Arcadia J411_Baltic – 25 July 2014

We had an absolutely brilliant holiday – cruise J411 on the Arcadia to the Baltic. The weather was extremely good – hot and sunny with no rain and the calmest seas we’ve ever seen. Obviously a good time of year to sail this direction. The new port of call, Skagen, in the very north of Denmark, by tender at the moment, was beautiful. We’ve there been before on land based trips (which surprised both the Captain & the Tours staff when the subject was discussed at the Captain’s Welcome On-Board Gala Party) but this was the first time we’d arrived by sea and, approaching on the tender boats into the ancient historic town with its fishermen’s wharves now restaurants, its original yellow houses with its red & white lace top rooftops and its quiet, unspoilt streets, was wonderful. The area immediately north, in Grenen, is a designated nature reserve and where two seas meet – visit it by Sandworm tractor – and paddle if you don’t mind the water being a bit cool – make that “cold” !! But you can’t swim here – it’s too rough for that – but there are lovely beaches closer to Skagen itself and some younger passengers had indeed been to the beach for the day.
The area is still full of history and the wonderful natural light conditions draw artists from far and wide just as they are drawn to St Ives in Cornwall.
Skagen is busy building a new outer harbour wall and a quay big enough to enable cruise ships to dock alongside… but we hope that won’t detract from the beauty of the town. They’ve already had American passenger ships earlier in the year. We were the first British ship as far as I could discern from the locals – and yes most Scandinavians speak excellent English. Despite initial forebodings by our friends, there are plenty of local and international menu restaurants and bars – it’s already a holiday destination by land – but PLEASE PLEASE don’t let the Americans open a McDonald’s there !
Skagen already has their own local brewery and a glass blowing factory where we bought individually made glass products. And there’s amber here too, together with other local handicrafts. It’s the gateway to many interesting tours in the North of Denmark with history dating back to at least 900 AD. These were the original Vikings remember.
After the hectic pace of St Petersburg in Russia and the beautiful, but busy cities of Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen; Skagen was the perfect last cruise port. The other gem on the itinerary was Warnem?¬nde in Germany (a lovely seaside town with the biggest and widest beach I’ve seen for a long time). We literally walked off the ship, through the pier, under the railway tunnel and back up into another, virtually unspoilt, town where the river reaches down to the sea. Lots to do in the surrounding areas there too.

The Arcadia has undergone her refit and our cabin was excellent and the staff on-board also excellent. I think the new auto-Gratuity system is finally working to enhance the cruise experience for both passengers and staff. Our thanks too, to the staff at Bolsover for acquiring this particular cabin for us and for all their pre-cruise help with cross-referencing all our cruise requirements with those of friends we cruise with regularly. You make it all so effortless. Thank you.

I hope the review hasn’t gone on so long that everyone is now bored – I never get bored on a cruise. There’s always something new to discover and new friendships to make. I’m rarely disappointed in a destination even if I choose not to return to it, I’m glad I’ve at least seen somewhere different. I fully expected our tours to the palaces in St Petersburg to be at breakneck speed and that the city would be busy – but I would not have missed the spectacular gardens at Peterhof Palace which were even more spectacular and beautiful than the brochures stated; nor would I have missed the logistics of the local ferry working back & forth under the bows of the Arcadia in Warnem?¬nde, nor the beauty of Skagen. It’s the differences in the ports, the people and their cultures and the experiences which they give us which made this particular Baltic itinerary probably the very Best Baltic cruise itinerary of the season.