Rainbows and reindeer in the land of the midnight sun: Cruise expert tests the adults-only Viking Mars ship to the Norwegian fjords Lesley Bellew climbs aboard for an 'elegant' voyage from the UK to Scandinavia Seals on white sand beaches and husky puppies are holiday highlights READ MORE: 'I'm a cruise expert and I'd never bring these five items onboard' By Lesley Bellew For The Mail On Sunday Published: 15:28, 5 August 2024 | Updated: 15:50, 5 August 2024 e-mail View comments After sailing along the River Thames to Greenwich, Viking raiders pelted the Archbishop of Canterbury with cow bones before delivering a fatal blow to the head. Fortunately, 1,000 years later, my daughter, Amy, and I receive a much warmer welcome from Viking Mars ’ crew. And after a 10-minute check-in at Greenwich Pier, we board the 930-guest ship moored on the Thames ahead of our Into The Midnight Sun cruise to Norway.
Champagne is waiting in our balcony suite to celebrate Amy’s 40th birthday, and a cabin steward calls in to say mini-bar drinks and the ironing service are complimentary, so we empty the contents of our cases and get them freshly pressed. Lovely. We set about exploring this elegant, adults-only ship where light pours into the grand double-height atrium.
Guests lounge on sofas draped with throws, reading, and listening to the pianist while waiters bring drinks. We stop for coffee, check our schedule and head to Mamsen’s snack bar for Norwegian open sandwiches piled with salmon and prawns. At the midnight sailaway, tea clipper Cutty Sark and Christopher Wren’s Old Royal Naval College are bathed in a silver glow and we point out landmarks to overseas guests.
Cruise expert Lesley Bellew boards the Viking Mars for an 'Into the Midnight Sun' cruise from Greenwich Pier to Norway's fjords. Pictured above, a Viking cruise ship eases through the Unesco-listed Geirangerfjord On board the ship, Lesley (left) finds 'champagne waiting' in her balcony suite to celebrate her daughter Amy's (right) 40th birthday Read More The world's 'best food' as chosen by tourists from street carts in Italy to fresh fish in Florida In Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Islands, our guide Paul (jporkney.co.
uk) delights Amy, a pastry chef, with a visit to Barony Mill, one of the UK’s oldest working ancient grain mills. We leave with two bags of flour to test our luggage allowance on the return from Bergen Airport. On Shetland, we watch seals basking on a white sand beach and wildlife spotting continues near Honningsvag, in northern Norway, where thousands of puffins turn the sea black – targets for circling white-tailed sea eagles.
On the Arctic tundra, Amy trumps me, seeing an albino reindeer which the indigenous Sami people consider the ‘magical leader of all reindeer’. 'In Kirkwall (pictured above), the capital of the Orkney Islands, our guide Paul delights Amy, a pastry chef, with a visit to Barony Mill, one of the UK’s oldest working ancient grain mills,' says Lesley 'On Shetland, we watch seals basking on a white sand beach,' Lesley adds. Above - Atlantic grey seals on the Scottish coast TRAVEL FACTS A 14-night Into The Midnight Sun cruise departs Greenwich on June 9, 2025 and costs from £5,990pp including Bergen return flight, an excursion in each port, wifi and tips ( viking.
com ) Advertisement We’re feeling the magic when waking up in Tromso, overlooking the fjord and Arctic Cathedral, but it’s the husky puppies on Kvaloya Island that steal our hearts. A dynasty of Vikings once lived off the rich pickings of Norwegian cod in the Lofoten Islands, where we see the fish hanging on wooden racks to dry in the sun. Temperatures are 20C-plus and although it cools at night, there’s 24-hour light to savour views.
Dining in the restaurants on Viking Mars is free and so too are the wine, beer and soft drinks. To work off the calories we take walks around the deck and Amy opts to kayak in Unesco-listed Geirangerfjord while I wallow in the infinity pool. One night, we hit the jackpot sailing near Bodo, when the palest of blue skies fades to gold and a rainbow arches over the sea.
We are spellbound by what the Vikings believed to be a burning bridge between Earth and the land of the gods. Viking legends have been woven through our journey but Amy tells me this is her ‘birthday pot of gold’, and her happiness is certainly mine. 'Amy opts to kayak in Unesco-listed Geirangerfjord (pictured above) while I wallow in the infinity pool,' Lesley notes UNESCO Share or comment on this article: Rainbows and reindeer in the land of the midnight sun: Cruise expert tests the adults-only Viking Mars ship to the Norwegian fjords e-mail Add comment.
