Hurtigruten: MS Vesterålen

FINALLY! The Norwegian 6-day sea voyage from Kirkenes to Bergen, following all those wonderful days in Oslo a month ago!

I've decided to start with the ship...our ship...because without it, the sea voyage wouldn't have happened. You notice I didn't say cruise, right? We were corrected from the get-go: with no bingo, casino or entertainment, this was a sea voyage. And utilitarian at that, its chief purpose being to transport mail, supplies and daily passengers up and down Norway's rugged, fjord coastline.

OUR ship was the MS Vesterålen, one of 11 in Hurtigruten's fleet, built in 1983 and one of the smallest at only 510 passengers. Don't you just love the circle over the 'a' -- å or Å. And isn't she a beauty!

Totally unbenownst to us ahead of time, we passed other ships from Hurtigruten's fleet all along the way. That made sense, of course, since they're all going back-n-forth up and down the coast every day. They're on a mission and we as passengers are just on for the ride.

We passed The Polarys, Nordlys and the Kong Harald...


...as well as the Trollfjord and Nordnorge, all at sea or on shore.
Every time we were ready to pass a ship going in the opposite direction, it was announced on the PA system, followed by reciprocal horn blasts from each ship...and whooping and hollering on the decks.
That was camaraderie at sea!


Lucky for us, because the ships sail for utilitarian reasons, there are many stops during the day and night, sometimes for only half an hour while supplies are loaded and unloaded. Every time we had a chance, especially if we saw something close to shore that looked interesting, we got off. The whole embarking/disembarking routine became old hat for both Astrid and me. Sometimes we were the only passengers getting off, getting closer to a church for photos, for instance...before rushing back.


Our room card keys were also what logged us on/off the ship each time.
See how easy it is to learn Norwegian! Gått ut. Gått ombord.


Speaking of supplies, they had it all down to a science at every port. The punctuality in and out was mind-boggling to us, sometimes with several forklifts operating at the same time.


You know how it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
And so it was that Astrid went inside the hold of the ship to get the above view. HA! I love it.
We saw everything from cars, to furniture, groceries and everyday living supplies.


Of course, nothing gets on or off before another important crew gets the ship docked...those on shore and those on the ship. We loved seeing how the thick ropes were thrown back-n-forth by the thinner ropes with weighted balls on the end...and then pulled through the water.
It's fun to see how things work, sometimes by simple methods.


OK, time to come inside!
Reception was on 'ground' floor near the entrance, just a couple doors away from our cabin.


Our cabin was plenty spacious for us. We don't ask for much, you know.
There were actually 3 single beds but we chose to keep the couch the couch and use the bunk beds instead (both of which could be folded up against the wall). Astrid will tell you I insisted on sleeping on top. Actually, I told her I always slept on the top bunk whenever I had the choice. And so I did, with her 'spotting' me up and down each time. :)
(Those suitcases in the hallway were in preparation for departure at the end.)


Which comes first, eating or sleeping?
Every day the menu was posted for the sit-down evening meal. No choice of menu but we had nothing served to us we did not like immensely.
(click to enlarge)


I've been on the big cruises, you know, but they have nothing over the meals we had each day as well as the service of the staff. Our table mates each evening were 2 delightful couples from Germany.
We even had a Captain's Dinner night with a champagne toast...


...which was really amazing since almost NO ONE drank wine with the evening meals.
Why, you might ask? Because the cost of alcohol in Norway is nigh prohibitive, at $11/glass on the ship! When we mentioned this to Renny beforehand, he suggested we buy and take our own box of wine (equivalent of 4 bottles), which we did, at half the price. Still, it was $64 for the box!
Trust me, we drank it in the room before dinner and treasured every drop.

So, besides eating and sleeping, how did we spend our time? Are you kidding me!

Pictures speak more than a thousand words!
We were up and down 3 flights of stairs several times each day, keeping ourselves in good shape...


...along with the crew doing their own thing...


...while others had a bit more R&R. No argument there.


But we did have down time with Rummikub and staying on top of e-mails. The wireless internet worked well and was free. But also, every day I uploaded all our photos onto our separate external hard drives.
Everything was neatly into files before we finished the voyage!


Speaking of finishing, all good things do come to an end and before we knew it, it was time to disembark the voyage in Bergen, at the terminal where most people begin their trip. As we awaited the crossing of the catwalk into the terminal, we watched the crew come on board to clean the ship before the next set of passengers left a few hours later.
Everything really was down to a science and just like clockwork!


With suitcases in hand, we still had another 2 legs of our journey...an overnight in Bergen before the 7-hour train ride across Norway to Oslo the next day, followed by more sightseeing in the Oslo area before flying home.

See why I still have miles to go before we're done!

[Thanks again to Astrid for several images here-n-there in the collages!]