Gdansk, old and new

Old Town Gdansk (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Another postcard from my Windstar cruise... Gdansk, Poland was a most interesting place to spend a day. We booked a 5 hour private tour ... and then customized it as soon as we met our guide.

Pro Tip: When you book a private guide, realize that you've bought her time, not the itinerary. The advertised 5 hour tour proposed visits to the Old Town of Gdansk — but also to Sopot and Gdynia. However, I did my own research. Creating a google map of the proposed itinerary, it became clear that visiting Sopot and Glynia would eat up two hours of our time without offering anything that really interested us. I had read compelling reviews, on the other hand, of the Solidarity Centre and the World War 2 Museum, both in Gdansk. So when we first met our guide, we proposed these revisions to our itinerary. As it would mean less driving for her, there was no absolutely no issue making the change.

Old Town Gdansk was perhaps the most charming port on our entire cruise. The photograph above shows the picturesque facades of the town's historic buildings. We walked the streets with our guide, visited some old churches, enjoyed their art, strolled along the waterfront, smelled the aromas of what was cooking in the food stalls, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Museum of the Second World War (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Our walk took us past the Museum of the Second World War, pictured above. There wasn't time to tour the exhibits, but we did walk into this stunning museum and enjoy its distinctive design. Then, continuing on our way, we came to the Gdansk Shipyard, ground zero of the Solidarity worker strikes, and to the European Solidarity Centre, the library and museum that commemorates the end of Communist rule of Poland.

Solidarity Centre (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Our guide literally came alive when we entered the Solidarity Centre. She had lived through the history displayed in the museum, and she described those events with deep emotion. It's an amazing thing to walk through a museum, guided by someone intimately familiar with what you're seeing. She told us the story of those amazing years. She spoke of the courageous leadership of Lech Walesa, the Solidarity leader seen above signing the agreement negotiated with the Communist Party. (She is pictured in front of this larger-than-life black-and-white photo). She gave witness to the bold leadership of Pope John Paul II; his courage and charisma gave hope to the people of Poland and was so instrumental to the winning of Polish freedom.

Gdansk, well worth a full day if you find yourself in town!

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

so I went on a cruise...

cruising into Stockholm (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

So I went on a cruise, perhaps a surprising admission from a hotel specialist who loves nothing better than stepping out the front door of a luxury hotel into the heart of a wonderful city. Claire and I are back from our 11-day, 10-night Windstar cruise from Copenhagen to Stockholm with stops in places like Gdansk, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and Helsinki. What's my take-away?

1. Pack and unpack one time is indeed the selling point of cruising. We enjoyed the hospitality of our little home at sea for 10 days as our ship took us every evening to a new and interesting port.

2. A ship's cabin will never be the equal of a top five-star luxury hotel room. Our cabin was 277 square feet. While large for a cruise ship, this is postage-stamp sized for hotels. However, the cabin made efficient use of space and was perfectly adequate. If you upsell to a larger Suite, you'll be very happy.

3. The food was pretty good, and everything we consumed (including in-between meal snacks, espresso drinks, soft drinks, and bottled water) was included in one quite reasonable fare.

4. It's about the itinerary, not the cruise itself. We took this cruise because we fell in love with the itinerary. There was no other way we could have visited seven new countries in ten short days.

5. Shore excursions can be very good if you get a great guide. Our guides in Bornholm and Klaipeda were fabulous, but our guide in Tallinn was boring and disinterested. (Each of these was an excursion sold by the cruise company itself). You can always book private guides through Virtuoso onsites, Shore Trips, or Viator; we enjoyed some excellent experiences this way.

6. Small, boutique ships are the way to go for most luxury hotel aficionados. Four Seasons fans should be happy on a ship with around 200 cabins. On the other hand, I can't imagine myself on a mega-ship, equivalent to a Vegas mega-hotel but bobbing up and down in the middle of the ocean.

We truly enjoyed our experience on Windstar's Star Pride and will sail again when we find an itinerary that's calling our name. In the meantime, there are some great values out there... including up to a $1000 shipboard credit on 2019, 2020, and 2021 voyages if you book before September 30th. 

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.