Magic moments under the midnight sun
A miracle it is. I can see the sun in a far distance. The magical midnight sun, and I feel it is going to be glorious. During the first days of our [...]
Biking and boating in Leknes, Lofoten
July 10. It took our little ship BERLIN five days to reach the Lofoten. Arriving shortly after midnight, under a thick carpet of clouds, the blue hour makes the scenery look impressive [...]
Where to lunch when doing a cruise to Bergen?
When you visit Bergen by ship, and you only have a couple of hours to spend, then a good advice would be to go to the fish market. When you [...]
For the love of Ghent
Summer holidays are coming soon! Why not choose Ghent? Some time ago Lonely Planet called it Belgium’s best-kept secret. A perfect moment would be the long weekend around 21 July, because we're [...]
CroisiEurope’s AFRICAN DREAM soon ready to set sail
AFRICAN DREAM, CroisiEurope's newest river vessel is being finalized on the Harare shipyard in Zimbabwe. To reach its homeport the 40m long vessel will be cut in two pieces and transported over [...]
A week on the Rhone with AmaWaterways
After a very busy period, a week of slow cruising on the Rhône River sounded indeed very appealing. This time my parents were coming too, for their first river cruise. There was [...]
A bottle of Champagne and lots of sunshine for AMAKRISTINA
Nobody could believe what a stunningly beautiful day it was, on May 10th 2017, for the christening of AMAKRISTINA, AmaWaterways' newest river cruise ship. After too many days of cold and grey [...]
The first Chinese cruise ship, all to myself
On April 27th I embarked on a virtually empty cruise ship, surrounded by almost 1,000 Chinese staff. A special experience indeed. An empty ship... Before the first Chinese guests could embark, the [...]
Quality time with cats, in Tokyo
Much to my own surprise I suddenly found myself excited about a cat café, in the middle of Tokyo. Our discovery tour of Tokyo was abruptly interrupted when my good friend Nobuko [...]
Ten reasons why I fell in love with Shanghai
Sometimes in life you meet somebody briefly, and you know it will be a friend forever. No need to see each other frequently; the friendship is there to stay. Our ship, the [...]
Hong Kong, surprisingly green
Do you think skyscrapers, and skyscrapers only, when one says "Hong Kong"? So did I. However, much to my surprise I saw an almost poetic entente between the dazzling concrete towers and [...]
Cruising in the heart of Sweden on a historic Göta Canal boat
Probably it was the oldest cruise ship I have ever been on. The Swedish JUNO was built in 1874, and she is still operating on the route she was built for: the [...]