The Beauty of the Small Ship

Part of the charm of Hurtigruten is that these are small ships. The MS Midnatsol, one of the two largest ships in the fleet, has a maximum passenger capacity of 1000. To put that in perspective, it’s only just over one third the size of some of the other cruise ships that can be found along this coastline, and just one sixth the size of the truly huge vessels.

That benefit became very clear last night, as we squeezed through the tightest of spaces and snaked away around the utterly beautiful Lofoten Islands, stopping at a handful of ports including the small town of Svolvær.

The experience of going through the Trollfjord whilst standing up on deck is a jaw dropping experience. Unfortunately the darkness made it incredibly difficult to photograph, so I shall attempt to paint a picture with words!

The entrance to this fjord is just 100m wide and the sheer cliff walls feel so close you can almost reach out and touch them on both sides. Going through the fjord during the day would be an entirely different experience of course, but sliding by these walls at night was like entering a dark, mysterious cave where perhaps no one but trolls had ever been… (Perhaps our imaginations ran away with us a little…). We were completely surrounded by rock wall on both sides. As we entered the Trollfjord we were presented on deck with Norwegian fishcakes and commemorative Trollfjord mugs and drinks to mark the occasion.

The Hotel Manager and Chef preparing the fishcakes in the Trollfjord

Then the captain performed a perhaps even more impressive feat. Of course what goes in to the fjord must come out, and to do that, the MS Midnatsol completed a turn some would struggle to make in a car, never mind a 16,000 tonne ship. It was hard to believe we would make it, but make it we did!

The peaceful town of Svolvær

Then we spent the night sailing through the mirror still waters of the Lofoten Islands. The waterways were wider, but it somehow felt far less disruptive being on our small Hurtigruten ship than it would have felt had we been on one of the far bigger cruise lines. The peace and quiet was something beautiful to experience, even in the middle of the night.