Best ski holiday ever 😄 - We spent two weeks on the boat with our family and friends in February and March to explore the fjords and do back country skiing. We had a fantastic time. The crew was amazing with Brijard, Lyn, Erling and Trond: incredible food, great navigation, fantastic flexibility for the ski drop off, superbe atmosphère. We felt extremely safe and welcome. We all hope to come again.

Fantastic ski touring week on Stronstad - A fantastic crew for this one week ski touring trip ! Food was fantastic thanks to Erling and Lyn the best chefs ever! The best boat driver with Trond! And the Captain always drove us safe and smooth! What a great week we spent on Stronstad! Cherry on the cake is the sauna and jacuzzi to relax at the end of the day!

Great boat trip - The views of Tromso as we went out were great with the cathedral lit up. The staff on the boat were attentive and chatty. Unlimited tea and coffee were included which was needed with the cold. Wrap up warm, I had three layers including ski jacket and salepettes. After we got to a certain point, the boat slowed and both staff and guests looked around for the northern lights. We did catch a glimpse which lasted for between 15- 20 minutes with parts coming out from the clouds. On the way back we were given some rich tea biscuits.

Just for the experience... - Very nice boat trip! No cookies on board even though we talk about it 30 times in the ad even if once on the boat it's not so serious. I would have liked more information on Tromsø, on the phenomenon of the aurora... Or something to make us forget that we weren't able to see the aurora borealis that evening for example.

Not indispensable - Why not, if you have a free evening. But this isn't a northern lights hunt, more a short round trip along the island of Tromso (so seeing the northern lights depends solely on the luck of good weather and solar activity... exactly the same as if you were in town or on the mountain opposite the city). The ship is quite original, but there's not enough room inside for all the passengers.

Hazardous and far from enjoyable - Avoid if you can and safe money. Dangerous boat, covered in ice all over, staff guides unprofessional not interested like it was punishment for them to seat on the boat. No safety instructions provided or where the life vests are. Hazardous especially when travelling with kids. Ended up cruising around Tromso, no talks given during the 4h journey. Overall terrible.

I do not recommend this tour!!! - I wished I'd seen some of the other reviews before we wasted 4 hours on this trip. I booked it via Visit Tromso and the trip bates no resemblance to the details provided via the website. I've raised a complaint with Visit Tromso and asked for a refund it was that bad. Plus the ship was very dangerous and like an ice skating ring. The bridge was in a similar state and we had to wait for around an hour for the Captain to land the docking at the end with no explanation as to why and instead around 40 increasingly worried passengers as the Captain tried over and over again to Moor the boat. The following is the nature of my complaint to Visit Tromso. They've not replied to me yet and this is 4 days after contacting them, hence why I've decided to share here too. Complaint to Visit Tromso: Firstly, this is not a complaint about not seeing the Northern Lights. We understand this is not guaranteed and is difficult to see. This is a complaint across a few other areas: 1. The tour was not as described making us feel mis-sold too and like we wasted an important night and a lot of money. What happened on the tour was that we left harbour and sailed about 1 miles North of Tromso. Still very much near the City. We sat around a table for 4 hours and then came back. 2. We arrived back at harbour around 11pm and waited a further 1 hour for the boat to dock. The captain couldn’t dock the boat and i don’t know why. The conditions did not seem that bad. No one communicated during this period which was quite unsettling. This was not good enough. This trip was not as per the description for the following reasons: The tour describes: “Guided tour under the Arctic sky: As we sail into the Arctic night, our experienced guide will take you on an educational and adventurous tour with the Northern Lights as a theme. Learn about the science, history, and the cultural significance of this natural wonder as we gaze up at the sky in pursuit of the Northern Lights” None of the above happened. No-one spoke to us, there was no sailing anywhere and no experienced guide and no education or adventure. All we did was move a mile up the sea and wait in silence. “Enjoy our onboard facilities, offering a level of comfort not comparable to traditional Northern Lights tours by bus. Enjoy our offer of free coffee, tea and biscuits while you enjoy yourself on board our cozy lounges. The bar offers a variety of snacks and drinks throughout your journey.” The facilities were not comfortable and out on deck the surface was extremely dangerous with hardened ice everywhere. Given how easy it was for youngsters to fall from the boat we kept them downstairs. No effort was made to make safe the boat exterior. No gritting. Furthermore, the harbour bridge was a death trap and like an ice skating ring. No effort was made to make this safe. “Experience a exiting visit to the wheelhouse, this is an offer that gives you and your family the opportunity for an interesting chat with the captain and insight into both modern and traditional navigation.” This did not happen. No one mentioned we could do this or made it available. Instead we sat in bored silence doing nothing for four hours. Finally, let me be really clear my understanding of a cruise and sailing experience is not to anchor 1 mile up the sea. I could’ve got a taxi to drive me one mile up the road. We expected an educational cruise as described and this was never the same. As it happens, i did feel the fact we were very much still part of the Tromso light pollution would’ve impacted on chances of seeing the Northern Lights as it needs to be dark to see the lower activity auroras. Quite frankly this tour has been terriby mis-sold and i’m not happy at all. Most of all because we wasted a really important evening in Tromso. This is a very important trip for us and we booked in good faith based on the description which was falsely advertised. In addition, there were three elements of danger. Surfaces on the boat exterior and bridge, plus the docking situation and lack of communication.

To flee... - A real shame Not enough places for everyone on the boat A very dangerous boat because there is ice everywhere when it would be enough to scrape it with a shovel The walk consists of taking us 1/2 hour towards the open sea, meaning nothing from tromso therefore light pollution You wait without moving in a tiny cabin where there isn't even any water When we returned, near the bridge, a dawn appeared. The boat didn't even stop even though 5 minutes was enough to satisfy In short, a scandal and a money pump

Don't waste your money - An honest review. It was rubbish. The two crewmen that ran the trip were useless, no milk, no hot chocolate, no coffee mate. Is stated that there would be a good selection of biscuits on board, there were 2 packets of the driest planest biscuits for 50 people. The two crewmen seemed incredibly interested in any one that was female and under the age of 25. I must add that the captain was fantastic, we did have a chance to speak to him in the wheel house and he was very professional and knowledgable, a real friendly guy. We were told (by the two crew members) that we were heading up to the North islands, where is was really dark and would have a good chance of seeing the northern lights. All we ended up doing was motoring around the Tromso island in a wet squall. It was honestly crap, the 2 crewmen weren't interested in the slightest. Don't waste your money.

Scam cruise by MS Stronstad sold by Best Artic - This MS Stronstad cruise is a scam. The guide from Artic Explorer did not even bother to greet passengers. At end of cruise, she walked off amd never even bothered to say goodbye. Throughout the cruise, no explanation of the journey and nothing. The guide from Portugal just did her own thing. The weather was so bad and we knew there was no chance of seeing anything. But the ship inisisted on departing. A waste of time and money. This cruise is also sold by Best Artic. Beware!!!!!