Cruise & Maritime Voyages Ocean Countess will make her inaugural turnaround in the Port of Tyne, UK, in 2010 which will be the first of many, according to Fergus Poole, terminal manager. This is welcome news and will make up for the withdrawal of Thomson Spirit this year after five successive seasons. There will be [...]
Holland America Line's Eurodam
Cruise & Maritime Voyages Ocean Countess will make her inaugural turnaround in the Port of Tyne, UK, in 2010 which will be the first of many, according to Fergus Poole, terminal manager. This is welcome news and will make up for the withdrawal of Thomson Spirit this year after five successive seasons.
There will be 10 turnround and 10 transit calls this year including first ever calls from P&O Cruises with Artemis and Princess Cruises with Ocean Princess. Saga’s Spirit of Adventure will also be calling for the first time. A total of 16,430 passengers are expected.
For 2009 the numbers were slightly higher at 24 calls, of which 16 were turnaround, and a total of 20,183 passengers. Mr Poole says although the figures for 2010 are “disappointingly down this year”, given the economic situation they are “still reasonably bouyant figures and worthy of optimism for future years”. Holland America Line returns to the port as a transit caller for the third year running this year.
The Tyne is the gateway to Northumbria and the only cruise port between Harwich and Leith. The recently refurbished Cruise and International Passenger Terminal can handle 2,000 passengers in a turnaround call. The Northumbrian Quay has a length of 335m and a depth alongside of 8m with deeper vessels by arrangement. Smaller quays are also available.
It helps to know a few foreign phrases when traveling. The 6½-minute video, “Simple Swedish – Episode 1,” provides a funny way to familiarize yourself with a few of the complexities of the Swedish language.
It helps to know a few foreign phrases when traveling. The 6½-minute video, “Simple Swedish – Episode 1,” provides a funny way to familiarize yourself with a few of the complexities of the Swedish language.
Göteborg, Sweden, December 16, 2009 — A blustery and frigid day in Sweden’s second largest city, as P&O Cruises Arcadia embarks bundled-up passengers returning from shore excursions. Temperatures are in the mid-30s (Fahrenheit), but the unrelenting gusts make it feel much colder. Yes, it is true that Northern Europe is cold and dark during winter, but [...]
Sara Eriksson and Liselott Bjärving, representing the city and port of Göteborg, welcome P&O's Arcadia — on a winter cruise in Northern Europe.
Göteborg, Sweden, December 16, 2009 — A blustery and frigid day in Sweden’s second largest city, as P&O Cruises Arcadia embarks bundled-up passengers returning from shore excursions. Temperatures are in the mid-30s (Fahrenheit), but the unrelenting gusts make it feel much colder.
Yes, it is true that Northern Europe is cold and dark during winter, but as someone who spends a great deal of time in the region during what you might perceive to be an uninspiring season, I will let you in on a little secret: Winter is one of the best times to enjoy Northern Europe.
Despite darkness at 4 p.m., Göteborg's Liseberg, Scandinavia's largest amusement park, was festive and bright on the day that Arcadia docked here.
Part of the reason is that the Christmas season is so very present here. Göteborg’s Liseberg, Scandinavia’s largest amusement park, was festive and bright on the day that Arcadia was docked here. And for those who needed to break the winter chill, there were glowing fires, some with chestnuts roasting over them, and plenty of warm glögg, the mulled, warm red wine.
Like Göteborg, other cities, such as Helsingborg, Sweden, erect large Christmas trees in town squares, and as if the trees’ lights weren’t enough to illuminate and pierce the darkness, there are ornamental fires and flames casting warmth in more ways than one throughout the cities. Restaurants are aglow under candlelight to create what the Swedes refer to as mysig. There is, in fact, a difficult-to-convey coziness that you can only experience by being here.
There probably are hundreds of examples that illustrate the novelty of winter cruising in Europe (the opportunity to visit to Copenhagen’s Tivoli at Christmas, the experience of St. Petersburg’s White Days, Germany’s colorful Christmas markets), and it appears that year-round Northern Europe cruises aren’t far off.
Dirk Moldenhauer, chairman of Cruise Europe, says that 2012 will see the first year-round deployment from Hamburg. The itinerary, yet to be finalized, will likely include Western Europe, a region that Moldenhauer refers to as the authentic “Old” Europe (see related story below).
Seven lovely Swedish girls boarded Arcadia for an afternoon performance of the traditional ceremony Lucia.
Back in Göteborg, seven lovely Swedish girls boarded Arcadia to perform Lucia, the traditional ceremony where one girl wears a crown of candles in honor of light. Dressed in long white gowns and performing a series of traditional songs, all seven girls stood to enthusiastic applause to a ceremony so beautiful that more than a few people in the audience shed tears. It sounded like angels singing.
Yes, similar experiences and emotions could be evoked during the peak cruise season in Northern Europe, but why not winter? The season that people who live here are most challenged by has lots to offer outside observers fortunate enough to visit Northern Europe during the darkest and coldest months, a period when light shines through — triumphantly.
Western Europe: Lucky Seven
Western Europe, marketed collectively under Atlantic Alliance, boasts seven of the world’s most best-known capitals (think Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Paris, Madrid and Lisbon) and seven of Europe’s primary cultures. “From World Heritage sites to museums to shopping, Western Europe has perhaps more to offer than any other region in the world,” says Dirk Moldenhauer, chairman of Cruise Europe.
January marks the month that cruise ships begin their longest sea journeys. While it’s too late to embark on such an epic adventure in 2010, it’s not too late to begin charting your course for a 2011 world cruise. Even for those who call themselves seasoned travelers, world cruises invariably will open the window to new [...]
January marks the month that cruise ships begin their longest sea journeys. While it’s too late to embark on such an epic adventure in 2010, it’s not too late to begin charting your course for a 2011 world cruise. Even for those who call themselves seasoned travelers, world cruises invariably will open the window to new destinations, new cultures or a new way of looking at the world.
Since the first world cruise in 1922, by Cunard’s Lanconia, the world cruise has been seen as the pinnacle of luxury travel. Traditionally, these voyages circumnavigated the globe, or at least as close as you can come to doing so on a ship.
The Avid Cruiser visits Storforsen, one of Europe’s largest rapids and only an hour’s drive from Luleå, Sweden.
The Avid Cruiser visits Storforsen, one of Europe’s largest rapids and only an hour’s drive from Luleå, Sweden.
In Falmouth, the love of a place has manifested itself in a warm welcome for cruise ship passengers. Each ship that arrives here on the south coast of Cornwall (in the far west of the United Kingdom) is greeted by the so-called Falmouth Ambassadors. All are volunteers, ranging from 30 years old to 70 years [...]
In Falmouth, the love of a place has manifested itself in a warm welcome for cruise ship passengers. Each ship that arrives here on the south coast of Cornwall (in the far west of the United Kingdom) is greeted by the so-called Falmouth Ambassadors. All are volunteers, ranging from 30 years old to 70 years old, many retired and from a variety of backgrounds. They all have a few shared attributes that make them true ambassadors for this town on the River Fal: a love of Falmouth, an appreciation for the marine environment inherent to the region and a keen interest in meeting new people, particularly those who arrive by ship.
“The initiative has vastly improved the welcome the port provides and is seen as something that the other ports in the region can aspire to,” says Mike Reynolds, Falmouth’s port operations director.
Falmouth's Ambassadors come together in the spirit of helping. Click on the image for an expanded view of the photo and the uniform that reads, "Can I Help You?"
Some of the Ambassadors, all volunteers, say that passengers show greater appreciation in being greeted by locals who are enthusiastic about their home turf as opposed to being pestered by someone hawking taxi tours and trinkets.
Ambassadors provide a variety of services, foreign-language assistance, narrative on board the port's complimentary bus shuttles, distributing maps and other info.
The Ambassadors group was formed in 2007, an initiative undertaken by a few local cruise enthusiasts in partnership with the port. The local tourist authority kicked in some initial assistance. During the first year, there were only enough volunteers to greet a few of the ships that called on Falmouth, but word spread throughout the local community, and nowadays, with more than 50 volunteers, all ships are greeted.
The Ambassadors range from 30 years old to 70 years old and come from a variety of backgrounds. Some have gone on to get their professional guide licenses.
Reynolds says that are up to ten volunteers “on duty” when a ship calls and that there are enough of the volunteers who have language skills that there’s always someone on dock to meet and greet in German, French, Spanish and other languages. “Some have taken guiding courses and not only meet and greet but also professionally guide,” Reynolds says.
The volunteers meet passengers quayside and travel with them on the complimentary shuttle busses that the port provides, narrating along the way. Volunteers wear uniforms and have a good supply of maps and other material to inform passengers. But it is their genuine enthusiasm and their love of sharing the best of Falmouth that passengers appreciate most.
