Hurtigruten

Hurtigruten ("Express Route" or Norwegian Coastal Express) is a Norwegian, ferry and cruise operator.The company was founded in 1893 to operate voyages on Norway's western and northern coast between Bergen and Kirkenes.
Hurtigruten ships sail almost the entire length of the country, completing the round-trip journey in 11 days. The trip has been described as the "World's Most Beautiful Sea Voyag" with stops in Bergen, the Geiranger fjord, Tronheim,  Bodø, Lofoten Islands, Tromsø and Honningsvåg.
Hurtigruten ships are 'working ships' and can be considered expedition ships rather than ordinary cruise ships.
In total there are more than 35 stops during the voyage - the majority of stops are for 15 to 30 minutes - only the stops in Ålesund, Tronheim, Bodø, Tromsø and Honningsvåg are more that 3 hours. 

This is a 3 minutes video from our 15 minutes stop at Skjervøy, June 11, 2017  - from 10:30 to 10:45 pm - watch the activities at the quay when unloading and loading M/S Kong Harald in Skjervøy:

Hurtigruten ships at open sea:



A short video from our sailing from Bodø to Kirkenes:


The Hurtigruten ships represent a unique combination of cruise ships, public transport for the people living along the Norwegian coast, and cargo/post ships.

The ships are robust and constructed for cruising along the Norwegian coast all year and in all kinds of weather

The ships are small compared to the the large ‘ordinary cruise ships’.
MS Midnatsol and MS Finnmarken are the larger ships, carrying 1000 passengers.

List of ships
MS Midnatsol, Constructed in 2003 - 1000 passengers
MS Trollfjord, Constructed in 2002. 822 passengers
MS Finnmarken, Constructed in 2002. 1000 passengers
MS Nordkapp, Constructed in 1996 and refurbished in 2016 - 590 passengers
MS Nordnorge, Constructed in 1997 and Refurbished in 2016 - 691 passengers
MS Polarlys, Constructed in 1996 and Refurbished in 2016 - 737 passengers
MS Nordlys, Constructed in 1994.- 590 passengers
MS Kong Harald, Constructed in 1993 and refurbished in 2016 - 691 passengers
MS Richard With, Constructed in 1993 - 691 passengers