British Isles 2007
Closer to home this year, but still on the sea, we cruised around the British Isles (with a stop in Northern France) on the Arielle of Transocean Tours.
Mediterranean 2008
Joining Fred Olsen's "Balmoral" in Venice, we sailed back to Dover calling into Croatia, Sicily, Sardinia, Gibraltar and Portugal
Norway 2009
This year we take the Hurtigruten onboard "Finnmarken" on the round trip from Bergen to Kirkenes over 11 days, calling at 34 different ports along the way. Although catering for tourists this is a working ferry service so at some ports the stop is long enough only to allow local passengers to leave and join the ship. At others the ship may stay for several hours whilst loading and unloading goods, allowing for some exploration of the area. At the remainder there's just enough time for a stroll to the end of the harbour to take a photo of the ship before getting back on.
Switzerland 2010
A (mainly) land based holiday this year travelling to Bern by Eurostar and TGV. We based ourselves at the Holiday Inn, a 10 minute ride on the frequent S-Bahn from the city centre with the train stopping right outside the hotel. Rail passes cover both the trains and the lake steamers, and offer concessions on the privately-owned mountain railways, so there was plenty to keep us occupied.
Italy 2011
Another mainly land based holiday, this year in Italy. After an interesting sleeper train ride to Rome (there had been a fire in an alpine tunnel so the train was diverted, adding 6 hours to the journey and giving us a leisurely daytime trip after our night's sleep) we carried on to Naples where we based ourselves for the first week.
We spent week 1 visiting the attractions of Sorrento, Pompeii and Herculaneum, then travelled north to our week 2 base in Milan, ideal for the Italian Lakes.
Norwegian Coastal Voyage 2022
A trip originally planned for June 2020 before COVID-19 put plans on hold, we finally managed to make the journey in June 2022, although airline and airport delays left us close to literally missing the boat. A call to Hurtigruten when we were in transit at Schipol Airport and a taxi dash meant we were welcomed onboard 10 minutes after the original deadline.
It didn't take long to de-stress on what has been called "The World's Most Beautiful Sea Voyage".
Isle of Man
Within the British Isles, but as with the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man is self-governing. Only 3-4 hours by ferry, or an hour by plane from England.
Azores and Madeira
A group of 9 volcanic islands, the Azores sit roughly a third of the way across the North Atlantic between Europe and North America. After leaving Southampton on Fred Olsen's Bolette, we were at sea for three days before arriving in Praia da Vitoria on the island of Teceira.
Our tour of the island took us to a viewpoint of a large caldera (largely obscured by mist), to natural bathing pools by the sea (Cinco Ribeiras), a wine Museum at Biscoitos and the Island's capital Angra do Heroismo.
The following day, we arrived in Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel where we joined a whale watching trip. During this, we saw two species of dolphins and a sperm whale and her calf. Unable to dive yet, the calf remained at the surface, spy-hopping to see what was going on.
Next, Madeira's capital Funchal and a cable car ride to Monte Palace Tropical Gardens.
Then onto Leixoes on the Portuguese mainland, and a tram ride along the banks of the Duoro river in Porto.
Final call on this cruise was A Coruña in Northern Spain, with a trip to the Tower of Hercules and Monte de San Pedro.
Another sea day took us back to Southampton.
Norway and Northern Lights
Sailing on Ambassador Cruises "Ambition", we joined the ship in Bristol (Royal Portbury Docks) for its repositioning cruise to Tilbury. Many of the Bristol passengers left here, having booked only the 2-day sample cruise, but we remained onboard for the 14-night cruise to Norway in search of the Northern Lights.
After a bumpy crossing of the North Sea, we arrived in the Norwegian port of Haugesund and took an excursion to a replica Viking settlement and a museum.
Another (calm) sea day took us to Ålesund, known for its Art Deco architecture after being rebuilt following a fire in the early 20th Century. Mooring close to the town centre, we explored on foot before returning to the ship for lunch.
Trondheim was the next port, including a trip on a historic tram up into the mountain.
Next stop, Leknes (often shown on cruise itineraries as Gravdal where the port is). Our first sight of ground level snow, although it can be seen on mountain tops all year. We'd been to the Lofoten Islands before and taken excursions, so again a walk round town here via the shuttle bus.
Onwards to Alta, the northernmost port of this voyage, where we were the last cruise ship to visit this year. Several excursions available to look for the Northern Lights, but we took the shuttle bus to town, admired the Christmas Lights, and visited the Aurora exhibition and film in the basement of the cathedral. In the evening, we got our first view of the Northern Lights from the ship in the relatively warm temperature of only -12ºC (The temperature in the mountains where one of the excursions went was -25ºC!). Although only a green glow to the naked eye, a camera could see more.
A day at sea to us to Narvik, an important sea port during WWII. After a walk around town in the morning, we boarded the Arctic Train for a journey along the line which carries the iron ore from Vicuna in Sweden to the port. Our journey stopped short of the border before returning to Narvik, sustained by a cinnamon bun provided by the train company.
Sea conditions were deteriorating with a storm moving in, and the Captain advised we would be missing the next scheduled port , Bodø, and travelling more slowly to Bergen to minimise discomfort.
Arrival in Bergen was on time, but expected departure was 10pm, 5 hours behind schedule, to allow the storm to pass before our passage back to Tilbury where we were initially expected to arrive 3 hours late, at 11:00. A port we have visited several times before, we chose to explore independently and visited the Gingerbread City before wandering round the city, making sure to have another cinammon bun before returning to the ship.
Departure from Bergen was delayed until 0700 the following morning following updated weather information and for a variety of reasons, including another ship blocking the dock, we finally disembarked in Tilbury over 14 hours later than the original time of 0800.
