Deaf Transatlantic Cruise

August 31 - September 15, 2013

London, Parliament building and Westminster Abbey photographed from the London Eye	Some people in our group joined a one night pre-cruise stay in London. Not wasting any time, they got on the hop-on hop-off city bus and toured London and saw many famous sights. The next day, we headed towards the port in Harwich where our cruise ship, the Brilliance of the Seas was waiting for us. The embarkation went very smoothly. We quickly got settled in our "floating home" and explored the different venues onboard the Brilliance.
Le Havre in the Northern part of France was our first port of call. The majority of our group opted for a visit of the French capital. After a 2.5 hour coach ride, we arrived in Paris and enjoyed the city highlights during a guided tour: Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, the Opera House, the beautiful Madeleine Church, the world famous Louvre Museum, the island of La Cite, Notre Dame Cathedral, Hotel des Invalides, burial place of Napoleon and the Latin Quarter. Afterwards we had free time to explore on our own the city that stretches on the right and left banks of the river Seine. Other people in our group went to Giverny and Rouen. After a bus ride through Upper Normandy, we reached Giverny, the village where Claude Monet lived, was inspired and painted. We visited the gardens and the house where Monet and his family lived. After lunch in a nice, old mill we continued to Rouen. Rouen is the capital of Upper Normandy and has a large number of well-preserved historic sites. After a nice walking tour and enjoying the timbered medieval houses, we visited the modern church of Saint Jeanne d'Arc.	Eiffel Tower, Paris Picture: David Jones Rouen
Stonehenge	Back in England, the ship stopped in Portland. We went via coach to the world famous historical site of Stonehenge. This prehistoric monument is a World Heritage Site and it is as old as the great pyramids of Egypt remaining a mysterious fascination for all its visitors. After Stonehenge, we drove a short distance to Salisbury whose cathedral spire can be seen from miles away. The charming 13th century cathedral enshrining 700 years of English history and fascinating with its beauty. Salisbury is a town with narrow streets lined with black-and-white half-timbered houses. Free time was scheduled for a lunch break and some shopping.
Our first port of call in Ireland was Cobh where we embarked a coach and went to the country's second largest city, Cork. The city tour included a stop at the magnificent St. Finbarr's Cathedral and the University College. Included in the tour was a stop at a hotel in order to taste and enjoy a traditional Irish coffee. It is a cocktail of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar and topped with thick cream.	Cobh
St. Patrick's Cathedral Dublin	The next port was the Irish capital of Dublin. It is home of the country's largest church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, a university and the vast Phoenix Park. The park has gardens, lakes, woods and playing grounds and is surrounded by a wall seven miles long. Others in our group participated in the "Dublin Walking Tour & Pub".
Torshavn is the capital of the Faroer Islands, an island group under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The islands are located halfway between Norway and Iceland. Traveling the scenic mountain road from our port in Klaksvik to Torshavn, we enjoyed beautiful views of the fjords and over the grass covered mountains. After arriving in the capital, we took a short walk in Tinganes, which is the historic part of Torshavn.	One of many grass covered roofs at a residential home in Torshavn
Meeting with deaf people from Reykjavik	Our first day in Iceland was filled with an excursion for the nature lovers. It took us through varied landscapes and lovely natural settings of Iceland where we saw geysers, the majestic Gullfoss waterfall, lava fields and the national park Thingvellir. Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir are collectively known as the Golden Circle. After finishing the tour in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, some of us stayed in town and met with some local deaf people. We had a very enjoyable time with them. Hopefully, we will meet our friends from Reykjavik again in the future.
Reykjavik is the largest and most populous settlement in Iceland, a multicultural city with people from at least 100 countries. When we traveled to the Blue Lagoon, we learned many interesting features about Iceland's volcanic activity and how it is exploited for residential and industrial purposes. Natural hot waters are used to heat approximately 90% of all buildings in Iceland. The main source is three geothermal power plants. After our visit at the Blue Lagoon, we continued our sightseeing trip with a city tour. We stopped at the Pearl, a glass dome on top of geothermal water tanks. We had a magnificent view over the old and new parts of the city from the viewing platform.	Blue Lagoon
During our days at sea we participated in many onboard activities, celebrated birthdays and wedding anniversaries, joined a private kitchen tour and had a marvelous time during our deaf game nights and onboard shows.

Group Picture

Gift Card made by Betty McBroom

Contact Kerstin's Deaf Travel to book your next cruise by sending an e-mail to kerstin@kerstinstravel.com