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I recently did two port to port segment with Havila and two port to port segment with Hurtigruten so i think i can compare the two services quite well. Havila has a nicer ship and better cabin but that's the only thing superior to the Hurtigruten offer. Price obviously is cheaper and that's a thing, but food is no match compared to Hurtigruten. Also during rough sea our cabin was really noise due al the plastic covering on the walls.In the end i think that between the two companies this is the inferior experience, nevertheless it's also an overall overrated experience i think that for the price a more turistic cruise is the best choice for this type of travel.

Enjoyed the Havila Kystruten from Tromsø to Trondheim. I had taken only car ferries in the past (Dover to Calais, Portsmouth to Cherbourg), so this was my first overnight experience aboard a ship. First, the disclaimer: I'm not a cruiser, not a traveler who wants to be led around on a leash, not somebody who has any interest in cosplay dining experiences or all the flimflam of mega-ship cruising. I'm an American from the Midwest who has been to Norway a few times and was looking for a way to see the country's spectacular west coast, see some new and smaller cities, and enjoy a couple of excursions.With that background, I will say that the experience was just magical. I interacted with the crew in scheduling dining, in booking excursions, and in ordering a drink or two. In all respects, they were competent, responsive, knowledgeable, efficient, and authentically friendly. Just what I would have expected from Norwegians.The accommodation itself was superb. The cabin (exterior but without balcony) was spacious and extremely comfortable. The desk area allowed me to get some work done very efficiently, and the wifi was flawless both in my cabin and on deck. The heated bathroom floor was a nice plus, though hardly a necessity during August. Closets and drawers were spacious, and the bed was a dream.The ship was extremely quiet. During the entire trip of 3 days, I never felt a bump, tilt, or vibration. It glided serenely along the coast, past what must be simply the most beautiful scenery on the planet. We had two sunny and warm days that could not possibly have been more hospitable. The whole thing was just beguiling.I booked two excursions. One (to the Vega Islands) was superb. The other (to a Lofoten fishing village) was pretty unremarkable. (It involved a bus tour, and I am definitely not a bus touring type.)In short, I have only superlatives to offer. The experience was peaceful, restorative, and really all that I could have hoped. A very fair value. And I will definitely take Havila again--next time, I hope, from Bergen to Kirkenes.

It was good to travel on a modern fuel sustainable ship. Cabin accommodation more spacious than recent river cruise. Public areas never felt overcrowded. Restaurant staff managed to deal with allergies with some prompting. Cabin 5305 was over cargo door which woke us up to 3 times each night. Chose not to seek move but wished we had after 4 nights. Ended up staying awake between opening and closing as electric motor and mechanical noise very loud. Even the beds vibrated. Advise future travelers to avoid 5305 and surrounding cabins on check in.

I had booked this cruise and was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately I had an accident and require surgery, making me unfit to fly/travel and I have to cancel my booking. I asked if the company would allow me to rebook alternative dates given my situation. The company was absolutely inflexible and unhelpful. I would book with Hurtigruten instead!!

They booked us the wrong day Excursions and were unable to change this unboard.Day Excursions are much cheaper to purchase once on board, and they shouldn't be paid for before sailing.Also upgrades are far cheaper on board. Always book the cheapest cabin and upgrade once onboard.

Our trip on Pollux got canceled 3 days in and we had limited options. We elected to start over if Havila would get us back to Bergen to keep our original flight as we were planning the round trip.The customer service in dealing with this was terrible as they didn't communicate anything. Upon return I've submitted a couple receipts for transportation they said they would cover and they now say they will only cover 1. In additional we lost 3 cruise days but they choose not to cover any of this.Due to the risk of having to deal with customer service, I do not recommend Havila.

My booking was just cancelled, 3 weeks before departure because of "circumstances out of their control". I booked several months ago, knowing this is a popular destination. Now there are no available alternatives anymore. Refund was issued but no compensation was offered. Thanks for ruining our summer Havila!

Havila voyages is trying to compete with Hurtigruten with modern ships. Therefore, they must face this comparison.We travelled the Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen route with Havila voyages in June 2024 and with Hurtigruten in February 2023. We would like to summarise our findings before we go into detail.Havila voyages is unfortunately just an inferior copy of Hurtigruten and lags miles behind in all respects. Apart from the cabin!It started with the check-in: without any indication, the check-in was started an hour later. Then, one floor up, you had to queue again for ages to get a mealtime for lunch and dinner. This meant that if you were not one of the first guests, even if you booked a balcony cabin for €7000, you would only get a bad time and a bad seat. In our opinion, those who book an inside cabin are not entitled to a window seat.There was also little emphasis on safety. I didn't see anyone watching the safety video!Havila voyages boasts about its economy concept. This means that no food is thrown away unnecessarily. Unfortunately, bread rolls from the previous day also taste old there. The food at lunch and dinner is boring and of average quality at best. No typical local food and hardly any variety.Even the fine dining restaurant is only of average quality. Apart from that, there are only two different menus. Meat or fish!The selection of drinks is large and good. Be careful with the beverage package on offer. There is no overview of the consumption, and we suspect that we consumed less than was billed.The balcony cabin we booked was very modern and, in contrast to Hurtigruten's superior outside cabin, very spacious.The expedition team does the bare minimum but provides no further information about the area. E.g. "We're about to drive into the Trollfjord." That's it!So, if you don't need a large cabin on your cruise, Hurtigruten is much better than Havila voyages.Addition: On the Geirangerfjord + Trollstigen excursion, you should take the German/English bus, as the guide (Dominic) was great and the lady on the other bus, Norwegian/English, was probably very borderline.

I am not going to write the same as the previous reviewers because I would only be repeating the same complaints. This is a ferry/mail boat, providing vital services to locals . It is not a cruise ship in anyway. You are not pampered and led by the hand. Your cabins are only minimally serviced every second day. Our sheets were not changed the whole 6 day voyage, towels every second day. I cannot speak for anyone in the suites, but the majority of the guests are in sea view or inside. There is next to no service. You are served your meal and you go to the bar and get your own drinks. Outside this you fend for yourself. We cruise regularly in a suite on the lovely Oceania line. The Havila experience was a shock to the system, and will never be repeated. However all was not lost. The good stuff……..We returned yesterday 10th March. Weather was out of this world. Spectacular cloudless sky's, flat calm seas. The ship glides silently into over 30 ports during the voyage. Many stops through the night( there is a bit of noise here for passengers on the port side). REMEMBER ITS A FERRY! The journey was extremely picturesque . Mother Nature at its best. The journey is the Havila experience. If your expectations are more than enjoying the wonderful scenery you will be disappointed. Take a proper cruise ship if you need more. The big ships give you a kind of journey, better service etc, but Havila more interesting. . We like good food, great service and more comfort, Havila does not provide this. Its is poor value for money. Seriously consider your options before taking this kind of trip.

Our generally lovely trip on the Havila cruise ship has turned sour due to the horrible customer service experience after our trip with the Havila office.Our recent interactions with the booking team left us thoroughly disappointed and dissatisfied. Despite our excitement to explore Tromso and Kirkenes through pre-booked excursions, our experience was marred by exorbitant pricing practices and abysmal customer service.Our initial shock stemmed from discovering a significant variance between the official excursion prices in Norwegian Krone (NOK) and the inflated amounts billed to us in Euros. For instance, the official price for the Tromso reindeer ride for two people was 4180 NOK, equivalent to approximately 365.50 Euros at the prevailing exchange rate. However, we were confused to find that we were charged a staggering 392 Euros for the same excursion, far exceeding any reasonable conversion rate adjustment.Similarly, the official price for the Kirkenes dog-sledging excursion for two people stood at 5420 NOK, approximately 473.50 Euros according to the exchange rate. Yet, we were appalled to see a whopping charge of 536 Euros on our bill, again significantly inflated beyond any justifiable conversion.Despite our weeks-long efforts to seek clarification, the customer service team failed to provide any explanation for the unjustifiable price hikes.After several friendly emails and phone calls, we were held up for weeks with our enquiry, ultimately ignored and dismissed with patronising one-sentence answers.

Cancelled cruise at last minute. No explanation. Means we lost out on non-refundable train tickets from the destination. Still no explanation or compensation.Buyer beware!

We chose Havila over Hurtigruten because of the eco friendly claim. But friendly doesn't apply to the staff at all! They treat you really arrogant and you can't rely on information you get: When we boarded and asked about the mealtimes, we were told with our package we'd only need time slots for lunch and dinner, breakfast would be in the fine dining restaurant from 7.30 any time we'd like. When we came back to confirm lunch and dinner, they suddenly said we needed a spot for breakfast too and only one spot was still free. If they had said that in a friendly manner, I wouldn't complain (that much), but they were seriously unfriendly and said that we were lying. I didn't feel comfortable afterwards for the whole journey and felt like the staff immediately afterwards had us on a kind of black list. Plus, when they did a mistake with our booking and charged us too much because they forgot the on board credit, they first said they'll check it and there's nothing to do for us. When we came back to ask, they told us they couldn't find anything and we needed to call our agency. We had already done that in advance because we were unsure if what they told us this time would be right. When we showed them the e-mail we were accused of forging it and they needed it directly from the agency. So we had to contact the agency again (immediately because by then they needed it for the invoice), but whilst doing so we were suddenly called to the reception. There they told us, that now everything's been cleared. But if you think, someone ever offered their apologies for the inconvenience you're wrong. So (most of) the receptionsts chose the wrong profession - if you work in such a position, you should be able to treat guests the right way and not ignore their problems or get angry if someone needs something. Also the food just repeats itself, if you're vegetarian, vegan or have some allergies it's really difficult, you won't find a lot on the menu and even though providing the information with booking, they didn't really seem prepared. At least the 'normal' staff at the restaurants was nice. The cabins are okay too, they could fit more storage and the bathroom sink is just way too small especially with the misplaced cup holders. Overall I really liked the destination, nature is impressive, but some of the staff of Havila definitely cast a shadow over it for me.

In November, 2022, I booked a 16 May 2023 cruise with Havila, not knowing that Havila was selling tickets for cruises for which they had not had ships delivered. Subsequently, I booked all of my accommodation for Sweden and Norway.In late February, 2023, my travel agent advised that the cruise was cancelled. The only comparable cabin I could obtain for another cruise was more expensive. Havila not only charged me the difference, but at the maximum rate. Between that and having to amend airline bookings and cancel and rebook accommodation, this cost me in excess of AUD$5K, apart from the great stress involved. No offer of compensation was made by Havila. While in Sweden in May, I suffered a severe hay fever attack, as did many of the locals. Tests by a GP in Oslo confirmed that it was not Covid – apart from the fact that I had none of the symptoms. Medication managed the symptoms. On the 7th day of the 12 day cruise, I finished the medication and the next day, the same symptoms returned. I was so ill, I stayed in the cabin. Apart from an initial and 2nd Covid test (both which were false positives) and taking my blood pressure, no care was afforded me. I informed the staff that I did not have Covid, as I was suffering with the exact same symptoms, from several weeks prior. I simply had a reoccurrence of hay fever. I was not able to go to the restaurant for the luke warm meals that they served. Unless I rang for food, no one checked on me. At one stage, I did not phone for over 24 hours and no one checked on me, despite how ill I was. Twice, I asked that electrolytes be obtained and this was ignored. One night when the ship was in open, rough seas, I had a bad fall and hit my head and body on both sides, when falling to the ground. The phone was too far from the bed to get help, so it wasn’t until the next morning in calmer seas, that I could phone to let them know I’d had a bad fall and hit both sides of my head. No care was offered.On returning to the final port, Havila allows crew off first, cleaners to come on board, 2nd, and finally, the paying passengers may disembark. This astounded me, despite the previous shocking lack of care that I’d received.Another passenger informed me that her cruise had also been cancelled and Havila told her to keep track of expenses and they’d be reimbursed. No offer had been made to me. On arrival back in Australia and regaining my health, I commenced the tortuous process of trying to obtain reimbursement from Havila, the same as what they’d offered the other passenger. Direct emails to Havila were ignored, so I had to enlist the assistance of their Australian agent. Even she had difficulty obtaining responses. I provided them with requested copies of invoices, to substantiate my claim. All I requested was for reimbursement of the extra airfare charge and the extra 3 nights accommodation I had to purchase, because I could not obtain flights, to fit in with the change of dates. This was approximately ½ of the expenses that I’d incurred. After months of dragging this out, they only refunded the AUD$1.2K for the airfare and told me to claim insurance for the rest. No discussion, despite having asked for accommodation invoices, previously. Insurance will only reimburse for cancellation for natural disasters. My disaster was booking with Havila. From the initial attempt to book, their deceit in not reimbursing me to the extent previously advised, their very slow responses, or no responses to queries, to the trauma of the cruise, it was my worst travel experience in over 50 years.

I am sad to write this review as I have had many good voyages with Hurtigruten on this route and looked forward to a trip with its modern competitor.The voyage was on the MS Polaris from Trondheim to Tromso (07/12 to 09/12). The ship looked great when we walked up to it. Modern and clean. Note; no one helped us with our cases up the steep gangplank!. Check in was straight forward and on initial impression our cabin was modern and well designed, but after a while we perceived a strong smell of sewage. Could not find anyone to complain to. We walked around the deck with friends. The walkways were encrusted with ice that looked like it had not been cleared for days. A terrible health and safety issue. When booking in for our meals we were told that there were no options but the early breakfast Apparently another ship had broken down and there was no choice. The restaurant did not seem that full to our small group of 4.The food; I get the idea of reducing waste - well done but it was bland and not much choice. A real shame as this was a golden opportunity to highlight local produce. Its the poorest food I have had on a Norwegian ship.We were lucky to see the Northern lights on the first night. We had to take very great care as the deck was still covered in ice.Second day - Room was not cleaned neither were my friends room. No one around to complain to. The ship appeared to be late for every port. Maybe I have been lucky in the past in Winter with very bad weather on this route where I could set my watch by arrival times. This meant that our Viking evening was completely spoiled as there was hardly anytime at the venue. A shame as I had booked this having had great experiences before.That night we enjoyed a cup of gluck wein but decided against being on deck. There were still ice cubes from the arctic crossing ceremony on deck and also still a lot of black ice! The next day we left and I can say that we were glad to leave. There was a feeling of an unhappy crew which I can only surmise was due to the management (always seemingly absent)Try this company if you want to. The ships are new and environmentally friendly. Personally I will never travel with them again. My overall impression was that the management did not care less about their passengers.Forgot to say in my original review that everytime we had a shower, the bathroom flooded (in harbour not in rough sea). Same thing happened to our friends in their cabin. I suspect that the company does not read any of these reviews or otherwise I should have got some response. Pity I cannot give 0 stars.Date of experience: December 2023