I have  been active in the travel business since 1981 and have been fortunate  to have been on over 50 cruises since then. These cruises have been on many cruise lines and to a great number of destinations, including Alaska, the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, Indian Ocean, Meditterean , England and Scandinavia, England to Russia, China Yangtze River, transit of Panama and Suez Canals and Nile River.

My wife and I sailed on the Azamara Club Cruise from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg. The ship was small enough to dock in the middle of most of the cities. Our cruise embarked in Copenhagen and we arrived a day earlier to rainy weather. Not wishing to miss Tivoli Gardens we went in the rain. Next day we visited the Little Mermaid statue and the Palace The following ports of call Sweden and Oslo, Norway were very interesting especially ancient battleship which sank on its maiden voyage in the Oslo Harbor. It has been lifted from it's grave and been restored and is on display in a large museum building.

On our return to Copenhagen we stopped in Tallinn on a Sunday.  It was deserted and shops all closed,  I wanted to see the inside of the church in the main square in the city center.  But we had to wait for services to end and sat down for coffee.  We struck up a conversation with a couple nest to us and their daughter.  He turned out to be the port manager and came to have coffee every Sunday so his daughter could practice her English on the tourists. 

Our favorite land tour is in Italy.  We have made several trips an usually try to make to the Amalfi coast.  The cliff side homes and shops  with the small harbors is a beautiful view. We took two of our grandchildren. Hannah and Elle, on a trip that  two days in Rome for the Colosseum and Forum  and Italian food.  Then the high speed train to Naples for the day where we enjoyed Pompeii ruins with the Mount Vesuvius in the background.  Then we  took a train to Florence where we visited the gates to the baptistry and spent a few hours shopping.   We visited San Giamani, where Hannah and I went to the top of the main tower (no elevators) while my wife and Elle ate ice cream in the plazza below. We visited other villages in Tuscanny, with a traffic ticket  along the way, and then to the beach for an afternoon. And then back to Rome for our flight home.   

ITALY is our favorite tour or cruise destination

I have visited Italy several times - Rome, Amalfie coast, Sicily, Florence, or Venice.  Picturesque is an understatement Rome is dynamic with plenty to see, eat &buy. Positano is charming and steep walk. Venice one a a kind. Florence the city of art, shopping and history. Normally we take land tours but a cruise live the chance to see many places in a few days.  We have done both.