Seabourn Quest: 14-Night Northern Europe from Dover

London (Southampton) cruise port is the busiest cruise departure point in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Northern Europe. The port sits in Southampton, a city on England's southern coast about 80 miles southwest of London.

Zeebrugge is a North Sea port about 15 km from Bruges, one of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities. Ships dock at Zeebrugge, but the destination is Bruges: a city of 120,000 people whose medieval center survived the centuries virtually intact because the city's commercial importance faded after the Zwin river silted up in the 15th century, and nobody had a reason to tear anything down.

Hamburg is Germany's second-largest city and its biggest port, sitting about 100 kilometers inland from the North Sea on the Elbe River. The city serves as a major embarkation point for Northern European, Norwegian fjord, and Baltic Sea cruises, with a growing role as a port of call on repositioning and British Isles itineraries.

Oslo is Norway's capital, home to about 700,000 people in a city wrapped around the head of the Oslofjord with forested hills rising on every side. The city has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two decades, with the harbor district rebuilt from industrial docks into a waterfront of museums, restaurants, and public spaces anchored by the angular white marble Opera House.