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5 Cruise Lines with Stunning Onboard Libraries
Travel, Cruising, Cruising Feature Julia Mitchell Travel, Cruising, Cruising Feature Julia Mitchell

5 Cruise Lines with Stunning Onboard Libraries

While many of the world’s most recent and largest cruise ships have foregone libraries in favour of revenue generating spaces, there are a number of lines which continue to champion the written word.

Here I will introduce you to five of the world’s most literature friendly cruise lines, all with stunning libraries onboard their ships.

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What to Do in Ålesund From a Cruise Ship
Cruising, Travel Julia Mitchell Cruising, Travel Julia Mitchell

What to Do in Ålesund From a Cruise Ship

Known to be one of Norway’s most beautiful fjord cities, Ålesund is a picturesque location that begs to be explored.

The city centre is just a 10 minute stroll from the cruise port, meaning there’s no need for most people to take a taxi or shuttle. For those who would prefer not to walk, the City Sightseeing Train is available at the cruise terminal and offers 70 minute tours around the city. These are easy to book when you arrive and depart every 20 minutes when a cruise ship is in port.

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Cunard’s Queen Anne Cabin Tour
Travel, Cruising Julia Mitchell Travel, Cruising Julia Mitchell

Cunard’s Queen Anne Cabin Tour

I recently disembarked a wonderful two day mini cruise onboard Cunard’s Queen Anne and I’ve been so excited to write about it.

We stayed in cabin 7174 and paid £150 each for both nights (we travelled as a couple). For us, the cabin was perfect - it was always quiet with no noise from other cabins or entertainment venues. We also hardly felt the ship moving at all, and the lack of sunlight meant I had a fantastic sleep every night.

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Cunard’s Queen Anne Cruise Ship Tour and Review
Travel, Cruising, Cruising Feature Julia Mitchell Travel, Cruising, Cruising Feature Julia Mitchell

Cunard’s Queen Anne Cruise Ship Tour and Review

I’ve just returned from a fantastic two day voyage on board Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Anne, and I can’t wait to show you around.

As the first addition to Cunard’s fleet for more than a decade, Queen Anne is unique compared to her sisters. Not only does she have the largest capacity to date, accommodating up to 3,000 guests and 1,225 crew, she’s also the most modern, seamlessly blending luxury with traditional features. Owned by the same umbrella company as P&O, I definitely noticed some similarities to their newest ships Iona and Arvia, while still remaining remained distinct to the Cunard brand.

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P&O’s Iona Cruise Ship - 10 Things I Loved
Travel, Cruising, Cruising Feature Julia Mitchell Travel, Cruising, Cruising Feature Julia Mitchell

P&O’s Iona Cruise Ship - 10 Things I Loved

Last summer (2022) my partner and I embarked on our first ever cruise with P&O’s  Iona. We travelled on a return voyage from Southampton to Norway, and were scheduled to stop in Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Haegsund over an 8 day schedule.

Unfortunately our stop at Stavanger was cancelled due to high winds, however, we had missed port coverage as part of our insurance which meant that we were given a small sum each to cover the inconvenience. While I would have loved to visit Stavanger (and had picked out a cool bookish cafe/bar to visit) I didn’t really mind as it meant that our budget trip was even cheaper.

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