Northern Light Cruise On The Vintage Vessel Ms Strønstad

We booked this tour in January payed and confirmed too. The day of the tour on February 8th we showed up at the meeting spot to find no one waiting for us. We walked into the restaurant that is located downstairs from the tour meeting spot. They were rude and barely wanted to help us. After a few minutes, we were told that the tour was canceled for us with no prior notice or email sent to us to notify us. Due to this we lost one day where we could have booked something else if they only told us earlier that the tour was canceled. To add to this frustration we emailed the company to get our money back and they are ignoring us and not refunding the money we paid for the tickets. Now we are forced to dispute the charges with our bank. Horrible customer service. Avoid this tour and this company.

Two of us went on a 10 night cruise to hopefully see the Northern Lights. It was fabulous! We sailed from Portsmouth on Borealis, a mid sized ship, which wasn’t full. The meals were amazing, the workshops, demonstrations, talks and entertainment were all good. We stopped at Alesund which was a pretty town. We walked around one half in the morning then went back to the ship for lunch. In the afternoon we walked around the other half. We then went on to Narvik, past some wonderful Norwegian scenery. We purchased an extra ‘excursion’ called ‘chasing the Northern Lights’. It was a coach trip with an expert on board. She told us that she knew of two places where we could park and see them that night - in Sweden! The first place already had a coach parked so we went on to the next. Then we got out off the coach and held our phones to the sky and saw them! It was amazing! We’d just got back to the ship and were told to hurry as we had to leave Narvik early, because of the weather turning bad. We cruised through the night but couldn’t stop at Stavanger because of a storm. We were glad that the captain was so experienced. It did mean that we were on board for 8 of the 10 days but the crew put on extra things to do. Our stewardess was so helpful and our head waiter greeted us by name and offered us a glass of wine with lunch and dinner. It was our first time cruising and I would go again with Fred. Olsen.

We travelled on the M.S. Balmoral from 13–27 November 2025, journeying deep into the Arctic in search of the Northern Lights. We were pleasantly surprised to see them on several nights, often with excellent stargazing opportunities as well. This made the trip truly special, and we came home with many wonderful photos. The stopovers along the way were exceptional. Everything was beautifully snow-covered, and the hills and mountains created some of the most scenic views we’ve ever experienced. The Arctic Train excursion was a real highlight—exciting, informative and full of fascinating history. On board, the customer experience was excellent. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly throughout the journey, and the bar staff, in particular, were outstanding. Overall, the cruise far exceeded my expectations, and I was delighted with the experience. We travelled as a party of seven, and each of us purchased the additional drinks package (£349.86 per person) with the understanding that it would cover basic beverages. Particularly as half the group did not consume alcohol. It was therefore surprising to find that bottled water in the cabin was charged at £3.00 per bottle. If the aim is to reduce plastic use, it would make more sense to provide a refillable glass bottle or jug in each cabin, with multiple refill stations across the ship rather than just one on Deck 5. Additionally, tea and coffee ordered at the bar were chargeable, unless we walked to the back of the restaurant to use the self-serve machine. This felt inconsistent with what we expected from the package. Other extra costs also felt high, such as £120 per person for Wi-Fi, and an additional £5.00 per person per night for cabin cleaning, especially when the cruise itself cost just under £3,000. Despite these issues, the trip itself was fantastic, and I would still recommend it to anyone interested in seeing the Northern Lights or experiencing the Arctic.

Wasnt possible to see aurora due to weather conditions but overall is a nice evening activity Recommend

Complete waste of money; nothing like the description! You only have access to two tiny rooms on the boat, the rest is off limits. Staff ignored everyone on the trip, they disappeared into their own part of the boat for most of it. A bowl of digestive biscuits was dumped on each table. We spent most of the 3.5 hours in the downstairs "bar" where noone was serving as there weren't enough seats in the upstairs room. There was no information about the aurora on board, we just spent an hour or so going one direction, stopped for an hour then came back. Total waste of money

Beautiful experience! Francesca started with a presentation on how northern lights are formed and showed us exactly where we’re going and why. She was so sweet and patient and seemed like a very genuine human being. My husband and I opted for the jacuzzi and that was the best decision we made. Beautiful city lights in the middle of the water on a cruise, in a jacuzzi (just my husband and I) and northern lights above us!

I liked the vintage vessel and the chit chat with the Captain. Again like the previous day, the tromso weather was not that great but moving forward towards dark, finally got the glimpse of the northern lights. The highlight of the tour was Sauna in that cold night.

Horrible experience, cramped boat, and didn’t see any signs of northern lights .. wud not recommend this to others

We spent two weeks on the boat with our family and friends in February and March to explore the fjords and do back country skiing. We had a fantastic time. The crew was amazing with Brijard, Lyn, Erling and Trond: incredible food, great navigation, fantastic flexibility for the ski drop off, superbe atmosphère. We felt extremely safe and welcome. We all hope to come again.

A fantastic crew for this one week ski touring trip ! Food was fantastic thanks to Erling and Lyn the best chefs ever! The best boat driver with Trond! And the Captain always drove us safe and smooth! What a great week we spent on Stronstad! Cherry on the cake is the sauna and jacuzzi to relax at the end of the day!

Avoid if you can and safe money. Dangerous boat, covered in ice all over, staff guides unprofessional not interested like it was punishment for them to seat on the boat. No safety instructions provided or where the life vests are. Hazardous especially when travelling with kids. Ended up cruising around Tromso, no talks given during the 4h journey. Overall terrible.

The views of Tromso as we went out were great with the cathedral lit up. The staff on the boat were attentive and chatty. Unlimited tea and coffee were included which was needed with the cold. Wrap up warm, I had three layers including ski jacket and salepettes. After we got to a certain point, the boat slowed and both staff and guests looked around for the northern lights. We did catch a glimpse which lasted for between 15- 20 minutes with parts coming out from the clouds. On the way back we were given some rich tea biscuits.

I wished I'd seen some of the other reviews before we wasted 4 hours on this trip. I booked it via Visit Tromso and the trip bates no resemblance to the details provided via the website. I've raised a complaint with Visit Tromso and asked for a refund it was that bad. Plus the ship was very dangerous and like an ice skating ring. The bridge was in a similar state and we had to wait for around an hour for the Captain to land the docking at the end with no explanation as to why and instead around 40 increasingly worried passengers as the Captain tried over and over again to Moor the boat. The following is the nature of my complaint to Visit Tromso. They've not replied to me yet and this is 4 days after contacting them, hence why I've decided to share here too. Complaint to Visit Tromso: Firstly, this is not a complaint about not seeing the Northern Lights. We understand this is not guaranteed and is difficult to see. This is a complaint across a few other areas: 1. The tour was not as described making us feel mis-sold too and like we wasted an important night and a lot of money. What happened on the tour was that we left harbour and sailed about 1 miles North of Tromso. Still very much near the City. We sat around a table for 4 hours and then came back. 2. We arrived back at harbour around 11pm and waited a further 1 hour for the boat to dock. The captain couldn’t dock the boat and i don’t know why. The conditions did not seem that bad. No one communicated during this period which was quite unsettling. This was not good enough. This trip was not as per the description for the following reasons: The tour describes: “Guided tour under the Arctic sky: As we sail into the Arctic night, our experienced guide will take you on an educational and adventurous tour with the Northern Lights as a theme. Learn about the science, history, and the cultural significance of this natural wonder as we gaze up at the sky in pursuit of the Northern Lights” None of the above happened. No-one spoke to us, there was no sailing anywhere and no experienced guide and no education or adventure. All we did was move a mile up the sea and wait in silence. “Enjoy our onboard facilities, offering a level of comfort not comparable to traditional Northern Lights tours by bus. Enjoy our offer of free coffee, tea and biscuits while you enjoy yourself on board our cozy lounges. The bar offers a variety of snacks and drinks throughout your journey.” The facilities were not comfortable and out on deck the surface was extremely dangerous with hardened ice everywhere. Given how easy it was for youngsters to fall from the boat we kept them downstairs. No effort was made to make safe the boat exterior. No gritting. Furthermore, the harbour bridge was a death trap and like an ice skating ring. No effort was made to make this safe. “Experience a exiting visit to the wheelhouse, this is an offer that gives you and your family the opportunity for an interesting chat with the captain and insight into both modern and traditional navigation.” This did not happen. No one mentioned we could do this or made it available. Instead we sat in bored silence doing nothing for four hours. Finally, let me be really clear my understanding of a cruise and sailing experience is not to anchor 1 mile up the sea. I could’ve got a taxi to drive me one mile up the road. We expected an educational cruise as described and this was never the same. As it happens, i did feel the fact we were very much still part of the Tromso light pollution would’ve impacted on chances of seeing the Northern Lights as it needs to be dark to see the lower activity auroras. Quite frankly this tour has been terriby mis-sold and i’m not happy at all. Most of all because we wasted a really important evening in Tromso. This is a very important trip for us and we booked in good faith based on the description which was falsely advertised. In addition, there were three elements of danger. Surfaces on the boat exterior and bridge, plus the docking situation and lack of communication.

An honest review. It was rubbish. The two crewmen that ran the trip were useless, no milk, no hot chocolate, no coffee mate. Is stated that there would be a good selection of biscuits on board, there were 2 packets of the driest planest biscuits for 50 people. The two crewmen seemed incredibly interested in any one that was female and under the age of 25. I must add that the captain was fantastic, we did have a chance to speak to him in the wheel house and he was very professional and knowledgable, a real friendly guy. We were told (by the two crew members) that we were heading up to the North islands, where is was really dark and would have a good chance of seeing the northern lights. All we ended up doing was motoring around the Tromso island in a wet squall. It was honestly crap, the 2 crewmen weren't interested in the slightest. Don't waste your money.

This MS Stronstad cruise is a scam. The guide from Artic Explorer did not even bother to greet passengers. At end of cruise, she walked off amd never even bothered to say goodbye. Throughout the cruise, no explanation of the journey and nothing. The guide from Portugal just did her own thing. The weather was so bad and we knew there was no chance of seeing anything. But the ship inisisted on departing. A waste of time and money. This cruise is also sold by Best Artic. Beware!!!!!

Why not, if you have a free evening. But this isn't a northern lights hunt, more a short round trip along the island of Tromso (so seeing the northern lights depends solely on the luck of good weather and solar activity... exactly the same as if you were in town or on the mountain opposite the city). The ship is quite original, but there's not enough room inside for all the passengers.

Seeing the lights and meeting people from other places. Also very smooth sailing. Highly recommended.

Great experience, our guide was very friendly and informed us perfectly of everything. As we arrived half an hour before the start of the meeting, he invited us to see the museum which is very interesting. On the boat there was coffee, tea and biscuits. Although the night was very covered, the guide was on deck all the time looking for the aurora in the clearings and talking to all the passengers, until finally and almost at the end we got to see it. Thanks for everything, a very good experience.

Because of the bad comments that have written the truth I was afraid to have taken the tour and we went with low expectations. The truth is that cruise ships explain the origin of the auroras at first, and also explain the safety measures. You get on the boat and they give you what they offer is coffee and unlimited you and they put cookies (not a lot but enough). The tour was like 20 people and we were fine. While we were waiting for the aurora you were inside the boat that was heated and you were leaving and there was a little snow outside the boat but nothing to worry about. Now we have gone with a 12-year-old girl and there were no inconveniences. Then we were talking to the guide and the captain very good people and had a lovely chat. In the end we could see the auroras on a cloudy day because they have the equipment to guide themselves.

Unbeatable for the price. First the short presentation in the museum, then we went up to the ship. The sauna was fine with 40 degrees, but sitting under the aurora borealis in the hot tub had something. Great!!

Leider können wir über keine Nordlichter berichten. Es war wenig Platz im Boot Der Kapitän brauchte über 30 min. nach der Rückfahrt bis er anlegen konnte . Somit war es 24 statt 23 Uhr bis wir wieder an Land waren.

A real shame Not enough places for everyone on the boat A very dangerous boat because there is ice everywhere when it would be enough to scrape it with a shovel The walk consists of taking us 1/2 hour towards the open sea, meaning nothing from tromso therefore light pollution You wait without moving in a tiny cabin where there isn't even any water When we returned, near the bridge, a dawn appeared. The boat didn't even stop even though 5 minutes was enough to satisfy In short, a scandal and a money pump