Cruise Destinations

A tour guide can make or break an excursion from a cruise ship. A good one leaves you fulfilled, educated and possibly exhausted at the end of the day; a bad one sends passengers rushing to the ship’s tour desk to complain. Guides need an array of skills, from a detailed insight into their country’s history to an intimate knowledge of the nearest loos; they must be able to gauge how much information a group can absorb, and when to leave them in silence to snooze on the bus. A sense of humour is essential when dealing with a group [...]

It's a sea day on board Balmoral, so there will be an opportunity to relax before two days of hectic sightseeing in St Petersburg on Wednesday and Thursday. Relax? You must be kidding. One glance at the daily programme shows that every minute is packed with events, and on top of that we lost an hour's sleep last night and will lose another tonight as the clocks are changed to bring us in line with Russia. This morning I could have made it to Ian McCormick's lecture on Faberge if only I wasn't having a late breakfast, and I have [...]

Three days in to my cruise to the Baltic on board Fred Olsen's Balmoral, and a quiet afternoon in Ronne, on the Danish island of Bornholm, provides time to reflect on what we've achieved so far. First question must be why the ship is visiting the island on a Sunday, when pretty much everything is closed. Apart from a couple of cafes in the central square at Store Torvegade, where the determined could get a coffee and . . . er . . . Danish pastry, the place is pretty much deserted. The ship was berthed a mile and a [...]

The sea is calling me again and for the second time this year I'm taking a cruise to the Baltic. In May I sailed from Southampton on board P&O's newest ship; this time I'm leaving Dover on the biggest ship in Fred Olsen's fleet. The 116,000-ton Azura, launched in April, accommodates 3,092, plus more than 1,200 crew; Balmoral is 22 years old and at 45,500 tons, takes 1,340 guests and 470 crew. Two very different ships, but with a great deal in common. Both cater almost exclusively for the British market and if I'm lucky enough to be able to [...]

It will be some hours before the sun is over the yardarm. It has barely risen and the morning light still has a golden glow. I haven’t even had breakfast yet as I’ve been too busy getting acquainted with the penguins on Magdalena Island. But as I clamber out of the Zodiac inflatable and remove my lifejacket, there’s a waiter offering me a glass of Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky on the rocks. The whisky is 12 years old, the ice 1,000 years old and until yesterday part of a glacier. The heart-starter is a welcome addition to excursions from [...]