We began our cruise in Copenhagen. Because of our early flight arrival, we had to sit in the cruise terminal for about four hours. This was a situation that could not be avoided, so I cannot complain. People were very chatty, which kept me from napping in the terminal, but then again, I had some interesting, if bleary-eyed, conversations. We also had tea, coffee, and ice water provided by Princess. Some people took the hop on hop off bus, or walked to the Little mermaid statue, but we've seen Copenhagen, and were too tired to do this. We were one of the first to board and had our first of many excellent meals in the main dining room. The food choices were numerous enough, and the quality ranged from very good to excellent. We chose any time dining, and after a while, requested a table for two, rather than sharing a larger table. This was due to the only unpleasant aspect of the cruise. As Americans, my husband and I resented the negative comments from the many Canadians and Australians aboard who considered themselves knowledgeable about what they regarded as the evils of our American system and values, values based on the hard-fought efforts of our founding fathers. When we apologized to the dining room manager about our persistent resistance to sharing a table and explained the reason, he was in sympathy and agreement (and he was NOT American).

A friend of ours who has taken many cruises and has grown tired of them, cynically remarked before our departure, "a cruise is camp for grownups." At times I agreed, especially when I saw some of the childish pastimes that were engaged in (I mean, it was really a laugh to see the seriousness and vigor which passengers displayed in learning line dances. Line dances??? How far the human intellect has fallen! But, happily, I resolved my inner conflict by realizing that Princess offered many options for many tastes, and there was a lovely library and interesting lectures.

The ports were interesting. In Oslo, we walked around on our own and saw the changing of the guard at the palace and "people watched" in the park. It was Sept. 11, and we witnessed some racial profiling on the part of the police, asking for ID from a young man whom we believed was one of the ship's crew. That evening, the captain, who was also the commodore of the entire Princess fleet, asked over the PA system for a moment of silence to remember the tragedy that hit America, but effected the entire world. Read more