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Added 24th August 2011.
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Cruising Holidays
Memories of fine ships and delightful destinations
Canberra at anchor off Istanbul on a grey day in April 1976
The attractions of a cruise are manifold. One drives to Southampton, unpacks once and
then a succession of interesting places is brought to one’s door. Between ports, one is assured of a high
standard of care, good food, a comfortable bed and entertainment on board
ranging from string quartets to quiz games.
If one wishes to be anti-social, one can stay in one’s cabin and read -
there is always a good library on board - or relax on one’s balcony watching
the sea go by. Moreover, even if one
starts with no significant interest in ships, one soon gets caught up in the
fascinating routine of ship-board life, especially during arrival at, and
departure from, the various ports of call.
Here is a summary of our cruises over the years:
1976: Canberra Vigo, Naples, Athens, Istanbul and Palma
1991: Sea Princess Copenhagen, Gudhjem (Bornholm),
Gdansk, Leningrad, Helsinki, Stockholm, Travemunde
(for Lubeck)
1993: Black Prince Oslo, Bergen, Olden, Molde,
Copenhagen, and Hamburg
1994: Black Prince Oslo, Ronne
(Bornholm), Tallinn, Riga, Klaipeda, Kalliningrad,
Elsinore, and Lubeck
1997: Black Watch Lerwick, Bergen, Molde, Honningsvag (for North
Cape), Tromso, Svolvaer (Lofoten Is), Geiranger
1999: Oriana Lisbon, Vigo,
Gijon, Brest, and St Peter Port
2005: Aurora Corunna,
Bilbao, La Rochelle, and St Peter Port
2006: Artemis Kristiansand,
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Gdynia, Warnemunde
2007: Artemis Bruges,
Rotterdam (for Amsterdam) and Le Havre (for Honfleur)
2007: Queen Mary 2 Hamburg
2008: Arcadia Malaga,
Cephalonia, Dubrovnik, Venice, Split, Bari, and Gibraltar
2008: Artemis Bergen,
Eidfjord, Skjolden, and
Stavanger
2009: Artemis Palma,
Rhodes, Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Katakolon
(for Olympia), Taormina, Lisbon and Vigo
2010: Aurora New
York, Newport RI, Boston, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor,
St John NB, Halifax, Quebec, St John’s NF
2011: Queen Elizabeth Amsterdam, Zeebrugge (for Brussels),
Le Havre (for Rouen)
Black Prince sailed from Tilbury, Black Watch from Dover. All
other ships sailed from (and returned to) Southampton
Aurora at anchor off St Peter Port in 2005 – probably our
favourite ship
Here are brief details of each of the ships on
which we have sailed:
Canberra: (P&O):
built
1961, 44,800 tons, 818 feet long, 1641 passengers, speed 27 knots. Scrapped
1997
Sea Princess: (P&O): built
1966, 27,600 tons, 660 feet long, 714 passengers, speed 21 knots. Sold out of
service
Black Prince: (Fred Olsen Lines) built 1966, 11,200 tons, 470 feet long, 439 passengers, speed 18 knots. Sold out of
service
Black Watch: (Fred Olsen Lines) built 1972, 28,600 tons, 674 feet long, 804 passengers, speed 20 knots
Oriana: (P&O): built
1995, 69,100 tons, 853 feet long, 1828 passengers speed 24 knots.
Aurora: (P&O): built 2000, 76,100 tons, 885 feet long, 1868 passengers, speed 24 knots.
Artemis: (P&O): built
1984, 44,300 tons, 754 feet long, 1200 passengers, speed 22 knots. Sold out of
service
Arcadia: (P&O): built
2005, 82,505 tons, 936 feet long, 1996 passengers, speed 22 knots.
Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line): built 2004, 148,500 tons, 1131 feet
long, 2620
passengers, speed 29 knots.
Queen Elizabeth (Cunard Line) built
2010, 90,400 tons, 964 feet long, 2058 passengers, speed 23 knots.
Here are three or four pictures from each of our cruises,
giving a glimpse of the ships and of some of our favourite ports of call:
1976:
Our first cruise was on P&O’s Canberra
in 1976. Although the ship was then
regarded by many as almost the last word in cruising luxury, she had been built
primarily as an emigrant ship and so most cabins were very tiny and some (not
ours, thank goodness!) even lacked private bathrooms.
Our cruise took us from Southampton to Vigo
(northern Spain), Naples, Athens, Istanbul and Palma.
High spot: wandering the streets of Istanbul where the
sights and sounds of the mystic Orient mingled with more familiar western
customs.
Left: Ready to
depart: Canberra at the old Ocean terminal at Southampton in April 1976.
Right: Robert and
fellow team members celebrate with Champagne after winning a quiz.
Left: 1970s
Istanbul: note all the vehicle
advertisements and the male-dominated environment
Right: Dusk falls
over Istanbul, seen from Canberra’s
Promenade Deck while anchored in the Bosphorus
Traditional
Istanbul: the Galata
Bridge and Tower, steam ferries to Scutari (in Asia).
The
scene was something like a Lowry painting, brought to life.
1991
We sailed on P&O’s Sea
Princess to the Baltic Capitals, including Leningrad, then in the last days
of the old USSR.
By now we had two daughters who much enjoyed the on-board facilities for
youngsters.
High spots: Tivoli on a magical warm summer’s night and
Soviet Leningrad in the rain.
Left: Dining on
board Sea Princess: Barbara, Ann, Mary and Robert, with waiter
Tony
Right: Mary and
Ann in our cabin: Ann is wearing a scarf
bought that day at the Berioska shop in Leningrad
Tivoli
Gardens, Copenhagen, by night;
Restoration
work in hand, slowly (!), at the Church of the Spilled Blood, Leningrad
In the 1990s we enjoyed three cruises to Scandinavia with Fred Olsen’s
ships.
1993
On the Black Prince to Norway,
Denmark and Germany
The ship was very small, carrying only 400 passengers, but provided a
comfortable and very friendly environment
High spot: the walk to the Briksdal
glacier on a glorious summer’s day, passing spectacular waterfalls
Left: On deck on
the Black Prince; Right:
Barbara relaxes in a ship’s Lounge after dinner
En
route to the Briksdal Glacier; Mary, Barbara and
Ann with the vivid blue ice of the glacier beyond
1994
On the Black Prince to the
Baltic States
From some points of view, this was our most fascinating cruise of all
time, visiting little-known ports still showing the evidence of years of Soviet
rule and lacking any evidence of western commercialism.
High spot: Exploring the streets of Tallinn in Estonia,
admiring the picturesque buildings, most with delicate pastel shades.
Black Prince by night at Oslo; a
small dwelling in Tallinn
Some
of the streets of old Tallinn
1997
Our 1997 cruise was on Black Watch
to the Fjords and North Cape.
A well-appointed and comfortable ship – just the right size, carrying
800 passengers
High spot: the glories of Geiranger
Fjord
Fred
Olsen’s Black Watch in Geiranger Fjord, seen from the tender taking passengers
ashore.
This
photo was a runner-up in Fred Olsen’s photo competition and has been much used
in their publicity.
Midnight off the Lofoten Islands.
1999
Back
to P&O: this time on their new Oriana, built in
1995 and the first newly-build ship intended specially for the British cruising
market with a very high standard of comfort and decor. We enjoyed a week’s cruise including calls
at Lisbon, Vigo (Northern Spain) and Brest.
High spot:
climbing through the alleys and back streets of Lisbon to St George’s
Castle with its views over the city and the River Tagus.
On board Oriana: Barbara and Robert on deck; Ann in the Tiffany Lounge
Lisbon: climbing the alleys to St. George’s
Castle; at the top, Ann and Barbara
enjoy the view over the River Tagus.
2005
On
Aurora to more ports in northern
Spain and France
Aurora
is a spacious, well-appointed and stylish ship and is probably our current
favourite
High spot:
the coach drive through the Rioja vineyards for a tour of a Bodega culminating
in a magnificent lunch.
Aurora’s spectacular atrium with a Lalique style waterfall; the cellars of a vineyard
in Rioja
Rioja country, with vineyards, a
hilltop village and the mountains of northern Spain beyond;
2006
We sailed on Artemis to the Baltic Capitals,
including St Petersburg
Artemis
was somewhat smaller than other ships in the P&O fleet with a more intimate
atmosphere: she became our favourite
until sold out of service in 2010.
High Spot: The
tour of Romanov Palaces in St Petersburg plus a night at the ballet
Artemis at Copenhagen; St Petersburg skyline: 11 pm
Catherine Palace, St Petersburg;
2007
Firstly, a short cruise
on RMS Queen Mary 2 to Hamburg
High Spot: her
vast size and amazing facilities ensure that the Queen Mary is herself a destination in her own right
although with the penalty that she seems
rather impersonal when compared with smaller ships.
Scenes on board R.M.S. Queen Mary 2
A glimpse of Queen Mary 2, seen at Hamburg
2007 (continued): A
short cruise with the family on Artemis
to Bruges, Amsterdam and Le Havre (for Honfleur)
High Spot: An
afternoon absorbing the French atmosphere in Honfleur
Ann, Robyn, Will and Mary on Artemis as she sails out of Le
Havre; Robert and
Barbara at Honfleur
The harbour at Honfleur
2008
With
the family on Artemis to the Fjords
High
Spot: Late evening in Sognefjord
Sailing down Sognefjord,
early evening
Mary, Barbara, Ann and Robyn admire
the sun at 11pm; Midnight buffet: Barbara,
Robyn, Ann, Mary and Will
2008
(continued): on Arcadia to the Adriatic Sea with two
days in Venice
Arcadia
is a very comfortable and well-equipped ship, but lacks the fine style of Oriana and Aurora
High
Spot: sailing into Venice and wandering the quiet backwaters
of the city
Venice seen from the deck of Arcadia as she arrives in the early
morning
Barbara pauses at a quiet spot near
the Arsenale
2009
On
Artemis once more, sailing to the
Eastern Mediterranean, including Rhodes, Ephesus, Olympia and Sicily
High
Spots: Looking at the blue Mediterranean from Lindos and the view to Etna from Taormina
Blue sea and blue sky: the view from the Acropolis at Lindos on Rhodes.
The fabulous
panorama of Taormina and Giardini Naxos, with Mount
Etna looming beyond, seen from the Greek Theatre.
2010:
Back on Aurora
for our longest cruise to date (by way of celebration of Robert’s 70th
birthday), to nine ports on the eastern coast of the USA and Canada.
A
wonderful cruise – perhaps our finest holiday yet!
High
spots: The sheer panache of New York and the
delightful views over Maine from the summit of Cadillac Mountain
(not forgetting
Blueberry Pie on our return from the peak!)
On board the Aurora: our home for almost
four weeks, showing our cabin and Barbara on deck with New York’s skyline
beyond.
We enjoyed two days of the vibrant
pizzazz of New York:
Robert and Barbara on top of Cadillac
Mountain, Maine
2011:
On
Cunard’s Queen
Elizabeth for a short cross-channel cruise enabling us to visit Amsterdam,
Brussels, Le Havre and Rouen
High
spot: The remarkably fine Baroque buildings of
Brussels – such a contrast from the modern E.U. sector!
Queen Elizabeth’s spectacular atrium.
One reason for Belgium’s fame: a chocolate shop! A
restaurant in Grande Place
Sunday afternoon in Grande Place
Finally,
the voyage home:
Homeward bound:
the end of a
glorious holiday
Where shall we go next?
(Venice and the Adriatic, booked
for 2012!)