Cruise

REPORT ON ALBANIA…

I cruised on the Queen Elizabeth, Dec. 15, 2010-Jan. 5, 2011, embarking in Southampton, England, and visiting Madeira, then crossing the Atlantic to Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica and Tortola before recrossing the ocean to Ponta Delgada, Azores, and Southampton. Excluding airfare, the cost for my inside, single cabin was $8,010.

From 1821 to 1914, more than 44 million people left Europe heading for North America, and, of those, over seven million sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany. To trace their travels, in Bremerhaven the Deutsches Auswandererhaus, or German Emigration Center (Columbusstrasse 65, 27568 Bremerhaven, Germany; phone +49 [0] 471/9 02 20 0 or fax 9 02 20 22), has been open to visitors since 2005.

The Great Recession has not caused a stoppage in cruise-ship construction, although building has slowed somewhat, and no new giant megaships are on the horizon.

Wild Earth Travel (P.O. Box 7218, Christchurch, 8240, New Zealand; phone +64 0 3 365 1355) offers cruises through the Northwest Passage, which has recently been made more navigable by climate change. The sailing includes views of Greenland’s fjords, the Arctic Circle and the site of the lost Franklin Exhibition. The cruise, Aug. 19-Sept. 2, 2012, costs $6,995-$16,195 per person, double.

My friend Sue and I, both in our eighties, are always looking for a destination to which neither of us has been. Therefore, we were delighted when our travel agent recommended a cruise on the Douro River, which originates in northern Spain and flows west across the northern part of Portugal into the Atlantic at the city of Porto.

My husband, Mark, and I took a Holland America Line (HAL) cruise on the Rotterdam from San Diego, California, to Callao, Peru, and back, Oct. 23-Nov. 22, 2010. We paid about $7,500 for the two of us.

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 429th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

(Second of two parts)

The winning entry to the essay contest announced in the June ’11 issue (page 46) is Jack Hutter of Knoxville, Tennessee. The topic was “My Way is Norway,” and his essay appears below. Jack will receive a 50-dollar gift certificate for Magellan’s Travel Supplies (800/962-4943).