Cruises: Everything you need to know about Havila Voyages’ Havila Capella

Dining

The food onboard Havila Capella is exceptionally good with locally sourced Norwegian dishes such as Jarlsberg and Norvegia cheese at breakfast, reindeer fillet at lunch and Vestland fish stew or Lofoten baked cod for dinner.

The main dining room, Havrand, sits at the back of the ship on deck six, with floor-to-ceiling windows that provide wraparound views as the ship hugs the coast.

Havila Voyages has decided against buffet meals, to reduce food waste and maintain good hygiene, but there is plenty of choice at all meals with the option to upgrade to Havila Gold menus for the whole cruise or on an a la carte basis.

You can choose as many dishes as you like from the basic breakfast and lunch menus – or from the basic and Gold menus if you’ve upgraded.

This is because they are all small dishes. So the Pragerskinke breakfast ham, for instance, is a single slice and if you order the delicious scrambled eggs with butter and chives you have to order toast separately.

Similarly the lunchtime reindeer, although delicious, is a dish of four finger-sized slices so you’ll need perhaps a forest mushroom soup, Havrand’s green salad and potato of the day to go with it.

It makes for a leisurely meal, which works well as long as you don’t have to get off the ship. The longer stops, typically two to four hours, may come in the morning or afternoon and if they straddle lunchtime take-away picnics are available.

At dinner there’s a more traditional starter, main course and dessert menu, although vegetarians still choose from 10 or more small dishes such as crispy pea schnitzel or risoni with wild mushrooms.

Alternatively, you can eat at the Hildring Fine Dining Restaurant, where the five-course evening meal is an elaborate “salute” to the “cold, clean seas along the Norwegian coast and the best Norway has to offer”.

This includes kingcrab from Varanger, scallops from Hitra, pan-fried turbot and rack of lamb from Dovrefjell with cloudberries and herb crumble to finish. All delicious.

Apart from that there’s the Havly Café, also on deck six, where you can buy hot drinks and pastries any time of the day or room service, which is only free for suites.

Havila Gold packages cost £311 per person on the Round Voyage, £204 on the Voyage North and £178 on the Voyage South and includes a broader choice in the main restaurant, one evening meal in the speciality restaurant, unlimited speciality tea and coffee from the café and no cover charge for room service.

There also discounts on some excursions and items from the onboard shop, plus a sparkling wine welcome pack in your cabin.

If you just want a tea and coffee package, this costs £108 per person for Round Voyages and £60 for North or South – a single cup of cappuchino costs around £5 without a package.

You can also buy non-alcoholic drinks packages at £154 per person for 30 units and an alcohol package for £618 per person for 70 glasses, £459 for 50 and £285 for 30.