Cruising Into Christmas – Only128 Days Left !!

So what has prompted this seasonal blog. Well this time of year has me and my family deciding on which Christmas Market we are going to visit. We enjoy embracing in the local traditions, sampling the notorious Glügwein, trying out the holiday foods and admiring the tree ornaments. With the added bonus of sight seeing as many of the Markets are held in spectacular venues.

In previous years we have visited the Christmas markets in Vienna set in front of the City Hall and Schönbrunn Palace, Prague’s held in Wenceslas Square and Cologne set with the backdrop of its own Koln Cathedral. As a family we have also enjoyed Budapest and closer to home Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park, London.

We have completed 2 Christmas Market cruises, calling in at Copenhagen (and saw Robbie Williams, Mark Owen and Howard Donald doing an interview for Danish TV in the Christmas Market held in the Tivoli Gardens),Gothenburg, Hamburg and Bremerhaven. We sailed with Fred Olsen cruise lines on both occasions. Both cruises sailed through the Kiel Canal which looked absolutely stunning, just like a Christmas Card scene with the trees and homes on the bank covered in snow.

This year for cruises sailing from the UK there is the option of:

P&O Cruises departing Southampton on the 9th December for 10 nights and also will have Michael Ball on board.

Fred Olsen Cruises sailing on the Balmoral on the 13th December for 8 nights from Southampton.

Another option would be to take a river cruise and either fly to join the cruise or pick up a coach from a local pickup point and then drive to the starting point. At the moment Shearings,, Avalon, AMA Waterways and Viking all have options for River cruises which will include visiting Christmas Markets – these can be viewed on www.rivercruises.co.uk. This is the option we are currently considering as it offers the opportunity to visit many markets in a shorter span of time whilst retreating back on board a luxury floating hotel with spectacular scenery passing you by.

If you would like any further information on any of the above or any other cruises you have seen then please do not hesitate to contact me on 0800 408 6086.