When is the best time to book your cruise? The answer depends on where you’re going.
The only part of your cruise where you can’t relax is in booking it. Planning on cruising Europe’s rivers in the summer of 2010? Better hurry, or you’ll miss the boat.
You’re somewhat better off if planning an ocean cruise in Europe — or if you’re wanting to skirt the Alaskan coast. Ocean-going vessels have more capacity than European river cruisers, but even on big ships, it pays to book early. Read more...(196 words, estimated 47 secs reading time)
Ron Mueck's "Boy," at the ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus, courtesy of Ukendt
Denmark’s second-largest city, Aarhus appeals to so-called “culture vultures.” That’s because for tourists, Aarhus has a number of museums, big and small, that are worthy of a full day’s visit — or longer.
Among the must-see museums: Read more...(283 words, 2 images, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)
Founded in 1252, Klaipeda began when the Teutonic Knights built a castle called Memelburg, near the junction of the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. Over time, a town called Memel emerged around the castle . Klaipeda, in fact, was known as Memel from 1252-1923 and from 1939-1945. Since 1945, the city has been known by the Lithuanian name of Klaipeda. Read more...(607 words, 9 images, estimated 2:26 mins reading time)
Valerie Dubuc, Cruise Director, Port of Le Havre, France
Le Havre bills itself as the “Gateway to Paris,” and indeed, on the day that I arrived on Oceania’s Regatta, many passengers disembarked for bus transfers to explore the City of Light. (More than half of all excursions sold on ships calling in Le Havre are for Paris). Problem is that Paris is three hours away by bus or train. Within a couple of years, TGV rail service will cut the time between the two destinations to only one hour, but for now, the excursion to Paris makes for a long day. Read more...(1027 words, 5 images, estimated 4:06 mins reading time)
Reaching The Port Of Perfection: Saint-Malo, France
This past fall, I had the good fortune to visit Saint-Malo, France. Knowing little about the destination before I arrived on Oceania Cruises’ Regatta, I found myself astounded by the region’s rich diversity.
One of France’s most attractive coastal towns, Saint-Malo has something to offer all cruise ship passengers: sublime scenery, bustling bars, trendy restaurants and cafes, cultural attractions, outdoor activities and Brittany’s best beaches. Read more...(787 words, 2 images, estimated 3:09 mins reading time)
You can't do this from an inside stateroom. Tip # 1. Balconies are better.
It’s one thing to get a great deal, but it’s another to budget so tightly that you extract any possibility for pleasure on your cruise. Yes, inside cabins are cheaper than balcony cabins, but balcony cabins can be much more rewarding. Read more...(784 words, 1 image, estimated 3:08 mins reading time)
Costa's Massimo Masso, master of five languages and ready to serve you.
On board Costa Deliziosa en route to Naples, Italy.
After 24 hours on Costa’s brand new Deliziosa, two things become apparent: Read more...(470 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)
Deliziosa feels like a Carnival Corporation ship, which, of course, it is. Those who have cruised Carnival Corp.’s other brands, particularly Carnival Cruise Lines or Princess Cruises, will feel at home on Deliziosa.
Hosted by Avid Cruiser Ralph Grizzle and Monica Bengtsson, this 25-minute travel show pilot features cruising the Baltic Sea on Regent Seven Seas Voyager, from Stockholm to Copenhagen.
Sunday afternoon, and I am strolling Rua Diogo Leite. It is here that Porto’s popular wine cellars are situated, world-renown for their ports. I’ve yet to duck into one of the cellars, Sandeman’s, for example, but I am in high spirits nonetheless. That’s because the sunny scene here on the River Douro is a happy one. A small band/choir performs traditional songs so lovely that the gathering crowd has a hard time moving on. Against the backdrop of the river and the colorful buildings on the hillside of the opposite bank, one woman in the choir sings loudly, and slightly off key, but with such spirited bravado that she engages the emotion. Once again I experience the true pleasure of travel.
In A New Earth, the writer Eckhart Tolle gives one reason that travel brings such happiness. Tolle posits that a great deal of thinking, say 80 percent if you want to quantify it, is bad for us. Why? Because thinking typically takes us to the past, where regret is prone to rear its ugly head, or to the future, which is the domain of fear and uncertainty.
During travel, much of this type of thinking is absent. Quite simply, we are content to absorb all that is new before us and live in the moment. No regrets of the past, no fears of the future. I don’t know if Tolle is right in his assumption, but I do know that I often seem to be happiest when I am in motion. How about you?
Several companies offer weeklong cruises on the River Douro. The cruises usually begin (and end) in Porto, with included hotel nights in Lisbon before the cruise begins. Tied up alongside the pier near Porto’s wine cellars today is Uniworld’s Douro Queen, which will embark mostly American and British passengers today at 4 p.m. “This has been an amazing year for Douro river cruises,” says Cesario Santos, hotel director on Douro Queen. “It seems that people are suddenly becoming aware of northern Portugal’s beauty and tourism potential. The emphasis in the past has always been on Lisbon and the south.” I can certainly vouch for Santos’ sentiment, and it’s clear that those departing Porto today are in for a real treat, especially with the harvest in full swing in this wine-producing region. “It is a stunning landscape,” says Santos, who comes from Porto. ” You don’t have one single spot on the river that isn’t a ‘wow.’ ”
