Background: I'm a bit of an uptown/city girl, while DH is more of a country boy. We're recently married, and had a wonderful, but very city-oriented honeymoon last year. We were looking for a holiday that would let me have my bit of luxury, without all the madness of a big city break. A few of our friends had cruised recently, and universally recommended it - so that bit was easy. But where to go? Being a redheaded Irish lass, I don't do too well in the heat - but I do love the long evenings we get up here. So the Arctic Circle/North Cape route was just perfect for us.

Now, this was our first cruise. And although I found some really great tips on these boards, there were still a lot of things I wish I'd known before - so you oldies just bear with me if some of this seems really basic!

Getting there: I've navigated the Dutch public transport system a few times, and scouted out the Passenger Terminal (ok, it was right next door to the hotel I was staying in) on a trip to Amsterdam in the spring time. The flight times worked out well enough for us that we were comfortable flying in same-day (in the end, we were delayed a bit, but that worked out well too), but if you were flying in the day before, and wanted to be sure you were near the Passenger Terminal (PT) in the morning, I'd highly recommend the Moevenpick Hotel. It's literally next door, it's walking distance to Dam Square and the city centre, but it's nice and quiet if you don't want to be in the middle of all that. Trams 25 and 26 from Central Station stop just across the road from the PT - and if you ask the conductor when you get your ticket, he'll tell you when you're at the right stop (it's about the second stop from Central, I think). Read more