Keep a Cap on Kroner While Cruising Scandinavia

If you thought a trip to Ikea would be the closest you’d ever come to a Scandinavian escape, take heart. Two giant Scandinavian steamship lines have announced major budget breakthroughs for their most attractive cities and sights this fall and winter.

From the U.S. arm of a 130-year-old steamship institution, DFDS Seaways, comes first an $855 package that includes round-trip transatlantic air transportation from the East Coast, rail transportation within Scandinavia and a glamorous overnight cruise on an elegant ship. The package also includes visits to three major Scandinavian capitals--Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm--staying at respectable hotels: the Savoy in Copenhagen, the Anker in Oslo and the ritzy Scandic Crown Hotel in Stockholm.

Considering the normal costs of a comprehensive vacation in this pricey part of Europe, the $855 price is a remarkable air fare-included bargain for an innovative package.

You cross the ocean on SAS airlines from your choice of several U.S. cities, paying the lowest price ($855) from Newark, N.J. Arriving in Copenhagen, you have two nights to enjoy that city, then board either the 1,750-passenger Crown Scandinavian or the 2,000-passenger Queen of Scandinavia for an overnight sail to Oslo. On board are the amenities you’d expect to find on an oceangoing liner: nightclubs, a variety of eateries, a discotheque, cinema and gym. Cabins are small but comfortable, each with a private bath. You receive, along with your cabin, a certificate for a Scandinavian buffet dinner (your choice of herring, Swedish meatballs and the like) and a buffet breakfast.

Although you have only one night in Oslo and one night in Stockholm (traveling between the two by rail), for a total of five nights in Scandinavia, you can extend both stays for as long as you like for $60 per extra night in Oslo and $70 in Stockholm.

Dates of validity: Sept. 1 to March 31, with a slight surcharge for September/October bookings.

Conditions: The booking must be made online, by accessing https://www.europeonsale.com. Booking by phone costs at least $95 more. For information: telephone (800) 533-3755.

The other major Scandinavian news is from the Bergen Line, servicing the fiord-lined coast of Norway.

Bergen has eliminated its usual single-person supplement from Sept. 16 through April 15. People traveling alone can book the 11-night Norwegian Coastal Voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes, along the fiords of Norway, for as little as $975, the price that used to be charged to each of two persons traveling together. And there’s a further discount of $220 for single travelers over age 67.

Though several of the Bergen Line ships on this route are new, the lower prices are for the older, smaller vessels. Rates for cabins on these ships range upward from $975, with the lowest fare covering Category D cabins on two traditional ships--the 171-passenger Lofoten and the 169-passenger Harald Jarl. “D” cabins share bathrooms, are furnished with bunk beds and might be inside (no windows).

For $130 more, Category B cabins are available, and these include a private bath, although the double room is still a bunk-bed room. Rates do not include air fare, but you can buy air/cruise packages.

Ships cruise to the charming and busy town of Bergen, the jazz festival town of Molde, historic Trondheim, and up above the Arctic Circle past the gorgeous ice-scapes of tiny coastal towns all the way to Kirkenes.

Each Norwegian Coastal Voyage vessel serves an unusual combination of functions, providing a first-class cruise experience, carrying local passengers and cargo between ports and acting as a lifeline to remote coastal towns and villages. A description of the voyage on the line’s Web site explains: “The ships take children to their christenings, newlyweds on their honeymoons and carry milk and vegetables to remote island communities.”

Though you might normally shy away from cruises, the itinerary for this trip is so unusual, the ships themselves so different from the usual glitzy floating hotels, and the experience you’re likely to have so unrelated to anything you’ve heard about cruising that you might want to give this a second glance.

For more information, contact Norwegian Coastal Voyage at (800) 666-2374, or Internet https://www.coastalvoyage.com.