This trip is going to be quite different, as I will be sailing on a German ship, from a German port, with all my arrangements made in German on the TUI website. I was glad of the Google Translate website to help me book one of the few cabins available for single use: this year's Ocean Liner Society group cruise is to be 5 nights on the ship MEIN SCHIFF 4.
Friday 4th September 2015
I flew from London Gatwick airport on a supposedly early flight, delayed apparently by volume of traffic, direct to Hamburg in Germany. The queue for Passport Control after we arrived there was long but I was entertained by fellow travellers from the Apple Corp. I was soon on the S1 train heading for the River Elbe and the Landungsbrucken station. I was booked into the nearby Hotel Stella Maris for 3 nights so I could enjoy the sights of this delightful maritime city. Once again in my life I knew I was "Following in Father's Footsteps": he was here on the Blue Star cruise ship ARANDORA STAR as a junior engineer in the early 1930s.
I joined friends for dinner and felt the holiday had started in a very convivial way, especially after receiving a gift from one of my friends.
Ships seen: Cap San Diego, various tugs and small river craft, the 3-masted Mare Frisium, the little white-hulled Schaarhorn with her yellow funnel, Rickmer Rickmers with all her flags out, many small river craft, Peter Pan (I sailed on her in January 2008) and Huckleberry Finn tiny ferry models
To be continued...
