Would like info on Norway?

Question

I'm going on a Vantage Travel, Grand Coastal NorwegianCruise up to Kierkenes. Asking for info re: clothing to wear in Sept, availability of American food & shops in little towns, cost of coffee and clothing, any ethnic stores near the docks of small towns, what currency is most convenient i.e. travel checks, ATM machines, krones.

Answer 1

Lets do this one at a time:

1) Clothing: Kirkenes is several hundred miles north of the arctic circle, yet has a relatively "continental" climate in the summer.  In September you can expect the temperatures to be between 40-55 degrees (Fahrenheit) during the day.  It does rain often in the late summer/early fall so you will want some waterproof clothing (and shoes).  In this particular climate scarves, gloves, and some kind of hat (preferably a beanie) will go a long way to keeping you warmer (especially at night).  You don't need to pack for extreme cold weather though ...

2) Food:  Once you go above Trondheim you're not going to find any "American food."  The last vestige of anything even remote resembling it is the McDonalds in Steinkjer (Nord-Trøndelag) which will not be on any of your stops past Trondheim.  The only place you can even find any sort of "American" food items is in the large cities, so you're certainly not going to find anything in the very small and isolated northern costal towns.  

3) Prices:  Pretty much everything in Norway is expensive.  A cup of coffee (plain, no frills) will run you around $4 a cup (and not a very big cup at that).  Clothing is VERY expensive.  For example, I bought a North Face parka when I came home over Christmas because it cost $400 in the United States, instead of almost $900 for the EXACT same jacket in Norway.  

4) Stores:  There will be tourist stores and artisan shops in any town you stop at along your way.  

5) Currency:  Travelers checks are a bad idea, and seeing as how the currency of Norway is the Norwegian Krone I would suggest you use that currency.  If you hand them Dollars, Euros, or Pounds they'll just look at you funny and tell you to exchange it for Kroners (just the same way if someone tried to use Japanese Yen at a Taco Bell in San Diego).  ATM's are the easiest way to access your money while you are traveling.  The cruise ships itself should also have some kind of service on board for exchanging money (and most of them have crude ATM's).  You can also use ATM's at banks in the towns you visit to take out money - it really is not hard.