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Scott
and I decided to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary in Norway. To
really experience Norway, we took a cruise on the Nordkapp, one of Norwegian
Coastal Voyage's modern ships. The Coastal Voyage, called "Hurtigruten"
in Norway, offers daily departures from Bergen (northbound) and Kirkenes(southbound).
Each voyage calls at 34 ports! The ports visited during the day on the
northbound voyage are called at during the night on the southbound cruise,
and vice versa. Port calls vary from 45 minutes up to six hours. The
entire roundtrip voyage is a 12-day journey covering the 1,250-mile
west coast of Norway. You sail by gorgeous fjords and fishing villages
before crossing the Arctic Circle. Here, close to the North Cape, or
Nordkapp, you experience the midnight sun in the summer. Scott and I
sailed the northbound voyage, which ends up in Kirkenes, very close
to the Russian border. **My #1 Tip for travel to Norway---bring an empty suit case for all of the sweaters you will end up purchasing no matter how much you think you hate shopping.
The
Norwegian Coastal Voyage is launching several brand new ships . The
MS Midnatsol will be a sister-ship to the Trollfjord and similar to
the Finnmarken. The designers use Norwegian wood, stone, large expanses
of glass and art to decorate these ships. They have both suites and
regular cabins. Some of the suites have a balcony and a Jacuzzi! All
cabins have telephones and most have TV's-which you will never watch
because you will be so enamored of the beauty passing you by. Every
minute brings another fabulous view/photo op. Bring 3 times as much
film as you think you will use. You may still have to buy more-we did!
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The
cruise ships also carry cargo, cars and mail. This is the only way to
reach many of these remote but wonderful villages, so many Norwegians
use it as we would an expressway. This added to the real experience
of Norway. We often spent time on deck watching them unload and load
cargo ranging from tires to toilet paper. 
The
newest ships are modern with the latest technology and accommodations
you will find on most cruise ships. The crew was fabulous and because
of the relatively small number of passengers (about 600 at full capacity)
you actually get to know many of the people aboard the ship. Some are
only on board overnight, some for a couple of days and only 40 of us
were aboard for the entire 7-day northbound sailing.