At some stage over our twelve-day voyage, two sun-loving Aussies became snow-loving lovers of the Arctic! It’s no wonder that the Havila Round Voyage in Norway was listed in “TIME” Top 100 Destinations in its World’s Greatest Places List 2024.
This is an eco-voyage and not a traditional cruise. Forget buffet restaurants and theatre shows; enter small plates and, sometimes, brief port stops.
Havila Voyages is leading the way in sustainable cruise tourism. The four, identical Havila ships have groundbreaking batteries which can power the ship for up to four hours of fully emissions-free and noise-free cruising. The batteries are charged whilst in port via hydropower.
Over 130 years of the Norwegian Coastal Express
This 2,500 nautical mile route started in 1893. A ship calls into each of the thirty-four ports every day, weather permitting. You can sail anything from one port to the Round Voyage - Bergen to Kirkenes and back to Bergen.
My husband and I sailed the Round Voyage on the Havila Pollux in dark and wintry November.
Small plates (small in size; mighty in taste)
Eating out is expensive in Norway so having all meals included for twelve days is a real bonus. Even better, the food on Havila was delicious and varied with three different dining options.
The main restaurant, Havrand, is a la carte for breakfast accompanied by a buffet of cold cuts, breads, fruit and cereals. So as to minimise food wastage, breakfast is the only buffet Havila offers. Small plates are on offer for lunch and dinner.
The menus change every three days, featuring seasonally driven foods from local suppliers. Some regional highlights included: reindeer, Norwegian fish soup, sashimi from Norwegian rainbow trout and fried Arctic char.
If you feel like a snack or comfort food, there’s the Havly Café which serves food like: burgers, fish and chips, sandwiches and pizza.
One night, for a small supplement, we tried the fine dining restaurant, Hildring. This was a meal to remember. Six delicious courses, each plated to perfection.
What is there to do?
Onboard, there were daily briefings of about half an hour about what to expect in terms of sights, weather and excursions with some Norwegian music and culture. There were also Havila Food Stories events where tastings of local delicacies were offered. There was no live music, dancing nor shows.
Off the ship, Havila offers a range of excursions. At its heart, this trip is a ferry so the stops can be in the middle of the night and can also be super short. It is not a traditional cruise with half-day or longer stops. That’s one of the reasons the excursions are really worth considering.
Also, if you book the excursions via Havila, you don’t have to worry that you’re going to miss the ship. For something unique, some of the excursions deliberately drop you at a different port from where you started.
We loved joining an ATV/Quad Bike Safari out of Honningsvåg in the Arctic Circle. We felt like we were riding to the Top of the World. Exhilarating!
In Tromsø, we hand-fed reindeer and enjoyed hot chocolate around a roaring fire whilst an Indigenous Sámi guide sang songs and told us stories! To cap off a truly magical experience, we also saw the Northern Lights there.
Bucket list Northern Lights
Norway’s Arctic skies are the premier location for experiencing this phenomenon. With little light pollution at sea, we had our fingers and toes crossed!
The first time that the Northern Lights call came across the public address system, there was a stampede to the outdoor decks! We were lucky enough to see the dancing green lights with our naked eye for three nights in a row.
So, what is sailing during the Polar Night like?
It was an adventure but it was an easy adventure. The Havila Pollux is new and everything is Nordic-design, schmick and very clean. We were expertly transported from port to port, unpacking just once and the Pollux was a comforting, cozy refuge to stay aboard or to retreat back to after exploring onshore.
There were rough seas at times and many hours of darkness. On the plus side, there was a lot of snow and the absolute bucket list item of multiple sightings of the Northern Lights.
There’s only one thing for it – to sail this voyage again at a different time of year!
BREAKOUT BOX
The ship:
Havila Pollux (2023). 124 metres length and 22 metres beam. 640 passengers (468 passengers plus room for 172 day travellers). 179 Nordic-style cabins.
What was the cabin like?
Our Superior Seaview Double cabin (just over 15m2) was lovely with a comfortable bed, couch, desk and chair, carpeted floor and everything you need. Special shout out for the heating vent in the wardrobe and the heated floor in the bathroom. In combination with the free self-service laundry on board, washing and drying was sorted.
Words of wisdom from a past traveller:
BYO entertainment. There is an abundance of communal lounge areas with panoramic windows but, if you don’t bring something to do, you will likely get bored especially if you travel in winter and experience long hours of darkness.
There is free WiFi which works very well but it is not strong enough to download anything so come prepared.
Leonie Jarretti, sailed the Round Voyage as a guest of Havila Voyages on the Havila Pollux. She is an avid traveller, lives in Melbourne, Australia with her Husband of more than 3 decades, her 4 adult children and her 2 Golden Retrievers. Follow Leonie here.
