Having fun with Havila

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So the day of our cruise finally arrived and we only had the half day in Bergen and any hopes of going for a decent look around town were quashed when I woke up to the noise of rain at 4am and it was constant for the pretty much the whole next day. We met a group of Australians who had just came off our ship from the other way and they gave us some valuable tips. We went for a brisk walk around the old town and did a bit of shopping for gifts but got soaked so we headed back to the hotel. Bergen really is a stunning town and Bryggen is a real stunning area so managed a few photos before getting drenched.

 

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Our hotel was located just behind these buildings

 

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So on the advice of others we decided to get to check in about 90 minutes early. All the cabs in Bergen are tiny unless you get a minibus but we managed to cram our luggage into the car and the journey to the port took around 15 minutes. Check in was to start at 1500 and we arrived right on 1330. We were about fourth or fifth from the front but within about half hour the line was a good 80-100 deep so happy to arrive early but more on this later. Check in opened right on 1500 and after handing over travel docs and CC to be loaded on to their system we received our documents and lanyard which was our key to the room plus the usual bar tab, ID card etc. Photo was taken and uploaded to our lanyard data and whole process was smooth and well explained. Was checked in promptly and told to head upstairs to the waiting area until the ship was ready to board at 1600. Now here’s the part where it pays to check in early. Up in the lounge area there is a small cubicle manned by one person and this is where you preselect meal times ( you don’t want to leave it until you board despite what the brochures say) Breakfast is no set times as you can eat in the restaurant between 0700-1000 but lunch and dinner have table reservation time slots and the popular ones go early so pays to check in early and do this as soon as you get to lounge. There are 3 seatings for both lunch and dinner and we selected the latest time slot for both. These times are for same slot every day and you can be turned away if you miss you slot or you can be accommodated if there is room.
Watched a short safety video and then time to board at 1600



First look at our ship out of the lounge window

 

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It’s not a massive ship but that’s what appealed to us. The ship was also only 6 months old and runs on LNG hoist also being able to run on battery power with zero emissions for 4hrs at a time. You can hardly hear the engines running even next to them.
After boarding we were told that we would be notified when our rooms would be ready but those with early dinner settings could go soon or just relax. We had the Havila Gold package which offered a selection of free snacks and beverages from 1600-1800 each day so we headed up there.

The Havblikk bar was a great spot for a drink and had great views




Was a bit miserable in Bergen still but nice to chill with a drink

 

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Our room, unfortunately the upgrade didn’t come through but we spent very little time in the room anyway. Beds were comfy and shower worked well and combined with a great heating and A/C system I found the room decent enough

 

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Dinner on the first night. Was pretty impressed with the food. They have slightly different menus for each of the 3 zones you sail ( Fjords, Polar Land and Arctic) so you get each menu for 2-3 days but enough variety to keep me interested.
Havila Gold gives you an extra “special plate” so effectively a 4 course meal and the Havila Gold also allows you to choose multiple items and in fact there were some diners that had 2x steaks for main course
Food was delicious

Starters, Beef Capaccio


Havila Gold “Bonus” Grilled Reindeer fillet


Mains, Steak. Mains come with assorted salad, veggies and assorted greens




Dessert, Apple cake. Absolutely superb

 

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You rarely see that detail of allergens in Australia

 

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Some info on our journey

 

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The menus for the trip
Breakfast was buffet plus you could order a dish off the menu. Havila Golds are allowed to choose multiple dishes and also get free pressed juices. Breakfast menu was the same for whole trip


I posted the dinner menu for the Fjords above but this was the lunch menu

 

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Polar Land menus
Lunch

Dinner

 

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Arctic menus
Lunch


Dinner

 

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The food was all really good and had no problems picking meals.
In addition to the main restaurant there was also a Cafe that did burgers, pizzas etc plus a good range of freshly baked products from the villages we stopped at. Every day had different cinnamon scrolls, danishes and other pastries. Most of the food from the cafe was free with the package and available pretty much anytime during the day

 

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The ship also has a Fine dining restaurant if you choose to treat yourself. Was quite expensive and bookings were essential. Havila Golds got 1 dinner each free of charge and we booked for the second to last evening but unfortunately that was the night Mrs Jase had her worst bout of seasickness so I just went to the normal restaurant instead.

 

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Time to set sail and depart Bergen

Woke up in the morning to this

First long stop of the trip was Alesund and we had an excursion to Gerainger Fjord so disembarked the ship and had to wander through town to get to the smaller port where our small tour boat awaited

 

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The Gerainger Fjord tour was the first excursion we booked and probably the one we were most excited about. Unfortunately the day was very gloomy and patches of drizzle throughout the day but it was a great day out. Many people chose not to go this trip as it was a full day tour involving several hours each way on a smaller boat to reach Gerainger. On boarding the boat we were handed a bag with some freshly cut salad rolls and scrolls. The boat was comfortable enough and had a small cafeteria that served numerous hot and cold beverages plus snacks. Two outside viewing areas but was very windy and weather was -2 (I still had shorts on as I always do)
The Fjord was beautiful and the photos don’t do it justice as it was gloomy all day. Dotted along the sheer cliffs were these abandoned farm houses and some of the stories of hardship were astonishing. Children had to hike an hour down to the water and kayak 4-5hrs to school where they often stayed for a week or more at a time. These houses are abandoned but a group of enthusiasts maintains them and have restored them to the point where some are B&B’s or camping huts now.

 

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At the end of the Fjord lies the small town of Gerainger. We had just over 90 minutes to explore and you could choose to explore on your own or take one of the circle routes with the tour guides. One way was up to the lookout via bus and then back to visitors centre and then walk down to the town via the waterfall and the other route was in the opposite direction. Most in the group wanted to walk down so we went the opposite and walked up. Stunning little town

 

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Took the bus up to the lookout and superb views of the town and Fjord

 

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We had about 15 minutes before the boat departed so quickly went gift shopping at the local gift shop and the locals presented all passengers with little gift boxes containing local cheeses, meats, dips and fish.
The food as delicious and on the journey back there was also fresh locally made cakes and buns handed out. Started getting dark just before we got back to Alesund and had to hurry from boat back to the ship
Great day out though and would do it again