9781005710651_

Vikings is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe.

My wife and I decided to go to Scandinavia with a Royal Caribbean cruise for our 50th anniversary in December 2020.

The decision was made after we returned from a pilgrimage tour to the Holy Lands and a trip to Alaska.

My wife had recovered from cancer 9 years ago and a knee operation 6 years ago.

She was eager to travel again having regained the function of her knee.

From a banking promotion we managed to get 445,000 krisflyer miles from Singapore Airlines in August 2018 which was supposed to be sufficient to obtain 2 business return tickets to Europe.

We made plans to go in August 2020 on a cruise in Northern Europe.

Unfortunately the Covid 19 pandemic struck in December 2019 and shortly after lock-downs occurred all over the world.

Travel overseas was limited with quarantines being imposed in the oversea countries.

So we spent our 50th anniversary in a Singapore hotel and spent it exploring the local attractions.

By 2022 most countries started to open their airports for travel again.

We made plans to travel to Scandinavia in August 2022 when our Singapore Airlines miles will expire.

Unfortunately the price of the Krisflyer miles had been decimated by 100 from 2 cents to 1 cent.

The price of airplane fuel had also increased tremendously and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia had made it worse.

We were able to obtain only premium economy seats and still had to pay extra for the insufficient miles.

Once we confirmed our seats on the airline we then were able to book a cruise to Scandinavia with Royal Caribbean.

We had planned on a cruise to 8 countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, and Netherlands but that was not possible with the war in Ukraine with Russia.

We were able to visit only Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Scandinavia has always fascinated people from Singapore and around the world.

It consisted of three countries Norway, Sweden and Denmark and vast expanses of land and sea, stretching from the Arctic Circle in the north to Denmarks border with Germany in the south.

Modern pictures of fairy-tale streets, looming fjords, vast forests, and quaint, bicycle-friendly Scandinavian cities attract the attention of the world not to mention images of the legendary Vikings whose wandering, raiding and sailing prowess are known today far and wide.

The modern Scandinavian descendants of the Vikings may have given up their broadswords and warships but a more sedate life appears to agree with the Scandinavian people.

Every year the Scandinavian cities and countries appear in the top rankings of lists of the worlds happiest people.

In terms of satisfaction with governance, social support, income, life expectancy, freedom and lack of corruption, the Scandinavian countries are invariably in the top ten.

The World Happiness Report saw Scandinavias Nordic neighbor Finland rank in first place for the five years in a row but Denmark and Norway were second and third, with Sweden coming in seventh.

In modern times the Nordic countries has prospered, with the economies of the countries among the strongest in Europe and welfare systems considered to be very generous.

This is the main reason for us to visit Denmark, Sweden and Finland but we are even happier to return to the comfort of our home in Singapore.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Denmark
Chapter 2 Voyager of the Seas
Chapter 3 Stockholm
Chapter 4 Helsinski
Chapter 5 Visby
Chapter 6 Bingo, Casino and Activities
Chapter 7 Coperhagen
Chapter 8 Return to Singapore
Epilogue

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Our 50th Anniversary Trip to North Europe with a Cruise to Denmark, Sweden and Finland

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