Archive for the 'European Cruises' Category

The Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium thriller trilogy has become a huge success, and now you can tour the settings where the stories take place.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been made into films and TV series.  Read more... (559 words, 1 image, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Starting at 8 in the morning, we would spend the next eight hours on what is probably the most popular of Iceland’s shore excursions: The Golden Circle Tour. Cruise lines may call the tour something different, but no matter what it’s called, the tour makes a wide sweep to visit three significant attractions near Reykjavik. Geysir, which gave the world the word ‘geyser’; Gullfoss, a thundering double-decker waterfall; and Thingvellir, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, the only place in the world where you can see this phenomenon above water. See the full story, Running Through Reykjavik, Assessing Iceland’s Cruise Tours.

Situated on the southern coast of Finland, Helsinki is a gate between East and West. Finland’s capital city embodies much of the Finnish spirit and its progressive hi-tech push but also is unlike any other Finnish city, due in part to the combination of Swedish and Russian influences.

Popular tours and excursions visit Sibelius’ Home and Art Nouveau locations; the Old Wooden Town of Porvoo; Mustio Manor and Fiskars Ironworks; or the countryside. A day trip to the Arctic Circle can also be arranged.  Read more... (235 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

One of my favorite excursions from Stockholm is to Sigtuna, Sweden’s first town.

Founded in the 10th century, Sigtuna is a pint-size town, so charming as to cause one visitor to remark to Camilla Zedendahl, managing director for Sigtuna Tourism, “When do you close for winter?” As if it were a Disney village. But Sigtuna is a real town, pedestrian friendly on the banks of Lake Mälaren, less than an hour outside of Stockholm. The town can be reached by train, bus, or boat from the center of Stockholm  Read more... (287 words, 8 images, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

Lunch With A View: Geirangerfjord from Seabourn Sojourn, stateroom 720. | photo by Natalie Drake, stateroom stewardess, Seabourn Sojourn

Today, Seabourn Sojourn cruised Geirangerfjord, Norway’s best-known fjord.

Lush green farmlands edge up the rounded mountainsides and chiseled, cragged, steep peaks of the Jotunheimen mountains, Norway’s tallest. Sojourn sailed at a leisurely pace so that we spent a good part of the day in the 15-kilometer fjord.

 Read more... (210 words, 4 images, estimated 50 secs reading time)

One of the more popular shore excursions in Flam, Norway is to ride a bike. You can take the famous Flam Railway in one direction (preferably uphill) and cycle back (downhill into Flam). Or you can pick up a bike in Flam and ride through the valley for some gorgeous views. Note that the uphill journey can be strenuous.

To view more photos of the Flam Bike Ride on Flickr, click Flam, Norway Bike Ride.  Read more... (190 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

Waiting to welcome cruise passengers in Finland. Picture is from the Kirsti Museum, illustrating how people lived in Old Rauma from the end of the 19th century until the 1970s.

Beyond The Baltic: Cruising Finland’s Gulf Of Bothnia

New cruise destinations along the Gulf of Bothnia allow cruise passengers to explore beyond the marquee ports that typically characterize Baltic cruises.  Read more... (343 words, 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Beyond The Baltic: Cruising Sweden’s Gulf Of Bothnia

New cruise destinations along the Gulf of Bothnia allow cruise passengers to explore beyond the marquee ports that typically characterize Baltic cruises.

When in 2007, Silver Shadow docked in Örnsköldsvik, practically the whole city and a band showed up to welcome passengers and to view the rare spectacle of a cruise ship docked within walking distance of the city center.  Read more... (336 words, 1 image, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)

This week, I am on a familiarization trip sponsored by Cruise Norway and partners. I am traveling with cruise line shore excursion planners, managers and coordinators from several cruise lines. The photos below recount our half-day in Flåm, where we will spend another half day today before setting sail for Skjolden-Sognefjord this afternoon.

Gry Mundal, of the Port of Flåm, speaks with cruise line shore excursion planners in the Flåmsbana Museet, the railroad museum.  Read more... (203 words, 12 images, estimated 49 secs reading time)