Northern Lights Cruise
Aurora Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 44
Review summary
We did get to see the Northern Lights twice from the ship, nothing spectacular but it is near the bottom of its 11 year cycle plan to go back in 2024. It was extremely cold for this time of year. It snowed on the ship at sea 2-3inch In Alta all the ships internal fire doors had to be kept closed to keep the warmth in. The glass windows around the indoor pool had ice on the inside. Over all it was a great trip made some good friends and will plan to do it again.Embarkation
Good no long queues, fairly quick.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Freedom dining ok but each year there is less choice and the portions get smaller. Buffet was poor same things every day over crowded and difficult to get a table.
Onboard Activities
Not really into joining in activities nothing of interest to me would have been nice if they had done a few general knowledge quizzes
Entertainment
Did not go it was in a theatre type setting prefer the smaller ships were the entertainment is a stage surrounded by tables and seating
Service and Staff
Good service
Ship Quality
Ok but I prefer smaller ships
Cabin / Stateroom
Nice Balcony cabin got a free upgrade from a Sea View
Only problem is it was directly under the Lido deck and workers start dragging furniture around from 5:00am
Ship tip
Research your destinations on the internet and plan your own trips they will be cheaper and better. I in most towns you don’t need to book ships excursions. If you book select price you can use the shuttle buses for free and then just walk.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
First time here the town is very spread out over a number of miles, here to see the Northern Lights. Like Tromso Alta is extremely cold this year for November by 13:45 its dark and minus 13 deg C by 1:00am it’s -20C. Again don.t book a ship excursion to see the Northern lights it was about £220pp for that they were taken to a local football field in town 200+ people not enough spaces to warm up in. Book with Paeskatun Tours to go to their slate quarry in the mountain. They are a Sami family
who run the quarry and do various tours you can book them direct or via Alta tourist
office
Tromso is one of my favorites, before we have always been in the summer with 24 hours day light. This was different. It was their coldest November in over 70 years there was 2-3 feet of snow. It was dark by 14:15 and by then it was -9-10 deg C. Don,t book the excursions everything in town is an easy walk or use the local bus to get to Fjellheisen Cable Car this is a must do trip providing it’s not low cloud. The views over Tromso are great. Another interesting thing to visit is the Polar museum.
Do the Rauma Railway trip do not book it as an excursion it’s over priced. Simply walk to the station and book a return ticket. I preferred this trip to the more famous Flam railway which I thought was grossly over rated compared to my Swiss railway journeys.
I like Stavanger, been a few times but it’s more of a summer tourist spot most museums etc closed in November.
Disembarkation
Traveler Photos
