About halfway through the 11-day cruise up the coast of Norway, as we are approaching the Lofoten Islands, it finally dawns on me that it’s time to jettison the idea that today’s scenery cannot possibly live up to the magnificence of yesterday’s. Opening the curtains of my stateroom that morning on yet another astonishing view, the penny drops, along with my jaw.
We are deep into fjord country and so the escalating levels of beauty – towering, thickly forested mountains plunging into dark seas glimmering with the endless golden light of an Arctic Circle summer giving way to ridiculously picturesque, cobblestoned towns nestled around harbours filled with brightly coloured fishing boats and lined with planter boxes vibrant with summer flowers – come with the territory. Best just to sit back, camera at the ready, and expect to be gobsmacked as yet more mythic, operatic scenery slides into view.
Witnessing all this peerless Norwegian beauty from such a front row position, it’s hard not to feel a little pleased with yourself to be exploring Norway by ship, particularly on a vessel like Marina, part of Oceania Cruises’ seven-strong fleet. Oceania Cruises is known as being a “destination focused” cruise line, meaning that the ports of call for its ships and the shore excursions offered at each one are as carefully curated an element of the cruise as the experience of being on board the vessel itself.
For this cruise, called Legends of Norway, we first sail to Oslo from Copenhagen in Denmark before making our way north, well into the Arctic Circle, visiting eight other harbours and myriad stunning landscapes before disembarking the Marina in the town of Tromsø. With each of these small precious encounters with Norway, the Legends cruise becomes like the travel equivalent of a dégustation menu.
We are travelling in midsummer so the golden light stretches on and on, the sun setting after midnight and rising just a couple of hours later, which adds further enchanted atmosphere to the Norwegian terrain’s default fairytale vibe.
In Oslo, under an intensely blue sky filled with fat white clouds like exuberant cartoon explosions, you can walk along the docks, now home to cafés, bars and restored vintage sailboats, towards Norway’s National Museum (Nasjonalmuseet). There the existential angst brought on by viewing the world’s finest collections of paintings by Edvard Munch, including his most famous, the darkly compelling The Scream, can be alleviated in the museum’s superb café over delicious, creamy prawn and dill smørrebrød, velvety sour cream porridge and strong Norwegian beer.
The Norwegian dedication to art and culture is apparent in nearly all Marina’s ports of call with architecturally significant cultural centres and opera houses, both traditional and modern, commanding prominent, landmark positions on the waterfront. In the almost improbably gorgeous Kristiansand, a town of historic timber housing, graceful wooden churches, a city beach and a series of busy canals surrounding its famed fish market there is Kunstsilo (Art Silo). This harbourside art museum (next door to the imposing Opera House with its undulating timber roof), carved out of towering, concrete silos, features an impressive overview of modern Norwegian art and an equally noteworthy bar, perched on top of the silos, with panoramic views over the harbour and surrounding landscape.
It’s not uncommon for the views to distract you from the thing you actually came to see. In Alta, there’s a UNESCO-listed site just a short bus ride from the town’s centre that features some of the oldest rock art in the world, dating back to 4200 BC. But these ancient carvings are located on the shores in one of the most beautiful fjords in Norway so it’s easy to find yourself distracted by all that blue-green majesty and great swathes of purple wildflowers that shade the shoreline.
Marina is a small luxury cruise ship (capacity 1250) that’s been traversing the world since 2011 and has recently emerged, from a multimillion-dollar refurbishment. This is not a ship for cruisers with a penchant for waterparks. This is a more graceful, genteel, food- and wine-focused experience. It’s tailor-made for the kind of traveller who considers good coffee, excellent bread baked from scratch each day and an impeccably mixed cocktail all non-negotiable staples on the daily to-do list and who believes that discussing lunch and dinner options is an essential and logical topic of conversation while eating breakfast. The Marina’s seamless blend of the two experiences – food and destination – comes into distinct focus the morning we sail into the harbour at Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city that wraps around the base of majestic Mount Fløyen like a necklace.
As the ship nears its berth, I’m fronting the bar at Baristas, Marina’s excellent café that doubles as the ship’s aperitivo bar at night, waiting for a latte to accompany an array of freshly baked croissants and Danish pastries. My coffee, pastries and I pull up a stool at the window bar and watch a glass-roofed funicular ascend Fløyen, appearing out of Bergen’s charming cluster of UNESCO-listed timber buildings and stone fortifications and then rising to the top of the mountain. In a few hours I’ll be there too, taking in the stupendous views over the city, hiking through shaded, soft green forests of fairytale trees and past still clear ponds reflecting clouds, towards the peak and its god-like perspective on the fjords spread out below. Even better, I know that on my return, I’ll be well fed.
Marina’s recent food and beverage upgrade includes Aquamar Kitchen, an airy space with a sunny LA vibe and a menu focused on fresh, light and healthy foods – think poke bowls and egg white omelettes – served alongside cold-pressed juices and mocktails. There’s also the excellent Pizzeria at Waves Grill, that serves thin-crust Napoli-style pizze, blistered at the edges and topped with excellent ingredients like San Daniele prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella. For a nightcap, the experimental cocktail bar Mixology not only features an impressive range of rare tequila and whisky but produces clever concoctions, like a smoked and chai-infused Old Fashioned sweetened with maple syrup that’s both theatrical and surprisingly delicious. Another surprise is Marina’s buffet-style Terrace Café, which changes cuisine every day of the cruise and does it properly and thoroughly.
The four specialty restaurants are booked solid every night, allowing for the opportunity to share a table and tales with fellow cruisers. Italian restaurant Toscana’s generous bread selection includes a superb focaccia that heralds the arrival of a trolley full of extra-virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar from across Italy. In dark and moody pan-Asian restaurant Red Ginger, dishes like miso-glazed sea bass and finely cut sushi accompany a drinks list that includes fine Chinese tea and sake.
In teak-floored Jacques, the menu, designed by namesake chef Jacques Pépin, includes an applause-worthy goat’s cheese soufflé and a crepe Suzette station while American steakhouse Polo Grill with its soft leather armchairs offers an astounding variety of rich, grain-fed US-grown beef. Privée, the 10-seat private dining room is an elevated multi-course experience with foie gras, lobster and truffles – the perfect excuse to dig deep into Marina’s impressive cellar of vintage wines from across the planet.
Marina provides an apt framework to experience Norway’s splendour. That obviously means sights like the canals, cobblestone streets and timber churches of the beautiful town of Kristiansand and the wild, windswept, sparsely populated majesty of the Arctic Circle scenery around Hammerfest. But perhaps the most memorable moments come from flinging back the curtains and stepping out onto the balcony of your luxurious stateroom each morning to start the day stunned by a surfeit of spectacular beauty while still in your pyjamas. That’s an experience few others could parallel.
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