Thinking About Norway? See It From the Sea with Havila Voyages + Up to $400 in Credit (Sponsored Post)

Sponsored Post

This post is sponsored by Havila Voyages.

Part of the fun of having Cranky Concierge expand further beyond just air travel is that it opens up our eyes to a lot of good things that we can offer our travelers. It’s no longer just “hey, this airline screwed everything up, let us help.” It’s now, “hey, we can plan this whole trip and get you some really good add-ons you might not find on your own.”

Today, I want to thank Havila Voyages for sponsoring a post to highlight what I think is a really unique trip that I hope to do some day. For years, there has been one main company sailing all along the Norwegian coastline doing both coastal cruises and also regular hop-on, hop-off travel for those who need the transportation. Havila Voyages started up during the pandemic to serve that same market with a more modern feel.

If you’ve done an Alaska cruise on a giant ship through the Inside Passage, you know a cruise is a great option because you see things you don’t see on land. This is the same kind of thing in Norway except its a smaller ship, and there are so many more places to stop. For example, here is Brønnøysund which lies about halfway between Trondheim and the Arctic Circle.

Image via Havila Voyages

That ship you see just beyond the bridge is one of the Havila ships, the Havila Capella. Or here’s a look at the Havila Castor squeezing its way through Trollfjord which lies about halfway between the Arctic Circle and Tromsø.

Image via Havila Voyages

On the inside, there’s gourmet food included, naturally, and cabins range from inside to suites. Here’s a look at a premium cabin with a panoramc view:

Image via Havila Voyages

There’s also a junior suite with a large bed and then a couch which can be folded out for kids in the sitting area.

Image via Havila Voyages

The most common trip is to either do the 7-day Voyage North from Bergen to Kirkenes which is right near the Russian border on the top of the world or the 6-day Voyage South. There is also a 12-day Round Voyage to do the whole thing since the stops will vary depending upon the direction. But you can also very easily break it up into as little as a 2-day voyage depending upon what you want to see.

What’s really unique about this is that the ship stops all the time and for short periods. So when you do excursions, you will often start in one place and then meet up with the ship a couple hours later in a different location. It all runs together perfectly so you can mix the time between land and the ship. Plus I think you get to wrestle a bear in Kirkenes. (Alright, that’s not true. At least, you hope it won’t be true.)

Why am I running this post now? Havila is running a promo for any booking made by March 10, 2025 on either the Voyage South or the Round Voyage. Each traveler gets $100 per person up to two people to use onboard for the Voyage South or double it to $200 for the Round Voyage. This is for travel through March 31, 2026, you just have to book by March 10.

If you’re interested in a Havila cruise, email info@crankyconcierge.com and we can help you plan this. Or if you just want to browse, go to havilavoyages.com.

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7 comments on “Thinking About Norway? See It From the Sea with Havila Voyages + Up to $400 in Credit (Sponsored Post)

  1. Perfect timing. I just read a great book called “The Shetland Bus”, which details the use of Norwegian fishing boats to transport explosives/saboteurs/refugees between the the Shetland Islands (NE of Scotland) and occupied Norway during WWII. Great book, and it led me to wonder in passing if there are any cruises along the Norwegian coast, similar to Alaska cruises.

    While I personally don’t have the budget for a trip like this and am not a big fan of cruises, this could be a great trip for the right people.

  2. I just had a 11 day xmas roundtrip on Havila which was a bit much to be honest.
    My main goal was to see the Northern Light and I did, so no complaints there. Summer is a better time to visit as it would be more scnery. The winter is pitch dark >20 h a day and you see nothing.
    1. Weather in Northern Europe is bad in winter. The ship is smaller than typical cruise ship. Bring motion sickness pills just in case even if you don’t normally need it. There is a reason Havila has those little baggie all over the ship and people do use them. Several excursions were cancelled due to weather. Others were not running due to Christmas/New year.
    2. The food is decent but not out of the world good like some youtuber suggested. I would rate it above cruise MDR but below speciality. It is seafood heavy. For those more familiar with typical cruise food, it can get difficult after while. Personally, I was craving chicken at the end. The cafe has limited hour and the kitchen close early. You can’t get food anytime you wish like other cruises. I bought snacks and drinks from land. You can’t consume your own alcohol in the bar area. Decaf coffee is powered Nestle.
    3. There are some daily activities. They did a good job showcasing the histroy, culture and food of Norway. It is given in English and German. There is not much other entertainment. A few passengers experessed their boredom. Consider bringing your own entertainment. Northern light sighting were broadcasted. It can be difficult to see with your eyes but easier via camera. I believe we saw it over 5 times over 3 days YMMV.
    4. Wifi is free and decent but not blazing fast. I was able to watch some youtube. Scrolling through reddit can be slow. Cell signal is also available almost the entire trip. We lost satellite signal for half a day mid trip for unknown reason.
    5. The inside room is very small. Much smaller than typical cruise. Two people in that room can be tricky. Room is cleaned every other day. I had sewage smell from my bathroom which was addressed quickly after notifying the front desk. The room is warm and cozy. Bathroom floor can be heated. Shower temperature and pressure are solid. There is a bible in the room and several excursions are focused on local church.
    6. It is a ferry service and in many ports they dock for only 5 min and you don’t get to do much at all. In major ports, you will see passengers embark and disembark.
    7. Check in Bergen was not a good experience. They had only 1 agent at first and eventually increased to 3. I waited in line for over 90 minutes. You are not allowed to access your room right after boarding. I’d suggest to don’t bother showing up early unless you are in a suite. The service is good overall but different from what you may be used to in other cruise. I think the service can be improved by just having more crew members onboard. Many crews are from Sweden and presumably high labor cost compare to major cruise, hence limited crews to save cost.

    1. I, too, went on the eight-day trip from Bergen to KIrkenes. But, I have to say my experience was vastly different. First, I went in the summer. The weather is much better than the winter. Little waves, and sunlight almost 24 hours a day. I see the Northern Lights when we visit Helsinki.

      But, the biggest different outcomes from Wany’s experience and mine is twofold. I will never take a cruise with 2,000 to 5,000 of my closest friends. And second, the type of cruise with Hurtigruten and Havila, brings out an entirely different type of cruiser. If you can agree with what he said, you probably will not like this type of cruise. We, on the other hand, loved it, and thrived on it.

      For the record, Norwegians eat a lot of seafood and lamb. Count on it often on this cruise. I even had the chance to catch my own king crab.

      I think, it is not so much the difference between these two companies and between them and traditional cruise ships.

      1. Alan, I am glad to know you had a better experience in the summer. I enjoyed my trip. I just have a tendency to make things sounds less positive than it is. Summer is definitely a much better time to do this trip (even the crew said that) unless you are looking for Northern Light. Havila has a Northern light guarantee this winter season, if you don’t see it in the winter you get a free one way trip, hopefully they have it again next year.
        I wanted to highlight some difference from traditional cruise ships to help folks set their expectation right rather than coming back and get cranky to their Cranky Concierge. It may have come out a bit negative.
        Regarding food, I did several fine dining before the trip and my expectation might be unreasonable. The food are decent overall with a few things I found a bit strange (dill as decoration on a cake???). I enjoyed the seafood. But after days of seafood, I started to miss chicken. I overheard other guests talking to the crew about the food. The crew mentioned some recent changes were made to the dining concept and menu (back in November or October, I forgot). Some items were removed and those guests were slightly disappointed. My trip had Christmas themed extra dinner menu for a few days and a New Year’s eve special dinner. We also had lots of Christmas decorations along with a table sized Norway map covered by gingerbread man made by the dessert chef.
        I just noticed Cranky’s promotion is for the roundtrip and southbound only (Kirkenes to Bergen). This echo with some online comments that the northbound is better than the southbound which I agree. Due to the schedule and timing, the Northbound spend more time in some bigger cities (Alesund winter only, in the summer a fjord sightseeing cut into Alesund time, Trondheim, Tromso, trip to North Cape etc) with more things to do. The Southbound is a bit lacking. I recall there was only a handful of excursion during the entire second half of the trip (again, winter, bad weather, new year all played a role resulting some excursions cancellation/not running). One redeeming point of southbound trip is the lunch scallop dish in the last 3 days. It was so good and several people (me included) ordered multiple of it everyday.
        There is a mail box onboard. The gift shop lady will mail them for you and use a special ship stamp (mine was a bit cranky and insisted it is only available if I buy postcards and stamps from her shop). If you take the North Cape excursion, you can also send postcards from North Cape which also feature a special stamp. It took mine about 3 weeks to be delivered in US.

    1. I did make one mispeak. We had the 12 day trip. Actually, didn’t think northbound better than southbound. Didn’t hear anyone grumbling about food on Hurtigruten.

      One thing I noted is that Havila seems to be carbon copy of Hurtigruten. We’ll, one in biz for 130 years. Specifically, the Hurtigruten had to stop at each location, even if only for five minutes because they are sole contractor with Norwegian Post to pickup and delivery mail at each stop.

      As it was our very first cruise, we did make one(at least) rookie mistake. We took a noon flight from Helsinki to Bergen, arriving at 2pm for 6 pm. Departure. It was booked on Finnair, flown by Widwroe(dash8). They cancelled flight, half an before departure. It never even left Bergen. Too late to book alternative. Contacted Hurtigruten. They booked us overnight Helsinki, then on to CPH in early AM on SAS, with, connecting flight to Alesund in early afternoon. Had four hour sightseeing until our ship stopped in Alesund. Finnair accepted our EU 261 forms and had our money deposited in our acct. In one week. Another reason to like Hurtigruten and our trip

      1. One last point. Because my wife is Nordic citizen (Finland), our trip was 50% off. Because we were so pleased with our trip, we booked the 8 day cruise around Iceland for May-June 2026. Got $4000 off plus another ten percent of full price, because had previously signed up for their affinity program.

        Yes, it is more expensive than traditional cruises, but service is very personal, unlike traditional cruises, and only 150-200 people on board.

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