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!