lights.

Just wondered if anybody who has done this cruise had any advice on excursions and the cruise in general.

Thanks

Lindsey

[poole boy]

we went on p&o 2nd northern lights cruise must warn you we went in march and it was really cold at night standing out to see northern lights -25 other than that we had a lovely time, although there were quite a few complaints about the prices of excursions ie £250 pounds to be pulled about 100 yds by reindeer

[Whynd1]

That's just the sort of information I was looking for.

Thanks, I seem to remember complaints concerning the high cost of excursions.

[Mervyn and Trish]

We're doing a Princess cruise to the far north but in summer and some of the excursions are very expensive then too. It may be the costs charged by the local suppliers which push up the final price after the cruise lines slap on their percentage.

[david63]

Thanks, I seem to remember complaints concerning the high cost of excursions.

That is to be expected in that part of the world. Everything there is expensive.

We are going in March 2019

[Manoverboard]

Chums are going in 2018, albeit with Hurtigruten, far more ' authentic ' than P&O they say.

[Gill W]

We are going on a Northern Lights cruise with Fred Olsen on Balmoral in March.

We received our tours booklet a couple of days ago, and have been looking at the options. I can confirm that the tours are very expensive. For example, the tour where you go out in the evening to look for the Northern Lights costs £125pp in Alta and £120pp in Tromso. The dog sledding tour is £185pp in Alta and £170pp in Tromso. A city sightseeing tour is £70pp in Trondheim and the Rauma Railway tour in Andalsnes is £90pp

I've always wanted to do the dog sledding, but at nearly £400 for both of us it's a lot of money. Also, they tell you to check your travel insurance, so I might have to add on winter sports.

Another thing to think of is getting kitted out for the weather. A few weeks ago we spent a few hours in Mountain Warehouse, purchasing down coats, base layers, fleeces, fleece lined trousers, snow boots, socks, gloves etc. We spent about £400.

This will most likely be the only Northern Lights cruise we'll ever do, so we want to see as much as possible. I expect the tours will cost about £1000 (Yikes)

I'm looking forward to this cruise, and I think all these extra costs need to be factored into the planning stage, along with the actual cruise fare.

On a different note, having gone green with P & O several years ago its really nice to have a tour brochure to leaf through, rather than looking at everything on screen. Fred Olsen also have port maps in the booklet, which is very useful as it makes it easier to decide what might be feasible on a DIY basis.

[Whynd1]

The dog sledging appeals to me.
Thanks Gill for the info. It's true for this cruise the type of clothing required needs to be factored in.


Lindsey

[kaymar]

We're considering Hurtigruten for 2019. I really fancy a go on a snowmobile but "from £340" each for two hours?!!!! Possibly not.