Discover Norse Legends aboard the ms Koningsdam of Holland America Line
The Queens Lounge Deck, featuring the BB King Jazz Club is the place to hear some royally good tunes.
Mexican and Pacific coastline cruises are a great option for fun in the sun, beach time and serious margarita tasting options, but if you are angling to pack a little more culture and education value into your family escape, heading to the far north (recent trips have even glimpsed rare sightings of the aurora borealis) can be worth the long haul. Set sail on the newest ship in the Holland America Line for an unforgettable family adventure full of history, vibrant non-screen filled kids’ clubs, world class musicians and breathtaking scenery on a Vikings tour of the fjords of Norway.
Amsterdam
Cruises embark from Amsterdam, at a port that is uniquely convenient for strolling into the city centre. Despite the reputation, there are unique shops, eateries and endless scenic canal boat rides that bypass the red light district and stretch of “coffee shops” with accompany billows of smoke and head right to the heart of history-come-alive. Add a day before or after, to double the effect of this European experience.
Middle-schoolers are spoonfed The Diary of Anne Frank, often broken down and analyzed to death until the poignant story of the terror-filled time of injustice has lost all of its impact. That all changes when you step off a Hop-On-Hop-Off boat (the Amsterdam version of the classic red double-deckers you see in most cities and tourist destinations) at the house in which she resides. Seeing the tiny space in the attic where she scratched out her story in the candle light and it just might spark a fascination for history.
Famous artists also abound in this charming city, with galleries and museum devoted to the full body of their work dotting every neighborhood. Try Van Gogh Museum where kids can, ahem, lend an ear, to hear the history of one of the country’s most well-known painters. If kids appreciate a more realistic vibe, try the 17th century Rembrandt House Museum in which famous artist lived and created his masterpieces for over twenty years.
The Culinary Arts Center offers families the opportunity to get hands-on with their dinner and meet the chefs in an intimate environment.
At Sea
The trip to Norway starts with a sea day, where kids can meet fellow young sailors in an expansive kids’ club, broken down into age groups and full of interactive sessions with counselors ensuring fast friends are made for the journey. The kids will go from being nervous or fussy about dropoff, to begging for more “just five more minutes” and crying when they see your face at the door to pick them up for meals.
It won’t be long before you realize this is a Very Good Thing, as the ship is filled with equally entrancing entertainment for mom and dad. World class musicians perform on the Lincoln Center stage as high tea is served, a seven-piece dynamic jazz band keeps things hopping and the dance floor full at BB Kings Jazz Club, and a Happy Hour (where tasty treats abound and a second drink can be had for a buck) up in the scenic Crow’s Nest lounge is accompanied by bird’s eye panoramic view and narration of the passing sights.
For foodie-minded folks, the ship is a culinary king. The Culinary Arts Center features an open kitchen and chef-narrated evening wine-paired dinner, with every course offering a different adult beverage and unlimited organic wine on tap. Guests can visit a glass enclosure in the corner with purple and blue-hued lights assisting a dozen Koppen Cress microgreens to reach their tasty best. Each course features the sprigs, along with a host of other local items and freshly caught fish chefs harvest from local markets when in port.
During the day, the center provides the backdrop for cooking lessons, where chefs lead guests at individual workstations through preparing items like French pastries, olive oil-seasoned entrees, shellfish and gourmet sauces. Demos and tastings also are held, complimentary. Beer, wine and spirits tastings also feature in the daily schedule. For fans of single malts, Notes offers the opportunity for a one-on-one experience with a mixologist in an alcove filled with unimaginable bottles.
The Loft is such a cool tween and teen spot, you might have to beg the kids to come out.
For wine sippers, BLEND by Chateau St. Michelle brings participants through lessons on how soil samples and location affects elements of taste within the vintages. Guests then partake in a generous five wine tasting, making notes on what sings to their palate. The Cellar Master assists the exclusive ten person seating in judging what percentage of each of the top red wines (which stand on the ship menu for $74 a bottle and up) might best combine to create a personalized blend. Pulling direct from barrels, the guests use graduated glass cylinders and beakers in several attempts, with thorough tastings, to find the perfect taste ideal to their liking. The final product is then bottled, with a spare glass to enjoy on the spot. (We found this to add up to about a half a bottle or better enjoyed during the experience.) To add to the one-of-a-kind aspect, guests are given labels to design before the bottles are sent to appear on the table at dinner that night, or to enjoy in your stateroom.
If all that wine has you…relaxed. Take it a step further by a visit to the Thermal Spa. One of the best of its kind, the co-ed multi-room experience starts from a room filled with ceramic heated-from-within loungers that instant nap. In one corner is a unique lay-down shower, where you recline on the stone slab and trigger a series of head-to-toe sprayers that pound your muscles from above. An aromatherapy steam room offers seating for a dozen or more, with a walled glass to enjoy the view of the passing fjord. The largest room, flanked by co-ed, men and women’s saunas, offers a massive circular Jacuzzi seating more than twenty with a center hot, forceful waterfall and perimeter of drizzling streams to relax your back and jets work on legs sore from tromping around Amsterdam.
Ålesund
Don a survival suit and hop a military-grade RIB boat to fly across the waves, past breathtaking vistas of bluffs and island dotting the ocean. This is not your mother’s lah-di-dah scenic cruise, the inflatable reaches up to 55 miles and bounces off waves you need to manage by crouching above your padded straddle seat and riding like a wild watery bronco. The remote trip is worth the memories (and occasional jarring wave) as you are transported to another world filled with seals, thousands of cranes and gulls, sea caves and even a massive flock of floating puffins you zoom through causing them to take flight in a whir around you.
Kayaking the Gerainger Fjord offers close up views of the waterfalls and ice fields of neighboring peaks.
Geiranger Fjord
Board double kayaks along the glassy waters of a classic Nordic fjord. Slipping legs first into the enclosed kayaks is a touch intimidating at first, but paddling up the fjord to the famous Seven Sisters Waterfall (and opposing Suitor trying to catch their notice) is simply serene. You really get a sense of the immensity of the waterway as the cruise ship becomes a small blip below sky high sheer cliff walls surrounding you. The three-hour trip is a great workout, but not undoable with kids, and offers incredible photo ops as you round a bend to see snow covered peaks.
Bergen
Bergen is such a charming city, we suggest enjoying the nature elements of previous ports and saving your shopping and wandering for this spot. Norway’s second largest city has a rich history, with the ship parked at the foot of a castle once blown to bits by a suspected sabotaged cargo boat full of munitions during WWII. Visit the rebuilt castle, and make note of a hedge marking the footprint of former churches torn down in the name of seeing enemies approach during the war. The Fish Market is bustling and cleanly kept, with dozens of stalls offering seating in which to enjoy their freshly prepared delicacies like langostas, king crabs legs, smokes sea trout and prawn salads. A leaning row of historic shops defies gravity, while housing the usual Viking souvenirs along with a host of artisans offering unique woolen items, handcrafted elk and reindeer leather bags and accessories, sculptors and painters. Skip the pricy organized tours and walk a few blocks up to the gate of the funicular, which climbs the cities mountain for panoramic views.
Sailing into SoCal
While we heartily recommend the Norwegian Legends cruise, we realize that such a far-flung destination is not for every family. However, the level of service and quality of the food is consistent on this cruise line of smaller ships, which allow guests to venture into the less developed ports in which big ships can’t fit. Here are a few options that are closer to home.
Mexican Riviera
7 Day, October
A full week of sailing through the Mexican Riviera brings stops at Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan from a short drive down to the San Diego port. In Mazatlan, learn how to make seven different types of authentic Mexican salsa, and a mean margarita, before joining the two chefs on the dance floor to perfect your salsa moves, no chips needed. Become a dolphin trainer for a day or get adventurous on a canopy tour on another stop.
Pacific Coastline
4 Day, September
If you’re not sure how your family will fare on a sea journey, or can’t pull away from work for a long vacation, this cruise is an ideal starter trip. Set sail from Vancouver as you traverse the Pacific coastline toward home. A stop in Astoria, Oregon lets you experience the land where Lewis and Clark built Fort Clatsop after reaching the ocean, currently a national memorial with exhibits, living-history demonstrations, and trails through the surrounding wetlands. Excursion possibilities include an Ale Trail tour through the pubs of the region, a Taste of Oregon: Seafood & Wine experience or a bike ride long the coast.
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