Mein Schiff 1 is a Century class cruise ship owned and operated by TUI Cruises. She was built in 1996 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg as Galaxy for Celebrity Cruises, and renamed Celebrity Galaxy in 2008. In May 2009 she transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between Celebrity Cruises’ owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and TUI AG. The ship was renamed Mein Schiff (English: my ship) on 15 May 2009. In November 2010, she was renamed to Mein Schiff 1. In May 2011, the Celebrity Mercury has been restarted as Mein Schiff 2 for TUI Cruises. Her home port is Valletta on Malta. read more…
Szczecin is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland with a population of 408,000. In the vicinity of the Baltic Sea, it is the country’s seventh-largest city and a major seaport in Poland. Szczecin is located on the Oder River, south of the Szczecin Lagoon and the Bay of Pomerania. The city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. Szczecin borders with the town of Police. Szczecin’s architectural style is due to trends popular in the last half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, Academic art and Art Nouveau. In many areas built after 1945, especially in the city centre, which had been destroyed due to Allied bombing, social realism is prevalent. read more…
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of (most of) the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, and north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts such as glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is important during the summer. The topography of the island consists of dramatic rock formations in the north, sloping down towards “pine and deciduous forests” and farmland in the middle and sandy beaches in the south. It also refers to Bornholm Regional Municipality, the municipality (Danish: kommune) which covers the entire island. Bornholm was one of the three last Danish municipalities not belonging to a county – the others being Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. On 1 January 2007, the municipality lost its short-lived (2003 until 2006) county privileges and became part of Region Hovedstaden. read more…
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 864,324 in the municipality, 1.4 million in the urban area, and around 2.1 million in the 6,519 km2 (2,517.00 sq mi) metropolitan area. As of 2010, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden’s population. read more…
Archipelago Sea is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Åland, within Finnish territorial waters. By some definitions it contains the largest archipelago (island group) in the world by the number of islands, although many of the islands are very small and tightly clustered. The larger islands are inhabited and connected by ferries and bridges. The Åland Islands, including the largest islands of the region, form an autonomous region within Finland. The rest of the islands are part of Finland Proper. The Archipelago Sea is a significant tourist destination. read more…
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, 130 kilometers (81 mi) to the northwest of St. Petersburg and 38 kilometers (24 mi) south from Russia’s border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland. Population: 80,000. The Hanseatic city lies in the boundary zone between the East Slavic/Russian and Finnish/Scandinavian worlds and has changed hands several times in history, most recently in 1944 when it was taken by the Soviet Union from Finland during World War II. read more…
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population. read more…
Travemünde is a borough of Lübeck, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes subsequently strengthened it. It became a town in 1317 and in 1329 passed into the possession of the free city of Lübeck, to which it has since belonged. Its fortifications were demolished in 1807. read more…
The Yachthafen Hohe Düne offers 750 berths, half of which are available for visiting yachts. The marina is complemented by one of the most exclusive and impressive hotel complexes on the Baltic Sea, the Yachthafenresidenz Hohe Düne. Close at hand are ship builders, technicians, engine specialists, sailmakers and more. Along with the attractions of the hotel complex, including its diverse restaurants and spa, numerous additional restaurants and bars can be found nearby, while for the more energetic there is a diving school, which offers not only training courses but also assistance with keel or propeller problems. read more…
