Havila Voyages

[hallasm]

oakrider and Flyinby are providing some excellent answers and ideas. I’ll just add my views- might repeat some answers.

On 8/19/2024 at 10:51 PM, Chilly Bean said:

1) I see that there are a number of trips that are one way instead of round trip. How does one get back, when you arrive at the last port? Are there flights? And how costly are they?

Havila is sharing the itinerary with Hurtigruten - departure from Bergen each day with 34 port stops from Bergen to Kirkenes.

I have only done the northbound voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes - spend some days in Bergen and Kirkenes before and after the voyage.

I’ll suggest the train from Oslo to Bergen with a detour from Myrdal to Flåm with one night in the Flåm area. Nice area and beautiful fjords.

From Kirkenes either SAS or Norwegian Air Shuttle to Oslo.
 

On 8/19/2024 at 10:51 PM, Chilly Bean said:

2) I'm really interested in seeing the fjords, but Havila offers a number of different voyages. Which ones do people here think are the most scenic?

No - Havila is only sailing in a fixed schedule with all ships - some seasonal differences. If summer they will sail the scenic Geiranger Fjord and Trollfjord. I suggest to also visit Flåm as mentioned above - two iconic fjords Aurlandsfjorden and  Nærøyfjorden.

On 8/19/2024 at 10:51 PM, Chilly Bean said:

3) How many days are adequate?

The Bergen - Kirkenes - Bergen round trip is 11 nights  - In my opinion the 6 nights from Bergen to Kirkenes is adequate. The 11 nights is ‘too much of the same’ - others will tell different. Spend more days in Bergen and Kirkenes.

On 8/19/2024 at 10:51 PM, Chilly Bean said:

3) What is the best month to go? I'm can go any time between April and September. What do you recommend?

June / July where you’ll experience midnight sun inside the Arctic Circle. In June more snow in the mountains and water in rivers.

Be aware that it can be cold in Northern Norway even in July - I have experience 35˚F in June - and still snow at North Cape.

Edited August 27 by hallasm

[Host Jazzbeau]

12 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Be aware that it can be cold in Northern Norway even in July - I have experience 35˚F in June - and still snow at North Cape.

We had 70° F on August 16 (2016) at North Cape.  Really didn't give the ambience we were hoping for!

[Chilly Bean]

Thanks for all your help. I'm so excited! I just booked the Bergen-Kirkenes trip in May on the Polaris!

 

NOW on to the next thing -- Anyone have any excursion recommendations?

Edited August 27 by Chilly Bean

[oakridger]

2 hours ago, Chilly Bean said:

Thanks for all your help. I'm so excited! I just booked the Bergen-Kirkenes trip in May on the Polaris!

 

NOW on to the next thing -- Anyone have any excursion recommendations?

 

Congratulations and have fun planning!  You will love this trip!  I didn't take any of the excursions so can't help with that.  I do agree with @hallasm about going down to  Flåm from Myrdal on the train from Oslo to Bergen if you have the time.

 

Enjoy,

~Nancy 

[hallasm]

7 hours ago, Chilly Bean said:

NOW on to the next thing -- Anyone have any excursion recommendations?

Congratulations.

I haven't taken the many excursions either - plan trips on your own in Trondheim, Bodø and Tromsø.
You can consider 'Meet and greet Lofoten' and the North Cape in Honningsvåg. An alternative in Honningsvåg is the Gjesværstappan bird reserve - 'Birdwatching near North Cape'.

Havila has an excellent description of their excursions day by day.  
The coastal route is a special experience and requires slightly different planning than 'standard cruises' as stops are very short. Several excursions start in one port and end in another. 
Finally, come back with any questions.

[SESerSerena]

On 7/10/2024 at 12:16 AM, mef_57 said:

Glad you had a wonderful trip, Nancy.

I am booked for BKB late September. 3 days in Oslo first and an overnight in Bergen before and after.

I do have a few questions if you would be willing to answer...

1. I just learned there is a library of sorts on board (leave one, take one sort of thing) do you know where it is located?

2. What train route did you do?  I struggle to embrace a 12 or 14hr NIN trip and thought to just train Oslo to Bergen. Still ~6 hrs.

3. I also won't be buying excursions. Did you use taxis in any of the longer ports to get slightly out of town? Foe example the Arctic Alpine Botanical garden is a little out of Tromso. I expect to have sim card for Norway to call for pickup, but I am concerned about adequate time to get picked up and returned to ship...also costs.

Thanks for any insights.

Here's me hoping I can help a little!

 

1.The library is in fact more of a bookcase/bookshelf placed in a corner of a very cosy and welcoming lounge area of Level 3 of the ship. On our Castor, it was located near the "kids corner", toward the Bow/observation deck of the ship. It was very well stock with books in different languages and on different subjects.  

 

2. In the beginning, we also thought of doing just the 6 hours train ride from Oslo to Bergen, but the fact that it was going to be on a weekend meant that there were less "solutions" time wise...we soon figured out. So in the end we flew one day early and did the Nutshell trip.

 

3. We used a taxi in Trondheim because I had left my mobile phone on board and realized it when we were midway through our walk into town. So we walked back to the ship to pick it up, and then hired a taxi so we wouldn't waste anymore time going back and forth. We found more than a few available there at the dock, so no problems there. Cost wise, I would say it was reasonable for Norway. We asked the driver to take us to the other side of town, farthest place, to be able to then enjoy the walk back. It cost 15€. About 15-20 mins ride. 

 

We enjoyed the whole experience so much, I'm sure you will too!! 🙂 

 

[SESerSerena]

On 8/19/2024 at 10:51 PM, Chilly Bean said:

3) How many days are adequate?

 

4) What is the best month to go? I'm can go any time between April and September. What do you recommend?

 

I'll answer these two having had a recent experience..

 

3) We did the 7 days BK voyage...once we got to Kirkenes I did NOT want to get off the ship! They had to force me! 😄 If you have enough days, do the round trip. There are places we saw during the night, that we wished we could have seen in daylight. Some of the stops that are done on the return trip are sooo worth it too. I really wish we could have continued..

We didn't get bored for a minute, never even took out of the luggage the books, card sets etc that we had brought along to be entertained. The days are very "active" afterall, even on board. There's always something to see, stories to hear, food to try, excursions to plan, people to talk to, etc. Really never felt redundant at all.  

 

4) We couldn't pick a month as our work holidays were pretty much fixed, and temperature wise, sea motion wise, crowds wise, etc I felt August worked out great. 

BUT if I had to redo it, I would choose to go at the end of june/beginning of July....mainly for the many more hours of daylight (for example, reaching Lofoten in broad daylight would probably have been even more incredible with the full colors showing), perhaps the for midnight sun, or even for the puffins (unfortunately, they were all gone already).

I'm exaggerating, of course. August was great. Very warm everywhere, close to no rain. Couldn't have asked for more. I was just being picky or trying to be helpful.. 😄 

[SESerSerena]

On 8/28/2024 at 1:08 AM, Chilly Bean said:

Thanks for all your help. I'm so excited! I just booked the Bergen-Kirkenes trip in May on the Polaris!

 

NOW on to the next thing -- Anyone have any excursion recommendations?

 

We did the RIB boat in Bodo for Saltsraumen and the North Cape Plateau. Loved them both! 

 

The RIB boat was a hoot in general..a lot of fun...plus we got to see the Sea Eagles (grown ups and babies learning how to fly), the tides at Saltraumen were definitely showing (and we felt them all 😅) and we got to see the beautiful colors and twirls, and our guide was extremely nice and through the whole tour he shared a lot of interesting historical and cultural facts about Norway. The scenery was simply amazing from the boat/water level perspective. 

 

The North Cape tour was great also. We were lucky to have a beautiful, warm and sunny day. The ride up on the bus was scenic and made interesting by our guide. At the plateau you have enough time to walk around, take pictures, but also I suggets going into the visitors centre and watching the mini-film shown in the theatre. Absolutely breathtaking.

The views from each side of the plateau....oh my!!

 

Just for info. Some of our new acquaintances from the ship took the "revised" version of the Geiranger tour (due to Trollstigen being closed). Didn't love it. They said it was too much of a bus ride and in general a long day (it's an 8 hours excursion). The food at the nice restaurant at the top in Andalsnes partly made up for it, but the clouds during the trip made the scenery not really what it should have been so they felt it would have been better to experience Geiranger fjord from the ship as we did.  

 

 

 

[mef_57]

49 minutes ago, SESerSerena said:

Here's me hoping I can help a little!

 

1.The library is in fact more of a bookcase/bookshelf placed in a corner of a very cosy and welcoming lounge area of Level 3 of the ship. On our Castor, it was located near the "kids corner", toward the Bow/observation deck of the ship. It was very well stock with books in different languages and on different subjects.  

 

2. In the beginning, we also thought of doing just the 6 hours train ride from Oslo to Bergen, but the fact that it was going to be on a weekend meant that there were less "solutions" time wise...we soon figured out. So in the end we flew one day early and did the Nutshell trip.

 

3. We used a taxi in Trondheim because I had left my mobile phone on board and realized it when we were midway through our walk into town. So we walked back to the ship to pick it up, and then hired a taxi so we wouldn't waste anymore time going back and forth. We found more than a few available there at the dock, so no problems there. Cost wise, I would say it was reasonable for Norway. We asked the driver to take us to the other side of town, farthest place, to be able to then enjoy the walk back. It cost 15€. About 15-20 mins ride. 

 

We enjoyed the whole experience so much, I'm sure you will too!! 🙂 

 

Thanks again. I have decided on BKB and no extra excursions other than the included North Cape one. I can always change my mind on board.

I am a bird watcher, and though there are no birding excursions late September, and many birds will be gone, I expect many hours on deck with binoculars and  camera.

I use the train here in Ontario and realize how fatigued I get  so decided to just do the straight Oslo-Bergen trip. I have watched some YouTube blogs of it and it won't disappoint.

As my timing eas for Northern Lights and Autumn colour  it may mean more rain, but I can live with that.

People are posting their fabulous Northern Lights show from this week...even as far south as Bergen, so hoping I finally get to see them.

[Chilly Bean]

As I said in an earlier post, we're booked on a BK trip in May. I'm wondering what to do when the voyage ends in Kirkenes. Is it worth spending a day (and a night) there? Our next stop is Stockholm, and the other option is to get a flight once the boat docks. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[hallasm]

43 minutes ago, Chilly Bean said:

I'm wondering what to do when the voyage ends in Kirkenes.

The very north of Norway close to the Russian border is interesting - maybe Kirkenes is more interesting in winter than summer, but my immediate suggestion is to spend a day in Kirkenes - options are King Crab Safari - the best crabs I have ever eaten or the Snow hotel.

For excursions see what Barents Safari or Snowhotel Kirkenes can offer.

Possible hotels are Thon, Scandic or the Snowhotel.

[Chilly Bean]

Thanks for all your replies. I'd love to hear more the excursions people took. Any ones we shouldn't miss?

[hallasm]

7 hours ago, Chilly Bean said:

Any ones we shouldn't miss?

My suggestion is to do some research and arrange visits to cities with longer stops Hjørundfjorden, Ålesund, Trondheim, Bodø and Tromsø yourself.

For excursions I can recommend 'Highlights of Lofoten, as well as a visit to the North Cape - I immediately think that the North Cape is a must.

May is early and I don't immediately know how much wildlife there is at that time - otherwise there is an offer of eagle and bird safaris.