Everything you need to know about boarding a Havila Coastal Voyage in Bergen, Norway

Confused about where in Bergen to board your Havila Coastal Cruise? Not sure how the embarkation day for this scenic cruise to Kirkenes works? When my family took the Havila Coastal Voyage out of Bergen, we were a little confused too!

In this post, we’ll go over how, where and when to board a Havila Voyage! We’ll cover where the Havila cruises board, how to get to the Jektevik Terminal, and more.

How, when and where in Bergen to board a Havila Coastal Voyage

Note: All the info I share here is based on my trip in summer 2023. You should check with Havila before you board to make sure times, etc., have not changed!

What happens after your book your Havila voyage

• You should get an email announcing “You’re booked!” It will contain basic information including a booking number, dates, the city of embarkation and destination city. It should include a link to the MyVoyage portal as well as an attachment with a detailed receipt.
  
• If you follow the link to the MyVoyage portal and sign in (using your date of birth and email address), you’ll find a few of the same details, plus several downloadable documents that are similar to the receipt that was attached to the initial email.
  
• If you have any questions, like how to book excursions, etc., contact Havila. Their phone number and email address are at the bottom of the booking confirmation email. I used email, and usually received a swift response, always from the same agent. Her first name was Silje!

What to expect your Havila cruise approaches

This is when most people would expect to receive follow-up emails with instructions for boarding day. Unless things have changed, you won’t receive anything like that.

Some passengers report finding boarding instructions on their MyVoyage portal. Unfortunately, this document never showed up on the portal for me.

At any rate, while waiting for your cruise, I recommend reading Havila’s web site carefully, especially this page on getting to the Jektevik Terminal and boarding.

How to board a Havila Coastal Cruise in Bergen

As with any cruise, arrive in Bergen at least one day before embarkation! That way, if your flight is late, you won’t miss your cruise.

You can spend that extra day checking out the UNESCO World Heritage Bryggen historic area.

(I recommend the Bryggen Guiding, a walking tour that includes the Bryggens Museum. See my review of the Bryggen Walking tour!) Also don’t miss taking the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen.

Here’s what to do on the day you’re boarding your Havila Coastal Voyage!

Arriving at the port:

• Havila ships depart from the Jektevik Terminal. (Same as Hurtigruten ships!)
  
• There is no city bus or light rail that goes directly to the terminal. It’s a 20-minute walk from the nearest rail stop. The Flybussen from the airport goes directly to the terminal. You can also take a taxi.
  
• You can store luggage in lockers at the terminal. However, the number of lockers is limited, and they are not free. You may be better off asking a hotel to hold your bags until afternoon.

Checking in:

• Check in begins at 3:30 p.m. (Although at least one document on the Havila web site lists it as 3 p.m.) Boarding starts at 4 p.m. According to the Havila website, you can check in at the terminal until 7:30 p.m., and after that, you can check in on board until 8:15 p.m.
  
• When you check in, you need to present your passport and a credit card. You don’t need to print out proof of your reservation.
  
• Crew will take your bags, photograph you, give you your lanyard with cruise card. They will tell you your cabin number (which you might already know). We also received a piece of paper with basic facts about the cruise, like the time of departure.
  
• If any cabins are available for upgrades, they might let you know at this time. When we sailed, however, you had to do the actual upgrade on board.

Boarding:

• Once checked in, you can take the escalators to the second floor. Here, they tell you to sit down and watch a safety video before boarding. This video will be looping in multiple languages.
  
• Crew may also begin taking dining reservations in this room. (Dining reservations are also taken on board, outside the restaurant on Deck 6.) You choose your breakfast, lunch and dinner times as a set. Then you will eat at those times during your whole journey. The sooner you sign up, the more options you will have for dining times. (Don’t worry too much about excursions or port times interfering with your dining reservation; the dining room staff can be flexible.)
  
• You will board the ship from this room via a bridge. As you step onto the ship, you won’t have to submit to a bag search or an Xray machine. Just show your cruise card and step right on board!

What to do after boarding your Havila voyage

• If you haven’t already booked dining times, go to the restaurant on Deck 6 to reserve. If you like, you can also upgrade any of your meals to the Hildring Fine Dining restaurant at this point (when we sailed this was about $30 extra per person).
  
• If you’re looking for a cabin upgrade, ask about it right away. I think you would do this at the reception desk on Deck 4.
  
• You could book excursions now as well, if you haven’t already. Or you could wait and book them at any time during your trip, as long as there are still spots available.
  
• Relax and explore the ship until your cabin becomes available. When we sailed, this happened at 6 p.m.
  
• Attend the passenger orientation meeting in the converence room. The crew will hold multiple meetings in various languages and announce when they are happening. When we sailed, the English language meeting happened at 5:30 p.m.
  
• Move into your room! Note that you can turn announcements in your cabin on or off. You can also push a button if you want to be alerted of the Northern Lights at any hour.
  
• Eat dinner. The first night is open seating, meaning that you can come any time after 6 p.m., instead of at your reserved seating time. If there is a line for a seating, consider coming back later.
  
• Be on deck at 8:30 p.m. to say goodbye to Bergen!

How to make your Havila boarding as smooth as possible

• Get to the terminal early. Members of our family arrived right around when boarding started. We had to wait in line for about half an hour. Unfortunately, I’ve heard reports of others having to wait in line for an hour or more, with the line stretching out of the terminal into the rain. (It rains a lot in Bergen!)
  
• Don’t worry too much about watching the safety video before boarding. Yes, safety is important! But the safety video will also be playing on the ship, on the TV in your cabin.
  
• Get your mealtime reservation soon as possible. Once you’re through check-in, you can have one member of your group line up to reserve your party’s meal times. When we sailed, there was a line for signing up in the room before boarding, and there was also a line onboard, on the sixth deck. You might save time by signing up on board.
  Also: Make sure you know what time your party wants to eat before it’s your turn in line. Also, make sure you know the cabin numbers of everyone in your party.
  
• Time your first dinner around the sailaway. If you’re like me, you’ll want to watch Bergen recede from the deck, with a glass of champagne in hand. This will happen at 8:30 p.m. (Unfortunately, I didn’t think of this when I decided our group should sit down for our first dinner at around 7:45 p.m. I ended up leaving dinner to zip up to the top deck, just catching a quick glance of Bergen before it disappeared over the horizon.)

Boarding Havila FAQ