Cruising to Tuscany

Tuscany is a fabulous cruise destination. It has beautiful countryside, historic cities and great art. The only problem is that it is all inland.

The vast majority of cruise ships offering cruises to Florence and Pisa stop at Livorno or Leghorn as it used to be called. It is an industrial port which suffered badly from bombing during World War II. As a result, there isn't that much to see in the city itself and the busy movement and storage of cargo makes the port less than ideal for passengers on cruise ships, especially the large ships that dock in the midst of the cargo area.

However. Livorno's location and the fact that it is a transportation hub make it a great jumping off point for visiting Pisa and Florence. http://www.beyondships3.com/cruise-port-livorno.html

With Florence, the issue is how much of the city's treasure can you see during a port call. Even if you did not have to travel there and back from Livorno, there is far too much to see to see in one day. Each of the city's great art collections could take up a day. However, the historical center is quite compact and it is possible to glimpse most of Florence's most renown locations in a short time. In fact, as described in my article, it is possible to see much of Florence during a cruise ship's introductory shore excursion to Florence. http://www.beyondships3.com/walking-through-florence.html

In Pisa, everything that most visit want to see is located in the Field of Miracles. This Renaissance era complex was built as a religious complex and was designed to have an other worldly feel. If you ignore all the tourists posing for photos of themselves holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this area still has a unique beauty. Our photo article about visiting the Field of Miracles is at http://www.beyondships3.com/visiting-the-field-of-miracles.html

Visiting the Royal Yacht Britannia

With a new baby expected any day now, many people are thinking about the British Royal Family. Accordingly, it seems fitting to look at the Royal Family's ship, HMY Britannia.

The Britannia was built in the early 1950s not to be a pleasure boat for the Royal Family but to assist the monarch in her duties as head of state by acting as a mobile base of operations during her visits to foreign lands. Among other things, the yacht allowed the Queen to host receptions and banquets under the British flag while she was abroad. And the list of foreign heads of state that visited Britannia during her 40 years of service is quite impressive, including four United States Presidents.

Inside, Britannia does not overwhelm you would grand salons and opulence. Rather, she is decorated like a British country house from the first half of the 20^th century - - chintz, white painted walls. She did not even have a swimming pool much less hot tubs, saunas, or other staples of the mega-yachts that you see today.

As a ship, Britannia was obsolete by the time she retired in 1997. Officers on the bridge spoke to a separate wheelhouse via metal tubes, she was one of the last ships with a riveted hull, and she was a steam ship. Since so little was changed over the years, she is a time capsule of the technology of the immediate port war period.

Today, Britannia is open to the public and is a popular shore excursion during cruise ship calls in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is moored at the Ocean Terminal in the historic Port of Leith, not terribly far from the center of Edinburgh.

There are several reasons Britannia has become a popular attraction. First, as mentioned earlier, she is interesting because of her older technology. Second, she was the scene of historic events and hosted many famous people. But, I think most importantly, the ship is of interest because of the glimpse she offers of the Queen and the Royal Family. Britannia went directly from being a royal residence to being a museum ship. As a result, she did not have to re-created. Moreover, many of the contents are on loan from the royal collections.

Our article about Britannia begins with an introductory piece that tells the ship's story and provides some information about visiting the ship today. Then we have a multi-page photo tour that includes not just the royal apartments but also the areas where the officers and crew lived and worked.

The article on Britannia begins at http://www.beyondships3.com/visiting-royal-yacht-britannia.html

Celebrity Eclipse, a superior cruise ship

Celebrity Eclipse is a superior cruise ship. She is one of five Solstice class ships built by Meyer Werft for Celebrity Cruises. All of these ships are nicely designed with attention to detail. They also offer a very good array of dining options ranging from casual to healthy to classic fine dining. In addition, they offer a good program of reasonably sophisticated entertainment and activities even though the enrichment program is not as cutting edge as it was just a few years ago. They are also good ships from a nautical perspective.

Of the five ships, Eclipse seems to win the most awards and I am told receives the highest marks from guests. Why this is so is not glaringly obvious. While there are some differences in the décor and the features, the five ships are very similar. Yet, people seem to like Eclipse best. As Cruise Director Sue Denning observed: “It has a nice heart.”

Immediately after she was built in 2010, Celebrity sent Eclipse to Southampton. Her mission was to break into the British market. Sister company Royal Caribbean International had done so a few years before but Celebrity was still relatively unknown in the UK. Furthermore, there would be a lot of competition from other cruise lines.

The ship has been quite successful and now has a substantial following in Britain. I asked Hotel Director Tom Brady and Ms. Denning to explain just how Eclipse managed to establish Celebrity in the UK. Our conversation is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-hd-cd-interview.html

One of the things that has made Eclipse a popular ship both in the UK and when she sails of Miami in the winter months is the ship's dining. Accordingly, we have added a Celebrity Eclipse menu page with copies of menus from the various dining venues and a dining slideshow. It is at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-menus.html

We also have a review of the Tuscan Grille specialty restaurant - - a mixture of Italian cuisine and an American steakhouse. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-tuscan-grille-review.html

As mentioned earlier, another Eclipse strong point is the entertainment. Therefore, we have a new slideshow showing some of the entertainment offerings on a recent cruise. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-entertainment-slideshow.html We also have a new page of daily programmes from Eclipse listing each day's activities and entertainment. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-daily-programs.html

Finally, we have a video showing Eclipse departing from Southampton. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-soton-video.html

Bermuda Revisited

I have just returned from a cruise to Bermuda - - something I have been doing once or twice a year for more than 20 years. Despite having been there so many times, Bermuda remains an attractive destination.

For people like me living along the East Coast of the United States, Bermuda is a convenient destination. There are cruise ships leaving from Boston, New York City, Bayonne (N.J.), and Baltimore for Bermuda just about every week during the summer. It is only a short distance so the ships drift along at a slow speed in order to give the passengers a few sea days as well as time on the island.

Bermuda is different from the Caribbean Islands and from The Bahamas. For one thing, it is out by itself in the Atlantic on the same latitude as North Carolina. This isolation has given it a unique charm that is a blend of traditional British customs and African culture. In addition, it has a higher standard of living owing in part to the international financial business that takes place in Hamilton, the only true city on the island,

So what does Bermuda have to offer? To begin, there is the subtropical weather - - not too hot, not too cold. Then there is the natural beauty of the island. It really does have pink sand beaches lapped by unbelievable turquoise water. Add some history, visitor-friendly attractions and nice people and there is more than enough to do during a few days stay on the island. (Actually, Bermuda is more than 100 islands but everyone refers to it as the “island”).

One of the things that I like to do in Bermuda is walk along the interconnected South Shore beaches. You start at the world famous Horseshoe Bay beach and then continue along a coastal trail in the South Shore National Park to Warwick Long Bay. Not only is this good moderate exercise but you get to see some beautiful secluded beaches set amidst giant rock formations where you can swim or just relax. An account of such an excursion is at http://www.beyondships3.com/walking-bermuda-beaches.html

A quite different place to visit is the National Museum of Bermuda. This is located inside The Keep at the Royal Naval Dockyards where virtually all cruise ships dock these days. The Keep was the fortress built to defend the dockyard when it was used by the Royal Navy. It has been restored and is full of exhibits about various aspects of Bermuda's history. It is also now home to the Dolphin Quest, where you can interact with or just watch dolphins. A slideshow is at http://www.beyondships3.com/bermuda-national-museum.html

I was in Bermuda this time on the new Norwegian Breakaway, which as will be discussed in future postings, is a fabulous ship. In company with Breakaway throughout the entire trip was another good ship, Celebrity Summit. As a result, I was able to take quite a few photos of Summit. I've put the best of these together in a photo essay at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-summit-goes-to-bermuda.html

All of this is in the context of a new and expanded section on Bermuda that includes additional photos and pages. The new Beyondships Bermuda home page is at http://www.beyondships3.com/bermuda-home-page.html