Winter Wonders of Sweden & Norway, February 2016

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! We had a fantastic time in Scandinavia. This trip was everything we had hoped for. I think my family and I enjoyed Norway the most with all its beautiful picturesque parks, scenic train rides along the way and of course the cool winter weather.

We personally loved the Hurtigruten cruise the most although we were slightly disappointed that we hadn't managed to catch more of the Northern Lights (we only caught a few seconds glimpse of it while on the viking feast trip in Lofoten). Nevertheless, we enjoyed the experience sailing past the Arctic circle and viewing the majestic fjords along the way. Perhaps if we made this trip again, we would opt to spend more time in Tromso, Lofoten and Kirkenes to try and catch the Northern Lights more.

Just some feedback on the trip. Our holiday wasn't the smoothest travel by far. While we had many unforeseen setbacks such the canceled cruise on the initial MS Kong Harald, we would like to commend you and your team for holding true to your promise of 24hr emergency help. We really felt comforted by the promptness of your team in resolving the problems and setting us at ease on our holiday.

However, we feel that certain aspects of communications could be improved. For example, the hotel in Sweden had accidentally charged us for the stay when it was supposedly already prepaid. Also, on arrival in Bergen, when we could not find our driver, we called the emergency helpline but was told that we weren't supposed to have any driver transfer us to the hotel which was not what our itinerary said. Furthermore, she told us that it would only be a 5min walk from the train station to the hotel but according to the train staff, it was actually a 15-25min walk in the dark with all our luggage in tow. Naturally, we decided to take a taxi to the hotel in Bergen. I have also received the refund for accidental charging of our hotel rooms in Stockholm, Sweden as well as the taxi charges for transfer to the hotel in Bergen, Norway. I will check my credit card statement with regards to the USD 850 refund.

Overall the trip has been a pleasant experience and we definitely look forward to coming back to Scandinavia and planning more trips with Firebird Tours. Thank you for your help right from the beginning.