– We finally recovered. It wasn’t that simple. That’s what Åse Stene says. The couple, together with almost 50 other travelers, were ready to join the Hurtigruten Richard With from Trondheim on Tuesday. – They have also traveled with Hurtigruten in the past, and have had good experiences. For the first time, they were going to celebrate Christmas on board with good friends. The trip to Kirkenes with return on 27 December is something they have been looking forward to for a long time, says the couple’s son, Isak Erling Stene to news. Had to drive over five hours But at the end of the day on Tuesday, they received a message that Hurtigruten had informed the travelers that the trip to Trondheim could not be completed due to difficult weather conditions. In a traveling party of nine, three of them had traveled from Bergen. It was one of the three who discovered that the boat did not stop in Trondheim and thus contacted the couple from Byneset. – I started calling Hurtigruten and heard that they had sent out a message to everyone, but that is not true. In any case, we didn’t get anything, says Åse Stene. The couple’s son therefore also called Hurtigruten to find out how they should deal with the situation. They could tell that the nearest port of call was Rørvik, a drive of over five hours from Trondheim. They had to get there on their own. – My parents have paid NOK 13,000 each for this trip. I suggested that Hurtigruten could organize joint bus transport for the passengers from Trondheim. But the company flatly rejected it. Either they had to get to Rørvik on their own, or they could get their tickets refunded, says Stene. – We were really sorry. We don’t understand why Hurtigruten wouldn’t offer us a bus ride, for which we could possibly pay a deductible, says Åse Stene. The Hurtigruten Richard With which could not enter Trondheim due to bad weather on Tuesday. Photo: Linda Bjørgan / news – Not particularly customer-friendly The couple’s son admits that he and his parents were quite upset by the attitude of the company. – It was not very customer-friendly. But according to Stene, Hurtigruten stood its ground and did not want to organize transport from Trondheim to Rørvik. – The solution for my parents was that I got a friend to drive them to Rørvik on Tuesday evening. That’s how they got with the Hurtigruten north from Rørvik last night, says Isak Erling Stene. – I think the information from Hurtigruten was very bad. They disappoint older people, and in my opinion showed a very bad attitude. Hurtigruten should be ashamed, says Stene. – We apologize – We apologize that the guests did not receive good enough information and were notified quickly enough. Unfortunately, a series of unfortunate circumstances and errors have occurred here which meant that we were not able to notify these guests in a good way, and we apologize for that. It should not have happened, and we are now reviewing the sequence of events to ensure that it does not happen again. That’s what Hurtigruten press officer Tarjei Kramviken says. He says that in such cases the guests are entitled to a full refund or to join the next available departure. – In this case, unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to set up a bus. We obviously think it is a shame that he was not satisfied with the dialogue with us and that a bus was not set up, as he requested. We will take that feedback on board. Press officer in Hurtigruten, Tarjei Kramviken. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB scanpix With a aftertaste When news spoke to Åse Stene, she and the traveling party had just eaten lunch on board the boat that had made it up to Bodø. – Yes, it’s nice now, but there will be an aftertaste. She says that they have previously been happy to travel with Hurtigruten, and that it is sad that this is happening. – It was a bit disappointing, I think, and unfortunately bad advertising for Hurtigruten.
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The married couple Åse (80) and Erling Stene (85) were not allowed to board the Hurtigruten in Trondheim – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
