FREESTYLE THROUGH THE BALTIC

Remember those bog-standard school English essays – one A4 page on ‘What I would do if I won R50 000.’ I wrote several versions over the years, but always with the same theme – I’d take a cruise ship to the great cultural cities of the world – visit celebrated art galleries, watch a ballet or two, stroll ancient cobbled alleys where the buildings breathed centuries of secrets, love and violence; I’d sample the signature cuisine, sip the coffee … so I wrote.

Thirty-odd years later, it happened. My ship came in. She was serendipitously named the (Norwegian Cruise Lines) and all 18 gleaming white decks of her – with a huge mermaid motif painted on the bow – were docked at Cruise Terminal 1 in Denmark’s Copenhagen harbour. My stateroom was for’ard port side on Deck 13 with a little balcony very high above the water. The ‘mermaid’ offered 21 dining options, 20 bars and lounges (including an ice bar), duty-free shops, casinos, a spa, three-storey sports complex, theatre and a garish, intertwined system of waterslides perched on top. I had nine nights aboard and we’d be putting in to seven