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11-Day Kiel Canal & The Baltic Sea

Aboard Seabourn Quest with Seabourn

Departure Date

22 June 2024

Duration

11 Nights

Fly Cruise From

£5,399pp

Cruise Reference

ART-811SB13

Cruise Overview

Amsterdam combines the unrivaled beauty of the 17th-century Golden Age city center with plenty of museums and art of the highest order, not to mention a remarkably laid-back atmosphere.

It all comes together to make this one of the world's most appealing and offbeat metropolises in the world.

Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam is known as the City of Canals—but it's no Venice, content to live on moonlight serenades and former glory.

Quite the contrary: on nearly every street here you'll find old and new side by side—quiet corners where time seems to be holding its breath next to streets like neon-lit Kalverstraat, and Red Light ladies strutting by the city's oldest church.

Indeed, Amsterdam has as many lovely facets as a 40-carat diamond polished by one of the city's gem cutters.

It's certainly a metropolis, but a rather small and very accessible one.

Locals tend to refer to it as a big village, albeit one that happens to pack the cultural wallop of a major world destination.

There are scores of concerts every day, numerous museums, summertime festivals, and, of course, a legendary year-round party scene.

It's pretty much impossible to resist Amsterdam's charms.

With 7,000 registered monuments, most of which began as the residences and warehouses of humble merchants, set on 160 man-made canals, and traversed by 1,500 or so bridges, Amsterdam has the largest historical inner city in Europe.

Its famous circle of waterways, the grachtengordel, was a 17th-century urban expansion plan for the rich and is a lasting testament to the city’s Golden Age.

This town is endearing because of its kinder, gentler nature—but a reputation for championing sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll does not alone account for Amsterdam's being one of the most popular destinations in Europe: consider that within a single square mile the city harbors some of the greatest achievements in Western art, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh.

Not to mention that this is one of Europe's great walking cities, with so many of its treasures in the untouted details: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, hidden garden courtyards, shop windows, floating houseboats, hidden hofjes(courtyards with almshouses), sudden vistas of church spires, and gabled roofs that look like so many unframed paintings.

And don’t forget that the joy lies in details: elaborate gables and witty gable stones denoting the trade of a previous owner.

Keep in mind that those XXX symbols you see all over town are not a mark of the city's triple-X reputation.

They're part of Amsterdam's official coat of arms—three St.

Andrew's crosses, believed to represent the three dangers that have traditionally plagued the city: flood, fire, and pestilence.

The coat's motto ("Valiant, determined, compassionate") was introduced in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina in remembrance of the 1941 February Strike in Amsterdam—the first time in Europe that non-Jewish people protested against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime.
Hamburg is Germany’s second-largest city with a history dating back to Charlemagne.

A major port, this vibrant city is home to art and culture, extensive shopping facilities, Baroque buildings and waterfront vistas.

With its well-known fish market, art galleries and Museums together with several beautiful parks including a botanical garden, this is a city with something for everyone.

British visitors who remember the Swinging Sixties may like to visit the streets around Grosse Freiheit, where an unknown pop group called The Beatles gave their first public performances in various local clubs before achieving worldwide fame.
Hamburg is Germany’s second-largest city with a history dating back to Charlemagne.

A major port, this vibrant city is home to art and culture, extensive shopping facilities, Baroque buildings and waterfront vistas.

With its well-known fish market, art galleries and Museums together with several beautiful parks including a botanical garden, this is a city with something for everyone.

British visitors who remember the Swinging Sixties may like to visit the streets around Grosse Freiheit, where an unknown pop group called The Beatles gave their first public performances in various local clubs before achieving worldwide fame.

Cruise Itinerary

Aboard Seabourn Quest

Launch Year: 2011 Length: 198 Width: 26 Currency: USD Capacity: 450 Crew Count: 330 Deck Count: 10 Cabin Count: 229

Seabourn Quest is the third iteration of the vessel design that has been called “a game-changer for the luxury segment.” True to her Seabourn bloodlines, wherever she sails around the world, Seabourn Quest carries with her a bevy of award-winning dining venues that are comparable to the finest restaurants to be found anywhere. Seabourn Quest offers a variety of dining options to suit every taste and every mood, with never an extra charge.

Seabourn Quest Facilities

Seabourn Quest Includes

Cabin Details

Seabourn Quest offers nine types of suites, eight of which feature verandas. Designed as home away from homes, these suites aim to be the place for you to unwind at the end of the day. Featuring a range of traditional cabin amenities, each also benefit from a Personal Suite Stewardess who will welcome you with Champagne and canapés, draw you a relaxing bath and assist you with anything you might need during your stay.

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