Cruising

We recently discovered another travel mode - the cruise
ship. In May of 2002, we embarked on the Radisson
Diamond for a cruise on the Baltic Sea. We departed
Amsterdam for the northern German coast (a day trip to
Berlin), then to the Island of Gottland (Sweden), then to
Tallinin, Estonia and then on to St. Petersburg for 2 days,
next a day in Helsinki and finally Stockholm. We had
wonderful weather and calm seas - a rarity during
springtime. The food was wonderful aboard and also at port.
We luxuriated with heaps of caviar, caviar, and more caviar!.

In Amsterdam we enjoyed the famous Rijsttafel dinner, a
superb dinner at the La Rive at the Hotel Amstel and were
pampered at the elegant boutique B&B - Seven One Seven.

While in Berlin we spent an afternoon at the KaDeWe
department store exploring their famous food halls - what a
treat! The food experiences in Stockholm were very good
with reindeer a surprising delectable. A fun afternoon
shopping at Stockholm's food emporium Bergman was filled
with great discoveries - especially the Swedish cheeses.

We would highly recommend the Radisson cruise line. The
cabins are attractive, clean and comfortable. The friendly
staff are very well trained and the open seating plan sure
makes it a relaxing way to go. The Radisson Diamond's
several restaurants offer extensive and varied menus. All
and all we would give the cruise 9.1 rating.

LEFT: Diane on our cabin's balcony. Dressed for dinner
aboard the Radisson Diamond, Baltic Sea.

RIGHT: Paul and Harvey aboard the Radisson Mariner.
Harvey is well into his third drink - a Martini with a carrot
twist.

LEFT: A view aboard the Radisson Diamond - our sunny
balcony and cool breezes.

RIGHT: Russian musical entertainment during our lunch at
the Hotel Astor, St. Petersburg, Russia.

We loved Radisson Cruise Line so much we took another
cruise in the Fall of 2002. This time we embarked from Venice
on the Radisson Mariner - a larger cabin and again our own
balcony. Same great service, excellent food, with lots of room
to spread out. Harvey (our traveling rabbit) really enjoyed the
super chilled Martinis (see pic). After a day stop at Split,
Croatia we journeyed on to Valetta, Malta where we had a
great tour day with a memorable lunch at M'dina. We then
hop-scotched our way to Caligari, Sardinia, Lucca, Marseiile,
Majorca and finally ending at Barcelona. We certainly would
rate the cruise a 9.5.

Three days in Barcelona was recommended but one could
easily spend a couple more in this really hip city - a great food
scene with excellent shopping. Try the frog's legs at Quo
Vadis and shop the sublime leather goods store Loewe.