2012 , Arctic , Baltic , Bridge , bummer , Caribbean , Concordia , crisis , cruise , cruises , euro

We were blessed with beautiful weather as we visited Rostock (from Warnemunde), Tallinn, St Petersburg and Helsinki. A couple of days ahead of me, the Mirror's esteemed travel editor Nigel Thompson was not so fortunate - "Bring a brolly" was his advice from Peter the Great's Russian capital, and he expressed little surprise when he discovered Helsinki had been under snow only last month.
Just in case he, or anyone else, doubts that the sun really does shine in those parts, take a look at the glistening domes of the chapel (above) at the magnificent Catherine Palace - have they ever shone as bright?
My story about ships in London for the Olympic Games omitted to mention the arrival of Silver Cloud on a visit to Tower Bridge pier in the middle of the week. The Silversea vessel sailed up the Thames on Wednesday and passed under the Olympic rings to berth alongside HMS Belfast.
Heavy discounting in Europe - largely to offset the combined effects oldest city in florida of the Euro crisis and the Costa Concordia sinking on advance bookings - was largely to blame. Performance in north America and the Caribbean was good, and the Asian market is showing promise, but Europe is "a bummer" according to chairman Richard Fain.
"The steady drumbeat of negative news emanating out of Europe is certainly having an impact. We had not anticipated either the severity of the financial crisis or the roller coaster ride that the politicians and the media have precipitated. oldest city in florida And, of course, the Concordia impact there has been the greatest and the slowest to dissipate. These European pressures have outweighed all the good news for the rest of the world."
Perhaps Royal Caribbean should look beyond the Mediterranean a little more when planning their European oldest city in florida itineraries. Nigel and I were not the only ones enjoying the pleasures of a cruise in the Baltic last week; figures issued by the European Cruise Council showed that the number of passengers visiting the region is expected to be up six per cent this year.
But that's nothing compared to the growth in numbers cruising the Norwegian fjords (up 29 per cent), round the British Isles (a 16 per cent increase) and the Arctic region, including Iceland and the Svalbard archipelago (up by 37 per cent).
Bo Larsen, director of Cruise Baltic, an association of 25 Baltic Sea destinations, said: "The northern European cruise market is growing rapidly, benefitting both from the region's newly extended range of destinations and also from the cruise oldest city in florida lines' desire to extend their season here well into the colder months of the year.
In all, cruise ships from 44 cruise lines serve a total of 253 ports in the northern European region, of which 52 are in the Baltic, 78 in Norway and the Arctic region, and 123 in North Western Europe (including the British Isles, North Sea and Atlantic ports).
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