MS Fram

Restaurant Aune is the MS Fram’s main dining room — open seating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with menus rooted in HX’s Scandinavian heritage and shaped by the regions the ship is actively exploring. The tiered floor means every table has a sightline to the windows, so even a routine meal comes with a dramatic backdrop; on particularly scenic passages, some of those meals become genuinely memorable. HX’s all-inclusive model covers meals here; wine and specialty drinks are extra.

Restaurant Lindstrøm takes its name from Adolf Lindstrøm — the expedition chef who cooked for both Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen on their polar journeys, and whom Amundsen reportedly called “the most important member of the expedition.” It serves as the MS Fram’s specialty dining experience: a more intimate, refined setting with menus rooted in Scandinavian culinary tradition, included for suite guests and available to all others for an additional charge.

After a full day of expedition landings and wildlife encounters, the Explorer Lounge & Bar is where the MS Fram community gathers. Freshly refurbished as part of the 2025 overhaul, it sits forward-facing on the upper deck with floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows that put whatever’s outside squarely in frame — fjords, icebergs, the occasional humpback. Expedition briefings happen here each evening, which means it pulls double duty as classroom and living room, and on the Fram’s intimate 200-guest scale it tends to get genuinely convivial fast.

Two outdoor hot tubs sit near the Qilak Observation Lounge on the top deck — “Qilak” meaning “sky” in Inuit, which tells you something about the vantage point. Step into one after a morning Zodiac landing and you’re soaking in warm water while polar scenery drifts past at eye level; paired with the sauna on the same deck, the classic Scandinavian hot-cold cycle becomes available in one of the most dramatic settings on earth, and on the Fram it feels less like a luxury add-on than a core part of how the experience is meant to work.

The Science Center sits at the heart of the MS Fram — upgraded and expanded as part of the 2025 refurbishment with high-powered microscopes, interactive touch screens, a library, and dedicated workspace for the Expedition Team. Join a lecture on glaciology, examine a specimen from this morning’s hike, or corner the marine biologist with a question that’s been nagging at you since the first landing. On the Fram’s intimate scale it feels less like a public exhibit and more like a working lab that happens to welcome curious passengers.

The fitness room on Deck 7 covers the bases — treadmills, exercise bikes, a rowing machine, and free weights, all positioned behind panoramic ocean-facing windows. Most guests are logging serious steps on shore landings every day, so think of it less as a resort gym and more as a place to reset and shake off expedition soreness; the icebergs scrolling past the windows make the treadmill considerably more tolerable than usual.

The sauna on the top deck of the MS Fram is a legitimately great place to be after a cold-weather landing — panoramic windows let you watch the polar scenery while the heat does its thing, and paired with the hot tubs on the same deck, the full Scandinavian hot-cold cycle becomes available in what may be the most dramatic setting most people will ever experience it in. On a polar expedition ship, this is less an amenity than a recovery tool, and it does its job extremely well.

The MG Grand Suite with Balcony is the top category on the MS Fram—at 24–39 m² (260–420 sq ft) on the upper deck, with private balconies that frame polar scenery from every angle; select suites add a private outdoor hot tub directly on the balcony, and each suite is named after a Norwegian polar hero, connecting the plaque on your door to the same historical thread the ship was built to honor. Inside: a full seating area, double bed, sofa bed for up to four, single-serve coffee machine, minibar, TV, and safe; the suite tier also unlocks included dining at Restaurant Lindstrøm, priority boarding, champagne welcome, daily turndown, laundry service, and room service.

The Q2 Mini Suite is the MS Fram’s mid-range suite—upper-deck positioning, a proper window, seating area, double bed, and sofa bed for up to four, at roughly 15–20 m² (161–215 sq ft)—and it also unlocks the suite perks that matter most on this ship: included dining at Restaurant Lindstrøm, priority boarding, champagne and a welcome platter on arrival, and daily turndown. For families or pairs who want room to decompress after long expedition days without the full Grand Suite commitment, it’s the efficient call.

The Q4 Mini Suite is the compact version of the MS Fram’s suite tier—upper-deck, windowed, with a seating area and double bed configurable as twins, at roughly 10–11 m². It still delivers the core suite perks: included dining at Restaurant Lindstrøm, priority boarding, champagne welcome, and daily turndown service. For a couple who wants the suite experience without paying for space they won’t use, the Q4 is the smart play—you get the Lindstrøm access that makes evenings worth lingering over and a comfortable retreat to come back to after landings.

The U2 Outside Cabin sits in the Arctic Superior tier—upper-deck positioning, a window (some with limited view), seating area, refrigerator, and a double bed configurable as twins, at roughly 17–18 m² (183–194 sq ft). The upper-deck location puts you closer to the Explorer Lounge and outdoor spaces with generally better natural light, and for expedition travelers who want a notch above the essentials without committing to a suite, it’s a consistently solid choice.

The F2 Outside Cabin is the MS Fram’s Arctic Superior category—a step up from the standard Polar Outside in terms of space and light, with proper picture windows (some with limited view), a seating area, refrigerator, and a double bed configurable as twins, at roughly 10–13 m² on the lower deck. For travelers focused on the expedition itself—and let’s be real, you’ll spend roughly 30 minutes a day actually in your cabin—the F2 is excellent value: comfortable and well-appointed without paying for square footage you won’t notice is missing, and the communal spaces on the Fram are genuinely good anyway.

The FJ Outside Cabin is a Polar Outside category that punches above its tier on footprint—at roughly 17–21 m² (172–226 sq ft) on the upper deck, with a window (limited or no view depending on the specific cabin), a refrigerator, and some include a sofa bed for up to four guests. The limited view is the tradeoff, but on the Fram—where so much of the experience happens in communal spaces and on deck—the cabin window is less important than you might expect; if size matters and the suite categories are out of reach, FJ is a genuinely smart option.

The N2 Outside Cabin is a Polar Outside category on the lower decks—porthole window, seating area, double bed configurable as twins, and en suite bathroom with shower, at roughly 10–13 m² (108–140 sq ft). The porthole gives you light and orientation without the full panoramic framing of upper-deck categories; for budget-conscious expedition travelers who are going to spend the vast majority of their waking hours on deck or ashore, it’s a straightforward, solid option—the expedition experience is identical from every cabin on this ship.

The SD Outside Cabin is the MS Fram’s wheelchair-accessible category, located on Deck 3 with a porthole window, refrigerator, and a private en suite bathroom with accessibility adaptations—it may also be available for general booking when not reserved by guests with accessibility needs. Either way, it delivers the same complete expedition experience as every other cabin on the ship: the same shore landings, Science Center access, Expedition Team programming, and all-inclusive model. If you or a travel partner has specific mobility requirements, your ABC Trips broker can walk through what to expect at each landing site.

The I2 Inside Cabin is the MS Fram’s most value-forward category—interior cabins with no window, at 10–13 m² (108–118 sq ft), with a double bed configurable as twins, private en suite bathroom, TV, safe, and tea and coffee facilities. The pitch is simple: you will not be in your cabin—polar expedition ships are not cruise ships, and the draw is outside, in the Zodiacs, on the ice, in the Science Center; the I2 gives you a dark, quiet room to sleep deeply between landings, which after a full day in the elements is exactly what you need, and lets you put more of your budget toward the part that actually matters.