Hurtigruten’s ‘North Cape Line’ and ‘Svalbard Line’ are different from the famous Norwegian coastal express. Here’s what to expect from Hurtigruten’s signature voyages on the MS Trollfjord.
If you’re contemplating a trip along the Norwegian coastline, you’ve never had more choice. Most major cruise lines operate trips to Norway, and there are now two companies serving the historic coastal route.
In addition, Hurtigruten recently launched two ‘signature voyages’, offering guests keen on experiencing the Norwegian coastline a more cruise-like experience, while retaining a lot about what the famous brand does best.
Using the refurbished MS Trollfjord, the summer Svalbard Line sails from Bergen to Longyearbyen, while the winter North Cape Line sails from Oslo up to the North Cape.
Originally called the Svalbard Express and North Cape Express, the voyages caught my eye as soon as they were announced.
Find Out More: Discover more about Hurtigruten's Signature Voyages:
🐻❄️ Svalbard Line in the summer
🌐 North Cape Line in the winter
In late 2024, I finally got to experience one for myself. I joined the northbound leg of the Svalbard Line sailing from Bergen to Longyearbyen. Based on that experience, here’s what to expect on board.
Video of the Svalbard Line
First things first, if you prefer video, check out this story of my experience on the Svalbard Line:
I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I enjoyed making it! Now, read on for more information about what to expect on board.
1. No Local Passengers
The biggest difference from the historic coastal route is a simple one. This is a cruise, and not a ferry service.
Guests remain onboard for the northbound or southbound leg, or the whole roundtrip. There’s no opportunity to use the signature voyages for port-to-port travel, so there’s a cosy feel to the trip.
What this means in practice is that there’s a much greater focus on the cruise experience. You’ll get to know the crew and your fellow passengers a lot better.
2. Longer Port Calls
Free of the constraints of a public transport timetable, Hurtigruten’s signature voyages call at fewer ports, for longer. In most cases, there is one port call per day, although this isn’t always for a full day.
On my recent Svalbard Line trip, for example, we had a trip to the Træna islands programmed in. But we didn’t actually arrive until 3pm, and had about 4.5 hours there to explore.
In other ports, we had longer. In Tromsø, for example, we were there for the morning and afternoon. Overall, port calls were an average of 6, perhaps 6.5 hours long.
Althiough the coastal route is hugely popular, many guests leave frustrated at the lack of time ashore. If that’s you, perhaps this signature voyage concept could be for you.
3. Unique Destinations
Given the coastal route calls at 34 ports along the Norwegian coastline, you’d think that the signature voyages wouldn’t be able to offer anything new. Nothing could be further from the truth!
While there are some familiar ports, there’s plenty of new ones too. And not just new for Hurtigruten, but a handful of ports feature that you simply won’t find on any other cruise line’s itineraries.
On the Svalbard Line, Træna is a fascinating port of call, as I already mentioned. The only other cruise ship that called at Træna throughout 2024 was a National Geographic / Lindblad expedition ship.
Its destination of Svalbard is also a big draw. Although other ships do call at Longyearbyen, very few call at the Ny-Ålesund research settlement. The same is true of Reine in the Lofoten Islands.
On the North Cape Line, stops at Lødingen and Rørvik offer interest, together with the unusual (for Hurtigruten!) departure port of Oslo.
4. A Coastal Experience Team
Guests of the coastal route will be familiar with Hurtigruten's ‘coastal experience team' that run the daily talks and manage excursions, among other things. On Trollfjord, the team is beefed up.
On my cruise, there were additional talks on photography, trade unions in Norway, and life growing up in the Lofoten Islands. One of the team also leads hikes in selected ports for guests keen on exploring on foot.
There's also an onboard photographer, taking daily photos and videos for a cruise video, and running a photography competition throughout the cruise.
5. An Elevated Food Offer
The food on Hurtigruten and Havila coastal cruise ferries is always a highlight of the coastal voyage. However, on Hurtigruten's signature voyages, they've cranked things up a notch.
The fine dining restaurant Røst offers a five-course meal each evening, with a fabulous offer of included wines paired with every menu. Hurtigruten's very own sparkling wine ‘Havets bobler' (The Ocean's Bubbles) is a particular highlight.
Dining in Røst is included for all suite guests, who also get to eat there at breakfast and lunchtime. For everyone else, I highly recommend paying at least once to experience an evening in Røst. You won't regret it.
Afternoon snacks are served in the bar, while Røst also plays host to a premium afternoon tea a couple of times during the voyages.
In addition to the main restaurant and Røst, there's also a Sami-themed brasserie called Árran, with a wonderful menu that's open throughout the day. Best of all? Árran is included for all guests.
In hindsight, I wish I'd eaten in Árran more often. The reindeer shank, Arctic char, and burger I had there were all fantastic, and the service always excellent. There was also a great choice of beers, all included. Speaking of which…
6. An All-Inclusive Experience
One bonus on the signature voyages is the all-inclusive nature of the sailings. Hot drinks, soft drinks, and select alcoholic drinks are always included in the restaurant and bar.
You do have to pay for a premium drink such as a top-shelf spirit or a specialty cocktail, but I found the included drinks more than enough.
Now, the signature voyages are not cheap. But, the all-inclusive nature of the sailings certainly go some way to offsetting that, and help to provide a certainty of cost for guests.
7. An International Crowd
The popularity of Hurtigruten internationally never ceases to amaze me, but this trend has gone even further on the signature voyages.
Find Out More: Discover more about Hurtigruten's Signature Voyages:
🐻❄️ Svalbard Line in the summer
🌐 North Cape Line in the winter
When I joined the Trollfjord for the northbound Svalbard Line sailing, I was taken aback by the number of travellers from as far afield as the U.S. and Australia.
The majority of guests were German, some from Britain, some from other parts of Europe, and there were even a handful of Norwegians.
The dominant onboard language was English, although announcements were made and daily update meetings held in German, French, and Norwegian too. The handful of staff members with fluent German were very busy indeed!
Have you taken one of Hurtigruten's signature voyages? If so, I'd love to hear your experiences down in the comments.
Another really useful article, especially as we are due to sail soon on the North Cape Line voyage. I have shared this article on the Hurtigruten Insiders Facebook group, too, where there are usually lots of posts about the differences between BKB and signature voyages, with many people not realising why, for example, they don’t get the beverage package on a certain voyage when they see it mentioned by others – more often than not, they are talking about different voyages!