![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/hans-christian-andersen-y-dickens.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe cruise line hadn\u2019t specified how many talks they wanted speakers to present but I reckoned with six \u2018at sea\u2019 days, it made sense to prepare five talks plus a spare. We left from Portsmouth which meant it would be two days sailing until we reached our first port of Warnemunde in the Baltic, so my plan was to speak about Jane Austen and Charles Dickens followed by the Rise of Nordic Noir once we were heading to Riga. \u00a0Our last port of call was Copenhagen which meant a talk on Hans Christian Andersen was a must. That left my great inspiration \u2013 Agatha Christie \u2013 as my last talk as we sailed back through British waters.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Things are never set in stone on a cruise \u2013 bad weather might result in a missed port or one of the speakers might not make it at the last minute. I arrived on board to discover that there were four speakers, and we all had to cut one of our five prepared talks. I\u2019m not sure how many of my audience would have even heard of writers such as Henning Mankell or Stieg Larsson, so I made a quick decision to cut the Nordic Noir presentation. We\u2019d already left Copenhagen when the Cruise Director told me a slot had become available on the last sea day. It may not have been in the right place geographically speaking, but at least my Nordic Noir talk was historically in the correct place. We started in Regency times with Austen, on to the Victorian greats \u2013 Dickens and Andersen, the mid-20th<\/sup> century with Christie and ended with the late-20th and early-21st<\/sup> century with Mankell and Larsson. My talks seemed to go down well, and I sold lots of books \u2013 always a good sign.<\/p>\n<\/a>The ship itself couldn\u2019t have been more festive with Christmas trees, garlands and baubles on every available surface. The bakery department had excelled themselves with gingerbread houses and icing and marzipan figures dotted throughout the public areas. My favourite was the gingerbread village. It looked amazing with its changing coloured lights and the train running round the track, but best of all was the smell. The waft of ginger and spices permeated the whole area. The production team even gave us a panto \u2013 Cinderella. It makes me smile just to think about it now.<\/p>\n<\/a>The cruise itself was very enjoyable. Most towns had a Christmas market, which though not up to the standard of the German ones, were fun to look round. My favourite was in Lubeck west of Warnemunde where we were also treated to a private concert and were given hot spiced wine and one of the local sweet delicacies of the area.<\/p>\n