Cruise Countdown

So it's three weeks till we cruise.

The Baltics, Royal Caribbean, sailing out of Southampton, so much good in one sentence.
First of all The Baltics. I have always wanted to visit Scandinavia and this trip has it all. We will stop in Oslo, Copenhagen, Tallinn, Helsinki and Skagen. And then there is St Petersburg. This was one of the main reasons for booking this particular cruise - until Salisbury happened. And now I'm not so sure we will receive a warm welcome! And there is a World Cup match one of the days we are there. But never mind we are going anyway and have booked an excursion to see the wonderful architecture, in particular the colourful onion domes of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. Strange name but apparently its name is derived from the site on which it is built, the place where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated. Built with monies provided by the imperial family.
Secondly, Royal Caribbean, who we have cruised with before. My brother Henry introduced us to RC and we have loved every cruise with them, a couple in the Caribbean and a wedding anniversary cruise in the Mediterranean. Not the biggest ship we have been on and we are looking forward to having less of a crowd. And trying out the ice skating. Maybe even the climbing wall. Who knows?
The third good thing is sailing out of a UK port as this means NO FLYING! That trip to Singapore killed us. Never again we said and haven't so far. Only shorter haul trips for us and no more travelling in cramped quarters. I know, it doesn't fit with our political persuasion but then you and I both know we are champagne socialists!

We are being ferried to our ship by our very own Big Brother and Sister in Law. Wish we could smuggle them on board. Sailing runs in both our families. Big Brother George and Little Brother Robert were both in the navy. Family legend says that my grandfather George ran away to sea when he was 14 to escape his wicked step-mother. And as a child I took many trips from New York to South Africa on the Farrell Lines freighters, most notably the African Comet.

There were usually only 12 of us passengers on the ship and we loved it. Not quite the luxury of modern day cruise ships. And, if my research is correct the African Comet is not sailing these days but has retired from service. Check back around the 15th of June for an update. We will try to post some pictures and give some highlights of our journey.