The cruising Browns are at it again!
This time we headed for northern waters on Holland America Lines’ (HAL) MS Maasdam. The 35-day, 9522 mile, cruise was called the “Route of the Vikings.” However, we did not have to row and weren’t allowed to rape or pillage – even a little bit.
Our route took us from Boston to Boston via Newfoundland, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Norway, England, Ireland, and France. The cruise could have been more aptly named “The Route of the Unpronounceables” with stops in Djupivogur, Torshavn, Seydisfjordur, and (best of all) Qaqortoq.
The hospitality was all we have come to expect from HAL with great service, food and accommodations. Unlike our recent Africa cruise (Taste of Two Continents) the weather was mostly delightful and cool. The ports were mostly small towns and offered chances for interesting excursions, such as boiling sulfur springs in Iceland, the L’Anse aux Meadows Viking settlement, and a Beatles tour in Liverpool. Of course, no tour would be complete for Mrs. Brown without plenty of opportunities for shopping.
The days at sea were fun, too. We took home the unofficial (by my reckoning) trivia crown for the trip. In fact, by the end, they had run out of questions, so Adele was running some of the games. Adele took the time to paint 14 pictures and discover a new watercolor style for herself (which she describes as “whimsical”) – you can check them out at her section of the website or by clicking on the link ARBPaintings. I had time to take about 800 pictures – some of which are on our site.
In many ways this was one of our best cruises and we got off the boat in Boston ready to book the next one.