Posted on 09/15/2011 6:17:58 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
Two people were killed and at least nine injured on Thursday in a fire on a cruise liner operating on a popular route along Norway's craggy coast, officials said.
Police said they received information that an additional four people were missing, but could not immediately confirm it. Nine people were taken to the hospital, two with serious burns and smoke injuries.
The MS Nordlys, with 262 people on board, was evacuated after it caught fire at 9:20 a.m. (0720 GMT) before arriving in Alesund, 230 miles (375 kilometers) northwest of Oslo. More than 100 passengers were evacuated into lifeboats before the ship reached port.
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Thanks for posting the pic.
The news stories on this event are a bit misleading.
In the first place, the Hurtigruten vessels are most certainly not “cruise ships.” They are working ships that carry mail, cargo, local passengers, cars and trucks to some 30+ ports along the western Norway coast, as well as out to some of the islands. They function as a vital lifeline for many coastal and island communities.
Now to be sure, these ships also carry a lot of tourists for sightseeing. But every tourist is told again and again that they aren’t on a “cruise” — no shuffleboard, no dance or painting lessons, no swimming pool. In particular, at a majority of the ports, the stops are so short that shore visits often last no more than ten or fifteen minutes.
In the second place, there aren’t just “several” of these Hurtigruten ships on the Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen round-trip circuit. Rather, there are a whopping total of 14 vessels. One departs Bergen every day, and that ship gets back home some 12 or 13 days later, to start the route again.
The above having been said, these journeys are a fantastic experience. If you can afford the absurdly high prices in Norway, then you owe it to yourself to make the trip at least once before you depart for the heavenly gates!
Moreover, if you want to upset some of your “ecologically sensitive” leftwing acquaintances when you get back to the USA, be sure to tell them you ate a meal or two of whalemeat steak. Norway is one of the very few countries where it’s still perfectly legal to slaughter whales for human consumption!
The knowledge of Freepers never ceases to amaze me.
Very cool. It sounds a lot like the ferries in the Alaska Marine Highway system. A very nice way to get around.
ut1992 wrote:
>> We saw a documentary on these cruises just a couple of weeks ago. <<
A full two-week round-trip was streamed live 24/7 back during June. Was very popular in Norway. You may have seen a partial re-run
>> We are actually thinking about making the trip next year sometime. <<
You might want to consider doing just one-half. Say fly up to Kirkenes and ride back down to Bergen on the ship. That’s what we did, and it’s probably enough for most folks.
To get to Kirkenes, up on the Norwegian-Russian border, you can fly from Oslo. But much more interesting would be to go first to Helsinki, then travel north thru Finland by a combination road-air voyage. Check out Grand Circle travel for one such booking.
>> These are the kind of cruises I can go for <<
Yeah, but remember, it ain’t a “cruise” — strictly defined.
We did the trip in summer, so as to see the Midnight Sun. Luckily we didn’t have 100% cloud cover. But too many summer tourists get up there and never see the Sun!
On the other hand, if you want to see the Northern Lights, and if you like cold weather, you can go during February!
By the way, most of the American tourists on board seemed to have Norwegian blood in their veins. How cool would it be to encounter Michelle Bachmann and Walter Mondale on the same boat at the same time!
RIP.
Thanks for the tips. The Helsinki trip sounds interesting. I will have to look into this.
In terms of sun seekers, we are currently living/working on an expat assignment in Manila and believe me when I tell you that almost all of our travel since moving here is to COLD places. We have really had enough of the tropical heat and humidity in our 2 years here; only a few more months to go and we moving on to my next, and probably last, expat assignment in Europe.
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