My wife and I wanted to escape the heat of South Florida and take a relaxing scenic cruise- and certainly a week cruising the Norwegian fjords on HAL's Ryndam fit the bill perfectly.

We flew to London a day before the cruise and stayed at the Bailey's Millenium Hotel in Kensington. We've been there before, and we enjoy the English charm of the place, with quirky hallways and elevators and it's great location across the street from the tube station at Gloucester Road which is normally a straight shot from Heathrow on the Piccadilly Line. Two warnings however: 1) the facade of the hotel is covered by scaffolding as they renovate it (although we weren't bothered by any noise at all), and 2) the aforementioned tube station is also undergoing renovations until December, 2014. This meant that while the District and Circle lines are operating normally, you can't get off the Piccadilly Line at Gloucester Road. You can get off one stop beforehand at Earl's Court and walk 15 minutes (we did this since it was a nice day and rolling our two suitcases along the sidewalks was quite doable), catch a taxi, or transfer to the District Line at Earl's Court (or at several stops beforehand) and then get off at Gloucester Road. The next day we we caught HAL's transfer bus at the Green Bus Terminal near Victoria Station for the 2 hour ride to Dover. This was very easy to do since our hotel was only 10 minutes away from the bus terminal, and we were met by a HAL rep before we could even get out of the taxi (£5 fare). Dover embarkation was wonderfully easy- baggage handlers took the luggage off the bus (no tips) and twenty minutes later we were walking onto the ship. Bags arrived soon thereafter, and we were set for our cruise. This was the sort of thing we've come to expect from HAL, and they didn't disappoint.

The cruise for us was just a nice boat ride through the fjords. The little ports are fun to walk around, do a little shopping, have a brewsky...but the draw is the scenery of Norway as it glides by. We only did one shore excursion, the Waterfalls and Waffles at Eidfjord, and that was very scenic despite the rainy weather. For rest of the towns, Bergen, Geiranger, and Alesund, we just walked around by ourselves. This was very enjoyable for us, particularly Bergen, where there are historical sites, outdoor cafes, an interesting wharf area, and plenty of shopping opportunities. After the cruise, we hired White Cliffs GeoTours (Les and Simone Richmond) to drive around the cliffs, tour Canterbury Cathedral, visit Winston Churchill's Chartwell home in Westerham, and ultimately return us to our hotel in London. More on these sites below. Read more