Steve and Cathy's Blog

We have a smooth journey across the North Sea, cruise up some fjords past beautiful islands and arrive in Bergen, Norway at the appointed 9:00am arrival time. We have decided once again to forego any excursions and to just roam the downtown tourist area of the city. We step off the ship around 9:30 and walk the mile from the cruise pier to the Bryggen, the historic waterfront, once the center of commerce when the Hanseatic

We are now at 60.15 degrees north latitude. As we travel, this number will increase, and the significance of our mentioning this will become apparent as we head north. Oceania calls this cruise Northern Regala – and northernis the operative word. Our home in Wallingford, Connecticut is at 41.45 degrees. The Arctic Circle is at 66.56 degrees, and at or above this line the sun does not set for 56 days beginning in late June. To see

As we sleep, our ship heads north through the Irish Sea between Ireland and Scotland, then into the Atlantic. Cathy awakens early (it’s already getting light very early), [four AM! Couldn’t get back to sleep so went up to Horizons for a cappuccino and croissant, very nice way to start the day, so peaceful] and Steve follows around 7:00am or so. The ship is traversing the Inner Seas that run between the Inner Hebrides Islands and

A very long night’s sleep was very much in order. Unfortunately, Cathy awakens at 6, and has to wait until 8 for Steve. She has taken a shower and is ready to go. Steve, however, first has to have an adventure with the shower. He stumbles into the small but nicely appointed bathroom to take a shower. The shower itself is one of those where the shower head is attached to a hose so you can hold

NOTE BEFORE WE START: For whatever reason, it takes an interminable amount of time to load photos to this blog site. So until such time as we have faster Internet service, my goal is to load photos on Facebook to accompany each post. We wander through the big, beautiful Dublin airport, clear immigration easily and collect our bags. No customs clearance. Twenty-minute cab ride to Cassidys Hotel in the center of Dublin.  Cassidys Hotel is a

Well, we are off on another Oceania Cruises adventure. This one begins in Dublin, Ireland and, thirty days later, ends in Southampton, England. We will visit the Shetland Isles in Scotland, seven towns and cities in Norway to and from three places in northern Russia, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Russia, Tallin, Estonia, a couple of small towns in Sweden and Denmark, and end up docking in Southampton on August 4th. Then we fly to Dublin,