Taking an Antarctica Cruise with Hurtigruten: 10+ Important Things to Know Before Booking

Choosing a company to go to Antarctica with is a big decision as it greatly impacts the experience you will have on your journey. Although even if you are headed to one of the most spectacular places on the planet, it is a ton of money to spend on one trip, so you want to make sure to make the best decision for YOU. This post reviews what it is like taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten. 

Want to compare it to other tour operators? Check out this post for more information about other companies. 

The History of Hurtigruten 

Hurtigruten has been around for almost 150 years. The company started in 1893 to help improve communication along Norway’s coastline and acted as a transport company to take people and cargo between ports in Norway. Since then, it has expanded out to other cruises in Norway, the Arctic, and the Antarctic. They focus on sustainability and take care of the planet seriously. 

What Itineraries Do They Offer?

Hurtigruten offers a variety of itineraries for Antarctica cruises. They range from 12 to 23 days, increasing in price the longer the cruise is. We opted to do the 12-Day Highlights of Antarctica itinerary as it was the best option to fit our timing and budget. 

You can read more about the Highlights of Antarctica itinerary here. It included a night in Buenos Aires, flights to Ushuaia, five days exploring Antarctica, and then a flight back to Ushuaia. 

The majority of the Hurtigruten Antarctica cruises start and end in Ushuaia. A few itineraries start in Valparaiso, Chile, and end in Santiago or Buenos Aires (or reversed). These itineraries explore the coast of Chile and Patagonia. The longer itineraries take passengers to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

What is the Cost of Antarctica Cruises with Hurtigruten? 

The price of Antarctica Cruises with Hurtigruten varies depending on the time of year you go, the length of the itinerary, and which cabin you book. Current prices start around $8500 for the cheapest cabin. The earlier you book, the more money you may save. Suites on longer cruises can cost around $40,000. 

We paid about $8300 for a Polar Outside Cabin. This cabin came with a window and was situated on one of the lower decks. We originally booked in March 2019 for December 2020. Due to them canceling our cruise in both 2020 and then again in 2021 (thanks COVID), they did upgrade our room to a slightly larger outside cabin and gave us about $650 in shipboard credit. 

What Was the Ship Like?

Hurtigruten has a fleet of 7 ships. Three of them currently embark on Antarctica cruises: The Ms. Fridjof Nansen, the Ms. Roald Amundsen, and the Ms. Fram. On our cruise, were on the Ms. Fridjof Nansen which is the same floor plan as the Ms. Roald Amundsen. 

The Fridjof Nansen had 11 decks that contained 3 restaurants (one extra unless you are a suite guest), a science center and library, several observation decks, a pool and hot tub, a spa and sauna, and a fitness lounge. Every cabin has a window or a balcony. The top deck contains an outdoor gym and jogging track. Despite being small in comparison to other regular cruise ships, it never felt crowded. 

As far as rooms go, guests can book a cabin with a window or a balcony. There are no interior cabins. You can also opt to book a suite for extra space. Rooms typically hold 2-4 people.

Why I Chose Hurtigruten

There are a lot of pros and cons to choosing Hurtigruten. I ended up choosing Hurtigruten due to the fact that they were the cheapest option that would still allow me to set foot on Antarctica. I also really liked that Hurtigruten included charter flights from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. 

Since I only had a set time I would be able to take this vacation, having these charter flights included alleviated the stress of having to find another flight and making sure I made it to the cruise port on time. It was much more manageable to get to Buenos Aires than Ushuaia. 

What were the Pros of Taking an Antarctica Cruise with Hurtigruten?

There were so many pros to taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten and I am not at all sorry I booked an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten.

It’s All-Inclusive

First of all, the cruise is all-inclusive. It covered all meals and beverages at meal times. This included soda, beer, and wine. Food was available from 6am to about 9pm.

Two restaurants were included in everyone’s fare. The main dining room had different things every day. For breakfast and lunch it was served buffet style and for dinner most nights it was table service. At lunch and dinner, you could drink as much beer and wine as you would like and could even take a glass to go.

You also got to use of the hot tubs, the pool, and the sauna whenever you would like.

An Amazing Staff

Another pro to taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten was the amazing staff. The staff was very friendly and helpful, especially the waiters and waitresses in the dining room. You could stop any staff member at any time to have a chat.

The educational staff put on lectures several times a day. There were photography workshops and help available to ensure you set your camera to the correct settings. Again, you could talk to any of them at any time to answer any of your questions.

Awesome Gear

Every person onboard gets an expedition parka (which was really more of a windbreaker). This is for your use the entire journey, and you get to keep it afterward. During the voyage, you also got the use of waterproof boots and trekking poles. 

The Amenities Onboard

The ship itself had a ton of amenities as described above. Many other ships that venture to Antarctica do not have as many amenities. It was nice to have options of things to do when you were not out on the continent. The ship was a big pro of taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten.

Well-Organized

I also thought the voyage was very well organized. Each night, there would be a briefing about the landing the next day. They would explain information about the location, what to expect when getting off the ship, and a little bit of the history of the landing. This also ensured that safety was a big priority.

Charter Flights to Ushuaia 

The biggest pro of taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten was the fact they included charter flights from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. These flights normally run at least $300 round trip, and often even more during the peak season. Also, you have to ensure the timing works with the cruise departure and arrival times. 

Due to only having about two weeks for a winter break, I knew the timing was going to be an issue and it would be a lot more difficult for me to arrange our own flights. 

What were the Cons of Taking an Antarctica Cruise with Hurtigruten?

While obviously being in Antarctica is fantastic and there are a ton of pros to taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten, all companies have some cons. 

Size of the Ship

One of the major cons of taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten is the size of the ship. Most of the vessels hold around 500 people. Due to Antarctic treaty laws, only 100 people are allowed to be on land at one time on each ship. Therefore, being a big ship means less time on land and longer waits to get off. 

Hurtigruten divided everyone into expedition groups with animal names. For our ship, we had 4 animals that had about 100 people in each group. Then, each animal group was subdivided into specific species names. Each group name was called when it was your time to get off. The order rotated throughout the voyage, so the same groups did not keep getting the first disembarkation time. 

They made it very easy to manage, but it is important to know you will get less time actually on the continent than you will get on smaller ships. While on land we got about 1.5 hours for each landing versus smaller ships may get 3-4 hours. However, not everyone wants to be hiking on land for that long, so pending your preferences, it may be better to not have as long on land. 

Note that with the larger ship, you also will not be able to get off the boat at Port Lockroy, where the Penguin Post Office is. The people who run it will instead come on board the ship and you will still have a chance to main postcards from Antarctica.

Being on a larger ship has its pros, especially when crossing the Drake Passage and if it has nice amenities, but know you will get less time on land with a larger ship.

Also, due to being on a larger ship, there is a larger passenger-to-crew ratio. It is not as personalized as other voyages may be because you do not get a ton of chances to individually know the staff and make personal connections with them. 

The Excursions

The largest negative of taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten was how they ran their excursions. All excursions (camping, kayaking, snowshoeing, and a science boat) are chosen by lottery. 

While this may seem like a fair way to do it, they do not inform you of this until you are onboard the ship. It is not posted on their website nor do they let you know this is the case when you call and ask them. All of the responses we got prior to our cruises were that we could book excursions on board the ship. They never tell you it is actually a lottery and you may not get to do any excursions if your room is not chosen. 

Also, people can be chosen for multiple activities as each lottery is separate. Thus, one room could get all four activities while rooms (like mine), got nothing. While this may be a “fair” process, they need to be upfront about this process when guests book. It was misleading as they made it sound like you can book whatever you want on board and everyone would get to do it. We were not the only ones on the ship who got the same runaround. 

Another con is if you are a solo traveler, Hurtigruten does not offer solo traveler rooms or options. On select voyages, they may offer a solo rater, but in general, this is not the case. Other Antarctica tour companies offer spots sold in group rooms (think like a hostel), where you buy a bed versus buying the entire room. So with Hurtigruten, you will have to pay a double price on some voyages if you are a solo traveler. 

Note that for all Antarctica cruises, there will not be much entertainment on the ships. These are considered expedition ships and therefore will not keep you entertained 24/7 like a normal cruise ship. 

Final Thoughts on Taking an Antarctica Cruise with Hurtigruten

Overall, I was satisfied with taking an Antarctica cruise with Hurtigruten. Their price fit my budget, the ship was nice, and it included several extras that other companies do not. Nevertheless, there are still things I wished I would have known before (like about the excursions), so hopefully, this post prepares you for the most amazing trip possible! Make sure to read these tips for visiting Antarctica prior to leaving on your trip.

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