I Took a Northern Lights Cruise and It Was Even More Magical Than I Expected

I was lounging in my cabin aboard the MS Trollfjord when the text came in. “Aurora is visible now. So let’s meet outside on deck 9!”

I practically flew out the door, grabbing my coat and camera as I raced up the stairs. I was running so fast I tripped and fell not once, but twice, surprising even myself with the sheer joy and enthusiasm I felt at the prospect of seeing the northern lights.

When I finally made it to the vessel’s top deck, I found a smattering of fellow travelers staring up at the sky in wonder. Fittingly, we were sailing just outside Alta, Norway—nicknamed “the northern lights capital of the world”—when Mother Nature decided to put on a dazzling display.

Northern lights aboard the MS Trollfjord

I’d seen the northern lights once before, when they made an unexpected appearance across much of the Lower 48 in November 2025. But that experience—a reddish-pink glow just above the horizon in my Colorado neighborhood—paled in comparison to what I was seeing now. Slender green ribbons snaked and spiraled across the sky, creating otherworldly shapes among the stars above the ship. The night was cold and clear, without even a wisp of a cloud to obscure the dancing lights’ beauty.

This magical moment took place in early February during a northern lights cruise with Hurtigruten, the historic company that has been ferrying people and goods along Norway’s rugged coastline since 1893. As an added treat, the voyage was led by Tom Kerss, an astronomer and author who serves as Hurtigruten’s “chief aurora chaser.” Here’s what it was like.

Exploring Northern Norway

On this trip, I got to experience one of Hurtigruten’s Signature voyages, a new, premium offering featuring all-inclusive culinary offerings and premium beverages, enhanced guiding, exclusive activities, longer port stays and relaxation amenities. Our itinerary was the North Cape Line, which is offered during the extended winter season from September through April. The full roundtrip voyage lasts 15 days and sails to and from Oslo, with 13 stops along the way. Guests can choose to do the entire cruise or just half, heading either northbound or southbound.

Our group boarded the ship in Tromsø for the southbound journey, joining Kerss’ astronomy group that had already been onboard for the northbound leg. From Tromsø, we sailed north to Honningsvåg, then south to Alta, Narvik, Åndalsnes, Bergen, Kristiansand and Oslo.

Astronomy in Focus

Since this was an astronomy voyage, it included some additional enrichment activities beyond Hurtigruten’s standard Signature offerings. Over the course of the full 15-day sailing, Kerss gave eight lectures and led two masterclasses, with topics ranging from northern lights basics to aurora photography and forecasting. He also joined us at meal times for casual celestial chats, and texted us whenever the northern lights were visible—which is how I knew to run up the stairs for my first sighting onboard.

Tom Kerss, chief aurora chaser for Hurtigruten

A bit about Kerss: He was born in Britain to an English father and a Danish mother. His dad was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force, so his family moved around a lot when he was a kid. His first memory of the northern lights comes from Lossiemouth, Scotland, one of the places where the family lived. He remembers being about five years old at the time, standing on a beach, when he noticed a glow on the horizon. His parents told him he’d probably witnessed the northern lights, and he was immediately hooked.

As he got older, Kerss’ fascination with the night sky led him to pursue degrees in astrophysics and spacecraft engineering. After school, he went to work for the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, the historic home of British astronomy. He also started authoring books on astronomy and dabbling in the then-burgeoning field of astrotourism, taking travelers to see the aurora in Iceland.

Eventually, Kerss’ robust body of work and engaging presence caught the eye of Hurtigruten. For the last three years, he’s guided numerous astronomy-themed voyages up and down Norway’s coast, earning a promotion to the newly created “chief aurora chaser” role in March 2024.

Kerss has traveled throughout the Arctic and witnessed thousands of northern lights displays. But he always loves returning to northern Norway, which is located below the aurora oval—a circle around Earth’s magnetic north pole where auroras occur frequently. “Norway’s sky is like some kind of Disney or Tolkien fantasy, it’s absolutely stunning,” he says.

He also prefers chasing the northern lights at sea rather than on land—and, in his opinion, there’s no better line to sail with than Hurtigruten. “We have a lecture theater on this ship—we don’t have a casino—and we have floor-to-ceiling windows all over because the ship is your portal to Norwegian culture and nature,” he says. “We also have this wonderful panoramic deck on the back of the ship, which gives you such extraordinary views of the night sky. I liken it to a floating observatory.”

View from one of the lounges aboard the MS Trollfjord

Hurtigruten has offered astronomy-themed voyages since 2008 and introduced them on the Signature concept in January of this year. And, since 2014, the company has offered its “Northern Lights Promise,” which effectively guarantees travelers will see the northern lights during their cruise or they’ll get another voyage for free.

“The great thing about sailing on these ships is, because we’re always on the move and we sail the second-longest coastline in the world and we spend so long immersed in the Arctic, the odds [of seeing the northern lights] are always eventually tipping our favor,” says Kerss.

Onboard the ship, our days settled into an easy rhythm. We filled the limited winter daylight hours with shore excursions like dog-sledding, ice fishing, town tours and snowshoe hikes, soaking up northern Norway’s cold, snowy scenery at every turn.

Ice fishing in Honningsvåg while sailing aboard the MS Trollfjord

We also enjoyed Kerss’ insightful lectures, which covered everything from the history and cultural significance of the northern lights to their many appearances in popular culture and the science behind them. After dinner each night, we bundled up and joined Kerss outside to marvel at the aurora, which made near-nightly appearances during our sailing.

Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The wide, open top deck of MS Trollfjord has been cleverly equipped with red lights, which allows passengers to safely navigate in the dark without ruining their night vision. Once the colds rolled in or we got too cold to stay out any longer, we headed inside to 1893 Bar for a nightcap and a recap of the colorful spectacle we’d just witnessed.

“When you see the northern lights, you will see something that no one will ever see again—not exactly like that,” says Kerss. “It’s what makes it the most unpredictable and magical skybound phenomenon by far, even when compared to the majesty of total solar eclipses and everything else… there is nothing like auroras.”

Panoramic views from the 1893 Bar aboard the MS Trollfjord

Life Onboard the MS Trollfjord

Named after a fjord in the Vesterålen archipelago, the MS Trollfjord was built in 2002 to operate Hurtigruten’s Coastal Express route, which is sort of a mashup between a cruise and a ferry. It was refurbished and upgraded in 2023 to offer the line’s new Signature offering. (The Signature cruises have already proven so popular that Hurtigruten is upgrading a second ship, the MS Midnatsol.)

The 500-guest ship offers numerous stateroom configurations, from snug double twin inside cabins to spacious expedition suites with bay windows or private balconies. The standard Arctic Superior rooms are relatively small by cruise ship standards, but I found mine to be bright, cozy and plenty spacious enough—and the focus of the trip is on everything outside the cabin anyway.

An Arctic Superior cabin aboard the MS Trollfjord

MS Trollfjord has three restaurants, which all showcase the company’s Norway’s Coastal Kitchen program. During the peak season, up to 80 percent of food served onboard Hurtigruten’s ships is sourced from along the Norwegian coast. All told, Hurtigruten supports more than 70 farms, fisheries, bakeries, butchers, cheesemakers and distilleries.

Flora, the main restaurant, offers buffet breakfasts and lunches, as well as à la carte dinners, with rotating menus featuring distinctly Norwegian ingredients like truffle seaweed, pressed cod, wolf fish and smalahove—sheep’s head that’s been salted, dried, soaked, seared and boiled.

My favorite dishes at Flora came from the new Sámi menu, developed by Hurtigruten’s Sámi culinary ambassador Máret Rávdná Buljo to celebrate the rich indigenous food culture of the Sámi people of Arctic Europe. The name of each dish was written first in the northern Sámi language (Davvisámegiella), then in English, and included a detailed description of the cultural and historical significance of the ingredients. It was such a treat to get these bite-sized morsels of information throughout the meal.

For instance, the “Guoppargáhkut, smieru láibebihtát ja joknabuonus” was a dish of mushroom cakes made with crispy breadcrumbs and lingonberry chutney. Beneath it, Rávdná Buljo explained that mushrooms are a delicacy for reindeer in autumn, when they need to build up energy for the winter. “Some mushrooms, however, they leave untouched—and these are the ones we can use,” she wrote. “Chanterelles are a good example. They freeze early, and reindeer avoid them, as frozen mushrooms can get stuck in their throats.”

Open for lunch, dinner and mid-day snacking, Brasserie Árran is the ship’s casual bistro-style eatery. The name comes from the northern Sámi word for the fire at the heart of the traditional lavvo tent, and several of the dishes on the menu were developed by Rávdná Buljo. Guests can dine on traditional dishes with a modern twist such as bidos, a Sámi reindeer stew and pickled herring on rye bread with cured egg yolk. For an upcharge, Brasserie Árran also offers a variety of dry-aged meats and fish, plus accompanying sauces and vegetable sides.

Dry-aged meat and fish for dinner at Brasserie Árran aboard the MS Trollfjord

Røst is MS Trollfjord’s fine-dining restaurant offering a five-course chef’s tasting menu that rotates throughout the voyage. Røst is included for guests booked in suites for breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea, though all other passengers are welcome to dine there for a fee.

The two-story 1893 Bar, named after the year Hurtiruten was founded, is the vessel’s social hub. Here, perched at the front of the ship, guests can order classic and craft cocktails, Norwegian beer, kombucha and a variety of other alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. As part of Norway’s Coastal Kitchen, 60 percent of the 154 drinks served onboard are now Norwegian.

Afternoon tea in Røst aboard the MS Trollfjord

MS Trollfjord also has several other lounge spaces, as well as a gift shop, a fitness center, a sauna and a small but well-equipped guest laundry. There’s also a small lecture hall, where members of the onboard expedition team host film screenings and give presentations on everything from Norwegian myths to daily life.

Throughout the sailing, guests can also enjoy a variety of culinary activities, like beer tastings at the bar and Norway’s Coastal Kitchen bites on the top deck. During scenic sailing stretches, expedition team members also provide narration.

Winter Magic with Hurtigruten

Overall, the trip was a wonderful way to experience the cold but colorful winters in Norway. As a self-described nerd, I relished the ability to not only see the northern lights multiple times, but also dive deep into the science, history and culture behind them.

When I got home, of course I pulled out my phone to show friends and family my photos of the northern lights. But I also told them about the moments I spent peacefully reading my book while looking out the window at the dramatic, snow-covered peaks of Åndalsnes, savoring every last bite of dry-aged salmon at Brasserie Árran and blissfully soaking up the warmth of the sauna.

Norway was magical in the winter—even more magical than I could have expected—and I can’t wait to return.

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