This Norwegian Cruise Ship Promises You'll See The Northern Lights Or You'll Get A Free Trip

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Dalton Johnson | Last updated Feb 13, 2024 9:50 AM ET

Havila Voyages is pushing the limits of hospitality in more than one way on their four cruise ships. Focused on sustainability, they have built hybrid vessels that can cruise for four hours totally on battery power. This design allows Havila to reduce noise along their voyages so you can actually hear the sounds of Norway. Just take a second to think about that, you can hear the sound of a waterfall or birds chirping from the deck of a Havila vessel instead of the engines roaring.

Havila Voyages are not stopping with battery power. Havila is also focused on reducing food waste by redesigning the eating experience while at sea with unlimited small portions made to order. Thus far, this design has reduced food waste by nearly 50% the industry standard. Impressive, right?! But, that's not all.

The true way Havila Voyages is pushing the limits of hospitality is through its Northern Lights Promise program.

What Is Havila's Northern Lights Promise?

In 2023, Havila Voyages launched a program called Northern Lights Promise. In short, it is a guarantee to their voyagers that they will see the Northern Lights on the Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen round trip voyage between October 1st to March 31st. If you don't see the Northern Lights during this time, they will give you a free trip the following Northern Lights season.

Is The Voyage Worth It?

That sounds great right, but is the voyage worth it? My gut reaction says of course. While I have not ridden the entire route, what I have seen blew my mind by the astonishing beauty the Norwegian coastline has to offer. So, in the worst scenario, aka not seeing the Northern Lights on either of the two voyages, spending 19 days staring out the window and exploring Norway's winter wonderland would be well worth with. Now, toss in seeing the Northern Lights on either of your trips, a dream come true.

How To Maximize Your Northern Lights Viewing Experience Onboard Havila Voyages

When you are onboard a Havila Vessel to see the Northern Lights there are a few tricks giving you the best opportunity to see the Northern Lights.

Turn on "Nor Light" in your room so you get announcements from the staff when the Northern Lights are happening
Always have warm layers ready to be put on, most likely you'll need to stand outside in the cold to see the Northern Lights
Maintain your directional awareness, the Northern Lights will be towards the North
Download the Aurora app so you can check the KP index, if you have a KPI of 2, or higher, you have a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights
Use your iPhone to take a long exposure of the sky, this will help you see the Northern Lights better and capture them if they are there

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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