Registration for the 2018 Escape to Europe is now closed! We hope you will join us instead in 2019 as we travel to Bermuda and Alaska
General Information
Each excursion is a full day and will include an English-speaking guide. We arranged them with Royal Caribbean, which means we will have all the benefits of taking a RCCL excursion: guaranteed first off the ship, guaranteed return to the ship, and most convenient access to the tour bus. These excursions are exclusive to our group and you will register through Stitchers’ Escapes rather than RCCL. Therefore, you will not find our excursions listed with the general RCCL excursions on your “My Cruises” page.
Lunch will be on your own.
Each tour has a minimum number of guests.* The maximum is determined by the number of seats on the bus. With enough notice, we will endeavor to accommodate everyone by getting a larger bus or reserving more than one.
*If it appears that we will not reach this minimum, we reserve the right to cancel the excursion and return all excursion registration fees.
Payment
We will send an invoice to you within 10 days of receiving your excursion registration. Your space is secure once we receive payment in full from you.
Choose carefully. Refunds will only be made if the excursion is at capacity and we can fill your spot.
Explore Hamburg
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Approximately 7 hours; scheduled departure time is 8:45 am and we plan to re-board the bus at 4:00pm to head back to the ship.
Minimum: 40
Maximum: 48
We start with a short narrated bus tour of the city’s iconic sights and will then explore two of Hamburg’s distinctive areas with ample free time to tailor your day to your own interests. As long as you stay within the proximity of the bus and return on time, you can go where YOU want to go! We will have a Tour Guide with us all day to assist but strongly recommend having an idea of what you want to see and do before we disembark in Hamburg.
We’ll launch our exploration of Hamburg when the bus drops us off near City Hall (Rathaus). Since there are so many options, we did not include the cost of tickets to any one attraction for this portion of the day. We will be expected to re-board the bus at 1:00pm.
Points of interest in this area (all within a half mile of the drop off point):
- Rathaus: Hamburg’s city hall is larger than Buckingham Palace, located on an impressive square; guided tours available
- St. Michael’s Church: Protestant church with five organs; baroque architecture
- walk the promenade around Alster Lakes.
- Kunsthalle Hamburg (Art Museum)
- There are lots of major shopping areas/malls near our drop-off point: Jungfernstieg, Europa Passage, Spitalerstrasse, and Alsterarkaden. Fun stuff: the Lego Store in this area is described in one review as “more Lego than you can handle.”
Then it’s off to Miniatur Wunderland (this ticket is included) and the surrounding area. This is another amazing section of Hamburg waiting to be explored. More museums, more eateries, plus the stunning Elbphilharmonie which has an observation deck and sleek cafe, both open to the public.
We’ll re-board the bus at 4:00 to return to the ship.
Oslo – Norwegian Needlework and City Sights
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Approximately 7.5 hrs; scheduled departure time is 8:30 am and we plan to re-board the bus at 4:00pm to head back to the ship.
Minimum: 30
Maximum: 45
We start our day in Norway’s capital with a short narrated bus tour of the city, arriving at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum); your admission ticket is included. We will have a one hour demonstration by curator Kari-Anne Pedersen on the topic of embroidery traditions in Norway, followed by a one hour guided tour through the collection with a presentation of some examples. Then, we will have one hour of independent touring. You can stay longer in the FolkMuseum or take a short walk over to the Viking, Fram, Maritime, or Kon-tiki Museums. (Admission to these additional attractions is not included.)
Then it’s on to Karl Johans Gate which is the main street in Oslo (leading from the parliament to the royal castle) for an afternoon of shopping and enjoying the sights, sounds, and taste of the city. At 4:00, we’ll re-board the bus to return to the ship.
Bruges Walking Tour
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Approximately 7 hours; scheduled departure time is 8:30 am and we plan to re-board the bus at 3:00pm to head back to the ship.
Minimum: 40
Maximum: 45
Bruges is about 30 minutes from the cruise port of Zeebrugge, and since the city itself is a UNESCO world heritage site, vehicle traffic is restricted. Our bus will leave us just outside the city center and we’ll explore mostly on foot. Our first stop will be the gardens and convent at Beginhof, where we will get a good idea of 17th century life for the beguines, emancipated lay-women who lead a pious and celibate life.
From there, we’ll walk to Handwerkhisje, a true needleworker’s delight, where we’ll have about an hour to shop! Our non-stitchers will find plenty of cafes and other shops to explore in the area. Next, we enjoy a half hour canal boat tour and then take a short walk to the Markt (the market square) in time for lunch and more shopping at Rococo and other lace shops. Take time to visit the many chocolate shops, too!
We finish our day in Bruges with a horse tram back to the coach parking and our transfer by coach back to the ship.
This excursion will have about a mile total of walking.
Click here to get more information, including an approximate map of our tour route.