Regent Seven Seas - Voyager

I discussed this Baltic Cruise line in a previous post. I have been on a few different cruise lines, and it's not just the destinations, you need to take into account your preferences on the size of the ship, the typical traveller on board, family cruises, culture immersion cruises, luxury, age-appropriate, etc.

On this particular cruise, we decided to see if we could visit the ship's galley.  With our request granted, a group of approximately 20 people assembled to go the ships galley. The head chef took us on the tour through the galley and explained the mechanics of storing, cooking and serving the 700 passengers on board to the standard they need to meet.

The amount of bread baked daily is astronomical; fresh food is brought on board at every stop and usually consists of whatever is the local fare.  There are descriptions and pictures of how each plate is cooked and presented. The head chef comes in at 5 pm to do a run through, and all items on the menu are prepared and submitted for inspection. If all is satisfactory, then the staff get ready for the passengers selections. Before each meal goes out it must be like the picture, or they must start again and at the end of the night explain as to why their plates weren't up to par.

On board our particular ship we had a young but capable Swedish Captain. He was seen around the vessel often and was readily available. Our cabin being approximately three suites from the bridge made it more likely to bump into the captain, which we did. He was a delight to chat with and had a great sense of humour.

I would recommend that you choose your cruise line carefully as it can make the difference between a good cruise holiday and an excellent cruise holiday.  If you're interested, my new book on 'Who What Wear of Cruising' is to be released end of February. In it, I discuss cruise lines, dress regulations, ship terminology and tips on getting the most of your cruise. Please email me for more details at tanyalococo@gmail.com

Klaipeda Lithuania

Klaipeda is the third largest city in Lithuania; it's had a different past with influences from German and Russian possession throughout its history. Although it developed as a German port, the Lithuanians considered it their own. Then becoming part of Russia to finally regaining its identity. Klaipeda has a population of 100,000 is still more predominately a Russian speaking city.

I took a tour of the legends and folklore of Klaipeda; it seems most of the stories involved an evil male trying to trick a female into marrying him and the female either tricking him back or getting away from him to find her true love.

The coastal town of Palanga is a popular summer tourist designation, known as the Summer Capital of this beautiful coastline, white sandy beach, and lovely buildings, it's where many of the locals of Klaipeda go for their summer break and many Russians travel too.  History shows this area as a large fishing town. The fisherman wanted others to know which area they fished and who they were, so they developed the Weathervanes that told their story, and these were put on their boat. These weathervanes indicated where you were from, the family; the number of boys and girls, basically they told your story.

The local food in this area is very high in fat due to the extreme cold conditions they have in winter; it was explained to us how these dishes were made, they sounded splendid, so we had to head off and try some of their local dishes. Wasn't disappointed either, there were excellent local dishes at many of the local restaurants.