Travel to Norway
Important information about entry requirements for travel to Norway and what to do if your flight is disrupted.
Entry Requirements
We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.
Passport and visas
All guests must present valid travel ID documents when they check-in to a voyage. This can be either:
A valid passport with a validity of six months post-voyage
A national ID card with travel rights (for Nordic residents and residents of Schengen countries)
Please note that a valid passport or EU/Schengen travel ID is required for those travelling on The Svalbard Line. You will not be permitted to disembark the ship while it is docked in Svalbard without one.
All guests should obtain up-to-date advice on passport and visa requirements from the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of the destination or country(ies) through which you are travelling.
Important: SMIF
All customers travelling on MS Otto Sverdrup (from Hamburg) must complete a Ship Manifest Information Form (SMIF) ahead of departure. Click here to complete and submit the form.
Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA)
Starting in January 2025, the United Kingdom (Great Britian, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) require that all non-citizen or visa holders persons traveling to the UK or transiting through (including a connecting flight) must apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA).
Starting 27 November 2024, all countries outside of the UK and continental Europe can apply for the ETA. The ETA will be required for travel to or transit through the United Kingdom starting 8 January 2025.
Citizens of the continental European countries will be able to apply for the ETA starting from 5 March 2025 and the ETA will be required for travel or transit through the United Kingdom starting from 2 April 2025.
It is the responsibility of all guests to check their documents and apply for the ETA if traveling to or transiting through the United Kingdom. Hurtigruten is not responsible or liable if a guest does not apply or is denied entry to the United Kingdom. Hurtigruten is not liable to reimburse or cover any costs associated with the ETA.
Please find more information on the United Kingdom’s government website here: Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - GOV.UK
Vaccinations
There are no compulsory vaccinations or health requirements for travelling to Norway, but it is the responsibility of all passengers to check and make sure they comply with any health requirements at the time of travel. For the most up-to-date guidance, check the Norwegian Institute for Public Health website.
We suggest you consult your doctor or relevant health authorities about any precautions you should take with regard to deep-vein thrombosis (DVT).
Prohibited items
Hurtigruten complies with ISPS regulations (International Ship and Port Security System) so all luggage is inspected by X-ray/metal detector upon arrival at the port facility or ship. These regulations also include hand baggage scans in all ports of call throughout the course of your voyage.
The below list is not exhaustive. The SSO/Captain are authorised to make a professional judgment as to the legality of any item declared, detected, or discovered on board.
Prohibited items include:
Illegal drugs, narcotics, and illegal substances
All firearms including replicas imitations, non-firing weapons, starting pistols and their components (including but not limited to the following items: Guns, operational or replicas, ammunition of all types, BB Guns, Compressed Air Guns, including Paint Ball Guns, Flare Guns, Gun Lighters, Gun/Firearms Parts, Pellet Guns, Spear Guns, Starter Pistols, Realistic Replicas of Firearms)
All explosives and replicas (including, but are not limited to, the following items: Blasting Caps, Dynamite, Fireworks, Pyrotechnics, Hand Grenades, Plastic Explosives, Bomb Making Components, Gun Powder)
Pointed weapons and sharp objects (including, but not limited to, the following items: throwing stars, flick- or gravity knifes, daggers, knifes or scissors with blade longer than 7 cm (including folding pocket knives), open razors, Spears or Spears gun, archery equipment, crossbows, crossbow bolts and long bow arrows, sabers, swords, Skean Dhus or Kirpans, axes)
Blunt weapons (including, but not limited to the following items: knuckle dusters, brass knuckles, clubs, coshes, batons, flails or nunchaku and other items adapted or intended for use as an offensive weapon)
Restraining Devices (including, but not limited to the following items: handcuffs, leg or head restraining straps)
High voltage stun devices and items containing incapacitating substances (including, but not limited to the following items: tasers, gas guns, tear gas spray, mace, phosphorus, acid and other dangerous chemicals that could be used to maim or disable, poison)
Flammable substances unless carried in limited quantities (including, but not limited to the following items: petrol, methylated spirits, lighter fuel, paints, thinners, large batteries, etc)
Candles or incense
Compressed gas tanks, bottles, cylinders (including, but not limited to the following items: dive tanks, propane tanks, large aerosol cans)
Items containing heating elements (including, but not limited to the following items: Immersion Heaters, Heating blankets, infrared heaters, water heaters, coffee machines, etc)
Remote-controlled or independent flying devices (including, but not limited to the following items: drones, toys, kites of any kind)
Self-balancing hover boards, air wheels, recreational scooters, Segways
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), ham radios, satellite phones, transformers, laser and laser pointers, signalling jamming devices
Flights to Norway
Flying to Norway is one of the most convenient and seamless ways to get to your port of embarkation. To ensure a smooth and hassle-free travel experience, we highly recommend that you complete your flight check-in process in advance. Please visit your airline's official website approximately 24 to 48 hours before your scheduled flight.
We no longer issue physical tickets as all details are now electronic. When checking in for your flight and/or voyage, we kindly request that you present your valid passport/National ID card.
Delays and cancellations
Of course, sometimes flights are delayed or cancelled, but you can rest assured that we are on hand to help if disruptions do occur.
Please note: If you have booked your flights through a third party and run into trouble, please contact your supplier for further assistance.
FAQs: Flight delays and cancellations
Please go to the airport as planned. If you have multiple flights to your destination and the first flight is delayed, please board the flight. It is possible that your flight will still make it on time or the other aircraft will wait for the delayed passengers.
If you miss a connecting flight, head to the airline’s service desk at the intermittent airport and ask for a new flight to your destination. Often, the airline has already rebooked you. While doing so, please also contact us.
Please ask the service desk at the airport for an earlier flight if your new departure time will cause you to miss the ship's departure. You should arrive at the airport closest to your departure port at least 90 minutes before the ship departs. If this is not possible, please contact us for further arrangements.
Please check your booking on the airline’s website using the reference number from the airline.
If your flights are booked through us, you will find this reference (i.e. A1B2C3) on your travel documents.
You may have already been rebooked to an alternative departure. If you have been automatically rebooked, please check that your new flight arrives in time to embark the ship. You should arrive at the airport closest to your ship’s departure port at least 90 minutes before the ship departs.
Please contact us if you have not been automatically rebooked or if your new flight times mean you cannot embark the ship on time.
Please contact the airline’s service desk at the airport. The airline should offer you new flights, and if necessary, a hotel stay. If you receive new flight times, please check if you will arrive at the airport closest to the departure port of the ship at least 90 minutes before the ship departs.
Please contact us if the service desk at the airport is not able to help you or the new flight times are too late for making it onboard the ship.
Please check the transfer timetable and take the next bus. If there are no more transfers that day or if the last transfer will not get you to the departure port of the ship on time, please take a taxi. If you are not able to arrive to the port on time, even with a taxi, please contact us.
You will first need to register your missing luggage at the airport or online via the airline’s website. Missing luggage can take time to locate. Therefore, during the registration process, please add all the places you will stay during your trip, including the ship and any hotels, and the dates you will stay there. The airline will give you a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) receipt for the missing luggage.
Please bring your PIR receipt to our onboard reception if your luggage has not been delivered to you before boarding the ship. Our staff will support you with getting the bags delivered onboard. In the meantime, we will assist you with how and where to buy necessary items. We will do our utmost to assist in acquiring medication, but we cannot promise results. It is therefore highly recommended that you place very important items that you need immediate access to in your carry-on case.
Please make sure to keep all the receipts for your claim towards the airline.
For return flights, you must register your missing luggage at the airport or online via the airline’s website. Your luggage will be delivered to your home address by the airline as soon as possible.
If you plan to skip any flights from your flight itinerary you need to let us know first about this change. This is due to Airline Flight Sequence requirement and your tickets needs to be updated so that not all flights are automatically cancelled by the airline.
If you have booked your flights through us and you are informed either prior or at the airport that your airtickets are set to stand-by, this is mostly due to airline overbookings. Please be aware that we do not book any stand-by tickets and you have the right to demand a seat on the flight. Please note that the airlines are informed that you have booked a cruise and need to arrive on time to your destination.