This is the 6th installment of our series of blogs that documented our travel over the holidays. For part 1, please click here. For part 2, please click here. For part 3, please click here. For part 4, please click here. For part 5, please click here.
If you’ve been following our journey, then you would know that our original plan was to cruise with AIDA around Europe, then come back home with a direct Delta One from Frankfurt, Germany. We had booked an aft-facing owner’s suite on AIDA but due to a positive COVID test, we didn’t get to board our ship at all. After waiting it out in Hamburg, Germany, we planned on boarding the 7 Night Northern Europe cruise with MSC Virtuosa, but I ended up forgetting all of our passports in the hotel safe in Frankfurt, so we had to go back to Frankfurt to retrieve the passports, then board the cruise in Zeebrugge 2 days later, making our 7 night cruise effectively 5 night.
Now, we are finally here. We are on our cruise!! We booked two rooms in the Yacht Club, cabin number 14008 and 14012. We couldn’t get two rooms together because this was the only two rooms left on the ship (other than 1 inside room), but our rooms are just one apart so it wasn’t a big deal.
Since we are in the Yacht Club, our room comes with a butler and we were escorted onto the ship without having to wait in lines for check-in. As soon as we boarded, I ran to the Excursion Desk (much to our butler’s dismay) and tried to see if we could get on the excursion I had previously booked for the current port, Zeebrugge. Since we didn’t embark on Hamburg like we were supposed to, all of our excursions that we booked with the ship were all canceled (although no automatic refunds were made). The excursion desk turned out to be very helpful, especially a Black young man (I wish I could remember his name at this point) who made a lot of phone calls and got us reinstated for all of our excursions. We had lunch and got ready for our excursion in the afternoon.
Zeebrugge, Belgium
For our first port, Zeebrugge, we booked a ship excursion called BASIC BRUGES. The tour started with a coach bus. Since we are Yacht Club members, we were allowed onto the bus first. We were each given a headset, so we could hear the tour guide easier. It started off as a rainy day but the rain let off later on. I think Bruges rains most days of the year.
Our first stop was at the Lake of Love. The tour guide told us the story behind the Lake of Love. Legend has it, there was a woman named Minna who fell in love with a man named Stromberg. Her dad did not like Stromberg’s humble background, so he arranged Minna to marry someone else. When Minna heard that, she ran away. Stromberg went looking for her and found her dead body by the lake next day. He buried her under the lake as a way to seal their love forever. If you walk across the Bargeburg Bridge together with your lover, you could also experience everlasting love!
The lake is very beautiful and there are many swans around.
Downtown Bruges
Next we were taken on a walking tour of downtown Bruges. The tour guide pointed out some historical buildings, with traditional Flemish architecture.
Almshouses were built from 14th century and onwards. Each row of almshouses has its own chapel, so the inhabitants can pray and offer thanks.
At the Burg Square, our tour guide let everyone go on their free time and we would meet up later. For our free time, we decided to take the canal tour. There are several companies that run the boat tours. I think all are the same price. The tour guide helped us with where to go to get on the tour from the nearest location.
I highly recommend the boat tour. It’s a beautiful way to appreciate the architecture and history of the area. It was also really fun – there were some bridges we had to lower our heads to not get hit!
After the boat tour, we met up with our tour guide and rode back to the ship on our bus. We enjoyed our time in Bruges and this excursion is a perfect beginners guide to the town of Bruges.
Rotterdam, Netherlands
For the port of Rotterdam, we took the bus provided by MSC to the city, walked around the city ourselves, then took the bus back. This turned out to be my favorite port on this cruise.
I thought the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal looked beautiful. Port Rotterdam is Europe’s largest cargo port. We got on the bus this morning, which dropped us off at Station Blaak. This was great because it’s right next to the Market Hall.
Next, we walked to the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, an art museum with a beautiful staircase inside. Unfortunately they were completely sold out for the day so we weren’t able to get tickets.
Sylvette, a concrete sculpture located at a street corner, was created by Pablo Picasso and Carl Nesjar, based on a 19 year old model, Sylvette David.
Next, we visited the famous Cube Houses.
Cube Houses are slanted tiny houses designed by architect Piet Blom. People actually LIVE in these little houses. For 3 Euros, you can go inside one of these cube houses and see what living inside is truly like. This is probably the most unique house you would ever step foot in. This is a must-do!
After the Cube House, we came back to the bus stop and rode the bus back to the cruise ship. I loved exploring the town on our own and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who’s in Rotterdam for the first time. However, if you like art museums, I would suggest buying tickets in advance. There are a lot of museums in this area.
Le Havre, France
Le Havre is a coastal town located near Paris. There are many things to do around Le Havre. Top choices are generally the following: D-Day and Battle of Normandy, Mont Saint Michel, Etretat (the White Chalk Cliffs, not to be confused with the more famous White Cliffs), the quaint town of Honfleur, and last but not least, the Eiffel Tower. It’s impossible to do even half of everything in a day. Due to the distance, if we were to do Eiffel Tower, then we wouldn’t be doing anything else. In the end, we settled on the White Cliffs. White Cliffs is the closest one out of the above from the cruise port.
The White Chalk Cliffs were absolutely stunning. The hike wasn’t difficult but the wind made it pretty cold. We were freezing!
Next, we stopped at the town of Étretat for some lunch and walked around town. Check out this eclectic hotel called Detective Hotel! The rooms are themed with detectives from old school to modern day. It kind of cool but it also kind of gives me the creeps…
Teddy and Ava got their eyes on a Crepe place at the corner of the street.
The Crepe restaurant is called Crêperie Et Gaufres Maison. I didn’t really ask them how their crepes were, but we didn’t read the reviews online before they went there. Now I’m curious! (The online reviews are scarily bad!)
Alice and I checked out a local little bar instead, called Le Maupassant. People were quite friendly inside and I enjoyed a pint of local beer. The bar is named after the famous short story author Guy de Maupassant, who spent his childhood in Etretat.
This was all the time we had. We met up at the bus and came back to the cruise port. We saw the river cruise ship Amadeus Diamond docked close to us.
Southampton, England
Southampton is about 2 hours from London. We had been to London about 2 months ago so it didn’t make sense to go back so soon. This is also closer to Stonehenge than if we were starting from London, so we took the kids on a Stonehenge excursion instead. The MSC excursion we booked included both a visit to Stonehenge and the nearby town of Salisbury. It was perfect.
We were given a lot of time to walk around Stonehenge. I don’t know why I’m fascinated by some rocks, but I was. The area felt magical to me and this bucket list item did not disappoint. Next, the driver parked the bus at The Boathouse, and we were taken on a little walking tour. The tour guide told us about the history of Salisbury, a town famous for cathedrals and clock towers. We walked by the Salisbury Clock Tower, where the tour guide explained that the bottom was a jail. They used to lock up drunk people in the cells below the tower.
Next, we were taken to the Salisbury Cathedral. Wow. What a beautiful place. Inside the cathedral, there’s the world’s best preserved original copy of Magna Carta. Magna Carta is a Latin document signed by King John of England in 1215. The Magna Carta is still considered one of the most important documents ever written, having inspired the way we view issues of justice and liberty and influenced laws regarding such throughout the world. Inside Salisbury Cathedral, we can see a translation of the full text in English as well as the original text in Latin.
Next, time to eat. Yes!! There were lots of restaurants to choose from. We chose The Haunch of Venison, because, well, it sounded good. The Haunch of Venison is one of the oldest pubs in the area, dating back 700 years. Supposedly, there’s a mummified hand in the old bread oven (no longer being used). We got some soup, some fish and chips, and some beer.
This is the last stop of our tour. We were taken back to the ship and celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. This was the final port of our cruise and despite a few hiccups along the way, we did have an amazing trip, as a family. Bad decisions make good stories. I have a feeling we will be talking about this trip for years to come.