This is the MS Fridtjof Nansen, built in 2020 in Norway for HX Hurtigruten Expeditions. She is 490 feet long with a cruising speed of 15 knots and passenger capacity of 490. All cabins are exterior, some with windows, some balconies, some suites.
This is our cabin on the 7th deck. The bathroom is to the right of this picture, and even has a heated floor. There is more hanging and drawer space than we need, even for a cruise this long.
We chose a balcony, but have found that springtime in the high latitudes of Chile are often too chilly or rainy or windy, or all three. We have enjoyed some time outside, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. (Edited later – yes we are 100% happy we had the deck. We used it often and enjoyed having it).
Inside near the elevators is a full screen 6 stories tall that displays videos of the amazing places and wildlife these HX cruises experience.
This is at the bottom of the alcove there, and is a huge Vegvisir. It is an Icelandic symbol sometimes called the “Viking compass”, meaning “the one who shows the way”. It is believed to provide guidance and protection to those who wear it, helping them find their way in difficult times, both literally (at sea) and figuratively (in life). It is not an authentic Viking symbol from the Viking Age, but appeared in later Icelandic manuscripts and became an amulet of guidance and protection.
The ship has three restaurants. One is open for 3 meals with a buffet breakfast and lunch and dinner. Another is open all day for burgers and small bites, then at night they have a theme dinner that changes every three days. Both of these are free for us, including all beverages. The third restaurant is for guests of the suites, but we can pay for a meal there on occasion if we want. Our servers and housekeepers are all Filipino. Most meals are arranged by reservation on the app on our phones.
The ship is an excursion ship, with a large international staff of scientists and expedition leaders. There are presentations and speakers, which are also recorded and available online in our cabins. This was a talk about the geology of the region given by a German PhD.
A bunch of our time is spent on the 10th deck where they have a lounge with floor to ceiilng windows. We relax and enjoy the scenery or play cards together here. Outside on this deck are two hot tubs and a small pool, but we haven’t tried those out yet
Here is our route. When we were planning which excursions to pick, I made a Google Map with all of our stops (blue), days at sea (purple), free excursions (red), paid excursions (green), and start and end points. We begin in Valparaiso and end in Ushuia. Part of the cruise cost is a charter from Ushuai to Buenos Aires, where we’ll stay 4 days afterward.
This is the list of stops. Today we’re on day 7, cruising around the fjords and slowly continuing south. We’ve had some beautiful scenery today, including a transit through a narrows and hour long stop at a tidewater glacier.
