We interpret Cretaceous sedimentation in the Norwegian Sea, following the Jurassic rift episode and until the onset of Campanian rifting, to represent a post-rift thermal subsidence stage (ca. 140–80 Ma), i.e. a setting characterized by tectonic quiescence. This contrasts with previously published models, which emphasize the importance of tectonism in the Cretaceous evolution. The proposed model includes a significant tectonic relief and water depths in the Norwegian Sea, following Jurassic crustal stretching and associated tilting of major fault-blocks. Variation in sediment rate, type of sediment and thickness distribution, described to be indicative of Cretaceous tectonic events, are, in this paper, interpreted to reflect variations during infilling of the inherited Jurassic rift architecture, as well as responses to post-rift thermal subsidence, sediment loading and differential compaction during burial. The near perfect onlap of Cretaceous horizons along pre-existing fault scarps, later deformed by compaction, demonstrates the progressive post-rift sedimentary infill of deep-water basins by sedimentary bodies with a variety of depositional profiles. Cretaceous sediments in the Møre and Vøring Basins reached thickness (after compaction) of some 7–9 km, and this load produced a downward flexure of the lithosphere. Westward tilting of the Mid-Norway continental shelf area during the Cretaceous and onlap of post-rift sediments along basin margins, where the Cretaceous succession is relatively thin, demonstrate this. The infilling package of Lower Cretaceous sediments, which represents the immediate post-rift deposits, assume the wedge-shaped geometry of the remnant Jurassic rift topography and may display divergent reflector configurations induced by compaction. Early Cretaceous sedimentation rates, in major parts of the Norwegian Sea, are interpreted to be lower than the subsidence rate and accordingly Late Jurassic fault scarps remained significant features on the basin floor for a considerable time. The Early to Late Cretaceous transition saw a remarkable increase in sedimentation rate; the Cenomanian–Santonian rate was four-fold that of the average rate during the Early Cretaceous. The increased sediment supply outpaced subsidence and the topographic relief was levelled in the Santonian causing the different depocentres of Early Cretaceous time to merge into a wider depocentre. We interpret this as a mature stage of the post-rift development, when thermal equilibrium was obtained. The period of tectonic quiescence was terminated by a new rift episode, which was initiated in the Early Campanian and culminated with the final opening of the North Atlantic 55 Ma ago.