Isn’t it good, Norwegian wood? The Beatles song went round in my mind as I admired the elegant bentwood chairs in Oslo’s Glasmagasinet lifestyle store. Light enough to carry, it was tempting to take a couple to the till. Just as enticing were the understated glass-and-ceramic vases that Scandinavian designers do so well.
Such a large shopping haul was perfectly practicable because I was embarking on my first FOSH – Fly-Out-Sail-Home – cruise.
There is lots to recommend with both no-fly cruises – with no luggage restrictions or airport queues – and fly-cruises; more sun and sightseeing for fewer days away. But less heard of is the handful of one-way FOSH cruises ending in the UK, offered by several lines among their hundreds of round-trip itineraries all over Europe every year.
Another unique aspect of FOSH cruises is that their itineraries are one-offs in lines’ annual calendars, such as the one I chose, which called at small communities in Norway off the beaten tourist track, making the adventure all the more interesting and unusual.
Edwina Lonsdale, managing director of specialist cruise agency Mundy Adventures, says: “Fly-out-sail-home cruises could be considered cruising’s best kept secret because of their rarity.With only a handful of cruises ending in a UK port– among the hundreds of open-jaw itineraries across Europe, such as Copenhagen to Stockholm or Rome to Barcelona– you really have to hunt them out.
“And if you don’t want to fly at all, not many people realise that you can get to Marseille, Nice or Barcelona in a day by train to join a cruise before your relaxing voyage home. A good cruise agent can guide you through the options.”
Could FOSH be the new POSH, that old legend “Port Out Starboard Home” for the best cabins visiting the British colonies in the days of Empire? To find out, I took a 10-night cruise sailing from Oslo to Southampton.
Starting with seven days exploring Norway, I was looking forward to a busy week of stimulating activities and unbridled shopping, winding down with a North-Sea crossing to Orkney before our final day, chilling out as we sailed the 640 nautical miles south to Southampton.
That was the plan. But early the first morning, when we should have been filling our water bottles for excursions in Skagen at the northernmost tip of Denmark, Captain Strazicic’s voice boomed into our cabins announcing that the wind was too high, and it was too dangerous to dock.
Of course it was disappointing not to go ashore and paddle where the Baltic and North Sea meet with one foot in each, or see the sunken medieval church sticking out of the sand. But I have learnt to expect the unexpected on cruises, and this sudden day of sailing around in big circles gave the advantage of more time to explore and enjoy our ship, Oceania Marina.
The next morning dawned bright and clear, and our cruise began at last.Kristiansand on Norway’s south coast is a particularly sunny little city, adding an extra gleam to the stunning new Kunstsilo, an art museum converted from a 1930s grain silo. It rises from the water, a vision in white concrete just across a footbridge from the cruise terminal.
From Haugesund, a Go Local excursion took a group of us to the home and glorious gardens of Anne Lonning and Leif Bjarte, a garden designer and landscape architect, where we heard from Lonning how they’ve transformed their farmhouse and land over 25 years, while devouring cake she had made with home-grown apricots, strewn with edible flowers. Back on board as we sailed northwards, the sun shone so brilliantly I was sunbathing on my balcony after dinner.
With the exception of Kirkwall on Orkney, all our docking places were bang next to the tiny centres of the towns we called at – includingÅlesund, the art nouveau port city rebuilt after a fire in 1904. In Kristiansund, once a big player in the salt-cod industry, there is a free foot ferry linking its neighbourhoods.
This walkability made pottering around the museums, shops, waterfronts and residential streets observing coastal Norwegian life far more appealing than joining six or seven-hour coach excursions, hopping off to photograph waterfalls, mountains and glaciers, as you often do on traditional cruise routes. I didn’t miss out on heart-lifting views of mountains, of which there were plenty sailing in and out of fjords, and every port of call was framed by impressive peaks.
Miffed as I was, a few weeks before departure, to hear that buzzy Trondheim, Norway’s third largest city, had been replaced on the itinerary by a morning in Maloy, a very small town on the island of Vagsoy, it turned out to be an unforeseen bonus, thanks to the Raid Centre. A multi-sensory museum, it tells the story (with the help of numerous first-person accounts) of Operation Archery, the British combined forces raid on this key Second World War German stronghold, over Christmas 1941. Enthralling.
Kirkwall on a summer Sunday was cold and grey, almost everything shut, but a half-day excursion to the astonishing neolithic village of Scara Brae, via the mystical Ring of Brodgar, made up for the weather.
We were blessed with mill-pond quality conditions on the North Sea for the 36-hour voyage down to Southampton. Time for a lie in, to cull my pictures of sunsets, have a leisurely lunch and finish my book.
Packing took no time, without a care about the weight or number of bags, or my suitcase being bounced about by airport baggage handlers. And how nice not to need to rush off for an early flight or have hours to kill in the airport for a late one. I strolled off the ship after breakfast and into a taxi for the short ride to Southampton Central station.
While cruises ending in a UK port are popular with Americans, who use a sea voyage to take them on one leg of a long, multi-destination trip around Europe (such as starting with a beach holiday and ending with a stay in London and tour of the Cotswolds), FOSH is a joy yet to be discovered by the British holiday maker.
The thrill of starting my foreign adventure on day one, combined with a gentle wind down, leaving me rested and refreshed by the end, makes flying-out-sailing-home a must-do-again holiday for me.
Caroline Hendrie was a guest of Oceania Cruises
Oceania Cruises (0345 505 1920;) offers a 12-night Elegant Northern Europe cruise aboard Oceania Vista from Stockholm to Southampton sailing on July 9, 2025. Ports of call include Tallinn, Riga, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Antwerp. The cost, from £4,579pp for a balcony cabin, includes $600 (£467) credit towards excursions per cabin, champagne and a choice of wines and beers with lunch and dinner, dining in speciality restaurants and wi-fi. Flight to Stockholm and one night pre-cruise hotel stay can be arranged for extra charge.
Four More Fly-Out-Sail-Home Cruises
Lisbon to Southampton
You’ll have two full days in Bordeaux and sail away at 11pm from Bilbao, and visit St Malo and Guernsey too, aboard swish small ship Silver Dawn - with a chauffeur waiting at Southampton to whisk you home.
Silversea(020-7340 0700) offers a nine-night, all-inclusive cruise departing on April 3, 2025 from £4,400pp including door-to-door travel.
Reykjavik to Greenwich
Bask in midnight sun on a cruise that dips into the Arctic Circle on Iceland’s north coast, then on to the bracing Faroe Islands, three Shetland Islands and the Orkneys, going ashore in Zodiac boats from luxury expedition ship Seabourn Venture.
Seabourn(0344 338 8615) offers a 14-night all-inclusive cruise departing on June 19, 2025 from £12,499pp, flight extra.
Marseille to Portsmouth
On a leisurely route across the Mediterranean which circumnavigates the Iberian Peninsula, and hugs the coast of France, you’ll be waited on hand and foot aboard luxury, all-inclusive, revamped Crystal Serenity, which has butlers for all.
Crystal(0808 175 0340) offers a 16-night cruise departing on June 6, 2025 from £7,750pp, excluding travel to the ship.
Civitavecchia to Tilbury
Enjoy the must-see sights in Florence, Barcelona and Granada without the crowds on a winter cruise around the Mediterranean that takes in Nice, Marseille, Murcia and Vigo as well, with an excursion included at every port, aboard Scandi-chic Viking Vela.
Viking(0800 458 6900) offers a 14-night cruise departing on January 3, 2026 from £4,780pp.
Unless stated, all prices include the flight out
