We will be taking a Hurtigruten cruise in Norway in July. In the general information document which they sent, they write the following...

"There is a non-tipping policy on the Norwegian Coastal Voyage ships."

This question is for any of you have taken a Hurtigruten cruise. Is the above statement true? No tipping expected? No envelope at the end of the cruise?

No, there wasn't an envelope but we did give one young man a small tip at the end as he was particularly helpful to us when I was unwell.

No envelope, no tipping. On my 'cruise' in May of 2007, some of the crew rotated off duty in the middle of my voyage without advance notice to the passengers.

No tipping. This isn't a "cruise" ship, but rather a nice ship traveling the Norwegian coast, dropping pasengers off and picking others up along the way at the various coastal towns and villages.It has a nice feel to it.

sssteve, some passengers ride only from port to port. The more typical traveler rides the whole way in one direction. In our case, we opted to take the entire roundtrip journey. Tipping truly wasn't expected and was purely voluntary. Because the dining room manager had shown us special consideration (I'm mobility challenged and she was very attentive to our needs), we did give her a small tip but her body language suggested that she wouldn't have been disappointed had we simply thanked her sincerely (money is seldom turned down by anyone but we have had that pleasant experience several times in the past). The housekeeping staff definitely did not throw of vibes of expectation.

The only place where tipping is common in Norway is in restaurants where 10-12% is not uncommon.

Arvin,

You write that "10-12% is not uncommon". What's the standard?? Is it expected to leave a tip in a restaurant, or is it similar to the rest of Europe where a tip is optional and 5% is enough?

Standard is not to tip at all.

Tip in restaurants if you feel the service and food have been above expectations.

I have not traveled on Hurtigruten, but I do believe the statement you received about no-tipping is correct.

Thanks !!