CLASSIC CRUISING


A Viking Good Time on Saga’s New Pearl


Gary Buchanan enjoys a


leisurely tour of


Norway with the traditional style of Saga Cruises


T


he sea, the colour of beaten metal, turned grey and then strato- spheric blue at the


horizon. On its surface, little tussocks of ice were strewn, bril- liant white, like blossom left from some religious ceremony. I was delighted to be back in one of my favourite cruising regions, the Norwegian fjords. Most ships schedule their


visits to this sequestered corner of Europe during June and July, but I was paying a rare visit in early May on board Saga Pearl II. Very much a niche operator, Saga Cruises rarely conforms to the norm and tends to steer a course away from the regular cruising playgrounds. If more familiar des- tinations are featured, then it’s at a time of year bigger cruise lines would rarely contemplate.


To employ the cliché ‘land


of contrasts’ is to do Norway a disservice. Visitors revel in a beguiling mélange of spectacular scenery and colourful com- munities. The natural tableau is stop-in-your-tracks stunning – although not in a rolling slopes and gentle hues way.


Norwegian mountains mean business – huge grey giants lurch- ing through the mist; unspeakably, 


Summer 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING 71


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