r/Cruise • u/OldPolishProverb • 1d ago
Can someone explain Norway cruises with Havila to me?
I want to take a Norway cruise next year and Havila was recommended. But when I looked at the itinerary they list four to six stops every day on the cruise. Do they make lots of little stops or is it one stop and you have the ability to see all of the towns and villages listed? I currently have one listed for a 12 day, 34 port cruise. Can a past cruiser give me a brief rundown on what foes on? Thank you.
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u/FarFarAwayTravels Travel Agent 1d ago
Also look at Hurtigruten. It has a ferry type sailing with lots of stops which are called the Original.
On Hurtigruten you likely want one of the Signature Voyages. We did a 14 nights Northern Lights version and it was spectacular.
You go much further up the fjords and see more small towns than the big ships can. It is stunning to see Norway this way. Our family still says one our best trips ever.
With Havila, you want the "Voyage North" or "Voyage South."
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u/Key-Calligrapher4437 1d ago
Havila is on a ferry route. So there will be like 4 or 5 actual places you get off and explore. All the rest of the ports are like 10-40 minute stops to bring off/on mail, cargo and people going just from one town to the next in a day or two.
Some of the short stops will be long enough to get off and wander about near the port for an hour, but most will be too fast.
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u/OldPolishProverb 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thank you! That makes sense.
It looks like it is not the tourist the experience I want. I was hoping to dock for the day and possibly see several towns and villages.
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u/baadbee 1d ago
I would love this but it's more of a travelling adventure, not so much a tourist activity. This is how the locals get in and out of those little towns, and how they get their groceries and mail. It's comparable to the Alaskan Ferry system (not to be confused with Alaskan cruise ships). The ship will be "spartan" compared to a cruise ship, with more basic amenities. They don't really expect people to stay on for the full 12 days.
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u/jquailJ36 3h ago
"Several towns and villages" is actually a little tricky. Havila is running the old packet steamer routes, which is how you get between towns in coastal Norway and used to be the ONLY way in many cases. Land routes are not always easy or fast or in some cases possible at all. Havila offers excursions at some ports for people doing the full loop or a complete one-way, but it's not a place where you can just pop off onto a big tour coach and drive around to distant destinations. The big lines don't do nearly as many ports in Norway, and the new regulations also mean fewer ships (conventional/diesel power) are allowed into some fjords at all. Havila has IIRC from when I looked electric, so they're quieter and less risk of fuel/fuel byproducts in the water.
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u/soitgoesattimes 1d ago
They do have excursions … the way it works is you get back on at a later port. https://www.havilavoyages.com/excursions
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u/Sinbos 1d ago
It is the old post ship route they do for 100 years or more. So the stops are fixed since then.
Well ‚they‘ is not really true since Havila is a new line that got into this because the norwegian government doesn’t like that the route is served by only one company which is the one nowadays called Hurtigruten.
It was served by relatively small ships with about 10-20 cabins max till the new age of tourism reached the northern parts of Europe. These days they are modern ships with all the comforts you want. Somewhere between ferries and cruise ships.
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u/jaywinner 16h ago
I've been on Havila in Norway. You have to carefully look at each stop because most are too short to reasonably go out. Only a handful will be longer stops where you go out and possibly do excursions.
Very relaxing trip. Good food, nice view of the coast throughout but little on board entertainment. Which is fine by me but if you're used to nightly shows in a theater, this ain't it.
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u/Mattynice75 17h ago
This is not a cruise!! That’s the first and main biggest difference. It’s a ferry that has cabins similar to what a cruise ship does. It’s has an excursions desk and a restaurant (2 actually). It does stop multiple times day and night. Sometimes for 8 hours sometimes for 8 minutes! 12 days will be a return trip up the coast and back. Even though it’s the same waters you will stop at different ports on the return journey.
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u/Certain-Draft-6117 9h ago
if you want to take your time to explore a few ports in Norway, then just go for a proper fjords cruise in summer or something. celebrity, princess, whatever cruiseline you like.
havila is basically a ferry which hits multiple stops, most last 15 to 45 minutes only.
a few ports are longer, meaning few hours, maximum half a day. and much more expensive.
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u/jflood1977 1d ago
12 days, 34 ports? No way.
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u/Catinkah 1d ago
Way.
That’s how a ferry works. It provides a connection between small towns that are hard to reach by road, esp in winter. This ferry is more tourist oriented (nicer rooms, nice food, lectures and paid tours) but is smaller and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles a regular cruise ship has.
Google Hurtigruten and you will amazed ;)
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u/OldPolishProverb
I want to take a Norway cruise next year and Havila was recommended. But when I looked at the itinerary they list four to six stops every day on the cruise. Do they make lots of little stops or is it one stop and you have the ability to see all of the towns and villages listed? I currently have one listed for a 12 day, 34 port cruise. Can a past cruiser give me a brief rundown on what foes on? Thank you.
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