HX Hurtigruten Expeditions, MS Spitsbergen, UK and Ireland Review

MS Spitsbergen, UK and Ireland

This Western Isles cruise was greatly disrupted by poor weather and heavy seas. Thankfully the captain and his crew made the decision based on the forecast to use the best day to land on St Kilda. Apart from that half the planned itinerary was lost to the weather and replaced by either 'cruising' in rough seas or landing at sheltered mainland ports which were not part of the plan. The expedition team worked hard to replace missed excursions but this failed to meet the original aim of visiting the Western Islands. The ship was clean, comfortable despite the weather, and well equipped. All the crew worked hard and were friendly, professional and hard working. I suspect the demographics of the passengers surprised the crew as many were at least as old as us and in some cases less agile especially as all landings were carried out by tendering using small inflatables!
The worst part was the embarkation and disembarkation through Port Glasgow. The cruise terminal is a marquee with a limited car park for taxis, coaches and drop-offs. This is poorly signposted and lacks any facilities. We arranged car parking at Morrisons Supermarket about 15 minutes walk from the terminal.