There are a few trip reports here on the Hurtigruten, though I think most are winter ones.

I have been twice, in winter. One time I wrote a trip report.
Click on Norway and scroll down to the trip reports part - you will have to skim through to find them but they are there.

I enjoyed it, enough to go a second time a year later! We met several people the second time who were doing it for the third or fourth time - one was on her 17th trip.

There is no entertainment onboard as such just a few talks and the like, the scenery is the entertainment. It is not like a cruise at all, all very informal and friendly and relaxed. The guests are mostly German and British, with a smattering of Dutch, French and North Americans, plus Norwegians using it as a ferry.
Some of the excursions are worth it, others aren't. For instance you can easily explore Trondheim, and Tromsø on your own, without an excursion. Obviously you learn more with a guide, but if you read up first you can enjoy your time without. Just make sure you are back in time. The boat won't wait for you if you are not on an excursion.

Anyway I suggest you read the trip reports and make your own mind up.

If you want to do an escorted tour, an excellent one is Odysseys Unlimited. We just got back two months ago from their Scandinavian Odyssey tour and were quite impressed. Their fare on the website includes air but if you want to do your own air, which we did, phone them and they will give you the land-only quote. We flew in early and added days on our own in Copenhagen and at the end of the tour added days to Stockholm. www.odysseys-unlimited.com/tours/europe/scandinavian-odyssey

Bev: I agree with Hetismij's assessment. A few years ago we booked the Hurtigruten on our own, but combined it with auto travel. Embarked in Bergen, on board for two nights, did an overnight in Trondheim and had booked the next Hurtigruten the next day for one night, and excellent optional tour of the Black Ice Galcier (Svartsisen). Bus transported us to Bodo where we stayed overnight, picked up our rental car, ferried to the Lofotens, and took a four day drive to Tromso. Returning to Narvik to drop the car, we took the overnight train to Stockholm. We enjoyed that broken-up travel plan immenseley..a total of three nights aboard the Hurtigruten. For the purpose of saving some time we had scheduled for the Norway-in-a-Nutshell trip includingOslo, and for Sweden and Denmark, I elected not to go all the way to the Nordkapp and to the end of the cruise.

Here are a few selected photos to give you a bearing. All driving was with scant traffic and most scenic and enjoyable.
The passing scenes from the ship were outstanding, especially through the Geiranger Fjord.

Stu

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/NorwayScenes2002?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuHk6iIgbSEgAE#

Bev..if you decide on Sweden, here are some selected photos of Stockholm and vicinity...a most engaging and beautiful city.

stu

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Stockholm#

Hurtigruten can be a good way to travel to really out of the way places. You really go for the scenery. Please be aware that because it is a coastal express service, there are many stops where you'll only dock for 30 minutes or so, and then depart again. A few stops last longer and have excursions, but, depending on the schedule, these can be "off" too. I sailed in April from Kirkeness to Bergen, and the large excursions that seemed interesting were in places we stopped in at night, like Tromsø, while Trondheim was an early morning stop, with an excursion from about 6 am to 8 am.

All that said, the journey itself is beautiful for the scenery, the food is excellent and plentiful, it's all fairly informal.

But if you have a chance, book a few nights Hurtigruten, an interesting place to stay and do excursions from (like Bergen, or much further north, Svolvaer in Lofoten) and then take a couple of trains back to Oslo.

There is an interesting tour I came across near Lom, this year, and it's from these people
http://www.norskwoodworks.com/aboutus/aboutus.shtml

They book really interesting hotels: I came across them in the Evesaeter hotel, which is about as authentic and nordic you can get and they have access to places you wouldn't normally visit. They tour around Sognefjell, which is a gorgeous area, but they also take in Lillehammer and a day in Bergen.

Menachem - the Hurtigruten north call in a Tronsø in daylight. The places it does at night on the way up it generally does in the daytime on the way south and vice versa. Trondheim is early morning both ways, but you get more time heading north.

@hetismij, not if you sail south from Kirkeness, then it's a midnight arrival. And I know about the schedules.