Vision of the Seas 2011 Mediterranean

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Vision of the Seas®

2011 MEDITERRANEAN DEPLOYMENT

14-Night Eastbound Transatlantic
Sao Paulo (Santos), Brazil • Rio De Janeiro, Brazil • Salvador De Bahia, Brazil • Tenerife, Canary Islands • Lanzarote, Canary Islands • Seville (Cadiz), Spain • Lisbon, Portugal

11-Night Lisbon to England
Lisbon, Portugal • La Coruña, Spain • Gijón, Spain • Bilbao, Spain • La Rochelle, France • Brest, France • St. Peter Port, Channel Isl • Paris/Normandy (Le Havre), France • Southampton, England

4-Night Amsterdam

Southampton, England • Amsterdam, Netherlands • Copenhagen, Denmark

5-Night Norwegian Fjords
Copenhagen, Denmark • Bergen, Norway • Geiranger, Norway • Copenhagen, Denmark

7-Night St. Petersburg & Baltics
Copenhagen, Denmark • Tallinn, Estonia • St. Petersburg, Russia • Helsinki, Finland • Stockholm, Sweden • Copenhagen, Denmark

3-Night Berlin

Copenhagen, Denmark • Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany • Oslo, Norway

5-Night Amsterdam & Brugges

Oslo, Norway • Brugges (Zeebrugge), Belgium • Amsterdam, Netherlands • Oslo, Norway

9-Night British Isles & Normandy

Oslo, Norway • Paris/ Normandy (Le Havre), France • Cherbourg, France • Dublin, Ireland • Liverpool, England • Edinburgh (S.Queensferry), Scotland • Oslo, Norway

7-Night St. Petersburg & Tallinn
Oslo, Norway • St. Petersburg, Russia • Helsinki, Finland • Copenhagen, Denmark • Oslo, Norway

7-Night St. Petersburg & Tallinn

Oslo, Norway • St. Petersburg, Russia • Tallinn, Estonia • Copenhagen, Denmark • Oslo, Norway

7-Night Oslo to Stockholm 

Oslo, Norway • Copenhagen, Denmark • Riga, Latvia • St. Petersburg, Russia • Helsinki, Finland • Stockholm, Sweden

Princess Cruisetour to Oberammergau Passion Play

See Famed German Production, Only Performed Every 10 Years

Princess Cruises has announced a rare opportunity for 2010 European Cruisetour guests to see the famed Oberammergau Passion Play, which is performed only once each decade in this small Bavarian village in Germany.

The new 18-day “Oberammergau & Highlights of Germany” tour features two nights in the southern German town of Oberammergau, and includes tickets to the event. Passengers will also visit a variety of other top German destinations during the eight-day land tour, including Frankfurt, the Black Forest, Munich, Nuremberg and Berlin. In addition, the tour will connect seamlessly with a 10-day Scandinavia/Russia cruise aboard Star Princess. Two departures are offered on August 2 and August 12, 2010.

The Oberammergau Passion Play has been held every ten years since 1634 in thanksgiving for deliverance from the Black Death in 1633. The play is now performed in years ending with a zero (except 1984 which was the 350th anniversary), and involves more than 2000 actors, singers, instrumentalists and technicians, all of whom are residents of the village. All cast members have lived in the village at least 20 years and must be amateurs of high moral and ethical principles. Villagers also make all the costumes for the production and, as no wigs are used, participants must grow their hair and beards for several months prior to the performances.

Fares for the 18-day Oberammergau cruisetour begin at $5,319 per person, based on double occupancy. Capacity is limited on these special tours, and could fill quickly. If you are interested in this historic event, I strongly encourage you to contact me immediately to book this cruisetour.

Private Tour to Berlin

One of the ports we visited on our 14 Night Scandinavia / Russia Cruise on Celebrity Constellation was Warnemunde, Germany. We booked a private tour with Berlin Sightseeing with three other people from our Cruise Critic group. Our plans originally included taking the Celebrity "Berlin - a 20th Century Experience" tour with a train to Berlin and sightseeing once we arrived there. We had also considered doing this on our own, but due to the construction port advisory, we decided to take an organized tour.

When we arrived in Warnemunde, it began to rain. Around 7:30 AM. our driver met us by the exit of the port terminal. We got into the Merecdes van without getting wet. Off we went on our 2.5 hour ride to Berlin. We met our guide, Klaus, next to the Charlottenburg Palace at 10 AM.
which you can see in this photo. For more photos, see this album. After a photo stop, we were on our way to the Olympic Stadium , one of the sights of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

As you can see from this photo, taken from the tower which provides this aerial view, there was lots of activity as preparation was being made for the games to begin. Click here for more Olympic Statdium photos.

Other sites that we visited included Brandenburg Gate , Checkpoint Charlie , Berlin Cathedral and Museum Island . Read Berlin Tour Description for more details about our Berlin tour. We had free time in Berlin and went to KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) Department Store where we had a fantistic meal in the food court.


The entire town was tranformed for the World Cup. Notice the large soccer ball in front of Brandenburg Gate for example.

No trip to Berlin would be complete with the stops we made at Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall. Just like during our Normandy trip, our tour to Berlin brought history to life.

I've often heard people debate about going to Berlin from cruise ports such as Warnemunde or Rostock. I believe it was worth the 2.5 hour drive from port to Berlin proper. The choice of how to get to Berlin is yours. I would recommend checking things like construction before you make a decision about venturing out on your own. We had plenty of time between the end of our tour and the actual departure from port at 9:30 PM, so we were comfortable taking a private tour.

If you are worried about missing the ship, then I'd advise taking one of the ship's tours instead. But no matter which way you go, I do believe you should include Berlin in your itinerary if your plans take you to this area of Germany.

For more pictures from Germany and the rest of this cruise, see our Photo Album page.