Choose a Cruiseline or a ship
Question or 
quote?

Ask an agent

Hurtigruten: this is not a cruise, it is a scheduled coastal line

The thing to understand before anything else: Hurtigruten is not a cruise line. It is a scheduled coastal service, running since 1893, linking Bergen to Kirkenes and calling at 34 ports outbound and again on the way back, every day of the year. The ship carries freight. It also carries Norwegians simply going from one town to the next. You are boarding a line, not a liner, and that is exactly why people go.

What that changes in practice

The timetable rules. Some calls last fifteen minutes, others fall in the middle of the night, and the ship leaves whether you went ashore or not. There is no casino, no main-stage show, no gala evening. The landscape is the programme: fjords, islands, northern light, in winter the polar night and sometimes the aurora. People who book believing they are going on a cruise are disappointed aboard, and it shows in the reviews.

What we carry, measured

This is the most repetitive fleet in our whole catalogue. Fifty-eight routes: it is the sharpest contrast in our whole catalogue. An expedition fleet shows nearly one route per departure; here it is the same course, run again and again. What you choose is a date and a season, not an itinerary. MS Nordkapp, MS Richard With and MS Kong Harald carry most of the scheduled service between them.

The five that carry nothing, and what they are

Several ships carry no departure on our calendar, and the reasons differ. MS Lofoten, built in 1964 and listed as cultural heritage by Norway in 2001, left scheduled service on 31 December 2020: she was sold to a maritime school and serves as a training ship. MS Vesterålen, on the other hand, does appear on the coastal line in the company's own calendar — there it is our inventory that is short, not the fleet, and we say so rather than hide it. Finally, MS Finnmarken and MS Otto Sverdrup are the same ship: she carried the name Otto Sverdrup from 2021 to 2025, then took her original name back in April 2025. Our inventory still holds both entries.

Hurtigruten and HX, not to be confused

The expedition business was separated and has carried the name HX since 2023. HX sails for Svalbard, Greenland and Antarctica with expedition ships; Hurtigruten runs the Norwegian line. Two products, two catalogues, two pages with us. Between them, MS Trollfjord sits apart: she runs the Signature voyages, which follow the coast without working the daily service.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, and that is the thing to understand before anything else. It is a scheduled coastal service, running since 1893, linking Bergen to Kirkenes and calling at 34 ports outbound and again on the way back, every day of the year. The ship carries freight and Norwegians going from one town to the next. You are boarding a line, not a liner.
The timetable rules. Some calls last fifteen minutes, others fall in the middle of the night, and the ship leaves whether you went ashore or not. There is no casino, no main-stage show, no gala evening. The landscape is the programme. People who do not know this when they book are disappointed aboard.
The fleet runs the coastal service between Bergen and Kirkenes, and several ships remain in our inventory without carrying dates, among them MS Lofoten, now a training vessel. The number of departures currently on sale is shown at the top of this page.
Yes, and that is the whole point. It is a scheduled service that sails the same route along the Norwegian coast, all year. What you are choosing is a date, a season and a length, not a rare itinerary. The difference between two departures is the light, the weather and the northern lights, not the ports.
No, five of the thirteen carry none on our calendar, and the reasons differ. MS Lofoten, built in 1964 and listed as cultural heritage by Norway in 2001, left scheduled service on 31 December 2020: she was sold to a maritime school and serves as a training ship. MS Vesterålen, on the other hand, does appear on the coastal line in the company's own calendar — there it is our inventory that is short, not the fleet.
Because it is the same ship. She was MS Finnmarken, carried the name Otto Sverdrup from 2021 to 2025, then took her original name back in April 2025. Our inventory still holds both entries as though they were two hulls. We have flagged it.
The expedition business was separated and has carried the name HX since 2024. HX sails for Svalbard, Greenland and Antarctica with expedition ships; Hurtigruten runs the Norwegian line. They are two distinct products, and HX has its own page with us.
We will not say it in the line's place. What the fare covers changes here from one departure, market and cabin grade to the next, and we have not measured it departure by departure. Ask your advisor for the written list of the exact departure before booking, not after.
Yes. This page shows the departures we carry online, and our inventory does not always cover the line's full calendar. Call us with the date you want: in most cases we can book it for you.
It depends on the departure and the market, not on the line. If French matters to you, say so before booking: it is checked departure by departure.
On fleets this size the cabin goes before the voyage does: the sought-after grades empty first, and what is left may sit somewhere you would not have chosen. Talk cancellation terms through with your advisor before you decide.
Your agency, and it alone. Voyages AquaTerra operates under a licence from Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur, your payments pass through a trust account, and the compensation fund for travel agency clients covers your departure. That holds whichever line you choose.