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Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues


scubacruiserx2
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Jo, one of the options I am considering from Southampton is to take ferry to Isle of Wight and spend the day there. Problem is, it will be on Aug 13 which apparently coincides with some yachting week. Will IOW be covered up with people? Should I stick with original plan of spending day in New Forest?

 

Oh yes, Cowes Week! "great fun for the 8,000 competitors racing and 100,000 spectators". It will be busy on both land and sea :D.

 

The New Forest is lovely. Our favourite is to drive down to Lymington (seaside/ yachting town/lovely Saturday Market) via Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst and back via Beaulieu. Beautiful drive, about an hour or so total roundtrip driving time (traffic dependant - sometimes crawling!)

 

PM me for any more info.

 

(Sorry for hijacking your post! Scubacruiser). Great pictures from Brugges and what lovely clear weather you had.

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Oh yes, Cowes Week! "great fun for the 8,000 competitors racing and 100,000 spectators". It will be busy on both land and sea :D.

 

The New Forest is lovely. Our favourite is to drive down to Lymington (seaside/ yachting town/lovely Saturday Market) via Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst and back via Beaulieu. Beautiful drive, about an hour or so total roundtrip driving time (traffic dependant - sometimes crawling!)

 

PM me for any more info.

 

(Sorry for hijacking your post! Scubacruiser). Great pictures from Brugges and what lovely clear weather you had.

 

 

No worries Jo ! Cruise Critic and this tread is about sharing trips , tips , tours and sometimes - photos . :) :D

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And so we returned back to the square from where the trip started .

 

Carriage video clip :

 

 

 

I really liked the colors of the buildings and their stair step facades .

 

 

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Their were a couple of buildings of note and with their height , they were hard to ignore . In the square is the Belfry which dates back to 1240 .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfry_of_Bruges

 

 

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And the Church of Our Lady can be seen from all around the city and dominates the city skyline .

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady,_Bruges

 

 

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Although we didn't go into that church , we did go into St. Salvator's Cathedral .

 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Salvator%27s_Cathedral

 

 

This is the impressive pipe organ built in 1717 .

 

 

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Modern art ? No , standing in the tower looking up .

 

 

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Edited by scubacruiserx2
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After our canal tour , we walked to Market Square

 

IMG_896220Stitch-002_zpslygk1kgv.jpg[/url]

 

I hope this is the right picture!! The restaurant on the far left with the green awning is where we had lunch and where I was introduced to Kriek..which became one of my favorite things about Belgium!!!

 

 

I love this review...looking forward to much more, it is like the visual equivalent of a yummy box of chocolates

 

The BEST chocolates I ever had was purchased from a small shop in Brugge.

 

Scubacruiser2: Just finished my coffee.....need more please!! (pictures not coffee)

Edited by Hydrokitty
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Actually that is not the right picture and I can't figure out how to change it. The restaurant where we had lunch is the one on the end of the row of restaurants, has a green awning and red umbrella and is visible in the photo of you guys in the carriage greeting the dog!!! :D

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Actually that is not the right picture and I can't figure out how to change it. The restaurant where we had lunch is the one on the end of the row of restaurants, has a green awning and red umbrella and is visible in the photo of you guys in the carriage greeting the dog!!! :D

 

And through the magic of digital photography and a high powered Canon lens Voila !

 

 

IMG_8970_zps7folo9me.jpg

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We listened to the directions from the carriage driver about a good place to purchase chocolate and still wound up here .

 

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And there is was - Chocolate sea shells ! Who can resist Chocolate sea shells ?

After going inside , we purchased all of our Chocolate needs - in just one place !

 

 

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As we hurried back to our agreed meeting point , we thought that we might have time for a quick lunch .

 

 

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And , so what will it be ? Mussels and fries , waffles ?

 

 

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The place under the green awning actually had some good prices on sandwiches .

 

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And guess which one was for a hungry , growing teen ?

 

 

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First guess ! How'd you know ?

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And through the magic of digital photography and a high powered Canon lens Voila !

 

 

Thank you!!! And, the place where you bought your chocolate looks very familiar too....I bought a chocolate duck, which we all shared at dinner that night...chocolate shells were to die for...I also had a Belgian waffle but in Brussels....it was not as good as I thought it would be....but it was still really good!! :D

Edited by Hydrokitty
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And through the magic of digital photography and a high powered Canon lens Voila !

 

 

Thank you!!! And, the place where you bought your chocolate looks very familiar too....I bought a chocolate duck, which we all shared at dinner that night...chocolate shells were to die for...I also had a Belgian waffle but in Brussels....it was not as good as I thought it would be....but it was still really good!! :D

 

There we many Chocolate stores that looked similar and we also tried to find the one which we had used on our previous visit . But it was like looking for Waldo in a Where's Waldo book . And because we were buying for self , friends in Russia and for workers on the ship , we left Bruges with a rather large , insulated loot bag !

 

IMG_9053_zpsq3ms6esg.jpg

Edited by scubacruiserx2
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In the final assessment , Bruges was beautiful in the sunlight ! However , we had hoped to spend more time there as our 5 hour tour allowed only 3 -1/2 hours from exiting the bus to being back on the bus . We wished that we had car pooled in a taxi , like some members on our CC Roll call had done . Bruges also quite difficult for those who have mobility challenges .

 

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A fellow photographer reviewing her work .

 

 

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Back at the port , the ramps are quite steep .

 

 

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And on the Eclipse , we saw some blues reminiscent of the Caribbean .

 

 

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And we were thrilled to see people instead of flip flops occupying the deck chairs !

 

 

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Edited by scubacruiserx2
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Are you saying the photos to attract tourists would lie?? :D

 

Seriously, thanks for the update. I have plenty of time to research this and check out what kind of excursion X will offer since they want us off the ship for 3 hours.

 

Jo42....we're on the same cruise in Aug., 2017....that's the back of our b2b. Can't wait to see your review.

 

If it were left to me, I would opt for the New Forest from Southampton. If you want some specific sights, there is the Motor Museum at Beaulieu (pronounced Bewley!). But my own favourite is the small "village" of Buckler's Hard nearby to Beaulieu. This is where a considerable number of Britain's eighteenth century warships were built: timber was cut from the forest and the single main street lead down to the former dockyard. There is a good museum to explain the site. In any event, the Forest is a pleasant place to spend a few hours!

 

If cathedrals are your thing then the one at Winchester has the longest nave in the UK. And, of course, Winchester used to be the capital of England for the Saxons!

 

But three hours isn't very long for either of these trips and the traffic into the cruise ports down the western "motorway" link and Millbrook Way can be severe. Leave plenty of time if you have to get to a ship!

Edited by Froxfield
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Jealous of your sunny day in Brugge. We had rain, and while waiting for the city bus under the shelter of a porch, the bus barely paused at the stop and went on without us. So we spent too much time on getting there and back. I agree - reserve a taxi.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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Jealous of your sunny day in Brugge. We had rain, and while waiting for the city bus under the shelter of a porch, the bus barely paused at the stop and went on without us. So we spent too much time on getting there and back. I agree - reserve a taxi.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

It was all the luck of the draw really . And we did get our share of some COLD rain . :eek:

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Just discovered your newest review!!! Hope you all had a wonderful trip.... looking forward to hearing about it and how the Eclipse has changed for the better and/or worse since last year's TA!!! :) How nice that you were able to get the large family veranda stateroom!!

Edited by Gracie115
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Just discovered your newest review!!! Hope you all had a wonderful trip.... looking forward to hearing about it and how the Eclipse has changed for the better and/or worse since last year's TA!!! :) How nice that you were able to get the large family veranda stateroom!!

 

 

Well hello Gracie , it's so nice to hear from you again and we're glad that you found us . And we do hope that you will be joining us for this cruise . The FV was not a suite but the price was right ! ;)

 

For any of our readers who are enjoying this thread - you may want to take a look at our Transatlantic thread , also on the Eclipse , which is where we met Gracie and John . It has a lot of photos of the Eclipse and with 227,710 views , it is our most popular thread . It can be found at this link :

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2213388

 

 

:) :D

 

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After our return to the hip , we took a nap to help us stay up for the Beatles Celebration , the evenings entertainment . After waking up we noticed some movement on the balcony .

 

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There were some windmills and what appeared to be an oil platform in the North Sea .

 

 

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And after dinner , we headed down to the Eclipse Theatre where Damian our CD was MC .

 

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He introduced the Ship's Master , Leonardos Palaiokrassas , who also possessed an excellent sense of humor , and was highly visible and accessible throughout the cruise .

 

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The band followed after and launched into song after song of the early Beatles music .

 

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The John Lennon character seemed to be the best musician and here reveals his cheeky side .

 

IMG_9177_zpshgtroeav.jpg

 

 

And after about 40 minutes they earned a standing ( dancing ) ovation .

 

 

 

 

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Jealous of your sunny day in Brugge. We had rain, and while waiting for the city bus under the shelter of a porch, the bus barely paused at the stop and went on without us. So we spent too much time on getting there and back. I agree - reserve a taxi.

 

I believe that taxis were at a premium- I seem to remember much discussion on our roll call, because all available taxis had been pre booked.

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I believe that taxis were at a premium- I seem to remember much discussion on our roll call, because all available taxis had been pre booked.

 

 

I think that was also the case on our cruise as well . So if you are considering this option , book early !

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Truly enjoying your review, thank you for taking the time to post it! Now I will quietly sit back and continue to enjoy.

 

Thank you Kentucky816 and you're welcome . And with a Baltic cruise coming up shortly and a New Zealand cruise on the distant horizon , we're thrilled for you ! :) :D

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