We would spend today crossing the North Sea in the famous shipping forecast areas, hence the title of today’s blog. We would try not to get too depressed that this was the last day of our fantastic cruise and tomorrow afternoon we would be back at work! ☹ In the Ballindalloch I enjoyed a substantial…
Tag: German Waterways
A ‘Grimm’ Time in Bremen
We got up around eight o’clock this morning as we were booked on a half-day tour of ‘Panoramic Northern Germany’. In the Palms Café we said good morning to Roy and Joanie, and found out that Joanie hadn’t gone to bed until 02.45 this morning!! So it was surprising that they were up this early…
Bound for Bremen
Early this morning the Balmoral departed Hamburg and set off back down the Elbe River to the North Sea bound for Bremen. We were not due to arrive until around eight o’clock tonight, so once again we had a relaxing day on the water. 😊 We didn’t really do much today to be honest. We…
A Day of Mixed Emotions
We were up at eight o’clock this morning as we were leaving for an excursion at 9.00. But maybe “excursion” isn’t the right word for it, for it certainly wouldn’t be a pleasure trip. Today we were booked to visit Bergen-Belsen, the notorious Nazi concentration camp. Of course, the actual camp buildings don’t exist anymore,…
Kiel Canal to Hamburg
At 7.00am this morning the Balmoral entered the Kiel Canal again, for our return journey to the North Sea. We got up about 8.30 and enjoyed a good breakfast before going out on deck for a look around. Although the weather was dry, it was fairly dull and cloudy and the brisk breeze still had…
Lübeck and Marzipan
Today we woke up in Wismar. We had to be up early this morning (at 7.00am) as we were due to go on an all-day tour to the pretty little town of Lübeck, on the River Trave. So after enjoying our breakfast we assembled in the Neptune Lounge to await the call for our excursion…
The Baltic Coast & Laboe Naval Memorial
When we woke up this morning we found ourselves about to dock in Kiel, Germany. We hadn’t been here before so we were looking forward to exploring. We didn’t have an excursion until this afternoon, so our time this morning was ours to spend as we pleased. After breakfast we went up on deck to…
North Sea to the Kiel Canal
We awoke this morning to a flat-calm North Sea with the sun tentatively peeping out from fluffy white cumulus clouds. We were up at 8.00am, and off we went to the Ballindalloch restaurant for our breakfast. As tonight is a formal evening, we found the usual bottles of cava next to the fruit juices, so…
Tynetastic Cruising!
Take time to see the wonders of the world, to see the things you’ve only ever heard of. So sang the Human League, in their 1981 hit The Things That Dreams Are Made Of. But indeed we are hopefully going to see some more wonders in our latest cruise, to the German Waterways, departing from…